ck, "while
you and Harry make ready the fire and get out the provisions."

"There's plenty of wood hereabouts, I see," put in Harry, "so I'll
gather some wood for a fire and have it burned down to coals in no
time."

"I rather think," objected Ned, "that we should not use wood."

"And why not, if you please, Mr. Scout Master?" asked Harry.

"Because wood lying on the ground has more or less dampness in it and
is apt to give off a smoke that might be seen by some one."

"Always on the lookout for trouble!" declared Jack, as he took the
bucket and started for the brook. "Well, make a fire of any thing."

"Quite the contrary, Jack, as you know," protested Ned, laughingly.
"I'm only trying to avoid trouble as much as possible, and a smoke now
in this place would be a direct invitation to some one to investigate."

"Right again," returned Jack, "go to the head of the class."

"What shall I use, then, if not wood?" asked Harry.

"Make a gasoline stove like we used to do when we had plenty of fuel,"
answered Ned. "We have sufficient so we can spare a small amount."

"Perhaps you'd better make the stove, Ned," said Harry. "You're better
at it than I am. You've had more experience. I'll get the supplies
out of the boxes. We'll want coffee, of course."

"Yes," agreed Ned, "bring some coffee, to be sure, and try to find that
tin of bacon. I feel just like having a strip of bacon done nice and
crisp. It begins to smell good already."

"How'd you like a nice Spanish omelette and French fried potatoes with
some hot Parker House rolls and lots of rich yellow butter?"

"Hush, boy, you'll have me so fussed up I can't light the fire,"
protested Ned. "I guess Jimmie's affliction is catching. I'm
certainly getting an appetite or the appetite is getting me!"

He proceeded to at once prepare the "stove" by sharpening a stick about
the size of a broom handle. When it was completed he thrust the sharp
end into the soft earth and then withdrew it, leaving a hole about a
foot or more deep. Another hole was made a short distance from the
first, but slanted so that the lower ends would meet. The second hole
was plugged up with a bit of turf.

"Now, then," said Ned, as he finished the first 'stove', "we want some
gas. Can you bring it or shall I get it?"

"Here's the can," answered Harry, "I can fetch it. Make another."

Jack meanwhile had returned with the bucket of water and had filled the
coffee pot, into which