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