CHAPTER V
NEW TRICKS IN WOODCRAFT
"Camp making is a science," said Cale Vaughn that night, after theyhad selected a suitable site for their night's lodging. "In thewoods you should first clear the site of brush and all dead leaves,for the danger of fire is very great in these big timber tracts.Just a little carelessness might do a million dollars' worth ofdamage. If you have to burn off the rubbish, do so in small spotsat a time, then backfire toward the center. Be extremely carefulabout this. While one is unpacking, the others will be engaged incutting poles for the tents, getting the food ready, each man havinghis task to perform. I don't need to advise you on that point. Youboys can beat me in pitching a camp. You could give points to acircus man, I really believe. In case your ground is too rocky topermit driving in stakes, you may erect two tripods at a convenientdistance apart on which to place the ridge pole. If you have noridge pole use a rope instead."
"That is a good idea. I never thought of it," nodded Butler.
"In this way you can make a self-supporting framework without drivinga single stick into the ground. Then comes your bed. How would yougo to work to make a browse-bed, Master Tad?"
"Either stick the pine or cedar stems into the ground until they willhold you up, or pile the browse in until you have enough to lie on,"answered Tad.
"That will do very well, but the woodsman likes to take a little morepains, especially if he is going to remain in camp for a few days, aswe shall do."
"We are ready to learn," nodded Rector.
"Then I will explain. First smooth the ground, leaving no stones,stubs or hummocks. Cut head and foot logs a foot thick, and sidelogs which may be somewhat smaller. Pin them down with invertedcrotches, making a rectangular framework on the ground to keep thebrowse in place. Do you get me?"
"Yes, yes," answered the boys.
"I never knew how to make my bed so it wouldn't slip out from underme in the night," laughed Tad. "In the morning I usually find myselflying on the bare ground, no matter how carefully I have made mybed."
"So I have observed," smiled the guide. "We will have Charlie do thiswork hereafter, but it might be a good idea for you boys to help inorder to get your hands in. There will be many times when you willhave to do it for yourselves."
"We have had to do so many times already," muttered Walter.
"To continue with our subject, next fell a thriving balsam orhemlock--spruce, pine or cedar will do if you can get nothingelse--and strip off the fans."
The boys drew closer, for they were learning something that was of nolittle interest to them.
"Place a course of boughs a foot long against the head-log, buttsdown and to the front, then shingle another layer in front of theseand continue in that way down to the foot of the bed, leaving onlythe tips of the boughs showing."
"That is something like my way of making the browse-bed," said Tad.
"Yes, except that yours is a heap of greens, not a bed," answered theguide.
Tad agreed to this with a nod.
"New greens should be put in every day to freshen your bed and keepit soft."
"It strikes me that a bed of that sort means a lot of work," observedRector.
"I could sleep myself to death on that kind of couch," mused Stacy.
"You can do that all right on the hard ground," answered Butler."Ever hear Stacy snore, Mr. Vaughn?"
"I have not had that pleasure."
"Oh, it won't be any pleasure. Take my word for that," asserted Ned.
"No, you will think a troop of trained sea lions have broken looseand strayed out in the woods. Never heard anything like it in mylife," said Tad.
"Outside of a zoological garden, Tad," added Ned.
"Having finished this," resumed the guide, "we come to the questionof caring for the food. I presume you have lost grub now and then?"
"Principally through the medium of Stacy Brown's mouth," answeredNed.
"Hang your salt pork or bacon to a tree beside the fireplace where itwill be handy. If you are in a country where there are thievingvarmints, suspend the stuff from a wire or cord secured to two treessheltering the stuff from sun and rain. If you have packs, pile themneatly together, covering them with canvas; or, in the event of nothaving any of the latter, make a thatch roof of boughs. Protect yoursaddles and trappings in the same way, making sure that the lashropes cannot get wet and shrink. Have everything where you knowwhere to find it in the darkest night and where it will not beoverlooked when you break camp."
"I see we have a lot to learn," said Tad.
"Yes, we've been thinking we knew it all," agreed Chunky.
"For a more permanent camp, of course you would go more into detail."
"Please explain," urged Tad.
"Yes, tell us everything. We shall probably decide to live in thewoods one of these days," added Rector.
Stacy shook his head slowly.
"I don't think I want to go into permanent camp, if there's any morework about it than we have to do already."
"There is considerably more," smiled Cale. "You know how to make adining table. I have shown you that already. You will want to makea kitchen table in the same way, using sticks, as you will have noboards. Dig a sink hole into which to throw your refuse, sprinklingashes or dirt over the stuff every day, otherwise you will bepestered with flies. If you have a spring handy it will be a goodplace in which to keep fresh meat, such as venison. The outside ofthe meat will come out white and stringy, but the inside of it willkeep fresh and sweet for weeks, provided no bears come nosing aroundafter the stuff."
"I am afraid such a plant would not last long in these woods," saidTad.
"Not long," agreed the guide. "However, there is a simple way toscare off the animals. All you have to do is to tie a white rag toa stick directly over this cache. It will cause them to keep a safedistance away ordinarily. Speaking of caching or storing food forfuture use, there are several ways of doing this. My usual way is tosuspend the stuff from a wire strung between trees, high enough to beout of the reach of any prowling animals. Be sure to peel the barkfrom the trees to which your line is fastened. That will prevent theanimals from climbing the tree."
"What do you think of it, boys?" asked Tad, glancing at hiscompanions.
"I never thought there was so much to it," answered Rector.
"Oh, I haven't begun yet," laughed Vaughn.
"Please, please don't begin, then, if you are going to put all thisinto practice. I want to get some fun out of this trip, not make aslave of myself," begged Stacy amid a general laugh.
"I think you boys have had enough instruction for one day. Perhaps Iam telling you some things that you know already?"
"No, no; go on," begged the boys.
"Yes, go on, I can stand it to hear about it, if I don't have to doany of the work," nodded Chunky solemnly.
"Let's see. Well, suppose I talk to you about campfires. Come overby the fire and sit down. Our friend, Master Stacy, is weary afterhis bee experience, and I don't know that I blame him," said Vaughnwith a merry twinkle in his eyes.
"I'll warrant he isn't half as tired as the bees that stung him.They surely will have contracted the hook-worm disease," declaredNed.
"Now we are ready to hear about the campfire," reminded Tad, afterthey had seated themselves. The Professor, who had been reading,laid down his book to listen.
"As you know from sad experience, some green woods will not burn,"began the guide. "Leaving aside the woods that will not burn, I'llmention some of those that will do good service when green. Hickoryis the best of all. It makes a hot fire, lasts a long time, and burnsdown to a bed of coals that will keep up an even heat for hours.Next in value are the chestnut, oak and dogwood. Black birch isexcellent, too, doing its own blowing."
"Blowing?" questioned the Professor.
"Yes, sir. That means that the oil in the birch assists itscombustion, so that the wood needs no coaxing to make it burn. Sugarmaple is good, too, b
ut it is too valuable a tree to waste. Locustand mulberry are good fuel. Now white ash makes one of thefirst-class campfire fuels. It is easy to cut and tote and catchesfire readily."
"What about kindling?" interjected Tad.
"Yes, kindling," urged Stacy. "I've burned up half of my old shirtstrying to start fires."
"The birch bark is one of the best," answered the guide. "Besides, itmakes good torches. It is full of resinous oil, blazes up at once,will burn in any wind, and even wet sticks may be kindled with it."
"That's new," nodded Butler.
"Stacy, there's your job. You won't have to sacrifice any moreshirts in trying to start a campfire," said Ned. "Your job, from nowon, is peeling birch bark for kindling."
"Pitch pine, of course, affords the best knots," continued Cale."Splits from a stump whose outside has been burned are rich in resin.Don't pick up sticks from the ground, but rather those from the downwood. Ordinarily you will find fine dry wood in a tree that has beenshivered by lightning."
"Br-r-r!" shivered the fat boy.
"To get to our subject--fire--you must remember that more necessarythan kindling or firewood is air. What I mean is, don't jumble yourfuel together any old way, but build up a systematic structure so theair can draw under it and upward through the pile."
"That's why my shirts wouldn't burn," interrupted the fat boy. "Ijammed them down in the pile of wood just as I'd ram a wad into amuzzle-loading gun."
"Just like you," affirmed Rector.
"Lay two good-sized sticks on the ground for a foundation to beginwith. Across them at right angles place a few dry twigs or splintersso they do not quite touch. On these, one at each side, lay yourpaper or bark, then on top of this put two other cross sticks,smaller than the bed sticks; over this a cross layer of larger twigsjust as you would build a cob house, but gradually increasing the sizeof the sticks as you work up toward the top of your house. You trythat and see if you don't have a roaring fire in a minute after youapply the match. We will build one, or rather you boys may, when weget into our camp tomorrow."
"Great!" agreed the boys.
"There are numerous methods, such as 'trapper's fire,' 'hunter'sfire,' 'Indian's fire,' and the like. I will tell you about them atsome other time. You will get them all jumbled into one if I tellyou now. I will add that, for warmth, you should build a low fire.If you build up a big, roaring fire you can't get near it. The lowfire enables you to hover over it. That's an Indian trick. I couldgo on talking about fires from now until tomorrow morning, but thebest way is to take these up one by one and learn them by actualexperience. That we will do as we go along. You boys are finewoodsmen already, but like all the rest of us, you still have somethings to learn. I am going to teach you all I know, and if you willwatch Charlie John you may be able to get some points from him."
"Most interesting indeed," agreed the Professor.
"The first rainy day we have I will show you how to build a fire inquick time when everything is soaked. Tomorrow we will put some ofour theories regarding camp-making and fire-building into practice.Just now it's time for our chuck and then some stories over theevening fire," concluded the guide.