There was a singular-looking track in the road.

It consisted of a smooth groove in the snow, as if the end of a large log had been dragged along.
It was, in fact, made by a log which had been drawn along that road towards the mill.

One end of the log had been placed upon a sled, and the other left to drag along in the snow; and this was what made the smooth groove, which Jonas observed.

He did not see it before, because the man who drove the sled had turned out of the main road, into a by-way across the fields, to avoid the deep drift where Jonas's horse got into difficulty.
Jonas found it pretty good walking after this.

The snow was not so deep as it had been; and the path which the log had made was hard and smooth.
He concluded that it must have been made by such a log, and, of course, if he followed it, that it would take him directly to the house of the man whom he wanted to see.
After walking about a mile, he came to the house.