the heat is retained by the
protecting case. A Girl Scout may buy a fireless cooker, paying from $5
to $25 for it, or she may make one, which will cost less than one
dollar. Of course this is a challenge to make one. You may be very sure
that if you make a fireless cooker you will understand all about it. To
make a fireless cooker you will need:

(1) _A cooker or container_, which should be an agate pail with a close
fitting cover. The sides should be straight up and down, the bottom just
as big as the top. You can choose a small one holding two quarts, or a
gallon pail which would be large enough for anything an ordinary family
would be likely to cook.

(2) _A case_, which must be at least eight inches wider than your
container, for the packing must extend at least four inches around the
pail on every side. You may use a round case like a big wooden candy
pail, which you can usually get at the ten cent store for ten cents; or
it may be a galvanized iron can with a cover like the one ordinarily
used for garbage; or it may be a box shaped like a cube.

(3) For packing you may use crumpled newspapers tightly packed in; or
ground cork, which is used in packing Malaga grapes, is fine, and you
may be able to get it from a fruit store. Excelsior is good, and perhaps
you will find that in the shed in some packing case; while, if you live
in the country, you may be able to get Spanish moss. This should be
dried, of course. And then there is hay--which our Norwegian cousins
use.

Let us try paper. Pack the box or can four inches deep, with crumpled
paper, making a very even layer. Put a piece of pasteboard much larger
than the bottom of your pail upon this layer and set your pail in the
middle of it. Now pack the paper tightly around the pail up to the very
top, using a stick of wood or mallet to press it down.

Now you must make a cloth cover for your pail in the shape of a tall
hat. The rim of the hat must reach out to the edges of your case and be
tacked there. Take out your pail, fit this cloth cover into the hole and
tack the edge evenly to the box.

You must now make a cushion to fill the rest of the box, packing it full
of the crumpled paper. Make hinges for the lid of your box and put some
sort of fastener on the front to keep the lid down tight.

Now you have your fireless cooker. When your oatmeal or your stew, or
your chicken, or your vegetables have boiled ten or fifteen minutes on
the stove in your agate pai