The girls laughed. "What a peddler you would make, Ad!" Ellen cried; and
we began to think that the venture might be worth trying.

It snowed hard that night, and instead of going up the stream on the ice
with two hand sleds, as we had at first planned, Addison and I set a
hayrack on two traverse sleds, and with two of the work-horses drove up
the winter road. Axes and ropes were taken, feed for the team, and food
enough for two days.

The sun had come out bright and warm; there was enough snow to make the
sleds run easily, and we got on well until past three in the afternoon,
when we were made aware of a very unusual change of temperature, for
Maine in December. It grew warm rapidly; clouds overspread the sky; a
thunderpeal rumbled suddenly. Within ten minutes a thundershower was
falling, and almost as if by magic, all that snow melted away. We were
left with our rack and traverse sleds, scraping and bumping over logs
and stones. Never before or since have I seen six inches of snow go out
of sight so suddenly. When we started, the earth was white on every
hand, and the firs and spruces were like huge white umbrellas. In a
single hour earth and forest were black again.

But matters more practical than scenery engaged our attention. It was
eight miles farther to the fir swamp. The good sledding had vanished
with the snow; every hole and hollow was full of water; it was hard to
get on with our team; and for a time we hardly knew what course to
follow.

On a branch trail, about half a mile off the winter road, there was
another camp, known to us as Brown's Camp, which had been occupied by
loggers the winter before. Addison thought that we had better go there
and look for witches' brooms the next day. We reached the camp just at
dusk, after a hard scramble over a very rough bit of trail.

Brown's Camp consisted of two low log houses, the man camp and the ox
camp, and dreary they looked, standing there silent and deserted in the
dark, wet wilderness of firs.

The heavy door of the ox camp stood ajar, and I think a bear must
recently have been inside, for it was only with the greatest difficulty
that we could lead or pull the horses in. Buckskin snorted constantly,
and would not touch his corn; and the sweat drops came out on Jim's
hair. We left them the lantern, to reassure them, and closing the door,
went to the man camp, kindled a fire in the rusted stove, then warmed
our food, and tried to make ourselves comforta