ards home again. The light of the fire shone upon the
distant point of land, and illuminated it faintly, but in a very
beautiful manner, and showed Jonas which way to drive.

Isabella turned back her head repeatedly, to look at the fire, as they
rode on and left it far behind them. It seemed to grow smaller and
smaller, as they receded; and at length, when Jonas turned around the
point of land, it disappeared entirely. In a few minutes afterward, the
moon arose, and lighted them the rest of the way home.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VIII.

THE CARDING-MILL

Jonas was often sent away to transact business for the farmer. He was a
very excellent hand to do business. It requires several qualities to
make a boy good at business. He must be gentlemanly in his manners, so
as to speak to the persons that he is sent to, in a respectful and
proper manner; he must be faithful, so as not to neglect what is
intrusted to him; and he must be patient and persevering. Then he must
also have considerable judgment and discretion; for when he is sent away
from home on business, he must often be placed in circumstances that are
unforeseen, and where he must act without instructions. In such cases,
he will have to exercise his own judgment and discretion. Jonas was
placed in such circumstances at one time, when he was sent to the
carding-mill to get some rolls for Isabella.

The rolls which Isabella wanted were rolls of wool, as they are prepared
at the mill ready for spinning. The wool is carded very fine, and then,
by curious machinery, it is rolled out into rolls about three feet long,
and as large round as a whip-handle at the middle. These rolls Isabella
used to spin into yarn, at her spinning-wheel.

Isabella had spun nearly all her rolls, and she wanted Jonas to carry
some wool to the carding-mill, and get some more. The carding-mill was
not in the village upon the outlet stream; but it was upon another
stream, which emptied into the pond, instead of flowing from it. It was
the same stream that flowed by the land which Jonas and Oliver had
cleared when he first came to live with the farmer; only the mill was at
some distance from the mouth of the stream, back towards the high land.
It was more than two miles, by the road, from the farmer's house.

The farmer told Jonas where to get the wool, and then gave him some more
business, at a place in the woods, about two miles beyond the mill.
Oliver wanted to go too, and his fathe