CHAPTER XII
AN INDIAN ENCAMPMENT
AN Indian encampment for your very own! A wigwam, camp-fire, Indian travois, blanket-weaving loom, gorgeous feathered head-dress, bow, arrows and shield, tomahawk, wampum, and a little copper-colored papoose in its funny stiff cradle, hanging on a tree entirely alone! Does not all that sound delightful? The complete scene can actually be made to appear in your room at home.
Take for
The Ground
a common pastry-board or any kind of board of the desired size—about nineteen by twenty-six inches—and for grass cover one side and the four edges of the board with a piece of light-green cotton flannel stretched tight, fleece side up, and tacked to the under side of the board. Sprinkle sand and small stones on the grass at one side of the wigwam, to show where the grass has been worn off by the tramping of the Indians, the bronco pony, and the dog, for all Indians possess dogs of some description. If you have a toy dog of suitable size, stand him by the fire where he will be comfortable. Before the red men owned horses, a dog was always used to drag the travois, and to this day the braves care as much for a dog as does any pale-faced boy—which is saying much, for a white boy and any kind of a dog make devoted friends and comrades.
Fig. [167].—Home-made compass.
Now that we have our camping-ground, the first thing we must do is to