Camping With Old Ben 251 



the tent, and Ben showed me how to cover the 

 pile with the blanket, and then tuck the edges 

 under so that when we laid upon it, our bed 

 would not flatten out as much as it would 

 otherwise do. Our second blanket we put on 

 top of the first one, and Ben called it, " the 

 spread." 



The bed now being ready, we went outside 

 and piled a lot of wood upon the camp fire 

 and sat down by it, to enjoy a real camp fire 

 talk. 



" Of course, we don't need the fire to-night 

 to keep us warm," said Ben, " but it looks so 

 cheerful that I love to watch it burn and see 

 the pictures come and go. Besides it helps to 

 keep off the mosquitoes. 



" A bright fire is good to cook with, but a 

 smudge keeps off mosquitoes. To make a 

 smudge, put on some punk, or, if you cannot 

 find that, a bunch of green grass." 



I pulled a handful of grass and was aston- 

 ished to see how quickly a dark wreath of 

 smoke was curling up through the treetops. 



" The Indians always used fires for sig- 



