84 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



'BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE" 



THE INVITATION: "ALL ABOARD." 



wintergreen and finally mint, which 

 while being neither fish nor fowl was a 

 very necessary adjunct to — well, ask 

 any man south of the Mason 

 Dixon line. Such memories 

 haunt mpl 

 ment. 



and 



that 



me! Old Bill was in his ele- 



Had he not lived many years 



in the south, and do not the young 

 learn by absorption? Anyway Old 

 Bill shall never be forgotten while mint 

 grows. ( )ur camp fires were built of 

 all sizes according to our moods. We 

 had the little cheerful friendship fire 

 — just to light up the kindly faces that 

 gathered around it, each face giving 

 back its reflected light of friendship and 

 warmth that is always reserved for 

 such occasions. Then there was the 

 comfort fire — logs of yellow and white 

 birch added to the blaze by their 

 resinous vapors bright tongues of blue 

 and white flame. Sometimes one 

 would add a chestnut log to the fire. 

 What a shower of sparks and crackling 

 it made ! It was soon removed. Was 

 not this a comfort fire and who wants 

 to be dodging sparks all the evening? 



The cooking fire Avas the most im- 

 portant event of the day ; dry limbs 

 from fallen trees or branches make a 

 good hot fire and a few of them at the 

 right snot soon have the meal under 

 way. What more can you ask of any 

 fire? The Captain had a folding baker, 

 and, sneaking of folding, everything 

 he had was folding — cot, chairs, ax. 

 knife, table, cooking kit and even the 

 blankets came under this category. 

 The baker was a wonder, to hear trie 

 Captain explain it to Charming Wife. 



She, poor, confiding girl, became en- 

 thusiastic. "I'll stir up the best John- 

 ny cake you boys ever tasted," she 

 said. 



"Well, why don't you?" said Fat 

 One; and she did but you shall judge. 



Charming Wife seemed to the boys 

 to be one of those natural born mixers 

 — perhaps cooks is a better word. 

 Chicken feed, no, I mean corn meal, 

 seemed to be the chief article used. 

 With awe we watched her deft fingers 

 adding butter, salt, pepper, baking 

 powder. Old Bill said afterward she 

 put in chili sauce but I'll not stand 

 for such blasphemy. She stirred up the 

 mess and put it in the baker and the 

 Captain carefully placed the baker in 

 front of the fire where the reflected 

 heat was to do the rest. Now fifteen 

 minutes was to do the trick. Fat One 

 held the watch while Charming Wife 

 was the center of a group of anxious 

 watchers. 



'Time's up," said Fat One, but a 

 stick run into the cake showed it needed 

 more heat. Captain put the baker 

 nearer the fire : the cake commenced 

 to burn on the side next the flames ; 

 it was left, however, because the other 

 side of the cake needed more cooking. 

 At last it was decided by the council 

 of cooks that it must be ready. 



In the meantime, we had such a hot 

 fire that Cousin Joe could not get near 

 it, and the rest of the dinner already 

 prepared, having been withdrawn to a 

 safe distance, had gotten cold ; but 

 what do campers care for such trifles! 

 The hot fire and hot sun had warmed 



