n?"

"Yes, one with a very broad breast, a very thin body, and a very long
tail: such as you and I used to make not so many years ago."

"A _paper kite_," said Karl, repeating the phrase mechanically, at the
same time settling down, into a reflecting attitude. "True, brother,"
he added, after a pause; "there might be something in what you have
suggested. If we had a paper kite--that is, a very large one--it is
possible it would carry a rope over the summit of the cliff; but,
alas!--"

"You need not proceed further, Karl," said Caspar, interrupting him. "I
know what you are going to say: that we have no paper out of which to
make the kite; and that, of course, puts an end to the matter. It's no
use our thinking any more about it: since we have not got the materials.
The body and bones we could easily construct; and the tail too. But
then the wings--ah, the wings. I only wish we had a file of old
newspapers. But what's the use of wishing? We haven't."

Karl, though silent, did not seem to hear, or at all events heed, what
Caspar had been just saying. He appeared to be buried either in a
reverie, or in some profound speculation.

It was the latter: as was very soon after made manifest by his speech.

"Perhaps," said he, with a hopeful glance towards the wood, "we may not
be so deficient in the material of which you have spoken."

"Of paper, do you mean?"

"We are in the very region of the world where it grows," continued Karl,
without heeding the interrogation.

"What! where paper _grows_?"

"No," replied Karl, "I do not mean that the paper itself grows here; but
a `fabric' out of which that useful article may be made."

"What is that, brother?"

"It is a tree, or rather a shrub, belonging to the order of the
_Thymelaceae_, or `Daphnads.' The plants of this order are found in
many countries; but chiefly in the cooler regions of India and South
America. There are even representatives of the order in England: for
the beautiful `spurge laurel' of the woods and hedges--known as a remedy
for the toothache--is a true daphnad. Perhaps the most curious of all
the Thymelaceae is the celebrated Lagetta, or lace-bark tree of Jamaica;
out of which the ladies of that island know how to manufacture cuffs,
collars, and berthas, that, when cut into the proper shapes, and
bleached to a perfect whiteness, have all the appearance of real lace!
The Maroons, and other runaway negroes of Jamaica, before the abolition