Working long with flint and steel, he managed to set fire to the
shavings, and then he fed the flames with larger pieces of wood until
he had a great bed of glowing coals. A cautious wilderness rover,
learning always from his tried friends, Ned never rode the plains
without his traveling equipment, and now he drew from his pack a small
tin coffee pot and tiny cup of the same material. Then with quick and
skillful hands he made coffee over the coals and warmed strips of deer
and buffalo meat.
He ate and drank hungrily, while the horse nibbled the grass that grew
within the covert. Glorious warmth came again and the worn feeling
departed. Life, youthful, fresh and abounding, swelled in every vein.
He now put out all the coals carefully, throwing wet leaves upon them,
in order that not a single spark might shine through the trees to be
seen by an enemy upon the plain. He relied upon the horse to give
warning of a possible approach by man, and to keep away wolves.
Then he made his bed upon the rock, doing everything as he had arranged
it in his mind an hour before, and, wrapped in his blankets, fell into
the soundest of sleeps. The south wind still blew steadily, playing a
low musical song among the trees.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25