On the crossbar our kettle was hung by a pot-hook--just a hooked stick
with a good notch cut in it to take the handle of the kettle.
Also on the crossbar in the sketch you see our tongs. These are most
useful things for a camp-fire for lifting hot embers into the spot
where you want them for giving extra heat.
[Illustration: MY AUTOMATIC KETTLE-HOLDER.]
The tongs are made from a green stick of hazel, or alder, or birch.
The stick should be about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long. At the middle you cut
away a good bit of the wood from one side for about 4 inches. Then cut
a number of small notches across the grain of the wood to make it
still more bendable at the centre. Here's the side view of the centre
part of your stick.
[Illustration: THE TONGS BEFORE AND AFTER BEING BENT.]
Then flatten the inner sides of your stick towards both ends, so that
they get a better hold on things; bend the two ends together and there
you have your tongs:
Next to the tongs, in the sketch, you see a small branch of dwarf fir.
This makes a hearth-brush, which is very useful for keeping the fire
neat and clean.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163