"Well, I have made a discovery just as good as Sir Isaac Newton's. Every foot you carry a rock it gets twice as heavy."
Some one among them dropped her burden; instantly they all let go. The boulders struck the road with almost as simultaneous a thump as when the drill-sergeant calls out "Ground arms."
"Oh! I 'm nearly dead," said Mrs. Norton.
"So 'm I," gasped Mrs. Dix, sinking down on the roadside grass.
"O-h-h-h!" gasped Mrs. Plympton.
The next minute or two was devoted to breathing.
"Why did n't you say you were nearly dead?" demanded Mrs. Harmon, when she had somewhat recovered.
"Why did n't you say something?" replied Mrs. Dix.
"Why did n't we all say something?" inquired Mrs. Norton. "I did n't know the rest of you were as tired as me."
Mrs. Wright, despite she was the smallest of the number, was evidently the hardiest; she had calmly turned her stone over and sat down upon it.