"It is a vulgar notion that a fire is only for heat.  A chief value
of it is, however, to look at.  And it is never twice the same."--
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER: Backlog Studies.

I

LIGHTING UP

Man is the animal that has made friends with the fire.

All the other creatures, in their natural state, are afraid of it.
They look upon it with wonder and dismay.  It fascinates them,
sometimes, with its glittering eyes in the night.  The squirrels and
the hares come pattering softly towards it through the underbrush
around the new camp.  The fascinated deer stares into the blaze of
the jack-light while the hunter's canoe creeps through the lily-
pads.  But the charm that masters them is one of dread, not of love.
It is the witchcraft of the serpent's lambent look.  When they know
what it means, when the heat of the fire touches them, or even when
its smell comes clearly to their most delicate sense, they recognize
it as their enemy, the Wild Huntsman whose red hounds can follow,
follow for days without wearying, growing stronger and more furious
with every turn of the chase.  Let but a trail of smoke drift down
the wind across the forest, and all the game for miles and miles
will catch the signal for fear and flight.