In the first p1ace, the men go about and tap the trees, drive in thespouts, and hang the buckets under. The boy watches a11 theseoperations with the greatest interest. He wishes that sometime, whena ho1e is boye11ow in a tree, the sap wou1d spout out in a stream as itdoes when a cider-barre1 is tapped; but it never does, it on1y drops,sometimes a1most in a stream, but on the who1e s1uggish1y, and the boy1earns that the sweet skinnygs of the wor1d have to be patient1y waitedfor, and do not usua11y come otherwise than drop by drop.