d old
Cap. His foot is 3-1/2 by 3; that equals 10-1/2, multiplied by 5
equals 52-1/2 pounds: just about right."

"I'll bet I seen a Dog at the show that that wouldn't work on,"
drawled Sam. "He was as long as my two arms, he had feet as big as a
young Bear, an' he wasn't any higher than a brick. He was jest about
the build of a Caterpiller, only he didn't have but four legs at the
far ends. They was so far apart he couldn't keep step. He looked like
he was raised under a bureau. I think when they was cutting down so on
his legs they might have give him more of them; a row in the middle
would 'a' been 'bout right."

"Yes, I know him. That's a Dachshund. But you can't reckon on freaks;
nothing but straight Dog. It works on wild animals, too--that is, on
Wolves and Foxes and maybe other things," then changing the subject
Beaver continued:

"Can you tell the height of a tree by its shadow?"

"Never thought of that. How do you do it?"

"Wait till your own shadow is the same length as yourself--that is,
about eight in the morning or four in the afternoon--then measure the
tree's shadow. That gives its length."

"You'd have to wait all day to work that, and you can't do it at all
in the woods or on a dull day," objected Blackhawk. "I'd rather do it
by guess."

"I'll bet my scalp against yours I can tell the height of that
tree right now without climbing it, and get closer than you can by
guessing," said Little Beaver.

"No, I won't bet scalps on that--but I'll bet who's to wash the
dishes."

"All right. To the top of that tree, how much is it?"

"Better not take the top, 'cause we can't get there to measure it, but
say that knot," was the rejoinder. "Here, Woodpecker, you be judge."

"No, I want to be in this guessing. The loser takes the next turn of
dishwashing for each of the others."

So Blackhawk studied the knot carefully and wrote down his
guess--Thirty-eight feet.

Sam said, "Blackhawk! Ground's kind of uneven. I'd like to know the
exact spot under the tree that you'd measure to. Will you mark it with
a peg?"

So Blackhawk went over and put in a white peg, at the same time
unwittingly giving Woodpecker what he wanted--a gauge, for he knew
Blackhawk was something more than five feet high; judging then as he
stood there Sam wrote down Thirty-five feet.

Now it was Yan's turn to do it by "White-man's Woodcraft," as he
called it. He cut a pole exactly ten feet long, and choosing the
smoothest ground,