14000 MILES 



flecks would get on to the fresh yellow, and what a mix- 

 ture, when we tried to remove them ! You would have 

 thought we were painting the daintiest panel, by the care 

 we used ; and you know it is said a woman never stops 

 as long as there is a drop of paint left, so the four oars 

 were gleaming. 



A week later we went again to put on the second coat, 

 and this time we had a friend with us from New York. 

 The little smooth rock on which she inscribed her name 

 and the date in yellow paint still rests in its cosy spot by 

 a tree, just as she left it. 



Next came the launching, and later yet the painting of 

 "G. W." in monogram on the stern by the camp artist, 

 and in due time the red cushions, with the monograms in 

 black made by loving friends. 



The "G. W." has many friends, and one day in the 

 summer, when we were drifting at the will of the wind 

 and musing, we were startled by the sound of a gong. A 

 horn is the usual summons to return to camp. We caught 

 up the oars, and hastened to solve the mystery. "Don't 

 you wonder how those Lancaster friends ever thought of 

 a beautiful Japanese gong for the 'G. W.' to call the crew 

 together?" they said. 



If we are not careful we shall make the "preliminary" 

 as long as Jerry w^ould ; but then that covers months, 

 while the journey was only a little over two weeks. 

 Really, we have hardly begun to tell you the good times 

 we had during these weeks of waiting. Sometimes we 

 went to Spec with a carriage full of people, and often- 

 times with a wagon full of things; anything and every- 

 thing from a cream pie to a bale of hay, or a sawhorse. 



178 



