A short bit of dike from that corner
straight across to the point will do it. We'll be able to get at it in a
couple of months; and then, if you and I can't put the job through before
the ground gets frozen, why, I'll hire help, that's all!"
"But it's a pretty big contract you're giving us, isn't it?" queried Ted,
doubtfully. "Those warping dikes you're talking of look to me like an
all summer's job. What'll they be like, anyway?"
"O, they'll be very slight. We can run them, with the help of old Jerry
to haul for us, in less than no time, working evenings and wet days.
We'll just lay lines of brush a foot high, and pile heavy stones along
the top to keep it in place. Then we can raise them a little higher as
the place fills up!"
"O!" murmured Ted, greatly relieved. "I thought we'd have to _dig_
them all, like the other dikes."
After this the boys' talk was of nothing but deposits and warping
dikes and scouring. Their evenings and rainy days, usually spent in
their mother's company and in study, were now devoted to the labor of
hauling stones and brush down to the shore of the cove. To Mrs. Carter
they explained the scheme, but without reference to its connection
with Mr. Israel Hand. She grasped its possibilities at once, being
clear-headed except where her prejudices were involved.
"How many acres do you expect to reclaim?" she inquired, after praising
Will's sagacity warmly.
"Well," said Will, "of course we won't have it surveyed till the work's
done and we are sure of the property; but I have an idea it will go a
good ten acres, or maybe twelve.
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