Paul looked and nodded.
"Mete, you and the kids get on this one with Mike, and Vene, Elizabeth and I will get on the next load. We'll all meet down by the river and come back together."
"Let's take our dinner with us and eat it down there. Then we can sit on the logs by the river and come back with the men on the next load," suggested Meredith.
"Good idea!" exclaimed Paul. "You get up on this and I'll run for the lunch boxes and get back before the other sleigh gets here."
So the Starr children, with Mike, climbed up and sat upon the logs of the first sledge, and the other children waited for the second load to come in sight.
The sleigh-ride over the rough road to the river was great fun, for often the sleigh would bump over a huge snow-covered stump or rock, and make the children roll against each other and cling fast to the chains that bound the logs together.
The horses went slowly, for the loads were heavy and the road hard and rough, so the ride of two miles took some time.
The children had visited the roll-ways at the river before, but had never had an opportunity to remain and understand the whole scene.
Arrived at the roll-ways, the men made quick work of unloading the logs from the sledge and rolling them down to the river's edge. In many cases, where the water was shallow, or the ice thick enough, the logs were rolled out a few feet, and piled up in tiers so that when the spring freshet came they would sink down into the water and be the first to float down stream.
In several instances, rafts had been made and floated out a short distance from the shore, and here the timber-men used to fish before the river froze over. These rafts were still there, and the ice between them and the shore was safe.