side, the space cleared being about eight feet wide; then all trees
growing in the range of this track had been sawn off close to the
ground, and windfalls which barred the way were removed. It was a rude
highway, with plenty of deformities, such as ends of rotting stumps,
twisted roots, ridges and bumps which had never been levelled; yet it
was beautiful beyond any smooth, well-graded road which the travellers
had ever seen. As it wound along in graceful curves through the woods,
it was shaded now by an emerald arch of evergreens, now by a royal
crimson canopy of maple branches, while patches of buff, orange, and
dull red commingled where other trees interlaced with these to whisper
woodland secrets.

But the boys soon understood what Doc meant when he spoke of their
having "a bracing ride in more senses than one;" for the motion of the
wagon was a giddy series of jolts and bounces, with just sufficient
interval between each shock for them to brace themselves, with stiffened
backbones, for the next upheaval. They had already begun, as Royal said,
"to have kinks in all their limbs," when Lin suddenly announced,--

"Yon's a bit o' corduroy road, I declar'!"

He pointed with his whip ahead, and the travellers shot out their necks
to see this novel highway. It extended for about a quarter of a mile
over a swamp, and spoke volumes for the energy and ingenuity of the
hardy lumbermen who constructed it.

These brawny heroes, who are fine types of American grit and manhood,
when clearing a broad track over which their great timber logs could be
hauled from the depths of the forest to the landing on some big river,
had found the swampy tracts an impassable obstacle for animals