And last, but not least, the tent must be within a reasonable distance of the two canoes. There was no particular reason to suspect that any damage might happen to the craft, either from accident, or the malicious designs of evil-minded persons; but since they must depend solely on the mosquito boats, as they are often called, to carry them over the course they had charted out, and the walking was not at all to their liking, it behooved Teddy and his camp mates to keep an eye on them during the periods of their resting, between sunset and dawn.
Each one of the three had his regular duties to perform. While these were sometimes changed around, so that things might not become too monotonous, still, as a rule, Teddy and Dolph saw to erecting the tent, while Amos lugged the plunder from the canoes, packing it into camp, and after that started a fire.
Amos dearly loved a fire. He seemed to be one of those boys who can sit for perhaps a solid hour, staring into the snapping blaze, with a rapt look on his face; just as though he saw pictures there that gave him infinite satisfaction. Who has not enjoyed this pleasure to some extent, while surrounded by the primitive forest; unless you have, you do not know one half the joy of living?
And after the fire was burning briskly, Amos was ready to attend to almost any thing that chanced to come along. If either of the other boys happened to be fishing he wanted to prepare the catch as it was brought in; so that sometimes Dolph used to declare that the trout flopped right from the water into the frying-pan; the span of their existence between the two was so brief.
But tonight they did not think of fishing, though Dolph cast a wistful eye along the brink of the river, and mentally noted several likely spots which he meant to try in the morning, if the fates allowed. But with those threatening clouds spurring them on, it was decided that they had better get supper over with as soon as possible.
“No telling,” Teddy had remarked, with a grin, “but what we’re in for a stormy night. I wouldn’t be surprised to find the lot of us holding on to the guy ropes of this tent around midnight, like all get-out, to keep the bally thing from kiting up in the trees. Then again, there may be no wind, no rain, nothing at all. You never can tell. A fellow has just got to be always prepared when he’s camping out; or sometime he’ll get caught napping, and have a healthy old time hustling to save his chattels.”
Amos knew how to cook, for he had filled that position, or rather as an assistant, in a logging camp one winter. But of course, the rough fare the husky timber choppers need, differs vastly from such food as the sons of rich men would be apt to take with them into the woods; and Amos had to learn a few new wrinkles, under the tutelage of the others, who were experienced hands at such things.
Doubtless the woods boy had never in all his life sniffed coffee that had the delicious aroma of that high-grade Java; and when it came to tea, Amos, who had up to this time believed that to be a concoction only meant for old maids, discovered that a cup of fragrant Ceylon, made in the only proper way, was simply unequalled as “refresher,” after a hard day’s work.
This is the way he went about making it; and any boy who cares to get the best out of things, would do well to remember the simple directions.