If it be desired to have a pitch roof cut short logs to fill in the gable ends and hew down the pitch to the desired angle. Fill all crevices with moss, grass or clay. A door may be made of slabs split from a cedar tree and hung on leather or rawhide hinges.
For fittings build two bunks of poles across the narrow end and fill them with fir browse. There will be room enough to stow personal belongings at the foot of the bunks and they will add to the warmth. If a camp stove is used place it at the back opposite the door and run the pipe through the roof. If no stove is used, make a fireplace of rocks laid up in clay and have a hole in the roof for the smoke to go out. If dry wood is used the smoke in the room is not offensive, for a very little fire will warm the place as much as is desirable. Do not use cedar wood for the fire, for the sparks will fly all over the place.
If desirable, many elaborations of this building can be made. If a chimney is desired build it of stones and clay and build the wall into it, so as to leave the chimney half inside and half outside.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL ADVICE
In preparing for camp, one of the most important questions to be settled is the choice of companions. Nowhere will human nature be developed as in the camp, where quarters are limited and when there is no opportunity to get out of the way and stamp down “that ugly feeling” that the best of us have at times. If there is a single bristle on a man’s back it will rise on an uncomfortable rainy day in camp. If a man is a gentleman he keeps his coat on and it bothers no one but his own conscience; but a surly grumbler, a gourmand who must have just what he wants to eat, irrespective of how much trouble it may make, or a selfish, lazy man, will disturb the feelings of all the rest.
And a word of advice here. Constitute one man, the best-posted and most equal-tempered man in the party, as captain; and when a man makes himself obnoxious and will not be reasoned with, let the captain call assistance, if necessary, and either cool him off in the nearest lake or quietly escort him to the nearest point of embarkation and bid him a long farewell; at all events, remember next year that he is not eligible for membership.
Make the party small (four is enough, three is better), for many reasons. There is less chance for argument, crowding is avoided, and transportation facilitated. If the party is necessarily larger, divide it up into squads, so that the man in charge of the party may not have all his own fun spoiled in attending to the needs of others. Make one man paymaster and do not ask him to shoulder the whole expense of the trip, but make an estimate of the cost and hand over your share in advance. Then when the trip is over, cheerfully settle up, and if you are not wholly satisfied, do not put up a kick, but swallow the dose and remember it the next time.
More than that, always remember that life is too short to grumble or fight, and if any campmate makes himself too obnoxious, get rid of him, or manage to get a letter calling you home on important business. You go to camp to get needed rest and escape the fights of a busy life, and no man has a right to interfere with another’s pleasure; always provided that the other party behaves like a man himself.
Now let us suppose that you have procured your outfits, selected your camp ground, and have arrived at the place. Set to work quickly to select a site for the tent, and get it ready for occupancy at once. All hands take hold under the direction of your captain, and the work will all be over in a short time. Pitch the tent and get your beds ready; make a fireplace and get wood for a fire, so the cook will be able to tend strictly to his cooking. If Joe or Tom grabs his rod the moment it is taken from the conveyance, unless he is so ordered by the captain, just insert your fingers under his coat collar and politely kick a little sense into him.
When you get your first meals do not give way to the abnormal appetite always generated by fresh air and exercise, but eat moderately until you get accustomed to the changed conditions, and thus avoid a multitude of ills. It is disgusting to a sensible man to see a campmate gorge himself and then wake everyone in the small hours of the night groaning with colic. A sick man in camp is a nuisance at the best, and if the sickness is caused by the sufferer’s own fault he will hardly get much sympathy.