Preparations continued, and after an interval, Bob sang out: "Those stones must be hot enough by this time."
"Red hot, except that you can't see it," laughed Sam. "Hey there, be careful not to roll 'em out on my feet."
Bob laughed.
"Keep out of the way of the cook, then."
The fish were placed between the stones, then covered with hot embers.
"Smells good, fellows, doesn't it?" observed Dave. "I can hardly wait."
The feast was even more delicious than they had been led to expect from the appetizing odor, and Dave voiced the sentiments of all when he declared that nothing could beat a meal out in the open.
The lean-to had to be made quickly, as night was settling over the scene. The boys, therefore, started work with a will. A lean-to might be described as a shelter, having one sloping side, which also acts as the roof, and two vertical, the front being left open. By driving two stout poles into the ground, about a dozen feet apart and securing a cross piece at the top, they readily provided the principal framework. Numerous saplings were next placed at short intervals against it. Dick Travers busied himself forcing the ends into the ground, while the other boys began placing spruce and hemlock boughs, in thick layers, upon the sloping top thus formed. The sides were then attended to in the same manner.
By the glare of the camp-fire, the lean-to was completed. Bob and his companions surveyed its cozy appearance with much pride, but did not desist from their labors until bough beds had been arranged upon the ground within.
"Old Bill couldn't have done better himself," declared Bob. And the others agreed with him.