nas then pulled the sleigh out of the road, so that
it should not be in the way, if any body should come along with any
other team; then he bade Oliver good-by, and went on alone.

Jonas traveled along, as well as he could, through the snow, though he
found it very laborious walking. In some places, he found hard footing
for some distance; but then he would sink down again for several
successive steps. After a short distance, he got out of the deep drift,
which had prevented the horse from going on, and then he could advance
faster. There was a singular-looking track in the road. It consisted of
a smooth groove in the snow, as if the end of a large log had been
dragged along.

It was, in fact, made by a log which had been drawn along that road
towards the mill. One end of the log had been placed upon a sled, and
the other left to drag along in the snow; and this was what made the
smooth groove, which Jonas observed. He did not see it before, because
the man who drove the sled had turned out of the main road, into a
by-way across the fields, to avoid the deep drift where Jonas's horse
got into difficulty.

Jonas found it pretty good walking after this. The snow was not so deep
as it had been; and the path which the log had made was hard and smooth.
He concluded that it must have been made by such a log, and, of course,
if he followed it, that it would take him directly to the house of the
man whom he wanted to see.

After walking about a mile, he came to the house. It was a small
farm-house, in the woods. There were a great many large logs, lying each
side of the road near it, ready to be drawn to the mill.

Jonas went up towards the door, which was in the end of the house. As he
drew near to it, he saw a boy's head behind an enormous pile of wood. He
went around it, and found that the boy was about as big as Jonas
himself. He was rolling down a large stick of wood, and had an axe in
his hand, as if he was going to chop it.

"Does Mr. Woodman live here?" said Jonas.

"Yes," said the boy; "but he isn't at home."

"Where is he?" said Jonas.

"He is out in the lot, falling trees," said the boy.

"How far is it from here?" asked Jonas.

"O, about a good half mile."

"Which way?" said Jonas.

"Out yonder," said the boy; and he pointed back of the house, where a
rough sled-road led into the woods. "You can hear his axe."

Jonas listened, and he heard distinctly the sound of an axe in the woods
behind; present