He explained that the wood and bark on the under side of such a tree would be reasonably dry and would make excellent fuel.

He found one that had been shivered by lightning, and from the south side of this he chopped off bark and chips.

The girls carried these to the fallen uptilted tree.
In the meantime, the guide had searched for and found several pine knots.

From these Tom whittled shavings from their less resinous ends, leaving the shavings on the sticks.

He set these knots up like a tripod under the fallen tree, small ends down and the shavings touching.
"We will now strike a match and you shall see whether or not we know how to build a fire under present conditions.