The sun., 1896-09-06
BONFIRES IN THE WOODS.
~ ADIRONDACK SNOW WITH AN
nrI BIRREL AND BLTTERY.


II, Man who wouId Change His Mind.
NrnoSpAcK LopoE, Sept 5.-Everybody
-, nre,ent the other evening at the nightly
,"nc,lon OF the camp fire. Various causes had
..rsn,red to cause this large attendance. Note
.,,els guest WAS missing from the groups on
a.. vsrnnda, In front of which the big IRE
,r,pped and cracked merrlly.
Ir tho tlrst place, there had been q consider
.hls ripple OF interest at supper caused by tho
.,v,v,l OF q lady who appeared at supper in q
.rav checked travelling gown with an elaborate
Mi. chiffon front. long white mousquetairo
,,oves, q white hat with hy-away white Wings
,N.reupon, and . heavy veil, intensifying the
,oor Of her flushed eountenance. she created
.,,o,t A much Of o sensation a. Mrs. Henry
Hilton once did when abe appeared in this
AN. dining room arraysd In white satin and
diamonds. ..
put this was not tho only reason why the
,o,rs.rs turned out en- masse to tho camp fire.
oh,.ct of interest though she was, she could
...rcely compete in attractiveness with the old
,lne battery and the empty oil barrel. Possibly
mi, may need an explanation, but words can
40, Give an adequate one. II you would appre-
,,s,e the force Of the remark you will have 70
e,t An empty lot and experiment.
FRS, build great fro of logs. Then. when
there Is an almost white-hot heart in tho Ere.
nut In the old piece Of zinc from some disused
electric battery. In few moments the ordi-
nary red and yellow flames will be shot through
and through with pale but intensely brilliant
hin. ones, inde.cribably beautiful. This part Of
the entertainment lasts quarter OF an hour.
II 4, 10 the oil barrel what the curtain raiser is
,o the real play. The oil barrel. 1t 10 scarcely
necessary 10 say, must DO empty. That 10. un.
I.s YOU have engaged quarter section Vf
,audy desert for tho display. Knock out tho
two ends make your log fre perfectly level and
secure, and set the oil barrel on end thereupon.
Nothing happens for few minutes Then
there Is crisp cracking. with an Intermittent
faint roar. Pretty soon a tongue of fame from
the FIRE below shoots mp through the barrel,
seems 10 take swift survey OF tho situation,
and then sinks back. In q moment another
II Ions, inyestiga ating flame darts out Of the top,
,s II to confirm the report of the frst one.
Evidently the coast Is considered clear. In
another Instant with fierce roar. there shoots
upa column of fame ten, twelve. fifteen feet
hxh II is as II legion of devils was escaping
with mighty whlrr OF their evil wings. Fifty
Il or sixty feet into the air rises shower Of
sparks straininG upward to the suddenly black
.ky a. II they were the stars, which seem At the
instant to have disappeared, and as II they
wanted to get back to their places. All the time
that roaring column of almost supernaturally
brisht flame leaps and tosses and swirls into q
vrithns. twisting spiral of fierce hre. Tho
lovsliest colors play through the fame;
rose and pale green and . lambent
sort Of white. Round and round they 60 in
long wind. blown. leaping curves until one holds
ones breath wth teTr4s & ana a. az ara b 81 them
edge OF the barrel. there 10 ring of flame, about
an Inch high. which = not separated from the
il iurpasses the rest In brillisncy even as the
sun does the moon:
this so %ord
paint such fiery wonder. As before remarked.
one ought to secure the barrel and the use of q
vacant lot. and try IL for oneself.
stili these poor. feeble words, a. the testifying
country Methodists say, may mako II apparent
the old 1no and the lady described. succeed cd
In drawing SO largo an attendance around the
ne tss asa se o II sSsr. Ss
70 ,06 0Gsi5 side ,ss
Itgrew even whilo 1t was announced in excited
tones. Tho fames were eating their way
was q louder crackIe. and . hundred tiny blue
tongues darted out between the slaves and
% mentally. I They iS' seemed to taste It with uno-
ton, and evidently they found IL good. for they
spread themsolys, over 1t and Tapped IT fereely.
mstricai: 1t suddenly swayed and fell in a dery
great sGh!" from The spectators. The pro-
prietor suddenly laughed.
Il remember" he said one time when we
were burning an oil barrel and the hoops did
Ss ssaadns 20 eieRi. s the az very
pAcent state Of mind when suddenly . red hot
hoop Ieaped from the top Of the barrel and de.
seribed q fiery arc in the air. It took me Just
Of that arc. didn't pause for ceremony. !
Jumped. The hoop struck the ground where l
direction. i3Gmped M % aeaIn. % So did the loop. Then
fed. II chased me. The people on the verand q
.hrteted With Laughter; but l didn't have
No matter how turned or twisted it was after
me lks Gerry serpent Finally, In despair. l
he hoop that time It struck full against the
;sss Tree fell back AID 4 lay there tn. @ color fading
si 1t Tsss live Ting snes
;a.s time | have kept my distance whom we
IFS 81 ouser" T,e H he resumed after a pause, and
With another reminiscent smile, ut certainly Is
queer W hat prank inanimate things play some
having some Hsi trsworEs % and one one Of the guests
tred to hre of Roman candle. The very devil
vas IN the thing. 1t spit and spluttered and
fun began. The thing chased him the way that
hoop chased me. 1t got him down among the
dance. / thought should die laughing-I had
ums TO- laugh tn: time although no didnn =.
sef as m sfk komRsn ksaR ana saads 1dRD FIT Finally
SfH.d dan aronnd n % SPs9 lot red and baa
Wai as tired as if he'd just climbed Marcy"
You must have good many. queer expert
encse In running O summer hotel" one of the
guests ventured to remark.
~ do" said tho proprietor; and there was
aspth OF feeling In his tone. " Do you remem-
Per" he asked. turning TO the old sojourner,
The man that changed his mind so oftenf"
me old sojournsr smiled rehectiyely and
nodded his head.
What did he change his mind about p en-
eoaragingly inquired the guest.
Well. 1t WAS about camping trip. In the
nrt place. had q letter from him In New York
during the winter asking me about forty.seyen
questions about camping in the Adirondacks,
we cost the equipment, the guide, tho place,
everything ! cheerfully answered his cues
uons and that was the last heard from him
Goht was up here at the lodge for the summer.
one day had a letter from him saying that lie
would arrive at n certain time. and engaging a
taide fo8 q weeks camping trip. had the
sulae ready when the man came. He arrived
1rY In the afternoon. In his letter he
had set the next morning as the time for start
ing out. Well, in tho first place. wish you
fs9uid have seen tho stuff he brought with him
re had an entire rubber suit, coat. hat, high
soots and all. He had another waterproof out
IT. those bright yellow oIlskin affairs that fsh.
sfmen wear. He had guns and fishing tackle,
.,1 .na game bags and fish creels and all tho mod
Hn Inconvenience.
weeded out his equipment In short order