Marco was, however, not much accustomed to walk, and Forester, to accommodate him, advanced slowly. When they had gone about five or six miles, the shades of evening began to draw on. The days were getting shorter at this season of the year, and then, besides, it happened that, on this evening, there were some dark clouds in the west, and the sun was darkened behind them before the regular hour of his going down. Then, besides, the trees of the forest made it darker in the road in which Marco and Forester were travelling.
Now, just as it was thus beginning to grow dark, they happened to come to a place where the road divided, and Marco and Forester were both puzzled to decide which was the one which they must take. The roads seemed to be nearly equally travelled, though it was so dark that they could not see very well. They examined both as carefully as they could, and finally decided according to the best of their judgment, and went on.
They had some doubt whether they were right, and Forester thought, as they proceeded, that the road appeared somewhat different from the one in which they had been travelling. However, they thought it best to go on. After advancing about two miles, in a very circuitous direction, they came at last to a place where several trees seemed to have been cut away, and there were remains of several log huts. Marco was very much interested in this discovery, and he wanted to examine the huts very particularly. But Forester, when he found that they were not inhabited, thought it best to lose no time, especially as it was now beginning to be quite dark, and he urged Marco to leave the huts and press on.
They went on for half a mile farther, when Marco, seeing a glimmer through the trees, exclaimed that they were coming to some water.
"So it is," said Forester. "It looks like a pond or a river. If it is a river, we're lost."
They walked on a short distance farther, and then they began to hear the rippling of the water. In a few minutes, they were down upon the bank. It was a small river, flowing rapidly along, between banks overhung with bushes. Marco looked for a bridge, or for some place to cross, but they found none. In fact, the road did not go down to the water, but seemed to lose itself among the trees, before reaching the bank.
"This is not our road," said Forester. "We must go back."
"What road can this be?" asked Marco. "It seems to lead nowhere."
"I presume it is a logging road," replied Forester.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Marco. "Why, I suppose that those huts must have been a logging camp, where the men lived in the winter, when they came here to cut logs; and this is the road that they drew the logs by, down to the water. But this summer it has been neglected. They don't cut the logs in the summer."
"And what shall we do?" asked Marco.
"We must go back to the place where the road branched off," replied Forester.
"Or else go and stay in the huts all night," said Marco.
"Yes," replied Forester, "we can do that. Let us go back and see."
They accordingly went back to the huts. Marco asked Forester whether he thought they had better stay there.
"I don't know," said Forester, "Let us strike a light, and see how the huts look."
Marco took out his match-box, and, after first gathering a few dry sticks, he struck a light, and soon made a little fire. They found a birch tree growing near, and they stripped off some pieces of the bark. These they laid upon the fire, holding the ends of two long sticks upon them, in such a manner, that, as the pieces of birch bark curled up under the influence of the heat, they curled around the ends of these sticks, thus making flambeaux. These flambeaux, though of rude construction, gave a very excellent light, and Marco and Forester walked about the huts, waving them in the air, and illuminating the whole scene in a very brilliant manner.
They found that the huts were in a ruinous state. Only one of them had a roof, and that had been originally made of hemlock branches, which had now become entirely dry by long exposure. This covered hut was only a sort of booth, being entirely open on one side. Forester said that he recollected having heard of such huts, and that the men built their fire, not in them, but on the ground opposite the open side.
Forester and Marco concluded to remain in this hut for the night. They got together a great many hemlock branches, which they spread in the bottom of it for a bed, and they built a fire opposite the open part, to keep them warm.
Marco took a great interest in this fire. He piled the dry sticks upon it until he had a very warm and cheerful blaze, and then he collected by the side of it a heap of fuel, to use during the night.
In fact, Marco raised his fire too high; for, from the column of smoke and sparks, one little brilliant fragment lighted upon their roof; and it was slowly burning and smoking there, while Forester and Marco were opening their bag of provisions, to see what they could make out for supper.
Marco was counting out the potatoes, saying, "two for you, and two for me," when his attention was arrested by a spark which, at that instant, fell into his lap. He looked up to see where it came from, and saw that the fire, which had spread from the original spark which had fallen upon the roof, had burned a hole through, and the air, which was drawn up through the opening, was at that moment fanning it into a flame.
Marco ran out, calling out, "Get some water! Get some water!"
There was plenty of water in a brook, which flowed with a murmuring sound down a little glen behind the huts, but there were no buckets, and Marco called in vain. It would have been equally useless to have raised an alarm of fire, as there was nobody within ten miles to hear the cry. The flames spread rapidly, and Forester and Marco soon saw that there was nothing to be done but for them to stand quietly by and witness the conflagration. The flames rose very high and raged fiercely, and the light shone far into the forest, bringing into distinct view the whole scene around, which had been involved in deep obscurity. The roof was soon consumed, but the logs, of which the walls had been built, were much longer in burning. The fire made by these logs, when they fell in together upon the bed which Forester and Marco had prepared, was so intensely hot that it could not be approached for a long time.
As soon as the intensity of this fire had a little declined, Forester said that they must go to work and build themselves another hut. They examined the ruins of those which remained, but they concluded that it would be better to build a new one than to attempt to repair one of these. They accordingly determined to build one anew.
They found two young trees, growing pretty near each other, which had branches about six feet from the ground, so situated that they could place a strong pole across from one tree to the other, resting the ends upon the branches. This, Marco called the ridge-pole. They then cut other poles, which they placed with the end on one side upon the ground, and the other ends upon the ridge-pole. These were rafters, and upon the rafters they placed a great many branches of hemlock, which formed a roof. This roof, however, was only upon one side. The other side of the hut was open, and they built a fire opposite this opening, feeling safe in regard to their roof, as it was made of green branches.
[Illustration]
This work occupied them an hour. At the end of that time, they put their potatoes into the fire to roast, and then laid down upon the hemlock beds which they made, to rest themselves a little while, till the potatoes should be done. Wearied with their long walk and the labors of the evening, they fell asleep, and did not wake again till four o'clock the next morning.