Jonas said that the boys might make one little pile of their own if they
wished; and told them that they must first make a pile of solid sticks,
and dry rotten logs as large as they could lift or roll, so as to have a
good solid fire underneath, and then cover these up with brush as high
as they could pile it, so as to make a great blaze. He told them also
that they must make their pile where it would not burn any of the trees
which he had left standing, for he had left a great many of the large
oaks, and beeches, and pines, to ornament the ground and make a shade.

Rollo and James decided to make their pile near the brook, between the
bridge which Jonas made of a tree, and the old wigwam which they had
made some time before of boughs. They got together a great heap of solid
wood, as large pieces as they could lift, and at one end they put in a
great deal of birch bark, which they stripped off, in great sheets, from
an old, decayed birch tree, which had been lying on the ground near, for
half a century. When this was done, they began to pile on the bushes and
brush, taking care to leave the end where the birch bark was, open.
After they had piled it up as high as they could reach. Rollo clambered
up to the top of it, and James reached the long bushes up to him, and he
arranged them regularly, with the tops out. So they worked all the
afternoon, and by the time they had got their pile done, they found that
Jonas had thrown almost all the rest of the bushes into heaps; and then
they went home to tea.

They found Lucy there, and they were all so eager to go to the
bonfires, that they did not eat much supper. Their father told them
that, as they had so little appetite, they had better carry down some
potatoes and apples, and roast them by the fires. They thought this an
excellent plan, and ran into the store-room to get them. Their mother
gave them a basket to put the potatoes and apples into, and a little