6 THE ACORN wild grapes grew in abundance. "After all was settled and arranged for the day, some of the small children started to play 'jump the rope,' others went immediately to gather berries, while some of the elder people took books and wandered down to the side of the river or among the pines. The day passed swiftly and night soon began to settle down in the valley. "The sky was perfectly clear wnen the great golden sun dropped into his resting place, but before long a few white clouds began to gather in the northwest. By dark they had grown much blacker but no one seemed alarmed in the least. "The boys built a huge bonfire in the center of the camping ground; and just before going to bed the whole party sat around the fire and sang songs or told jokes. We made our bed in a sort of alcove in the pines. It was a big square one and nine of us girls slept there while Mrs. Harvey and several of her children slept in a tent (the only one in the camp) just a short distance away. Mrs. Cook, Miss Keeny, and her little sister were just below them. Quite a number of ladies and children had their beds in the wagon boxes but the rest of the company slept out in the open air. "Soon all was quiet. The fire was dying and everybody was sleeping. "About two o'clock I was awakened by water dripping on my face. I opened my eyes and found it was raining though not hard, but the wind had risen and was blowing quite strongly from the east. I looked around and could see nothing but a sheet of black, broken only by the little heap of dying embers, the remains of the bonfire. "I was rather nervous and felt like crawling down in bed and hugging someone so I pinched one of the girls and woke her up too. "We huddled under the covers and lay there talking of all kinds of 'spooky' things until most of the other girls had been wakened, and added their share to the conversation. Just when we were all worked up to the screaming point a big gust of wind came and we heard a crackling in the bushes near by, then a low thud like the sound of a heavy paw as it struck the ground. On hearing this we looked up suddenly and saw a huge dark object coming slowly out of the pines. Breathlessly we watched it go shambling down to Mrs. Harvey's tent. Every minute we grew more frightened and wished the boys were nearer. "As old Bruin disappeared behind the tent a streak of lightening flashed across the sky and a clap of thunder followed which seemed as though it would rend the earth. We dived under the covers and waited. It thundered and lightened, the wind blew furiously, and the rain came down in torrents, but that horrid old grizzly, gray beast stalked around as unconcerned as THE ACORN 7 though nothing were happening. "He calmly looked in at Mrs. Harvey's tent door, walked all around Mrs. Cook and Miss Keeny, who were almost stiff with fright, then came over to our bed, stood there a minute, walked around sniffing under the covers, while we lay there shivering and holding our breath. "At last, as though he had seen enough, he went stalking off again towards the thicket of pines. "During all this time 'silence had reigned supreme' save the sniffing of the bear and the crackling of the twigs under his feet, but now, one by one, we began to find our voices and call for help. Miss Keeny, whose brother and beau were both named Jack, began calling 'Jack! Jack! Oh, Jack!' but no Jack answered, for each thought she wanted the other. Finally one of the other boys came to our rescue. "On investigation it was found that the beds "made on canvas to keep the dampness from coming up from the ground had also kept the water from soaking down into it and as a result the girls in them were dripping wet. Room was made for them in the drier places and as soon as possible all were made comfortable again, though we were all too excited to sleep any more that night, so we sat around rolled in quilts and waited for the morning. "The storm had ceased and I think words can never tell the joy we felt when we saw the sun come peeping up over the top of that mountain and not a cloud in sight. Somehow everything had a better appearance. "We had a glorious time that day but none of us cared to spend another night out, so when the sun sank to rest we began our homeward journey. I think I should enjoy another berrying party but never again do I want to spend a night like that." Edyth Barlow, '10