Hunter College High School - Argus Yearbook (New York, NY)

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and everyone looked as though it were her last day at camp, Robin had instituted Grin Day to bring sunshine back to Sabago. Yes, there was no doubt that Robin should go on the hike. But who was to be the other representative from Tip Top Tent? When Mickey had been elected wigwam chief, she had been supremely happy. Yet gladly would she change her position now with anyone willing to accept the responsibilities allied to it. Ever since she had first learned that there was to be a long hike, Mickey had thought and dreamed of nothing else. What an experience it would be to sleep under the stars for four whole nights with the soft protective earth beneath one and yarrow or evening primrose gently caressing one's face! Oh, the glory of tramping mile after mile through cool, fragrant woods, of emerging occasionally to climb upon barren, sun- beaten rocks to gaze at a beautiful panorama stretching to a distant horizon! The stories Mickey had heard about previous hikes and gipsy trips aroused her desire to go. Her hopes were cruelly shat- tered when she was told that, as chief, she had the duty-privilege. the councillor had said-of choosing two girls from her tent who were to go on the hike. They must be reliable in emergencies and cheerful in times of tribulation. That meant, of course, that she could not be one of the hikers, since it would not be at all proper to insert her own name after Robin's on the list. Yet she had been as good a camper as anyone else throughout the summer. Mickey clenched her teeth as she jumped to her feet. She had no regard for the creaks and groans of the condemned dock as she strode in- dignantly up and down. It wasn't fair, she decided, to place a girl in this sort of situation. I have a good mind to write my own name and tell 'em it's my honest opinion that I fit the requirements, thought Mickey, halting suddenly. lust then she saw a form clad in green and orange scramble down the steep path, calling, UMic-key! Yoo hoo, Mi-ick! Oh, there you are! I thought l'd find you here. Polaris is going to charge into our unit any min- ute now if you don't go to dinner. Chimes rang ten minutes ago. What's the matter? Didn't you get a letter today? The girl paused and looked anxiously at her friend. Oh, I got two letters. replied Mickey. Then she added gloomily, It's not that, Robby. lt's the hike. I wish I knew whom to choose. That's easy, responded Robin. Choose Tubby. She's so fortyasix

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Tribulation of a Tribal Chief by Natalie Krauss ., ICKEY MacARTHUR sat on the old deserted dock, her knees up to her chin and her strong, well-bruised fingers idly snapping in two twig after twigg her lackadaisical attitude belied the activity of her mind. From the moment the camp bus had crossed the narrow wooden bridge over the frog pond, and coughing and . sputtering, had jerked a final stop before the canteen three and a half encampments ago, -- - camp had been a glorious, care-free adventure for Mickey, especially since this was her first season at Camp Sabago. Why, oh, why did this responsibility have to rest upon her shoulders now? Through the trees, she could see the vivid colors of bathing suits, as girl after girl leaped from the spring board and deftly cut the water. How well she remembered the day she had taken her swimming classification test! She had sanguinely assured Neptune that diving was child's play to her, but it had been a sheepish Mickey who climbed upon the float after hitting the water more flatly than a collapsible high hat. She could laugh at that conceit now, because only yesterday she had broken the last strangle hold for her Iunior Life Saving test. It was strange, thought Mickey, that after six weeks of failure she had within the last week gained the necessary skill and confidence in the water. These might have been achieved through Neptune's rigorous training. but Mickey chose to attribute them to Robin's aid and encouragement. That train of thought, however, forced upon Mickey the reminder of her present perplexing situation, Robin, of course, was an easy choice for her. Everyone knew that, although these had been Robin's first seven days at camp-at any camp, she was just the kind of a girl to take along on a five day hike. On the last breakfast hike, when both the girls and the councillors were grumb- ling because somebody had forgotten to include the silverware in the pack baskets, Robin had laughed and exclaimed: What fun it'll be to eat blueberry flapjacks on twigs like lollypopsln Again, when it had rained for three successive days, I H . forty-five nd

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sleepy all the time that she never disobeys the silence-after-taps rule. But let's hurry. I'm simply famishedf' and Robin chatted on and on in an attempt to raise her friend's spirits. That night Mickey was at the star gazing class in body only. Her usual questions were conspicuously absent. When she had snuggled into her iron cot, she had no ghost stories with which to thrill her tentmates. She wondered if the other wigwam chiefs wanted to go as much as she did. Would they be brave enough to write their own names? What would they think if she asked them their selections? The sharp Katy did, she did, she did which sounded through the night air seemed to change to an accusing cry of, Mickey did, she did. she did. Later in the night, Mickey was aroused from sleep by the far-off rumble of a train. The forest was illuminated by the bright yellow harvest moon. In the sharp, clear night air, the stars ap- peared to be suspended midway between the vault of the heavens and the seemingly motionless earth. Mickey felt exalted by the re- alization of the magnitude of the universe. Suddenly, she won- dered how a petty desire to go on a hike could have so completely occupied her mind as to obscure thoughts of the really fine ideals in life. She wavered not for a moment: her decision was irrevocably made. Tubby would go! Immediately the stillness of the night was interrupted. The katydids, as though waiting for a signal, broke into a new cry, Mickey didn't, she didn't, she didn't. No, thought Mickey contentedly, Mickey didn't surrender to the mischievous elf within her. She turned to the other side of the cot with a sigh of satisfaction. Another sigh, this time, one of relief, escaped from Mickey's lips the following evening as she handed to the pioneering coun- cillor a slip of paper on which were written the names Robin and Tubby . After lingering near the gadget tent until she was sure that Robin had been notified of her good fortune, Mickey returned to the tent to learn her reaction to the news. As she clambered into the tent from the rear, the beaming face of Robin encountered her. Mickey, you're one big mistake. You should never have been put on earth. Anyone who could send me on a five day hike after I had removed all the buttons from her gym suit and after I had ruined her tent's color guard by putting a councillor's pajamas on the flagpole surely must be an angel, exclaimed Robin. Then forty-seven