The two boys soon
cut down some small pines and bass-woods, which they hewed out into
sugar-troughs; Indiana manufactured some rough pails of birch-bark; and the
first favourable day for the work they loaded up a hand-sleigh with their
vessels, and marched forth over the ice to the island, and tapped the trees
they thought could yield sap for their purpose. And many pleasant days they
passed during the sugar-making season. They did not leave the sugar-bush
for good till the commencement of April, when the sun and wind beginning to
unlock the springs that fed the lake, and to act upon its surface, taught
them that it would not long be prudent to remain on the island. The loud
booming sounds that were now frequently heard of the pent-up air beneath
striving to break forth from its icy prison, were warnings not to be
neglected. Openings began to appear, especially at the entrance of the
river, and between the islands, and opposite to some of the larger creeks;
blue streams that attracted the water-fowl, ducks, and wild geese, that
came, guided by that instinct that never errs, from their abiding-places
in far-off lands; and Indiana knew the signs of the wild birds coming and
going with a certainty that seemed almost marvellous to her simple-minded
companions.
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