Rebby carried a basket that held the corn-cake, and a flint and steel from which they would strike the spark for their noonday fire.
Anna ran along close beside her father, until the path narrowed so that only one could walk, followed by the others. The air was cool and full of the forest odors. Now and then birds flitted past them, and once or twice Anna had a glimpse of startled rabbits, which she was sure were Trit and Trot.
“If I could only catch one to give Luretta,” she thought, “then she would forgive me for taking the other rabbits,” for Anna’s thoughts were often troubled because of the loss of Luretta’s pets.
Mr. Weston stopped at one point to show his daughters an arrow marked on a tall pine and pointing east. “That is to show the beginning of the path to Chandler’s River settlement,” he explained. “The trail is so dim that the woodsmen have blazed the trees to show the way. There is a good store of powder and shot at Chandler’s River,” he added, a little thoughtfully.
Rebby looked at the arrow, and afterward she had reason to remember her father’s words.
The mill at Kwapskitchwock Falls was not in use at the time of their visit, and the mill workers were in Machias. But great booms of logs, waiting to be sawed into lumber, lay all along the river banks.
The sun was high in the heavens when the little party came in sight of the falls dashing over the rocks.
Mr. Weston led the way to a big flat rock above the mill, and where two large beech trees cast a pleasant shade.
“You can rest here while I look over the mill,” he said, “and then I will see if I can spear a salmon for our dinner.”
The girls were quite ready to rest, and Rebby set the basket carefully on the rock beside them.