enormous size in our imagination before morning, we will be half sick
and soon get enough of being an Indian. A canvas cot makes the best
camp bed if it can be taken along conveniently. There is one important
thing to look out for in sleeping on a cot. In my first experience of
the kind, I nearly froze. I kept piling things on me until all my
clothing, and even the camp towels and table-cloth were pressed into
service and was thinking about pulling some dry grass to pile on the
rest of the stuff. Still I shivered until I discovered that the cold
was coming up from underneath because there was nothing to keep it out
but the single thickness of canvas. When I put one of my blankets
under me, I was as warm as toast.

Very often it is impossible to carry cots on a trip, and that is
where a knowledge of woodcraft comes in. The softest, sweetest,
downiest bed in the world can be made with no other materials but
those which grow in the forest--if we know how. At least the tired
camper will think it is soft and will sleep on it like a top and wake
up refreshed in the morning. Perhaps if we had our choice we would
prefer our own bed at home, but in the woods we do not have this
choice. Most people call this a bed of "pine boughs."

[Illustration: How the bough bed is made]

Why I do not know as it never should be made of pine under any
circumstances. The best wood for the bough bed is balsam. If this does
not grow in the neighbourhood, hemlock, spruce, or even cedar will do.
To make a bough bed properly means a lot of work. The first step is to
cut four straight sticks. The side pieces should be six feet and a
half long and the end pieces three feet and a half. They should be
notched on the ends with an axe and either nailed or tied together