rsevering exertion, Jonas at length succeeded in
urging the boat forward until he began to draw nigh to the point of
land; and soon afterwards they came under the shelter of it, where the
water was smooth, and the air comparatively still. Here Rollo put in
his oar again, and they passed along close under a high shore, for some
distance, until they came to the landing. Here they fastened the boat,
and then began to walk along up the road.

The road lay through the woods, and among hills, so that it was
sheltered; and the only indications of the wind which the boys noticed,
was a distant roaring sound among the forests. They came at length to
the bridge, where they found several workmen busily engaged in laying
abutments of stone, but the carpenter himself was not there. The men
told Jonas that he had gone about half a mile away, on a by-road, to
select and cut some timber to be used in the construction of the bridge.

"How long will he be gone?" asked Jonas.

"He will be gone two or three hours," said a man with a stone hammer in
his hand.

"What shall we do now?" asked Rollo, addressing Jonas, after a short
pause.

"Keep on until we find him," replied Jonas. "But you may stay here and
see them build the bridge, while I go after the carpenter."

Accordingly Jonas went on, leaving Rollo seated upon a bank watching the
work. In about three quarters of an hour, he returned; and then he and
Rollo went back to the boat. The wind had all this time continued to
increase, though they were so much sheltered, that they did not notice
it much.

Jonas, however, observed that some light, scudding clouds were flying
across the sky, very low, being apparently far beneath the other clouds.
When they reached the boat, Rollo proposed that they should stop and eat
some luncheon; but Jonas said that he should eat his with a better
appetite on the other side of the pond. So he hastened Rollo into the
boat, and, talking his station in the stern, he began to ply his paddle
with all his force, running the boat along under the shelter of the high
shore.

"There isn't much wind, Jonas," said Rollo.

"We can tell better when we come round the point," replied Jonas.

Rollo observed that Jonas looked a little anxious, and he also seemed to
be exerting himself so much in the long, steady strokes of his paddle,
that it appeared to be rather an interruption to him to hear and answer
questions. Rollo therefore did not talk. He found, however