“Wait until we stake the horses, and then I’ll hunt around for an old stump, or a log, from which to tear the dry heart to make a beginning,” Dick declared.
Of course these boys, having roamed the woods in search of game since they were capable of handling one of the long-barreled rifles known to the settlers of the day, understood just how to go about getting fire, no matter if everything around them seemed to be soaking wet.
Having found the needed stump, Dick used knife and hatchet, and presently announced that he had enough dry tinder to make a start.
Meanwhile Roger had also been collecting twigs that would be apt to take fire quickly, and had selected the site on which the cheery blaze should be built. In doing this he had been influenced in some measure by the idea of hiding the fire as much as possible, although the boys did not believe hostile eyes could see it in the thick timber.
Once Dick had got out his tinder box, and his flint and steel, there was little time wasted in sending the spark where it glowed amidst the inflammable stuff, being quickly fanned into a tiny flame by the breath of the fire-maker. Matches may be a great invention, and a labor-saving device, but in those pioneer days, under favorable conditions it was amazing how rapidly an expert could light a fire. And in rainy weather the “matches” did not get wet, which must have been more or less of a consolation.
It certainly did feel good to crouch near that hot little blaze, and let their wet garments steam on them, gradually feeling warmer, and in this manner drying.
The boys knew that they could not sleep again that night, so there was no use trying. Accordingly they sat there, keeping their small fire going, and talking of the thousand-and-one things connected with their mission, and the wonderful experiences through which they were passing.
When the clouds parted overhead, and they could see the stars, it was possible for either of them to give a good guess as to how the night was passing; for, since watches were almost unknown among the settlers, every boy was taught to read the heavenly bodies, and to observe things that might be passing around him.
So Dick and Roger knew just about when certain bright planets should set or rise; and a glance upward at any time when the sky was clear was sufficient to tell them how the day or night might be passing.
“We’ll have daylight in less than two hours,” Dick announced, when the break in the clouds came, allowing him to consult his “clock.”