The boys managed so well that when the little boat scraped against the wall, their party was almost the first to set foot upon the land.
"That was pretty good work," said Will, with an air of satisfaction as they made their way to the shore, followed by a stream of laughing humanity. "I hope the girls didn't mind getting their dresses mussed. Say, fellows, if any one should ask me, I'd tell them it was one peach of a day!"
There being no disputing this fact, no one tried. The eight young people swung down the shaded street, feeling in tune with the whole world.
They succeeded in finding the general store.
"Now get out that list, Allen," said Betty, as they entered the wide doorway. "It would really be a shame to forget anything."
Allen began to search through his pockets, calmly at first, then in frantic haste. Seven pairs of eyes followed his panicky movements anxiously.
"You have never gone and forgotten it?" cried Mollie, in the awed tones of one announcing the end of the world. "Oh, Allen! you haven't?"
"Guess I have," he returned grimly, and, having searched through every pocket, began all over again. "It's strange--I could have sworn----"
"You're a nice one----" Grace began, but Roy interrupted her with a shout that made their nearest neighbors turn and look at them curiously.
"I have it!" he cried. "Don't you remember, Allen, that you gave it to me just before we left, while you ran back to get something for Betty? Behold," and he dangled the precious list before their eyes.
"Oh," sighed Mollie in relief, "now if we girls had done anything like that----"
"Hands up, don't shoot!" cried Roy. "We admit everything."
The Outdoor Girls must have a fire. That they had decided at the supper table. What was the use of having a big fire-place if they never used it? Betty's theory was, that it was wicked to let anything go to waste. All this being true, it stood to reason that a fire they must have.
"I wonder if the boys wouldn't come in and help us build it," Grace suggested, seized with a brilliant idea. "There are already some logs in the fire-place, but I feel that I would like to have somebody else work for me to-night."
"Why, of course," said Mollie. "That's what we brought them with us for--to help out when they were needed."