In a few minutes their mother had put them up a nice luncheon. Then they took a small kettle, two or three tin cups, three spoons, and a hatchet. These things they packed upon a hand-sled; and, when all was ready, they set out at a brisk pace through the fields, over the snow, the boys drawing the sled, and the girls following close behind. [Illustration] There was a good path, and they soon came to the woods. On the edge of the woods was a hut, where the men rested sometimes while making sugar. The children thought they would play that was their house. Nobody was there that day: so they had it all to themselves. A little way out of the woods were two large stakes with a pole across them, on which hung a large kettle. Some half-burnt logs and ashes were under the kettle, but the fire was all out. A pile of wood was not far off; and branches of trees, chips, and logs were scattered around. The children gathered dry leaves and sticks, and made a fire in a safe place. The next thing to do was to get some sap to boil into candy. What is sap? It is the juice of a tree. When the warm spring sunshine melts the snow, the roots of the tree drink in the moisture of the earth. This goes up into the tree, and makes sap. The sap within the tree, and the sunshine without, make the buds swell, and the bright fresh leaves come out. For making sugar the sap of the maple-tree is used. But how is the sap got from the trees? and how is it made into sugar? I will tell you. A hole is bored in each tree, a spout put in the hole, and a bucket is placed underneath. This is called "tapping the tree." The sap runs from the tree into the bucket, drop by drop, until it is full. Then the sap is boiled till it becomes sirup; and the sirup is boiled into sugar. The children found that the sap was dropping from the spouts in the trees around them. Some of the buckets were nearly full. They soon gathered enough into their little tin cups to fill their kettle; and then they put it on the fire to boil. While it was boiling, they thought they would eat their luncheon. What do you suppose they had besides bread? I will tell you. They had thin slices of _raw_ meat. "But did they eat it raw?" perhaps you will ask. Oh, no! The boys whittled out some clean, pointed sticks, on which they held their meat close to the fire till it was roasted to a beautiful brown; and then you cannot think how good it tasted. After eating their bread and meat, they had some nice crullers and cheese to end off with.