The singers were evidently indifferent to intruders, for, close by, four
white tents were pitched in a square as though a caravan had halted on
its travels. But the caravaneers must have been in the place for some
days and showed no intention of moving on, for their arrangements had
been made with the idea of permanent comfort.
Around each tent a narrow trench several inches deep had been dug to
prevent flooding in case of rain, farther off two large bins held all
rubbish until such time as it could be conveniently burned. The camp
ground was also beautifully clean, not a scrap of paper nor a tin can
could be seen anywhere, and even the grass itself had been swept with a
novel, but at the same time, a very old-fashioned broom, for a stake
tightly bound with a few sprigs of birch rested against one of the
tents, plainly--from the evidences about it--the kitchen tent. At a
safe distance a camp fire was smoldering, a fire built according to the
best scout methods. Two stout stakes driven slantwise in the ground
with three logs cut the same length, one on top the other, resting
against these stakes. On either side this elevation two logs lay on the
ground like fire logs, with a third crossing them in front, and inside
this enclosure a bed of ashes still glowed, carefully covered over for
the night.
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