The notification came by letter, and as usual when the old Squire was
away, grandmother Ruth opened his mail to see what demanded our
attention. We were all in the sitting-room, except Halstead, who was
away that evening.
"What can this mean?" grandmother suddenly exclaimed, and handed the
letter to Addison. He saw through it instantly, and jumped up in
excitement.
"We're trapped!" he cried. "If we don't get that birch off next week we
shall lose two thousand dollars!"
Grandmother was dismayed. "Oh, that wicked woman!" she cried. "Why,
winter always means through sledding!"
"I'm afraid not, in law," said Addison, looking puzzled. "Winter ends
either the first or the twenty-first of March. I think a good argument
could be made in court for the twenty-first. But she may be right, and
it's too late to take chances. The only thing to do is to get that
lumber off right away."
Addison and I went out to the stable to talk the matter over; we did not
want to excite grandmother any further. At best, she had a good deal to
worry her that winter.
"Now what can we do?" Addison exclaimed. Five or six days would be
required to get the old Squire home from Canada.
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