"Oh!" sighed Don, clutching his hands in tense interest, and the other children sat as rigid as statues until the tree was down.
Some men instantly hopped upon the fallen giant and started lopping off the branches, while the other men began work on the next tree in the road.
The "breaking out" of the road through the virgin forest kept on in this way until the men were some distance farther on than they were when the children first came upon the scene. When Mr. Latimer returned to take them back to camp they were quite willing to go.
That evening the children had a great deal to tell their mothers and Don added, "Guess I'll be a lumberman when I'm big."
"Have you decided to give up the canal-boat life that you promised Molly you would lead?" asked his father, teasingly.
"Well, a man can run a canal-boat and be a lumberman, too, can't he?" returned Don, not willing to admit his loss of interest in the canal-boat life.
"I always said that it was better for a man to do one thing and do that well, than to try and do several things poorly," hinted Mr. Starr.
The others laughed, for one of Don's weaknesses was to take a tremendous interest in anything new and then leave it half finished for the next absorbing idea.
"Well, I'm eating these pork and beans just now, and I'm doing it well, ain't I?" retorted Don, making everyone laugh again.
"Dot and you always do the meal-work thoroughly," replied Mrs. Starr, still laughing.