soup as well as her own. Then
we will sit down," answered Julie.

Meantime Joan was whispering anxiously, as each girl held out the clay
bowls for soup, "Now remember! Leave the tracking tale to Julie, and
agree with her everytime! Don't you dare be caught napping this time!"

And as each scout left the stove with her two bowls of soup, she
whispered. "No, leave it to me! We'll get the best of Gilly for this
joke."

The chicken soup was highly praised, and truly it was a good broth and
deserved all praise. Then came the fish,--all done to a turn and served
piping hot with butter sauce. The Indian cucumber went well with the
lake trout, and here the boys had another surprise.

"Indian cucumbers! We never knew they grew around here," ventured Alec,
but delighting in the salad just the same.

"Oh, didn't you? Well, you see, it takes a girl's fancy touches to
secure these sort of things. You boys, of course, have to give your time
to doing big things," was Julie's sarcastic reply.

The third course consisted of the chicken and dumplings, stewed bracken,
and a side dish of vegetable that looked for all the world like small
potatoes. The boys studied these curiously.

"It's quite digestible," laughed Mrs. Vernon.

"But be sure to appreciate them,--they are the only Wapitos we've ever
found!" declared Joan, proudly.

"Wapitos! You don't mean it!" exclaimed Alec, eagerly.

"Why, where did you find them?" asked the other boys.

"One morning when we were out tracking," said Julie, with a careless
manner. Then quickly added, "Oh, Captain, where are the Brussels
sprouts? We almost forgot that vegetable."

The Orderly jumped up and ran to the stove where, in one of the niches,
stood the bowl of charlock hearts, a wild green that tastes exactly like
tender sprouts. These are easy to cultivate in a garden, too, and are
not as expensive as Brussels sprouts.

"My, what a spread this is!" sighed Bob, ecstatically.

Every one laughed, for Bob and Anne were the gourmands of the two
troops, and were never ashamed to admit when they enjoyed a thing.

"Yes, it's some dinner, all right. Made a lot of work, didn't it?" added
Alec.

"Oh, not so much as usual," returned Julie. "We really had planned a
more elaborate affair, but the joke we played on Gilly took longer than
we allowed for it, and so we had to scramble the dinner."

Julie smiled benignly upon the guests, but they exchanged looks with Mr.
Gilroy at the mention of