at their beds were so far away they were sleepy
enough.

As it happened, just as they struck the fence, a brisk, elderly
gentleman, with iron-gray hair, and spectacles, and a queer twinkle in
his eye as he glanced up at the mass of clouds piling up in the
mountains, walked hurriedly down a narrow sheep-path through the
leafless woods, and entered the sugar-camp. It was dark in there,--dark
as Erebus; only in two or three places a ray of light streamed down
through the holes in the roof.

The gentleman in spectacles glanced around serenely; as though it was
quite the thing for him to be wandering around in the woods at that
unearthly hour; poked at the roof here and there with his cane, knocked
up a few shingles that let more light in on the subject of his
investigations, and came out again hastily as he heard the boys
approach, and disappeared in a clump of spruces. Five or ten minutes
afterward, he suddenly appeared at the bottom of the hill, backed the
horse out of the shed, put on the bridle, and removed his blanket,
sedately got in and drove quietly home.

Charlie Brown was the first up the hill, and heralded the sight of the
camp with a cheer. "Now then, lively! Out with your jack-knives and off
with a lot of spruce boughs!"

Then followed a great hacking of dull knives and cracking of limbs, with
the occasional swish of an armful into the camp. The boys worked like
beavers for a while, and got thoroughly warmed again, and the air within
was filled with resinous fragrance. That done and arranged to their
experienced leader's satisfaction, they wrapped themselves like Indians
in their blankets and tumbled down upon the heap of boughs; the air
trembled with a chorus of strange sounds as one by one they dropped off
into a drowsy sleep, with an occasional wriggle as a knot, or the end of
a limb, made itself felt through the many-folded blanket, and engraved a
distinct dent upon the sleeper's back; while overhead, the giant cloud
crept upward slowly, slowly toward the zenith, spreading east and west
without a break. One half of the valley had vanished in the blackest
shadow, and still the gilded edge swung steadily on, with the slow,
resistless sweep of misty legions upon legions, armed in ebon mail; vast
billows of night that drowned the scattered stars that met them, one by
one. Then it struck the full moon and blotted it from sight. The world
of the little valley dropped into night, and all was dark as Erebus. A