Part 16 (1/2)

Things to remember:

First, It is criminal to leave a burning fire;

Second, Always put out the fire with water or earth.

State Laws

Be sure to get a copy of the law of your State regarding Forest Fires, and if a permit is necessary, secure it before building a fire.

To Light a Match

Kephart, in his book on ”Camping and Woodcraft” (page 88), says, ”When there is nothing dry to strike it on, jerk the head of the match forward through the teeth. Face the wind. Cup your hands, backs toward wind.

Remove right hand just long enough to strike match on something very close by, then instantly resume former position. Flame of match will run up the stick instead of blowing away from it.”

Story-Telling

The camp fire is a golden opportunity for the telling of stories--good stories told well. Indian legends, war stories, ghost stories, detective stories, stories of heroism, the history of fire, a talk about the stars.

Don't drag out the telling of a story. Talk it in boy language. Avoid technical terms. Make the story live.

College songs always appeal to boys. Let some leader start up a song in a natural way, and soon you will have a chorus of unexpected melody and harmony. As the fire dies down, let the songs be of a more quiet type, like ”My Old Kentucky Home,” and ballads of similar nature.

Roast Delight

When the embers are glowing is the time for toasting marshmallows. Get a long stick sharpened to a point, fasten a marshmallow on the end, hold it over the embers, not in the blaze, until the marshmallow expands. Oh, the deliciousness of it! Ever tasted one? Before roasting corn on the cob, tie the end of each husk firmly with string. Soak in water for about an hour.

Then put into the hot embers. The water prevents the corn from burning and the firmly tied husks enable the corn to be steamed and the real corn flavor is retained. In about twenty minutes the corn may be taken from the fire and eaten. Have a bowl of melted b.u.t.ter and salt on hand. Also a pastry brush to spread the melted b.u.t.ter upon the corn. Try it.

A Good Story

For an example of a good story to be told around the camp fire, this Indian tale by Professor H. M. Burr, of the Springfield Training School, is given:

HOW MEN FOUND THE GREAT SPIRIT

”In the olden time, when woods covered all the earth except the deserts and the river bottoms, and men lived on the fruits and berries they found and the wild animals which they could shoot or snare; when they dressed in skins and lived in caves, there was little time for thought. But as men grew stronger and more cunning and learned how to live together, they had more time to think and more mind to think with.

”Men had learned many things. They had learned that cold weather followed hot, and spring followed winter, and that the sun got up in the morning and went to bed at night. They saw that the great water was kindly when the sun shone, but when the sun hid its face and the wind blew upon it, it grew black and angry and upset their canoes. They found that knocking flints together or rubbing dry sticks would light the dry moss and that the flames, which would bring back summer in the midst of winter and day in the midst of night, were hungry and must be fed, and when they escaped devoured the woods and only the water could stop them.

”These and many other things men learned, but no one knew why it all was or how it came to be. Men began to wonder--and that was the beginning of the path which led to the Great Spirit.

”In the ages when men began to wonder there was born a boy whose name was 'Wo,' which meant in the language of his time 'Whence.' As he lay in his mother's arms, she loved him and wondered, 'His body is of my body, but from whence comes the life--the spirit which is like mine and yet not like it?' And his father, seeing the wonder in the mother's eyes, said: 'Whence came he from?' And there was no one to answer, and so they called him 'Wo,' to remind them that they knew not from whence he came.

”As Wo grew up, he was stronger and swifter of foot than any of his tribe.

He became a mighty hunter. He knew the ways of all the wild things, and could read the signs of the season. As he grew older they made him a chief and listened while he spoke at the council board, but Wo was not satisfied. His name was a question, and questioning filled his mind.

”From whence did he come? Whither was he going? Why did the sun rise and set? Why did life burst into leaf and flower with the coming of the spring? Why did the child become a man and the man grow old and die?

”The mystery grew upon him as he pondered. In the morning he stood on a mountain top and, stretching out his hands, cried: 'Whence?' At night he cried to the moon: 'Whither?' He listened to the soughing of the trees and the song of the brook and tried to learn their language. He peered eagerly into the eyes of little children, and tried to read the mystery of life.

He listened at the still lips of the dead, waiting for them to tell him whither they had gone.

”He went about among his fellows silent and absorbed, always looking for the unseen and listening for the unspoken. He sat so long silent at the council board that the elders questioned him. To their questioning he replied, like one awakening from a dream:

”'Our fathers since the beginning have trailed the beasts of the woods.