, close to the old bridge abutments, and in stretching
across the river, from one post to the other, a wire cable that Mr.
Elmer had bought for this purpose. A couple of iron pulley-wheels, to
which were attached small but strong ropes, were placed on the cable,
its ends were drawn taut by teams of mules, and anchored firmly in the
ground about twenty feet behind each post.

The ropes of the pulley-wheels were made fast to the bow and stern of
the boat, and the forward one was drawn up short, while the other was
left long enough to allow the boat to swing at an angle to the current.
Then the boat was shoved off, and, without any poling, was carried by
the force of the current quickly and steadily to the other side.

A tin horn was attached by a light chain to each post, the ferry was
formally delivered to Master Frank March, and it was declared open and
ready for business.

CHAPTER XII.

THE GREAT MILL PICNIC.

The rates of ferriage were fixed at twenty-five cents for a team,
fifteen cents for a man on horseback, ten cents for a single animal,
and five cents for a foot-passenger. Two cards, with these rates neatly
printed on them by Ruth in large letters, were tacked up on the
anchorage posts, so that passengers might not have any chance to
dispute with the ferryman, or "superintendent of ferries," as he liked
to be called.

Leaving him in charge of the boat--for he was not yet strong enough for
more active work--and leaving Mr. March at work upon the house, Mr.
Elmer, Mark, Jan, and four colored men, taking the mules with them, set
out bright and early on Tuesday morning for the mill, to begin work on
the dam.

They found the pond empty, and exposing a large surface of black mud
studded with the stumps of old trees, and the stream from the sulphur
spring rippling along merrily in a channel it had cut for itself
through the broken portion of the dam. While two men were set to
digging a new channel for this stream, so as to lead it through the
sluice-way, and leave the place where the work was to be done free from
water, the others began to cut down half a dozen tall pines, and hew
them into squared timbers.

A deep trench was dug along the whole length of the broken part of the
dam for a foundation, and into this was lowered one of the great
squared timbers, forty feet long, that had six mortice-holes cut in its
upper side. Into these holes were set six uprights, each ten feet long,
and on top of thes