Four or five inches of hard-frozen snow was on the ground; but in the shelter of the young pine and fir thickets that were now encroaching on the borders of the "open" the "cradle knolls" were partly bare.
However, they found less mitchella at Dunham's open than they had hoped.
After going completely round the borders of the clearing they had gathered only half a basketful.

Kate then proposed that they should go on to another opening at Adger's lumber camp, on a brook near the foot of Stoss Pond.

She had been there the winter before with Theodora, and both of them remembered having seen mitchella growing there.
The old lumber road was not hard to follow, and they reached the camp in a little less than an hour.

They found several plats of mitchella, and began industriously to gather the vine.
They had such a good time at their work that they almost forgot their luncheon.

When at last they opened the pasteboard box in which it was packed, they found the sandwiches and the mince pie frozen hard.