rot in the forest by this piece
of mismanagement, and the white-pine woods are disappearing rapidly.'

But Arthur's sympathies could not be roused for such ordinary stuff as
deal, to the degree of resentment he felt for the wholesale destruction
of cabinetmakers' woods.

'If I may make so bould, sir,' said Andy, edging forward, 'might I ax
what yer honour is makin'? Only there aren't any giants in the counthry,
I'd think it was a pair of shoes, may be.'

'You've guessed rightly,' replied Mr. Holt, holding up his two colossal
frames, so that they rested on edge. 'Yes, Andy, a pair of shoes near
six feet long! What do you think of that new Canadian wonder?'

'I dunno where you'll get feet to fit 'em,' said Andy dubiously. 'They're
mostly as big as boats, an' much the same shape. May be they're for
crossin' the wather in?'

'I intend to wear them myself, Andy,' said the manufacturer, 'but on dry
land. You must be looking out for a pair too, if the snow continues, as
is pretty certain, and you want to go down to the "Corner" before it is
frozen over.'

'Why have you cut that hole in the middle of the board?' asked Robert,
inspecting the gigantic wooden sole.

'To give the toes play,' was the answer. 'All parts of the foot must
have the freest action in snow-shoes.'

'I remember a pair at Maple Grove,' said Arthur, 'made of leathern
network, fastened to frames and crossbars, with the most complicated
apparatus for the foot in the middle.'

'It is said by scientific men,' said Mr. Holt, 'that if the theory of
walking over soft snow were propounded, not all the mechanical knowledge
of the present day could contrive a more perfect means of meeting the
difficulty, than that snow-shoe of the Ojibbeway Indians. It spreads the
weight equally over the wide surface: see, I've been trying, with these
cords and thongs, to imitate their mechanism in this hollow of my plank.
Here's the walking thong, and the open mesh through which the toes pass,
and which is pressed against by the ball of the foot, so as to draw the
shoe after it. Then here's the heel-cord, a sort of sling passing round
so as partially to imprison and yet leave free. The centre of the foot
is held fast enough, you perceive.'

Robert shook his head. 'One thing is pretty clear,' said he, '_I_ shall
never be able to walk in snow-shoes.'

'Did you think you would ever be expert at felling pines?' was Mr.
Holt's unanswerable answer.

CHAPTER XIX.

A M