dy, they set
out at a brisk pace through the fields, over
the snow, the boys drawing the sled, and the
girls following close behind.

[Illustration]

There was a good path, and they soon came to
the woods. On the edge of the woods was a hut,
where the men rested sometimes while making
sugar. The children thought they would play
that was their house. Nobody was there that
day: so they had it all to themselves.

A little way out of the woods were two large
stakes with a pole across them, on which hung a
large kettle. Some half-burnt logs and ashes
were under the kettle, but the fire was all
out. A pile of wood was not far off; and
branches of trees, chips, and logs were
scattered around.

The children gathered dry leaves and sticks,
and made a fire in a safe place. The next thing
to do was to get some sap to boil into candy.
What is sap? It is the juice of a tree. When
the warm spring sunshine melts the snow, the
roots of the tree drink in the moisture of the
earth. This goes up into the tree, and makes
sap. The sap within the tree, and the sunshine
without, make the buds swell, and the bright
fresh leaves come out.

For making sugar the sap of the maple-tree is
used. But how is the sap got from the trees?
and how is it made into sugar? I will tell
you. A hole is bored in each tree, a spout put
in the hole, and a bucket is placed underneath.
This is called "tapping the tree." The sap runs
from the tree into the bucket, drop by drop,
until it is full. Then the sap is boiled till
it becomes sirup; and the sirup is boiled into
sugar.

The children found that the sap was dropping
from the spouts in the trees around them. Some
of the buckets were nearly full. They soon
gathered enough into their little tin cups to
fill their kettle; and then they put it on the
fire to boil.

While it was boiling, they thought they would
eat their luncheon. What do you suppose they
had besides bread? I will tell you. They had
thin slices of _raw_ meat. "But did they eat it
raw?" perhaps you will ask. Oh, no! The boys
whittled out some clean,