he machinery, by which the frame with its log to be sawn
was moved along quarter-inch by quarter-inch at each stroke, was indeed
all right, but it had not been made self-regulating. The result was
that, on one of the attendant workmen omitting to do his duty, the saw
not only ripped off a beautiful plank from a log, but continued to
cross-cut the end of the heavy framework, and then proceeded to cut the
iron which held the log in its place. The result, of course, was that
the iron refused to be cut, and savagely revenged itself by scraping
off, flattening down, turning up, and otherwise damaging, the teeth of
the saw!

"H'm! that comes of haste," muttered Bob, as he surveyed the wreck. "If
I had taken time to make the whole affair complete before setting the
mill to work, this would not have happened."

"Never mind, Bob, we must learn by experience, you know," said Tim,
examining the damage done with a critical eye. "Luckily, we have a
spare saw in the store."

"Run and fetch it," said Bob to the man in charge of the mill, whose
carelessness had caused the damage, and who stared silently at his work
with a look of horrified resignation.

When he was gone Bob and Tim threw off their coats, rolled up their
sleeves to the shoulder, and set to work with a degree of promptitude
and skill which proved them to be both earnest and capable workmen.

The first thing to be done was to detach the damaged saw from its frame.

"There," said Bob, as he flung it down, "you won't use your teeth again
on the wrong subject for some time to come. Have we dry timber heavy
enough to mend the frame, Tim?"

"Plenty--more than we want."

"Well, you go to work on it while I fix up the new saw."

To work the two went accordingly--adjusting, screwing, squaring, sawing,
planing, mortising, until the dinner-bell called them to the house.

"So soon!" exclaimed Bob; "dinner is a great bother when a man is very
busy."

"D'ye think so, Bob? Well, now, I look on it as a great comfort--
specially when you're hungry."

"Ah! but that's because you are greedy, Tim. You always were too fond
o' your grub."

"Come, Bob, no slang. You know that mother doesn't like it. By the
way, talkin' of mothers, is it on Wednesday or Thursday that you expect
_your_ mother?"

"Thursday, my boy," replied Bob, with a bright look. "Ha! that _will_
be a day for me!"

"So it will, Bob, I'm glad for your sake," returned Tim with a sigh,
which was a ver