First he ripped splinters out of the heart of the log, and laid them with coarser pieces on the ground.
Then from a saddlebag which hung on a near-by branch he took flint and steel and a piece of what Helen supposed was rag or buckskin, upon which powder had been rubbed.

At any rate, the first strike of the steel brought sparks, a blaze, and burning splinters.

Instantly the flame leaped a foot high.

He put on larger pieces of wood crosswise, and the fire roared.
That done, he stood erect, and, facing the north, he listened.

Helen remembered now that she had seen him do the same thing twice before since the arrival at Big Spring.