MARCO PAUL'S ADVENTURES IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE. 

 FORESTS OF MAINE. 

 BY THE AUTHOR OF

 ROLLO, JONAS, AND LUCY BOOKS. 

 BOSTON: T. H. CARTER & COMPANY, 118½ WASHINGTON STREET. 

 1843. 

 Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1843, BY T. H. CARTER, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 

 STEREOTYPED BY GEORGE A. CURTIS, N. ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, BOSTON. 

 [Illustration: FROM THE BOYS' AND GIRLS' MAGAZINE. ]

 CONTENTS

 CHAPTER

 I. THE MOUTH OF THE KENNEBEC. 11 II. THE LOST BUCKET. 21 III. A RAFT. 32 IV. THE DESERT ISLAND. 43 V. THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. 54 VI. EBONY AND PINE. 66 VII. THE BEAR IN THE MILL. 77 VIII. THE BIVOUACK. 88 IX. THE ENCAMPMENT. 98 X. LOST IN THE WOODS. 110 XI. THE SHINGLE WEAVER'S. 120 XII. A VOYAGE ON THE POND. 130

 [Illustration: _"Joe and two others were despatched to row it ashore. "_--See p. 31. ]

PREFACE. 

The design of the series of volumes, which it is intended to issue underthe general title of MARCO PAUL'S ADVENTURES IN THE PURSUIT OFKNOWLEDGE, is not merely to entertain the reader with a narrative ofjuvenile adventures, but also to communicate, in connexion with them, asextensive and varied information as possible, in respect to thegeography, the scenery, the customs and the institutions of thiscountry, as they present themselves to the observation of the littletraveller, who makes his excursions under the guidance of an intelligentand well-informed companion, qualified to assist him in the acquisitionof knowledge and in the formation of character. The author will endeavorto enliven his narrative, and to infuse into it elements of a salutarymoral influence, by means of personal incidents befalling the actors inthe story. These incidents are, of course, imaginary--but the reader mayrely upon the strict and exact truth and fidelity of all thedescriptions of places, institutions and scenes, which are broughtbefore his mind in the progress of the narrative. Thus, though theauthor hopes that the readers, who may honor these volumes with theirperusal, will be amused and interested by them, his design throughoutwill be to instruct rather than to entertain. 

MARCO PAUL IN THE FORESTSOF MAINE. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE MOUTH OF THE KENNEBEC. 

One summer, Forester and Marco Paul formed a plan for going to Quebec. Marco was very much interested in going to Quebec, as he wanted to seethe fortifications. Forester had told him that Quebec was astrongly-fortified city, being a military post of great importance, belonging to the British government. Marco was very much pleased at theidea of seeing the fortifications, and the soldiers that he supposedmust be placed there to defend them. 

On their way to Quebec, they had to sail up the Kennebec in a steamboat. As they were passing along, Marco and Forester sat upon the deck. It wasa pleasant summer morning. They had been sailing all night upon the sea, on the route from Boston to the mouth of the Kennebec. They entered themouth of the Kennebec very early in the morning, just before Foresterand Marco got up. And thus it happened that when they came up upon thedeck, they found that they were sailing in a river. The water was smoothand glassy, shining brilliantly under the rays of the morning sun, whichwas just beginning to rise. 

The shores of the river were rocky and barren. Here and there, in thecoves and eddies, were what appeared to Marco to be little fences in thewater. Forester told him that they were for catching fish. The steamboatmoved very slowly, and every moment the little bell would ring, and theengine would stop. Then the boat would move more slowly still, until thebell sounded again for the engine to be put in motion, and then the boatwould go on a little faster. 

"What makes them keep stopping?" said Marco. 

"The water is very low this morning, " said Forester, "and they have toproceed very carefully, or else they will get aground. "

"What makes the water so low now?" asked Marco. 

"There are two reasons, " replied Forester. "It is late in the summer, and the streams and springs are all low; so that there is but littlewater to come down from the country above. Then, besides, the tide islow this morning in the sea, and that causes what water there is in thebed of the river to run off into the sea. "

"Is not there any tide in the river?" asked Marco. 

"No, " said Forester, "I suppose there is not, strictly speaking. Thatis, the moon, which attracts the waters of the ocean, and makes themrise and fall in succession, produces no sensible effect upon the watersof a river. But then the rise and fall of the sea itself causes allrivers to rise and fall near their mouths, and as far up as theinfluence of the sea extends. You see, in fact, that it must be so. "

"Not exactly, " said Marco. 

"Why, when the water in the sea, " continued Forester, "at the mouth ofthe river is very low, the water in the river can flow off more readily, and this makes the water fall in the river itself. On the other hand, when the water in the sea is high, the water cannot run out from theriver, and so it rises. Sometimes, in fact, the sea rises so much thatthe water from the sea flows up into the river, and makes it salt for aconsiderable distance from its mouth. "

"I wonder whether the water is salt here, " said Marco. 

"I don't know, " said Forester. 

"If we had a pail with a long rope to it, " said Marco, "we could let itdown and get some, and try it. "

"We could let the pail down, but I doubt very much whether we could getany water, " said Forester. "It is quite difficult to drop the pail insuch a manner as to get any water when the vessel is under way. "

"I should like to _try_, " said Marco. 

"You can find out whether the water is salt easier than that, " saidForester. "You can let a twine string down, and wet the end. That willtake up enough for a taste. "

"Well, " said Marco, "if I've got a string long enough. " So saying, hebegan to feel in his pockets for a string. 

He found a piece of twine, which he thought would be long enough, but, on trial, it appeared that it would not reach quite to the water. Forester then tied it to the end of his cane, and allowed Marco to takethe cane, and hold it over the side of the vessel; and by this means hesucceeded in reaching the water, and wetting the end of the string. Hecould, after all, succeed in wetting only a small part of the string, for it was drawn along so rapidly by the motion of the boat, that itskipped upon the surface of the water without sinking in. 

At length, however, after he had got the end a little wetted, he drew itup and put it in his mouth. 

"How does it taste?" said Forester. 

The question was hardly necessary, for the _faces_ which Marco madeshowed sufficiently plain that the water was bitter and salt. 

"Yes, it is salt, " said he. Then, suddenly casting his eye upon a longdark-looking substance, which just then came floating by, he called out, "Why, Forester, what is that?"

"A log, " said Forester. 

The log was round and straight, and the ends were square. The log glidedrapidly by, and soon disappeared. 

"It is a pine log, " said Forester. "There are vast forests of pine treesin this state. They cut down the trees, and then cut the trunks intopieces of moderate length, and draw them on the snow to the rivers. Then, in the spring, the waters rise and float the logs down. This isone of these logs floating down. Sometimes the river is quite full ofthem. "

"Where do they go?" asked Marco. 

"Oh, men stop them all along the river, and put them into booms, andthen fasten them together in rafts. "

"How do they fasten them together?" asked Marco. 

"They drive a pin into the middle of each log, and then extend a ropealong, fastening it to each pin. In this manner, the rope holds the logstogether, and they form a long raft. When they catch the logs in booms, they afterwards form them into rafts, and so float them down the riverto the mills, where they are to be sawed. "

"Can men stand upon the rafts?" said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester, "very well. "

"They make a floor of boards, I suppose, " said Marco. 

"No, " replied Forester; "they stand directly upon the logs. "

"I should think the logs would sink under them, " replied Marco, "or atleast roll about. "

"They sink a little, " replied Forester; "just about as much as the bulkof the man who stands upon them. "

"I don't know what you mean by that, exactly, " said Marco. 

"Why, the rule of floating bodies is this, " rejoined Forester. "When anysubstance, like a cake of ice, or a log of wood, or a boat, is floatingupon the water, a part of it being above the water and a part under thewater, if a man steps upon it, he makes it sink enough deeper tosubmerge a part of the wood or ice as large as he is himself. If thereis just as much of the wood or ice above the water as is equal to thebulk of the man, then the man, in stepping upon it, will sink it just tothe water's edge. "

"But perhaps one man would be heavier than another man, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester; "but then he would be larger, and so, accordingto the principle, he would make more wood sink before the equilibriumwas reached. "

"What is _equilibrium_?" asked Marco. 

"Equilibrium is an equality between two forces, " replied Forester. 

"I don't see what two forces there are, " said Marco. 

"There is the weight of the man pressing downwards, " said Forester, "for one, and the buoyant power of the water, that is, its upwardpressure, for the other. The weight of the man remains constantly thesame. But the upward pressure of the water increases in proportion asthe log sinks into it. For the deeper the log sinks into the water, themore of it is submerged, and it is more acted upon and pressed upward bythe water. Now, as one of these forces remains constant, and the otherincreases, they must at length come to be equal, that is, inequilibrium; and then the log will not sink any farther. That's thephilosophy of it, Marco. "

Marco did not reply, but sat looking at the barren and rocky shores ofthe river, as the boat glided by them. Presently another log came intoview. 

"There, " said Forester, "look at that log, and see whether you thinkthat you could float upon it. "

"Yes, " said Marco, "I think I could. "

"It depends, " said Forester, "on the question whether the part of itwhich is out of water is as big as you are. "

"I think it is, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " added Forester, "I have no doubt that it is. "

"Only I should roll off, " said Marco. 

"True, " replied Forester; "but the millmen, who work about the logs, acquire astonishing dexterity in standing upon them. If there is onlyenough of the log above water to equal their bulk, so that it hasbuoyant power enough to float them, they will keep it steady with theirfeet, and sail about upon it very safely. "

"I should like to try, " said Marco. 

"Perhaps we shall have an opportunity at some place on the river, " saidForester. 

Here Marco suddenly interrupted the conversation by pointing up theriver to a column of smoke and steam which he saw rising beyond a pointof land which was just before them. 

"Here comes another steamboat, " said he. "See, Forester. "

"No, " said Forester, "I believe that is a steam mill. "

"A steam mill!" repeated Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester. "They have steam mills and tide mills to saw upthe logs in this part of the river. Farther up, where there arewaterfalls on the river, or on the streams which empty into it, theybuild mills which are carried by water. I presume that that is a steammill. "

At this moment, Marco's attention was diverted from the steam mill by aboat which came gliding into the field of view. There was one man in theboat rowing it. Another sat in the stern, with a pole in his hand. Thepole had an iron hook in the end of it. A short distance before the boatwas a log floating upon the water. The oarsman was rowing the boattowards the log. He brought it up to it in such a manner that the otherman could strike his hook into it. When this was done, the oarsmanbegan to pull the boat towards the shore, drawing the log with it. 

By this time the whole group disappeared from Marco's view, behind aboat which was hanging on the quarter of the steamer. Marco, who wishedto watch the whole proceeding, left Forester, and ran aft, in hopes thathe could get another view of the men in the boat. He found, however, that the steamboat was proceeding so rapidly up the river, that he wasfast losing sight of them; and then he concluded to go forward to thebows of the steamboat, thinking that, perhaps, there might be other logscoming down the river, with men after them in boats. 

When he reached the bows, Marco found the deck encumbered with cablesand anchors, and heavy boxes of freight, which made it difficult for himto find his way to a good place for a view. He finally reached a placewhere, by standing upon an anchor, he could look over the bulwarks, andget a view of the expanse of water before him. It was smooth, and itsglassy surface was bright with the reflection of the rays of the morningsun. 

Marco admired the beauty of the river and of its banks, but he could seeno boats, or even logs coming. He saw some large sand banks before him, which had been left bare by the efflux of the tide. He wished that thesteamboat would stop, and let him land upon one of them. He also lookeddown over the bows, and admired the graceful form and beautifulsmoothness of the ripple, or rather wave, which was formed by thecutwater of the boat as it urged its way rapidly through the water. After gazing upon this for some time, Marco turned to go away in pursuitof Forester, when an occurrence took place, which being somewhatimportant in its consequences, the account of it must be deferred to thenext chapter. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE LOST BUCKET. 

As Marco was stepping down from the position which he had taken upon theanchor, his eye fell upon a small bucket, with a long rope tied to thehandle, which he immediately recognised as one of those buckets whichthe sailors fit up in that way, in order to draw up water from alongsidethe ship. 

"There's a bucket, now, " said Marco to himself. "I declare, I believeI'll draw up some water. Forester said that it was hard, but I think itwill be easy. I'll draw up a bucket full, and carry to him and showhim. "

So saying, Marco took up the bucket, lifted it gently over the side, andlet it down slowly by the rope into the water. There was a knot in theend of the rope; and Marco held the knot firmly in his hand, so as todraw up the bucket by means of it, as soon as he should get it full. Hefound, however, that, although he could let the pail down easily enough, it was no easy matter to dip up any water into it; for the rope, beingfastened to the bail or handle, kept the handle, and of course the openpart of the pail, upwards, so that the water could not run in. If Marcolet the rope down more, the pail, being light, would not sink, butskipped along upon the surface of the water, drawn by the motion of thesteamboat. 

While Marco was making these fruitless attempts, another boy, dressed insailor's clothes, whom Marco had seen several times before about theboat, came up to him, and asked him what he was doing. 

"I'm trying to get some water, " said Marco. 

"That isn't the way to get it, " said the sailor boy. "Let me have thebucket. I'll show you the way. "

"No, " said Marco, "I want to get it myself. "

"You never can get any that way, " said the boy. "You must swing it backand forth, and when it is swinging well, let it drop suddenly and catchthe water. "

So Marco began to swing the bucket back and forth, and after he had gotit well a-swinging, he let down the rope suddenly, at the moment whenthe bucket was at the extent of its oscillation. The bucket filledinstantly; but, as the boat was advancing rapidly, it was caught by thewater with such force that the rope was twitched out of Marco's handwith great force. 

"Hold on!" exclaimed the sailor boy. 

But it was too late. The rope fell down into the water, and the bucket, rope and all, sailed back upon the surface of the water, until theyfloated under the paddle wheel of the boat, which dashed them downbeneath the surface of the water, and they disappeared finally fromview. 

"Why did not you hold on?" said the boy. 

Marco was silent. 

The boy looked round to see if anybody had observed what had takenplace. He found that all the seamen were busy here and there, and thatnobody had noticed what the two boys had been doing. 

"Nobody has seen you, " said the sailor boy; "so you say nothing, andI'll say nothing. "

"But suppose they ask you what has become of that bucket, " said Marco;"what will you tell them?"

"Oh, I'll tell them I don't know where it is, " he replied; "and I don't. I am sure I don't know where it is now: do you? Hush, here comes Joe. "

Marco looked up at these words, and saw the sailor approaching whom theboy called Joe; and the boy himself immediately stepped down from theanchor, where he and Marco had been standing, and began coiling a ropeupon the deck. Marco walked sorrowfully away towards the stern of thevessel, where he had left Forester. 

There was something wrong and something right in the boy's proposal toMarco, to conceal the loss of the bucket. His object was to befriend andhelp Marco in his distress. This was right. The means by which heproposed to accomplish the object were secrecy and fraud. This waswrong. Thus, the end which he had in view was a good one, and itevinced a good feeling in him; but the means for promoting it werecriminal. Some persons have maintained that if the end is only right, itis of no consequence by what means we seek to promote it. Hence, theyhave had this maxim, viz. , "The end sanctifies the means. " But thismaxim is not sound. The contrary principle is correct. It is sometimesexpressed by this saying: "We must not do evil that good may come;"which is a much safer proverb to be guided by. 

Marco's first impulse was, to go at once and tell the captain of thesteamboat that he had lost his bucket. But he did not know exactly wherehe could find him. He looked at his office window, and found that it wasshut. He asked one of the waiters, whom he met coming up stairs from thecabin, if he knew where the captain was. But the waiter did not know. Presently, he saw a gentleman walking back and forth upon that part ofthe deck which is in front of the door of the ladies' cabin. He thoughtthat he was the captain. Marco walked up to him, and accosted him bysaying:

"Are you the captain of this boat, sir?"

"Am I the captain?" asked the man. "Why? What do you want to know for?"

"Because, if you are, " said Marco, "I have lost your bucket. "

"Lost my bucket!" repeated the gentleman. "How did you lose it?"

"I lost it overboard, " said Marco. 

Here the gentleman laughed, and said, "No, I'm not captain; but you seemto be an honest sort of boy. I don't know where the captain is. "

All this, though it has taken some time to describe it, took place in avery few minutes; and the boat had now advanced only so far as to beopposite the steam mill which Marco had seen just before he had leftForester. Marco happened to see the mill as the boat moved by it, and hewent immediately to the side of the boat to get a better view of it. 

There was a chimney for the smoke, and a pipe for the waste steam, atthe mill. From the steam-pipe there issued a dense column of vapor, which came up, however, not in a regular current, like the smoke fromthe chimney, but it was puffed up in regular strokes, making a sort ofpulsation. While Marco was looking at it, Forester came along, and stoodlooking at it too. There were a great many logs lying about the shore, and enormous piles of boards, which had been sawed, and which were readyfor the vessels that were to come and take them away. 

"What makes the steam come up in puffs?" asked Marco. 

"Because, it is what they call a high pressure engine, " said Forester. "It works against the pressure of the atmosphere. All such engines throwout the steam in puffs. "

"Why do they?" asked Marco. 

"Do you know what the cylinder of a steam engine is?" said Forester. 

"Not exactly; I don't remember it very well, " replied Marco. 

"Come with me, then, " said Forester, "and I will show it to you. "

So saying, he took Marco to the engine of the boat, and showed him, inthe midst of the machinery, a large iron vessel, shaped like a hogshead, only it had straight sides. Marco could not see much more than the topof it. 

"That is the cylinder, " said Forester. "It is the _heart_ of the steamengine, as I may say--the seat of its power. All the other machinery isonly to aid the cylinder, and to convey the power to the point where itis wanted to do the work. Thus, the place where the steam exerts itspower, and on which the whole movement of the machinery depends, is thecylinder. "

Marco observed that a long iron rod, large and solid, and very bright, kept ascending and descending through the top of the cylinder, as ifpushed up and drawn down again by some force within. Forester told himthat that was the piston rod. 

"The piston rod, " said Forester, "is fastened, at its lower end, to the_piston_, which is a flat plate of iron, made to fit the inside of thecylinder exactly. "

"First, " said Forester, "the steam comes in below the piston, and drivesit up; and then it is stopped from coming in below, and is forced inabove, and so drives it down. "

"And how does the other steam get out?" asked Marco. 

"There are two ways of getting rid of the steam that is below the pistonwhen the piston is coming down, " said Forester. "One way is, to open apassage to let it out _into the air_. On this plan, when the piston hasbeen driven up, the steam is cut off from coming in below the piston, and is admitted above. At the same instant, the passage is opened to letthe lower steam out. Of course, the steam that comes in _above_, drivesthe piston down, and forces the steam that is _below_, out into the air. They generally have a pipe to convey it away, and as the piston goes upand down, the steam comes out in puffs, as you saw it in that mill. "

"Yes, " said Marco, "I understand that; and now what is the other way?"

"That kind of engine is called a _high pressure_ engine, " said Forester, "because the piston, in coming down, has to drive out the steam frombelow, against the pressure of the atmosphere; for the atmosphere abovepasses into the pipe, and resists the movement of the steam in comingout. It requires a greater force of steam to work the piston on thisplan than it does upon the other. "

"What is the plan of the other?" asked Marco. 

"On the other plan, " said Forester, "the steam under the piston iscondensed, that is, turned suddenly into water; and this leaves avacancy or void below the piston, so that the piston can be forced downmuch more easily than if it had to drive the steam out before it, against the pressure of the atmosphere. "

Forester was going on to explain to Marco how it was that the steam wascondensed in the cylinder, when the conversation was suddenlyinterrupted by the sound of the engine bell, which was the signal forthe engine to stop. The thumping sound of the machinery and of thepaddle wheels accordingly ceased, and the boat began to move moreslowly. Presently, the bell sounded once more, and the piston rod slowlyrose out of the cylinder, and then slowly descended again. 

"They are going very slowly, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester, "the water is low, and I suppose that thechannel is narrow. "

Just at this moment, they perceived a strange sensation, as if thesteamboat had been suddenly pushed backwards. Marco was startled. He didnot know what it meant. 

"There we are, " said Forester. 

"What?" said Marco. "What is it?"

"Aground, " said Forester. 

"Aground?" repeated Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester; "that's the sensation produced when a ship goesaground upon sand or soft mud. "

So saying, Forester left the engine, and went up to the upper deck, followed by Marco. There were several persons there, looking out uponthe water. 

"Yes, " said Forester, "we are aground. You see by the trees upon thebank that we are not moving. "

Marco saw that they were at rest. He asked Forester what they were goingto do. 

Just at this moment the little bell sounded, and the engine, which hadbeen stopped when the boat went aground, was put in motion again. 

"They are going to back the engine, I suppose, " said Forester, "to tryto draw her off. "

But the boat would not move. The engine did not seem to have power torelease her from her confinement. 

"What shall we do now?" asked Marco. 

"Why, whenever a ship is aground, " said Forester, "the first questionis, what is the state of the tide?"

"Because, " continued Forester, after a moment's pause, "if the tide is_rising_, it soon lifts the vessel off, and enables her to go back, or, perhaps, forward, if the water is not very shallow. But, if the tide is_falling_, it leaves her to rest more and more upon the sand, and shecannot get off until the water has gone entirely down, and then risesagain. She cannot get off, in fact, until the water has risen higherthan it was when she first grounded. "

"And how is it now?" asked Marco. 

"I presume the tide is going down, " said Forester; "and if so, we mustwait here until it rises again. " So saying, he began to look about forsomebody of whom he could inquire. He soon heard a gentleman say toanother that the tide was falling, and that they should have to stayhere three hours. 

"That's rather provoking, " said Marco. 

"Oh, no, " said Forester. "Perhaps we can go ashore. "

"Well, " said Marco, with an expression of gratification at the proposal. 

"And perhaps we can borrow some fishing lines, and go a fishing. "

"Yes, " said Marco, "that will be an excellent plan. "

"At any rate, " said Forester, "when accidents of this sort occur uponour travels, we should not allow ourselves to be provoked by them, butmake ourselves contented by the best means within our reach. "

At this time, they began to hear the loud, hissing sound, produced bythe blowing off of the steam from the engine, which Forester said was anadditional indication that they were going to remain there for sometime. Presently, a man came up the stairs from the deck below--forForester and Marco were at this time on the upper deck--and told thepassengers that the boat would have to remain there three or four hours, and that if any of them wished to go ashore to amuse themselves, hewould send them in his boat, after breakfast. 

Quite a number of the passengers seemed disposed to accept this offer, and the boat was accordingly lowered; and Joe, with two other sailors, were despatched to row it ashore. They were all safely landed upon araft of logs, just above the mill. 

CHAPTER III. 

A RAFT. 

Forester and Marco did not take breakfast on board the steamboat, butwaited until they got on shore. They had inquired of a fellow-passenger, who seemed acquainted with the country, and were told that there was avery good tavern about a quarter of a mile from the mill. 

When they landed upon the logs, Marco, whose curiosity seemed to bestronger than his appetite, wanted to ramble about for a little timealong the shore and among the piles of boards, but Forester thought itwould be best first to go and get their breakfast. 

"Because, " said he, "we can then amuse ourselves by rambling about here, and shall be ready to return to the steamboat whenever they send forus. "

So they went to the tavern. 

Forester seemed to have little appetite for his breakfast. He complainedof feeling fatigued, and yet he had nothing to fatigue him. Marco ate, and talked fast all the time; but Forester seemed silent and dejected. 

"Come, cousin Forester, what is the matter with you?" said Marco atlast. 

Forester said that he felt somewhat unwell, and as there was a sofa inthe room, he concluded to lie down upon it, and not go out. Marco was, at first, disposed to stay and take care of him, but Forester said thathe did not need anything, and he wished Marco to go out and amusehimself. 

"You may go and see the mill, " said he, "and the logs along the shore;only be careful not to go where there is any danger; and come and let meknow when the boat is coming from the steamer to take us on boardagain. "

So Marco left Forester upon the sofa, and went away. He was sorry thathe was sick, and he was particularly sorry that he had to go himselfwithout company. But, concluding that he would adopt Forester'sprinciple of making the best of everything, in the events which occur intravelling, he walked along the road, singing a tune which he hadlearned at a juvenile singing school in New York, and watching thepulsations of the steam, as it issued from the pipe at the mill. 

As Marco walked along, it occurred to him that he had not, after all, succeeded in acknowledging to the captain of the steamboat that he hadlost the bucket. And, since the first occasion for doing so had gone by, he began to doubt whether it would be best for him to trouble himselfany farther about it. 

"The bucket was not worth much, " said he to himself. "Nobody knows itis lost, except that boy, and he will not tell. I've a great mind not tosay anything about it. "

In fact, Marco found that he was much less inclined to make hisacknowledgment now, than he was when the circumstance first occurred. Hewished that he had at once stated the facts to Forester, which wouldhave been his wisest course; but now, that the first occasion for doingso had passed away, he began to feel disinclined to do it at all. 

Marco soon reached the mill, and he amused himself, for half an hour, inwatching the movement of the engine, the strokes of the saw, and thedrawing up of the logs from the water to the floor of the mill. Therewas a steep, sloping platform from the mill down to the river, and along chain extended down to the water. This chain was fastened to oneend of one of the logs, which lay floating there, and then, by means ofthe machinery, it was drawn slowly up, bringing the ponderous log withit. 

The way in which the machinery drew up the chain was this: The end ofthe chain, which was within the mill, was wound around an axle, whichwas made to revolve by the machinery. The axle, thus revolving, wound upthe chain, and, in this manner, drew it gradually in, by which means thelog, which was attached to the lower end of it, was drawn up. 

Presently, Marco's attention was attracted towards some men, who seemedto be sailing about upon some logs, in a cove, just below the mill. Hewent down immediately to see what they were doing. They had long polesin their hands, with iron points in the ends of them, and were pushingthe logs about with these poles, to choose out such as they wished tosaw in the mill. 

Just as Marco came down, one of the men stepped upon the end of a logwhich was floating very near him. The log sank a little, but not much, under him, and the man walked along towards the other end of it. Marcowondered how he could keep his balance. 

When the millman reached the farther end of the log, he extended hislong pole very dexterously, and struck the point of it into the cornerof a sort of wharf, which was built upon the bank; and then, pullinggently, he drew himself along, together with the log upon which he wasfloating. Marco was surprised at this, and he wondered that the man didnot fall off the log. He thought that if the log were to roll in theleast degree, the man would be rolled off into the water. He ran down tothe little wharf, so that he could see better. 

"Well, my boy, " said the millman, "do you belong on board thesteamboat?"

"Yes, sir, " said Marco; "we got aground. You'll fall off of that log ifyou don't take care. "

"No, " said the millman, "there's no danger. "

"Why, if the log should roll the least atom, away you'd go, " saidMarco, "though the water is not very deep. "

Here the man began to step upon the log in a peculiar manner, so as tomake it roll. It rolled slowly, but the man continued stepping until hehad rolled it completely over. The side which had been under waterappeared of a dark color, and was very slippery, being covered with asort of slime; but the man did not slip. After he had thus rolled thelog completely over, he looked up to Marco, and said, "There, you see that there is no danger. "

When the man had drawn this log up to the shore, he went for another;and he had to sail upon this second one a long distance, in bringing itto its place. He pushed himself along by running his pole down to thebottom, and pushing against the sand. 

"Could I sail upon a log?" asked Marco. 

"No, " replied the millman; "you'd roll off. "

"How did you learn to do it?" asked Marco. 

"Oh, I learned when I was a boy, " replied the millman. 

"Did you roll off when you were learning?" asked Marco. 

"Yes, " said the man. "I've been off the log into the water many a time. "

"And how did you get out again?" said Marco. 

"Oh, I could swim, " he replied; "and as soon as I came up, I wouldpaddle back to the log, and climb up upon it. Once, however, I came verynear being drowned. "

"How was it?" said Marco. 

"Why, I was on the upper side of a boom"----

"A boom?" said Marco, "what is that?"

"A boom!" repeated the millman; "don't you know what a boom is? It is aplace to catch logs. They go to some cove or eddy, where the water ispretty still, and chain logs together, end to end, so as to form a longline on the lower side of the eddy, and then along up the middle of theriver a little way, so as to enclose a space to catch the logs. "

"What do they fasten the boom to?" asked Marco. 

"Why, the lower end, " said the millman, "is fastened to the shore, bymeans of a very strong post, or an iron staple set into the rocks. Theother end, which is out in the middle of the stream, is fastened to someisland, if there is one, or, if not, to a pier built up from thebottom. "

"Well, " said Marco, "tell on about your getting in. "

"The boom was full of logs, and I was upon the upper side of it, at workwith some other men. I was on a log trying to find the mark, and I fellin. "

"What made you fall off?" asked Marco. 

"I don't know, " replied the millman. "I was not much use to logs then. Iwas trying to find the mark. "

"What mark?" asked Marco. 

"The owner's mark, " said the millman. "The owners all mark their logs, when they get them out in the winter, and then we separate or sort themin the booms. Sometimes the mark is on the under side of the log, and sowe have to turn it over in the water to find it. "

While all this conversation had been going on, the millman had beenmoving about over the water with the various logs, Marco accompanyinghim, and keeping as near to him as possible, walking along the shore, and sometimes on the logs which were resting by one end on the shore. Asthe millman was describing the system of marking the logs, he wassailing along very near to Marco, and he immediately began to turn thelog over under him, saying--

"For instance, look here, and see me turn up the mark of this log. "

Marco watched the log, as it slowly revolved, until presently there camea sort of hieroglyphical mark upon one end, made by crosses and linescut into the wood. 

"Every owner has his particular mark, " said the millman. 

"Whose mark is that?" asked Marco. 

"I don't know, " said the man, "but they know at the mill. They have aregister of them all at the mill. "

"I wish I could turn over a log, standing on it, in that way, " saidMarco. 

"You couldn't, " said the millman. "The only way by which you can sailsafely on logs, would be to put two together, and make a sort of raft. "

"How?" asked Marco. 

"By nailing short pieces of boards across from one log to another. Thenthey would not roll. "

"Well, " said Marco, "if I could only get a hammer and some nails. "

The millman told him that perhaps they would let him have a hammer andsome nails at the mill; and Marco, accordingly, went up to inquire. Theytold him they had a hammer, but they had no nails to spare. So Marcofailed of getting the means of making a raft. He forgot to go back tothe millman to get the rest of his story, but, instead of it, he rambleddown the bank of the river, until he came to a place where there was anold fence, which had fallen down, and the nails were sticking out of theboards. He now wished that he had borrowed the hammer at the mill, andhe tried to persuade a boy, who was standing there, to go and borrow itfor him. 

The boy told him that a stone would do very well for a hammer. 

"So it will, " said Marco; "find me a good one, and bring it to this oldfence. "

The boy brought Marco a stone, and Marco began to knock out the nails. Very soon, however, he set the boy at work upon the nails, while he wentin pursuit of some short boards, to nail across from one log to theother. He found some, which he thought would answer, without muchdifficulty, and collected them together near the logs; and, soonafterwards, the boy brought him the nails. 

The logs were lying side by side, with two ends resting upon the shore, the two other ends being out towards the stream. Marco concluded to nailfirst the two ends which were towards the shore, they being nearest, andbeing also more steady than the others. He accordingly laid one of hisshort pieces across, and nailed it as well as he could, using the stonefor a hammer. 

"Now, " said he to the boy, "I'll put another board across at the middle, and one more at the other end, and then, if I can find something for apole, I'll take a little sail. Look about a little, my boy, won't you, "continued he, "and see if you can't find a pole, while I am nailing theother boards. "

The boy accordingly went away in pursuit of a pole, while Marco nailedfirst the middle board, and then the end one. He came back just afterMarco had got the first nail of the end board driven in, and as soon ashe came in sight of the logs and of Marco, he exclaimed--

"You're adrift! you're adrift!"

Marco got up immediately, and looked around. He was indeed adrift. Hisweight, pressing upon the outer ends of the logs, had lifted the otherends off the shore, and the raft was slowly floating up the stream. Thereason why it floated _up_ was, that there was at this place what theycall an eddy, which is a current near the shore, flowing up the stream. Such eddies are caused, generally, by curves in the banks. 

As soon as Marco perceived that he was afloat, he said--

"Throw me the pole. "

The boy threw the pole, and it just reached the raft. Marco took it in, and, thrusting the end hastily down into the water, he endeavored topush himself back by pushing against the bottom. But it was too late. Hehad got already into such deep water that he could scarcely reach thebottom, and he could not push the raft back. 

In the mean time, the raft slowly moved up the river. 

"Never mind, " said Marco. "I'm going right for the mill, and when I getthere, they'll come out for me in a boat. In the mean time, I'd betterfinish my raft. "

So saying, he kneeled down and finished nailing on the last board. Whenhe rose again, he found that he had advanced considerably, and the boyhad accompanied him, walking along by the shore. He perceived, however, that he was gradually getting away from the shore, and, looking forward, he saw, to his consternation, that the eddy did not extend to the mill;but that, at a short distance above him, it swept out into the maincurrent of the river, which was running by a point of land at the upperpart of the eddy, with great speed. The raft advanced slowly till itcame to this current, when it turned around, and began to glide swiftlydown the stream. 

"Boy, " cried Marco, in great distress, "run to the mill as fast as youcan go, and tell them that I have gone down the river, adrift. Tell themto send a boat after me as quick as they can. My cousin Forester willpay them well. "

So the boy ran off towards the mill, while Marco floated away helplesslydown the current. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE DESERT ISLAND. 

After Marco had sailed on for a few minutes, he cast his eyes up theriver, and saw the steamboat. She was still lying in an inclinedposition, as she had been left grounded by the tide. He shouted andwaved his hat, in the endeavor to attract the attention of the people onboard, and lead them to send a boat to rescue him. But all his effortswere vain. He could not make them hear. 

The current soon bore him beyond a point of land which hid the steamboatfrom his view, and he began to fear that he should be actually carriedout to sea. He was calculating, in fact, how many miles it was to themouth of the river, when it suddenly occurred to him that, though hecould not _push_ with his pole, he might perhaps _paddle_ with it. Heaccordingly took up the pole, which he had laid down upon the raft, andbegan to use it as a paddle. 

Marco found, to his great relief, that he could produce considerableeffect upon his raft by using his pole as a paddle. He contrived to getthe head of his raft round towards the shore, and, by working hard, hesucceeded in urging it along through the current, very slowly, indeed, but still perceptibly, so that he began to have some hope that he mightsucceed in reaching land. 

Before he had made much progress, however, he suddenly saw before him, at a short distance, a little rocky island, with some grass and a fewtrees on the lower end of it. The island was very small, being not muchlonger than Marco's raft. It lay almost directly in his course--sonearly, that he perceived that by working a little more with his pole, he thought he could bring himself into such a position as to be thrownby the current directly upon it. 

This he did. He paddled, with all his strength, to get into a line withthe upper end of the island, the current, all the time, bearing him downdirectly towards it. In a few minutes, he had the satisfaction of seeingthat he was going directly upon it. 

"All right, " said he to himself; "now I'm safe. "

As he said these words, the end of the raft struck the rock, and heleaped off upon it. The raft swung round, and was going away, but Marcoseized it, and dragged it up a little way upon the shore, so as tosecure it. He then sat down upon the rock, and began to consider whatwas next to be done. 

He was certainly at a loss to know what was to be done. He waited anhour, and then, getting very tired of his situation, he began toconsider whether it would not be best for him to entrust himself oncemore to his raft, and endeavor to get to the shore by means of hispaddle. 

While he was sitting on a point of the rock, in this perplexity, lookingtowards the shore that was nearest to him, he suddenly saw a boy comingupon a horse, along a winding road, which led to the river. He wasdriving the horse down to water. The horse advanced to the brink of theriver, when Marco began to call out in his loudest voice, "Halloo!"

"Halloo!" answered the boy. 

"Can't you get a boat, and come and take me off this island?" criedMarco. 

The boy paused a moment, and gazed earnestly at Marco, while the horsecontinued drinking. 

"How came you on that island?" said the boy, calling out again in a loudvoice. 

"I got adrift on some logs, " said Marco, "and floated down the river. Can't you get a boat, and come and take me off?"

"I have not got any boat, " said the boy. "There an't any boats abouthere. "

"I wish you would go and get one, " said Marco. "I'll pay you well forit. "

The boy did not answer. He seemed to be hesitating. In the mean time, the horse, having nearly finished his drinking, lifted up his head andlooked at Marco. 

"There is not any boat within a mile, " said the boy. "But I should thinkyou might wade ashore. The water is not deep between here and theisland. "

"Then wade out here with your horse, " said Marco, "and take me on behindyou. "

The boy hesitated a moment, but he finally decided to comply withMarco's proposal, and accordingly began to advance his horse into thewater. Marco watched his progress with intense interest. As the watergrew deeper, he began to fear that the boy would get discouraged, andturn back. But the boy kept on. He turned his steps somewhat below theisland, where there was an extensive shoal; the water grew shallower andshallower, until at last the horse emerged entirely, and stood upon alittle dry sand bank at the lower side of the island. 

"I'm very much obliged to you, indeed, " said Marco, "for coming forme--besides the pay. I will pay you for it as soon as we get on shore. "

"Oh, no, " said the boy, "I don't need any pay just for wading my horseout here. I wade him out here very often, when I come down to water;that is, in the summer, when the water is low. "

Marco mounted behind the boy, and the boy turned his horse's headtowards the shore. 

"How far is it back to the mill?" asked Marco. 

"To the steam mill?--four miles, " answered the boy. 

"Four miles!" exclaimed Marco; "is it possible that I have floated downfour miles? How shall I ever get back again?"

"How did you happen to get adrift?" asked the boy. 

Marco proceeded to give the boy an account of his getting adrift, but ina short time the water began to grow so deep that he was afraid. Theboy, however, told him that there was no danger. The bottom of theriver, at this place, was a great bed of pebble stones, and the currentran very swiftly over them, and curled in sharp ripples about thehorse's legs. Presently, however, the water became more shallow, andthey soon safely reached the shore. 

"Now, " said Marco, "I want to get back to the mill just as quick as Ican--before the steamboat goes. "

"The steamboat?" said the boy, "she has gone long ago. She went by earlythis morning. "

"Yes, " said Marco, "she went by here, but she got stopped. "

So Marco told the boy the story of their having got aground, and of hisgoing ashore; and of all his adventures, in fact, down to the time ofhis being cast upon the desert island. The boy told him that he hadbetter make haste; "for, " said he, "the tide has risen a great dealalready. When the tide is at the lowest, we can go out to that islandalmost on bare ground. "

"But I can't walk back four miles, " said Marco. "Could you not carry mein a wagon?" he continued. 

"We have got a wagon, " said the boy, "if my father will let me go. "

"Let us go right up and ask him, " said Marco

They accordingly began to advance up the road, the boy putting his horseto a rapid trot. Marco, who was not accustomed to riding in thisstyle--behind another boy, and without a saddle--was much jolted, and, in fact, he found it very difficult to keep his seat. He began to feelso much anxiety, however, about getting back again, that he did notcomplain. In a short time, the boy reached the house. It was a small, plain farm-house. There was a shed at one side of it, with a wagonstanding in the shed--the shafts resting upon a wood-pile. 

"My father is not at home, now, " said the boy, "but he will be at homevery soon. "

"Oh, don't let us wait for him, " rejoined Marco. "He'll be willing tohave you go, I know. "

"No, " said the boy, "I should not dare to go without his leave. "

"Let us harness the horse into the wagon, then, at any rate, " saidMarco, "and then we shall be all ready. "

"We can do that, " said the boy. 

So they harnessed the horse into the wagon, and the boy led the horsearound to the door. Marco, who was quite impatient to go, got into thewagon, and sat waiting. The man came in about twenty minutes, and whenhe heard a statement of the case, he said that his boy might go and takeMarco back to the mill. 

It was now so late that Marco began to be seriously afraid that thesteamboat might have gone. He was very impatient to have the horse go asfast as possible; and he watched at every turn in the road which gavehim a view of the river, hoping to get a glimpse at the boat. Hewondered whether Forester was still at the tavern, or whether he hadcome out in pursuit of him. After wearying himself with conjectures, which were all in vain, he suddenly came to a view of the river oppositethe mill. The steamboat, to his great joy, was in its place; but therewas a black column of smoke issuing from the smoke-pipe. 

"They are firing up, " said Marco, "I verily believe. "

"What do you mean by that?" said the boy. 

"Why, building up the fires, " said Marco, "to set the engine a-going. They call it firing up. "

Just at this moment there broke forth a loud and hoarse hissing from thesteam-pipe, and a dense column of white vapor began to ascend, whichmingled its snowy volumes, in a beautiful manner, with the dark massesof the smoke. 

"They are blowing off the steam, " said Marco. 

"What does that mean?" asked the boy. 

"Why, that they have got the steam up, and are letting off a little ofit, while they are waiting for something. Perhaps they are waiting forus. Drive on as fast as you can. "

A moment after this, the sound of the steam suddenly ceased, and thegreat paddle wheels, on the sides of the boat, began slowly to revolve. 

"They are trying to get her off, " said Marco. "I _do hope_ they can'tstart her. Drive on; drive on as fast as you can. "

They were, at this time, upon the top of a hill which commanded a fineview of the river, and of the scenery upon its banks. The mill wasbefore them, too, in full view. But Marco was too much engaged inwatching the movements of the boat to regard the scenery. The boy droverapidly down the hill. They reached the mill in a very few minutes, anddrove down to the bank of the river, by a road which led to the water, ashort distance above the mill. But, in the mean time, unfortunately forMarco, the steamboat had regained its liberty, and when Marco and theboy came in view of it again, as their horse stopped at the edge of thewater, they saw, to Marco's dismay, that she was ploughing her wayswiftly up the river, being just about to disappear behind a point ofland which terminated the view of the water in that direction. 

"They are gone, " said Marco, in a tone of despair, "they are gone; andwhat shall I do?"

"Can't you go in the stage?" asked the boy, hoping thus to say a word ofencouragement and consolation. 

"No, " said Marco, "I don't believe there is any stage from this oldmill. Besides, I don't know where to go. I should not have thought thatForester would have gone off and left me. "

"Was he on board the steamboat?" asked the boy. 

"Yes, " said Marco--"that is, he was to go on board--but I left him atthe tavern. "

"Perhaps he is there now, " said the boy. "Let us go and see. "

Marco approved of this plan, and they turned the wagon, and rode towardsthe tavern. As soon as the horse stopped in the yard, Marco leaped outof the wagon, and ran in. He found Forester reclining upon the sofa, where Marco had left him, asleep. 

Marco advanced towards him, and took him by the shoulder, roughly, towake him up, saying, "Forester! cousin Forester! wake up! the boat has gone. "

Forester opened his eyes--looked wildly at Marco, and then put his handsto his head, pressing his temples with the palms, but he did not speak. 

"The boat has gone, cousin Forester, " continued Marco. 

"Then what good does it do to wake me up so roughly?" asked Forester. 

"Why--I--thought you'd want to know it, " said Marco; "but why did notyou come down?"

"Because, " said Forester, "you were to come and tell me, I thought, whenthey were ready to go. "

Marco had no reply to make to this suggestion, and he was silent. Hefound, afterwards, on farther conversation with Forester, that he wasquite unwell. His head ached, and his face was flushed, as if he wasfeverish. Marco related to Forester an account of his adventures on theraft of logs. Forester thought that he had had a very narrow escape. 

Marco expected that Forester would have rebuked him very sharply for hisfault in going upon the logs at all. But he did not. After Marco had gotthrough with his account, Forester only said, "Well, Marco, you evidently did wrong in getting upon the logs at all;but the evil consequences to you will be punishment enough, and, infact, more than enough. "

"Evil consequences?" said Marco--"no; there are no evil consequences, only that we have got left behind. "

"I don't regard that, " said Forester, "for I am too unwell to travelto-day; but then you have suffered considerable pain and anxietyalready, and, besides, there will be some money to pay. "

"What for?" said Marco. 

"Why, you have got to pay the boy for bringing you home, " repliedForester. 

"Must I pay him, " said Marco, "out of my own money?"

"Who do you think ought to pay him?" said Forester. 

"Why, _I_ ought to, I suppose, " said Marco. "But it won't be much. Ithink a quarter of a dollar will be enough. "

"Then, did not you say that you sent to the mill to have somebody godown after you in a boat?" asked Forester. 

"Yes, " said Marco, "but I don't think they went. "

"You had better go to the mill and see, " said Forester. 

So Marco went out and paid the boy a quarter of a dollar, with which heseemed to be satisfied. Then he went to the mill, and he found two menjust returning, in a boat, from a long pull down the river in pursuit ofhim. Marco paid them half a dollar. Thus his loss was three quarters ofa dollar. 

When he returned to the tavern, he found that Forester had taken somemedicine, and had gone to bed. Forester told him that he must amusehimself the best way he could, and that, after the experience that hehad had that day, he hoped he would be careful not to put himself anymore into dangerous situations. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. 

Marco took dinner that day at the tavern alone, and, after dinner, hecarried a cup of tea to Forester, --but Forester was asleep, and so hedid not disturb him. 

In the afternoon he went out to play. He amused himself, for half anhour, in rambling about the tavern yards and in the stables. There was aferocious-looking bull in one of the yards, chained to a post, by meansof a ring through his nose. Marco looked at the bull a few minutes withgreat interest, and then began to look about for a long stick, or apole, to poke him a little, through the fence, to see if he could notmake him roar, when, instead of a pole, his eye fell upon a boy, who wasat work, digging in a corner of a field near, behind the barn. 

The boy's name was Jeremiah. He was digging for worms for bait. He wasgoing a fishing. Marco determined to go with him. 

Jeremiah furnished Marco with a hook and a piece of sheet lead to make asinker of, and Marco had some twine in his pocket already; so that hewas soon fitted with a line. But he had no pole. Jeremiah said that hecould cut one, on his way down to the river, as they would pass througha piece of woods which had plenty of tall and slender young trees in it. 

He succeeded in getting a pole in this manner, which answered very well;and then he and Jeremiah went down to the river. They stood upon a logon the shore, and caught several small fishes, but they got none of muchvalue, for nearly half an hour. At last, Jeremiah, who was standing at alittle distance from Marco, suddenly exclaimed:

"Oh, here comes a monstrous great perch. He is coming directly towardsmy hook. "

"Where? where?" exclaimed Marco. And Marco immediately drew out his hookfrom the place where he had been fishing, and walked along to the log onwhich Jeremiah was standing. 

"Where is he?" said Marco, looking eagerly into the water. 

"Hush!" said Jeremiah; "don't say a word. There he is, swimming alongtowards my hook. "

"Yes, " said Marco, "I see him. Now he's turning away a little. Let meput my line in, too. "

Marco extended his pole and dropped his hook gently into the water. Helet it down until it was near the perch. The poor fish, after loiteringabout a minute, gradually approached Marco's hook and bit at it. 

Jeremiah, seeing that he was in danger of losing his fish, now calledout to Marco to take his line out. "It is not fair, " said he, "for youto come and take my fish, just as he was going to bite at my hook. Goaway. "

But it was too late. As Jeremiah was saying these words, the fish bit, and Marco, drawing up the line, found the fish upon the end of it. Asthe line came in, however, Jeremiah reached out his hand to seize thefish, and Marco, to prevent him, dropped the pole and endeavored toseize it too. 

"Let go my fish, " said Jeremiah. 

"Let alone my line, " said Marco. 

Neither would let go. A struggle ensued, and Marco and Jeremiah, in themidst of it, fell off into the water. The water was not very deep, andthey soon clambered up upon the log again, but the fish, which had beenpulled off the line in the contention, fell into the water, and swamswiftly away into the deep and dark parts of the water, and was seen nomore. He was saved by the quarrels of his enemies. 

Marco, who was not so much accustomed to a wetting as Jeremiah was, became very angry, and immediately set off to go home to the tavern. Jeremiah coolly resumed his position on the log, and went to fishingagain, paying no heed to Marco's expressions of resentment. 

Marco walked along, very uncomfortable both in body and mind. Hisclothes were wet and muddy, and the water in his shoes made a chucklingsound at every step, until he stopped and took his shoes off, andpoured the water out. It was nearly sunset when he reached the tavern. He found Forester better. He had left his bed, and had come down intothe parlor. He was reclining on the sofa, reading a book, when Marcocame in. 

Marco advanced towards him, and began to make bitter complaints againstJeremiah. In giving an account of the affair, he omitted all that partof the transaction which made against himself. He said nothing, forinstance, about his coming to put his line in where Jeremiah wasfishing, and while a fish was actually near Jeremiah's hook, but onlysaid that he caught a fish, and that Jeremiah came and took it away. 

"But what claim had Jeremiah to the fish?" asked Forester. 

"He had no claim at all, " said Marco. 

"You mean, he had no _right_ at all, " said Forester. 

"Yes, " said Marco. 

"He had a _claim_, certainly, " rejoined Forester; "that is, he claimedthe fish. He _pretended_ that it was his. Now, on what was this claim orpretence founded?"

"I don't know, " said Marco, "I am sure. I only know he had no right toit, for I caught the fish myself, and he was going to take it away. "

Forester paused a moment, and then resumed:

"I don't think that you have given me a full and fair account of thetransaction; for I cannot believe that Jeremiah would have come andtaken away the fish without any pretext whatever. You must have omittedsome important part of the account, I think. "

Marco then told Forester that Jeremiah said that the fish was just goingto bite at his hook; and, after several other questions from Forester, he gradually acknowledged the whole truth. Still, he maintained that itwas his fish. He had a right to put in his line, he said, wherever hepleased, whether another boy was fishing or not; the fish belonged tothe one who caught him; and, before he was caught, he did not belong toanybody. It was absurd, he maintained, to suppose that the fish becameJeremiah's, just because he was swimming near his hook. 

"Sometimes one can judge better of a case, " said Forester, "by reversingthe condition of the parties. Suppose that you had been fishing, and alarge fish had come swimming about your hook, and that Jeremiah had thencome to put his hook in at the same place, should you have thought itright?"

"Why, I don't know, " said Marco. 

"It is doubtful. Now, it is an excellent rule, " continued Forester, "inall questions of right between ourselves and other persons, for us togive them _the benefit of the doubt_. "

"What does that mean?" asked Marco. 

"Why, if a man is tried in a court for any crime, " replied Forester, "ifit is clearly proved that he is innocent, of course he goes free. If itis clearly proved that he is guilty, he is convicted. But if neither theone nor the other can be proved, that is, if it is doubtful whether heis innocent or guilty, they give him the benefit of the doubt, as theyterm it, and let him go free. "

"I should think that, when it is doubtful, " said Marco, "they ought tosend him back to prison again till they can find out certainly. "

"No, " said Forester, "the jury are directed to acquit him, unless it ispositively proved that he is guilty. So that, if they think it isdoubtful, they give him the benefit of the doubt, and let him go free. Now, in all questions of property between ourselves and others, weshould all be willing to give to others the benefit of the doubt, andthen the disputes would be very easily settled, or rather, disputeswould never arise. In this case, for instance, it is doubtful whetheryou had a right to come and interfere while the fish was near his hook;it is doubtful whether he did or did not have a sort of right to try tocatch the fish, without your interfering; and you ought to have beenwilling to have given him the benefit of the doubt, and so have staidaway, or have given up the fish to him after you had caught it. "

"But I don't see, " said Marco, "why he should not have been willing tohave given me the benefit of the doubt, as well as I to have given it tohim. "

"Certainly, " said Forester; "Jeremiah ought to have considered thatthere was a doubt whether he was entitled to the fish or not, and tohave been willing to have given you the benefit of the doubt; and sohave let you kept the fish. Each, in such a case, ought to be willing togive up to the other. "

"And then which of us should have it?" asked Marco. 

"Why, it generally happens, " said Forester, in reply, "that only one ofthe parties adopts this principle, and so he yields to the other; but ifboth adopt it, then there is sometimes a little discussion, eachinsisting on giving up to the other. But such a dispute is a friendlydispute, not a hostile one, and it is very easily settled. "

"A friendly dispute!" exclaimed Marco; "I never heard of such a thing. "

"Yes, " said Forester. "Suppose, for instance, that, when you had caughtyour fish, you had said, 'There, Jeremiah, that fish is yours; he wascoming up to your hook, and would have bitten at it if I had not put myline in;' and, then, if Jeremiah had said, 'No, it is not mine; it isyours, for you caught it with your hook;' this would have been afriendly dispute. It would have been very easily settled. "

"I am sorry that I left my pole down at the river, " said Marco. "I cut amost excellent pole in the woods, on my way down, and I left it thereacross the log. I mean to go down and get it early in the morning. "

"No, " said Forester; "we must be on our way up the river early to-morrowmorning. "

"How shall we go?" asked Marco. 

"I have engaged a wagon here to take us to Bath, and there we shall finda stage. "

Accordingly, early the next morning, Forester and Marco got into a wagonto go up the river to Bath, which is the first town of any considerableconsequence which you meet in ascending the Kennebec river. Marco andForester sat on the seat of the wagon, and a boy, who was going withthem for the purpose of bringing the wagon back, sat behind, on a box, which had been put in to make a seat for him. 

Marco said that he was very sorry that he had not time to go and get hisfishing-pole. 

"It would not do any good, " said Forester, "for you could not carry it. "

"Why, yes, " said Marco, "we might put it on the bottom of the wagon, andlet the end run out behind. It is pretty long. "

"True, " said Forester, "we might possibly get it to Bath, but whatshould we do with it then?"

"Why, then, " said Marco, "we might put it on the top of the stage, Isuppose. Would not they let us?"

"It would not be very convenient to carry a long fishing-pole, in thatway, to Quebec, " replied Forester, "through woods, too, half of the way, full of such poles. You might stop and get a cane or staff, if we finda place where there are some good ones. A cane would be of some serviceto you in walking up the hills, and that could be taken along with ourbaggage easily. "

Marco said that he should like this plan very much; and, as they rodealong, they looked out carefully for a place where there were slendersaplings growing, suitable for canes. 

"What kind of wood would you have?" asked Forester. 

"I don't know, " replied Marco; "which kind is the best?"

"The different woods have different qualities, " replied Forester. "Someare light and soft, which are good qualities for certain purposes. Someare hard. Some are stiff, and some flexible. Some are brittle, andothers tough. For a cane, now, do we want a hard wood or a soft one?"

"Hard, " said Marco. 

"Why?" asked Forester. 

"Oh, so that it shall not get indented or bruised easily, " repliedMarco. 

"A light wood or a heavy one?" asked Forester. 

"Light, " replied Marco, "so that it will be easy to carry. "

"Stiff or flexible?" asked Forester. 

"Stiff, " replied Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester. "Some kinds of wood grow straight, and otherscrooked. "

"We want it straight, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester. "The pine grows very straight. If we could findsome young pines, they would make us some beautiful-looking canes. "

"And how is it with the other qualities?" asked Marco. 

"Pine is very light, " said Forester. 

"That is good, " said Marco. 

"And _soft_, " said Forester. 

"That is not so well, " said Marco. 

"And it is very weak and brittle. "

"Then it will not do at all, " said Marco. "I want a good strong cane. "

Just at this time, they were ascending a hill, and, after passing overthe summit of it, they came to a place where Forester said he saw, inthe woods, a number of young oaks and beeches, which, he said, wouldmake good canes. The oak, he said, was very strong, and hard, and tough;so was the beech. 

"Only there are two objections to them for canes, " said Forester, asthey were getting out of the wagon; "they are not so light as the pine, and then, besides, they are apt to grow crooked. We must look aboutcarefully to find some that are straight. "

"Which is the most valuable of all the kinds of wood?" asked Marco. 

"The question is ambiguous, " said Forester. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked Marco. 

"I mean, that it has two significations, " replied Forester; "that is, the word valuable has two significations. Pine is the most valuable inone sense; that is, pine is, on the whole, most useful to mankind. Butthere are other kinds of wood which are far more costly. "

"I should not think that pine would be so valuable, " said Marco, "it isso weak and brittle. "

"It is valuable, " said Forester, "because, for the purpose for which menwant the greatest quantities of wood, strength is not required. Forboarding the outsides of buildings, for example, and finishing themwithin, which uses, perhaps, consume more wood than all others puttogether, no great strength is required. "

"I think people want more wood to _burn_ than to build houses with, "said Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester, "perhaps they do. They do in this country, Ithink, but perhaps not in Europe and other old countries. But pine, although it has no great strength, is an excellent wood for building, itis so soft and easily worked. "

Forester's remarks, upon the different kinds of wood, were hereinterrupted by Marco's finding what he considered an excellent stick fora cane. When he had cut it, however, he found that it was not sostraight as it had appeared to be while growing. 

However, after some time spent in the selection, Marco and Forester bothprocured excellent canes. 

"This is good, hard wood, " said Marco, as he was trimming his cane, andcutting it to a proper length. 

[Illustration]

"Yes, " said Forester; "it is beech, and beech is very hard. "

After finishing their canes, they took their seats in the wagon again. 

CHAPTER VI. 

EBONY AND PINE. 

After riding along a short distance in silence, Marco introduced thesubject of the different woods once more. He asked Forester which wasthe most _costly_ of all the woods. 

"Costly is not an ambiguous term, " said Forester; "that means, which hasthe greatest _money_ value. "

"Yes, " said Marco. "I suppose it is mahogany. "

"O no, " said Forester. 

"Rose wood, then, " said Marco. "It must be rose wood. My mother has abeautiful piano made of rose wood. "

"No, " said Forester. "Ebony is more costly than either rose wood ormahogany. They sell ebony by the pound. "

"Where does ebony come from?" asked Marco. 

"I don't know, " replied Forester. 

"I should like to know, " said Marco. "How much do they sell it for, bythe pound?"

"I don't know that, either, " said Forester. "I know very little aboutit, only that it is a very costly wood, on account of some peculiarproperties which it has, and its scarcity. "

"What are the peculiar properties?" asked Marco. 

"One is, its great hardness, " said Forester. "It is very hard indeed. Another is, its color. "

"What color is it?" asked Marco. 

"Black, " replied Forester, --"black as jet; at least, one kind is blackas jet. There is a kind which is brown. It is called brown ebony. "

"I don't think black is very pretty, " said Marco. 

"No, " said Forester; "there does not seem to be much beauty in black, initself considered; but then, for certain purposes, it is much handsomerthan any other color would be; for a cane, for instance. "

Marco looked at the beech cane which he had before him, and began toconsider how it would look if it were black. 

"I suppose I could paint my cane black, " said he, after a moment'spause, "if you think it would be any better. "

"No, " said Forester; "I should prefer having it of its natural color. The bark of the beech has beautiful colors, if they are only brought outby a coat of varnish. "

"Brought out?" repeated Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester. "There is a kind of fine dust, or something likethat, which dims the bark; but, when you put on oil or varnish, there isa sort of transparency given to the outside coating, which brings thenatural color of the bark fully to view. "

"Then I will get my cane varnished, when I get to Bath, " said Marco. 

"Ebony, " said Forester, "is used a great deal where a contrast withivory is wanted. Ebony is hard and fine-grained, like ivory, and ittakes a high polish. So, whenever they want a contrast of black andwhite, they take ebony and ivory. "

"When do they want a contrast between black and white?"

"One case, " replied Forester, "is that of the keys of a piano forte. They want the short keys, which mark the semi-tones, of a differentcolor from the others, so that the eye will catch them as quick aspossible. So in a chess-board. They sometimes make chess-boards withalternate squares of ebony and ivory. "

"I think it would be just as well to take common wood and paint itblack, " said Marco, "rather than pay so much money for ebony. "

"No, " said Forester, "that would not do so well. The paint would wearoff; or, if it did not wear off by handling, still, if it got a littleknock or hard rub, a part would come off, and that would show a littlespot which would be of the natural color of the wood. This would lookvery badly. "

"Then, besides, painted wood, " continued Forester, "cannot be finishedoff so smoothly, and polished up so highly, as a wood which is black bynature. They have a way of _staining_ wood, however, which is betterthan painting it. "

"How is that done?" asked Marco. 

"Why, they make a black stain, " said Forester, "which they put upon thewood. This staining soaks in a little way, and blackens the fibres ofthe wood itself, beneath the surface. This, of course, will not wear offas easily as paint. "

"I should not think it would wear off at all, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester, "for, if a cane is made of any wood stainedblack, after a time the wood itself wears away farther than the staininghad penetrated. Then the fresh wood will come to view. So that, if youwant anything black, it is much better to make it of a wood which isblack all the way through. 

"Besides, " continued Forester, "ebony is a very hard wood, and it willbear knocks and rough usages much better than other kinds of wood whichare softer. Once I made a carpenter an ebony wedge, to split his lathswith. "

"What are laths?" asked Marco. 

"Laths are the thin split boards which are nailed upon the sides of aroom before the plastering is put on. Sometimes laths are made verynarrow, and are nailed on at a little distance from each other, so as toleave a crack between them. Then the plastering, being soft when it isput on, works into the cracks, and thus clings to the wood when it isdry and hard. If plastering was put on to smooth boards, or a smoothwall, it would all fall off again very easily. "

"Yes, " said Marco; "I have seen the plastering coming up through thecracks in the garret at your house in Vermont. "

"The lath boards, " continued Forester, "are sometimes made narrow, andnailed on at a little distance from each other, and sometimes they arewide boards, split up, but not taken apart, and then the cracks, whichare made in splitting them, are forced open when the boards are nailedon. The way they do it, is this. They put the wide lath board down upona plank, and make a great many cracks in it with an axe. Then they putit upon the wall, or ceiling, and nail one edge. Then they take a wedgeand drive into one of the cracks, and force it open far enough to letthe plastering in. Then they put in some more nails, in such a manner asto keep that crack open. Then they wedge open another crack, and nailagain; and so on, until they have nailed on the whole board, so as toleave the cracks all open. "

"And you made the carpenter an ebony wedge?" said Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester. "He had had wedges made of the hardest wood thathe could get, but they would soon become bruised, and battered, and wornout, with their hard rubbing against the sides of the cracks. At last, Itold him I had a very hard kind of wood, and I gave him a piece ofebony. He made it into a wedge, and, after that, he had no moredifficulty. He said his ebony wedge was just like iron. "

"Was it really as hard as iron?" asked Marco. 

"Oh, no, " said Forester, --"but it was much harder than any wood which hecould get. He thought it was a very curious wood. He had never seen anylike it before. "

"I should like some ebony, " said Marco. 

"Ebony would be an excellent wood to make a top of, " said Forester, "itis so hard and heavy. "

"I should like to have a top hard, " said Marco, "but I don't think itwould be any better for being heavy. "

"Yes, " said Forester; "the top would spin longer. The heavier a top is, the longer it will spin. "

"Then I should like a top made of lead, " said Marco. 

"It would spin very long, " said Forester, "if it was well made, thoughit would require more strength to set it a-going well. But lead would besoft, and thus would easily get bruised and indented. Besides, blackwould be a prettier color for a top than lead color. A jet black top, well polished, would be very handsome. "

"Is black a color?" asked Marco. "I read in a book once that black andwhite were not colors. "

"There are two meanings to the word color, " said Forester. "In onesense, black is a color, and in another sense, it is not. For instance, if a lady were to go into a shop, and ask for some morocco shoes for alittle child, and they were to show her some black ones, she might sayshe did not want black ones; she wanted colored ones. In that sense, black would not be a color. 

"On the other hand, " continued Forester, "she might ask for silkstockings, and if the shopkeeper were to ask her what color she wanted, she might say black. In that sense, black would be a color. "

"Which is the right sense?" asked Marco. 

"Both are right, " said Forester. "When a word is commonly used in twosenses, both are correct. The philosophers generally consider black notto be a color; that is, they generally use the word in the first sense. "

"Why?" asked Marco. 

"For this reason, " replied Forester. He was going on to explain thereason, when suddenly Marco's attention was attracted by the sight of along raft of logs, which was coming down the river. They had been ridingat some distance from the river, and out of sight of it, but now it camesuddenly into view, just as this raft was passing by. There were two menon the raft. 

"See those men on the raft, " said Marco. "They are paddling. "

"No, " replied Forester; "they are sculling. "

"Sculling?" repeated Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester. "They always scull a raft. It is a differentmotion from paddling. "

Marco watched the men attentively, examining the motion which they madein sculling, and considering whether he might not have sculled his raftto the shore in the same manner. 

[Illustration]

"What straight logs!" said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester; "the pine tree grows up tall and straight, andwithout branches, to a great height. This is the source of some of itsmost valuable properties. It makes the wood straight-grained. That is, the fibres run smooth and regularly, from one end of the stem to theother. "

Just at this time, Forester saw a large pine tree growing alone, by theside of the road they were travelling. This solitary tree had a greatmany branches growing out from the stem, in every part, from the top tothe bottom. 

"That is because the tree grows by itself, " said Forester, "in the openfield. Those that grow in the forest do not throw out branches from thestem, but they ran up to a great height, with only a little tuft ofbranches on the top. "

"I don't see why they don't have branches in the woods, " said Marco. 

"Because, " replied Forester, "where trees grow close together, the lightand the air is excluded from the lower parts of the stems, and sobranches cannot grow there. Nothing can grow without light and air. "

"I've seen monstrous long potato sprouts grow in a dark cellar, " saidMarco. 

"Yes, " said Forester; "so have I. I did not think of that. But theydon't grow very well. "

"They grow pretty long, sometimes, " replied Marco. 

"At any rate, " said Forester, "the branches of trees will not grow fromthe stems of the trees near the ground, in the woods; and this is ofgreat importance, for, whenever a branch grows out, it makes a knot, extending in to the very centre of the tree. This would injure a pinelog very much, as the knot would show in all the boards, and a knot is agreat injury to a pine board, though it is of great benefit to amahogany one. "

"Why?" asked Marco. 

"Because it gives the wood a beautiful variegated appearance when theyget it smoothed. So that the more knotted and gnarled a log of mahoganyis, the better. It makes the more beautiful wood. But in pine, it is notbeauty, but facility of working, which is the great object. So theyalways want to get pine as smooth and straight-grained as possible. Sothat one of these trees that grow detached, in the fields, would not beof much value for lumber. It has so many branches, that the boards madefrom it would be full of knots. "

"That is the reason, I suppose, " said Marco, "why they don't cut themdown, and make them into boards. "

"Perhaps it is, " replied Forester. 

"Has pine any other very good qualities?" asked Marco. 

"I believe it is quite a durable wood, " said Forester. "At any rate, thestumps last a very long time in the ground. I have heard it said thatthere are some stumps in the state of Maine with the old mark of G. R. Upon them. "

"What does G. R. Mean?" asked Marco. 

"_Georgius Rex_, " replied Forester, --"that is, George, the king. Ifthere are any such, the mark on them means that they belonged to theking of England, before this country was separated from England. Inthose days, the king's workmen went into the forests to select and markthe trees which were to be cut down for the king's use, and these markswere left upon the stumps. "

"And how long ago was that?" asked Marco. 

"O, it must have been sixty or seventy years ago. But I can hardlybelieve that the stumps would last as long as that. "

"I mean to ask some of the men, when I get up in the woods, how longthe stumps do last, " said Marco. 

"They last very long, I know, " said Forester. "The people, after gettingtired of waiting to have them rot out, tear them up with machines, andmake fences of them. "

"I don't see how they can make fences of stumps, " said Marco. 

"They put them in a row, with the roots in the air, " replied Forester. "They make a funny-looking fence. "

Just at this time Marco perceived a large town coming into view beforethem, which, Forester told him, was Bath. There were several shipsbuilding along the shore of the river. 

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BEAR IN THE MILL. 

Marco and Forester found a small steamboat at Bath, going up the river, and they took passage in it to Hallowell. At Hallowell, they took thestage, and travelled along the banks of the river, sometimes on one sideand sometimes on the other. They crossed the river by means of bridges, which were erected in nearly all the principal towns. They passed anumber of waterfalls, where saw-mills had been built for sawing thelogs. Marco was astonished at the number of these mills, the quantity oflogs which lay in the booms, and the vast piles of boards which hadaccumulated in some of the sawing villages. 

At one of these villages, where he and Forester stopped to spend thenight, they went out in the evening to see the mills. The mills werelighted by little fires of pitch-pine knots, which made a bright flameand gave a fine light. These little fires were built upon slabs, whichMarco thought was very dangerous. The slabs, however, though they lookeddry, were really very wet, being thoroughly soaked with water within, having been sawed from logs which had been for a long time floating inthe river. 

The beam, to which the saw was attached in each mill, as it ascended anddescended with the saw, passed across these lights with a rapid motion, which made the lights appear and disappear, in regular succession, in avery beautiful manner. 

Forester and Marco clambered into one of these mills. They had to maketheir way over slabs, boards and heaps of rubbish of various kinds, andthe floor of the mill seemed to be made of boards and planks, laidloosely and with many open places, in which, when Marco looked down, hesaw dark and frightful abysses, where he could hear the water dashing, and, now and then, could get a glimpse of the foam. 

Of course, both Forester and Marco advanced very carefully. When theyhad entered, they found but one man tending the mill. He was seated on asquare block of wood, near the fire, eating some bread and cheese. AsForester and Marco advanced towards him, he looked up and bade them goodevening. 

"Will you allow us to come in and see the mill?" said Forester. 

"By all means, " said the millman. 

The millman here looked around at the log which he was then sawing, andhe observed that it was time for him to attend to it. So he put down hisbread and cheese upon the block, and went towards the saw. Forester andMarco both turned to see what he was going to do. 

The log was lying upon a long frame, which frame seemed to be mountedupon some sort of trucks, for it advanced slowly, by a steady motion, against the saw. As the saw was constantly moving up and down with greatforce, the log was sawed as it advanced. It had now advanced so far thatthe log had been sawed nearly through, from end to end. When it had gonea little farther, the millman pulled a handle, and stopped the motion ofthe carriage and the log, and, in a moment afterwards, the log began togo back again; the saw, all the time, ascending and descending asbefore, but without doing any work. When the log had got back so farthat the saw came out of the cleft which it had made, the man stoppedit, and then, with an iron bar, he shifted the position of the log insuch a manner that when the carriage should be put in motion, the sawwould cut the log in a new place, at a little distance from theother, --a distance just equal to the thickness of the board which theywished to make. 

Marco watched all these movements with great interest. Forester, who hadoften seen them before, went back to the fire, and held his hands out toit, for, as it was a cold evening, the feeling of the warmth waspleasant. He could see that Marco remained talking with the millman; butthe noise of the machinery was so great that he could not hear whatthey said. 

The flashes of light from the fire illuminated Marco's face, however, and Forester could see that he was much interested in what the millmanwas telling him. The millman sat down upon the log, and made gestures asif he was eating something. Then he took hold of Marco, and put him downupon the log in his place, and he took a seat himself beyond him--thatis, between Marco and the saw. All this time, the log, riding upon thegreat frame, was slowly advancing against the saw, carrying Marco andthe millman along with it. When it had carried them so far that themillman was getting to be very near the saw, he turned suddenly round, and made a gesture as if he was going to clasp the saw in hisarms, --laughing as he did it, --and, immediately afterwards, he got upfrom the log, and Marco got up, too, --beginning to laugh himself, also, though his countenance had expressed surprise and anxiety before. 

A short time after this, when Marco came back to the place whereForester was, Forester asked him what the millman had been saying tohim. 

"He was telling me a story of a bear, " said Marco. 

"Of a bear?" said Forester. 

"Yes, " said Marco, "of a bear in a saw-mill. "

"I don't see what a bear had to do in a saw-mill, " replied Forester. 

"It was a great many years ago, when there were bears in the woods abouthere. There was a man sawing in a mill, and he was sitting on the end ofthe log that he was sawing, eating his bread and cheese. The bread andcheese were lying on the log, next to where the man was sitting. 

"While the man was sitting there in this manner, eating his bread andcheese, a bear came walking into the mill, --a great black bear. He cameup to the log, and when he saw that the man was eating bread and cheese, he thought he should like some too. So he sat down on the log. "

"On which side of the man?" asked Forester, --"towards the saw or fromit?"

[Illustration]

"Towards the saw, " said Marco. "The man was on the end of the logfarthest from the saw. The bear sat a little beyond him, nearer to thesaw, and the bread and cheese was between them. The bear began to eatthe bread and cheese. "

"How?" asked Forester. 

"Why, he took it up in his paws, I suppose, " said Marco, --"though Idon't know certainly about that. At any rate, he began to eat the breadand cheese, --sitting with his back towards the saw, and his face towardsthe man. 

"And all this time, you must understand, " said Marco, "that the carriagewas carrying the log, man, bear, and all, towards the saw, and the mansaw that if the bear would only keep still, in his place, until he wascarried to the saw, he would get sawed in two, and so killed. At first, he thought it would be best for him to get hold of the iron bar, if hecould, and beat the old bear's brains out. But he was afraid that heshould not succeed in doing that, and so he concluded to wait and seewhat would happen. 

"Now, bears have a way, " continued Marco, "whenever they are angry withanything, of grasping it in their arms and hugging it tight. The man didnot think of this; he only hoped that the saw would saw the bear in two. The log moved on nearer and nearer, and at last brought the bear alongso far that the next stroke cut right down his back. He immediatelyturned around and seized the saw, and hugged it with all his strength, and it tore him all to pieces. "

"Indeed, " said Forester. "That is quite a story. "

Forester did not seem so much astonished at this account as Marco hadexpected, but farther conversation on the subject was prevented by theoccurring of a new object of attention. The millman began to makearrangements for drawing up more logs from the water of the river, bymeans of a long chain passing around a revolving axis, in the mannerwhich has been already explained. 

Marco watched the first log, as it came slowly up, and then he wanted togo down the inclined plane to the water below. The moon was just rising, which gave them sufficient light, and so Forester and Marco went down. Marco wanted to ride up on the next log, but Forester thought that thatwould be a very dangerous experiment. There was, however, a boat lyingthere, which, Forester said, perhaps they might get into, and take alittle excursion upon the water, by moonlight. Marco thought that heshould like that very well, and so he went up into the mill again, toask permission to take the boat. The millman said that they might havethe boat all night, if they wanted it. 

Marco accordingly returned down the inclined plane, telling Foresterthat they could have the boat. But Forester, who began to find theevening air too cold and chilly, said that he did not think it was worthwhile for them to set out on a voyage at so late an hour. But Marco'simagination was so much taken with the idea of a voyage in a boat bymoonlight, that he was very urgent to have Forester go. So Foresterconsented, and they both got into the boat. 

"Which way shall we steer?" asked Marco. 

"We must go up the stream, " said Forester. 

"Why must we?" asked Marco. 

"Because there is a dam and a waterfall below us, " replied Forester. 

There was a dam across the river, at the mill, and the inclined plane, which led from the floor of the mill down to the shore of the river, terminated at the edge of the water just above the dam. The water was solow that it did not fall over the dam near the shore, though Foresterand Marco could hear the roaring of the water, which fell over the damnearer the middle of the river. 

"We must take care, " said Marco, "or we shall get carried over the dam. I read of an Indian once, who was carried over the falls of Niagara. "

"Yes, " said Forester; "we must be careful. "

Forester turned the head of the boat up the river, keeping near theshore, so as to avoid all possibility of being carried over the dam. Theboat shot along swiftly through the water. 

"The boat goes very well, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester; "and yet it is only a log canoe. "

"A log canoe, " said Marco. "Is this only a log canoe?"

"That is all, " replied Forester. "It is made of a log, hollowed out. They use a great many such boats on this river. They go very easilywith paddles. "

Forester and Marco both had paddles. Marco sat about in the middle ofthe boat, but Forester sat in the stern, propelling the boat andsteering it at the same time. When they got up a little way above thedam, they went out farther towards the middle of the river. Forestersoon became warm by the exercise of paddling, and had no disposition toreturn. They both found it very romantic and delightful to glidesmoothly over the glassy surface of the water, which was silvered by themoonbeams. 

They soon came to a turn in the river, which carried them away from thesight of the mills and the dam, and brought them under high banks, which, in some places, presented rocky cliffs to the view, and, inothers, were covered with forests. This scenery had a peculiarly sombreand solemn expression, seen thus, under the light of the moon. Marcogazed at it in silence, and with a feeling of awe. 

They went on in this manner for half an hour, until they foundthemselves approaching a rocky island, crowned with forests. Marcowanted to land upon it. 

"Very well, " said Forester; "I have no objection; but would you notrather go back?"

"No, " said Marco. "I want to explore this island. "

"But are you not cold?" asked Forester. 

"No, " said Marco, "not at all. "

"My hands and feet are a little cold, " said Forester. 

"Then we will go back pretty soon, " said Marco, "but first just let usland a minute upon this island. "

So Forester turned the head of the boat towards the shore, and Marco, assoon as it touched, scrambled out upon the rocks. 

"Oh, Forester!" he exclaimed, at once, "here is plenty of drift-wood. Let us make a fire, and warm your hands and feet. "

"Drift-wood?" rejoined Forester. "Will drift-wood make a fire?"

"Why not?" asked Marco. 

"I should think it would be too wet, " replied Forester. 

Marco said no more, but, at that instant, Forester observed a littleflash, and then a faint glimmer of light where Marco was. He had lighteda match by rubbing it against some drift-wood. He touched it to some drybark, and soon had a pleasant little blaze upon the rocks, near theshore. He piled on pieces of drift-wood, such as branches of trees, oldslabs, &c. , which he found lying about there, and he soon had a verygood fire. Forester sat down upon the rocks, and warmed his hands andfeet. 

"I wish I had a hatchet here, " said Marco, "or an axe. "

"Why?" asked Forester. 

"Why, we could make a camp, and lie here all night, " said Marco. 

"O, no, " said Forester. 

"Yes, " said Marco, "for the man said we might have his boat all night. "

"No, " replied Forester. "We will camp out when we get fairly into theforests on Dead river. "

Accordingly, after a little time, when the fire had burnt down somewhat, they threw the brands into the river, and then, embarking in their boat, they returned to the mill. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BIVOUACK. 

Marco and Forester had an opportunity to encamp for the night, in thewoods, in a manner different from what they expected. It happened inthis way. In the course of their rambles among the forests which areabout the lakes and the upper branches of the Kennebec, they came, onenight, to a farm-house, where they had to spend the night. The house wasbuilt of logs. It was in a small opening in the woods. This opening wasoccupied with fields, which were divided from each other by log fences. The fields were full of stumps. The whole opening was bordered on everyside by a perpendicular wall of forest, --the tall stems forming acolonnade, which reminded Marco of the palisades on the North river, just above New York. 

There was but one room in this log house, and, at first, Marco did notknow where he and Forester were to sleep. There was a great blazing firein the fire-place, which was made of rough stones. The hearth was madeof great flat stones. These stones were tolerably smooth on the upperside; but, as they were not square, there were many spaces left betweenthem, and at the corners, which were filled with earth. But, though thefire-place was rough, the great fire blazed merrily in it; and Marcothought that it was pleasanter than his father's marble fire-place, inNew York, with a grate in it, filled with a hard coal fire, looking likered-hot stones. 

"I wish we had such a fire-place as this in New York, " said Marco. 

"And wood to burn in it, " replied Forester. 

"O, we can get wood enough in New York, " said Marco. "The carmen bringit along every morning. We might have such a fire-place down in thebasement, or in that little room in the stable, and then I would go andbuild fires in it. "

Just then, the farmer's wife came with a spider to the fire, to broilsome chickens for their supper. She pulled out the coals with along-handled iron shovel, which she called a _slice_. She cooked theyoung travellers a most excellent supper. 

The farmer and his wife were both rather young. They had one child. Hewas asleep in the cradle. This cradle was only a box, made of boards, and mounted on rockers. Marco asked the farmer if he made the cradlehimself, and he said he did. 

There was a boy living in this house, named Isaiah. Isaiah was thefarmer's brother. He worked hard all day on the farm, and at night heslept in a sort of garret, which they called the loft. The way to getup to the loft was by a ladder on one side of the room. 

When bed-time came, Forester and Marco climbed up this ladder, and wentto bed. They slept upon a straw bed, which was lying in a corner. Theyhad two clean but very coarse sheets, and a good warm coverlid. Marcocrept in well under the eaves of the house, but Forester slept on theouter side of the bed, where the roof was higher. 

Marco was awaked in the night by a strange sound, which he heard, directly over his head. He lifted up his head and listened. It was thepattering of rain upon the roof. The roof was, however, very tight, andnone of the rain came in. The roof was covered with shingles, which thefarmer had made himself, in a little shop near his house. 

Marco listened to the rain a few minutes, and then went to sleep again. He was glad to hear it rain, because he wanted to stay at this house thenext day, and he thought Forester would not go away in the rain. 

The next that he knew was that it was morning. He spoke to Forester, saying, "It rains, cousin Forester. "

"Does it?" said Forester. "Then I don't know what we shall do. "

"We must stay here, to-day, " said Marco. "Then I can see Isaiah make ashingle. Isaiah can make a shingle. Did you know it?"

"I don't hear it rain, " said Forester. 

"I mean to get up and see, " said Marco. 

There was no glass window in this garret, but the light shone throughthe chinks between the logs. There was a wooden window, as Marco calledit; that is, there was an opening in the wall, with a wooden shutter toclose it. Marco went to this window and opened it. He looked out uponthe wild and solitary scene which was before him with great interest. Atlength he said, "No, cousin Forester, it does not rain, --but I wish you would stay hereto-day. "

"Very well, " said Forester. "I will stay here as long as you wish. "

Marco was rejoiced to hear this; and he spent two hours, afterbreakfast, in rambling about the farmer's house and grounds. He wentinto the little shop, and amused himself for half an hour in seeingIsaiah make shingles. Isaiah let him try to make one himself, and hesucceeded pretty well. He carried his shingle in to Forester to show itto him. 

Forester said he thought it was a very good shingle. 

"I should like to carry it home, " said Marco; "but I suppose you wouldthink that that would be a foolish plan. "

"No, " said Forester, "I do not think it would be foolish. The shingle isflat, and will lie down in the bottom of your trunk; and, after you gettired of it as a shingle, you can have a little box made of it, andkeep it all your life, as a memorial of this expedition. "

This was a very good plan, for Marco had not shaved his shingle verythin. In fact, it was of about equal thickness at the two ends. This, though a very serious fault in a shingle, made it much more suitable asa material for making a box of. 

Marco also amused himself for half an hour in going down to the spring, where the farmer's wife went to get water, and playing there. There wasa pleasant little path leading from the house down to the spring. Hewent down once alone, and brought up a pail half full of water, for thefarmer's wife, which seemed to please her very much. 

While he was doing these things, Forester remained in the house, writingletters. Before Forester had finished his last letter, however, Marcohad got tired of all his amusements, and began to think that they hadbetter resume their journey. 

"Very well, " said Forester; "whenever you say the word. "

"How are you going?" asked Marco. 

"I have made a bargain with the farmer, " said Forester, "to let us havehis wagon to go through the woods about twenty-five miles, and Isaiah isgoing with us, in order to drive the wagon back. "

Marco was much pleased with this arrangement, and Forester asked himwhat time they should start. "We are under your direction, you know, "said he. 

"Yes, " said Marco, "and I wish you would let me have the direction allday. "

"I have a great mind to do it, " said Forester. 

"Do, " said Marco, "and see how well I'll manage. "

"Well, " said Forester; "I will give up the command to you till I resumeit again. "

Marco was quite pleased with his new powers. He said they must take ahatchet and a bag of provisions, for he meant to dine in the woods onthe way. Isaiah accordingly put a hatchet in the wagon. They also tooksome bread and cheese, and some other articles of food, in a bag; andalso a tin dipper, to drink from. When all was ready, Marco calledForester, and they set off. Their trunk was put into the wagon behind. 

They went on very well for ten miles. The road led through thick forestsfor a large part of the way, and it was very stony and rough. But thewilderness, and even the difficulties of the way, interested Marco verymuch. He thought that it was much pleasanter travelling through thoseforest scenes, the wheels of the wagon sometimes jolting over roots, stones, logs, and sometimes sinking in the mire, than riding in acarriage, as he had often done with his mother, over the smooth andbroad avenues leading into New York. 

After they had gone about ten miles, they were brought to a sudden stopby a tree, which had been blown down, and had fallen directly across theroad. 

"What is to be done now?" said Marco. 

Nobody answered. 

"What is to be done now, cousin Forester?" repeated Marco. 

"I don't know, " said Forester. "_I've_ nothing to do with it. You arecommander. "

"Oh, very well, " said Marco. "Then I'll decide what to do. We'll chopthe tree off with our hatchet. "

Marco bustled about with an air of great importance, taking the hatchetfrom the back of the wagon, and advancing towards the tree, as if heexpected to sunder it at a single blow. He looked towards Isaiah, and, seeing a lurking smile upon his countenance, he immediately perceivedhow absurd was the idea of chopping off such an enormous stem with ahatchet. 

He accordingly turned suddenly about, saying, "No; we can't cut it off with the hatchet. It is too big; or, rather, the hatchet is too little. We'll see if we can't find a way to getaround it. "

So Marco asked Forester to look on one side of the road, while he andIsaiah examined the other side. They found that, by cutting down one ortwo small trees, they could get around very well. So Marco directed tohave these trees cut down, and then they led the horse around withoutmuch difficulty, excepting a slight obstruction from the bushes. 

Marco was quite pleased with the successful result of his management inthis first serious emergency. They rode on five miles farther, and thenMarco determined that it would be a good plan to look out for a placefor their dinner. He chose a place in a pleasant dell, overshadowed bytall pines and hemlocks, and watered by a brook which meandered throughthe middle of it. 

Marco directed Isaiah to drive the horse out to one side of the road, ata place where there was a pretty broad and level spot, which seemed toMarco a convenient place for the horse to stand. Marco told Foresterthat he and Isaiah might go and employ themselves in finding a good spotfor them to make a fire, and in collecting some dry wood, while hefastened the horse. Isaiah accordingly took the axe, and Marco was tobring the bag of provisions. 

Marco drew the horse out of the road, and brought his head up near tothe stem of a little tree, which was growing there. He then took out thebag, and made his way through the bushes, in the direction in whichForester and Isaiah had gone, down a little cow path, which descended tothe bank of the brook. 

He found Forester and Isaiah very readily. Forester was seated upon aflat stone near the water, and Isaiah was gathering dry sticks for afire. It was a warm and pleasant day, and they wanted a fire, not somuch for its warmth, as for the cheerful and pleasant aspect it gave tothe place. There was a gentle breeze blowing that day in the openground. This breeze was not felt among the trees, but it caused a gentledraft of air, which carried all the smoke away from them, and made theirseat, on the great flat stone, very pleasant. 

"Have you fastened the horse?" said Forester. 

"Yes, " replied Marco. 

"You ought to fasten him pretty strong, " said Isaiah, "for he's very aptto get away. "

"O, he won't get away, " said Marco; "I fastened him to a good stouttree. "

[Illustration]

When the fire was burning well, Isaiah and Marco buried some potatoes, which they had brought with them, in the embers under it. They also putsome apples down to roast on a flat stone, which they placed near thefire. 

"I wish we had some Carolina potatoes, " said Marco. 

"What kind of potatoes are they?" asked Isaiah. 

"They are sweet. They would be excellent to roast in the woods. "

"I never heard of a potato being sweet, " said Isaiah. 

"Yes, " said Marco. "They have plenty of them in New York. "

"Then why don't they call them New York potatoes?" asked Isaiah. 

"Why, I believe they came from Carolina first, " said Marco. "And now Iwant a long stick for a toaster. "

So Marco cut a long stick, and, after he had made the end sharp, he puta slice of bread upon it, and placed it before the fire, and thustoasted the bread. It is remarkable that the business of cooking thefood, which, in houses and cities, is considered a disagreeabledrudgery, which is to be kept as much as possible out of sight, isalways in the woods a very important part of the entertainment, in whichall the guests are pleased to take a share. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE ENCAMPMENT. 

Our party of travellers remained at the place of their bivouack more thanan hour. At the end of that time, having eaten all that they had cooked, they began to think of resuming their journey. Marco was sitting uponthe stone, wishing that he had put down one more potato to roast, whensuddenly he perceived a large grey squirrel upon a log near him. Thesquirrel ran along the log, and Marco immediately rose and went inpursuit of him. 

The squirrel ascended a tree, running up the stem. Then he glided alongone of the branches till he came to the end of it, when he leapedthrough the air and caught the end of another branch, which was growingfrom another tree. This branch, which was very slender, bent down halfway to the ground under the squirrel's weight. Bunny ran up the branch, however, as easily as if it remained level. Thus he went along from treeto tree, following, generally, the direction of the path by which Marcohad descended in coming from the wagon. 

At length he emerged from the wood, just at the point where Marco hadfastened the horse. But all farther pursuit of him, on the part ofMarco, was suddenly arrested by the astounding fact, which here burstsuddenly upon Marco, that the horse and wagon were gone. Marco lookedall about, this way and that, to assure himself that it was the verysame place where he had fastened the horse. There could be no doubt ofit. There was the very tree to which he had tied him, and the marks ofhis feet, near it, upon the ground. 

Marco was in consternation. He looked all around, and then ran into theroad and looked both ways, but no signs of the horse were to be seen. Hethen hurried back to the edge of the woods and called out in a loudvoice:

"Cousin Forester! Isaiah! cousin Forester! our horse has got away. "

Isaiah sprang from the seat and ran, quicker than the squirrel had done, up the path. As he came out to the place where Marco was standing, Marcobegan to say, "There's where I tied him. I fastened him strong to thattree. " But Isaiah paid no attention to what he said, but ran directly tothe road. He did not stop to look both ways, but taking the road whichled towards his home, he ran along as fast as he could go. Marcofollowed him as far as into the road, and looked after him as long as hecould see him. Isaiah was, however, soon out of sight, and Marco wentback to find Forester. Forester was coming up the path very leisurely, bringing the bag, with the remaining provisions in it, in one hand, andthe hatchet in the other. 

"Well, cousin Forester, " said Marco, "we are in a fine condition. Ourhorse and wagon have run away, and now Isaiah has run away too. "

"I think Isaiah will come back pretty soon, " said Forester. "As to thehorse and wagon, that is more doubtful. "

"And then what shall we do?" asked Marco. 

"I don't know, " said Forester. "We are ten miles from any house in onedirection, and fifteen in another. But I'm not commander. It's nothingto me. I've only to obey orders. I'll do whatever you say. "

"Yes, but I should think you might advise me, " said Marco. "Generals getadvice from their captains and colonels in battle. "

"Oh yes, " said Forester; "I'll advise you. I think we had better waitfirst till Isaiah comes back. Perhaps he'll find the horse. "

They waited about fifteen minutes, and then Isaiah came back. But he hadno horse. He said he went on until he reached the top of a hill where hecould see the road for a long distance before him, but that the horsewas not to be seen. 

"He'll get home before I should overtake him, " said Isaiah. 

"Yes, " said Marco, "unless he stopped where the tree fell across theroad. "

"True, " said Isaiah; "perhaps he has stopped there. "

"Or would not he find his way round the tree through the woods?" askedMarco. 

"I don't know, " said Isaiah; "perhaps he would. "

"Is he a pretty sensible horse?" asked Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Isaiah; "we have to keep the granary door locked, or elsehe will open the latch with his teeth, and go in and get the corn. "

"Then, " said Marco, "I've no doubt that he will find his way around thetree and go home; and so we've got nothing to do but to walk backfifteen miles. "

"Or forward ten, " said Forester. 

"Yes, " said Marco; "we can go on, to be sure, if we only knew the way. "

Here followed a long discussion as to what it was best to do. Marcothought that, if there was any probability that the horse would havestopped at the tree, it would be better for him to go back and get him;but that, if he had got _by_ the tree, and had gone home, it would bebetter for Isaiah to go back and get him, while they went forward to theend of the day's journey. He said that the trunk might be sent on. 

Forester was himself very much at a loss to know what it was best to do. As it was farther to go back than it was to go forward, it would beplainly best for them to keep on, were it not for the difficulty offinding their way. But Isaiah told them he thought they would not haveany difficulty on that account, as there were very few roads in such anew country. He said that, if they kept the principal road, they couldget along without any trouble. 

So Marco and Forester concluded to go on, while Isaiah returned. Isaiahsaid that he was not afraid to return alone. He said also that, if hefound the horse at the tree, he would turn about and come and overtakethem. And if he did not find him there, he would walk on home, and comethe next day with their trunk. 

Marco and Forester then went back to the place where they had dined, andcollected together all the food which had been left, thinking that theymight possibly have occasion to use it, before getting to the end oftheir journey. They also took the hatchet with them, and bidding Isaiahgood-by, they set forth upon their solitary journey. 

The road, though rough and narrow for wheels, was very good for afoot-path, and the travellers went on for several miles withoutdifficulty, and with good courage. There was an unbroken forest on eachside of the way, with here and there a solitary bird in the topmostbranches, singing in melancholy notes, which echoed far and wide underthe endless colonnades of trees. After they had gone on about fourmiles, they met a man coming with a team, who told them that there wasno road of any consequence to turn them off, and that they would, therefore, probably find their way without much trouble. They were quitepleased to hear this. In fact, it was some relief to them to know thatthey were right, so far. 

Marco was, however, not much accustomed to walk, and Forester, toaccommodate him, advanced slowly. When they had gone about five or sixmiles, the shades of evening began to draw on. The days were gettingshorter at this season of the year, and then, besides, it happened that, on this evening, there were some dark clouds in the west, and the sunwas darkened behind them before the regular hour of his going down. Then, besides, the trees of the forest made it darker in the road inwhich Marco and Forester were travelling. 

Now, just as it was thus beginning to grow dark, they happened to cometo a place where the road divided, and Marco and Forester were bothpuzzled to decide which was the one which they must take. The roadsseemed to be nearly equally travelled, though it was so dark that theycould not see very well. They examined both as carefully as they could, and finally decided according to the best of their judgment, and wenton. 

They had some doubt whether they were right, and Forester thought, asthey proceeded, that the road appeared somewhat different from the onein which they had been travelling. However, they thought it best to goon. After advancing about two miles, in a very circuitous direction, they came at last to a place where several trees seemed to have beencut away, and there were remains of several log huts. Marco was verymuch interested in this discovery, and he wanted to examine the hutsvery particularly. But Forester, when he found that they were notinhabited, thought it best to lose no time, especially as it was nowbeginning to be quite dark, and he urged Marco to leave the huts andpress on. 

They went on for half a mile farther, when Marco, seeing a glimmerthrough the trees, exclaimed that they were coming to some water. 

"So it is, " said Forester. "It looks like a pond or a river. If it is ariver, we're lost. "

They walked on a short distance farther, and then they began to hear therippling of the water. In a few minutes, they were down upon the bank. It was a small river, flowing rapidly along, between banks overhung withbushes. Marco looked for a bridge, or for some place to cross, but theyfound none. In fact, the road did not go down to the water, but seemedto lose itself among the trees, before reaching the bank. 

"This is not our road, " said Forester. "We must go back. "

"What road can this be?" asked Marco. "It seems to lead nowhere. "

"I presume it is a logging road, " replied Forester. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked Marco. "Why, I suppose that those hutsmust have been a logging camp, where the men lived in the winter, whenthey came here to cut logs; and this is the road that they drew the logsby, down to the water. But this summer it has been neglected. They don'tcut the logs in the summer. "

"And what shall we do?" asked Marco. 

"We must go back to the place where the road branched off, " repliedForester. 

"Or else go and stay in the huts all night, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester, "we can do that. Let us go back and see. "

They accordingly went back to the huts. Marco asked Forester whether hethought they had better stay there. 

"I don't know, " said Forester, "Let us strike a light, and see how thehuts look. "

Marco took out his match-box, and, after first gathering a few drysticks, he struck a light, and soon made a little fire. They found abirch tree growing near, and they stripped off some pieces of the bark. These they laid upon the fire, holding the ends of two long sticks uponthem, in such a manner, that, as the pieces of birch bark curled upunder the influence of the heat, they curled around the ends of thesesticks, thus making flambeaux. These flambeaux, though of rudeconstruction, gave a very excellent light, and Marco and Forester walkedabout the huts, waving them in the air, and illuminating the whole scenein a very brilliant manner. 

They found that the huts were in a ruinous state. Only one of them had aroof, and that had been originally made of hemlock branches, which hadnow become entirely dry by long exposure. This covered hut was only asort of booth, being entirely open on one side. Forester said that herecollected having heard of such huts, and that the men built theirfire, not in them, but on the ground opposite the open side. 

Forester and Marco concluded to remain in this hut for the night. Theygot together a great many hemlock branches, which they spread in thebottom of it for a bed, and they built a fire opposite the open part, tokeep them warm. 

Marco took a great interest in this fire. He piled the dry sticks uponit until he had a very warm and cheerful blaze, and then he collected bythe side of it a heap of fuel, to use during the night. 

In fact, Marco raised his fire too high; for, from the column of smokeand sparks, one little brilliant fragment lighted upon their roof; andit was slowly burning and smoking there, while Forester and Marco wereopening their bag of provisions, to see what they could make out forsupper. 

Marco was counting out the potatoes, saying, "two for you, and two forme, " when his attention was arrested by a spark which, at that instant, fell into his lap. He looked up to see where it came from, and saw thatthe fire, which had spread from the original spark which had fallen uponthe roof, had burned a hole through, and the air, which was drawn upthrough the opening, was at that moment fanning it into a flame. 

Marco ran out, calling out, "Get some water! Get some water!"

There was plenty of water in a brook, which flowed with a murmuringsound down a little glen behind the huts, but there were no buckets, andMarco called in vain. It would have been equally useless to have raisedan alarm of fire, as there was nobody within ten miles to hear the cry. The flames spread rapidly, and Forester and Marco soon saw that therewas nothing to be done but for them to stand quietly by and witness theconflagration. The flames rose very high and raged fiercely, and thelight shone far into the forest, bringing into distinct view the wholescene around, which had been involved in deep obscurity. The roof wassoon consumed, but the logs, of which the walls had been built, weremuch longer in burning. The fire made by these logs, when they fell intogether upon the bed which Forester and Marco had prepared, was sointensely hot that it could not be approached for a long time. 

As soon as the intensity of this fire had a little declined, Forestersaid that they must go to work and build themselves another hut. Theyexamined the ruins of those which remained, but they concluded that itwould be better to build a new one than to attempt to repair one ofthese. They accordingly determined to build one anew. 

They found two young trees, growing pretty near each other, which hadbranches about six feet from the ground, so situated that they couldplace a strong pole across from one tree to the other, resting the endsupon the branches. This, Marco called the ridge-pole. They then cutother poles, which they placed with the end on one side upon the ground, and the other ends upon the ridge-pole. These were rafters, and upon therafters they placed a great many branches of hemlock, which formed aroof. This roof, however, was only upon one side. The other side of thehut was open, and they built a fire opposite this opening, feeling safein regard to their roof, as it was made of green branches. 

[Illustration]

This work occupied them an hour. At the end of that time, they puttheir potatoes into the fire to roast, and then laid down upon thehemlock beds which they made, to rest themselves a little while, tillthe potatoes should be done. Wearied with their long walk and the laborsof the evening, they fell asleep, and did not wake again till fouro'clock the next morning. 

CHAPTER X. 

LOST IN THE WOODS. 

When Marco awoke, he at first supposed that he had been asleep about anhour, and he was surprised to see how much the fire had burned down inthat time. He crept towards it, and began to put the brands together, when suddenly he recollected the potatoes. So he began to feel for themin the ashes, by means of a long stick, which they had obtained for apoker. The potatoes were all burnt to a cinder. 

Marco then awoke Forester, saying, "Cousin Forester! cousin Forester! wake up. The fire has gone out, andour potatoes are all burnt up. "

Forester awoke, and, after looking at the fire, and at the charred andblackened remains of the potatoes a moment, he took out his watch, andsaid, "Why, Marco, it is four o'clock. It is almost morning. "

"Is it?" said Marco. "Then we have not got much more time to sleep. Letus build up a good fire, and then lie down again. "

"Yes, " replied Forester. "We must keep up a good fire, or we shall takecold, it is such a cool night. It looks as if it were going to rain. "

"What shall we do in that case?" asked Marco. 

"I don't know, " replied Forester. "It would be rather a hard case forus. "

"We could stay here, I suppose, " said Marco. "I don't think the rainwould come through our roof. "

"No, " said Forester, "not much. But then we have nothing to eat. "

"Could not we get anything to eat about here?" asked Marco. 

"Not very well, " replied Forester. "We have got money enough, but thisis a case where money does not seem to be of any use. "

"How do the men who come here in the winter to cut down the trees, getanything to eat?" asked Marco. 

"O, they bring it all with them, " said Forester. "The roads are better, in the winter, for sleds and sleighs, than they are now for wheels; forthen all the stumps and roughnesses are covered up with the snow. So, wherever there is a camp, there is a road leading to it, and sleighloads of provisions are brought up for the men, from time to time, allthe winter. "

"I wish one would come now, " said Marco, "to us. "

"I wish so too, " said Forester. "But it is of no use to wish, and so wemay as well lie down and go to sleep again. "

"But, Forester, " said Marco, "I don't see what we are going to do if itrains. "

"Nor do I, " said Forester. "But this is not the time for forming a plan. This is the time for going to sleep. I make it a rule, in allperplexities and troubles, when there is nothing to be done immediatelyin order to get out of them, to lie down and go to sleep. "

Marco said no more, and Forester was soon asleep again. Marco himselffelt so much concern about his situation that he could not go to sleepfor some time. He lay watching the flames, which were creeping slowlyaround the logs which he and Forester had put upon the fire; for, whilethey had been holding the conversation above described, they had beenemployed in replenishing the fire. 

Marco heard a sound, which, at first, he thought was a bear. He was onthe point of awakening Forester, but, after listening a little longer, he concluded that it was only the roaring of the wind upon the tops ofthe trees. After lifting his head from his pillow of hemlock branchesfor a moment, until he satisfied himself that it was no wild beast, helay down again and went to sleep. 

He was awakened again, about three hours afterwards, by a long rumblingclap of thunder. 

"What is that?" said Forester. "Thunder?"

"I believe it is, " said Marco. 

"And it rains, I believe, " said Forester. 

Marco raised his head, and looked out through the open part of the hut. He saw the drops of rain descending, and he heard the murmuring soundwhich the rain makes when falling upon the leaves in a forest. He saw, too, that everything was wet in the opening about the hut, although itseemed dry in the forest beyond, where the drops of rain had beenintercepted by the leaves of the trees. 

"We must get our wood under cover, " said Marco, "or it will get wet andwon't burn, and then our fire will go out. "

"True, " said Forester. "There is room for some of it in this hut. Let usget up and put it in. "

So Marco and Forester arose, and, as they were already dressed, theywere soon at work, putting the logs into the hut. Marco then proposedthat they should go into the forest, where it did not rain, and get somemore wood. But Forester said he thought that would be of no service, asthey had no provisions, and, of course, could not stay there. "We _must_go, " said he, "at any rate, whether it rains or not; for it is better toget wet than to starve. "

"We have got _something_ left in our bag, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " replied Forester, "just enough for breakfast. "

"How I wish I had a bushel of potatoes, " said Marco. "Then we couldstay here a week. Only we should want a little salt too. "

Forester opened the bag and took out the provisions which were left. They found about enough for a breakfast for them, but they concluded toeat but half of their supply, as Forester thought it was best that theyshould put themselves upon short allowance. 

"You see, it is _possible_, " said Forester, "that we may be kept here inthe woods a day or two; so we must use our provisions economically. "

After breakfast, they went into the forest a little way, where theyfound that they were protected from the rain by the trees. This proved, as Forester said, that it had not been raining very long; and hethought, from appearances, that it would soon clear up. 

At a little distance from their encampment, they found another hut, which was in better condition than either of those which they had seenbefore. It was covered with strips of birch bark, which made a very goodroof. Some of these strips, or rather sheets, for they were quite large, had fallen down, and Marco ran and got one of them, exclaiming, "What a monstrous sheet of birch bark!"

This sheet, which Marco lifted up from the ground where it was lying, was about four feet long and two feet wide. Marco wondered that so largea sheet could be got from any tree. 

"What a monstrous tree it must have been!" said he to Forester. 

"No, " said Forester, "not very large. This sheet is about four feetlong, which would make the tree only about sixteen inches in diameter. "

"How do you prove that?" asked Marco. 

"Why, the distance through a tree is about one third the distance roundit, " replied Forester. "Now, this bark grew around the tree, and it isabout four feet long. Four feet is forty-eight inches, and one-third offorty-eight is sixteen. Now, sixteen inches in diameter would not be avery large tree. "

"I mean to try this bark on some of these trees, " said Marco, "to seehow big a tree it will fit. "

So Marco took up the sheet of bark. It was white and clean, especiallyon the outside, having been blanched by the summer rains. Marco, inorder to carry the sheet more easily, put it upon his shoulders, drawingit up around his neck like a shawl. 

"Cousin Forester, " said he, "see my shawl. It would do for an umbrella, if I only had a handle. "

So saying, Marco drew the sheet of bark up higher, holding it in such amanner that it covered his cap, rising into a point above his head. Heheld it in such a manner as to leave a little crevice open in front, topeep through, in order that he might see where he was going. 

"See, Forester, " said he, --"see my umbrella. "

Forester looked at Marco's contrivance, and he immediately thought thatsuch a sheet would be an important protection to the head and neck, incase they had to walk in the rain. He accordingly went to the hut andselected a sheet for himself, saying, "This is not a bad plan. The most important point is to protect the headand neck, and this will do it pretty well. We can roll the sheets up andcarry them under our arms, unless it rains fast, and then we can wrapthem around us. "

[Illustration]

Having thus found a rude substitute for an umbrella, Forester thoughtthat it would be best for them to set out on their journey. Theyaccordingly returned to their encampment, and made preparations forresuming their march. As it was raining but very little at that time, they rolled up their umbrellas and carried them under their arms. Marcotook the hatchet, and Forester the bag of provisions. Marco wanted toset fire to the hut which had sheltered them for the night. He wantedForester to hear what a loud crackling the green hemlock branches, whichthey had put upon the roof, would make, when the flames from the woodbelow should envelop them. 

But Forester would not consent to this. He said that some accident mightpossibly happen, by which they should be obliged to come back and spendanother night there, though he hoped such a measure would not benecessary. 

"I hope so, too, " said Marco. 

"We may lose our way again, " said Forester. 

"But then, " said Marco, "we shall not come back to this place. "

"Why, I have heard, " said Forester, "of people losing their way in thewoods, and, after a great deal of wandering, getting back to the placethey started from. So that, _possibly_, we may wander about all day, andget back here at night. "

"I hope not, I'm sure, " said Marco. "I am tired of this old hovel. "

"Why, the lumber-men stay in these places all winter, " said Forester. 

"Yes, " replied Marco, "but then they know that they can get out wheneverthey please. We don't know that we can ever get out. "

"That is true, " said Forester, "and it makes a great difference. "

"Don't you feel concerned about our finding our way out?" asked Marco. 

"No, " said Forester. "I make it a rule never to be _concerned_ aboutanything. "

"Oh, Forester!" said Marco, --"I think we ought to be concerned when weget lost in the woods. "

"No, " replied Forester. "We ought to do the best we can to get out, butnot to be concerned. To be concerned is to be anxious and unhappy. Thisdoes no good. Being concerned would never help us find our way out ofthe woods. "

Thus talking, the two unfortunate travellers walked on, with their rollsunder their arms. It was well that they took them, for, after they hadbeen walking about half an hour, the sky grew dark, and, a short timeafterwards, the rain began to come down in torrents. Forester and Marcounrolled their umbrellas, and wrapped them about their shoulders andheads; and, at the same time, they fled for shelter under an enormouspine tree, which grew in such a spot that its branches extended in everydirection, and formed a canopy above them, which kept off a great dealof the rain. When the rain abated a little, they walked on. 

Their plan was to get back to the place where they had left the mainroad the day before. But they were somewhat perplexed to find it. Infact, they met with several roads which branched off from the one inwhich they were walking. These were old tracks, made by the lumber-men, and were partly grown up to bushes. They wandered about among thesepaths for some time, and at last, to their great joy, they came outinto a good beaten road, which Forester immediately thought was the onewhich they had been travelling in the day before. NotwithstandingForester's philosophical resolution, never to be _concerned_, he couldnot help confessing that he felt somewhat relieved to find the rightroad again; and, as the sun was just breaking through the clouds at thistime, they both thought that their prospects were brighteningconsiderably. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE SHINGLE WEAVER'S. 

The travellers walked on with fresh strength and courage, now that theythought they were in the right road. The road was, however, monotonous, being, for most of the way, through a dense forest; and it was so verysimilar to the road by which they had come the day before that they wereconvinced they were now right. 

They went on, without any special adventure, for nearly two hours, whenthey arrived at what had the appearance of being an old wood road, whichbranched off at right angles to the one in which they were travelling. The trees were somewhat more open here. This admitted the sun; and therewere several raspberry bushes growing at the entrance of the wood road, with ripe raspberries hanging upon them, for the season of raspberrieshad now arrived. 

Marco seized this fruit with great avidity. Forester followed hisexample, and began gathering the berries. The bushes were, however, notentirely dry, and they had to advance cautiously among them. In fact, they found it better to keep along the wood road, gathering the berriesas they advanced. It was not a road, strictly speaking, for there wereno marks of wheels upon it, or tracks of any sort, made by travelling. It was only a space for a road, made by cutting away the trees andbushes. 

Along this opening, Forester and Marco slowly advanced, eating theraspberries which grew by the side of the way. After going on for a fewrods in this manner, Marco suddenly exclaimed, "Why, here is another camp!"

Forester looked up and saw, just before them, the remains of a sort ofhut, somewhat similar to those which they had seen the evening before. There was a large heap of chips and shavings about it. 

"What can this be?" asked Marco. 

"I presume, " said Forester, "that it is an old shingle weaver'sestablishment. "

"What is a shingle weaver?" asked Marco. 

"A man who makes shingles, " replied Forester, "such as they use forcovering houses. They make them of clear straight-grained pine, whichwill split easily and true. "

So saying, Forester advanced towards the hut, and took up one of thepieces of pine, which had been split out for a shingle. There wereseveral of such pieces lying about among the chips and shavings. It wassomewhat browned by exposure to the weather, but it had a very smoothand glossy appearance, shining with a sort of silken lustre. 

"This is a beautiful piece of pine, " said Forester. 

"Let us carry some of it home, " rejoined Marco. 

"What good would it do us?" asked Forester. 

"Why, we might make something of it, " said Marco. "Perhaps I could makea little box. "

"And that would serve as a _souvenir_ of this expedition, " addedForester. 

"A souvenir?" said Marco, --"what is that?"

"Why, something to remember it by, " replied Forester. "Hereafter, whenever you should see the box, you would be reminded of our wanderingsand perils in this wilderness. "

"Well, " said Marco, "let us take it. "

The farther conversation of our adventurers was interrupted by a sound, like that of wagon wheels, coming along the main road, which they hadjust left. 

"There comes some traveller, " exclaimed Forester. "Let us go and enquireabout our way. "

"Hark!" said Marco. 

At this instant, the sound of the wheels suddenly stopped, and Marco andForester heard the voice of a man calling out earnestly to his horse, "Whoa! whoa!" as if something had happened. Marco and Forester hastenedto the spot, where they found that the horse had fallen down, and theman was trying in vain to get him up. The harness was drawn so tightabout the horse's limbs, by the constrained position in which he waslying, that he could not get up, and the man could not extricate him. The man had gone behind, and had drawn the wagon back, so as to loosenthe pressure of the harness upon the horse, but, until Forester andMarco came, there was no one to unbuckle the straps when they were thusloosened; and, if the man let go of the wagon, to go and unbuckle theharness, it was drawn back again at once by the tension of the straps, and made as tight as before. 

He was, therefore, very glad to see Forester and Marco coming. He askedthem to come and help him. 

Forester and Marco were immediately going to attempt to unbuckle theharness, but the man told them that there was danger of their gettingkicked by the horse, in case he should suddenly begin to struggle. 

"Come here, " said the man, "and hold the wagon back and I will loosenthe harness. "

By means of this plan of operations, the horse was soon liberated fromhis confinement, and he got up. The man seemed very thankful to Foresterand Marco, and he asked them where they were going. 

"We are going to No. 3, " said Forester. "Is this the right way?"

The townships in a new country are _numbered_ at first, not named. Theplace to which Marco and Forester were going had yet very fewinhabitants, and it had no name but No. 3. 

"Yes, " replied the man, "this is the right road. I wish I was going thatway, I would take you along in my wagon. "

This answer puzzled Marco a little, on two accounts. First, the man_was_ going the same way with them, but then Marco thought that, perhaps, he was going to turn off, pretty soon, into some other road. Then, secondly, he did not see how the man could possibly carry him andForester, in any event, as the wagon seemed completely filled with bags, and kegs, and firkins, leaving scarcely room for the man himself to sit. 

Forester told the man that they could walk very well; but he said thatthey were hungry, and if the man had anything to eat, in his wagon, theyshould be glad to buy something of him. 

"Yes, " replied the man, "I've a loaf of bread that I can spare, and ajug of milk. "

"That will be just the thing, " said Marco. 

At first, the man was not willing to receive anything for the bread andmilk, but as Forester insisted upon it, he consented to take a littlepay. He then told Forester that he had some honey in his wagon, and afew apples, and Forester bought a supply of these. At first, theythought they should not have anything to put the honey in, but Marco ranto the shingle weaver's hut, and got one of the thin pieces which hadbeen split out for shingles, and it made a very good plate. Foresterbought a pound of the honey, and half a dozen apples. 

They then bade the man good-by, and he resumed his journey. Forester andMarco went back to the hut, where they had a most excellent dinner. Theybuilt a fire, and roasted the apples and toasted the bread. They cut itinto slices with Marco's knife. They made wooden spoons for the honeyout of pieces of pine, which answered very well indeed. Marco said itwas the very best dinner he ever ate in his life. 

After dinner, they returned to the main road, and resumed their walk. Forester said he wished he had asked the man how far it was to No. 3, but he thought it could not be very far, as they had been travellingnearly three hours, and it was only about ten miles in the morning. 

As he was saying this, they were just ascending a hill, and when theyreached the top of it, they had a prospect of the road for aconsiderable distance before them. Marco thought he saw somethingcoming, and he asked Forester what it was. 

"I think it is only a stump, or something like that, " said Forester. 

"No, it moves, " said Marco. 

"It is another wagon, " said Forester, "I really believe. Now we can findout how far it is to No. 3. "

It was very soon quite evident that it was a wagon, and that it wascoming on apace. As it drew nearer, it appeared that there was a boy init. 

"He is just about as big as Isaiah, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " said Forester. "And the horse looks very much like the horseIsaiah had. "

"I verily believe it is Isaiah, " said Marco. 

This supposition was confirmed as the wagon drew near. The boy wasIsaiah, but he stared at Marco and Forester with a look of perplexityand wonder, as if he was very much surprised to see them. 

"Isaiah!" said Marco, accosting him, as soon as Isaiah drew up the reinsand stopped the horse opposite to them. 

"What are you coming back for?" asked Isaiah. 

"Coming back!" repeated Forester, not knowing exactly what Isaiah meant. 

"Yes, " said Isaiah. "I thought you were going to stay at No. 3, and Iwas going to carry your trunk there. "

It immediately flashed upon Forester's mind that they had got turnedabout in their wanderings, and, instead of going on towards No. 3, asthey supposed, they were in reality, though in the right road, going thewrong way in it. 

Forester had a hearty laugh at this discovery, in which Marco joined, assoon as he fairly understood the case. At first, he was very muchperplexed. He could not believe that they could have got their ideas ofdirection so completely reversed. 

"Besides, " said he, "that man told us that we were in the right way. "

"Yes, " said Forester, "but he did not tell us that we were _going right_in it. "

"I suppose he did not know which way we were going, " said Marco. 

The question then arose, what was to be done. Forester proposed thatthey should get into the wagon and let Isaiah drive them to No. 3, butMarco said that he was commander, and he was not going to try to get toNo. 3 any more. He had been travelling back and forth through thosewoods long enough, and he declared that he would not vote to go throughthem again, if he had to go round the world to get to the other side ofthem. 

Forester laughed and submitted to the decision; so they all returned toIsaiah's father's. 

The next morning they formed a different plan for pursuing theirjourney. They wanted to get to the Quebec road now, as soon as possible, and they found, by enquiry, that, by taking a boat upon a large pond orlake, a few miles distant, they could go about twenty miles by water, through a chain of ponds, which led in the direction in which theywished to go. 

So Forester hired a man to go with them and bring back the boat. Theywent, in a wagon, to a place very near the landing, at the pond. Thelanding was in a small cove, surrounded by forests. The cove opened outinto the pond by two points of land, rocky and precipitous, and crownedwith evergreen trees. The water was smooth, and the whole scene highlypicturesque. When Marco came in sight of it, he was much pleased withthe prospect of a voyage on such a sheet of water. 

There was considerable water in the boat when the party arrived on thebeach, and Forester undertook to bail it out. The man who was going withthem went and cut a bush, with a thick top, to use as a sail, in casethere should be a fair wind. While he was bringing the bush, andForester was bailing out the boat, Marco stood upon the beach, lookingat the paddles. 

"Does she leak, cousin Forester?" asked Marco. 

[Illustration]

"No, " said Forester, "I presume not. This water all comes from therain. "

"I'm glad to hear that, " said Marco, "for I don't want to go to sea in aleaky ship. "

There was a great basket of provisions on the beach, by the side ofMarco, while these preparations were making, for they were resolved notto expose themselves, a second time, to the danger of famine. When allwas ready, the bush, the basket and the paddles were put on board, andour adventurers, after gliding smoothly through the water to the outletof the cove, doubled one of the rocky points of land, and pushed boldlyout upon the waters of the pond. 

CHAPTER XII. 

A VOYAGE ON THE POND. 

As the boat moved on, propelled by the paddles, which Forester and theman who accompanied them were plying, Marco sat upon a thwart, and gazedupon the picturesque and romantic scene around him. The shores of thelake, or pond, formed many beautiful points and promontories, with deepbays between them. There were a great many islands too, scattered overits surface. Marco wanted to land upon some of these, but Foresterthought that they had better make the best of their way towards theirdestined port. 

Marco contented himself, therefore, with gazing on the changing scenery, as they passed, in succession, one island and promontory after another. The whole country was covered with forests, except that here and therewas an opening, with the house and barn of a settler in the middle ofit. Smokes were rising, too, in various directions, where new clearingswere in progress. There was one in particular, on the side of a distanthill, which rose in such dense white volumes as especially to attractMarco's attention. 

When Marco had admired these objects long enough, he leaned a littleover the side of the boat, and began to look down into the water. Thewater was not deep, and the bottom was smooth and sandy. They glidedrapidly along over these sands. Marco's leaning caused the boat toincline a little to one side; but Forester, instead of asking him not tolean over so, just moved himself a little in the contrary direction, andthus restored the equilibrium. 

"There, Forester, " said Marco, suddenly raising himself, "I forgot onething. "

"What is that?" said Forester. 

"I forgot my piece of wood to make a box of. "

"I am very sorry, " said Forester. "But then you can get another piece, perhaps, before we get to the end of our journey. "

"But I wanted a piece from that very hut, so as to make the box asouvenir of our having got lost in the woods, " said Marco. 

"Yes, " rejoined Forester, "that would have been very pleasant, --but, perhaps, we shall meet with some other odd adventure, which will be asgood as being lost in the woods. "

"I don't think being lost in the woods is anything very good, " saidMarco. 

"It is not a very good thing at the time, but the recollection of suchadventures and dangers is always pleasant afterwards. You see youspecially want a souvenir of it. 

"But, Marco, " continued Forester, "I have thought of something whichwill be, perhaps, better than a box. At any rate, it will be moreconvenient to make. "

"What is it?" said Marco. 

"A little press for pressing flowers, " replied Forester. 

"How could I make it?" asked Marco. 

"Have two pieces of pine wood, planed out thin, " said Forester. "Theymight be varnished, and that would make them look very neat and pretty. "

"How large must they be?" asked Marco. 

"Oh, about as large, " replied Forester, "as the covers of a small book. Just large enough to make it convenient to carry in the pocket. Then youmust have some pieces of soft paper, of the same size and shape, to putbetween them. You must also have a piece of cord or braid, or somethingof that kind, to tie around them, to keep them together. Then, when youare travelling, if you find any pretty flower, you can put it into thispress, and put the press in your pocket. Thus, the press will not onlybe a souvenir itself, but it will procure for you a great many othersouvenirs. "

"That's an excellent plan, " said Marco. "I like it very much. That willbe better than a box. "

"It will be easier to make, at any rate, " replied Forester. "Any joinercan plane out and square the boards for you. "

"Yes, " said Marco. "I mean to get a piece of pine to make them of, thefirst time I find any. "

Marco had an opportunity to get a piece of pine suitable for thispurpose, and, at the same time, a souvenir itself of an adventure, sooner than he anticipated; for, after having paddled many miles, towards noon a breeze sprung up, which, though really not against them, retarded them somewhat, as it tended to drive them out of their course. Their intention had been to have stopped upon the water, about noon, toeat their dinner; but, as this breeze would prevent the boat fromremaining at rest, they concluded to land upon an island, which was nearwhere they were at the time, and take their dinner there. Marco wasparticularly pleased with this plan, as it would enable him to build afire, and he always wanted to build a fire on such occasions, whetherthere was anything to be cooked by it or not. 

The island was rocky, and it was covered with trees. On the shelteredside of it there was a beach, where the party landed. Although thisbeach was somewhat protected from the wind, still the waves which rolledin kept the water in a state of agitation. They, however, landed here, running the head of the boat upon the sand. 

There was a large tree lying here, with its top in the water, andbutt-end upon the beach. It was a tree which some settler had cut downat some place near the shore of the pond, and when the water was high ithad been washed off, and, after drifting about the pond for some time, it had got lodged upon this beach, where it remained in the position inwhich our adventurers found it. It had been lying there for more than ayear, and the branches which were out of the water were dead and dry. The foliage had long since disappeared. 

The boatman brought the boat up alongside of this tree, so that Foresterand Marco stepped out upon the trunk, and walked to the land. Theboatman then tied the boat to one of the dead branches of the tree, and, taking the basket of provisions and the hatchet, they all walked along, in search of a place for their dinner. 

They found a sheltered and pleasant place, at a little distance, underthe trees. Marco soon struck a light, and began to build a fire. Hefound it somewhat difficult, however, to procure dry wood enough for thefire, until, at last, he thought of the branches of the tree to whichthe boat was fastened. He accordingly went to the place and began to cutthem off. 

The boat was somewhat in the way while he was doing this, and he thoughthe would move it. He could fasten it just as well, he thought, by astake driven into the sand. He therefore cut off one of the branches, and, after squaring one end and sharpening the other, he drove it downas well as he could into the sand. He then fastened the boat to thisstake, thus removing it from the tree, and clearing the way so that hecould conveniently cut off the branches. 

This was not, however, a very wise operation, for it is very difficultto drive a stake securely into sand. Sand, even when wet, has so littletenacity that it yields to the slightest force, and the stake soon beganto work loose, by the motion of the boat, agitated by the waves; and, infact, before Marco had finished carrying away the branches, the stakewas entirely loosened from its bed, and was just ready to topple over. 

As the boat continued to pull upon it, this way and that, as it wasagitated by the fluctuation of the water, it soon drew it down, and theboat, being now entirely at liberty, began to move slowly off from theshore. It soon drifted out where it was more fully exposed to the actionof the wind, when it began to move much faster. And thus, while ourparty of voyagers were eating their dinner, seated on a flat rock, bythe side of a good fire, in fancied security, their boat was quietlydrifting away, thus apparently cutting them off from all communicationwith the main land. 

Marco made the discovery that the boat was gone, just after finishinghis dinner, and he immediately gave the alarm. Forester and the boatmancame at once to the spot. They could just see the boat, half a miledistant, under a ledge of rocks, which formed the shore in that place. 

This was the third time, on this journey, that Marco had found himselfisolated in circumstances of difficulty and danger, and cut off, apparently, from all convenient means of retreat; and, at first, hethought that this was the worst and the most dangerous of the three. Infact, he did not see in what possible way they could escape. 

"What shall we do?" asked Forester. 

"We must make a raft, somehow or other, " said the boatman. "If I had alog, I could go after the boat on that. "

"Won't this tree answer for a log?" asked Marco. 

The boatman looked at the tree. He said that, if he had an axe, hethought he could cut off the top, and roll the trunk into the water; butit would take him a long time, he said, to hack it off with the hatchet. 

There seemed to be, however, no alternative; so he set himself at work, and in due time he cut off the stem of the tree, just where it enteredthe water. They all three then took levers, which the boatman made withhis hatchet, and, by making great exertion, they got the log out of thesand, and rolled it round into the water, where it floated. The man thencut a long pole, and, mounting upon the log, he pushed himself out overthe surface of the water. 

Forester and Marco watched his progress with great interest. Marcothought that he would certainly roll off the log, but he seemed to standand to walk upon it, perfectly at his ease. He would advance to theforward end of the log, and then, planting the foot of his pole in thesand on the bottom, he would push, walking along as the log advanced, until he came to the stern end of the log, when he would draw out hispole, and walk back again. In this way he propelled the log until thewater became too deep for his pole to reach the bottom, and then heceased these efforts, and, standing upright, he left himself to bedriven along slowly by the wind. 

[Illustration]

Forester and Marco saw plainly that he would be gone for some time, andthey amused themselves, during his absence, in wandering about theshores of the island. In one place, Marco found, upon a rock a littleabove the water, a slab of pine wood, which was bleached by the sun andrain. It had drifted down, the summer before, from some stream emptyinginto the pond. In the winter it had been frozen into the ice, and, whenthe ice broke up on the following spring, the cake to which the slab wasattached, had been crowded up upon the shore, where the slab had beenleft when the ice melted. 

Marco immediately thought that this slab would furnish him with a goodpiece of wood to make a flower press of, and he accordingly dragged itup where he could work upon it with his hatchet. He soon cut off apiece, of the proper length, and hewed it down so as to make it of aconvenient shape to carry. 

When Forester came to examine it, he said he thought it was a very goodpiece, and when it was planed smooth and varnished, he thought, from itsappearance, that it would be of a very pretty color. 

"You can get it made at the first shop we come to, " said Forester, "andthen you can collect and preserve a great many flowers in it, when weget to Canada. When you get home; you can put them in a book, and callthem the Canadian Flora. "

"That's just what I'll do, " said Marco, "and then, when I get home, I'llgive some of them to my cousins. They will like them, because they camefrom Canada. But I can't put a great many into such a press. "

"No, " said Forester. "You only collect them in the press, which youalways carry with you in your pocket. You put them all in a book, or ina larger press, as soon as you get home, and then you have the smallpress ready for use again. "

While they were talking thus, they watched the boatman, who had, bythis time, reached the land and recovered the boat. He came back quiterapidly, propelling the boat with the paddle. Marco and Foresterembarked on board of her, and they finished their voyage without anyfurther adventure. The next day, they reached the Quebec road, and, leaving the region of the Kennebec, they went on their way towardsCanada. 

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

A Table of Contents has been added for the reader's convenience. 

Inconsistent hyphenation (mill-man/millman) and spelling(bivouac/bivouack) have been regularized.