le meal and set up the sleeping cots (which
were likewise of canvas) before that. There was a flooring of matched
planks to be laid, too; but the rain had wet them and the girls would
have to wait for to-morrow's sun to dry them.

"Oh! I don't believe living under canvas is going to be half so nice as
we thought," complained Mina. "I never _did_ think about its
storming."

"A bad beginning makes a good ending," quoted Mrs. Havel, brightly.
"This is only for one night."

"Excuse me! I don't want another like it, Auntie," declared her niece.

They could have no lamp to see to go to bed by, save Wyn's pocket
electric flash.

"And it's so plaguey awkward!" cried Frankie. "Here one of us has to
hold the snapper shut so the others can see. Here, Mina! I've played
Goddess of Liberty long enough; _you_ hold the lamp awhile."

Wyn slung a line from one end of the tent to the other, and on this they
hung their clothes. All the girls were provided with warm pajamas as
being safer night garments under canvas than the muslin robes they wore
at home.

"I _do_ feel so funny," cried Percy, hopping into her own nest. "I
can't curl my toes up in my nightgown--they stick right out at the
bottom of these trousers!"

"And doesn't the grass tickle your feet?" cried Frank, dancing about
between the cots. "My, my! this _is_ camping out in real earnest.
O-o-o! Here's a trickle of water running under the side of the tent,
Wyn."

"You can thank your stars it isn't running through a hole in the tent
right upon your heads," responded the captain. "Do get into bed, Frank."

Even Frank was quiet at last. The day had been a strenuous one. The
muttering thunder in the distance lulled them to sleep. Soon the big
white tent upon the knoll by the lake was silent save for the soft
breathing of the girls and their chaperone.

And--odd as it may seem, considering the strangeness of their
surroundings--all the girls slept soundly through the night. It was Wyn
Mallory herself who first opened her eyes and knew, by the light
outside, that it must be near sunrise.

Up she popped, stepping lightly over the cold grass so as not to arouse
her mates and Mrs. Havel, and reached the opening. She peered through.
To the east the horizon was aglow with melting shades of pink, amber,
turquoise and rose. The sun was coming!

Wyn snapped open the flap and ran out to welcome His Majesty. Then,
however, she remembered that she was in pajamas, and glanced arou