was aglow.

The whole time taken, from lifting the sticks to the blazing
fire, was less than one minute.

This is the ancient way of the Indian; Rolf had often heard of it
as a sort of semi-myth; never before had he seen it, and so far
as he could learn from the books, it took an hour or two of hard
work, not a few deft touches and a few seconds of time.

He soon learned to do it himself, and in the years which
followed, he had the curious experience of showing it to many
Indians who had forgotten how, thanks to the greater portability
of the white man's flint and steel.

As they walked in the woods that day, they saw three trees that
had been struck by lightning during the recent storm; all three
were oaks. Then it occurred to Rolf that he had never seen any
but an oak struck by lightning.

"Is it so, Quonab?"

"No, there are many others; the lightning strikes the oaks most
of all, but it will strike the pine, the ash, the hemlock, the
basswood, and many more. Only two trees have I never seen
struck, the balsam and the birch."

"Why do they escape?"

"My father told me when I was a little boy it was because they