Hector? you will find it
heavy to carry," said his sister.

"In the first place, I have to cut a stick of blue-beech to make a broom
for sweeping the house, sister of mine; and that is for your use, Miss
Kate; and in the next place, I have to find, if possible, a piece of
rock elm or hiccory for axe handles; so now you have the reason why I
take the axe with me."

The children now left the clearing, and struck into one of the deep
defiles that lay between the hills, and cheerfully they laughed and sung
and chattered, as they sped on their pleasant path; nor were they both
to exchange the glowing sunshine for the sober gloom of the forest
shade. What handfuls of flowers of all hues, red, blue, yellow and
white, were gathered only to be gazed at, carried for a while, then cast
aside for others fresher and fairer. And now they came to cool rills
that flowed, softly murmuring, among mossy limestone, or blocks of red
or grey granite, wending their way beneath twisted roots and fallen
trees; and often Catharine lingered to watch the eddying dimples of
the clear water, to note the tiny bright fragments of quartz or
crystallized limestone that formed a shining pavement below the stream;
and often she paused to watch the angry movements of the red squirrel,
as, with feathery tail erect, and sharp scolding note, he crossed
their woodland path, and swiftly darting up the rugged bark of some
neighbouring pine or hemlock, bade the intruders on his quiet haunts
defiance; yet so bold in his indignation, he scarcely condescended to
ascend beyond their reach.

The long-continued hollow tapping of the large red-headed woodpecker, or
the singular subterranean sound caused by the drumming of the partridge,
striking his wings upon his breast to woo his gentle mate, and the
soft whispering note of the little tree-creeper, as it flitted from
one hemlock to another, collecting its food between the fissures of the
bark, were among the few sounds that broke the noontide stillness of the
woods; but to all such sights and sounds the lively Catharine and
her cousin were not indifferent. And often they wondered, that Hector
gravely pursued his onward way, and seldom lingered as they did to mark
the bright colours of the flowers, or the bright sparkling of the forest
rill.

"What makes Hec so grave?" said Catharine to her companion, as they
seated themselves upon a mossy trunk, to await his coming up, for they
had giddily chased each other till