The Woodcraft Girls at Camp

CHAPTER ELEVEN

STAR GAZING FROM PINE NOB

Half an hour later Nita returned to camp with a face swollen and eyes red from weeping. She said nothing and the girls made no audible comment on her appearance. Miss Miller felt sorry for the girl, for it was apparent that she had experienced a heart-breaking period. But the Guide could not imagine what had caused the trouble – was it that good-for-nothing boy Everton or was Nita home-sick, or possibly, but not probably, she was ashamed of her actions during the past few days.

The girls took an early swim and then packed their kits for the night out. Each had a rubber blanket beside the camp-blanket, so these were rolled about the other items selected for the night.

At the barn, Cheokee was soon hitched up and all the duffle-bags were thrown under the seats. The girls jumped in while Zan fastened the traces and told Wickee he had to run behind, or alongside the surrey.

Pine Nob was high enough to enable one to see for twenty miles around the country, so a magnificent view could be obtained from its summit on a clear day.

"Friends, I'm about to earn another merit. Observe that I do not intend losing it immediately by using slang, so if I seem to run away suddenly after delivering my idea, it is not because of any attraction at the house but merely because I dare not remain where I may be tempted to lose my reward!" laughed Zan, as the others climbed in the surrey.

Every one smiled and waited. "Since our arrival the camera brought by Jane has remained asleep in the living-room. I go to rescue it from idleness!"

With that Zan rushed off toward the house, while Cheokee was started down the road to wait at the side-porch for his mistress. Zan earned the merit that time and Elena made a note to enter the plan of a Camera Club in the Tally Book.

The Band reached Pine Nob without mishap, but the sun was too low to take any good pictures, so it was postponed for the morning.

The fire was made, supper enjoyed and Cheokee fed and left tide to a strong tree for the night. Then Miss Miller advised all to get their beds made before darkness overtook them.

"Oh, aren't we going to sleep on the ground?" asked Hilda.

"There isn't a thing in sight that we could possibly make a bed of!" added Jane, looking about in amazement.

"Oh, yes there is! We are going to win a coup by making beds from wild-material only – and mighty good beds you will find them, too!" said the Guide, smiling at their doubts.

"Twigs, and leaves, and moss?" questioned Nita, ironically.

"No, hardly that, but come with me and you will see," replied the Guide.

Cheokee was tethered to a stump near the camp-site and left to enjoy his supper of oats. Miss Miller then took a trail that had not been noticeable until attention was directed to it. This, she followed into dense woods for half a mile or so, before coming to an aromatic grove. Young trees, as well as half-grown spruce, grew in a thick wall under old pines.

The Guide took her sharp sheath-knife from its case and started to cut only those branches which showed young tender green tips. "While I cut you girls can gather and make bundles of it."

"What for?" wondered Nita.

"You'll soon see, and then to-morrow you will say, 'How can Mrs. Sherwood sleep on feathers when these kind of beds are so cheap and convenient!'"

"Oh, I know! It's for bedding!" cried Elena.

"I bet you've read some of White's books, haven't you?" said Zan, whose brothers were in love with White's wood stories.

"Better not talk so much and work more – darkness will catch up before our beds are made," warned the Guide, cutting without a pause.

Finally, every one was laden with branches, and soon the plateau was reached and Miss Miller sought for a place where the ground was comparatively level. Here she threw the greens.

"Now watch me weave a spring bed," said she, sitting down a sort her branches, long, medium and short pieces.

She laid a row of long pieces of spruce with the tender soft green tips directly away from her. This she made about four feet wide, with the hard ends of the wood facing her. Upon this, lapping about two feet, she laid another row – then another, until the bed was about six feet long. She then placed the next layer on top but turned the ends the opposite way, managing to run the hard wood in and under the first layer. The second layer was laid of shorter branches. The third layer was laid of still shorter ones, without much hard wood to cover. What there was was run under the soft ends of the second layer so that not a bid of wood could be seen or felt. Done, she stood up and admired the bed.

"One of you girls throw yourself down – test it!"

Two or three followed the suggestion at once and each one sighed with blissful anticipation of the night's rest.

"Isn't it soft!" cried Elena.

"And springy!" added Zan.

"I love that piney odour. I always loved balsam pillows!" said Jane, sniffing at the green.

Hilda and Nita said nothing but they remained on the bed when the others got up, thus showing what they thought of it.

Miss Miller assisted the girls in making their beds and when this was done, they wanted to go to sleep.

"But we haven't seen a single star! I thought we were going to take a test in star-gazing!" reminded the Guide.

"Oh, pshaw! What time is it? Isn't it most nine o'clock?" yawned Zan.

"No, it isn't! It's only seven-thirty!" laughed Miss Miller.

"Well, girls, let's go to it!" retorted Zan, where-upon she drew upon her criminal head the laughter of the Band.

"There goes Zan's merit for camera hunting!" shouted Elena.

Zan good-naturedly accepted her doom and turned her face toward the sky to find the first star.

"Hah! there's a star!" cried she, in a short time.

"Where, where? It can't be, it's too light to see stars!" said Elena, who had hoped to be the first to succeed with the stars.

"Yes, I guess Zan is right; I see one, too, but, girls, you have to concentrate on seeking, or you'll miss the faint twinkling," came from the Guide.

After that the quiet was broken by cries, "There's one! I see another!" and so on.

Finally Miss Miller, not wishing to tire the girls the first night of star gazing, asked, "Who wants to go to bed – or who will choose to hunt some planets?"

No one was ready to retire, it seemed, for the new game was too interesting.

"For everyone who finds and names the correct planet and can tell some facts about it, we will award a merit!" suggested Miss Miller.

For some time thereafter, not a sound could be heard except the snoring of Wickee and the soft thud of Cheokee's hoofs as he wandered about the tether.

"I see Venus – right there," cried Hilda, pointing.

The girls turned in the direction pointed out and Miss Miller said, "Yes, that is Venus. Now, can you tell us anything about it?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. But I know that Venus and our earth are often called sister planets, and at Christmas time it is often called the Star of Bethlehem, as it shines so bright at that season. Then, too, I believe it is the brightest star we can see with the naked eye," said Hilda.

"Yes, that much is correct and you have won a merit, but for the benefit of the others I will add that Venus' brightness is caused by the clouds that surround it and reflect the sun's light just as looking-glass would. Our clouds also reflect sunlight. Often we will see masses of cloud banked up, so like snow-mountains and reflecting such brightness that it dazzles us to gaze at them. The thick clouds that surround Venus prevent us, on earth, from seeing any of its continents or oceans that may be there. Sometimes, when a cloud thins out we can peep through and catch a glimpse of the markings of this beautiful planet."

When the Guide concluded, the girls turned their attention to the sky again. Soon after Jane called, "I see a great big star – or rather planet. I suppose it is Jupiter, as I know Jupiter always travels near Venus."

"Yes, Jane is right, too. Now tell us all you know about him. You may gossip freely, for we all like Jupiter and are eager to hear all there is to know about him," said Miss Miller. "But I would correct your word 'travel,' for Jupiter does not travel with Venus; because it is so brilliant we see it with more clarity of vision; Venus also being so bright, we can pick these two out without difficulty. Sometimes the two planets seem quite near each other, which might lead you to think they travel in the same path."

"Well, I know this much correctly, anyway," said Jane. "Jupiter is called the Giant Planet because it is the largest of the sun's family, and is about 1300 times larger than the earth. Then, too, our earth only has one moon while Jupiter has at least eight, and I don't know how many more will be discovered in time."

Jane's manner of ending her description made the other girls laugh, but Miss Miller said, "Did you ever look through a telescope at the sky with its myriads of stars and planets?"

No one had, and the Guide said, "You've all missed a treat. When we go back to the city we will make it one of our Band's treats to visit some institution where there is a telescope. Elena, make a memorandum on your sleeve to enter that in the Tally Book."

Elena giggled, for she was not aware that any one had seen her use her cuff for a memo pad.

"Before we leave Jupiter, I think that I should add that Galileo – the man who first used a telescope, you know – sought for Jupiter one night and discovered the moons travelling around the great planet. Poor Galileo tried to prove to his fellowmen that the earth was not the only world but that it was a mere planet like many others to be seen. Folks in those days believed that the earth was the centre of all things and that the sun naturally travelled around it, as the moon and stars did, also.

"They were so furious with Galileo for trying to tell them the truth that they cast him in prison. When he showed them how the moons of Jupiter travelled around it in an orbit, just as the moon went around the earth, people began to think seriously of his statements. Some said Galileo was a magician and had bewitched his telescope, or else had bewitched his followers. After a time, however, they were forced to admit that he was right, and since then every one reveres the name of Galileo as that of a wonderful astronomer."

"I'd like to find Mars! Please don't any one else take it 'cause I was born under that planet!" said Zan, during the period of silence that followed Miss Miller's talk.

"Oh, no, Zan, you were not born under any planet! You surely have not mentioned such foolish ideas to your father, have you?" cried Miss Miller, surprised at the girl's statement.

"Why, no, I never gave it a thought, except what I heard read from a New York paper. They print horoscopes and tell about governing planets and signs of the zodiac. Is it foolish?"

"I should say it was! I know that a certain newspaper, so-called, makes a circulation-booster of a section devoted to the study called astrology, for silly folks to read and worry over. It seems all wrong to me for any one to waste a thought on such trivial things when profounder studies are right at hand awaiting our choice. It is true that according to certain laws of gravitation and natural law, the tides of the ocean are affected by the moon and planets, and farmers plant crops at certain seasons of the zodiac, but to lay claim to a star or planet having power or intelligence to control our lives and future acts, is to become a necromancer. As you can read in the first Book of the Bible, God made all things and he gave man all dominion over all created things. Man, as His child, was given power and intelligence like unto God, made in His image and likeness, and nowhere in the Bible can you read where He refuted that government and dominion! We still have power over stars and planets, and I, for one, refuse to be domineered by a light, shining millions of miles away from me. What kind of a guardian do you suppose that planet would make?"

"Then why do folks call Mars the Planet of War, and say that it is always a blood-red for a long time before a war or national strife occurs?" asked Zan.

"No one really knows that Mars is more war-like in its office than Venus or Jupiter. But I will not tell you more of Mars until Zan has found him and told us what she knows," said Miss Miller.

"I see Mars – but Zan wants the privilege," said Nita, in a whisper.

"Oh, no, Nita; if you've found him first, you have prior claim. I'll go on star-gazing and find something new!" said Zan.

"Well, it is that fiery planet just over the oak tree," directed Nita. It was correct and she was led to speak of anything she knew of Mars.

"I don't know much beside what I heard in a theatre-play called the Martians. They had a great map on the drop-curtain and I looked at the markings that were supposed to be on the planet. Then I heard once that Mars is a world like ours and has winter and summer. In winter it has vast fields of ice and in summer rivers and dark places that may be green hills and valleys. I guess it has inhabitants, too, but I don't know what scientists think about that."

"Nita is right as far as facts go, but one important item was omitted. Mars has practically no clouds, whereas the earth has an abundance of them. Therefore, it must be continually fine weather on Mars, for there cannot be any rain. Whether any people live to enjoy permanent fair weather, we do not know, because Mars is such a distance away that even with strongest telescopes we can only see different coloured markings on the surface of the planet. I sometimes think that Mars would have to have a wonderful irrigation system to succeed with vegetation if it is inhabited. As it could have no rain, it would have to conserve the melting snows of winter to water its valleys in summer."

"Hurrah! I've found my planet! You never will guess where it is located!" laughed Zan.

Several attempts were made to locate it, but to no avail.

"Yet it is the most prominent and to our eyes the largest in the sky," continued Zan, aggravatingly.

Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and others were all mentioned, but Zan shook her head at each guess. Finally the Guide said, "Give up." Zan laughed with delight at having cornered the teacher.

"Ha! The moon! It is just rising above that pine!"

They all laughed, and Zan was told to tell what she knew.

"Well, I know that the moon isn't made of green cheese, although there are some folks who still believe so. Then, too – " but Zan was interrupted by the others rolling on the grass and laughing.

"Miss Miller, they should each have a demerit for disturbing the peace like this," said Zan, in mock severity.

"They'll soon cancel it then, with a merit, just as you constantly cancel your merits with de-merits for crime!" laughed Miss Miller.

As soon as the girls had quieted down again, Zan continued her harangue in a lecture-tone.

"The moon has mountains known to us as moon-mountains. There are many extinct volcanoes on its face that are supposed to have formed these mountains. The moon is a satellite of the earth – it follows the earth like the little lamb followed Mary. If our earth should take it into its head to shoot off to a corner of the ether, a few million miles away, the moon would just trail along after, and most likely cry all the way for its mother earth."

The girls were delighted with Zan's lecture and Miss Muller had to pull her face into control before she said, "We won't be able to tell fact from fancy, you are so ready with both kinds of information."

"Fancy will not deserve a demerit, I trust!" said Zan.

"Oh, no, but how can it win a merit? You must give us facts that will stand water at Headquarters," said Miss Miller.

"I know that the moon was once a wonderful planet like our earth is but its seas dried up and its surface broke into chaotic mountains – likely from volcanic eruptions, as its mountains present such an appearance through the telescope. It has no trees, flowers, or living creature! It may be grand to look at from this distance but it is really a great hulk of desolation, and I'm sure I'd not care to live there!"

When Zan concluded, Miss Miller asked how many knew the cause of the moon's changing so often each month, to our belief. No one ventured to reply, so the Guide tried to demonstrate to them.

"If I take a round object – here's a stone – and hold it between the moon and my eyes, the side toward me is dark while the side of the stone toward the moon is light where it reflects from the moon. Now, suppose I hold this flash-light for the sun. As I move, or turn the stone around, the side which was toward my eyes before gradually turns toward the reflection of the sun's rays upon the moon and thence to the stone. As we are stationary on the earth, while the earth revolves, we advance toward the light, then leave it again, thus seeming to see the moon grow or dwindle as the time may be."

As soon as the girls understood, the Guide was about to turn off the electricity when the ray showed Nita yawning.

"Girls, if any of you are sleepy we will go to bed. We have been enjoying ourselves so that I made no note of time," advised the Guide, looking at the others for signs of sleep.

"Oh, don't say bed yet – we want to hear some more!" cried some of the girls.

"Really, Miss Miller, I am not so sleepy and tired as my eyes – they ache dreadfully and I don't know why," said Nita.

Miss Miller knew, however, that it was the stormy weeping of the afternoon. Trying to divert the girl's thoughts would be the best soothing lotion for her eyes as well as for her heavy heart. So the Guide continued:

"Who can tell me where the Dipper is located? The big Dipper, I mean."

After much twisting of heads, one of the girls pointed it out.

"Yes; now I will give you the names of the stars that are to be seen all the year round. I will give the Latin name too, for almost all astronomers use the Latin terms but we use our common names for them.

"The all-year stars are found in the northern part of the sky, and of these the Ursa Major, or Great Bear, is the best known. The two stars pointing north in a direct line are sometimes called 'The Pointers' for they point to the Pole Star.

"The Pole Star is always in the same spot and the other stars seem to move around it. If we could leap from here to the North Pole we would find that star directly overhead.

"In spring you will see Great Bear almost over your head; in summer it will be between the Pole Star and the northwest horizon. It autumn it will be found between the Pole Star and the northern horizon, and in winter it is between the Pole Star and the eastern horizon. These positions are very necessary for you to know, for both these stars help to locate many other constellations. The stars forming the Great Bear have been known since ancient days – in fact it is catalogued in a book of stars made over 2000 years ago, and the constellation has not moved or changed its form since that age.

"Now let us look for and find Great Bear – it is formed of seven bright stars in a group. Two pointing at the Pole Star, which will assist you in locating the constellation, and the others to the left of the first two."

After much wondering and questions, the girls were able to recognise Ursa Major, and thereafter they had no further difficulty in immediately finding it.

"The next group of stars are almost opposite the Great Bear, being on the other side of the Pole Star. It is called Cassiopeia, or Lady in the Chair. It looks like a great letter 'W' half-over on its side.

"At no great distance from each other you will see two stars placed between the Pole Star and Great Bear. These bright stars are called The Guards, as they appear to guard the Pole Star. The old legend says that Great Bear wanted to get at the Pole Star but the gods placed the Guards between the bear and his prey to prevent the Pole Star being destroyed.

"I brought a pair of field-glasses so that you can see the smaller stars. Now I want you each to take a look at them as I explain about them," said Miss Miller, taking a leather case from the ground at her side.