"Isn't one spot as good as another?" asked Sid.
"You don't want to sleep slanting, do you? That isn't all, either. That little hump of ground in front of it's a tiptop fire-place."
"Don't look much like one."
"You'll see. Come on and let's cut some tent poles."
Two five-foot sticks, each with a "crotch" at the upper end, were soon set in the ground about six feet apart, and a ridge pole laid across them.
"You haven't set 'em deep enough," said Sid. "They'd go over too easy."
"No they won't. The strength of a tent is in the canvas and pegs, not in the poles," said Wade.
He was unrolling the great square piece of strong but light "cotton duck," and in a moment more it was flapping over the poles.
"Stretch it well, and peg it strong. That tent won't blow down."
"Can't stand up in it."