"Sap! What kind of sap?" asked the girls curiously.
"Why, maple sap, you ninnies! Didn't you know this was a sap-bush?" laughed Zan, looking at her companions to assure herself that they were in earnest.
"I never heard of a sap-bush! I don't see any bushes!" retorted Nita.
"Ha-ha-ha! It's these maples that give us the sap for maple-sugar. I bet there's lots of maple-sugar in the house this very minute. We always come here for a few days when the farmers boil the sap down. It's one of the sports of having a farm."
"Zan, you're a lucky girl! Not one of us ever had the chance of having all you have had!" murmured Jane.
"I just guess your folks could have had ten farms if you had wanted them, but you and your brother always wanted to go to fashionable places!" retorted Zan, truthfully.
They had reached the snake-fence that separated the maple grove from the woodland, and Zan immediately started climbing over the simple-looking barrier. She soon hopped off on the other side and turned to watch the others surmount the difficulty.
"What a queer-looking fence—why do they have two rows of rails?" asked Elena, while the others tried to reach the top rail.
"Dear me! how did you get over so easily, Zan?" called Nita, who constantly rolled back at each step.
"Ha-ha! it's a trick fence!" laughed Zan, doubling over with enjoyment at the different poses the girls were forced to take while they struggled with loose poles that would roll over.