re; for, while
they had been holding the conversation above described, they had been
employed in replenishing the fire.

Marco heard a sound, which, at first, he thought was a bear. He was on
the point of awakening Forester, but, after listening a little longer,
he concluded that it was only the roaring of the wind upon the tops of
the trees. After lifting his head from his pillow of hemlock branches
for a moment, until he satisfied himself that it was no wild beast, he
lay down again and went to sleep.

He was awakened again, about three hours afterwards, by a long rumbling
clap of thunder.

"What is that?" said Forester. "Thunder?"

"I believe it is," said Marco.

"And it rains, I believe," said Forester.

Marco raised his head, and looked out through the open part of the hut.
He saw the drops of rain descending, and he heard the murmuring sound
which the rain makes when falling upon the leaves in a forest. He saw,
too, that everything was wet in the opening about the hut, although it
seemed dry in the forest beyond, where the drops of rain had been
intercepted by the leaves of the trees.

"We must get our wood under cover," said Marco, "or it will get wet and
won't burn, and then our fire will go out."

"True," said Forester. "There is room for some of it in this hut. Let us
get up and put it in."

So Marco and Forester arose, and, as they were already dressed, they
were soon at work, putting the logs into the hut. Marco then proposed
that they should go into the forest, where it did not rain, and get some
more wood. But Forester said he thought that would be of no service, as
they had no provisions, and, of course, could not stay there. "We _must_
go," said he, "at any rate, whether it rains or not; for it is better to
get wet than to starve."

"We have got _something_ left in our bag," said Marco.

"Yes," replied Forester, "just enough for breakfast."

"How I wish I had a bushel of potatoes," said Marco. "Then we could
stay here a week. Only we should want a little salt too."

Forester opened the bag and took out the provisions which were left.
They found about enough for a breakfast for them, but they concluded to
eat but half of their supply, as Forester thought it was best that they
should put themselves upon short allowance.

"You see, it is _possible_," said Forester, "that we may be kept here in
the woods a day or two; so we must use our provisions economically."

After breakfast, they went