CAMP-FIRE TALES 213 



sat by the blazing logs and loafed away the hours of 

 storm and ante-bedtime, each camper brought forth his 

 share of story contributions, and told them in his best 

 style. The good stories told around that camp-fire would 

 easily fill a volume; and I would be more than human 

 if I could refrain from reporting here a few of them, as 

 samples of the whole. One of the best was told by 

 Charlie Smith, precisely as follows, concerning 



AN OUTLAW IN CAMP 



" I Spent the winter of 1878 at Fort Klamath, in 

 southern Oregon, and in January I had some business 

 at the government land-office, which then was at Lake 

 View, ninety miles away. The trip had to be made by 

 team, so early one morning I left Fort Klamath with a 

 span of good horses and a light wagon. The ground 

 was covered with snow, and as the country was sparsely 

 settled it was necessary to haul supplies for myself and 

 my horses, and camp on the trail. 



" Late in the afternoon of the second day, I reached 

 the lower end of Drew's valley, and camped for the 

 night. After unhitching my horses and feeding them, I 

 rolled three pitch-pine logs together, and soon had a 

 roaring fire going, over which I boiled a pot of coffee. 

 After supper I spread some hay on the snow, and made 

 my bed for the night. 



" When it became dark, I laid down on my blankets, 

 to enjoy a real old camp-out smoke, and watch the flicker 

 of my camp-fire on the pine boughs overhead. 



" I had lain there for some time, and was beginning 



