a big cart and two horses, and
they stopped in a field near his house where there were some queer
boards nailed on sticks that were stuck in the ground; and the boards
turned corners, and there were strings across from one board to
another.

And the men got out of the big cart and unhitched the horses from the
cart, and the little boy thought he had better go there and see what
they were going to do.

So he went, dragging his cart behind him, with his shovel and his hoe
rattling in the bottom of it.

And his cat saw him going, and she ran on ahead with her bushy tail
sticking straight up in the air.

And the little boy came to the men and the horses and he stopped and
stood still.

And his cat stopped too, but she didn't stand still; she rolled over
on her back on the ground and wanted to play, but nobody would pay any
attention to her.

Pretty soon one of the men looked down and saw the little boy.

"Hello!" he said.

"Hello," said the little boy. "What are you going to do?"

"Why," said the man, "we're going to dig dirt."

"Are you going to dig a hole?" the little boy asked.

"Yes," said the man; "a great big hole."

"And what is the hole for?" the little boy asked. "Is it to plant
something in?"

"No," said the man, "it's going to be the cellar of a house."

"Oh," said the little boy, "is it? And do you think I could help you
dig? I've got my shovel and my cart."

"I'm afraid," said the man, "that it wouldn't do. You see that great
scoop?"

He pointed to a big iron scoop that was in the cart.

The little boy looked and nodded.

"Is that a scoop? What is it for?"

"The horses drag it, and a man takes hold of those two handles like
plough-handles, and it scoops the dirt right up."

The little boy nodded again.

"You can watch us if you want to," the man said then. "But you must be
careful not to get in the way of the horses."

"And can my kitty watch too?"

The man laughed and said his kitty could watch if she wanted to.

And the other men took pickaxes out of the cart, the handles of the
pickaxes and their iron heads, and each man slipped the head of his
pickaxe over the handle and gave it a tap on the ground to drive the
head on.

And they walked slowly in under the strings between the boards and
they got in a line.

And the little boy sat down on a stone that was just the right size
and watched them. His cat came and got right between his feet.

Then the man at the end of the l