But the forest field was harvested in winter. The lumbermen went
out in the wilderness when the snow was deep, and the cold most severe.
It was tedious work to fell even one tree, and to hew down a forest such
as this they must have been out in the open many weeks.
"They have to be hardy men to mow a field of this kind," he said.
When the eagle had taken two more wing strokes, they sighted a log cabin
at the edge of the clearing. It had no windows and only two loose boards
for a door. The roof had been covered with bark and twigs, but now it
was gaping, and the boy could see that inside the cabin there were only
a few big stones to serve as a fireplace, and two board benches. When
they were above the cabin the eagle suspected that the boy was wondering
who could have lived in such a wretched hut as that.
"The reapers who mowed the forest field lived there," the eagle said.
The boy remembered how the reapers in his home had returned from their
day's work, cheerful and happy, and how the best his mother had in the
larder was always spread for them; while here, after the arduous work of
the day, they must rest on hard benches in a cabin that was worse than
an outhouse. And what they had to eat he could not imagine.
"I wonder if there are any harvest festivals for these labourers?" he
questioned.
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