rry, "we must wait here, I think, till the weather clears
up a little, and then we will endeavour to find the way home."

_Tommy._--But what if the weather should not clear up at all?

_Harry._--In that case we must either endeavour to find our way through
the snow, or stay here, where we are so conveniently sheltered.

_Tommy._--But oh! what a dreadful thing it is to be here all alone in
this dreary wood! And then I am so hungry and so cold; oh that we had
but a little fire to warm us!

_Harry._--I have heard that shipwrecked persons, when they have been
cast away upon a desert coast, have made a fire to warm themselves by
rubbing two pieces of wood together till they caught fire; or here is a
better thing; I have a large knife in my pocket, and if I could but find
a piece of flint, I could easily strike fire with the back of it.

Harry then searched about, and after some time found a couple of flints,
though not without much difficulty, as the ground was nearly hidden with
snow. He then took the flints, and striking one upon the other with all
his force, he shivered them into several pieces; out of those he chose
the thinnest and sharpest, and telling Tommy, with a smile, that he
believed that would do, he struck it several times against the back of
his knife, and thus produced several sparks of fire. "This," said Harry,
"will be sufficient to light a fire, if we can but find something of a
sufficiently combustible nature to kindle from these sparks." He then
collected the driest leaves he could find, with little decayed pieces of
wood, and piling them into a heap, endeavoured to kindle a blaze by the
sparks which he continually struck from his knife and the flint. But it
was in vain; the leaves were not of a sufficiently combustible nature,
and while he wearied himself in vain, they were not at all the more
advanced. Tommy, who beheld the ill success of his friend, began to be
more and more terrified, and in despair asked Harry again what they
should do. Harry answered, that as they had failed in their attempt to
warm themselves, the best thing they could do was to endeavour to find
their way home, more especially as the snow had now ceased, and the sky
was become much clearer. This Tommy consented to, and with infinite
difficulty they began their march; for, as the snow had completely
covered every tract, and the daylight began to fail, they wandered at
random through a vast and pathless wood. At every step which