You may have one minute in which to read this selection.

The Indians of our "American Sahara" are compelled by circumstances to overcome conditions not encountered by their brothers of the plains and mountains.

The "fire bed" is among the most useful and original methods employed by them to "sleep warm", in the "open", as in fall and spring the nights are very cold.

A shallow trench is "scooped out" in the sand, about six feet in length, three feet wide, and six or eight inches deep. The sand is "banked up" on the sides, and a fire is then made in the "pit", covering the entire length. This not only warms the bottom but the banked sides as well.

After the fire has burned long enough to warm the sand thoroughly, the larger unburned sticks are thrown out, but all live coals are left in the pit. The sand on the sides is now covered over the coals to a depth of about four inches. The "sleeper" will then lie down in the warm sand; and, if he possesses a blanket, he will throw it over him, thus keeping in the heat, and will sleep warm.

I have tried this out myself many times, both upon the desert and in the mountains, and have never suffered from the cold.

Describe to your teacher how the Desert Indians are able to sleep out of doors in warm beds.