uld hardly put a
fishing rod there, or a pipe, without discomfort to the flesh and danger
to the articles. Undressing and bestowing oneself in an upper berth is
attended with problems, but the berth is not so narrow, and it is flat
and solid, and there are hooks and little hammocks and things--valuable
advantages, now fondly recalled. I finally piled everything on Eddie's
bed, temporarily. I didn't know what I was going to do with it next, but
anything was a boon for the moment. Just then Eddie looked in.

"That's your pillow material, you know," he said, pointing to my medley
of garments. "You want a pillow, don't you?"

Sure enough, I had no pillow, and I did want one. I always want a pillow
and a high one. It is another habit.

"Let me show you," he said.

So he took my shoes and placed them, one on each side of my couch, about
where a pillow should be, with the soles out, making each serve as a
sort of retaining wall. Then he began to double and fold and fill the
hollow between, taking the bunchy, seamy things first and topping off
with the softer, smoother garments in a deft, workmanlike way. I was
even moved to add other things from my bag to make it higher and
smoother.

"Now, put your bag on the cross-pole behind your pillow and let it lean
back against the tent. It will stay there and make a sort of head to
your bed, besides being handy in case you want to get at it in the
night."

Why, it was as simple and easy as nothing. My admiration for Eddie grew.
I said I would get into my couch at once in order that he might
distribute himself likewise.

But this was not so easy. I had never got into a sleeping-bag before,
and it is a thing that requires a little practice to do it with skill
and grace. It has to be done section at a time, and one's night garment
must be worked down co-ordinately in order that it may not become merely
a stuffy life-preserver thing under one's arms. To a beginner this is
slow, warm work. By the time I was properly down among the coarse, new
blankets and had permeated the remotest corners of the clinging
envelope, I had had a lot of hard exercise and was hot and thirsty. So
Del brought me a drink of water. I wasn't used to being waited on in
that way, but it was pleasant. After all there were some conveniences of
camp life that were worth while. And the bed was comfortable and the
pillow felt good. I lay watching Eddie shape his things about, all his
bags and trappings falling nat