Smoke in the Valley - Segment 2 (scroll down for earlier segments)

     “You’re kidding!” he answered in disbelief, “I hope they caught the cow that was responsible.”      

     “Miss Plumpinshort said it was an accident.  Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in the barn.  The lantern fell on some hay, which caught fire and spread through the whole city.  It was called the Great Chicago Fire.  It happened a long time ago…in 1871.” 

     I could see Lester was impressed with my knowledge.

     As we continued to nurse our bruises and summon up enough courage to get back in the saddle, I was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea, possibly inspired by Miss Plumpinshort.  “Hey, Lester, why don’t we build a campfire?”  “Besides,” I went on, “real cowboys build real campfires.  Why, you can’t even tell a good story or sing a good song without a campfire.”

     “No wonder it’s so quiet,” answered Lester.

     We found some rocks and placed them in a neat circle.  Then we tried the Boy Scout method of starting a fire.  We found two sticks and began rubbing them together.  We soon realized that only works if you’re a Boy Scout.  Next we tried banging two rocks together, but got more headache than spark.

     “Maybe we need Mrs. O’Leary’s cow,” said Lester.

     “I’ve got a better idea,”   

     “What’s that?”

     “Matches,” I replied.