The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-09-25

continually burnt his fingers in his ten
acious attempts to transfer the tiny fame
from the Pickering match to the soggy
branches. When the visible supply of
matches was exhausted, Burke grunted
and strobe out from beneath the bush
"Herei" he exclaimed roughly; "you
fellows stand back and I'll build your fire.
You'd starve in the brush, my friend" he
added to the tall man as the circle widened
to let him work
Silently they watched him. Under the
shelter of his army coat he broke the
branches into smaller bits, making sure that
the ends were frayed and ragged. He
scattered the mound of wood the other man
had built and whitfield tiny slivers from the
dry cores Of the branches with his knife
bayonet. One of the shivering group
stopped his efforts to keep the rain out of
his neck long enough to exclaim: 10
"My bayonet won't cut wood"
81 sharpened mine," explained Burke
without looking up.
He gathered the pile of shavings together
and put them under his hat. Next he drew
from his pocket a couple of old envelopes,
then pulled cartridge from his belt and
commenced worrying at the bullet with the
point of his bayonet. 1t took time, but
after bit he pulled out the bullet and
sprinkled the brownish grains of powder
over the envelopes, letting the rain moisten
it slightly.
"You may need that cartridge to-mor-
row, protested the tall man, shocked at
this breach of the regulations.
"I'll need full belly and dry feet more"
Burke answered shortly.
When he had arranged the wood exactlyas
he wanted it, Burke lighted the paper with
a single, carefully shielded match The
damp powder sputtered and tiny sparks
glowed among the shavings. A feeble fame
appeared and Burke called for more wood.
He bent over the fame like mother over
her child and when couple of the men
stumbled back through the darkness with
armfuls of wood, the fire had ceased to be
hope and had become fact.
"There!" said Burke triumphantly.
The men huddled close, their wet coats
steaming in the heat.
"Better take off your coats and dry
underneath" advised Burke, hewing at a
sapling with the ever-present bayonet
Next to the skins what counts!"
Under his direction they cut poles and
hung up their overcoats. Burke looked at
the fire, stood up straight and listened.
There's brook hundred yards back of
u.s." he said. Somebody better I'LL the
pot!"
Without waiting to see whether he was
obeyed or not he pulled the cleaning rod
from beneath the barrel of his rife and
thrust one end of it into the fire. He left
it there and began cutting slices from
chunk of bacon which he pulled from his
haversack. The men watched him duly
and some of them commenced to clumsily
initiate him. When the bacon was ready,
Burke drew the cleaning rod from the
the flames and hammered the red-hot end
to point between two stones.
"Where's the water?" he demanded.
Another private brought the stopping
pot, and Burke hung it above the fire on
support of poles He put in the coffee,
then impaled several slices of bacon on the
rod, tilted it toward the blaze and sat down
to wait.
At the end of twenty minutes of uncom-
Portable silence, during which Burke pot
tered busily about the fire, he looked around
ut the six damp figures with grin.
"Supperl" he announced blithely.
Under the stimulus of the food and
warmth, the attitudes of the men relaxed.
Their faces cleared Of the frowns which the
steady rain seemed to have furrowed in
their cheeks. But when the meal was fin
ished, and their poorly lighted pipes sput-
tered unpleasantly in the rain, they hunched
up again in uncomfortable huddles about
the sizzling fire. Burke looked at them
critically.
"What an unholy lot of mutsP' he NUT
Altered. "And they may have to fight to-,
JmorrowP
He plucked six blades of grass, broke
them carefully into uneven lengths and
turned to the group.
whats this for1" demanded the tall
soldier
Washing Dishes" explained Burke.
The tall man waved him away in disgust.
"Oh, shucks!" he snorted scornfully;
throw 'em awayl We're goin' to finish
this war at one lick tomorrow, an they'll
be sendin' US silver plates from home!"
Burke looked panied
I'm about six months" he said driy,
"you'H be wishin' you had something as
good as that plate to eas of. Better
draw"