The horses were tethered
at the edge of the forest, but were allowed to graze on the young grass
which was already beginning to appear, while the men lighted a small
fire of last year's fallen brushwood, at the center of the glade on the
bank of the brook.
"We won't build it high," said Ross, who was captain as well as guide,
"an' then nobody in the forest can see it. There may not be an Indian
south of the Ohio, but the fellow that's never caught is the fellow that
never sticks his head in the trap."
"Sound philosophy! sound philosophy! your logic is irrefutable, Mr.
Ross," said the schoolmaster.
Ross grinned. He did not know what "irrefutable" meant, but he did know
that Mr. Pennypacker intended to compliment him.
Paul and Henry assisted with the fire. In fact they did most of the
work, each wishing to make good his assertion that he would prove of use
on the journey. It was a brief task to gather the wood and then Ross and
Shif'less Sol lighted the fire, which they permitted merely to smolder.
But it gave out ample heat and in a few minutes they cooked over it
their venison and corn bread and coffee which they served in tin cups.
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