3. They were soon at the log, and on it they sat down, and looked about
them.

The log was the trunk of an old oak, and a little way off stood the
stump, with many new shoots and leaves coming out all round it.

4. Dora went and stood on it, and called out that she was on a hill. She
jumped off and on a few times, and then said it would make a good table,
and they might have tea on it.

5. Harry found that the stump had roots that spread out all round for a
long way.

'How thick and hard they are!' he said; 'come and feel this one!'

[Illustration: It is all marked in rings.]

'It is not like the roots we saw on the ivy,' she said. 'Now look at the
top of the stump. It is all marked in rings.'

6. 'In the very middle there is a little light spot, and then come dark
rings, and then more rings outside. Father once told me these rings
showed how old the trees were. And do you see lines coming away from the
middle?'

7. 'They look like the rays of the sun, which I draw on my slate,' said
Dora. 'What a rough coat this tree had! Come and feel the outside of the
log.'