"But the lake is north of us here," objected Stubby.
"I know it is, but we will follow its shore until we come to the end of it and then on north, or get a chance to cross the lake in a boat. And who knows but what we may come to a railroad track to follow which will be a short cut? Anyway, let's make for that high hill you see off there to the north and perhaps when we reach the top of it we can see a good road to follow."
"Well, here goes!" said Button, and he put his head down and started on a fast run, Billy and Stubby close at his heels.
They followed the lake shore as far as they could as it was better traveling there than in the high grass. They also kept as close to the water's edge as they could and still dodge the waves. Frequently Billy and Stubby were caught by a wave but they did not care as it only cooled them off. But Button contented himself by running along the wet sand out of reach of the waves.
They had gone about half a mile out of town and were still running along the beach when they came to a sawmill where there were a lot of men wading in the water up to their knees pushing the logs on to a narrow endless moving incline that carried them up into the mill where they would be sawed into lumber.
"Don't they look like big alligators being pushed up that plane to be killed?" said Billy.
"They really do, but I never thought of that before," replied Stubby.
"They remind me more of cattle being driven into the slaughter pens at the stockyards," said Button.
"There is something fascinating about watching those big logs being carried silently up into the mill to be turned into shingles, flooring and boards of various lengths to be made into furniture," remarked Billy.
"There surely is. But we can't stand here all day or we won't get far on our journey."