e stopped; the very earnestness of her apology made it hard to
utter.

Charlie turned his head to look at her. He was surprised to see her face
so pale and her lips trembling.

"That's all right enough, Marjorie," he said heartily. "I knew you
didn't mean it, and I didn't think any more about it. Give us your fist,
and then we'll go after the others."

Sunset, the next night, found the party comfortably established in their
new quarters, on the very bank of the willow-bordered creek that plunged
into the river, forty feet away. Across the creek and six hundred feet
down the valley, dingy and brown with much service stood the tents of
the engineering corps; but the officers' tent was deserted, for its
occupants had come over to pay their respects at Camp Burnam, as the
children had christened it. The site for the camp had been fixed upon,
two days beforehand, and it was but the work of an hour to unpack the
wagons and pitch the four tents which made up the outfit. At the south
were the sleeping-tents, with Mrs. Burnam presiding over one, and Mr.
Everett over the other, while at the east, close to the creek, were
those given up to dining and cooking, where Janey and Wang Kum held sway
by day, with many a wrangle over the possession of the little
camp-stove, and many a heated discussion as to the relative merits of
Asiatic and African cookery.

The stove had been the first thing to be unpacked, and by the time the
last guy-rope was made fast, the last roll of bedding opened and
arranged in its place, the welcome call to supper was sounded, and they
gathered about the long table, spread in the open air, in the golden
sunset light. Then the elders settled themselves for the evening, glad
to rest after their long ride, while the children raced up and down the
camp, exploring all the nooks and corners of their little domain, before
throwing themselves down on a pile of blankets to watch the full moon
as it rose from a bank of cloud just above the low hills to the
eastward, and threw its white light over their gay group. Fifteen feet
away from them Mrs. Burnam sat in the doorway of her tent, with Louise
at her feet. The girl's golden hair was glistening in the moonlight, as
she raised her head to speak to the topographer of the party, a
sandy-haired, jovial young fellow, so lately come from "Sheff" that he
retained all the slang and easy assurance of the genuine college boy.
Ten months of camp life had made him hail with de