Wyn's Camping Days; Or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club — Inside the Classic

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In Category - Historical Psychological Social Fiction

Authors: Marlowe, Amy Bell Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2010 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Camping -- Juvenile fiction; Girls -- Societies and clubs -- Juvenile fiction; Campers (Persons) -- Juvenile fiction Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 69,886

Reading time 304 min

Text sections 8

This digital edition of Wyn's Camping Days; Or, The Outing of the Go-Ahead Club — Inside the Classic is described by source-level measurements including 69,886 words, 5 hr 4 min estimated reading time, and 8 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 12.7 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Camping -- Juvenile fiction,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #31419

This editorial note examines the structure and recurring images in Amy Bell Marlowe's 1914 novel, focusing on the movement between domestic and wilderness settings, the motif of mistaken identity, and the use of back-draughts and sudden entrances to drive the plot.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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File: pg31419

Read the Text

Nobody had the politeness to ask you. Wherefore all the excitement?"

"There must be a strike at the blacksmith shop," said Percy Havel, a curly-headed blonde girl.

"No!" cried Frank, with a droll twist of her rather homely features. "I'll wager they've laid off one of the hands of the town clock. Business is dreadfully dull. I heard my father say so."

She was a tall, lanky girl, was Frances Cameron, with a great mass of blue-black hair and flashing black eyes. She was thin, strong, and lacking in those soft curves of budding womanhood which girls of her age usually display. "Straight up and down, my dears," she often said. "Built upon the most approved clothespin plan, with every bone perfectly--not to say generously--developed."

"Well," said Wyn, laughing, "if you girls will give me a chance I will divulge my news."

"Be still!" commanded Frank. "The oracle speaks."

"Oh, hurry up, Wyn!" exclaimed Percy, coming nearer the group before the now roaring fire. "I've been dying to tell them."

"Well, girls," said Wyn, smiling, so that her brown eyes fairly danced. "Mrs. Havel--Percy's aunt--says she will go."

"Fine!" exclaimed Frankie.

"You don't mean it, Wyn?" gasped Mina Everett. "Then we really _can_ go camping?"

"And to Lake Honotonka?" put in Bessie.

"That's what we aimed to do; wasn't it?" demanded Wyn, laughing. "And when the Go-Ahead Club starts to do a thing, it usually arrives; doesn't it?"

"At least, the captain arrives for them," said Frank, giving Wyn's arm a little squeeze. "We wouldn't get far in our 'go-ahead' plans if it wasn't for you, Wynnie."

"Such flattery!" protested the captain.

"You didn't have an easy time convincing my mother--I know that," said Mina, shaking _her_ head. "You know, she's so afraid of water."

"And my mother is afraid of high winds," confessed Bessie. "Wyn had to coax to bring her around."

"And of course, Gracie's mother is afraid of fire," chuckled Frank; "and there you have the three elements. You can plainly see that Gracie knows very little about fire. She never built one in her life until we formed our camping club."

"Oh, well," observed Grace, trying to rub the smut off her face with a handkerchief and the aid of a pocket-mirror, "this is about the end of the fire season, thank goodness! If we go into camp after school closes, on Lake Honotonka, there won't be any fires to build."

"Oh, _won't_ there?" cried Bessie. "You just wait. Instead of taking turns at being fireman for the week, as we do through the winter, we'll draw lots to see who shall build _all_ the fires. And you know very well, Gracie, that you always _are_ unlucky."

"Sure she is," agreed Frank. "She always draws the very boobiest of all booby prizes out of the grab-bag."

"Oh, dear me!" wailed Grace, who was big, and handsome, and not a little lazy, "I do so hate to work, too. If there had been another set of girls I liked at Denton Academy, I'd never have joined the Go-Ahead Club."

"Right. Gracie is better fitted for a Fall-Behind Club," observed Wyn.

"But tell us, Wynnie," begged Mina. "Is it really all arranged? Has everybody agreed that we can go in our canoes to Lake Honotonka?"

"And stay all vacation if we like?" cried Percy.

"That is the understanding," Wyn assured them. "Percy's aunt is the very kindest lady who ever was----"

"Vote we buy her something nice," interposed Frank.

"That will come in due season," Wyn continued. "But Mrs. Havel went with me to all our people. She knows all about the place, of course----"

"So does my father," interposed Bessie.

"And he wasn't hard to convince," Wyn responded. "Of course, there are wild nooks along Honotonka's shores; but at the upper end is Braisely Park, where all those rich folks live; and there's the village of Meade's Forge at this end of the lake. We can get supplies, or a doctor, or send a telephone message, easily enough. And what more does one want--camping out?"

"We'll have just a lovely time!" sighed Bessie. "I can hardly wait for school to close."

"A month and a half yet," said Frank Cameron. "And every day will seem longer than the one that preceded it. But then! when it does come----"

"Just think of living under canvas--and for weeks and weeks! It almost makes me feel spooky," declared Grace, beginning to grow enthusiastic.

These girls, all attending Denton Academy and living within the limits of that town, being the daughters of fairly well-to-do parents, had been able to enjoy many advantages as well as pleasures that poorer girls could not have; but none of them had chanced to experience the joys of a vacation in the woods.

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The novel opens with a bang—literally. Wynifred Mallory bursts through the door of Canoe Lodge, bringing a gust of May air that sends a balloon of smoke into the room and sets the Go-Ahead Club members coughing. This abrupt entrance establishes a pattern: scenes often begin with a sudden disruption, whether a storm, a false alarm, or an unexpected visitor. The smoke from the fireplace becomes a recurring image, signaling both the domestic comfort of the camp and the chaos that repeatedly intrudes upon it.

Structure: Entrances and Exits

The narrative is built around a series of arrivals and departures. Each chapter tends to open with a character entering a space—Canoe Lodge, the camp at Green Knoll, or a lakeside clearing—and the action often hinges on who arrives next. The Go-Ahead Club's outings are punctuated by the sudden appearance of the rival Busters, whose pranks (like the bear-costume trick) force the girls to react. This structural rhythm creates a sense of constant motion, as if the story itself is always on the verge of being interrupted.

Marlowe uses these entrances to shift the balance of power. When Wyn and her friends steal the boys' canoes after the bear scare, the tables turn, and the girls seize control. The back-and-forth between the two groups drives much of the plot, with each side trying to outmaneuver the other. The chaperone, Mrs. Havel, often mediates these encounters, her calm presence contrasting with the girls' exuberance and the boys' mischief.

Recurring Images: Smoke, Fire, and the Hearth

Fire appears repeatedly as both a practical necessity and a symbol of domestic order. In the opening scene, Grace Hedges struggles to light the fire, and Wyn's entrance creates a back-draught that finally gets it going. Later, at the camp, the girls manage a Dutch oven and worry about burning biscuits. The hearth is a focal point of the lodge, a place where the club gathers to plan and argue.

But fire also signals danger. The storm that breaks in Chapter VII threatens to extinguish the campfire, and the night alarm in Chapter XXIV suggests a more serious threat. Smoke, too, recurs: from the initial balloon of smoke to the haze of campfires, it blurs vision and creates uncertainty. These elements tie the domestic setting to the wild, reminding readers that comfort is fragile and nature is never fully tamed.

Movement Between Scenes: From Lodge to Lake

The story moves fluidly between interior and exterior spaces. Canoe Lodge is the club's home base, a place of planning and reflection, but the action quickly shifts to the lake, the woods, and the island. The girls' camping trip is the central event, and Marlowe describes the journey in detail: the packing, the storm, the arrival at Windmill Farm. Each new location brings new challenges—bears (or boys in bear suits), overturned canoes, and mysterious bateaux.

This movement is not just physical but emotional. The girls' confidence grows as they navigate the wilderness. Wyn, in particular, emerges as a leader, her quick thinking turning potential disasters into opportunities. The contrast between the controlled environment of the lodge and the unpredictable outdoors mirrors the club's own development from a social group into a capable team.

The Motif of Mistaken Identity

Mistaken identity is a central device. The most striking example is the bear scare, where the girls flee from what they believe are bears, only to discover the Busters in moth-eaten buffalo robes. Wyn's sharp observation—'They are not bears, walking on their hind legs; they are just boys'—reveals the truth and turns fear into a tactical advantage.

This pattern repeats in smaller ways. Characters misread situations: a shadow is mistaken for a threat, a sound is misinterpreted. The novel suggests that perception is unreliable, especially in the wild. The girls learn to question their first impressions, a lesson that serves them well when they encounter the 'strange bateau' and the 'sunken treasure.' The motif reinforces the theme of growth through experience, as the club members become more discerning and less easily fooled.

Readers may find it useful to track how each chapter begins and ends, noting the pattern of disruption and resolution. The novel rewards attention to small details—the smoke, the canoes, the buffalo robes—that recur and gain meaning. Marlowe's structure, built on entrances and exits, keeps the story moving briskly, while the recurring images anchor it in a vivid, tactile world. This is a book about learning to see clearly, both in the woods and in one's own assumptions.

I keep thinking about how Wyn’s story moves between the noise of home and the quiet of the woods, that shifting sense of who you are when no one’s watching. It reminded me of another old friend, where college halls feel just as wild as any forest. Molly Brown's College Friends — Reading Companion carries that same tender ache of finding yourself among others, and I’ve been carrying it with me since.