one. It was brought out, the head knocked in, and the brine
poured out in small quantities on the snow. Wherever the brine dropped
the snow melted, and the fire was put out. It was some time, however,
before all danger was passed. A large part of the roof was damaged and
the house made unfit to be inhabited.

"Oh, Mrs Landon, ma'am, I hope that you will honour us by coming down
and taking up your abode with us till the roof is on again," said Mrs
Hale in a kind voice. "Susan will take care of Miss Mary and the little
ones, and Mr Landon and your son George will be sure to find lodgings
with other friends till the house is set to rights again."

Mr Landon had suffered so many ups and downs in life that when he
arrived he was not very much put out at the injury done to his house.
He was only thankful that his wife and children had escaped injury.

A bee was formed, and in a couple of days the roof was replaced, and in
less than a week the house again habitable.

STORY THREE, CHAPTER 9.

The winter was drawing to an end. It had not appeared very long, after
all--everybody had been so busy. Michael and his sons were now at work
cutting-out troughs for sugar making. In Canada the maple yields a sap
which, when boiled, turns into sugar. A number of maple-trees together
is called a sugar-bush. The troughs are made of pine, black ash, or
butter-nut, and each holds three to four gallons of sap.

The snow was still on the ground, when early in March, Michael and his
sons, and Susan and Fanny and Tommy set off with their sugar kettles,
pails, ladles, big store troughs, small troughs, and moulds, to the
sugar-bush two miles from the house. They first built huts for the
kettles and for themselves; fixed the store trough and cut a supply of
fuel for the fires. They next tapped the maple-trees on the south side,
with an auger of an inch and a half. Into this hole a hollow spile was
driven. Under each spile a trough was placed. As soon as the sun grew
warm the sap began to flow and drop into the troughs. The girls and
boys had soon work enough to empty the troughs into a large cask on the
sleigh. This, when full, was carried to the boiling-sheds and emptied
into the store trough. From this the kettles are filled and kept
boiling night and day, till the sap becomes a thin molasses. It is then
poured into pails or casks, and made clear with eggs or milk stirred
well into it. The molasses are now poured again