[ii]
[iii]

[iv]

Emblem

[v]

[vii]

PRESENTATION

The joyous, exhilarating call of the wilderness and the forest camp issurely and steadily penetrating through the barriers of brick, stone,and concrete; through the more or less artificial life of town and city;and the American girl is listening eagerly. It is awakening in herlongings for free, wholesome, and adventurous outdoor life, for theinnocent delights of nature-loving Thoreau and bird-loving Burroughs.Sturdy, independent, self-reliant, she is now demanding outdoor booksthat are genuine and filled with practical information; books that tellhow to do worth-while things, that teach real woodcraft and are notadapted to the girl supposed to be afraid of a caterpillar or to shudderat sight of a harmless snake.

In answer to the demand, "On the Trail" has been written. The authors'deep desire is to help girls respond to this new, insistent call bypointing out to them the open trail. It is their hope and wish thattheir girl readers may seek the charm of the wild and may find the samehappiness in the life of the open that the American boy has enjoyedsince the first settler built his little cabin on the shores of the NewWorld. To forward this object, the why and how, the where and when ofthings of camp and trail have been embodied in this book.[viii]

Thanks are due to Edward Cave, president and editor of Recreation, forkindly allowing the use of some of his wild-life photographs.

[ix]

CONTENTS