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He drove on to the timber, and Almanzo drove on to the woodpile at home

All that week and all the next week he went on hauling wood froood ox-driver and wood-hauler Every day his foot ached a little less, and at last he hardly limped at all

He helped Father haul a huge pile of logs, ready to be sawed and split and corded in the woodshed

Then one evening Father said they had hauled that year’s supply of wood, and Mother said it was high tiet any schooling that winter

Al calves needed breaking He asked: “What do I have to go to school for? I can read and write and spell, and I don’t want to be a school-teacher or a storekeeper”

“You can read and write and spell,” Father said slowly “But can you figure?”

“Yes, Father,” Alure—some”

“A faro to school”

Almanzo did not say anyhe took his dinner-pail and went to school

This year his seat was farther back in the room, so he had a desk for his books and slate And he studied hard to learn the whole arithmetic, because the sooner he knew it all, the sooner he would not have to go to school any more

Chapter 28

Mr Thompson’s Pocketbook

Father had so much hay that year that the stock could not eat it all, so he decided to sell soht back a straight, s He hewed the bark fro it and pounding it until he softened the layer of wood that had grown last summer, and loosened the thin layer of wood underneath it, which had grown the summer before

Then with his knife he cut long gashes from end to end, about an inch and a half apart And he peeled off that thin, tough layer of wood in strips about an inch and a half wide Those were ash withes

When Aluessed that Father was going to bale hay, and he asked: