may straighten matters out for them. If he will not help them they will
have to choose between going back to China and having their heads cut off,
and allowing their innocent relatives to be punished for them.

* * * * *

It will interest you to know that this is Maple Sugar time, and that all
through New England the manufacture of the delicious Maple Sugar is in
full swing.

The way Maple Sugar is made is very interesting.

In the spring-time, before the trees begin to bud and blossom, the sap
rises and works its way up into every bough and branch and twig of the
tree. Sap is a liquid which flows through the tree much in the same way
that blood flows through our veins, and the sap is the life-giving element
of the tree, just as the blood is of the body.

In the maple tree this sap is sweet, and it is from the sap that the Maple
Sugar is made.

To obtain it, the tree is tapped by being bored with an augur. The sap
flows through the hole thus made and is caught in vessels placed for the
purpose.

When the tree has yielded a certain amount of sap the holes are plugged,
and then covered with wax, to stop the sap from flowing. If this were not
done it would continue to flow until every drop was exhausted, and the
tree would practically bleed to death.