d Kate. "But I tell
you what you can do," she continued. "You can get up half an hour
earlier, every morning, and that will give you a good deal of extra time
to think about your lessons."

"I can _think_ about them in bed," said Harry.

"Humph!" said Kate; and she went on with her work. She was knitting a
"tidy," worth two pounds of sugar, or half a pound of tea, when it
should be finished.

Harry did not get up any earlier; for, as he expressed it, "It was
dreadfully cold before breakfast," on those January mornings; but his
father and mother noticed that the subject of Aunt Matilda's maintenance
did not so entirely engross the conversation of the brother and sister
in the evenings; and they had their heads together almost as often over
slate and schoolbooks as over the little account-book in which Kate put
down receipts and expenditures.

On a Thursday night, about the middle of January, there was a fall of
snow. Not a very heavy fall; the snow might have been deeper, but it was
deep enough for sledding. On the Friday, Harry, in connection with
another boy, Tom Selden, several years older than himself, concocted a
grand scheme. They would haul wood, on a sled, all day Saturday.

It was not to be any trifling little "boy-play" wood-hauling. Harry's
father owned a woodsled--one of the very few sleds or sleighs in the
county--which was quite an imposing affair, as to size, at least. It
was about eight feet long and four feet wide; and although it was rough
enough,--being made of heavy boards, nailed transversely upon a couple
of solid runners, with upright poles to keep the load in its place--it
was a very good sled, as far as it went, which had not been very far of
late; for there had been no good sledding for several seasons. Old Mr.
Truly Matthews had a large pile of wood cut in a forest about a mile and
a half from the village, and the boys knew that he wanted it hauled to
the house, and that, by a good day's work, considerable money could be
made.

All the arrangements were concluded on Friday, which was a half-holiday,
on account of the snow making travelling unpleasant for those scholars
who lived at a distance. Harry's father gave his consent to the plan,
and loaned his sled. Three negro men agreed to help for one-fourth of
the profits. Tom Selden went into the affair, heart and hand, agreeing
to take his share out in fun. What money was made, after paying
expenses, was to go into the Aunt Matilda Fund, w