e of butter as big as a chestnut. He'll do."

"We can't eat all we're cooking."

"Take our time to it."

So they did, and Wade went so far as to clean a small trout, and show
Sid how to fry him.

"Always break up a little hard-tack fine as you can, and sprinkle it on
the bottom of the frying-pan as soon as your bacon fat begins to smoke.
Then your fish won't stick, unless your pan's too hot. You must look out
for that."

Dinner was over at last, and then the boys went to the edge of the woods
for a couple of strong forked stakes and a cross-stick to hang their
kettle on.

"What are you setting the crotches so far from the fire for?" asked Sid.

"So they won't burn down. Besides, when you don't want your kettle on
the fire, you can just slide it along; needn't take it off every time."

"Look, Wade--the sky isn't as clear as it was."

"That's so. May have rain. We must cut our bedding and lay in our
wood-pile."

Plenty of small hemlock boughs were heaped on the bottom of the tent to
spread their blankets on; and Sid almost rebelled at the amount of dry
wood Wade insisted on piling up.

"May rain all day to-morrow, Sid. We must catch a lot of fish to-night."

"What are all these great slabs of bark for? Kindling?"

"I'll show you. It's mean work starting an open fire with wet wood."

The first day in camp was clearly a day of hard work; but the fish
seemed to bite better than ever as the sun went down, and the boys had
each a capital "string" before supper-time.

The old dug-out canoe was swam after, and brought to the shore.

"We can use it, Sid. It was a tottlish thing to get into, till father
nailed a keel-board on the bottom of it. We'll bail it out to-morrow.
I'm too tired for that sort of fun now."

"So am I. Let's go for supper. Let me make the coffee this time."

"All right. But don't put any more wood on the fire. I'll broil some
fish instead of frying them. Clean 'em, and split 'em down along the
backbone inside, and they'll lie flat. Spread 'em on a forked stick, so
they won't touch the coals and ashes. Season 'em just a little."

Sid decided afterward that there was very little to be said against
broiled trout.

They were both of them tired enough to go to bed early, but it was
hardly eight o'clock when the rain-drops began to patter on the tent
cover.

"We must keep our fire, Sid," said Wade.

He was raking' it from the top of the "hump" as he spoke, and putting
down there several s