e spring which he had noticed not ten feet away, and there managed
to get all he needed.

And the way he shaved that fine kindling was a caution. Giraffe was a
born Yankee in that he always carried a keen-edged jack-knife, and could
be seen cutting every enticing piece of soft pine he came across. Why,
he had applied his match to the tinder before the others returned from
the lake; and the smoke of his fire blew in their faces most enticingly.

Then he added just the right sort of bits of wood, not too much at a
time, until he had coaxed his fire into doing the very best it knew how.

His four rivals were bending every energy to heat up the water in their
cups, testing it now and then with disappointed grunts, as it failed to
scald their fingers, when a shout from Giraffe announced that he needed
the attention of the judge, as his cup of water had commenced to bubble.

"Giraffe has won, hands down," Thad said, "but the rest of you go right
on, and see how long it takes each one. Then another time you will learn
to use the faculties that every fellow has just as well as Giraffe."

When the last one had finally succeeded in coaxing his fire to get up
sufficient heat to cause the water in the cup to bubble, the competition
was declared closed, with Giraffe an easy winner, and Allan a fair
second.

"Huh!" said Step-hen, "he got the bulge on us right in the beginning by
filling his old cup, at that little spring right here, instead of
running to the lake like all the rest of us did. Don't seem fair to me,
Mr. Scout-Master."

"Why not?" demanded Thad, while the victor smiled serenely, knowing what
was coming. "You all had the same chance to look around that Giraffe was
given. If he was smart enough to notice that he could save time by
filling his cup at the spring rather than run away over to the lake, so
much the more to his credit. A first-class scout will always discover
means for saving time. He will keep his eyes and wits about him to see
and hear things that an ordinary person might pass right by. That's one
of the first things he's got to learn. 'Be prepared' is the slogan of
the Boy Scouts; but in order to get the best out of anything, a fellow
has to keep awake all the time."

"I guess that's so," admitted Step-hen, rather sheepishly. "Giraffe is
smart, and if anybody thinks to get ahead of him he must wake up early
in the morning. Just wait till we try this game a second time, and see."

Thad was more than