ore was undertaken
in the best of humor, with plenty of time given to its preparation.
Everybody seemed to be in the best of humors, and his good sleep must
have smoothed even the spirit of the fretful Bandy-legs, for he no
longer grumbled or found fault. Perhaps, as so frequently happened, he
was secretly ashamed of having shown such a suspicious and
argumentative disposition on the preceding evening, and meant to make
amends for it by an unusually cheery manner.

It was determined to "break camp" soon after the matin meal had been
comfortably dispatched. This did not promise to be an extraordinary
feat, since they were trying to go light-handed on this expedition, and
did not have many of their ordinary "traps" along, from a tent down to
certain cooking utensils that had been deemed too heavy for "toting"
mile after mile into the wilderness.

It makes a whole lot of difference just how fellows mean to go, when
laying out the impedimenta for a trip. If a wagon or a boat is
available, all sorts of things may as well be taken along, so as to
insure the maximum of comfort; but when it is known in the beginning
that all they are meaning to use must be packed every mile of the way on
the back of the campers, then it is high time to cut down the list to
the last fraction, so far as weight and bulk are concerned.

Max and his chums had reduced this down to a real science. For instance,
having a comfortable balance at the bank, thanks to their thrift in the
past,[2] money did not enter into their calculations at all.
Consequently, they had purchased a complete little outfit of aluminum
cooking vessels that nested within each other and weighed next to
nothing, while offering all the advantages of ordinary granite ware.
Other campers' comforts, too, had been secured, so that they even
carried a certain amount of condensed food in the shape of milk powder;
evaporated eggs that could be used to make excellent omelets in case of
necessity; and even soup in double cans, with a layer of unslacked lime
between, which, by the addition of a little water to the lime could be
heated up beautifully without the aid of a fire.

[2] "In camp on the Big Sunflower."

When all of them started in to get busy, things quickly assumed a
concentrated condition. Each article had its regular place where it
would take up the least possible space. Why, by now every fellow had
found out just how to do up his pack so that no sharp and uncomfortable
e