uld like this plan very much; and, as they rode
along, they looked out carefully for a place where there were slender
saplings growing, suitable for canes.

"What kind of wood would you have?" asked Forester.

"I don't know," replied Marco; "which kind is the best?"

"The different woods have different qualities," replied Forester. "Some
are light and soft, which are good qualities for certain purposes. Some
are hard. Some are stiff, and some flexible. Some are brittle, and
others tough. For a cane, now, do we want a hard wood or a soft one?"

"Hard," said Marco.

"Why?" asked Forester.

"Oh, so that it shall not get indented or bruised easily," replied
Marco.

"A light wood or a heavy one?" asked Forester.

"Light," replied Marco, "so that it will be easy to carry."

"Stiff or flexible?" asked Forester.

"Stiff," replied Marco.

"Yes," said Forester. "Some kinds of wood grow straight, and others
crooked."

"We want it straight," said Marco.

"Yes," replied Forester. "The pine grows very straight. If we could find
some young pines, they would make us some beautiful-looking canes."

"And how is it with the other qualities?" asked Marco.

"Pine is very light," said Forester.

"That is good," said Marco.

"And _soft_," said Forester.

"That is not so well," said Marco.

"And it is very weak and brittle."

"Then it will not do at all," said Marco. "I want a good strong cane."

Just at this time, they were ascending a hill, and, after passing over
the summit of it, they came to a place where Forester said he saw, in
the woods, a number of young oaks and beeches, which, he said, would
make good canes. The oak, he said, was very strong, and hard, and tough;
so was the beech.

"Only there are two objections to them for canes," said Forester, as
they were getting out of the wagon; "they are not so light as the pine,
and then, besides, they are apt to grow crooked. We must look about
carefully to find some that are straight."

"Which is the most valuable of all the kinds of wood?" asked Marco.

"The question is ambiguous," said Forester.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Marco.

"I mean, that it has two significations," replied Forester; "that is,
the word valuable has two significations. Pine is the most valuable in
one sense; that is, pine is, on the whole, most useful to mankind. But
there are other kinds of wood which are far more costly."

"I should not think that pine would be so valuable