new one answered the purpose admirably. Driving a stake into the ground, near the house, he tied one end of his cord to that, and stretched it down to the river bank to the point chosen for the end of the walk, where another stake was driven in and the cord tied to it. The long stretch between the two stakes would not allow the cord to be tight enough to make a straight line between the two points, but Fred left it as it was, to be adjusted when his father came. With his rod he measured off four feet from the first stake, across the intended path, and drove in another stake to which he attached another cord. Then going down to the river he measured off the width of the walk from the long cord, and drove in another stake. He was now ready to have his father examine the work he had done, and to make suggestions or changes if such were deemed necessary.

Jessie and George arrived home from school, having run most of the way, "to help Fred make the walk," and were quite disappointed to be told there was nothing they could do until the work was further advanced.

"We might, perhaps, commence taking down the old buildings," said Fred, "and pile the lumber where it will be snug and dry."

"All right," said George; so the three of them went over to the poultry house and Fred began by taking out the two or three small windows, and removing the doors by unscrewing the hinges. George's desire to pull, tear, and smash the old material was held in check by Fred, who advised him to be careful, and not break or destroy anything that could be used. After the doors had been taken off and laid nicely away—"to be used on the boat house"—and the windows and frames placed in a dry spot, Fred began to remove the old siding, or clapboards. He found this a rather difficult job, as they were nailed on with old-fashioned wrought-iron nails which could not readily be drawn, and, in trying to get the boards loose, the ends kept breaking and splitting; so he stopped, went inside the building, and took off the lining there; this also was a little difficult to do, but, as the boards were an inch thick, he did not split many of them.

He then sawed off the boards alongside the studs, on the corners, and at the doorways to relieve the siding at the ends, and give him a good chance to wedge off the boards wherever they were nailed. With the help of George, he succeeded in getting most of them loose without serious damage. Of course, he had to begin tearing the boards off at the top of the wall, as they lapped over each other like the scales of a fish.

Mr. Gregg arrived, went over the ground, and was well pleased with the results of Fred's day's work. He assisted in straightening the long cords, and made a number of suggestions for the boys to follow. He had a strong-looking man with him, who he told Fred was to help him. He was an Italian, named Nicolo, called "Nick" for short, a kindly fellow, who could speak English fairly, for he had been employed in Newark, as a handy labouring man for years. He, Fred, and George soon became good companions, and even Jessie, though a little shy at first, soon became quite friendly toward him. When it was explained what was wanted of him, he was quite satisfied, and agreed to begin work in the morning.

Next day Fred and George were at work before their father was out, and soon Nick arrived, bringing a spade, a crowbar, and a pick. He was immediately set to work by Fred, digging a shallow trench for the pathway, a little over four feet wide and about eight inches deep. The stretched cord and the four-foot rod were the guides.

Fig. 1. Section of sidewalk

There were a number of rocks to be removed from the trench, one of them near the river bank weighing over a ton. These were left to be removed later. Their father, on coming out, was glad to see them all at work; he showed Fred and Nick how to prepare the edges of the trench by putting planks along them, as shown in Fig. 1. The boards, about twelve inches wide, and from twelve to sixteen feet long, had been taken from the old barn.

After breakfast Fred worked along with his man, and got the trench well cleaned out, except for a few of the larger rocks. The smaller bowlders were wheeled down to the river and rolled over the bank to the water's edge. Near one side of the walk grew a large tree, whose main root ran under the proposed path. Mr. Gregg had noticed this in the morning and had told Fred to see that the root was cut off close to the line on both sides and pulled out altogether. "If it isn't cut off, it will grow larger, lift up the cement flags, and perhaps break them." Fred saw the force of this, so had the root cut off and taken out. The operation would not kill the tree, though it might do it some injury.

Now came the process of taking out the big stones, and a lever, ten or twelve feet long, was brought from the barn, in the shape of a red cedar pole, five or six inches in diameter at the larger end. Nick took an axe and chopped the big end a little flat on two sides, so that it could be shoved under the stone. A flat plank was next laid behind the stone on the ground, on which a fulcrum was to be placed, in order to get what is termed by workmen a "purchase." On the side of the stone next to the river, three planks taken from the floor of the barn were laid down flat at the bottom of the trench. Three other planks were laid on the top of the first layer, thus making a bed in the trench, two planks in thickness, on which the big stone was to be rolled. A fulcrum, consisting of an old fence post, was laid upon the plank, and forced up as close to the stone as possible. Everything was now ready for lifting the bowlder out of the bed, where it had lain perhaps for thousands of years.

As had been arranged, the work at this stage was suspended, and other work gone on with, until Mr. Gregg made his appearance. Upon his arrival all hands went to the stone, Jessie included. Having approved what had been done, the father suggested that rollers be placed between the two thicknesses of plank to increase the ease of moving the stone to the river when it was started. Fred and Nick went to the barn, and among a big pile of old planks, boards, and timber found eight or ten old fence posts, six or eight inches in diameter, and long enough to make two rollers, each three feet long, when cut in two. These were quickly stripped of bark by George and Jessie, while Nick and Fred, with axe and hatchet, soon had a number of them round enough to serve as rollers. The father then directed that the ends nearest the river, of the top layer of planks, be raised up, and one of the rollers placed between the two layers of plank near the stone, while the ends of planks nearest the stone should be left resting on the bottom ones. Another roller was placed nearer the river end of the planks, and all was made, as shown at Fig. 2—where fulcrum, lever, stone, planks, and rollers may be seen.

Fig. 2. Raising rock with lever

All was now ready; the lever was adjusted in place under the stone and on the