To this creek old Jacob steered his light craft, and
bidding the girls collect a few dry sticks and branches for an evening fire
on the sheltered side of the little bank, he soon lighted the pile into a
cheerful blaze by the aid of birch bark, the hunter's tinder--a sort of
fungus that is found in the rotten oak and maple-trees--and a knife and
flint; he then lifted the canoe, and having raised it on its side, by means
of two small stakes which he cut from a bush hard by, then spread down his
buffalo robe on the dry grass. "There is a tent fit for a queen to sleep
under, mes cheres filles," he said, eyeing his arrangements for their night
shelter with great satisfaction.
He then proceeded to bait his line, and in a few minutes had a dish of
splendid bass ready for the coals. Catharine selected a large flat block of
limestone on which the fish when broiled was laid; but old Jacob opened his
wide mouth and laughed, when she proceeded to lay her bush table with large
basswood leaves for platters. Such nicety he professed was unusual on a
hunter's table.
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