Page:The Outdoor Chums.djvu/48

38 we can be using that nice ax Will has strapped to his machine, and doing a number of things. Firewood is a mighty handy article to have around a camp, boys, and it's simply wonderful what a big lot of it is needed."

"A hint is as good as a command, Frank; just understand that we're ready to do anything you suggest, for we all want to learn the ropes as soon as we can. What are you going to do?" he asked, as Frank unsheathed a camp hatchet, and commenced to look around, as if in search of some particular kind of wood.

"Well, you see, I remember that I lost my tent pegs the last time I camped in Maine, and it's up to me to cut a new supply. No better time than now, while we're waiting for the wagon. Then I expect to lay out several poles on which to stretch the tents—one tall one for the center, and a couple of others outside for the fly that forms a shelter," remarked Frank, commencing operations on what seemed a suitable piece of hickory.

"What sort of tents are they?" asked Jerry, watching all that the other did, so as to catch the true spirit of the thing from practical observation, which somehow seemed vastly different from what he read in his books on sport.

"The kind which most canoeists like in these modern days. They're big enough to