“This next course is just half as long as the last one, isn’t it?” said Grant.
“Yes,” said John, “that makes just sixty times the length of my shoe.”
Due east they measured off the distance and before very long had marked the completion of the second stage of their journey.
“Now,” exclaimed Grant, “we go north by east thirty-three feet. How many lengths of your shoe is that, John?”
“You figure it out, Fred,” urged John. “You’ve got pencil and paper and all you have to do, you know, is to multiply thirty-three by twelve and divide by ten.”
“Thirty-nine and six-tenths times,” announced Fred. “How can we measure that fraction exactly?”
“We won’t need to,” said Grant. “It’s the last figure and we can get it within a couple of inches. We’ll dig a hole a couple of feet square all around our last marker, so two or three inches won’t make any difference.”
“That’s right,” agreed Fred, and the measurements were continued.
Soon they came to the end, but there an unexpected complication presented itself. Thirty-three feet from the last point brought them squarely up against a palm tree some twelve or fifteen inches in diameter.
“That’s the end,” exclaimed Fred. “How can we dig down through a tree like that though? We must have made a mistake in our calculations.”