VI

SUGAR MAKING

It was nearly a week before the snow which fell in the great storm had become so solid that Frank and Margaret could walk on it. By then Carlo and Tom were well trained to draw, and in order to be sure that they could draw a load of sap, Frank practiced them in the yard drawing a pail of water. The pail was of tin, and it had a cover to keep the water from spilling.

Beechnut said the trees they were to tap were on the bank of the river not far away, just above where a brook emptied into it. He tapped six of them the day before the children were to go down, and he gave particular directions as to what they were to do in collecting and boiling the sap.

Frank was to draw down all the things that were necessary on one of his hand sleds. He did not let the dogs draw them, for he wished to save their strength, as he said, for the sap. First he put on the sled a large box which was to hold the things going down, and to be turned bottom upward and serve for a table when on the spot. Into this box he put a kettle, a number of sticks of wood, a short iron chain, and a small saw. The saw was to cut up for fuel dead branches of trees and other wood such as they might find along the river.

In the kettle were some pieces of kindling wood, and a small box of matches. To the top of the box, after the other things had been put in, he tied three poles about six feet long. The drag was attached by its rope to the back of the hand sled that it might be taken along at the same time. In the bottom of the tin pail was a paper with some slices of bread and four oranges tied up in it, and accompanying this parcel were two saucers and two spoons.

These spoons and saucers the children intended to use in trying the sap from time to time, as the boiling went on, to see whether it was growing sweeter.

When all was ready the whole party set off from the house, with Carlo and Tom running before the sled and frisking about in great glee. "Ah," said Frank, "you dogs little know the hard work you have got to do to-day hauling sap."

The children crossed the brook by a bridge a short distance from its mouth. They did not need to use the bridge, for the stream was frozen over quite solid, but a pathway led across it and down to the beach where they planned to build their fire. The ground on the beach was nearly bare, most of the snow having been blown off by the wind. Margaret and Frank easily found a protected spot, where they could have their fire, on the smooth and dry surface of the sand.

Frank stopped with his sled when he reached this spot and said, "While I am building the fire, Margaret, you can be putting the harnesses on the dogs."

He at once began preparations for the fire, and Margaret took one of the harnesses from the drag and called to Carlo. But Carlo saw the harness in her hand, and as he knew very well what it meant he would not come. Margaret went toward him to catch him, and he bounded away from her and ran out on the river. "Oh, dear me!" Margaret exclaimed, "what shall I do?"

"Never mind," said Frank, "I'll catch him for you by and by."

So Margaret sat down in the shelter of the bank, on a seat Beechnut had made there in the summer, and watched Frank build the fire. He had taken the three poles from the sled, set them up so they formed a sort of tripod, and tied the tops together. Then he fastened the chain to the poles where they joined, letting one end with a hook attached hang down half way to the ground.

"There!" said he to Margaret, "when I put the kettle on the hook, it will be just far enough above the fire."

He selected the two largest sticks he had brought, placed them parallel to each other under the tripod and laid kindlings between them, and the rest of the sticks across them. Finally, he hung the kettle on the hook, and then he said, "Now we will go and get the sap."

It was not without considerable difficulty that he caught the dogs. They both preferred running about on such a pleasant morning, rather than being harnessed to a drag and compelled to draw a heavy load. Frank, however, with Margaret's assistance, succeeded at last in catching them and harnessing them to the drag. That done, he and Margaret set out after the sap. They went along the river, following the shore up a little way, and very soon came to the trees Beechnut had tapped for them.

To their great delight they found the dishes almost full of sap, and they lifted each in turn carefully and emptied it into the pail. When they finished they put the cover on the pail and started to return. The dogs pulled well and took the load along in a very satisfactory manner.

As soon as they arrived at the camp they poured the sap into the kettle and Frank lighted the fire. Next they unharnessed the dogs and set them free, and then taking the hand sled and the saw they went along the banks to get a load of wood. Frank sawed off the dead and dry branches of the trees, and Margaret put them on the sled.

With this wood they kept the fire burning finely for some hours until almost all the water of the sap was boiled away, and what remained became a thick sweet syrup. They kept tasting from the kettle during the boiling process, taking out a little in their spoons and cooling it in their saucers. Finally they concluded to put some on their bread, and they found it very nice. In fact, the sweeter and thicker the contents of the kettle became the more they ate, until, at last, Frank, who had gone to the kettle for a fresh supply, said in a tone of great despondency, "Why, Margaret! our maple syrup is almost eaten up."

Margaret herself looked in, and it was plain that what Frank had said was true. They concluded, since it was so nearly gone, they would eat the rest of it and postpone making any maple sugar until the next day. So they spread what syrup remained on their slices of bread and ate it. Then they put away their saucers and spoons under the box and called Carlo and Tom.

They were about to start for home when Margaret reminded Frank that they ought to go around to the trees and collect the sap again; for Beechnut had told them to collect it twice a day, or the dishes would get more than full. But Frank was tired, and he did not feel inclined to work any more with the sap that day. He did not believe, he said, that the dishes would get full; "and besides," he added, "perhaps we shall come this afternoon and collect it."

His reasoning satisfied Margaret, and they went up the path and across the bridge to the highway. Little streams of water produced by the melting of the snow were running along the road, and they were obliged to select their way very carefully. It was just dinner time when they reached home.

Frank found that he had no inclination to go in the afternoon to collect the sap. He got engaged in other occupations, and then, too, after eating so large a quantity of maple syrup as he had that morning his interest in sugar making and in everything that pertained to it had very much abated.

About sunset, after supper that night, as he was sitting in the doorway of a small workshop near the barn, Beechnut came along and entered the shop. Frank was making a windmill. He had already given Beechnut an account of how he and Margaret had spent the morning, and now he said, "Don't you think we managed pretty well in our sap boiling?"

"Pretty well," replied Beechnut.

"I think we managed very well," said Frank.

"You managed very well in all respects but one," Beechnut responded; "and in that you managed very badly."

Frank supposed that Beechnut referred to their having eaten all their syrup without waiting for it to turn into sugar. He paused a moment and then said, "Yes, I told Margaret that we ought to have saved some of it for mother."

"Oh, I don't mean. that," said Beechnut. "Then where was our bad management?" Frank inquired.

"In not collecting the fresh sap before you came home," replied Beechnut.

"But we were going down this afternoon," explained Frank.

"And have you been down?" Beechnut asked.

"Why — no — " Frank answered hesitatingly. "I was too tired."

"Then I suppose," said Beechnut, "that some of the dishes are full and running over, and they will continue to run over all night. No matter if you were tired, you ought to have taken the pail and gone around to the trees and emptied all the dishes, and then have carried the pail and put it safely under the box. To-morrow morning you would have had a double supply, for the dishes would all be full again by that time. I advise you to go and empty them now."

"It is too late," said Frank.

"No," said Beechnut, "the sun is half an hour high, and you could do the whole business in half an hour. It will be some trouble, and yet not nearly trouble enough."

"What do you mean by that?" Frank asked.

"It will not be trouble enough to punish you properly for having neglected to do it at the proper time," responded Beechnut. "When you are a man, if you manage your business in such a way as that, you will get everything behindhand and in disorder. You had better learn to do things as they should be done while you are a boy."

Frank knew this was very good advice. But, because he was so much interested in his windmill and because he was unwilling to go to the shore alone, he concluded to let the sap run. He did not think many of the dishes would get full, and he would go down and gather the sap early in the morning. Margaret would go with him then, he said.

He did not, however, feel satisfied or happy. In his fancy he could see the dishes full to overflowing, with the sap running down the sides on the snow or among the leaves and moss which covered the ground, and this caused him a good deal of mental discomfort.

It turned out as Beechnut had predicted, for when Frank and Margaret went to the riverside in the morning they saw plainly that much of the sap had gone to waste during the night. They were more careful afterwards, and when the weather favored a generous run of sap, they gathered it twice a day.

On the whole they did very well, but at last their sugar-making operations were brought to a sudden termination. They had been boiling most of an afternoon, and when the supper bell called them home they got their things together and left them as usual on the beach. It had begun to rain a little after supper, and at bedtime they heard it raining very hard.

The first thing in the morning Frank went to his window, and, behold, there was a great freshet. The river had risen rapidly, the ice had broken up, and the big cakes were hurrying down the stream grinding and crushing one another as they went.

A few days later, when the water had subsided, Frank visited the beach. Everything he had left there had been swept away.

ble enough to punish you properly for having neglected to do it at the proper time," responded Beechnut. "When you are a man, if you manage your business in such a way as that, you will get everything behindhand and in disorder. You had better learn to do things as they should be done while you are a boy."

Frank knew this was very good advice. But, because he was so much interested in his windmill and because he was unwilling to go to the shore alone, he concluded to let the sap run. He did not think many of the dishes would get full, and he would go down and gather the sap early in the morning. Margaret would go with him then, he said.

He did not, however, feel satisfied or happy. In his fancy he could see the dishes full to overflowing, with the sap running down the sides on the snow or among the leaves and moss which covered the ground, and this caused him a good deal of mental discomfort.

It turned out as Beechnut had predicted, for when Frank and Margaret went to the riverside in the morning they saw plainly that much of the sap had gone to waste during the night. They were more careful afterwards, and when the weather favored a generous run of sap, they gathered it twice a day.

On the whole they did very well, but at last their sugar-making operations were brought to a sudden termination. They had been boiling most of an afternoon, and when the supper bell called them home they got their things together and left them as usual on the beach. It had begun to rain a little after supper, and at bedtime they heard it raining very hard.

The first thing in the morning Frank went to his window, and, behold, there was a great freshet. The river had risen rapidly, the ice had broken up, and the big cakes were hurrying down the stream grinding and crushing one another as they went.

A few days later, when the water had subsided, Frank visited the beach. Everything he had left there had been swept away.