t what it's
cracked up to be; I don't relish bugs and spiders. I wish I were home.
I'm all bitten up with punkies, and--"

Fourth Man (savagely).--"Dashed old woods-loafer; let's tie his hands
and fire him in the creek."

O.W. (placidly).--"Exactly, boys. Your remarks are terse, and to the
point. Only, as I am going to show you a trick or two on woodcraft this
afternoon, you can afford to wait a little. Now, quit smoking, and get
out your hatchets; we'll go to work."

Three hatchets are brought to light; one of them a two-pound clumsy
hand-axe, the others of an old time, Mt. Vernon, G.W. pattern. "And
now," says good-natured Bush, "you give directions and we'll do the
work."

Under directions, the coarse browse of the previous night is placed
outside the shanty; three active youngsters, on hands and knees, feel
out and cut off every offending stub and root inside the shanty, until
it is smooth as a floor. The four small logs are brought to camp; the
two longest are laid at the sides and staked in place; the others are
placed, one at the head, the other at the foot, also staked; and the
camp has acquired definite outlines, and a measurable size of eight by
nine feet. Three hemlock logs and two sharpened stakes are toted to
camp; the stakes driven firmly, and the logs laid against them, one
above the other. Fire-dogs, forestick, etc., complete the arrangement,
and the campfire is in shape for the coming night, precisely as shown
in the engraving.

"And now," says the O.W., "if three of you will go down to the flat
and pick the browse clean from the two hemlock tops, Bush and I will
fix a cooking-range."

"A--what?" asks one.

"Going to start a boarding-house?" says another.

"Notion of going into the hardware business?" suggests a third.

"Never mind, sonny; just 'tend to that browse, and when you see a
smoke raising on the flat by the spring, come over and see the range."
And the boys, taking a couple of blankets in which to carry the browse,
saunter away to the flat below.

A very leisurely aesthetic, fragrant occupation is this picking
browse. It should never be cut, but pulled, stripped or broken. I have
seen a Senator, ex-Governor, and a wealthy banker enjoying themselves
hugely at it, varying the occupation by hacking small timber with their
G.W. hatchets, like so many boys let loose from school. It may have
looked a trifle undignified, but I dare say they found their account in
it. Newport or Long Bra