Halfheartedly, Lad listened to the
Master's rebuke, as he followed back to camp. His day had begun
so delightfully! And, as usual, a human had interrupted the fun,
at the most exciting time; and for no apparent reason. Humans
were like that.
Barring one other incident, Lad's two weeks at camp were
uneventful,--until the very last day. That "one incident" can be
passed over, with modest brevity. It concerned a black-and-white
cat which Lad saw, one evening, sneaking past the campfire's
farthest shadows. He gave chase. The chase ended in less than ten
seconds. And, Lad had to be bathed and scoured and rubbed and
anointed, for the best part of twenty-four hours, before he was
allowed to come again within fifty feet of the dining tent.
On a raw morning, the car and the truck made their appearance at
the foot of the rocky mountaintop hillock. The tents had been
struck, at daylight; and every cooking utensil and dish had been
scoured and put into the crate as soon as it was used. Camp was
policed and cleaned. The fire was beaten to death; a half-score
pails of water were dowsed over its remains; and damp earth was
flung upon it.
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