"No," said Jonas, "that is for dinner."
"Shall we be gone all the day?" said Rollo.
"We may be gone till after dinner," said Jonas, "and so I thought I would be sure."
The two boys went into the house, and there they found that Dorothy had got some breakfast ready for them upon the kitchen table. After eating their breakfast, they got into the wagon, and set out. Jonas first put in a large umbrella. Just as they were driving out of the yard, the first beams of the morning sun shone in under the branches of a great tree in the yard, and brightened up the tips of the horses' ears and the boys' faces. At the same time, a rude gust of wind came around the corners of the house, and slammed to the gate of the front yard.
"It's going to be pleasant," said Rollo; "the sun is coming out."
"I'm not very sure of that," said Jonas; "the wind is rising."
"We start just at sunrise," said Rollo.
"Yes," replied Jonas, "the sun always rises at six o'clock at this time of the year."
The boys rode along for about three hours, before they came to the carpenter's. They were obliged to travel very slow, for the roads were not good. It is true that the snow was all gone, and the frost was nearly out of the ground; but there were many deep ruts, and in some places it was muddy. The sun went into a cloud soon after they set out, and it continued overcast all the morning. There was some wind too, but, as it was behind them, and as the road lay through woods and among sheltered hills, they did not observe it much. Jonas said that there was a storm coming on, but he thought it was coming slowly.
They arrived at length at the pond. There was a little village there, upon the shore of the pond. The reason why there happened to be a village there, was this: A stream of water, which came down from among the mountains, emptied into the pond here, and, very near where it emptied, it fell over a ledge of rocks, making a waterfall, where the people had built some mills. Now, where there are mills, there must generally be a blacksmith's shop, to mend the iron work when it gets broken, and to repair tools. There is often a tavern, also, for the people who come to the mills; and then there is generally a store or two; for wherever people have to come together, for any business, there is a good place to open a store, to sell them what they want to buy. Thus there was a little village about these mills, which was generally called the Mill village.