VIII
The Sacred Fire
"Ten strong poles and two long thin ones," said Yan, reading off. Thesewere soon cut and brought to the camp ground.
"Tie them together the same height as the teepee cover----"
"Tie them? With what?"
"'Rawhide rope,' he said, but he also said 'Make the cover of skins.'I'm afraid we shall have to use common rope for the present," and Yanlooked a little ashamed of the admission.
"I reckoned so," drawled Sam, "and so I put a coil of quarter-inch inthe cover, but I didn't dare to tell you that up at the barn."
The tripod was firmly lashed with the rope and set up. Nine poles wereduly leaned around in a twelve-foot circle, for a teepee twelve feethigh usually has a twelve-foot base. A final lashing of the ropes heldthese, and the last pole was then put up opposite to the door, withthe teepee cover tied to it at the point between the flaps. The endsof the two smoke-poles carried the cover round. Then the lacing-pinswere needed. Yan tried to make them of Hickory shoots, but the large,soft pith came just where the point was needed. So Sam said, "Youcan't beat White Oak for pins." He cut a block of White Oak, split itdown the middle, then split half of it in the middle again, and so ontill it was small enough to trim and finish with his knife. MeanwhileYan took the axe to split another, but found that it ran off to oneside instead of going straight down the grain.
"No good," was Sam's comment. "You must keep _halving_ each timeor it will run out toward the thin pieces. You want to split shinglesall winter to larn that."
Ten pins were made eight inches long and a quarter of an inch thick.They were used just like dressmakers' stickpins, only the holes had tobe made first, and, of course, they looked better for being regular.Thus the cover was laced on. The lack of ground-pegs was then seen.
"You make ten Oak pins a foot long and an inch square, Sam. I've anotion how to fix them." Then Yan cut ten pieces of the rope, each twofeet long, and made a hole about every three feet around the base ofthe cover above the rope in the outer seam. He passed one end of eachshort rope through this and knotted it to the other end. Thus he hadten peg-loops, and the teepee was fastened down and looked like aglorious success.
Now came the grand ceremony of all, the lighting of the first fire.The boys felt it to be a supreme and almost a religious moment. It iscurious to note that they felt very much as savages do under the samecircumstances--that the setting up of the new teepee and lighting itsfirst fire is an act of deep significance, and to be done only withproper regard for its future good luck.
"Better go slow and sure about that fire. It'd be awfully unlucky tohave it fizzle for the first time."
"That's so," replied Yan, with the same sort of superstitious dread."Say, Sam, if we could really light it with rubbing-sticks, wouldn'tit be great?"
"Hallo!"
The boys turned, and there was Caleb close to them. He came over andnodded. "Got yer teepee, I see? Not bad, but what did ye face her tothe west fur?"
"Fronting the creek," explained Yan.
"I forgot to tell ye," said Caleb, "an Injun teepee always fronts theeast; first, that gives the morning sun inside; next, the most wind isfrom the west, so the smoke is bound to draw."
"And what if the wind is right due east?" asked Sam, "which it surelywill be when it rains?"
"And when the wind's east," continued Caleb, addressing no one inparticular, and not as though in answer to a question, "ye lap theflaps across each other tight in front, so," and he crossed his handsover his chest. "That leaves the east side high and shuts out therain; if it don't draw then, ye raise the bottom of the cover underthe door just a little--that always fetches her. An' when you changeher round don't put her in under them trees. Trees is dangerous; in astorm they draw lightning, an' branches fall from them, an' after rainthey keep on dripping for an hour. Ye need all the sun ye kin get on ateepee.
"Did you ever see Indians bring fire out of two sticks by rubbing, Mr.Clark?"
"Oh, yes. Most of the Injuns now carry matches, but in the early daysI seen it done often enough."
"Does it take long? Is it hard?"
"Not so long, and it's easy enough, when ye know how."
"My! I'd rather bring fire out of two sticks than have a ten dollarbill," said Yan, with enthusiasm that meant much, for one dollar washis high-water mark of affluence, and this he had reached but once inhis life.
"Oh, I dunno'; that depends," was Sam's more guarded response.
"Can _you_ do it?" asked Yan.
"Wall, yes, if I kin get the right stuff. Ye see, it ain't every woodthat will do it. It's got to be jest right. The Plains Injuns useCottonwood root, an' the Mountain Injuns use Sage-brush root. I'veseen the Canadian Injuns use Basswood, Cedar and dry White Pine,but the Chippewas mostly use Balsam Fir. The easiest way is with abow-drill. Have ye any buckskin?"
"No."
"Or a strip o' soft leather?"
"I've got a leather shoe-lace," said Yan.
"Rather slim; but we'll double it an' make it do. A cord will answer,but it frays out so soon." Caleb took the lace and the axe, then said,"Find me a stone 'bout the size of an egg, with a little hole intoit--like a socket hole--'bout a quarter inch deep."
The boys went to the creek to seek a stone and Caleb went into thewoods.
They heard him chopping, and presently he came back with a flat pieceof very dry Balsam Fir, a fifteen-inch pin of the same, a stick aboutthree feet long, slightly bent, some dry Pine punk and some dry Cedar.
The pin was three-quarters of an inch thick and was roughlyeight-sided, "so the lace would grip." It was pointed at both ends. Hefastened the lace to the bent stick like a bow-string, but loosely, sothat when it had one turn around the pin it was quite tight. The flatpiece of Balsam he trimmed down to about half an inch thick. In theedge of this he now cut a notch one-quarter inch wide and half an inchdeep, then on the top of this fire-board or block, just beyond thenotch, he made with the point of his knife a little pit.
He next scraped and shredded a lot of dry Cedar wood like lint. Thenmaking a hole half an inch deep in the ground, he laid in that a flatpiece of Pine punk, and across this he set the fire-board. The pointof the pin or drill was put in the pit of the fire-board, which heheld down with one foot; the lace was given one turn on the pin, andits top went into the hole of the stone the boys brought. The stonewas held firmly in Caleb's left hand.
"Sometimes," he remarked, "when ye can't find a stone, a Pine knotwill do--ye kin make the socket-hole with a knife-point."
Now holding the bow in his right hand, he began to draw it back andforth with long, steady strokes, causing the pin to whirl round in thesocket. Within a few seconds a brown powder began to run out of thenotch of the fire-board onto the punk. The pit increased in size andblackened, the powder darkened, and a slight smoke arose from the pit.Caleb increased the pressure of his left hand a little, and sawedfaster with the right. The smoke steadily increased and the blackpowder began to fill the notch. The smoke was rolling in little cloudsfrom under the pin, and it even seemed to come from the heap ofpowder. As soon as he saw that, Caleb dropped the bow and gentlyfanned the powder heap. It still smoked. He removed the fire-board,and lifting the punk, showed the interior of the powder to be oneglowing coal. On this he laid the Cedar tinder and over that a secondpiece of punk. Then raising it, he waved it in the air and blew gentlyfor awhile. It smouldered and then burst into a flame. The othermaterial was handy, and in a very short time they had a blazing firein the middle of the new teepee.
THE RUBBING-STICKS FOR FIRE-MAKING]
All three were pictures of childish delight. The old man's face fairlybeamed with triumph. Had he failed in his experiment he would havegone off hating those boys, but having made a brilliant success he wasready to love every one concerned, though they had been nothing morethan interested spectators of his exploit.
RUBBING-STICKS--FOR FIRE-MAKING (See Description Below)]
Two tools and two sticks are needed. The tools are
bow anddrill-socket; the sticks are drill and fire-board.
1. The simplest kind of bow--a bent stick with a stout leather thongfastened at each end. The stick must not spring. It is about 27 incheslong and 5/8 inch thick.
2. A more elaborate bow with a hole at each end for the thong. At thehandle end it goes through a disc of wood. This is to tighten thethong by pressure of the hand against the disc while using.
3. Simplest kind of drill-socket--a pine or hemlock knot with ashallow hole or pit in it. _3a_ is under view of same. It isabout 4-1/2 inches long.
4. A more elaborate drill-socket--a pebble cemented with gum in awooden holder. _4a_ is under view of same.
5. A very elaborate drill-socket; it is made of tulip wood, carved torepresent the Thunderbird. It has eyes of green felspar cemented inwith resin. On the under side (_5a_) is seen, in the middle, asoapstone socket let into the wood and fastened with pine gum, andon the head a hole kept filled with grease, to grease the top of thedrill before use.
6. The drill, 12 to 18 inches long and about 3/4 of an inch thick; itis roughly 8-sided so the thong will not slip, pointed at each end.The best wood for the drill is old, dry, brash, but not punky balsamfir or cotton-wood roots; but basswood, white cedar, red cedar,tamarack, and sometimes even white pine, will do.
7. Fire-board or block, about 3/4 of an inch thick and any lengthhandy; _a_ is notch with pit just below shows the pit after onceusing and in good trim for a second time; _c_ shows the pit boredthrough and useless; the notch is 1/2 inch wide and 3/4 inch deep.
8. Shows the way of using the sticks. The block (_a_) is helddown with one foot, the end of the drill in the pit, the drill-socket(_c_) is held on top in left hand, one end of the bow (_d_)is held in the right hand the bow is drawn back and forth.
9. Is a little wooden fire-pan, not essential but convenient; its thinedge is put under the notch to catch the powder that falls.
Two Little Savages Page 24