“Maybe I could scrape away some snow and make a fire,” thought Bert. “The thing I need most, though, is a tin can to hold snow and water. Ouch! My leg hurts!” he exclaimed.
His leg, just then, seemed to get a “kink” in it, as he said afterward. He kicked out, as football players do sometimes when their legs get twisted.
As it happened, Bert kicked his foot into a little pile of snow, and next he was surprised to find that he had kicked something out. At first it seemed to be a lump of ice, but as it rolled a few feet and the snow fell away, the boy found that he had kicked into view an empty tin tomato can!
“Here’s luck!” cried Bert, as he sprang after the can before it could be covered from sight in the snow again. “This sure is luck! I can melt some snow in this now!”
Taking the can in his hand he knocked it against his shoe, thus getting rid of the snow that filled it. The can was opened half way, and the tin top was bent back, making a sort of handle to it, which Bert was glad to see. It would enable him without burning his fingers to lift the can off the fire he intended to build.
“All I need now is some dry wood, and I can make a fire and melt snow to make water,” he said aloud. “If I had some tea I could make a regular hot drink, like they have up at the North Pole. But I guess water will be all right. Now for some wood!”
He made his way over to a clump of trees and, by kicking away the snow, he managed to find some dead sticks. As the snow was dry they were not very wet, but Bert feared they were not dry enough to kindle quickly. And he had only a few matches.
“I’ve got some paper, though,” he told himself, as lie felt in his pockets. “A little soft, dry wood, and that, will start a fire and the other wood will burn, even if it is a little damp.”
One of the lessons Bert’s father had taught him was to make a campfire, and Bert put some of this instruction to use now. He hunted about until he found a fallen log, and by clearing away the snow at one end he revealed a rotten end. This soft wood made very good tinder, to start a fire.
The outer end of the rotten log was rather damp. But by kicking away this latter, Bert got at some wood that was quite dry—just what he wanted.