“I don’t believe the fire will burn down in that hole,” said James.
“Yes it will,” replied Rollo. “That’s the way they always set the charcoal beds on fire.”
But, notwithstanding Rollo’s confidence, the chips and sticks, though they had burned very freely while in the open air above, did not appear at all inclined to burn in the hole. One reason was, that the boys did not wait long enough for them to get well heated. The ends which were together were on fire, it is true; but the other ends were cold, and the heap of wood was cold, so that every little brand, though it was blazing when the boys took it off the fire, was at once chilled below the point at which combustion continues as soon as it was dropped into the hole. Consequently, after they had dropped all the pieces in, they saw nothing but smoke come out, and even the smoke grew dim.
“We must make a bigger fire,” said Rollo. “I wish I had a pair of tongs here to take out the old sticks, and then we would make a bigger fire.”
But Rollo had no tongs; and so he was obliged to take down his pile in part, in order to get the dead brands out of the middle of it. Then they built another little fire. They waited for this until it was much hotter; and so they succeeded at last in getting a little fire to burn in the middle of their heap of wood.
“As soon as it begins to burn pretty well,” said Rollo, “I must cover it all up with sods.”
“Then that will put it all out,” said James, “I know.”
“No,” said Rollo; “it will only make it burn slow.”
“_I_ think it will put it all out,” replied James.
Rollo himself had some misgivings whether his wood would really burn very well, when all covered up with turf, and he thought that at any rate he would let it get well on fire before he put the turf on. In the mean time, he took the spade, and began to cut the turf, to have it ready.
He found it now very hard to cut the turf,—both because he was tired of cutting it, and also because he had now to begin in a new place, as his woodpile covered the place which he had taken the turf off from before. It is always harder to cut the first turf than it is those that come afterwards.
Rollo succeeded in getting one or two more pieces, and as soon as the heap of wood seemed to be pretty well on fire, he put these pieces on over the top; but they were not enough to cover it, and as the fire increased, the flames came up more and more from the spaces left uncovered.