Forests of Maine

CHAPTER X. LOST IN THE WOODS.

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

Marco then awoke Forester, saying,

"Cousin Forester! cousin Forester! wake up. The fire has gone out, and our potatoes are all burnt up."

Forester awoke, and, after looking at the fire, and at the charred and blackened remains of the potatoes a moment, he took out his watch, and said,

"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. Let us build up a good fire, and then lie down again."

"Yes," replied Forester. "We must keep up a good fire, or we shall take cold, 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 for us."

"We could stay here, I suppose," said Marco. "I don't think the rain would 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 this is 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, get anything 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; for then 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 sleigh loads of provisions are brought up for the men, from time to time, all the 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 we may as well lie down and go to sleep again."

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

"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 all perplexities and troubles, when there is nothing to be done immediately in order to get out of them, to lie down and go to sleep."

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

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

He was awakened again, about three hours afterwards, by a long rumbling clap 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 sound which 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 it seemed dry in the forest beyond, where the drops of rain had been intercepted by the leaves of the trees.

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

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

So Marco and Forester arose, and, as they were already dressed, they were soon at work, putting the logs into the hut. Marco then proposed that they should go into the forest, where it did not rain, and get some more wood. But Forester said he thought that would be of no service, as they 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 to get 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 could stay 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 to eat but half of their supply, as Forester thought it was best that they should put themselves upon short allowance.

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

After breakfast, they went into the forest a little way, where they found that they were protected from the rain by the trees. This proved, as Forester said, that it had not been raining very long; and he thought, 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 seen before. It was covered with strips of birch bark, which made a very good roof. 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 large a 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 feet long, 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 round it," replied Forester. "Now, this bark grew around the tree, and it is about four feet long. Four feet is forty-eight inches, and one-third of forty-eight is sixteen. Now, sixteen inches in diameter would not be a very large tree."

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

So Marco took up the sheet of bark. It was white and clean, especially on the outside, having been blanched by the summer rains. Marco, in order to carry the sheet more easily, put it upon his shoulders, drawing it 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 a manner that it covered his cap, rising into a point above his head. He held it in such a manner as to leave a little crevice open in front, to peep 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 that such a sheet would be an important protection to the head and neck, in case they had to walk in the rain. He accordingly went to the hut and selected a sheet for himself, saying,

"This is not a bad plan. The most important point is to protect the head and neck, and this will do it pretty well. We can roll the sheets up and carry them under our arms, unless it rains fast, and then we can wrap them around us."

[Illustration]

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

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

"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 the woods, and, after a great deal of wandering, getting back to the place they started from. So that, possibly, we may wander about all day, and get 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 whenever they 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 about anything."

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

"No," replied Forester. "We ought to do the best we can to get out, but not to be concerned. To be concerned is to be anxious and unhappy. This does no good. Being concerned would never help us find our way out of the woods."

Thus talking, the two unfortunate travellers walked on, with their rolls under their arms. It was well that they took them, for, after they had been walking about half an hour, the sky grew dark, and, a short time afterwards, the rain began to come down in torrents. Forester and Marco unrolled their umbrellas, and wrapped them about their shoulders and heads; and, at the same time, they fled for shelter under an enormous pine tree, which grew in such a spot that its branches extended in every direction, and formed a canopy above them, which kept off a great deal of 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 main road the day before. But they were somewhat perplexed to find it. In fact, they met with several roads which branched off from the one in which they were walking. These were old tracks, made by the lumber-men, and were partly grown up to bushes. They wandered about among these paths for some time, and at last, to their great joy, they came out into a good beaten road, which Forester immediately thought was the one which they had been travelling in the day before. Notwithstanding Forester's philosophical resolution, never to be concerned, he could not help confessing that he felt somewhat relieved to find the right road again; and, as the sun was just breaking through the clouds at this time, they both thought that their prospects were brightening considerably.