A One-Horse Vacation. 
Our little family were gathered in the study 
in solemn consultation, and in order that you 
may better understand this story, I will tell 
you what we were discussing. Some days prior 
to the date upon which this story opens I had 
requested the powers to grant me a three- 
weeks’ vacation and was told that I could lay 
off three days. Memories of past vacations, 
weeks long, came trooping in, but we stead¬ 
fastly banished the past and applied ourselves 
to the problem of how to get the most fun out 
of three days. 
“But where can we go? It seems to me we 
makes of tents and have at last settled upon 
the silk canoe tent as the best suited to our 
purpose. It is 7x7 feet, yet folds into a. small 
package; it weighs only ten pounds, is easy to 
set up, requires few stakes and no pole. 
The cooking outfit we have about reduced to 
the condition of a cipher with the rim knocked 
off. The aluminum frying-pan has a detachable 
handle, large size. When going extremely 
light, we simply turn a tin plate bottom up over 
the frying-pan and use it as a Dutch oven; but 
ordinarily we carry an aluminum folding baker 
when we plan to bake, as it folds flat and can 
be packed upon the bottom of the buggy-box 
and does not take up much room. I do not 
This is all packed beneath the seat without 
crowding. The ax—the head of which is 
sheathed—is placed beneath the seat with 
handle forward. We carry a full grown ax and 
a good one, too. There was a time when we 
packed a small belt ax beneath the buggy seat, 
but one day, when looking for trout on the 
Menominee Indian Reservation, we came to a 
great hemlock trunk prone in the road, and we 
had to swamp a road around the obstructing 
tree with the little, make-believe ax. If you 
plan to take a driving trip over forest roads be 
sure to include a good ax in your outfit. 
Two ten-pound wool and one five-pound 
cotton blankets are placed on the buggy seat 
CASTING FOR TROUT IN THE SOUTH BRANCH. 
THE LITTLE CAMP ON THE RIVER BANK. 
have covered the contiguous territory pretty 
thoroughly, and I would like to fish a new 
trout stream.” 
“Never mind where,” airily retorted my wife, 
“we’ll test Stevenson’s assertion—that it is 
more blessed to journey than it is to arrive. 
We will just set out without an objective point 
for once.” 
So it was decided and we set about getting 
ready, a simple matter with us, for we have 
gotten ready for such trips so often that it is 
an old story; but for the benefit of the un¬ 
initiated I am going to tell you just what we 
take on such a trip. 
It is possible for me to secure a day off now 
and then; and as there are no streams within 
leach, our excursions must be made with a 
horse and buggy. Guided by experience, we 
have secured a camp equipment which is almost 
ideal for our purpose; the ideal will never be 
reached in camp outfits. We are always study¬ 
ing how to eliminate some articles, how to re¬ 
duce the weight of another, and always we make 
progress. Each season we discard some article, 
or replace it with a lighter or less bulky one. 
How to keep his outfit up to a certain point of 
efficiency and yet to reduce the weight and bulk 
is the camper’s ever-present problem. 
We have experimented with many styles and 
disparage the Dutch oven, it serves upon neces¬ 
sity, and almost; any solderless cooking vessel 
will do in a pinch; but to all those who plan 
to take a one-horse vacation, I would say, take 
a reflecting baker, as it will add variety to your 
bill of fare, and experiments in cookery are al¬ 
ways interesting. Thoreau was satisfied with a 
spoonful of dried cake crumbs; I prefer fresh 
cake, and a whole one, too. A pie made from 
fresh fruit gathered from nature’s great garden 
is better than the finished product of the city 
purveyor. 
> When upon a driving trip we carry white 
enameled ware, as the added weight does not 
so much matter. However, we never carry all 
the dishes we could use, but are luxurious 
enough to include soup bowls and saucers. 
To contain the dishes, food and a few perish¬ 
able articles, I have built a small wannagan-box, 
12x19 inches, which just fits into the rear of the 
buggy box, and is covered with waterproof 
canvas and provided with lock and key, for we 
leave the forest nymphs in charge of the horse 
and camp while we go fishing. Under the 
buggy seat we pack the tent, the two camp 
kettles, nested, each in a canvas bag; the frying- 
pan, also bagged; the camera, the trout creels, 
which contain reels, fly-books, etc.; the rods, 
all of the trunk pattern, and the folding tripod. 
beneath the cushion. A tarpaulin, made of un¬ 
bleached cotton sheeting treated with oil, is 
folded and laid on the cushion or strapped to 
the rear of the rig. That tarpaulin is one of 
the most used things in our outfit—it serves 
as a duster, rubber boot, extra bed blanket, 
horse blanket, poncho, etc. Do not attempt 
buggy camping without one. 
Behind the iron foot rail we place the folding 
canvas pail—for the horse; two screw-top tins, 
one for oil for the dash light and the other 
for oil for the buggy; a monkey wrench and a 
spool of copper wire. Beneath the floor carpet 
I tuck five or six bits of hay-wire, handy to 
hang kettles over the fire, or mend a broken 
harness or buggy. Another tool is a pair of 
nipping pliers, stowed in a little bag with a few 
brass rivets and nails. 
Often I am asked, “What do you do for 
extra clothing?” and my answer always is, “We 
do without,” though that is not exactly true. 
Wife wears an abbreviated skirt, bloomers, and 
a coat of her own manufacture; I wear a duck 
hunting suit; girl wears any old clothes she 
may happen to have. We all carry wooien 
drawers, over-alls and stockings for wading, 
though Wife usually wears her skirt in the 
water, thinking, “Suppose a man should see 
me?” She is very feminine in spite of. bloomers 
