"Another experience, that's all," remarked Jack, trying to look cheerful, as if these things should not bother any one worthy of calling himself a scout.
"Well, we've seen a heap of 'em, all told," was the consoling remark of Jimmy, "and we're still in the circus ring, right side up with care. Fact is, it takes an awful lot to knock a scout out, because he's learned so many ways to dodge, just like a cat does."
"There you go, comparing us to a bunch of tomcats," chuckled Frank.
"I do hope, though," Teddy went on to say, with a sigh, as he contemplated the little blaze before him, "that later on we'll be able to have jolly camp fires every night. There is a chance of that happening, ain't there, Ned?"
"Why, I should hope so, Teddy," replied the other; "I'd hate to think that we'd have to stand for this sort of thing long. As soon as it looks like we've dropped that crowd, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't have all the fire we want, so long as we don't start the bush to burning. And as every scout knows how to get sparks from flint and steel, not to mention other ways of doing the same, why, we needn't bother ourselves about matches."
In this way they chatted in low tones, and their spirits were kept from drooping. Association does considerable toward making boys, or men, see the bright lining to the cloud. It is like rubbing metal fragments together in a turning cylinder, with the result that every separate piece receives more or less of a luster from the constant friction. So difficulties brighten the minds of scouts who know enough to take advantage of their opportunities.
All sorts of suggestions were being made from time to time, looking to the betterment of their conditions. Some of these did not seem practical, and were immediately dropped. Others deserved more careful consideration, and, in these cases, the boys gave each other the benefit of their opinions.
During the course of this talk, Jack brought up the subject of bettering their sleeping quarters.
"As we don't expect to keep this little fire going through the whole night," he told them, "and so won't get the benefit of its warmth, what's to hinder out looking around to find a place where the brush is thick enough to let us stack up a woods' shelter?"
"A good idea, Jack!" was the comment of the patrol leader.