downing] THE SUMMER OUTING 233 



built in front of the lean-to will make the tent comfortable even on 

 a cold night, if the wind is not blowing. 



A second requisite for comfort at night is a bed with bedding. 

 One can always find the material for making a comfortable bed on 

 the ground. In the evergreen woods, boughs of balsam laid down 

 with the butts all pointing in one direction, the concave face of the 

 bough turned down, will make the foundation for the bed. On top 

 of this may be spread finer twigs. If you are going to camp for 

 several days in the same spot, it pays to gather dry leaves, ferns, 

 or to dry out sphagnum moss for bedding by spreading it on the 

 rocks during the sunny hours of the day. Along the shores of the 

 lake or ocean, one may select a sandy spot far enough above water 

 level so that the sand is dry, and pitch the tent so that you may lie 

 in a wallow of the sand that you fit comfortably to your body by 

 appropriate wiggling. 



If you object to lying upon the ground a bed may be easily 

 built by driving short crotched sticks into the ground and on these 

 supporting poles 6>2 feet long for the long sides of the bed, and 

 2}4 feet long for the short sides. Tie to this framework some cross 

 slats made of saplings and then put the balsam boughs upon it. 

 It will probably be necessary to judiciously introduce added sup- 

 ports along the sides of the bed, after you have given it a trial. 



At two or three points in making up the equipment for an outing, 

 it is poor economy to economize. One of these is the selection of 

 the blankets. You want the minimum of weight with the maxi- 

 mum of warmth. A soft blanket made of fine wool and of ample 

 size is desirable. It should be a couple of feet longer than you are, 

 and the width should be three times the circumference of your 

 body. vSuch a blanket can hardly be purchased for less than six 

 dollars. 



With good grade wool comfort filler and some light weight gray 

 flannel or dark outing flannel, an ingenious youngster can make a 

 comfort that will be warm and relatively cheap. Do not tie the 

 wool in at too many places, but only enough to hold it in place, 

 for after a few camping trips, you will probably find it necessary to 

 take the cover off to wash it. Take with you three or four horse 

 blanket safety pins. With these you can pin your blanket around 

 you, so that even if you do roll about a bit in the night, you will not 

 be uncovered. It is just such little tricks as this that make the 

 difference between camping with comfort and in misery. 



