Читать книгу Camping in the Winter Woods: Adventures of Two Boys in the Maine Woods онлайн

43 страница из 81

“Why, like as not I will,” agreed the trapper, much to the delight of the boys.

As soon as it was dark they started off for the tree. Ben went ahead with the lantern, the torches, and an ax; George came next, carrying a dish-pan and a large iron spoon; then Ed followed with a pail; and the trapper brought up the rear with his ax and another pail.

Although the stars shone brightly overhead, it was very dark in the woods. The boys, unaccustomed to such travel, stumbled and fell many times before they brought up at the tree. The lantern was immediately concealed behind a rock, so its glare would not attract the bees. Then, cautioning Ed and George to tie their handkerchiefs about their faces, the guide and his friend prepared to fell the tree.

The blows of their axes resounded through the woods, and great chips flew through the air as the cutting blades bit their way into the heart of the oak. Occasionally the choppers paused to gaze upward at its swaying top, for it was important that the tree should fall with the hole uppermost. Then, bending, they again attacked it with powerful, swinging blows, until it began to creak, and give, and totter. Ben seized the boys and pushed them aside, and the forest monarch crashed to earth, the butt bounding back from the stump high in the air.