tle stream of water, coming down the hill in the middle
of the road, and forming a long pool at the bottom. Jonas turned his
horse to one side, to avoid this pool of water, and waited until Oliver
came up.

"Well, Oliver," said he,--"tired of the mill already?"

"Why, no," said Oliver, "only I thought that, on the whole, I'd rather
go with you. I didn't think that you were going to be gone so long."

"It is about two miles," said Jonas.

"Where are you going?" said Oliver.

"O, to see about some logs. I thought you heard your father tell me to
go and see about some logs."

"What about the logs?" said Oliver.

"Why, to make the boards of, for the barn."

"O," replied Oliver, "I didn't know that."

"Yes," continued Jonas, "when we want boards, we have to go to somebody
who owns some pine timber in the woods, and get him to cut down some of
them, and haul them to the mill. Then they saw them up, and make
boards."

"What mill?" said Oliver.

"At that saw-mill near the carding-mill. The mill down in the village,
you know, is a grist-mill."

By this time, the boys had got to the top of the hill, and they got into
the sleigh, and rode along. Presently, they came to a place where Jonas
was going to turn off, into a sort of by-road which led away into the
woods, where the pine-trees grew. The man that owned the trees lived
pretty near, in a farm-house.

"Is that the road that we are going in?" asked Oliver.

"Yes," said Jonas, "but it does not look very promising."

The road was filled up nearly full of snow. It had been hard, so that
they could travel upon it pretty well; but the warm sun had softened the
snow so much, that the horses' feet sunk down into it, in some places,
very deep. However, Jonas went along as well as he could.

"Let us get out and walk, Jonas," said Oliver.

"No," said Jonas, "that will not do much good; for it is the weight of
the horse himself, that makes him sink into the snow, not the weight of
the sleigh."

So the boys both continued to ride in the sleigh. They soon came into
the woods, where, the ground being sheltered by the trees above, the
snow lay more evenly upon it; and, though the horse slumped a little,
yet he got along very comfortably.

At length, however, they came out of the woods into an opening. The road
went along under a high bank, with a deep brook on the other side. The
wind, during the storms in the winter, had blown in over this bank, and
filled up the roa