DIFFICULTY
Although it was winter when the boys were taking this ride, yet the sun
was shining in a very warm and pleasant manner, and the snow was every
where softening in the fields and melting in the roads, indicating that
the spring was coming on.
There was a little 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 road entirely.
"Now," said Jonas, "I am afraid we're in difficulty."
"Why?" said Oliver; "is that a very bad place?"
"Yes," said Jonas, "it looks like a very bad place."
Oliver saw that the snow was very deep on the upper side of the road,
and that it sloped away in such a manner that it would be very difficult
for them to get along, even if the road-way was hard.
"Perhaps it is hard," said Oliver.
"No," said Jonas, "I think it cannot be, for the bank slopes to the
south, and the sun has been shining upon it all day. However, we must
try it."
The horse hesitated a moment when he came to this place, for he knew by
instinct that it would be very hard for him to get through it.
"Come, General," said Jonas. "Though, stop a moment, Oliver; perhaps we
had better get out and walk, or the sleigh may upset."
So they got out. Oliver walked by the horse, keeping on the upper side
of the road. Jonas went behind, taking hold of the back part of the
sleigh, so as to hold it in case it should tip down too far. They went
on thus for some distance tolerably well. The horse sometimes got in
pretty far, and for a moment would plunge and stagger, as if he could
hardly get along; but then he would work his way out, and go on a little
farther.
At length, however, the old General came to a full stop. He sank down,
shoulders under, in the snow. The more he struggled to get free, the
deeper he got in. Jonas stepped on before him, and patted him on the
head, and tried to quiet him.
"Jonas," said Oliver, "let us stop; I don't believe we can go any
farther."
"Nor I," said Jonas. "At least I don't think we can get the old General
any farther."
"Nor back again either," said Oliver, "as I see."
The boys stood still, looking upon the horse a moment, utterly at a loss
what to do.
"Oliver," said Jonas, "should you be willing to stay here and take care
of the horse, while I go on and see about the logs?"
"Why--I--don't know," said Oliver. "I'm afraid he won't stand quiet."
"O, I shall get him out of the snow, first," said Jonas, "and take him
to some level place, where he'll stand well."
"How shall you get him out?" asked Oliver.
"Why, we will unharness him first," said Jonas, "and then draw the
sleigh back out of the way."
So Jonas began to unbuckle the straps of the harness, in order to
liberate the horse. Oliver tried to help him, but he could not do much,
the horse was so deep in the snow. And, besides, he was standing, or
rather lying, in such a position, that many parts of the harness were
drawn so tense, that Oliver had not strength enough to unbuckle them.
However, Jonas at length got the sleigh separated from the horse, and
drew it back out of the way. He trampled the snow down around the horse,
as much as he could, and then the horse, with a leap and a plunge,
recovered his footing. He stood deep in the snow yet, however.
"Now," said Jonas, "where shall we put him till I come back?"
Oliver looked across the brook, and saw there, upon a bank, under some
trees, a spot which was bare. The reason why it was bare was, that the
snow had nearly all blown off during the storms; and then the sun, which
had been shining for some days so pleasantly, had melted away what there
had been left; and now the ground was bare, and almost dry. But the
difficulty was to get to it; for it was upon the other side of the
stream, and the bed of the stream was filled with water and ice.
"I wouldn't lead him over there," said Oliver. "I think you had better
go home, and not do any thing about the timber."
"No," said Jonas.
"Why, father will not think you did wrong to give it up, when we got
into such trouble," said Oliver.
"No, I don't suppose he would; but I'd rather carry him back an answer,
if I can."
"Then let me go with you," said Oliver.
"Why, it is a long and very hard walk," said Jonas. "There is no work so
hard as travelling in soft snow, without snow-shoes. If we had a pair of
snow-shoes, we could get along very well."
"Did you ever see any snow-shoes?" said Oliver.
"No," replied Jonas, "but I have read about them. They are very large
and flat, and your foot stands in the middle of them, and so presses
them upon the snow; and they are so large that they will not sink in
very far."
While Jonas was saying this, he was climbing down to the bank of the
brook, with a pole in his hands, with which he was going to see if he
could find firm footing, for the horse to go across.
"Yes," said he, punching his pole down to the bottom of the brook; "yes,
it isn't deep. The old General will get down here very well, I think."
So he and Oliver trampled a sort of path down to the brook, and then
they led the old General down. He seemed a little reluctant, at first,
to step into the water. However, he soon went in, and walked over, and
Oliver fastened him to a tree, so that he could stand upon the bare
piece of ground. Jonas 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; presently it ceased. Immediately after, there was a prolonged
crash, which echoed back from the mountains.
"There goes a tree," said the boy.
Jonas was sorry to have to leave Oliver so long, but he wished to
persevere until he should find the man, as he knew that the farmer was
very desirous of having the business done that day. So he told the boy
that he believed he would go and see if he could find Mr. Woodman; and
then he set off in the direction which the boy had indicated.
This road was so sheltered by the woods, that the snow was not much
drifted; and, besides, it had been kept open by the teams, which had
been employed in hauling out pine logs. When Jonas got in to the end of
the road, he heard the strokes of the axe, at a short distance on the
right.
He looked that way, and found that the man was standing at the foot of a
tall tree, of very large size; and he was cutting through the trunk of
it, about two feet from the top of the snow. He saw that it was nearly
off, and so he thought he would wait a moment, where he was, and see it
fall. He observed that Mr. Woodman occasionally looked up the stem of
the tree, between the strokes of his axe, as if to see whether it was
beginning to fall.
After a few strokes more, he stepped back from the foot of the tree to
one side. Jonas wondered why he left his work before the tree fell. He
looked up to the top of it, and he perceived that it was moving. It was
bending over very slowly indeed. It moved, however, faster and faster,
and presently began to come tearing down between the branches of the
other trees, and, at length, descended with a mighty crash to the
ground. Jonas thought that it was a very fine spectacle indeed. He
wished that Oliver had been there to see it.
Jonas then went to Mr. Woodman, and transacted his business
successfully, according to the farmer's directions. Then he turned
around, and began to walk back, as fast as he could go.
"I am afraid," said he to himself, "that Oliver is almost out of
patience waiting for me."
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