alt pork or
bacon, and lay three or four more on the top of the fish; shake a
little flour, salt, and pepper over all. Bake in a hot oven till
the skin begins to break open a little; every fifteen minutes open
the oven door and baste the fish; that is, pour a spoonful of
juice from the pan over the fish; if there is not enough, pour a
small cup of boiling water into the pan.

With this they had

BOILED ONIONS

Peel onions of about the same size, and drop them in a kettle of
boiling, salted water; when they have cooked half an hour, throw
this water away and put them in fresh boiling water. This will
prevent their being too strong. Cook for one hour altogether. Put
melted butter, pepper, and salt over them.

Before they could possibly think it was time to go home, their vacation
was over.

For dinner, the last night, Father Blair made something very good
indeed:

CAMP PUDDING

1/2 pound of dried prunes.
8 slices of bread, cut thin and buttered.
1/2 cup of sugar.
1 tablespoonful of butter.

Wash the prunes and cover them with cold water, and let them stand
all night. In the morning, put them on the fire in this water, and
cook slowly till they are very soft; then take out the stones.
Line a dish with the bread, cut in pieces, with a layer on the
bottom; put on a spoonful of prunes and juice, then a layer of
bread, and so on till the dish is full, with bread on top;
sprinkle with sugar and bits of butter and bake brown.

"My, but we've had a good time!" said Jack, thoughtfully rubbing the end
of his sunburned nose as he watched the shores of the lake fade away the
next day. "I never supposed it was such fun to camp. And I've become
quite a cook; now haven't I, Father Blair?"

"I should say you had. Too bad your mother and the girls can't know
about it. But they will never know!" and his father smiled
mischievously.

"Well, perhaps some day I'll cook something for them," said Jack,
sheepishly. "I don't mind knowing how to cook as much as I thought I
should, now that I know men cook. I guess I'll surprise them some day,
Father!"

CHAPTER X

JAMS AND JELLY

Norah was preserving peaches. The fragrant odor filled the house one
day, and Mildred sniffed it delightedly. "Dear me! I wish I could make
preserves," she sighed. "Norah's always look so lovely in their jars,
and they taste so good, too. I w