XXIII 



THE CAMP-FIRE 



IF " the open fire furnishes the room," 

 the camp-fire does more for the camp. 

 It is its life a life that throbs out in 

 every flare and flicker to enliven the 

 surroundings, whether they be the trees 

 of the forest, the expanse of prairie, 

 shadowed only by clouds and night, or 

 the barren stretch of sandy shore. Out 

 of the encompassing gloom of all these, 

 the camp-fire materializes figures as real 

 to the eye as flesh and blood. It peoples 

 the verge of darkness with grotesque 

 forms, that leap and crouch and sway 

 with the rise and fall and bending of the 

 flame to the wind, and that beckon the 

 fancy out to grope in the mystery of night. 



Then imagination soars with the up- 

 drift of smoke and the climbing galaxy 

 of fading sparks, to where the steadfast 

 stars shine out of the unvisited realm 

 that only imagination can explore. 

 103 



