wrapped during the day, to keep it from getting wet while in the canoes.
This was always first of all laid down on the ground, so as to keep the
dampness from giving them rheumatism, for even boys may be taken with
this ailment, if careless in times when the ground is far from dry.

Everybody else being disposed of, and ready to go to sleep, Max fixed
their fire after the manner of a woodsman, so that it would burn for
hours, yet never threaten to get away into the woods, should a heavy
wind arise.

"All ready, boys?" he asked, feeling his own eyes getting heavy.

A couple of sleepy replies came from the tent where the three chums lay;
evidently Toby and Bandy-legs were already far gone in the Land of Nod.

So Max crawled into his snug retreat, and settled himself down to
securing some of the refreshing slumber he so much needed.

He had left a flap of the tent up, so that as he lay there he could see
out, but as the fire did not come within the range of his vision, he was
not annoyed by its flickering. Now and then the flames would spring up,
and the vicinity be brightly illuminated; then they would gradually die
down again, and things become more indistinct.

Max remained there awake, for some little time; because, as often
happens, his sleepiness seemed to desert him after he lay down. Many
pleasant things flitted through his mind, for the most part connected
with past events in which he had figured, and in quite a number of them
having been enjoyed in the company of these four good chums of camp fire
and trail.