428 



RECREATION 



level, as is the case with the cross- legged 

 kind. This kind of a bed, while being very 

 compact for transportation (the poles being 

 cut wherever one pitches his tent), affords 

 good protection from the dampness of the 

 ground and from any of those elongated 

 sneakers which send the cold chills up the 

 back when seen anywhere except in a 

 museum. 



The rest of our outfit consisted of a small . 

 oil stove (which could be dispensed with 

 except when there are ladies along who are 

 not used to camping), two or three tin pails, 

 tin plates, tin cups, a frying pan and a few 

 cheap knives, forks and spoons, the whole 

 costing a little over a dollar. As we were 

 careful in selecting our cooking utensils, we 

 were able by proper nesting of the tinware 

 to put the whole cooking outfit, including 

 the oil stove, inside of a ten-quart pail. 



The entire camping outfit cost about 

 $16.50, and was packed in one shoe box, 

 about 18 by 18 by 36 inches, including tent, 

 fly, bed, blankets, cooking utensils and two 

 folding camp chairs. It could as well be 

 packed in a bag, which perhaps would be 

 easier to carry in a boat or canoe. 



At Bangor we hired a man to drive us out 

 to Chemo Lake, seventeen miles away, the 

 scene of our health and pleasure resort for 

 ten days, and a more enjoyable ten days 

 was never spent by any party of civilized- • 

 worn people. 



To pitch one's tent on the shores of a 

 beautiful lake like Chemo, four miles from 

 the main road and a mile from the nearest 

 farmhouse ; to get one's lungs filled with 

 Nature's ozone and the nostrils satisfied 

 with the sweet scents of the wilds; to be 

 lulled to sleep at night by the gentle rustle 

 of the leaves as they are fanned by the 

 breeze; to be awakened in the morning by 

 the chatter of the blue jays and squirrels, 

 and to lie for a time charmed with the cheery 

 voices of the chicadees and the thrush, all 

 after a most refreshing night's sleep — these 

 and many others are the joys and life-giving 

 comforts to be found in the Garden of the 

 Wilds, so close to Nature's heart. 



The grounds where we pitched our tents 

 were not ideal for camping, but as there is 

 but one spring of water at that end of the 

 lake, we decided that it would be better to 

 put up with a little more inconvenience, due 



to rough ground, than to have to go a long 

 distance for water. Our tables were made 

 of the two covers of our camping boxes and 

 rested on rough stakes driven into the 

 ground, in the shelter of some small oak 

 trees, which afforded ample shade during 

 the noon hour. The cool side of a big 

 boulder near-by formed our refrigerator, 

 and was all right except that the "porkers" 

 had the key to it, and occasionally left us to 

 provide something different than we had 

 planned for breakfast. 



Although last year seems to have been an 

 off-year for fishing at Chemo, nevertheless 

 we managed to keep the larder supplied 

 with enough white perch, pickerel and 

 black bass to keep us in good condition, and 

 the farm house not far away provided us 

 with the necessary milk, butter, bread and 

 vegetables. These fresh supplies, supple- 

 mented by a few condiments, a little bacon, 

 beans, etc., which we took with us, gave us 

 a table fit for a king. 



Under the shade of some near-by trees our 

 hammock was swung, where one could lie 

 and read or think over the delights of the 

 place, or of the miseries that civilized people 

 were undergoing in hot cities amid the rush 

 and bustle of things. I could hardly help 

 thinking of a little story I once heard told 

 that contrasted the restfulness of the 

 country with the rush of the city. A man 

 who had traveled much was spending the 

 night with some relative in a quiet country 

 spot, and upon awaking in the morning 

 he lay for a time thinking of the restfulness 

 of the place, and listened to the old- 

 fashioned clock in the hall, which seemed to 

 say by its measured beats, "tick — tack, 

 tick — tack, take — rest, take — rest." But 

 how different when the next night was spent 

 in the busy metropolis and the first sound 

 that greeted him in the morning was the 

 rapid click of the little seventy-five cent 

 nickle clock on the mantle, which seemed 

 to vibrate all over with the words so rapidly 

 repeated, "tick-tack, tick-tack, get-there, 

 get-there." 



One cannot fully realize the delights of a 

 camping trip until seated on the ground 

 late in the evening around a rousing, crack- 

 ling camp fire, each with a long greenwood 

 stick firmly stuck into the butt end of a large 

 juicy ear of sweet corn, which sizzles and 



