The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-22

we had brought along a small oil stove,
with tin oven, and a big can of kero-
sene. When I had watered our horses
and staked them out for the night, wan
dered over to see the freighter. He had
an enormous wagon pulled by two giant
mules. He had staked them out and was
getting supper. 1t was the first time /
had ever seen it done by plainsman, and
1 stayed to watch him.
He was an old hand at freighting and
he knew just how many stops he would
have to make where he could get no fire
wood. For each one he carried in his wag-
on, when he started out of Norfolk, piece
Of by 6 pine timber about eight inches
long. Eeach piece represented the fire for
one meal. He was splitting up one of
them when l struck the camp.
ID evenin'," he said, without looking
up from his work, ''prospectin' for land?"
mo, hunting" l replied.
"Oh," he said, with an intonation that
seemed to convey his feeling that he knew
all about us. He went on with his work,
and presently calculated by way of keep
ing up the conversation:
Hot"
1t had been a blistering August day. The
sun had sailed through a cloudless sky
that cleaned like an inverted silver bowl.
1t beat down on the level prairies with a
force that sent the heat devils dancing a
mad, swift, tortuous figure in shimmering
millions above the dull brown tops of the
tall blue-joint grass that stood straight
up in the breathless air 1t was as if the
sun had striven with desperate energy to
dry up the little stream that trickled SAL
walton to the parched land, and. baffied
in it's long struggle, had skunk behind the
low-lying range of hills that far away
marked the western horizon, red-faced and
sullen, filled with fierce anger that would
be poured out on the defenseless prairie
day after day until the land and the wa
ter shriveled up together and were lost
in a cloud of binding, sitting alkan dust
"Slow travelin' such weather." contin-
ued the freighter, "mules peter out
He had slpit the piece of pine into little
sticks. He gathered a handful Of dry
grass and wadded it up into a ball. Then
he beat down the tall grass and cleared
a little spot where he could make his
fire. In the middle of 1t he put the ball
of grass, and over it he piled eight or ten
of the little sticks of pine. 1t was ready
for the match. From box at the end
of his wagon he brought out a long.
handled steel frying pan, coffee pot, and
a tin can that looked as IL 1t had once
held two pounds of tomatoes or pie APP
pies. Then he brought out a wooden box
and set 1t on the ground. 1t held part
of his supplies and served as a table, out
of it he took some flour and bacon and a
little tin can of coffee. He got a mill out
Of the box and ground his coffee. He was
very particular about his coffee, he said
to me. half alphabetically. He couldn't
endure the ready ground stuff When he
had got a sheet of tin out of the wagon
and stood 1t up behind the little pile of
sticks. 1t helped to concentrate the neat
by acting as a reflector.
He put the coffee in the pot, poured in
some water from the bucketful he had
brought from the river, and set II down be.
side the pile of sticks. Then he arranged
the slices Of bacon in the frying pan and
settled 1t on top of the pile of sticks. Then
he lit his fire. In a minute it was blaz-
ing up merrily and the bacon was sig
cling in the pan. He poured some -four
into the tomato can, dumped ina pinch
Of salt and some baking powder, and
stirred it all up vigorously with a spoon.