down my spinal column every time I think
what we've got to face, with tents and blankets all gone."

"Another experience, that's all," remarked Jack, trying to look
cheerful, as if these things should not bother any one worthy of calling
himself a scout.

"Well, we've seen a heap of 'em, all told," was the consoling remark of
Jimmy, "and we're still in the circus ring, right side up with care.
Fact is, it takes an awful lot to knock a scout out, because he's
learned so many ways to dodge, just like a cat does."

"There you go, comparing us to a bunch of tomcats," chuckled Frank.

"I do hope, though," Teddy went on to say, with a sigh, as he
contemplated the little blaze before him, "that later on we'll be able
to have jolly camp fires every night. There is a chance of that
happening, ain't there, Ned?"

"Why, I should hope so, Teddy," replied the other; "I'd hate to think
that we'd have to stand for this sort of thing long. As soon as it looks
like we've dropped that crowd, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't
have all the fire we want, so long as we don't start the bush to
burning. And as every scout knows how to get sparks from flint and
steel, not to mention other ways of doing the same, why, we needn't
bother ourselves about matches."

In this way they chatted in low tones, and their spirits were kept from
drooping. Association does considerable toward making boys, or men, see
the bright lining to the cloud. It is like rubbing metal fragments
together in a turning cylinder, with the result that every separate
piece receives more or less of a luster from the constant friction. So
difficulties brighten the minds of scouts who know enough to take
advantage of their opportunities.

All sorts of suggestions were being made from time to time, looking to
the betterment of their conditions. Some of these did not seem
practical, and were immediately dropped. Others deserved more careful
consideration, and, in these cases, the boys gave each other the benefit
of their opinions.

During the course of this talk, Jack brought up the subject of bettering
their sleeping quarters.

"As we don't expect to keep this little fire going through the whole
night," he told them, "and so won't get the benefit of its warmth,
what's to hinder out looking around to find a place where the brush is
thick enough to let us stack up a woods' shelter?"

"A good idea, Jack!" was the comment of the patrol leader.

"It would shelter u