Larry all this time had been busy getting the supper, Martin offering a suggestion now and then. When he saw that the meal was almost ready the old man spread a piece of canvas on the ground just inside the opening of the tent and before the log fire he had laid, and set out the plates and cups, and when Larry announced that the feast was ready Martin lighted the fire in front of the logs.
He had a double motive in this—to show the boy how to make a heating fire and to furnish heat for the evening. For the weather was growing very cold, and he had some work that he wished to do which would require light to guide his fingers and heat for keeping them warm.
With the protection of the tent back of them and the roaring fire in front they toasted their shins and ate leisurely. To Larry it all seemed like one grand lark, and he said so.
“I’m afraid you will change your mind about it being such a lark before we are through with it,” the old man said presently. “It won’t be a lark for either of us. But I’m beginning to feel more hopeful about it, now that I see that you can learn things, and are willing to try.”
He lighted his pipe and smoked thoughtfully for a few minutes. Larry too, was thoughtful, turning over in his mind the old hunter’s last remark.
“And so you have been thinking all this time that I might be in the way—that perhaps you would be better off if you were alone, and didn’t have a boy like me on your hands?” the boy asked presently.
For a little time the old man did not answer, puffing his pipe and gazing silently at the fire. At last he said:
“I couldn’t help feeling a little that way at first, Larry. The job on our hands is one for a strong man, not for a city boy. But I’m feeling different now that I see how you take hold and are willing to work, and try to learn all the things I tell you. And wouldn’t it be funny,” he added, with a twinkle in his kindly eye, “if, sometime, I should get into trouble and you have to help me out of it instead of my helping you all the time? A fellow can never tell what strange things may happen on the trail; and that is one reason why no man should start on a journey through the woods in the winter time alone.”
Presently the old man knocked the ashes from his pipe and set about cleaning the dishes, Larry helping him; but neither of them were in talking mood, each busy with his own thoughts. When they had finished the hunter said:
“Now I’ll show you how to make an Indian fire, the kind the Indian still likes best of all, and the best kind to use when wood is scarce or when you want to boil a pot of tea or get a quick meal.”