The children did not eat much, because they were so anxious to roast the corn, but Tom said they must wait until dark, as the camp fire would look prettier then.
However, it could hardly have been called dark when Tom, after much teasing on the part of Bunny and Sue, set aglow the light twigs and branches, which soon made the bigger logs glow.
"We have to have a lot of hot coals and embers," said Tom, "or else the corn will smoke and burn. So we'll let the fire burn for a while until there are a lot of red hot coals or embers of wood."
When this had come about, Tom brought out the ears, stripped the green husks from them, and then, brushing off a smooth stone that had been near the fire so long that it was good and hot, he placed on it the ears of corn.
Almost at once they began to roast, turning a delicate brown, and Tom turned them over from time to time, so they would not burn, by having one side too near the fire too long.
"When will they be ready to eat?" asked Bunny Brown.
"In a few minutes," said Tom. "There, I guess these two are ready," and he picked out two smoking hot ones, nicely browned, using a sharp-pointed stick for a fork. He offered one ear to Mr. Brown and the other to Mrs. Brown.
"No, let the children have the first ones," said their mother.
"Be careful, they're hot!" cautioned Tom, as he passed the ears on their queer wooden sticks to Bunny and Sue.
Sue blew on hers to cool it, but Bunny was in such a hurry that he started to eat at once. As a result he cried: