The morning call., 1892-09-18

ray of sunlight passed the great redwood
shafts. or filtered through their shining
crown Of evergreen.
The air was clear, dry and fragrant A
delicate growth Of wood violet. oxalis. Wild
straw berry and occasionally, Ii must be con-
fessed, poison ivy, was scattered through
the forest. Small conifers grew everywhere,
from fallen trunks and in the rich leaf mold
under the trees. Larger spaces on the level
were clear enough 10 walk in, but the steep
sides Of the ravine were covered with trees
and thick undeTgrOwth. A fallen ,Og slOp-
ing down the bank gave short aud easy
access TO the gravel where we built our IRE
and did our cooking.
We covered the floor of the tent with red
wood boughs Every old camper knows
how comfortable camp can be made with
spruce or redwood The baby's bed was on
a folded quilt in the corner. She said that
she was living Ia cunning little cloth
house under the trees" or so her mother
interI Teted a remark on the subject and
everything proved TO be perfectly delight
full to her first and last, from breakfast
under the tree to the great evening camp
fires in the creek bottom, on the gravel
After week spent here we moved our
camp to another group of redwoods on the
other side of the creek. Here We had a
Kitchen" on the same level as the tent,
finding q spot where there was no danger
Of fire escaping control. As rule. how
ever, [ always prefer to build all fires in the
gravel or sand, well out from the banks.
There were hardly any mosquitoes in the
red dwO0ds-sOmetlmes we hardly saw one
day. swarm came in from stagnant
pool in the creek bed one night, bat that was
the only time we had trouble. The place
was also free from the dreadful little wood
ticks" that are so abundant in some parts
of the coast range that one can hardly ride
through a canyon withOuT carrying hall
dozen home. There were very few flies
and no QDats or other insect OeSts
Little chiDnUnks ran about the camp,
and small cOOns came up at night to ga ther
up the crumbs from the table built against
a tall tanbark oak. One night they climbed
into the cupboard and rolled down num-
Der OF cans. Along the waters edge were
their delicate paBtigrade tracks printed
neatly In the sand. On one occasion the
trail of ''bobtai wildcat" was there also.
The only bear l heard of was a tame einDa-
mon at the hotel up the creek, but L am told
that twenty miles further up, on the Gualala
River, bears are numerous. California,
however, is fast becoming land where bear
stories are more abundant than bears.
What / wish 10 emphasize in the whole
camp history is the perfect health and hap
pIness OF Baby Ruth. She made no trouble
whatever, and was on her feet from day
light till dark, excepting. of course, during
her Doonday nap which she took in a ham
mock under a redwood. The pS.son oak
near the camp was cut down. but The baby
managed to get hold of some Of il. How
ever, it did not seem TO affect her
in the least. She had been brought
up as an outdoor baby on farm, and that
of course helped her. She seemed 90 gain
in health and yigor every day We spent In
the camp. At times she had TO je watched
closely and chased up with great rapidlty
when she announced from a distance that
she wanted TO wash in the creek, OF go and
see the salamanders. On the other hand,
she spent a great deal Of time playing
within reach and call, watching the birds,
and talking all sorts of baby talk TO herself.
There we're whole hours Of rest for every
member of the camp family, for the baby
was so happy to be outdoors that she was
'good clear through" Ii she fell over
stick she would pick herself up with the
remark, Only little babies cry" and march
of beaming.
All that the camper needs in the way OF
tools is a hatchet He can have tables,
chairs. sink, drain board, eupboards and
eonVeniences galore. He can drive oaken
pegs into the trees TO support fshing-rod,
boots and the most OF articles that accumu-
late in camp. He does not need Tag
of nails, assorted sizes, though 1t IS GER
tainly convenient For instance, suppose
the queen of the camp orders dlnlng-room
table; stakes of springy redwood. cross
bars, square-shouldered pegs OF oak driven
picturesque, Eastlake style One trouble
about nails is that the fun OF driving them
into trees often persuades man 10 waste
most OF bis supply.
4 friend Of mine always adds saw to