She could see the little fish
“Oh, I can walk farther than that.”
So they started out, while Mrs. Alder lay down for a nap.
They didn’t go by the road, but crossed the river in a boat that Mr. Alder kept tied to the bank.
Then they walked through the trees and meadows by the path.
Clematis was full of joy. New birds sang here. New trees, and new flowers met her at each turn.
After they had walked about a mile, they came to a little cabin, set among maple trees.
“Who lives here?” asked Clematis. It looked like the cabins she had seen in her picture books.
“No one lives here now. This is where they boil down their sap in the spring. They make maple syrup, and maple sugar.”