t along," said Jonas; "the ground is pretty dry now. Go up
a little farther, and you will find my canal, and then you can follow it
directly along."

So Rollo walked on a little farther, and found the canal where it opened
into the brook. He then began slowly and cautiously to walk along the
side of the canal, into the marsh; and he was surprised to find how firm
and dry the land was. He thought it was owing to Jonas's canal.

"Jonas," said he, as he came up to where Jonas was at work, "this is an
excellent canal; it has made the land almost dry already."

"O, no," said Jonas, "my canal has not done any good yet."

"What makes the bog so dry, then?" said Rollo.

"O, it has been drying all summer, and draining off into the brook."

"Draining off into the brook?" repeated Rollo.

"Yes," said Jonas.

"But there is not any drain," said Rollo; "at least there has not been,
until you began to make your canal."

"But the water soaks off slowly through the ground, and oozes out under
the banks of the brook."

"Does it?" said Rollo.

"Yes," said Jonas; "and the only use of my canal is to make it run off
faster."

"Ah! now I know," said Rollo, half talking to himself.

"Know what?" asked Jonas.

"Why, where all the water of the brook comes from; at least, where some
of it comes from."

"How?" said Jonas. "I don't know what you mean."

"Why, I could not think where all the water came from, to keep the brook
running so fast all the time. But now I know that some of it has been
coming all the time from this bog. Does it all come from bogs?"

[Illustration]

"Yes, from bogs, and hills, and springs, and from the soakings of all
the land it comes through, from where it first begins."

"Where does it first begin?" said Rollo.

"O, it begins in some bog or other, perhaps; just a little dribbling
stream oozing out from among roots and mire, and it continually grows as
it runs."

"Is that the way?" said Rollo.

"Yes," said Jonas, "that is the way."

During all this time Rollo had been standing with his lantern and his
dipper in his hands, while Jonas had continued his digging. Rollo now
put the lantern down, and handed the dipper to Jonas, telling him that
he had brought him some raspberries.

Jonas seemed quite pleased with his raspberries. While he was eating
them, Rollo asked him if a raspberry was a seed.

"No," said Jonas. "The whole raspberry is not, the seeds are _in_ the
raspberry. They are very sma