hung on
to the poles as if they were glued there.

As for Polly, she was carried along faster than she ever went before in
her life. She jumped, she skipped, she galloped, she slid, she skated;
sometimes sitting down, and sometimes on her feet, but flying along, all
the same, no matter how she chose to go.

And so, rattling, shouting, banging, bouncing; snow flying and whips
cracking, on they sped, until John William Webster's pole came out, and
clip! he went heels over head into the snow.

But John William had a soul above tumbles. In an instant he jerked
himself up to his feet, dropped the pole, and dashed after the sled.

Swiftly onward went the sled and right behind came John William, his
legs working like steamboat wheels, his white teeth shining, and his big
eyes sparkling!

There was no stopping the sled; but there was no stopping John William,
either, and in less than two minutes he reached the sled, grabbed a man
by the leg, and tugged and pulled until he seated himself on the end
board.

"I tole yer so!" said he, when he got his breath. And yet he hadn't told
anybody anything.

And now the woods were reached, and after a deal of pulling and
shouting, the team was brought to a halt, and then slowly led through a
short road to where the wood was piled.

The big mule and the horses steamed and puffed a little, but Polly stood
as calm as a rocking-horse.

Notwithstanding the rapidity of the drive, it was late when the party
reached the woods. The gathering together and harnessing of the team had
taken much longer than they expected; and so the boys set to work with a
will to load the sled; for they wanted to make two trips that morning.
But although they all, black and white, worked hard, it was slow
business. Some of the wood was cut and split properly, and some was not,
and then the sled had to be turned around, and there was but little room
to do it in, and so a good deal of time was lost.

But at last the sled was loaded up, and they were nearly ready to start,
when John William Webster, who had run out to the main road, set up a
shout:

"Oh! Mah'sr Harry! Mah'sr Tom!"

Harry and Tom ran out to the road, and stood there petrified with
astonishment.

Where was the snow?

It was all gone, excepting a little here and there in the shade of the
fence corners. The day had turned out to be quite mild, and the sun,
which was now nearly at its noon height, had melted it all away.

Here was a most u