GUESTS OF THE FORESTS 45 



trees in the filtered sunshine, eating, talking, laughing noisily. The thick 

 layer of pine needles muted footfalls. In three or four places men played 

 horseshoes, slow and easy, punctuated with ribald jests. 



"Hello, sister," I was greeted as I sat down on a log and watched a game. 



"Lo." 



"Your buddy left you all alone?" 



I grinned, but decided not to say anything. He soon went ambling off 

 with a pretty high school girl who blinked her eyes at him. People came and 

 watched the game, then moved on. Adolescents moved about self-consciously 

 on their long, young legs. 



After lunch some of the energetic youths of my prebreakfast acquaintance 

 organized games. They had prizes and they went around trying to herd 

 everyone out on the field. Full of food and lazy in the midday heat, they were 

 sluggish. 



"Come on, everybody." 



"Come on out to the field; we're gonna have some races." 



"Here's your chance to show how good you are." 



They drifted slowly out into the white sunlight. Already an improvised 

 game of softball was going on in one corner. 



There were relay races for 7- to 10-year-olds, boys, then girls. There were 

 races for the older ones. There were three-legged races. There was a race for 

 the women to sew buttons on the men's shirts. The final event was an old- 

 fashioned tug-of-war, which nearly ended in a fight. 



A lot of them went swimming again. The general tempo quieted down, 

 fatigue encroached. The chocolate-smeared children were hauled off by their 

 parents, some crying. Many were already asleep on the ground. Others 

 flopped down where they were. Their limp,, shapeless figures sprawled in 

 the sun with the abandon of the sleeper. The sharp clink of horseshoes on 

 metal stake rang under the trees. 



As the sun tipped the trees in the west the campground came to life. The 

 children woke up and started careening around. People got up stiffly from the 

 ground. They stood around and yawned, slowly orienting themselves. 



One by one cars started leaving for home. As the shadows grew long across 

 the field, the crowd flattened out. People moved through the trees, wearily 



