e town first," the old Squire said.
"The corner post is three miles and a half from here; you will find it
in the cleared land a hundred rods northeast of the barn on the Jotham
Silver place. Start from there and go due west till you reach the
wood-lot on the Silver farm. There the blazed trees begin, and you will
have to go from one to another. It is forest nearly all the way after
that for six miles, till you come to the northwest town corner.

"You can take my compass if you like," the old Squire added. "But it
will not be of much use to you, for it will be easier to follow the
blazed trees or corner stakes. Take our lightest axe with you and renew
the old blazes on the trees." He apparently felt some misgivings that we
might get lost, for he added, "If you want to ask Thomas to go with you,
you may."

Tom was more accustomed to being in the woods than either of us; but
Addison hesitated about inviting him, for of course if he went we should
have to divide the fee with him. However, the old Squire seemed to wish
to have him go with us, and at last, while Theodora was putting up a
substantial luncheon for us, Ellen ran over to carry the invitation to
Tom. He was willing enough to go and came back with her, carrying his
shotgun.

"It will be a long jaunt," the old gentleman said as we started off.
"But if you move on briskly and don't stop by the way, you can get back
before dark."

The snow crust was so hard and the walking so good that we struck
directly across the fields and pastures to the northeast and within an
hour reached the town corner on the Silver farm. At that point our tramp
along the north line of the town began, and we went from one blazed tree
to another and freshened the blazes.

We went on rapidly, crossed Hedgehog Ridge and descended to Stoss Pond,
which the town line crossed obliquely. We had expected to cross the pond
on the ice; but the recent great rainstorm and thaw had flooded the ice
to a depth of six or eight inches. New ice was already forming, but it
would not quite bear our weight, and we had to make a detour of a mile
through swamps round the south end of the pond and pick up the line
again on the opposite shore.

Stoss Pond Mountain then confronted us, and it was almost noon when we
neared Wild Brook; we heard it roaring as we approached and feared that
we should find it very high.

"We may have to fell a tree over it to get across," Addison said.

So it seemed, for upon emerg