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 12 3 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 4 5 6 
 

 
 ARTHUR lALLS IN Willi SOUATIKRS. 
 
 [aw /. 157. 
 
r 
 
 Cedar Creek 
 
 A Tale of Canadian Life 
 
 With 15 Illustrations by Sir John Gilbert 
 
 ^ 
 
 LONDON 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY 
 4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard 
 
W22S3 t^ 
 
 
 \ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 \ 
 
 4i 
 
 CHAP, 
 
 I. WHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED, 
 II. CROSSING THE * FERRY,' 
 
 III. UP THE ST. LAWRENCE, 
 
 IV. W00DEN-NES8, . 
 V. DEBARKATION, . 
 
 VI. CONCERNING AN INCUBUS, . 
 VII. THE RIVER HIGHWAY, 
 VIII, * JEAN BAPTISTE ' AT HOME, 
 IX. ' FROM MUD TO MxMlBLE,' . 
 X. CORDUROY,. 
 
 XI. THE Battle with the wilderness: begins 
 
 XIL CAMPING IN THE BUHH, 
 
 XIII. THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER, 
 
 XIV. THE ' CORNER,' . 
 
 XV. ANDY TREES A ' BASTE,' 
 
 XVI. LOST IN THE WOODS, . 
 
 XVIL BACK TO CiilDAR CREEK, 
 
 XVIII. GIANT TWO-SHOES, 
 
 XIX. A MEDLEY, .... 
 
 XX. THE ICE-SLEDGE, 
 
 XXL THE FOREST-MAN, 
 
 XXII. SILVER SLEIGH-BELLS, 
 
 I 6 
 
 PAOB 
 
 7 
 
 22 
 
 35 
 
 44 
 
 52 
 
 63 
 
 70 
 
 78 
 
 86 
 
 96 
 
 105 
 
 115 
 
 123 
 
 133 
 
 138 
 
 145 
 
 154 
 
 166 
 
 171 
 
 180 
 
 186 
 
 106 
 
L 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 XXIIL STILL- HUNTING, 
 XXIV. LUMBERERS, , 
 XXV. CHILDRExT OF THE FOREST 
 XXVI. ON A SWEET SUBJECT, 
 XXVII. A BUSY BEE, . 
 
 ' • • • 
 
 XXVIII. OLD FACES UPON NEW NEIGHBOURS, 
 XXIX. ONE DAY IN JULY. . 
 XXX. VISITORS AND VISITED, 
 XXXL SUNDAY IN THE FOREST,. 
 XXXIL HOW THE CAPTAIN CLEARED HIS BUSH, 
 XXXin. THE FOREST ON FIRE, 
 XXXIV. TRITON AMONG MINNOWS, 
 XXXV. THE PINK MIST, 
 XXXVL BELOW ZERO, . 
 XXXVIL A CUT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, 
 XXXVin. JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES, . 
 XXXIX. SETTLER THE SECOND 
 XL. AN UNWELCOME SUITOR, 
 XLL THE MILL-PRIVILEGE, . 
 XLH. UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, 
 XLin. A BUSH-FLITTING, . 
 XLFV. SHOVING OF THE lOK, 
 XLV. EXEUNT OMNBS, , , 
 
 . 202 
 . 214 
 . 220 
 . 229 
 . 235 
 , 244 
 , 250 
 259 
 260 
 274 
 280 
 291 
 298 
 309 
 315 
 324 
 329 
 338 
 343 
 351 
 369 
 370 
 378 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 
 WHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. 
 
 NIGHT train ilrew up slowly alongside the 
 platform at the Euston Square terminus 
 Immediately the long inanimate line of 
 rail-carriages burst into busy life : a few 
 minutes of apparently frantic confusion, and the indi- 
 vidual Items of the human freight were speeding 
 towards all parts of the compass, to be absorbed in 
 the leviathan metropolis, as drops of a shower in a 
 boundless sea. 
 
 One of the cabs pursuing each other along the 
 lamplit streets, and finally diverging among the almost 
 infinite ramifications of London thoroughfares, contains 
 a young man, who sits gazing through the window at 
 the_ rapidly passing range of houses and shops with 
 curious^ fixed vision. The face, as momentarily 
 revealed by the beaming of a brilliant gaslight is 
 chiefly remarkable for clear dark eyes rather deeply 
 set, and a firm closure of the lips. He scarcely alters 
 
8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 his posture during the milea of driving through wilder- 
 nesses of brick and stone : some thoughts are at work 
 beneath that broad short brow, which keep him thus 
 still. He has never been in London befora Ho has 
 come now on an errand of hope and endeavour, for he 
 wants to push himself into the army of the world's 
 workers, somewhere. Prosaically, he wants to earn 
 his bread, and, if possible, butter wherewith to flavour 
 it. Like Britons in general, from Dick Whittington 
 downwards, he thinks that the capital is the place in 
 which to seek one's fortune, and to find it. He had 
 not expected streets paved with gold, nor yet with the 
 metaphorical plenty of penny loaves ; but an indefinite 
 disappointment weighs upon him as he passes through 
 quarters fully as dingy and poverty-stricken as those 
 in his own provincial town. 
 
 Still on — on — across ' the province covered with 
 houses ; * sometimes in a great thoroughfare, where 
 midnight is as noisy as noon - day, and much more 
 glaring; sometimes through a region of siJence and 
 sleep, where gentility keeps proper hours, going to bed 
 betimes in its respectable streets. Kobert Wynn began 
 to wonder when the journey would end ; for, much as 
 he knew of London by hearsay and from books, it was 
 widely different thus personally to experience the 
 metropolitan amplitude. A slight dizziness of sight, 
 from the perpetual sweeping past of lamps and shadowy 
 buildings, caused him to close his eyes ; and from 
 speculations on the possible future and the novel 
 present, his thoughts went straight home again. 
 
 Home to the Irish village where his ancestors had 
 long been lords of the soil ; and the peasantry had 
 deemed that the greatest power on earth, under 
 
WHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. 9 
 
 majesty itself, was his Honour Mr. Wynn of Dunore, 
 where now, fallen from greatness, the family was 
 considerably larger than the means. The heavily 
 encumbered property had dropped away piece by 
 piece, and the scant residue clung to its owner like 
 sh£>.ckles. With ditliculty the narrow exchequer had 
 raised cash enough to send Eobert on this expedition 
 to London, *roni which much was hoped. The young 
 man had been tolerably well educated ; he possessed 
 a certain amount and quality of talent, extolled by 
 partial friends as far above the average ; but the 
 mainstay of his anticipations was a promise of a 
 Civil Service appointment, obtained from an influential 
 quarter ; and his unsophisticated country relatives 
 believed he had only to present himself in order to 
 realize it at once. 
 
 He was recalled to London by the sudden stoppage 
 of the cab. On the dim lamp over a doorway was 
 stain(»d the name of the obscure hotel to which he 
 liad been recommended as central in situation, while 
 cheap in charges. Cabby's fare was exorbitant, the 
 passenger thought ; but, after a faint resistance, Mr. 
 Wynn was glad to escape from the storm of h-less 
 remonstrances by payment of the full demand, and so 
 entered the coffee-room. 
 
 It was dingy and shabby-genteel, like the exterior ; 
 a quarter of a century might have elapsed since the 
 faded paper had been put up, or a stroke of painting 
 executed, in that dispiriting apartment. Meanwliile, 
 all the agencies of travel-stain had been defacing both. 
 An odour of continual meal - times hung about it ; 
 likewise of smoke of every grade, from the perfumed 
 havanna to the plebeian pigtail. The little tables 
 
 V 
 
1 
 
 w 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 were dark with hard work and antiquity ; the chair 
 seats polished with innumerable frictions. A creeping 
 old waiter, who seemed to have known better days in 
 a higher-class establishment, came to receive the new- 
 comer's orders ; and Kobert sat down to wait for his 
 modest chop and ^lass of ale. 
 
 That morning's Times lay on his table : he glanced 
 over the broad sheet of advertisements — that wondrous 
 daily record of need and of endeavour among the 
 toiling millions of London. Th': inexplicable solitude 
 in a crowd came about the reader's heart: what a 
 poor chance had a provincial stranger amid the jostling 
 multitude all eager for the prizes of comfort and com- 
 petence ! Robert went back for anchor to one strong 
 fact. The Honourable Mr. Currie Faver, Secretary to 
 the Board of Patronage, had declared to the member 
 
 for the Irish county of C , on the eve of an 
 
 important division, thau his young friend should have 
 the earliest appointment at his disposal in a certain 
 department. Robert Wynn felt an inward gratulation 
 on the superiority of his auspices. True, the promise 
 made in January yet remained due in July ; but there 
 were numberless excellent good reasons why Mr. 
 Currie Faver had been as yet unable to redeem his 
 pledge. 
 
 Robert turned his paper to look for the news: a 
 paragraph in the corner arrested his attention. 
 
 * We learn from the best authority that, owing to 
 the diminution of business consequent upon recent 
 Acts of the Legislature, it is the intention of Her 
 Majesty's Commissioners of Public Locomotion to 
 reduce their staffs of ofl&cials, so that no fresh appoint- 
 ments can be made for some months.' 
 

 1VHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. ii 
 
 He gazed at this piece of intelligence much longer 
 than was necessary for the mere reading of it. The 
 Hoard of Puhlic Locomotion was the very department 
 in wliich he had been promised a clerkship. Jlobert 
 made up his mind that it could not bo true ; it was 
 a mere newspaper report: at all events, Mr. Currie 
 Faver was bound by a previous pledge ; whoever 
 remained unappointed, it could not be a friend of the 
 hon. member for C . 
 
 There were voices in the next compartment, and 
 presently their conversation was forced on Mr. Wynn's 
 attention by the strongly stated sentiment, ' The hnest 
 country in the world — whips all creation, it does.' 
 
 Some rejoinder ensued in a low tone. 
 
 ' Cold ! ' with a rather scornful accent, ' I should 
 think so. Gloriously cold ! None of your wet sloppy 
 winters and foggy skies, but ice a yard and a hnif 
 thick for months. What do you think of forty degrees 
 below zero, stranger ? * 
 
 Eobert could fancy the other invisible person 
 shrugging his shoulders. 
 
 ' Don't like it, eh ? That's just a prejudice here in 
 the old country ; natural enough to them that don't 
 know the difference. When a man hears of seventy 
 degrees below the freezing-point, he's apt to get a 
 shiver. But there, we don't mind it ; the colder the 
 merrier: winter's our time of fun: sleighing and 
 skating parties, logging and quilting bees, and other 
 sociabilities unknown to you in England. Ay, we're 
 the finest people and the finest country on earth ; and 
 since I've been to see yours, I'm the steadier in that 
 opinion.' 
 
 'But emigrants in the backwoods have so few of 
 
ta 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 the comforts of civilisation,' began the other person, 
 with a weali, irresolute voice. 
 
 ' Among which is foremost the tax - gatherer, I 
 suppose ? ' was the triumphant rejoinder. ' Well, 
 stranger, that's an animal I never saw in full blow 
 till I've been to the old country. I was obliged to 
 clear out of our lodgings yesterday because they came 
 down on the furniture for poor-rate. Says I to the 
 landlady, who was crying and wringing her hands, 
 " Why not come to the country where there's no taxts 
 at all, not rent either, if you choose ? " Then it would 
 frighten one, all she counted up on her fingers — poor- 
 rate, paving-rate, water-rate, lighting, income-tax, and 
 no end of others. I reckon that's what you pay for 
 your high civilisation. Now, with us, there's a water 
 privilege on a'most every farm, and a pile of maple- 
 logs has fire and gaslight in it for the whoL^ winter ; 
 and there's next to no poor, for '^very man and woman 
 that's got hands and health can make a living. Why, 
 your civilisation is your misfortune in the old country ; 
 you've got to support a lot of things and people 
 besides yourself and your family.' 
 
 ' Surely you are not quite without taxes,' said the 
 other. 
 
 ' Oil, we lay a trifie on ourselves for roads and 
 bridges and schools, and such things. There's custom- 
 houses at the ports ; but if a man chooses to live 
 without tea or foreign produce, he won't be touched 
 by the indirect taxes either. I guess we've the 
 advantage of you there. You can't hardly eat or 
 drink, or walk or ride, or do anything else, without a 
 tax somewhbfb in the background slily sucking your 
 pocket' 
 
WHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED, 13 
 
 *A UDited States citizen,' thought Robert Wynn. 
 ' What a peculiar accent he has ! and the national 
 swagger too.' And Mr. Wynn, feeling intensely 
 British, left his box, and walked into the midst of the 
 room with his newspaper, wishing to suggest the 
 presence of a third person. He glanced at the 
 American, a middle-aged, stout-built man, with an 
 intelligent and energetic countenance, who returned 
 the glance keenly. There was something indescribably 
 foreign about his dress, though in detail it was as 
 usual ; and his manner and air were those of one not 
 accustomed to the cc iventional life of cities. His 
 companion was a tall, pale, elderly person, who bore 
 his piping voice in his appearance, and seemed an 
 eager listener. 
 
 ' And you say that I would make an independence 
 if I emigrated ? * asked the latter, fidgeting nervously 
 with a piece of paper. 
 
 ' Any man would who has pluck and perseverance. 
 You would have to work hard, though ; ' and his eyes 
 fell on the white irresolute hands, dubious as to the 
 requisite qualities being there indicated. ' You'd 
 want a strong constitution if you're for the backwoods.' 
 
 ' The freedom of a settler's life, surrounded by all 
 the beauties of nature, would have great charms for 
 me,' observed the other. 
 
 ' Yes,* replied the American, rather drily ; ' but I 
 reckon you wouldn't see many beauties till yon had a 
 log shanty up, at all events. Now that young man ' 
 — he had caught Ilobert Wynn's eye on him again — 
 'is the very build for emigration. Strong, active, 
 healthy, wide awake : no oflence, young gentleman, 
 but such as you are badly wanted in Canada West.' 
 
14 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 From this began a conversation which need not be 
 minutely detailed. It was curious to see what a 
 change was produced in Eobert's sentiments towards 
 the settler, by learning that he was a Canadian, and 
 not a United States mai* : * the national swagger ' 
 became little more than a dignified assertion of 
 independence, quite suitable to a British subject ; the 
 accent he had disliked became an interesting local 
 characteristic. Mr. Hiram Holt was the son of an 
 English settler, who had fixed himself on the left 
 bank of the Ottawa, amid what was then primeval 
 forest, and was now a flourishing township, covered 
 with prosperous farms and villages. Here had the 
 sturdy Saxon struggled with, and finally conquered, 
 adverse circumstances, leaving his eldest son possessed 
 of a small freehold estate, and his other children 
 portioned comfortably, so that much of the neighbour- 
 hood was peopled by his descendants. And this, 
 Hiram's first visit to the mother country — for he was 
 Canadian born — was on colonial business, being 
 deputed from his section of the province, along with 
 others, to give evidence, as a landed proprietor, before 
 the Secretary of State, whose gate -lodge his father 
 would have been proud to keep when he was a poor 
 Suffolk labourer. 
 
 ' Now there's an injustice,* quoth Mr. Holt, 
 diverging into politics. ' England has forty - three 
 colonies, and but one man to oversee them all — a man 
 that's jerked in and out of office with every successive 
 Mir stry, and is almost necessarily more intent on 
 party manoeuvres than on the welfare of the young 
 nations he rules. Our colony alone — the two Canadas 
 — is bigger than Great Britain and Ireland three times 
 

 •such as you AKK BAULV WANTKl) IN CANADA WKST, 
 
i f 
 
 iji; ! 
 Ili i 
 
JVHy ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. 15 
 
 over. Take in all along Vancouver's Island, and it's 
 as big as Europe. There's a pretty considerable slice 
 of the globe for one man to manage ! But forty-two 
 other colonies have to be managed as well ; and I 
 guess a nursery of forty-three children of all ages left 
 to one care-taker would run pretty wild, I do.' 
 
 * Yet we never hear of mismanagement,' observed 
 Robert, in an unlucky moment ; for Mr. Hiram Holt 
 retained all the Briton's prerogative of grumbling, and 
 in five minutes had rehearsed a whole catalogue of 
 colonial grievances very energetically. 
 
 * Then I suppose you'll be for joining the stars and 
 stripes ? ' said the young man. 
 
 * Never ! ' exclaimed the settler. ' Never, while 
 there's a rag of the union jack to run up. But it's 
 getting late ; ' and as he rose to his feet with a 
 tremendous yawn, Robert peiceived his great length, 
 hitherto concealed by the table on which he leaned. 
 ' This life would kill me in six months. In my own 
 place I'm about the farm at sunrise in summer. 
 Never knew what it was to be sick, young man.' 
 And so the party separated ; Robert admiring the 
 stalwart muscular frame of the Canadian as he strode 
 before him up the stairs towards their sleeping-rooms. 
 As he passed Mr. Holt's door, he caught a glimpse of 
 bare floor, whence all the carpets hnd been rolled off 
 into a comer, every vestige of curtain tucked away, 
 and the window sashes open to their widest. Subse- 
 quently he learned that to such domestic softnesses as 
 carpets and curtains the sturdy settler had invincible 
 objections, regarding them as symptoms of effeminacy 
 not suitable to his character, though admitting that 
 for women they were well enough. 
 
4 
 
 li 
 
 i« 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Robert was all night felling pines, building log-huts, 
 and wandering amid interminable forests ; and when 
 his shaving water and boots awoke him at eight, he 
 was a little surprised to find himself a denizen of a 
 London hotel Mr. Holt had gone out hours before. 
 After a hasty breakfast Mr. Wynn ordered a cab, and 
 proceeded to the residence of the hon member for 
 C county. 
 
 It was a mansion hired for the season in one of the 
 fashionable squares ; for so had the hon. member's 
 domestic board of control, his lady-wife and daughters, 
 willed, '^f course, Eobert was immensely too early ; 
 he dismissea vhe cab, and wandered about the neigh- 
 bourhood, followed by suspicious glances from one or 
 two policemen, until, after caUing at the house twice, 
 he was admitted into a library beset with tal] dark 
 bookcases. Here sat the M.P. enjoying the otiwm cum 
 dignitate, in a handsome morning gown, with bundles 
 of parliamentary papers and a little stack of letters on 
 the table. But none of the legislative literature 
 engrossed his attention just then : the Mor^iin^ Post 
 dropped from his fingers as he arose and shook hands 
 with the son of his constituent. 
 
 * Ah, my dear Wynn — how happy — delighted in- 
 deed, I assure you. Have you breakfasted ? all well 
 at home ? your highly honoured father ? late sitting 
 at the House last night — close of the session most 
 exhausting even to seasoned members, as the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer said to me last evening in the 
 lobby;' and here followed an anecdote. But while 
 he thus ran on most affably, the under - current of 
 idea in his mind was somewhat as follows : ' What on 
 earth does this young fellow want of me ? His family 
 
JVHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. 17 
 
 interest in the county almost gone — not worth taking 
 pains to please any longer — a great bore — yet I must 
 be civil; — oh, I recollect Currie Faver's promise — 
 thinks he has given me enough this session' — 
 
 Meanwhile, Robert weis quite interested by his 
 agreeable small talk. It is so charming to hear 
 great names mentioned familiarly by one personally 
 acquainted with them ; to learn that Palmerston and 
 Lord John can breakfast like ordinary mortals. By 
 and by, with a blush and a falter (for the mere matter 
 of his personal provision for life seemed so paltry 
 among these world-famed characters and their great 
 deeds, that he was almost ashamed to allude to it), 
 Robert Wynn ventured to make his request, that the 
 
 hou. mimber for C would go to the hon. Secretary 
 
 of the Board ot Patronage, and claim the fulfilment 
 of his promise. Suddenly the M.P. became grave and 
 altogether the senator, with hiq finger thoughtfully 
 upon his brow — the identical attitude which Grant 
 had commemorated on canvas, beaming from the 
 opposite walL 
 
 'An unfortunate juncture; close of the session, 
 when everybody wants to be off, and Ministers don't 
 need to swell their majorities any longer. I recollect 
 perfectly to what you allude; but, my dear young 
 friend, all these ministerial promises, as you term 
 them, are more or less conditional, and it may be 
 quite out of Mr. Currie Favor's power to fulfil this.' 
 
 'Then he should not have made it, sir,' said 
 Robert hotly. 
 
 'For mstance,' proceeded the hon. gentleman, not 
 noticing the interruption, 'the new arrangements of 
 the Commissioners renders it almost impossible that 
 
i 
 
 i8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 they should appoint to a clerkship, either super- 
 numerary or otherwise, while they are reducing the 
 ordinary staff. But I'll certainly go to Mr. Faver, 
 and remind him of the circumstance : we can only 
 be refused at worst. You may be assured of my 
 warmest exertions in your behalf : any request from a 
 member of your family ought to be a command with 
 me, Mr. V/ynn.' 
 
 Eobert's feelings of annoyance gave way to gratifica- 
 tion at Mr. A 's blandness, which, however, had a 
 
 Blight acid behind. 
 
 'And though times are greatly altered, I don't 
 forget our old electioneering, when your father pro- 
 posed me on my first hustings. Greatly altered, 
 Mr. Wynn ; greatly altered. I must go to the morniug 
 sitting now, but I'll seid you a note as to the result 
 of my interview. You must have much to see about 
 London. I quite envy you your first visit to such a 
 world of wonders ; I am sure you will greatly enjoy 
 it. Good morning, Mr. Wynn. I hope I shall have 
 good news for you.' 
 
 And so Robert was bowed out, to perambulate the 
 streets in rather bitter humour. Was he to return 
 to the poor, scantily supplied home, and continue a 
 drag on its resources, lingering out his days in 
 illusive hopes ? Oh that his strong hands and strong 
 heart had some scope for their energies ! He paused 
 in one mighty torrent of busy faces and eager foot- 
 steps, and despised himself for his inaction. All these 
 had business of one kind or other ; all were earnestly 
 intent upon their calling; but he was a waif and a 
 straw on the top of the tide, with every muscle 
 stoutly strung, and every faculty of his brain clear 
 
 i ' 
 
WHY ROBERT WYNN EMIGRATED. 19 
 
 and sound. Would he let the golden years of his 
 youth slip by, without laying any foundation for 
 independence ? "Was this Civil Service appointment 
 worth the weary waiting ? Emigration had often 
 before presented itself as a courf.e offering certain 
 advantages. Mr. Holt's conversation had brightened 
 the idea. For his family, as well as for himself, it 
 would be beneficial. The poor proud father, who had 
 frequently been unable to leave his house for weeks 
 together, through fear of arrest for debt, would be 
 happier with an ocean between him and the ancestral 
 estates, thronged with memories of fallen ailluence : 
 the young brothers, Arthur and George, who were 
 nearing man's years without ostensible object or 
 employment, would find both abundantly in the 
 labour of a new country and a settler's life. Robert 
 had a whole picture sketched and filled in during half 
 an hour's sit in the dingy coffee - room ; from the 
 shanty to the settlement was portrayed by his fertile 
 fancy, till he was awakened from his reverie by the 
 hearty voice of Hiram Holt. 
 
 * I thought for a minute you were asleep, with 
 your hat over your eyes. I hope you're thinking of 
 Canada, young man V 
 
 Eobert could not forbear smiling. 
 
 'Now,' said Mr. Holt, apparently speaking aloud 
 a previous train of thought, ' of all things in this 
 magnificent city of yours, which I'm free to confess 
 beats Quebec and Montreal by a long chalk, nothing 
 seems queerer to me than the thousands of young 
 men in your big shops, who are satisfied to struggle 
 all their lives in a poor unmanly way, while our 
 millions of apres are calling out for hands to fell the 
 
90 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 forests and own the estates, and create happy homes 
 along our unrivalled rivers and lakes. The young 
 fellow that sold me these gloves' — showing a new 
 pair on his hands — < would make as tine a backwoods- 
 man as I ever saw — six feet high, and strong in 
 proportion. It's the sheerest waste of material to 
 have that fellow selling stockings.' 
 
 But Mr. Holt found Robert Wynn rather taciturn ; 
 whereupon he observed : * I'm long enough in the 
 world young man, to see that to-day's experience, 
 whatever it has been, has bated your hopes a bit; 
 the crest ain't so plumy as last night. But I say 
 you'll yet bless the disappointment, whatever it is, 
 that fcTces you over the water to our land of plenty. 
 Come out of this overcrowded nation, out where 
 there's elbow-room and free breathing. Tell you 
 what, young man, the world doesn't want you in 
 densely packed England and Ireland, but you're 
 wanted in Canada, every thew and sinew that you 
 have. The market for such as you is overstocked 
 here : out with us you'll be at a premium. Don't 
 be offended if I've spoke plain, for Hiram Holt is not 
 one of them that can chop a pine into matches: 
 whatever I am thinking, out with the whole of it. 
 But if you ever want a friend on the Ottawa' — 
 
 Robert asserted that he had no immediate idea of 
 emigi'ation ; his prospects at home were not bad, etc. 
 He could not let this rough stranger see the full cause 
 he had for depression. 
 
 * Not bad ! but I tell you they're nothing compared 
 to the prospects you may carve out for yourself with 
 that clever head and those able hands.' Again 
 Mr. Holt seized the opportunity of dilating on the 
 
 ii 
 
WHY ROBERT IVYNN EMIGRA TED. 2 1 
 
 perfections of his beloved colony : had he been a paid 
 agent, he could not have more zealously endeavoured 
 to enlist Robert as an emigrant, lint it was all a 
 product of national enthusiasm, and of the pride whicli 
 Canadians may well feel concerning their ma.rnificent 
 country. " 
 
 Next morning a few courteous lines from the hon 
 
 member for C county infonued Mr. Wynn with 
 
 much regret, that, as he had anticipated, Mr. Currie 
 Faver had for the present no nomination for the 
 department referred to, nor would have for at least 
 twelve months to come. 
 
 'Before which time, I trust,' soliloquized Robert 
 a httle fiercely, ' I shall be independent of all their 
 favours.' And amidst some severe reflections on the 
 universal contempt accorded to the needy, and the 
 corrupted state of society in England, which estimates 
 a man by the length of his purse chiefly, Robert 
 Wynn formed the resolution that he would go to 
 Canada. ^ 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 CKOSSING TUE ' FERRY.' 
 
 3i I 
 
 |i 
 
 ROBERT WYNN returned home to Dunore, 
 having gained nothing by his London trip 
 but a little of that bitter though salutary 
 tonic called experience. His resolve did 
 not waver — nay, it became his day-dream ; but mani- 
 fold obstacles occurred in the attempt to realize it. 
 Family pride was one of the most stubborn ; and not 
 until all hope from home resources was at an end, did 
 his father give consent. 
 
 About a month after his meeting with Hiram Holt 
 in the London coffee-house, he and his brother Artlmr 
 found themselves on board a fine emigrant vessel, 
 passing down the river Lee i.ito Cork harbour, under 
 the leadership of a little black steam-tug. Grievous 
 had been the wailing of the passengers at parting with 
 their kinsfolk on the quay ; but, somewhat stilled by 
 this time, they leaned in groups on the bulwarks, or 
 were squatted about on deck among their infinitude of 
 red boxes and brilliant tins, watching the villa- whitened 
 shores gliding by rapidly. Only an occasional verna- 
 cular ejaculation, such as ' Oh, wirra ! wirra ! ' or, * Och 
 hone, mavrone ! ' betokened the smouldering remains 
 
 ai 
 
CROSSING THE 'FERRY: 
 
 23 
 
 IS 
 
 ii 
 Is 
 
 of emotion in the frieze coats and gaudy shawls 
 assembled for'ard : the wisest of the party were nrrang- 
 ing their goods and chattels 'tween-decks, where they 
 must encamp for a month or more ; but the majority, 
 with truly Celtic improvidence, will wait till they are 
 turned down at nightfall, and have a general scramble 
 in the dusk. 
 
 Now the noble Cove of Cork stretches before them, 
 a sheet of glassy water, dotted with a hundred sail, 
 from the base of the sultry hill faced with terraces 
 and called Queenstown, to the far Atlantic beyond the 
 Heads. Heavy and dark loom the fortified Govern- 
 ment buildings of Haulbowline and the prisons of 
 Spike Islaiid, casting forbidding shadows on the 
 western margin of the tide. Quickly the steam-tug 
 and her follower thread their way among islets and 
 moored barques and guard-ships, southward to the sea. 
 No pause anywhere ; the passengers of the brig Ocean 
 Queen are shut up in a world of their own for a 
 while ; yet they do not feel the bond with mother 
 country quite severed till they have cleared the last 
 cape, and the sea-line lies wide in view ; nor even 
 then, till the little black tug casts ofif the connecting 
 cables, and rounds away back across the bar, within 
 the jaws of the bay. 
 
 Hardly a breath of breeze : but such as blows is 
 favourable ; and with infinite creaking all sail is set. 
 The sound wakes up emigrant sorrow afresh ; the 
 wildly contagious Irish cry is raised, much to the 
 discomposure of the captain, who stood on the quarter- 
 deck with Eobert Wynn. 
 
 ' The savages ! they will be fitting mates for Red 
 Indians, and may add a stave or two to the war- 
 
34 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 \\ I 
 
 V^ 
 
 whoop. One would think they were all going to the 
 bottom immediately.' He walkod forward to quell the 
 noise, if possible, but he might as well have stamped 
 and roared at Niagara. Not a voice cared for his 
 threats or his rage, but those within reach of his arm. 
 The choleric little man had to come back baffled. 
 
 ' Masther Robert, would ye like 'em to stop ? ' 
 whispered a great hulking peasant who had been 
 looking on ; ' for if ye would, I'll do it while ye'd be 
 taking a pinch of snuff.' 
 
 Andy Callaghan disappeared somewhere for a 
 moment, and presently emerged with an old violin, 
 which he bc^an to scrape vigorously. Even his tuning 
 was irresistibly comical; and he had not been playing 
 a lively jig for ten minutes, before two or three 
 couples were on their feet performing the figure. 
 Soon an admiring circle, four deep, collected about the 
 dancers. The sorrows of the exiles were effectually 
 diverted, for that time. 
 
 *A clever fellow,' quoth the captain, regarding 
 Andy's red hair and twinkling eyes with some admira- 
 tion. * A diplomatic tendency, Mr. Wynn, which may 
 be valuable. Your servant, I presume ? ' 
 
 'A former tenant of my father's, who wished to 
 follow our fortunes,' replied Robert ' He's a faithful 
 fellow, though not much more civilised than the rest.* 
 
 That grand ocean bluf^ the Old Head of Kinsale, 
 was now in the offing, and misty ranges of other 
 promoxitories beyond, at whose base was perpetual 
 foant Robert turned away with a sigh, and descended 
 to the cabins. In the small square box allotted to 
 them, he found Arthur lying in his berth, reading Mr& 
 Traill's Emigrant e Guide. 
 
CROSSING THE * FERRY. 
 
 «5 
 
 to 
 
 ful 
 
 to 
 
 Lrs. 
 
 * I've been wondering what became of you ; you ve 
 not been on deck since we left Cork..' 
 
 ' Of course not. I should have been blubbering 
 like a schoolboy ; and as I had eno\igh of that last 
 night, I mean to stay here till we're out of sight of 
 land.' 
 
 Little trace of the stoicism he professed was to be 
 seen in the tender eyes which had for an hour been 
 fixed on the same page ; but Arthur was not yet 
 sufficiently in manhood's years to know that deep 
 feeliuGj is an honour, and not a weakness. 
 
 Towards evening, the purple mountain ranges of 
 Kerry were fast fading over the waters ; well-known 
 peaks, outlines familiar from childhood to the dwellers 
 at DuDore, were sinking beneath the great circle of 
 the sea. Cape Clear is left behind, and the lonely 
 Fassnet lighthouse ; the Ocean Queen is coming to 
 the blue water, and the long solemn swell raises and 
 sinks her with pendulum-like regularity. 
 
 ' Ah, then, Masther Eobert, an' we're done wid the 
 poor ould counthry for good an' all ! ' Andy Calla- 
 ghan's big bony hands are clasped in a tremor of 
 emotion that would do honour to a picturesque Italian 
 exile. ' The beautiful ould counthry, as has the greenest 
 grass that ever grew, an' the clearest water that ever 
 ran, an' the purtiest girls in the wide world ! An' 
 we're goin' among sthrangers, to pull an' dhrag for our 
 bit to ate ; but we'll never be happy till we see them 
 blue hills and green fields once more ! ' 
 
 Mr. Wynn could almost have endorsed the senti- 
 ment just then. Perhaps Anr'y's low spirits were 
 intensified by the uncomfortable motion of the ship, 
 which was beginning to strike landsmen with that 
 
•'T 
 
 I i 
 i ii 
 
 96 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 \ J. 
 
 rolling headache, the sure precursor of a worse visita- 
 tion. Suffice it to say, that the mass of groaning 
 misery in the steerage and cabins, on the subsequent 
 night, would melt the heart of any but the most 
 hardened ' old salt.* Did not Kobert and Arthur 
 regret their emigration bitterly, when shakeu by the 
 fangs of the fell demon, sea - pickness ? Did not a 
 chance of going to the bottom seem a trivial calamity ? 
 Answer, ye who have ever been in like pitiful case. 
 We draw a curtain over the abject miser: es of three 
 days ; over the Dutch - built captain's unseasonable 
 joking and huge laughter — he, that could eat junk 
 and biscuit if the ship was in Maelstrom ! Robert 
 could have thrown his boots at him with pleasure, 
 while the short, broad figure stood in the doorway 
 during his diurnal visit, chewing tobacco, and talking 
 of all the times he had crossed ' the ferry,' as he 
 familiarly designated the Atlantic Ocean. The sick 
 passengers, to a man, bore him an animosity, owing to 
 his ostentatiously rude health and iron nerves, which 
 is, of all exhibitions, the most oppressive to a prostrate 
 victim of the sea-fiend. 
 
 The third evening, an altercation became audible on 
 the companion-ladder, as if some ship's oflBcer were 
 keeping back scmebody else who was determined ♦^j 
 come below. 
 
 'That's Andy Callacrhan's voice,' said Arthur. 
 
 ' Let me down, will ye, to see the young raasthers V 
 came muffled through the doors and partition. 'Look 
 here, now,' — in a coaxing tone, — ' I don't like to be 
 cross ; but though I'm so bad afther the sickness, I'd 
 set ye back in your little hole there at the fut of the 
 stairs as aisy as I'd put a snail in its shell.' : ._ 
 
CEOS^sING THE 'FEURy.- 
 
 27 
 
 At this juncture Eobert opened their state-room 
 door, and prevented further collision. Andy's lean 
 figure had become gaunter than ever. 
 
 ' They thought to keep me from seeing ye, the 
 villains ! I'd knock every mother's son of 'em into 
 the middle o' next week afore I'd be kep' aT/ay. Sure 
 I was comin' often enough before, but the dinth of the 
 sickness prevented me ; an' other times I was chucked 
 about like a child's marvel, pitched over an' hether by 
 the big waves banging the side of the vessel Masther 
 Robert, asthore, it's I that's shaking in the middle of 
 my iligant new frieze shute like a withered pea in a 
 pod — I'm got so thin iutirely.' 
 
 ' We are not much better ourselves,' said Arthur, 
 laughing ; ' but I hope the worst of it is over.' 
 
 ' I'd give the fuU of my pockets in goold, if I had it 
 this minit,' said Andy, with great emphasis, ' to set 
 me foot on the nakedest sod of bog that's in Quid 
 Ireland thia day ! an' often I abused it ; but throth, 
 the purtiest sight in life to me would be a good pratie- 
 field, an' maself walkin' among the ridges ! ' 
 
 'Well, Andy, we mustn't show the white-feather 
 in that way ; we could not expect to get to America 
 without being sick, or suffering some disagreeables.' 
 
 * When yer honours are satisfied, 'tisn't for the likes 
 of me to grumble,' Andy said resignedly. ' Only if 
 everybody knew what was before then-, they mightn't 
 do many a thing, maybe ! * 
 
 ' Very tnie, Andy.' 
 
 * So we're aU say in' down in the steerage, sir. But 
 oh, Masther Robert, I a'most forgot to tell ye, account 
 of that spalpeen that thought to hindher yer own 
 fosther-brother from comin' to see ye ; but there'a the 
 
28 
 
 CEDAP. CREEK. 
 
 most wondherful baste out in the say this minit ; an' 
 it's spoatin' up water like the fountain that used to be 
 at Dunore, only a power bigger; an' lyin' a-top of the 
 waves like an island, fqr all the world I I'm thinkin' 
 he wouldn't make much of cranching up the ship like 
 a hazel nut.' 
 
 ' A whale ! I wonder will they get out the boats/ 
 said Arthur, with sudden animation. * I think I'm 
 well enough to go on deck, Bob : I'd like to have a 
 shot at the fellow.' 
 
 'A very useless expenditure of powder,' rejoined 
 Eobert. But Arthur, boy-like, sprang up-stairs with 
 the rifle, which had often done execution among the 
 wild-fowl of his native moorlands. Certainly it was a 
 feat to hit such a prominent mark as that mountain 
 of blubber ; and Arthur felt justly ashamed of himself 
 when the animal beat the water furiously and dived 
 headlong in his pain. 
 
 Now the only other cabin passengers on board the 
 brig were a retired military officer and his family, 
 consisting of a son and two daughters. They had 
 made acquaintance with the Wynns on the first day of 
 the voyage, but since then there had been a necessary 
 suspense' n of intercourse. And it was a certain mild 
 but decided disapproval in Miss Armytage's grave 
 glance, when Arthur turned round and saw her sitting 
 on the poop with her father and little sister, which 
 brought the colour to his cheek, for he felt he had 
 been guilty of thoughtless aad wanton cruelty. He 
 bow^d and moved farther away. But Kobert joined 
 them, and passed half an hour very contentedly in 
 gazing at a grand sunset. The dosing act of which 
 was as follows : a dense black brow of oloud on the 
 
 .*i0^ 
 
/'■:>. 
 
 CROSSING THE 'FERRY.' 
 
 29 
 
 ■:^-^- 
 
 margin of the sea ; beneath it burst a flaming bolt of 
 light from the sun's great eye, along the level waters. 
 Far in the zenith were broad beams radiating across 
 other clouds, like golden pathways. Slowly the dark 
 curtain seemed to close down over the burning glory 
 at the horizon. ' How very beautiful 1 ' exclaimed 
 Miss Armytage. 
 
 ' Yes, my dear Edith, except as a weather barometer,' 
 said her father. ' In that point of view it means- — 
 storm.' 
 
 * Oh, papa ! ' ejaculated the little girl, nestling close 
 — ^not to him, but to her elder sister, whose hand 
 instantly clasped hers with a reassuring pressure, while 
 the quiet face looked down at the perturbed child, 
 smiling sweetly. It was almost the first smile Robert 
 had seen on her face ; it made ]\Iiss Armytage quite 
 handsome for the moment, he thought. 
 
 Miss Armytage, caring very little for his thought, 
 was occupied an instant with saying something in 
 a low tone to Jay, which gradually brightened the 
 small countenance again. Robert caught the v/ords, 
 ' Our dear Saviour.' They reminded him of his 
 mother. 
 
 Captain Armytage was correct in his prediction: 
 before midnight a fierce north-easter was raging on 
 tho sea. The single beneficial result was, that it fairly 
 cured all maladies but terror ; for, after clinging to 
 their berths during some hours with every muscle of 
 their bodies, lest they should be swung off and smashed 
 in the lurches of the vessel, the passengers arose next 
 morning well and hungry. 
 
 * I spind the night on me head, mostly,' said Andy 
 Callaghan. ' Troth, I never knew befc re how the flies 
 
I, 
 
 30 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 ii 
 
 ii 
 
 %^ « 
 
 managed to walk on the ceilin' back downwards ; but 
 a thrifle more 0' practice would tache it to meself, for 
 half me time the floor was above at the rafters over 
 me head. I donno rightly how to walk on my feet 
 the day aftlier it.' 
 
 This was the only bad weather they experienced, aa 
 viewed nautically : even the captain allowed that it 
 had been ' a stiffish gale ; ' but subsequent tumults of 
 the winds and waves, which seemed tremendous to 
 unsophisticated landsmen, were to him mere ocean 
 frolics. And so, while each day the air grew colder, 
 they neared the banks of Newfoundland, where eveiy- 
 body who could devise fishing-tackle tried to catch the 
 famous cod of those waters. Arthur was one of the 
 successful captors, having spent a laborious day in 
 the main-chains for the purpose. At eventide he was 
 found teaching little Jay how to hold a line, and how 
 to manage when a bite came. Her mistakes and her 
 delight amused him : both lasted till a small panting 
 fish was pulled up. 
 
 * There's a whiting for you, now,* said he, ' all of 
 your own catching.' 
 
 Jay looked at it regretfully, as the poor little gills 
 opened and shut in vain efforts to breathe the smother- 
 ing air, and the pretty silver colouring deadened as its 
 life went. ' I am very sorry,' she said, folding her 
 hands together ; ' I think I ought not to have killed 
 it only to amuse myself.' And she walked away to 
 where her sister was sitting. 
 
 ' What a strange child ! ' thought Arthur, as he 
 watched the little figure crossing the deck. But he 
 wound up the tackle, and angled no more for that 
 
 evemng. 
 
 Hi 
 
CROSSING THE 'FERRY: 
 
 3' 
 
 le 
 le 
 
 It 
 
 The calm was next day deepened by a fog ; a dense 
 haze settled on the sea, seeming by sheer weight to 
 still its restless motion. Now was the skipper much 
 more perturbed than during the rough weather : wrapt 
 in a mighty pea-coat, he kept a perpetual look-out in 
 person, chewing the tobacco meanwhile as if he bore 
 it an animosity. Frequent gatherings of drift-ice 
 passed, and at times ground together with a disagree- 
 ably strong sound. An intense chill pervaded the 
 atmosphere, — a cold unlike what Kobert or Arthur 
 had ever felt in the frosts of Ireland, it was so much 
 more keen and penetrating. 
 
 ' The captain says it is from icebergs,' said the latter, 
 drawing up the collar of his greatcoat about his ears, 
 as thev walked the deck. * I wish we saw one — 
 at a safe distance, of course. But this fog is so 
 blinding ' — 
 
 Even as he spoke, a vast whitish berg loomed 
 abeam, immensely higher than the topmasts, in towers 
 and spires snow-crested. What great precipices of 
 grey glistening ice, as it passed by, a mighty half- 
 distinguishable mass ! what black rifts of destructive 
 depth ! The ship surged backward before the great 
 refluent wave of its movement. A sensation of awe 
 struck the bravest beholder, as slowly and majestically 
 the huge berg glided astern, and its grim features were 
 obliterated by the heavy haze. 
 
 Both drew a relieved breath when the grand appari- 
 tion had passed. ' I wish Miss Armytage had seen it,' 
 said Arthur. 
 
 ' Why ? ' rejoined Eobert, though the same thought 
 was just in his own mird. 
 
 * Oh, because it was so magnificent, and I am sure 
 
 _^ i 
 
! Il 
 
 3* 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 « Mi 
 !•: i 
 
 she would admire it. I could almost make a poem 
 about it myself. Don't you know the feeling, as if the 
 sight were too large, too imposing for your mind some- 
 how ? And the danger only intensifies that.' 
 
 ' Still, I wish we were out of their reacli. The 
 skipper's temper will be unbearable till then.' 
 
 It improved considerably when tii^ for; rose off the 
 sea, a day or two subsequently, and a head-wind sprang 
 up, carrying them towards the Gulf. One morning, a 
 low grey stripe of cloud on the horizon was shown to 
 the passengers as part of Newfoundland. Long did 
 Eobert Wynn gaze at that dim outline, possessed by 
 all the strange feelings which belong to the first sight 
 of the new world, especially when it is to be a future 
 home. No shame to his manhood if some few tears 
 for the dear old home dimmed his eyes as he looked. 
 But soon that shadow of land disappeared, and, passing 
 Cape Eace at a long distance, they entered the great 
 estuary of the St. Lawrence., which mighty inlet, if it 
 had place in our little Europe, would be fitly termed 
 the Sea of Labrador ; but where all the features of 
 nature are colossal, it ranks only as a gulf. 
 
 One morning, when little Jay had gone on deck for 
 an ante- breakfast run, she came back in a state of high 
 delight to the cabin. * Oh, Edith, such beautiful birds! 
 such lovely little birds ! and the sailors say they're 
 from the land, though we cannot see it anywhere. 
 How tired they must be after such a long fly, all the 
 way from beyond the edge of the sea ! Do come and 
 look at them, dear Edith — do come ! ' 
 
 Sitting on the shrouds were a pair of tiny land 
 birds, no bigger than tomtits, and wearing red top- 
 knots on their heads. How welcome were the con 
 
m 
 
 CROSSING THE 'FERRY.' 33 
 
 fiding little creatures to the passengers, who had been 
 rocked at sea for ne.irly five weeks, and hailed these 
 as sure harbingers of solid ground ! They came down 
 to pick up Jay's crumbs of biscuit, and twittered 
 familiarly. The captain offered to have one caught 
 for her, but, after a minute's eager aapiiescence, she 
 declined. ' 1 would like to feel it in my hand,' said 
 she, ' but it is kinder to let it fly about wherever it 
 pleases.' 
 
 ' Why, you Httle Miss Considerate, is that your 
 principle always ? ' asked Arthur, who had made a 
 great playmate of her. She did not understand his 
 question ; and on his explaining in simpler words, ' Oh, 
 you know I always try to think what God would like! 
 That is sure to be right, isn't it ? ' 
 
 ' I suppose so,' said Arthur, with sudden gravity. 
 
 'Edith taught me— she does just that,' continued 
 the child. ' I don't think she ever does anythin^r that 
 is wrong at alL But oh, Mr. Wynn,' and he felt a 
 sudden tightening of her grasp on his hand, ' what big 
 bird is that ? look how frightened the little ones are \' 
 
 A hawk, which had been circling in the air, now 
 made a swoop on the rigg^.iig, but was anticipated by 
 his quarry: one of the birds flew actually into Arthur's 
 hands, and the other got in among some barrels which 
 stood amidships. 
 
 • Ah,' said Arthur, ' they were driven out here by 
 that chap, I suppose. Now I'll give you the pleasure 
 of feeling one of them in youV hands.' 
 
 * But that wicked hawk ! ' 
 
 'And that wicked Jay, ever to eat chickens or 
 mutton.' 
 
 ' Ah I but that is different. How his little heart 
 
r 
 
 34 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 1 
 
 beats and flutters ! I wish I had him for a pet. 
 would love you, little birdie, indeed I would.' 
 
 For some days they stayed by the ship, descending 
 on deck for crumbs regularly furnished them by Jay, 
 to whom the office of feeding them was deputed by 
 common consent. But nearing the island of Anticosti, 
 they took wing for shore with a parting twitter, and! 
 like Noah's dove, did not return. Jay would not 
 allow that they were ungrateful 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ^ UP THE ST. LAWRENCE. 
 
 jITTLE JAY could hardly be persuaded into 
 tlic belief tliat they were now sailinrr on a 
 river; that the swift broad tide bearing 
 against them, more than one hundred and 
 twenty miles across at this island of Anticosti, was 
 the mouth of a stream having source in a mountain 
 tar away, and once narrow enough to step over 
 Arthur showed her the St. Lawrence on a map hun.^ 
 Ill the saloon ; but such demonstration did not seem 
 to convince her much. ' Then where are the banks ? 
 My geography says that a river always has banks ' 
 was her argument. ' 
 
 ^ In the evening he was able to show her the wide 
 pitiless snow ranges of Labrador, whence blew a keen 
 desert air. Perpetual pine-woods— looking like a black 
 band set agamst the encroaching snow— edged the 
 land, whence the brig was some miles distant,°tackincr 
 to gam the benefit of the breeze off shore. " 
 
 Presently came a strange and dismal sound wafted 
 over the waters from the far pine forests— a hi.^h 
 prolonged howl, taken up and echoed by scores of 
 ravenous throats, repeated again and again, augment- 
 
36 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 ing in fierce cadoucea. Jay caught Mr. Wynn's arm 
 closer. ' Like wolves/ said Arthur ; ' but we are a 
 long way off.' 
 
 ' I must go and tell Edith,' said the child, evidently 
 fueling safer with that sister than in any other earthly 
 care. After hu had brought her to the cabin, ho 
 returned ou deck, listening with a curious sort of 
 pleasure to the wild sounds, and looking at the dim 
 outlines of the shore. 
 
 As darkness dropped over the circle of land and 
 water, a light seemed to rise behind those hills, reveal- 
 ing their solid shapes anew, stealing silently aloft into 
 the air, like a pale and pure northern dawn. At first 
 he thought it must be the rising moon, but no orb 
 appeared ; and as the brilliance deepened, intensified 
 into colour, and shot towards the zenith, he knew it 
 for the aurora borealis. Soon the stars were blinded 
 out by the vivid sweeping flicker of its rays ; hues 
 bright and varied as the rainbow thrilled along the 
 iridescent roadways to the central point above, and 
 tongues of flame leaped from arches in the north-west. 
 Burning scarlet and amber, purple, green, trembled in 
 pulsations across the ebony surface of the heavens, as 
 if some va^t. fire beneath the horizon was flashing 
 forth coruscations of its splendour to the dark hemi- 
 sphere beyond. The floating banners of angels is a 
 hackneyed symbol to express the oppressive magnifi- 
 cence of a Canadian aurora. 
 
 The brothers were fascinated : their admiration had 
 no words. 
 
 * This is as bad as the iceberg for making a fellow's 
 brain feel too big for his head,' said Arthur at last 
 ' "We've seen two sublime things, at all events, Bob.' 
 
 I 
 
 jr 
 
UP THE ST. LA iVRENCE. 
 
 37 
 
 a 
 
 s 
 It 
 
 Cloar frosty weather succeeded — weather without 
 the sharp sting of cold, hut elastic and pure as on a 
 mountain peak. Being Jaecalmed for a day or two olf 
 a wooded point, the skipper sent a boat ashore for fuel 
 and water. Arthur eagerly volunteered to help ; and 
 after half an hour's rowing *;hrouf^h the calm blue bay, 
 he had the satisfaction to prees his foot on the soil of 
 Ix)wer Canada. 
 
 There was a small clearing beside a brook which 
 formed a narrow deep cove, a sort of natural miniature 
 dock where their boat floated. A log hut, mossed 
 with years, vaa set back some fifty yards towards 
 the forest. What pines were those I what giants of 
 arborescenoe 1 Seventy feet of massive shaft without a 
 bough ; and then a dense thicket of black inwoven 
 branches, making a dusk beneath the fullest sunshine. 
 
 ' I tell J ou we haven't trees in the old country ; our 
 oaks and larches are only shrubs,' he said to Kobert, 
 when narrating his expedition. 'Wait till you see 
 pines such as I saw to-day. Looking along the forest 
 glades, those great pillars upheld the roof everywhere 
 in endless succession. And the silence ! as if a human 
 creature never breathed among them, though the log 
 hut was close by. Wlien I went in, I saw a French 
 habUan, as they call him, who minds the lighthouse on 
 the point, with his Indian wife, and her squaw mother 
 dressed in a blanket, and of course babies — the queerest 
 little brown things you ever saw. One of them was 
 tied into a hollow board, and buried to the chin in 
 " punk," by way of bed-clothes.' 
 
 ' And what is punk ? ' asked Robert. 
 
 ' Eotten wood powdered to dust,' answered Arthur, 
 with an air of superior information. ' It's soft enough ; 
 3 
 
jgm 
 
 
 1 i 
 
 
 ?l 
 
 38 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 and the poor little animal's head was just visible, so 
 that it looked like a young live mummy. But the 
 grandmother squaw was even uglier than the grand- 
 children ; a thousand and one lines seamed her coppery 
 face, which was the colour of an old penny piece rather 
 burnished from use. And she had eyes. Bob, little 
 and wide apart, and black as sloes, with a snaky look. 
 I don't think she ever took them off me, and 'twas no 
 manner of use to stare at her in return. So, as I 
 could not understand what they were saying, — gabbling 
 a sort of 'patois of bad French and worse English, with 
 a sprinkling of Indian, — and as the old lady's gaze was 
 getting uncomfortable, I went out again among my 
 friends, the mighty pines. I hope we shall have some 
 about our location, wherever we settle.' 
 
 ' And I trust more intimate acquaintance won't make 
 us wish them a trifle fewer and slighter,' remarked Eobert. 
 
 ' Well, I am afraid my enthusiasm would fade 
 before an acre of such clearing,' rejoined Arthur 
 ' But, Bob, the colours of the foliage are lovelier than 
 I can telL \o\\ see a little of the tinting even from 
 this distance. The woods have taken pattern by the 
 aurora : it seems we are now in the Indian summer, 
 and the maple trees are just burning with scarlet and 
 gold leaves.' 
 
 ' I suppose you did not see many of our old country 
 trees ? * 
 
 ' Hardly any. Pine is the most plentiful of ail : 
 how I like its sturdy independent look ! as if it were 
 used to battling with snowstorms, and got strong by 
 the exercise. The mate showed me hickory and 
 hemlock, and a lot of other foreigners, while the men 
 were cutting logs in the bush.' 
 
UP THE ST. LA WRENCE. 
 
 39 
 
 I 
 
 :S 
 
 en 
 
 'You have picked up the Canadian phraseology 
 already,' observed Eobert. 
 
 ' Yes ; ' and Arthur reddened slightly. * Impossible 
 to avoid that, when you're thrown among fellows that 
 speak nothing else. But I wanted to tell you, that 
 coming back we hailed a boat from one of those out- 
 ward-bound ships lying yonder at anchor : the mate 
 says their wood and water is half a pretence. Tliey 
 are smuggling skins, in additioii to their regular freight 
 of lumber.' 
 
 * Smuggling skins ! ' 
 
 ' For the skippers' private benefit, you understand : 
 furs, such as sable, marten, and squirrel; they send 
 old ship's stores ashore to trade with vagrant Indians, 
 and then sew up the skins in their clothes, between 
 the lining and the stuff, so as to pass the Custom- 
 house officers at home. Bob ! I'm longing to bo 
 ashore for good. You don't know what it is to feel 
 firm ground under one's feet after six weeks' unsteady 
 footing. I'm longing to get out of this floating prison, 
 and begin our life among the pines.' 
 
 Robert shook his head a little sorrowfully. Now 
 that they were nearing the end of the voyage, many 
 cares pressed upon him, which to the volatile nalnre 
 of Arthur seemed only theme for adventure. Whither 
 to bend their steps in the first instance, was a matter 
 for grave deliberation. They had letters of introduc- 
 tion to a gentleman near Carillon on the Ottawa, and 
 others to a family at Toronto. Former friends had 
 settled beside the lonely Lake Simcoe, midway between 
 Huron and Ontario. Many an hour of the becalmed 
 days he spent over the maps and guide-books they 
 had brought, trying to study out a result. Jay came 
 
'r 
 
 40 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 11 
 J 
 
 i . 
 
 up to him one afternoon, as he leaned his head on his 
 hand perplexedly. 
 
 ' What ails you ? have you a headache ? ' 
 
 ' No, I am only puzzled.' 
 
 Her own small elbow rested on the taflrail, and her 
 little fingers dented the fair round cheek, in unwitting 
 imitation of his posture. 
 
 ' Is it about a lesson ? But you don't have to get 
 lessons.' 
 
 * No ; it is about what is best for me to do when 1 
 land.' 
 
 ' Edith asks God always ; and He shows lier what is 
 best,' said the child, looking at him wistfully. Again 
 he thought of his pious prayerful mother. She might 
 have spoken through the childish lips. He closed his 
 books, remarking that they were stupid- Jay gave 
 him her hand to walk up and down the deck. He 
 had never made it a custom to consult God, or refer to 
 Him in matters of daily life, though theoretically he 
 acknowledged His pervading sovereignty. To procure 
 the guidance of Infinite V/isdom would be well worth 
 a prayer. Something strong as a chain held him bac> 
 — the pride of his consciously unrenewed heart. 
 
 When the weather became favourable, they passed 
 up the river rapidly ; and a succession of the noblest 
 views opened around them. No panorama of the 
 choice spots oi earth could be lovelier. Lofty granite 
 islets, such as Kamouraska, which attains an altitude 
 of five hundred feet; bold promontories and deep basin 
 baya ; magnificent ranges of bald blue mountains 
 inland; and, as theyneared Grosse Isle and the quaran- 
 tine ground, the soft beauties of civilisation wore 
 superadded Many ships of all nations lay at anchor ; 
 
 -A? " 
 
VP THE ST. LA WRENCE, 
 
 4t 
 
 [e 
 in 
 
 \ 
 
 the shore was dotted with white farmhouses, and neat 
 villages clustered each round the glittering spire of a 
 church. 
 
 ' How very French that is, eh ? ' said Captain Army- 
 tage, referring to those shining metal roofs. ' Tinsel is 
 cliarnnng to the eyes of a hahitan. You know, I've 
 been in these parts before with my regiment: so I am 
 well acquainted with the ground. We have the parish 
 of St. Thomas to our left now, thickly spotted with 
 white cottages : St Joachim is on the opposite bank. 
 The nomenclature all about here smacks of the prevail- 
 ing faith and of the old masters.' 
 
 ' 'Tis a pity they didn't hold by the musical Indian 
 names,' said Eobert Wynn. 
 
 ' Well, yes, when the music don't amount to seven- 
 teen syllables a-piece, eh ? ' Captain Armytage had a 
 habit of saying * eh ' at every available point in his 
 sentences. Likewise had he the most gentleman-like 
 manners that could be, set off by the most gentleman- 
 like personal appearance ; yet, an inexplicable some- 
 thing about him prevented a thorough liking. Perhaps 
 it was the intrinsic selfishness, and want of sincerity 
 of nature, which one instinctively felt after a little 
 intercourse had worn off the dazzle of his engaging 
 demeanour. Perhaps Eobert had detected the odour 
 of rum, ineffectually concealed by the fragrance of a 
 smoking pill, more frequently tlian merely after dinner, 
 and seen the sad shadow on his daughter's face, follow- 
 ing. But that did not prevent Captain Armytage's 
 being a very agreeable and well-informed companion 
 nevertheless. 
 
 ' Granted that " Canada " is a pretty name,' said he ; 
 ' but it's Spanish more than native. " Aca nada," — 
 

 ^ CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 nothing here, — said the old Castilian voyagers, when 
 they saw no trace of gold mines or other wealth along the 
 coast. That's the story, at all events. But I hold to it 
 that our British John Cabot was the first who ever 
 visited tliis continent, unless there's truth in the old 
 Scandinavian tales, which I don't believe.' 
 
 But the gallant officer's want of credence does not 
 render it the less a fact, that, about the year 1001, 
 Biom Heriolson, an Icelander, was driven south from 
 Greenland by tempestuous weather, and discovered 
 Labrador. Subsequently, a colony was established for 
 trading purposes on some part of the coast named 
 Vinland ; but after a few Icelanders had made fortunes 
 of the peltries, and many had perished among the 
 Esquimaux, all record of the settlement is blotted out, 
 and Canada fades from the world's map tUl restored 
 by the exploration of the Cabots and Jacques Cartier. 
 The two former examined the seaboard, and the latter 
 first entered the grand estuary of the St. Lawrence, 
 which he named from the saint's day of its discovery ; 
 and he also was the earliest white man to gaze down 
 from the mighty precipice of Quebec, and pronounce 
 the obscure Indian name which was hereafter to 
 suggest a world-famed capital. Then, the dwellings 
 and navies of nations and generations yet unborn were 
 growing all around in hundreds of leagues of forest ; a 
 dread magnificence of shade darkeued the face of the 
 earth, amid which the red man reigned supreme. 
 Now, as the passengers of the good brig Ocean 
 Queen gazed upon it three centuries subsequently, 
 the slow axe had chopped away those forests of pine, 
 and the land was smiling with homesteads, and mapped 
 out in fields of rich farm produce : the encroachments 
 
UP THE ST. LAWRENCE. 43 
 
 of the irresistible white man had metamorpliosed the 
 country, and almost blotted out its olden masters. 
 Kobert Wynn began to realize the force of Hiram* 
 Holt's patriotic declaration, ' It's the finest country in 
 the world I * 
 
 ' And the loveliest ! ' he could have added, without 
 even a saving clause for his own old Emerald Isle, when 
 they passed the western point of the high wooded 
 island of Orleans, and came in view of the superb Falls 
 of Montmorenci ; two hundred and fifty feet of sheer 
 precipice, leaped by a broad full torrent, eager to reach 
 the great river flowing beyond, and which seemed 
 placidly to await the turbulent onset. As Robert 
 gazed, the fascination of a great waterfall came over 
 him Uke a spell. Who has not fell this beside Lodore, 
 or Foyers, or Tore ? Who has not found his eye 
 mesmerized by the falling sheet of dark poUshed 
 waters, merging into :'nowy spray and crowned with 
 rainbow crest, most changeable, yet most unchanged ? 
 Thousands of years has this been going on; you 
 may read it in the worn limestone layers ^that 'have 
 been eaten through, inches in centuries, by the im- 
 petuous stream. Thus, also, has the St. Lawrence 
 carved out its mile-wide bed beneath the Heights of 
 Abraham — the stepping-stone to Wolfe's fanie and 
 Canadian freedom. 
 
1 1^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 illl 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WOODEN-NESS. 
 
 |ILED on the summit of Cape Diamond, and 
 duplicated in shadow upon the deep waters 
 at its base, three hundred feet below, stands 
 tlie fortress of Quebec. Edinburgh and 
 Ehrcnbreitstein have been used as old-world symbols 
 to suggest its beauty and strength ; but the girdle of 
 mighty river is wanting to the former, and the latter is 
 a trifling miniature of the Canadian city-queen. Eobcrt 
 Wynn knew of no such comparisons ; he only felt how 
 beautiful was that mass of interwoven rock, and wood, 
 and town, reflected and rooted in the flood ; he scarcely 
 heard Captain Armytage at his left reminding him for 
 the tenth time that he had been here before with his 
 regiment. 
 
 * There's Point Levi to the south, a mile away, in 
 front of the mountains. Something unpleasant once 
 befell me in crossing there. I and anotlier sub. hired 
 a boat for a spree, just because the hummocks of ice 
 were knocking about on the tide, and all prudent 
 people stayed ashore ; but we went out in great dread- 
 nought boots, and bearskin caps over our ears, and 
 
 44 
 
WOODEN-NESS. 
 
 45 
 
 ly 
 
 amused ourselves with pulling about for a while 
 among the floes. I suppose the grinding of the ice 
 deafened us, and the hummocks hid us from view of 
 the people on board ; at all events, down came one of 
 the river steamers slap on us. I saw the red paddles 
 laden with ice at every revolution, and the next instant 
 was sinking, -eith my boots dragging me down like a 
 cannon-ball at my feet. I don't know how I kicked 
 them off, and rose : Gilpin, the other sub., had got 
 astride on the capsized boat; a rope flung from the 
 steamer struck me, and you may believe I grasped it 
 pretty tightly. D'ye see here ? ' and he showed 
 Robert a front tooth broken short : ' I caught with 
 my hands first, and they were so numb, and the ice 
 forming so fast on the dripping rope, that it slipped 
 till I held by my teeth; and another noose being 
 thrown around me lasso -wise, I was dragged in. A 
 narrow escape, eh ? * 
 
 * Very narrow,* echoed Robert. He noticed the 
 slight shiver that ran through the daughter's l:gure, 
 as she leaned on her father's arm. His handsome face 
 looked down at her carelessly. 
 
 'Edith shudders,' said he; 'I suppose thinking 
 that so wonderful an escape ought to be remembered 
 as more than a mere adventure.' To which he 
 received no answer, save an appealing look 
 from her soft eyes. He turned away with a short 
 laugh. 
 
 ' Well, at all events, it cured me of boating among 
 the ice. Ugh ! to be sucked in and smothered under a 
 floe would be frightfuL' 
 
 Mr. Wynn wishing to say something that would 
 prove he was not thinking of the little aside -soene 
 
46 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 between father and daughter, asked if the St. Iwawrence 
 was generally so full of ice in winter. 
 
 It was dillicult to believe now in the balmy atmo- 
 sphere of the Indian summer, with a dreamy sunshine 
 warming and gladdening all things, — the very apotheosis 
 of autumn, — that wintry blasts would howl along this 
 placid river, surging fierce ice-waves together, before 
 two months should pass. 
 
 ' There's rarely a bridge quite across,' replied 
 Captain Armytage ; ' except in the north channel, 
 aboTB the isle of Orleans, where the tide has less 
 force tb:.n in the southern, because it is narrower ; 
 but in the widest place the hummocks of ice are 
 frequently crushed into heaps fifteen or twenty 
 feet high, which makes navigation uncomfortably 
 exciting.' 
 
 ' I should think so,' rejoined Robert drily. 
 
 * Ah, you have yet to feel what a Canadian winter 
 is like, my young friend ; ' and Captain Armytage 
 nodded in that mysterious manner which is intended 
 to impress a 'griffin' with the cheering conviction that 
 unknown horrors are before him. 
 
 *I wonder what is that tall church, whose root 
 glitters so intensely ? ' 
 
 ' The cathedral, under its tin dome and spires. The 
 metal is said to hinder the lodging and help the 
 thawing of the snow, which might otherwise lie so 
 heavy as to endanger the roof.' 
 
 ' Oh, that is the reason ! ' ejaculated Robert, sud- 
 denly enlightened as to the needs-be of all the surface 
 glitter. 
 
 ' Rather a pretty effect, eh ? and absolutely unique, 
 except in Canadian cities. It suggests an infinitude 
 
 
WOODEN-NESS, 
 
 47 
 
 so 
 
 of greenhouses reflecting sunbeams at a variety of 
 angles of incidence.' 
 
 ' I presume tliis is the lower town, lying along the 
 quays ? ' said Robert. 
 
 ' Yes, like our Scottish Edinburgh, the old city, 
 being built in dangerous times, lies huddled close 
 together under protection of its guardian rock,' said 
 the Captain- ' But within, you could fancy yourself 
 suddenly transported into an old Normandy town, 
 among narrow crooked streets and high-gabled houses : 
 nor will the degree of cleanliness undeceive you. For, 
 unlike most other American cities, Quebec has a Past 
 as well as a Present : there is the French Past, narrow, 
 dark, crowded, hiding under a fortificaf-ion ; and there 
 is the English Present, embodied in the handsome 
 upper town, and the suburb of St. 'ohn's, broad, 
 well - built, airy. The line of distinct ion is very 
 marked between the pushing Anglo-Saxon's premises 
 and the tumble - down concerns of the stand - still 
 hdbitan! 
 
 Perhaps, also, something is due to the difTerence 
 between Protestant enterprise and Eoman Catholic 
 supineness. 
 
 ' There's a boat boarding us already,' said Eobert. 
 
 It proved to be the Custom-house officers; and when 
 their domiciliary visit was over, Kobert and Arthur 
 went ashore. Navigating through a desert expanse of 
 lumber rafts and a labyrinth of hundreds of hulls, 
 they stepped at last on the ugly wooden wharves 
 which line the water's edge, and were crowded 
 with the usual traffic of a port; yet singularly 
 noiseless, from the boarded pavement beneath the 
 wheels. 
 
 .» 
 
 ^1 
 
 1 
 
il ■ 
 
 48 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Though the brothers had never been in any part of 
 France, the peculiarly French aspect of the lower town 
 struck them immediately. The old-fasliioned dwellings, 
 with steep lofty roofs, accumulated in narrow alleys, 
 seemed to date back to an age long anterior to Mont- 
 calm's final struggle with Wolfe on the heights ; even 
 back, perchance, to the brave enthusiast Champlain's 
 first settlement under the superb headland, replacing 
 the Indian village of Stadacona. To perpetuate his 
 fame, a street alongside the river is called after him ; 
 and though his * New France ' has long since joined 
 the dead names of extinct colonies, the practical eflfects 
 of his early toil and struggle remain in this American 
 Gibraltar which he originated. 
 
 Andy Callaghan had begged leave to accompany his 
 young masters ashore, and marched at a respectful 
 distance behind them, along that very Champlain 
 Street, looking about him with unfeigned astonish- 
 ment. * I suppose the quarries is all used up in 
 these parts, for the houses is wood, an' the churches 
 is wood, and the sthreets has wooden stones ondher 
 our feet,' he soliloquized, half audibly. ' It's a 
 mighty quare counthry intirely : between the people 
 making a land on top of the wather for 'emselves 
 by thim big rafts, an' buildin' houses on 'em, and 
 kindlin' fires' — 
 
 Here his meditation was rudely broken into by the 
 sudden somerset of a child from a doorstep he was 
 passing ; but it had scarcely touched the ground when 
 Andy, with an exclamation in Irish, swung it aloft in 
 his arms. 
 
 ' Mono nrnsh thig thu ! you crathur, is it trying 
 which yer head or the road is the hardest, ye are ? 
 
IVOODiLN-NESS, 
 
 49 
 
 ? 
 
 Whisht now, don't cry, me fine boy, and maybe I'd 
 sing a song for ye.' 
 
 * Wisha then, cead mille failthe a thousand times, 
 Irishman, whoever ye are ! ' said the mother, seizing 
 Andy's hand. ' And my heart warms to the tongue 
 of the old counthry ! Won't you come in, honest 
 man, an' rest awhile, an' it's himself will be glad to 
 see ye ? ' 
 
 ' And who's himself ? ' inquired Andy, dandling the 
 
 child. 
 
 ' The carpenter, Pat M'Donagh of Ballinoge * — 
 
 ' Hurroo ! ' shouted Andy, as he executed a whirligig 
 
 on one leg, and then embraced the amazed Mrs. 
 
 M'Donagh fraternally. ' My uncle's son's wife ! an' a 
 
 darling purty face you have of yer own too.' 
 
 * Don't be funnin', now/ said the lady, bridling ; 
 'an' you might have axed a person's lave before ye 
 tossed me cap that way. Here, Pat, come down an' 
 see yer cousin just arrived from the ould counthry ! ' 
 
 Eobert and Arthur Wynn, missing their servitor at 
 the next turn, and looking back, beheld something 
 like a popular ^meiUe in the narrow street, which was 
 solely Andy fraternizing with his countrymen and 
 recovered relations. 
 
 * Wait a minit,' said Andy, returning to his allegi- 
 ance, as he saw them looking back ; * let me run afther 
 the gentlemen and get lave to stay.' 
 
 * Lave, indeed I ' exclaimed the republican-minded 
 Mrs. M'Donagh ; ' it's I that wud be afther askin lave 
 in a free counthry 1 Why, we've no masthers nor 
 missusses here at alL' 
 
 ' Hut, woman, but they're my foetherers — the young 
 Mr. Wynns of Duncre.' 
 
tfl ill 
 
 ff 
 
 I 'I' 
 
 ; I 
 
 li^^li 
 
 s© 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Great had been that name among the peasantry 
 once ; and even yet it had not lost its prestige with 
 the transplanted Pat M'Dunagh. He had left Ireland 
 a ragged pauper in the famine year, and was now a 
 thriving artisan, with average wages of seven shillings 
 a day ; an independence with which Kobert Wynn 
 would have considered himself truly fortunate, and 
 upon less than which many a lieutenant in Hei 
 Majesty's i. iantry has to keep up a gentlemanly 
 appearance. Pat's strength had been a drug in his 
 own country; here it readily worked an opening to 
 prospenty. 
 
 And presently forgetting his sturdy Canadian 
 notions of independence, the carpenter v bowing 
 cap in hand before the gentlemen, begg, hem to 
 accept the hospitality of his house while they stayed 
 in Quebec. 'The M'Donaghs is ould tenants of yer 
 honours' father, an' many a kindness they resaved 
 i'rom the family, and 'twould be the joy of me heart 
 to see one of the ancient stock at me table,' he 
 said ; * an' sure me father's brother's son is along 
 wid ye.' 
 
 ' The ancient stock ' declined, with many thanks, 
 as they wanted to see the city ; but Andy, not having 
 the same zeal for exploring, remained in the discovered 
 nest of his kinsfolk, and made himself so acceptable, 
 that they parted subsequently with tears. 
 
 Meanwhile the brothers walked from the Lower to 
 the Upper Town, through the quaint steep streets of 
 stone houses — relics of the old French occupation. 
 The language was in keeping with this foreign aspect, 
 and the vivacious gestures of the inhabitants told 
 their pedigree. Kobert and Arthur were standing 
 
WOODEN-NESS. 
 
 5' 
 
 near a group of them iu the market-square a«somM«1 
 round a youu, bear brought i„ by aTtjr wh^f 
 the former folt a heavy hand on his . shoulder "u,T the 
 nexfnstant the te«aeity of his wri.,t was pr;tty w 
 tested m the friendly yrasi, of Hiram ilolu 
 
 \ 
 
i 
 
 ■— — 
 
 lyipi 
 
 I! 
 ! i 
 
 :i :■ 
 
 I 
 
 nit' 
 
 t 1 
 
 ! I 
 
 [ I 
 
 I I 
 
 CHArXEE V. 
 
 DEBAKKATIOK 
 
 ^^^HE chill of foreignness and loneliness which 
 {/^J had l^een creeping over Eobert Wynn's 
 sensations since J.e had entered the strange 
 city, was dissipated as if a cloud had 
 suddenly lifted off. The friendly face of the 
 colossal Canadian beaming a welcome upon him, 
 with that broad sunshiny smile which seems im- 
 mediately to raise the temperature of the sur 
 rounding air, did certainly warm his heart, and 
 nerve it too. He was not altogether a stranger in 
 a strange land. 
 
 * And so you've followed my advice ! Bravo, 
 young blood ! You'll never be sorry for adopting 
 Canada as your country. Now, what are your plans ? ' 
 bestowing an aside left - hand grasp upon Arthur. 
 * Can Hiram Holt help you ? Have the old people 
 come out ? So much the better ; they would only 
 cripple 3''ou in the beginning. Wait till your axe has 
 cut the niche big enough. You rush on for the West, 
 I suppose ? * 
 
 All tliese inquiries in little longer than a breath ; 
 while he wrung Eobert's hand at intervals with a 
 
 53 
 
 
 ** 
 
DEBARKATION. 
 
 53 
 
 111 
 
 V 
 
 ur. 
 
 j)le 
 
 las 
 
 !St, 
 
 ,h; 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 heartiness and power of muscle which almost benumbed 
 the member. 
 
 'We have letters to friends on Lake Erie, and to 
 others on Lake Simcoe,' said Robert, rescuing his 
 hand, which tingled, and yet communicated a very 
 pleasurable sensation to his heart. ' We are not quite 
 decided on ouj line of march.' 
 
 * Well, how did you oome ? Emigrant vessel ? * 
 Adopting the laconic also, Eobert nodded, and said 
 
 it was their first day in Quebec 
 
 * Get quit of her as soon as you can ; haul your 
 traps ashore, and oomo along with ma I'll be going 
 up the Ottawa in a day or two, home ; and 'twill be 
 only a step out of your way westward. You can 
 look about you, and see what Canadian life is like 
 for a few weeks ; the longer, the more welcome to 
 Hiram Holt's house. Is that fixed ? ' 
 
 Eobert was beginning to thank him warmly — 
 ' Now, shut up, young man ; I distrust a fellow 
 that has much palaver. You look too manly for it. 
 I calculate your capital ain't much above your four 
 hands between you ? ' 
 
 Arthur was rather discomfited at a query so pointed, 
 and so directly penetrating the proud British reserve 
 about monetary circumstances ; but Robert, knowing 
 that the motive was kind-hearted, and the manner 
 just that of a straightforward unconventional settler, 
 replied, * You are nearly right, Mr. Holt ; our capital 
 in cash is very small; but I hope stout bodies and 
 stout hearts are worth something.' 
 
 * What would you think of a bush farm ? I think 
 I heard you say you had some experience on your 
 father's farm in Ireland ? ' 
 
 4 
 
If 
 
 54 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ! i; 
 
 i M 
 
 ! '■ I 
 
 I ; 
 
 'My father's estate, sir,' began Arthur, reddening 
 a little. 
 
 Holt measured him by a look, but not one of 
 displeasure. ' Farms in Canada grow into estates,' 
 said he ; * by industry and push, I shouldn't be sur- 
 prised if you became a landed proprietor yourself 
 before your beard is stiff.' Arthur had as yet no 
 symptom of that manly adornment, though anxiously 
 watching for the down. The backwoodsman turned 
 to Eobert. 
 
 * Government lands are cheap enough, no doubt ; 
 four shillings an acre, and plenty of them. If you're 
 able, I'd have you venture on that speculation. 
 Purchase-money is payable in ten years ; that's a good 
 breathing time for a beginner. But can you give up 
 all luxuries for a while, and eat bread baked by your 
 own hands, and sleep in a log hut on a mess of 
 juniper boughs, and work hard all day at clearing the 
 eternal forests, foot by foot ? ' 
 
 ' We can,' answered Arthur eagerly. His brother's 
 assent was not quite so vivacious. 
 
 Hiram Holt thought within himself how soon the 
 ardent young spirit might tire of that monotony of 
 labour ; how distasteful the utter loneliness and un- 
 eventfulness of forest life might become to the 
 undisciplined lad, accustomed, as he shrewdly guessed, 
 to a petted and idling boyhood. 
 
 * Well said, young fellow. For three years I can't 
 say well done; though I hope I may have that to 
 add also.' 
 
 By this time they had passed from the Market 
 Sqrare to the Esplanade, overhanging the Lower 
 Town, and which commands a view almost matchless 
 
DEBARKATION. 
 
 S5 
 
 bhe 
 of 
 m- 
 the 
 l&J, 
 
 In't 
 to 
 
 :et 
 
 3SS 
 
 for extent and varied beauty. At this hour the 
 shades of evening were settling down, and tinging 
 with sombre hues the colouring of the landscape : 
 over the western edge the sun hod sunk ; far below, 
 the noble river lay in black shadow and a single 
 gleaming band of dying daylight, as it crept along 
 under the fleets of ships. 
 
 Indistinct as the details were becoming, the outlined 
 masses wc^-e grander for the growing obscurity, and 
 jRobert could not restrain an exclamation of ' Magni- 
 ficent ! ' 
 
 'Well, I won't deny but it is handsome,' said 
 Mr. Holt, secretly gratified ; ' I never expect to see 
 anything like it for situation, whatever other way it's 
 deficient. Now I'm free to confess it's only a village 
 to your London, for forty thousand wouldn't be missed 
 out of two or three millions ; but bigness ain't the 
 only beauty in the world, else I'd be a deal prettier 
 than my girl Beii, who's not much taller than my 
 walking-stick, and the fairest lass in our township.* 
 
 The adjective 'pretty' seemed so ridiculously in- 
 appropriate to one of Mr. Holt's dimensions and hairy 
 development of face, that Kobert could not forbear 
 a smile. But the Canadian had returned to the 
 landscape. 
 
 ' Quebec is the key of Canada, that's certain ; and 
 so Wolfe and Montcalm knew, when they fought their 
 duel here for the prize.' 
 
 Arthur pricked up his ears at the celebrated names. 
 ' Oh, Bob, we must try and see the battlefield,' he 
 exclaimed, being fresh from Goldsmith's celebrated 
 manual of English history. 
 
 * To-morrow,' said Mr. Holt. ' It lies west on top 
 
% I: 
 
 i 
 
 
 i i' 
 
 a Ml 
 
 ii 
 
 .1 
 
 Ui 
 
 56 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 of the chain of heights flanking the river. A monu- 
 ment to the generals stands near here, in the Castb 
 gardens, with the names on opposite sides of the 
 square block. To be sure, how death levels us all ! 
 Lord Dalhousie built that obelisk when he was 
 Governor in 1827. You see, as it is the only bit of 
 history we possess, we never can commemorate it 
 enough ; so there's another pillar on the plains.' 
 
 Lights began to appear in the vessels below, 
 reflected as long brilliant lines in the glassy deeps. 
 ' Perhaps we ought to be getting back to the ship,' 
 suggested Eobert, ' before it is quite dark' 
 
 ' Of course you are aware that this is the aristo- 
 cratic section of the town,' said Mr. Holt, as they 
 turned to retrace their steps. ' Here the, citizens 
 give themselves up to pleasure and politics, while the 
 Lower Town is the business place. The money 's 
 made there which is spent here ; and when our 
 itinerating Legislature comes round, Quebec is very 
 gay, and considerably excited.* 
 
 'Itinerating Legislature! what's that ? ' asked Arthur. 
 
 'Why, you see, in 1840 the provinces of Upper 
 and Lower Canada were legally united ; their repre- 
 sentatives met in the same House of Assembly, and 
 so fortL Kingston was made the capital, as a central 
 point; however, last year ('49) the famous device of 
 itineration was introduced, by which, every four years, 
 his Excellenoy the Governor and the Eight Honour- 
 able Parliament move about from place to place, like 
 a Bet of traveUi(ig showmen.' 
 
 ' And when wiU Quebec's turn come ? * 
 
 'In '61, next year. The removal of court patronage 
 is said to have injured the city greatly: like aU 
 
 t Ji;} 
 
DEBARKATION. 
 
 %1 
 
 aU 
 
 half-and-half measures, it pleases nobody. Toronto 
 growls, and Kingston growls, and Quebec growls, and 
 Montreal growls ; Canada is in a state of chronic 
 dissatisfaction-, so far as the towns go. For myself, 
 I never feel at home in Quebec ; the lingo of the 
 hdbitans puzzles me, and I'm not used to the dark 
 narrow streets.' 
 
 ' Are you a member of the Parliament, Mr. Holt ? ' 
 asked Arthur. 
 
 'No, though I might be,' replied Hiram, raising 
 his hat for a moment from his masses of grizzled hair. 
 ' I've been town reeve many times, and county warden 
 once. The neighbours wanted to nominate me for the 
 House of Assembly, and son Sam would have attended 
 to the farms and mills ; but I had that European trip 
 in my eye, and didn't care. Ah, I see you look at 
 the post-office, young fellow,' as they passed that 
 building just outside the gate of the Upper Town 
 wall ; ' don't get homesick already on our hands ; 
 there are no post-offices in the bush.' 
 
 Arthur looked slightly affronted at this speech, and, 
 to assert his manliness, could have resigned all letters 
 for a twelvemonth. Mr. Holt walked on with a pre- 
 occupied air until he said, — 
 
 ' I must go now, I have an appointment ; but I'll 
 be on board to-morrow at noon. The brig Ocean 
 Queen, of Cork, you say ? Now your path is right 
 down to Champlain Street ; you can't lose your way. 
 Good-bye ; ' and his receding figure was lost in the 
 dusk, with mighty strides. 
 
 ' He's too bluff,' said Arthur, resenting thus the one 
 or two plain - spoken sentences that had touched 
 himaeli r ^ . 
 
i' 'i 
 
 h n 
 
 59 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 * But sound and steady, like one of his own forest 
 pines,' said Kobert. 
 
 ' We have yet to test that,' rejoined Arthur, with 
 some truth. ' I wonder shall we ever find the house 
 into which Andy was decoyed ; those wooden ranges 
 are all the image of one another. I am just as well 
 pleased he wasn't mooning after us through the Upper 
 Town during the daylight ; for, though he's such a 
 worthy fellow, he hasn't exactly the cut of a gentle- 
 man's servant. We must deprive him of that iligant 
 new frloze topcoat, with its three capes, till it is 
 fashioned into a civilised garment.' 
 
 Mr. Pat M'Donagh's mansion was wooden — one of 
 a row of such, situated near the aockyard in which he 
 wi -ought. Andy was already on the look-out from tho 
 doorstep ; and, conscious that he had been guilty of 
 some approach to excess, behaved with such meek 
 silence and constrained decorum, that his master 
 guessed the cause, and graciously connived at his 
 slinking to his berth as soon as he *vas up the shi >'s 
 side. 
 
 But when Mr. Wynn walked forward next morning 
 to summon Andy's assistance for his luggage, he found 
 that gentleman the focus of a knot of passengers, to 
 whom he was imparting information in his own 
 peculiar way. ' Throth an' he talks like a book itself,' 
 was the admiring comment of a woman with a child 
 on one arm, while she crammed her tins into her red 
 box with the other. 
 
 'Every single ha'porth is wood, I tell ye, barrin' 
 the grates, an' 'tisn't grates they are at all, but shtoves. 
 Sure I saw 'em at Pat M'Donagh's as black as twelve 
 o'clock at night, an' no more a sign of a blazo out of 
 
 m 
 
DEBARKATION. 
 
 S9 
 
 Id 
 
 'em than there's light from a blind man's eye; an' 
 'tisn't turf nor coal they burns, but only wood agin. 
 It's I that wud sooner see the plentiful hearths of 
 ould Ireland, where the turf fire cooks the vittlea 
 dacently ! Oh wirra ! why did we ever lave it ? ' 
 
 But Mr. Wynn intercepted the rising chorus by the 
 simple dissyllable, * Andy ! ' 
 
 * Sir, yer honour ! ' wheeling round, and suddenly 
 resuming a jocose demeanour ; ' I was only jokin* 
 about bein* back. I must be kapin' up their sperits, 
 the crathurs, that dunuo what's before them at all at 
 all ; only thinks they're to be all gintlemin an' ladies.' 
 This, as he followed his master towards the cabins : 
 'Whisht here, Misther Robert,' lowering his tone 
 confidentially. ' You'd laugh if you heard what they 
 think they're goin' to get. Coinin' would be nothin' 
 to it. That red -headed Biddy Flannigan' (Andy's 
 own chevelure was of carrot tinge, yet he never lost 
 an opportunity of girding at those like-haired), ' who 
 couldn't wash a pair of stockings if you gev her a 
 goold guinea, expects twenty pund a year an' her keep, 
 at the very laste ; and Murty Keefe the labourin' boy, 
 that could just trench a ridge of praties, thinks nothing 
 of tin shillins a day. They have it all laid out 
 among them iligant. Mrs. Mulrooney is lookin' out 
 for her carriage by'ne-by; and they were abusin' me 
 for not sayin' I'd cut an' run from yer honours, now 
 that I'm across.' 
 
 ' Well, Andy, I'd be sorry to stand in the way of 
 your advancement — ' 
 
 ' Me lave ye, Misther Eobert ! ' in accents of un- 
 feigned surprise ; * not unless ye drove me with a 
 whip an' kicked me — is it your poor fostherer Andy 
 
1»? 
 
 II 
 
 
 if 
 
 ■? 
 
 s: ill 
 
 
 M 
 
 60 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Callaghan? Masther Bob, asthore, ye're all the 
 counthry I have now, an' all the frinda ; an' I'll 
 hold by ye, if it ':;e plasing, as long as I've strength 
 to strike a spade.' 
 
 Tears actually stood ir the faithful fellow's eyes. 
 ' I believe you, Andy/ said his master, giving his hand 
 to the servant for a grasp of friendship, which, if it 
 oftener took place between the homy palm of labour 
 and the whiter fingers of the higher bom, would be 
 for the cementing of society by such recognition of 
 human brotherhood. 
 
 When Andy had all their luggage on deck in order 
 for the boats, he came up mysteriously to Mr. Wynn, 
 where he stood by the taffraU. 
 
 ' There's that poor young lady strivin' and strugglin' 
 to regulate them big boxes, an' her good-for-nothin' 
 father an' brother smokin' in the steerage, an' lavin' 
 everything on her. Fine gintlemin, indeed ! More 
 like the Injins, that I'm tould lies in bed while their 
 wives digs the praties I * 
 
 Edith Armytage was so well accustomed to such 
 unequal division of labour in her family, that it had 
 long ceased to seem singular to her that she was 
 invariably the worker, who bore the brunt of every 
 labour and of every trouble — on whose forecasting 
 care depended the smooth arrangement of her father's 
 designs; for he could plan well enough, but had 
 a lofty disdain of details. The small matter of the 
 luggage was type of all her experience. 
 
 Jay rather enjoyed the hauling about of huge 
 articles, and attempting to bring on deck thLags much 
 larger than her strength ; and when she and Edith 
 were jointly essaying to push and pull up the com- 
 
DEBARKATION. 
 
 6i 
 
 panion- ladder a carpet -bag of unusual size, it was 
 suddenly lifted from between them, over Jay's head, 
 and borne on deck. 
 
 * Oh, Mr. Wynn, thank you 1 ' said the little thing 
 demurely. ' It was a little too big for me and Edith. 
 There is a leather valise besides, that's very heavy ; ' 
 and she looked a wistful request, Eobert thought 
 internally that it would have been good business for 
 the captain to bring, at least, his own things on deck ; 
 and he could not prevail on himself to do more than 
 offer Andy's services as porter, which were gratefully 
 received. Did Miss Arm3'tage's grey eyes, as they 
 rested upon his for a minute, understand his thoughts ? 
 Probably ; he believed she did. Presently up saun- 
 tered her worthy father, wiping his silky moustache 
 and beard from the smoke. 
 
 ' Well, dear, how have you managed ? Beautifully, 
 I have no doubt. She's a model of a daughter, 
 Wynn ! ' 
 
 * Papa, I hope we may soon land ; I positively long 
 to tread the firm earth again.' 
 
 'What would you do if you were rocking and 
 rolling in a transport five months round the Cape ? 
 All in good time, dear: I have one or two trifling 
 matters to settle ; ' and he went down to the cabins. 
 
 Just before noon Hiram Holt stepped on deck. 
 
 ' I hope you're ready,' were the second words of 
 his greeting. ' Glorious day for sight - seeing ; I've 
 arranged to drive to Cape Eouge over the plains ; for 
 we must be off to-morrow, up the river to Montreal. 
 Where are your boxes ? ' 
 
 During a few minutes' delay for the transit of the 
 luggage to the boat, Captain Armytage approached, 
 
6§ 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 and with those peculiarly pleasing manners which 
 made him a fascinating man to all who did not know 
 him somewhat deeper than the surface, he engaged 
 Mr. Holt in conversation : he waa invited to join the 
 excursion to Wolfe's Cove, and stepped over the side 
 of the ship after the others. 
 
 ' Keginald 1 take care of your sisters till my return. 
 They need not go on shore till the afternoon. Au 
 Tcvoir ; ' and he kissed his hand gaily to Miss Army- 
 tage and Jay, who stood at the vessel's side. But 
 Robert could not help remembering their expressed 
 anxiety to get ashore, and the captain's fascinations 
 were lost upon him for a good part of their expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 Always thus : postponing business and anybody 
 else's pleasure to his own whim or amusement, — for 
 he was intrinsically the most selfish of men, — Captain 
 Armytage had hitherto contrived never to succeed in 
 any undertaking. He considered himself the victim 
 of unprecedented ill -fortune, forgetting that he had 
 himself been his own evil genius. His son could 
 hardly be otherwise than a chip of the old block. 
 Now he turned away from the taffrail with a scowl ; 
 and, vowing that he would not be mewed up while 
 ' the governor ' was enjoying himself, presently hailed 
 a boat and went ashore, leaving his sisters to walk up 
 and down the deck and long for the laud. 
 
CHAPTEPt VI. 
 
 CONCEENING AN INCUBUS. 
 
 NDY carried his wrath at the captain's 
 company so far as to shake liis list close to 
 that gentleman's bland and courteous hack, 
 while he bent forward from his thwart 
 in speaking to Mr. Holt; which gestures of enmity 
 Inghly amused the Canadian boatmen, as they grinned 
 and jabbered in imtois (old as the time of Henri 
 Quatre) among themselves. 
 
 'The deludherer?' muttered Andy. 'He'd coax 
 a bird off a three wid his silver tongue. An' he nuist 
 come betune my own gintlemen an' their frind — the 
 old schamer ! ' Here a tremendous blow was lodged 
 (in pantondme) under the captain's ribs. 'Sure, of 
 coorse, they can't be up to his thricks, an' he an 
 ould sojer!' And here Andy let fly vivaciously 
 beneath his unconscious adversary's left ear, restraining 
 the knuckles within about half an inch of his throat. 
 
 ' Are you S])eaking to me, my good man ? ' said the 
 captain, suddenly wheeling round upon Andy, who 
 sat face to his back. 
 
 'Is it me, yer honour?' and the dolorous sub- 
 miasiveness of Andy's countenance was a change 
 
 fk« 
 
 M 
 
64 
 
 CEDAH CREEK, 
 
 i! ;, 
 
 marvellous to behold. ' What could the likes of me 
 have to say to the likes of you, sir ? ' 
 
 Arthur Wyun's gravity was fairly overcome, and 
 he got a heavy fit of coughing in his pocket-handker- 
 chief. Captain Armytage gazed keenly at Andy for 
 a moment, during which he might as well have stared 
 at a plaster bust, for all the discoveries he made in 
 the passive simple countenance. 
 
 * Six hours' knapsack drill might do that fellow 
 some good,* said the officer, resuming his former 
 position and the thread of conversation together. ' In 
 answer to your inquiry, Mr. Holt, I have not quite 
 decided whether to settle in Upper or Lower Canada.' 
 
 ' Then, sir, you must know very little of either,' 
 was the blunt reply. ' There's no more comparison 
 between them than between settling in Normandy 
 and in North Britain.' 
 
 ' Can't say I should like either location,' rejoined 
 the captain, with his brilliant smile. ' But I've been 
 here with the regli lent, and am not quite without 
 personal experience. The life of a seigneur would 
 just suit me ; if I could find an eligible seignory 
 for sale ' — 
 
 Hiram Holt stared. A man who had come out 
 with his family in an emigrant vessel, talking of 
 purchasing a seignory ! But this was a magnificent 
 manner of the captain's. Sixpence in his pocket 
 assumed the dimensions of a sovereign in his imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 ' Some of them are thirty thousand acres in extent,' 
 Mr. Holt remarked drily. 
 
 'Ah, yes, quite a little principality: one should 
 enjoy all the old feudal feelings, walking about among 
 
CONCERNING AN INCUBUS, 
 
 65 
 
 one's subject censitaires, taking a paternal interest in 
 their concerns, as well as bound to them by pecuniary 
 ties. I should build a castellated baronial residence, 
 pepper-box turrets, etcetera, and resist modern new 
 li^jhts to the uttermost' 
 
 ' As soon a living man chained to a dead man, as 
 / would hamper myself with that old-world feudality!' 
 exclaimed the Western pioneer. ' Why, sir, can you 
 have seen the wretched worn-out land they scratch 
 with a wretched plough, fall after fall, without dreaming 
 of rotation of crops, or drainage, or any other improve- 
 ment ? Do you remember the endless strips of long 
 narrow fields edging the road, opening out of one 
 another, in miserable divisions of one or two acres, 
 perhaps, just affording starvation to the holders ? 
 What is the reason that where vast quantities of 
 wheat were formerly exported, the soil now grows 
 hardly enough for the people to eat ? Sir, the country 
 is cut up and subdivided to the last limits that will 
 support even the sleepy life of a habitan ; all improve- 
 ment of every kind is barred ; the French population 
 stand still in the midst of our go-ahead age : and 
 you would prolong the system that causes this ! * 
 
 It was one of the few subjects upon which Mr. 
 Holt got excited ; but he had seen the evils of 
 feudalism in the strong light of Western progress. 
 Captain Axmytage, for peace' sake, qualified his lately 
 expressed admiration, but was met again by a torrent 
 of words — to the unalloyed delight of Andy, who was 
 utterly unable to comprehend the argument, but only 
 hoped ' the schamer was gettin' more than he bar- 
 gained for/ 
 
 ' Pauperism will be the result, sir ; the race is 
 
 L 
 
 ■^ 
 
66 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 incorrigible iu its stupid determination to do as its 
 forefathers did, and nothing else. Lower Canada wants 
 a clearing out, like what you are getting in Ireland, 
 before a healtliy regeneration can set in. The religion 
 is faulty ; the habits and traditions of the race are 
 faulty ; Jean Baptiste is the drone in our colonial 
 hive. He won't gather honey : he will just live, 
 indolently drawling through an existence diversified 
 by feast and fast days ; and all his social vices flourish 
 in shelter of this seignorial system — this — this upas- 
 tree which England is pledged to perpetuate : ' and 
 Mr. Holt struck his hand violently on the gunwale 
 of the boat, awakening a responsive grin of triumph 
 from Andy. 
 
 The captain was spared a reply by the boat just 
 then touching the wharf ; and while they were landing, 
 and lod;j;Mig the luggage in Pat M'Donagh's house 
 till the starting of the Montreal boat next afternoon, 
 we may ho.^ a few words concerning the feudal system 
 extant in Lower Canada at the period when this 
 story begins. 
 
 Henri Quatre was the monarch under whose sway 
 the colony was originated. Champlain and De Levi 
 knew no better than to reproduce the landed organiza- 
 tion of France, with its most objectionable feature of 
 the forced partition of estates, in the transatlantic 
 province, for defensive purposes, against the numerous 
 and powerful Indian tribes. Military tenure was 
 superadded. Every farmer was perforce also a soldier, 
 liable at any time to be called away from his husbandry 
 to fight against the ravage Iroquois or the aggressive 
 British. Lcjng after these combative days had passed 
 away the military tenure remained, with its laws of 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
CONCERNING AN INCUBUS, 
 
 67 
 
 serfdom, a canker at the roots of property ; and thinking 
 ti-3n dreaded to touch a matter so inwound with the 
 very foundations of the social fabric in Lower Canada, 
 But in 1854 and 1859 legislative acts were passed 
 which have finally abolished the obnoxious tenure ; 
 each kndliolder, receiving his estate in freehold, has 
 paid a certain sum, and the Province in geuural 
 contributed £650,000 as indemnity to those whose 
 old-established rights were surrendered for the public 
 weal. Eight millions of inhabited acres were freed 
 from the incubus, and Lower Canada has removed one 
 great obstacle in the way of her prosperity. 
 
 At the period when Hiram Holt expressed himself 
 BO strongly on the subject, a gxinding vassalage repressed 
 the industry of the hahitans. Though their annual 
 rent, as censitaires or tenants, was not large, a variety 
 of burdensome obligations was attached. When a 
 man sold his tenure, the seigneur could demand a 
 fine, sometimes one-twelfth of the purchase money ; 
 heavy duties were charged on successions. The ties 
 of the Roman Catholic Church were oppressive. Various 
 monopolies were possessed by the seigneurs. The 
 whole system of social government was a reproduction, 
 in the nineteenth centrry, of the France of the fifteenth. 
 
 Mr. Holt was somewhat cooled when his party had 
 reached the citadel, through streets so steep that the 
 drive to their summit seemed a feat of horsemanship. 
 Here was the great rock whence Jacques Cartier, first 
 of European eyes, viewed the mighty river in the time 
 of our Heury VII L, now bristling with fortifications 
 wliich branch away in angles round the Upper Town, 
 crowned with a battery of thirty-two pounders, whose 
 black muzzles command the peaceful shipping belov/ 
 
 H 
 
 ii 
 
68 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 :P; 
 
 Robert Wynn could not help remarking on that 
 peculiarly Canadian charm, the exquisite clearness of 
 the air, which brought distant objects so near in vision 
 that he could hardly believe Point Levi to be a mile 
 across the water, and the woods of the isle of Orleans 
 more than a league to the eastward. 
 
 Captain Armytage had many reminiscences of the 
 fortress, but enjoyed little satisfaction in the relating 
 of any ; for nothing could get the seignorial tenure 
 out of Mr. Holt's head, and he drove in sentences 
 concerning it continually. 
 
 Outside the Castle gates the captain remembered 
 important business, which must preclude him from 
 the pleasure of accompanying his friends to Wolfe's 
 Landing. 
 
 ' Well, sir, I hope you now acknowledge that the 
 seignorial system is a blot en our civilisation.* 
 
 * I wish it had never been invented ! ' exclaimed 
 the captain, very sincerely. And, with the grace- 
 fullest of bows, he got quit of Mr. Holt and his pet 
 aversion together. 
 
 Hiram's features relaxed into a smile. ' I knew I 
 could convince him ; he appears an agreeable com- 
 panion,' remarked Mr. Holt, somewhat simply. But 
 the subject had givei. the keynote to the day ; and 
 in driving along the road to Cape Eouge, parallel with 
 the St. Lawrence, he was finding confirmations for his 
 opinion in most things they met and passed. The 
 swarming country, and minute subdivisions of land, 
 vexed Hiram's spirit. Not until the^ entered the 
 precincts of the battlefield, and he was absorbed in 
 pointing out the spots of peculiar interest, did the 
 feudality of the Province cease to trouble him. 
 
 i 
 
CONCERNING AN INCUBUS, 
 
 69 
 
 All along the river waa bordered by handsome villaa 
 and pleasure-grounds of Quebec merchants. Culti- 
 vation has graduaUy crept upon the battlefield, 
 obliterating landmarks of the strife. The rock at 
 the base of which Wolfe expired has been removed, 
 and in its stead rises a pillar crowned with a bronze 
 helmet and sword, and is inscribed : 
 
 Here died Wolfe, victorious. 
 
 Not till seventy-five years after the deed which 
 makes his fame was this memorial erected : a tardy 
 recognition of the service which placed the noblest of 
 our dependencies— a Province large as an old-world 
 empire — in British hands. 
 
 II 
 
T 
 
 i: 
 
 ! « 
 
 ('I 
 
 : ii 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE KIVER HIGHWAY. 
 
 -ELL, Misther Eobert. ii ever I laid my 
 eyes on the likes of such a ship, in all 
 my born days ! ' 
 
 With thip impressive ejaculation, Andy 
 Callaghan backed on the wharf to take a completer 
 view of the wondrous whole. His untravelled 
 imagination had hitherto pictured steamers after the 
 one pattern and similitude of those which sailed upon 
 the river Lee and in the Cove of Cork — craft which 
 had the aquatic appendages of masts and decks, and 
 still kept up an exterior relation with the ship tribe. 
 But this a steamboat ! this great three-storied wooden 
 edifice, massive-looking as a terrace of houses ! 
 
 * An' a hole in the side for a hall-door ! ' soliloquized 
 Andy. *No, but two holes, one for the quality an' 
 the other fo'^ the commonality. An' no deck at all at 
 all for the people to take the air, only all cabins 
 iutirely ! If it isn't the very dead image of a side of 
 a sthreet swimmin' away ! ' 
 
 Andy's outspoken remarks attracted some notice 
 when lie was fairly aboard. 
 
 ' This is the fore-cabin, and you must try to keep 
 
 70 
 
THE RIVER HIGHWA Y. 
 
 71 
 
 quiet,' said Arthur. ' We'll be off presently ; and 
 whatever you do,' he added in a low tone, ' keep clear 
 of that bar ' — indicating a counter recess where liquors 
 were sold, and where customers had congregated 
 already. 
 
 ' Never fear, sir,' was the reply ; ' though they've no 
 right to put it there forenent us, an' they knowin' that 
 the bare sight of it is like lire to tow with many a 
 one. But sure they're not thinkin' only how to get 
 money : ' and Mr. Callaghan ended his moral reflections 
 by sitting down beside a family of small children, who 
 squalled in different keys, and treating one of them 
 to a ride on his foot, which favour, being distributed 
 impartially, presently restored good humour. 
 
 * An' isn't there any peep of the fresh air allowed 
 us at all ? ' inquired Andy of a man near him, whose 
 peculiar cut of garments had already excited his 
 curiosity. ' It's a quare vessel that hasn't aither a sail 
 or deck : we might all go to the bottom of the say in 
 this big box, 'athout bein' a bit the wiser.' 
 
 The emigrant with the six children looked rather 
 anxious, and hugged her baby closer, poor woman ; 
 glancing for a minute at the bar, where her husband 
 tvas sipping gin, and already brawling with an 
 American. But as the apple-complexioned man whom 
 Andy addressed happened to be a French hahitan, 
 limited in English at the best of times, the Irish 
 brogue puzzled him so thoroughly, that he could 
 only make a polite bow, and signify his ignorance of 
 Monsieur's meaning. 
 
 ' Maybe he's an Injin,' thought Andy ; ' but sure 
 I thought thim savages wore no clothes, and he has 
 an iligant blue coat an' red tie. I wondher would it 
 
 ^ I. 
 
! |!1 
 
 I ill 
 
 7» 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 be any good to thry the Irish wid him ; ' and, as an 
 experiment, he said something in the richest Munstei 
 dialect. The Canadian's politeness was almost for- 
 gotten in his stare of surprise, and he took the earliest 
 opportunity of changing his place, and viewing Andy 
 respectfully from afar. 
 
 But if it had a repellent effect on the hdbitan, it 
 exerted a strong attractive force upon other of the 
 passengers. Mr. Callaghan was never happier than 
 when at the focus of a knot of his countrymen, for 
 his talents were essentially social ; and before the 
 evening was over, his musical feats with voice and 
 violin had so charmed the aforesaid Canadian, that he 
 came up and made him another of the polite bows. 
 
 ' Very much obliged to you, sir, if I only knew 
 what you were sayin*,' replied Andy, with equal 
 courtesy. 
 
 * He's inviting you to his daughter's wedding,* 
 interpreted one of the sailors who stood by ; ' you 
 and the fiddle.' 
 
 * With all the pleasure in life, sir,' promptly 
 replied Andy, as he imitated the bow of the worthy 
 habitan to perfection. ' I'm always ready for any fun- 
 goin'. Ask the old gentleman when and where it's to 
 be,' he continued, jogging the interprecer with his 
 elbow. 
 
 * The day after to - morrow, at a village near 
 Montreal ; ' upon learning which, Andy's countenance 
 fell, and the festive vision faded from his ken. ' Maybe 
 it's in China I'd be by that time,' said he, with in- 
 correct notions of geography ; ' but I'm obliged to you 
 all the same, sir, an' wherever I am I'll drink her 
 health, if 'twas only in a glass of wather. I'll have 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
THE RIVER HIGHWAY. 
 
 73 
 
 a pain in me back if I bow much kuger,' added Andy 
 yiUo voce ; ' I don't know how he's able to keep it up 
 at alL' 
 
 ' Why, where are you going to ? ' asked the sailor, 
 laughing ; ' this ain't the way to China by a long 
 chalk.' 
 
 ' Going to make me fortune/ replied Andy boldly, 
 as he dropped the violin into its case and latched the 
 cover tightly, as if a secret were locked in. While no 
 more idea had he of his destination, nor plan for 
 future life, poor faithful peasant, than the fine New- 
 foundland dog which slept not far from him that night 
 in the fc/e-cabin, a mass of creamy curls. 
 
 Mv?anwhile, all the evening, and all the night 
 through, the noble steamer stemmed the broad brim- 
 ming flood, steadily onwards, casting behind her on 
 the moonlit air a breath of dark smoke ruddy with 
 sparks, at every palpitation of her mighty engine-heart. 
 Past black pine forests to the edge of the shore ; past 
 knots of white cottages centred round the usual 
 gleaming metal spire ; past confluence of other rivers, 
 dark paths joining the great continental highway ; 
 blowing off steam now and then at young roadside 
 towns, where upon wooden wharves, waited passengers 
 and freight in the moonlight, swallowing into either 
 mouth all presented to her, and on untiringly again. 
 Robert Wynn stayed on the small open poop astern, 
 gazing at the picturesque panorama, half revealed, 
 half shaded by the silvery beams, long after the major 
 part of the passengers were snug in their state rooms 
 or berths below. With the urging of the fire-driven 
 machinery he could hear mingled the vast moan of 
 the river sweeping along eastwards. It saddened him, 
 
f 
 
 74 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 that never -silent voice of 'the Father of Waters.' 
 Memories of home came thronging round him — a 
 home for him extinct, dead, till in this distant land he 
 should create another. At the threshold of a great 
 undertaking, before hand has been put to work it out, 
 the heart always shrinks and shivers, as did his here. 
 Looking upon the length and breadth of all that had 
 to be done, it seemed too hard for him. 
 
 But not so when next morning he arose from a few 
 hours' sleep, and beheld the bright sunshine lighting 
 up the glorious Canadian world. Looming giants by 
 moonlight are reduced to very ordinary obstacles by 
 /daylight ; and the set of desponding thoughts which 
 had weighed upon the young man as he contemplated 
 the inky river and darkling country, seemed now to 
 bei'^ng to another phase of being. Despondent ! with 
 the wide free world to work in, and its best prizes 
 lying beside the g">al, ready for capture by the steady 
 heart and active hand. Eobert felt almost as if that 
 shadowy home in the forest were already built, already 
 peopled with the dear old faces he had left behind. 
 The pure fresh air — clear as is rarely breathed in 
 Europe (for it is as if in our Old World the breath of 
 unnumbered nations has for centuries been soiling the 
 elements) — the richly coloured scene, were a cordial 
 to liis young brain. The steamer was fast approaching 
 the isle of St. Helen's ; and beyond, against a bacl^- 
 ground of purple mountain, lay 'the Silver Town,' 
 radiant with that surface glitter peculiar to Canadian 
 cities of the Lower Province ; as if Montreal had sent 
 her chief edifices to be electro-plated, and they had 
 just come home brightly burnished. In front was the 
 shining blue current of the St. Lawrence, escaped 
 
THE RIVER HIGH W A Y. 
 
 IS 
 
 from a bewildering perplexity of islets and rapids 
 which had apparently ruflled its temper not a little. 
 
 ' Part of our Ottawa flows here,' said Mr, Holt, 
 glancing at the stream with a sort of home affection 
 — ' our clear emerald Ottawa, fresh from the virgin 
 wilderness ; and it hasn't quite mingled with its 
 muddy neighbour yet, no more tlian we Westerns can 
 comfortably mingle with the habiians and their old- 
 world practices down here. You see, Wynn, the St. 
 Lawrence has been running over a bed of marl for 
 miles before it reaches Lake St. Louis ; and the 
 Ottawa has been purified by plenty of rocks and 
 rapids ; so they don't suit very well — no more than 
 we and the hoMtans — ha ! ha ! ' Mr. Holt was vastly 
 amused by the similitude. He pointed to a very 
 distinctly marked line of foam wavering on the river 
 surface, and said, ' There's the demarcation.' 
 
 ' I am glad it is of such an evanescent nature, sir,* 
 replied Kobert. He might have said how much 
 grander the river became when all brawling was 
 forgotten, and both currents fused into one glorious 
 stream. 
 
 ' Now,' said Arthur, with the contrariety of youth 
 (and aside, as is written in stage-plays), * I'm certain 
 these French Canadians are not so black as they're 
 painted. I like those sociable white villages round 
 the tin spires ; and the guide-book says the people are 
 amiable and civil. I'll investigate that subject, Bob.' 
 
 ' I would advise you to investigate breakfast just 
 now,' was the reply, as the steward's bell swung 
 forth its summons. Then commenced a procession of 
 passengers to the eating-room ; through the length of 
 the sumptuously furnished saloon, where the richest 
 
 I 
 
I' 
 
 ll 
 
 76 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 
 1: 
 
 Persian carpets, marble tables, brilliant chandeliers, 
 and mirrors, were at the service of the public ; by a 
 narrow staircase amidships down to the lowest storey 
 of the vessel, a long apartment lit by candles, and 
 lined at the sides with curtained rows of berths. The 
 usual pause followed for the advent of the ladies : 
 nobody sat down till they had come from their cabin 
 on the middle deck, and established themselves where- 
 soever they listed. 
 
 ' That's like Irish politeness,' whispered Arthur, 
 whose good spirits were always talkative. ' My 
 father, dear old gentleman, would take off his hat to a 
 petticoat on a bush, I d( lieve.' 
 
 The company was very mixed, and quite as much 
 conversation went on in French as in English. It 
 seemed to the strangers as if the balance of gentle- 
 manly deportment, and yet vivacity of manner, might 
 possibly lie on the side of those who spoke the former 
 tongue. Next to Arthur sat the sallow States'-man, 
 bolting his breakfast with unconscionable speed, and 
 between whiles, in a high treble voice, volunteering 
 his opinion pretty freely on Canadian matters, as if he 
 were endowed with a special commission to set them 
 right Badly as Hiram Holt thought of the seignorial 
 system, he was perforce driven to defend it in some 
 measure, much to Arthur's delectation; but he soon 
 discovered that to carry war into the enemy's country 
 was his best policy, so he seized the institution of 
 slavery in his canine teeth, and worried it well. The 
 States'-man thought that a gentleman might be per- 
 mitted to travel without being subject tci attacks on 
 his country: Mr. Holt observed that he thought 
 precisely the same, which species of agreement closed 
 
THE RIVER IIIGHIVA K ,, 
 
 the conversation. And the Statos'-man relieved his 
 feelings subsequently by whittling a stick from the 
 firewood into impalpable chips, with his heels resting 
 on the apex of the saloon stove. Kind-hearted Hiram 
 Holt had meanwhile more than half repented his 
 hostihty. 
 
 'Tell you what, sir/ said ho, going up and extend- 
 ing his hand. • it wasn't the matter. buL the manner of 
 your talk that raised my dander awhile since. I 
 agree in most of what you say about tliis Province 
 here, and I hope as much as you do that the last 
 badge of feudaUsm may soon be swept away.' 
 
 The American put his bony pale hand almost 
 suHenly mto the Canadian's brawny palm, and after 
 suflering the pressure, returned to his interestincr 
 pursuit of whittling, which he continued in silence 
 tor the rest of the voyage. 
 
 ^\ 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 * JEAN BAPTISTE * AT IIONrE. 
 
 iFTER seeing most of the thoroughfares of 
 Montreal, and receiving the set of sensa- 
 tions experienced by all new-comers and 
 recorded in all hooks of Canadian travel — 
 principally wondering at the incongruities of French 
 and English nationality grafted together, and coherent 
 as the segments of the fabled centaur — the active 
 commerce of a British port carried on beneath the 
 shadow of walled -in convents suggesting Belgium — 
 fricirs endued with long black robes, passing soldiers 
 clothed in the immemorial scarlet — a Bue Notre 
 Dame and a St. James's Street in neighbourhood — the 
 brothers witnessed another phase of American life as 
 thoy dined at a monster table- d'hote in the largest 
 hotel of the city. The imperial system of inn-keeping 
 originated in the United States has been imported 
 across the border, much to the advantage of British 
 subjects ; and nothing can be a queerer contrast than 
 the Englishman's solitary dinner in a London coffee- 
 room, and his part in the vast collective meals of a 
 transatlantic hotel. 
 
 * New to this sort of thing, I should imagine ? ' 
 
 78 
 
*JEAN BAPTISTE' AT HOME. 
 
 79 
 
 said the gentleman next beside Robert, in a particu- 
 larly thin, wiry voice. 
 
 ' Yes, quite a stranger,' answered Robert, looking 
 round, and seeing that the speaker was a person with 
 a sharp nose and small keen black eyes. 
 
 ' So I thought ; your looks betray it. Everything 
 seems queer, I guess. Intending to be a settler, eh ? ' 
 Then, without waiting for an answer, * That's right : 
 I always welcome the infusion of young blood 
 into our colony, particularly gtntU blood, for we are 
 a rough set, mister, and want polish — and — and — 
 all that; 
 
 These deferential words, uttered in the deferential 
 manner of uiferiority to acknowledged excellence, cer- 
 tainly pleased Robert ; for what heart is unsusceptible 
 to subtle flattery ? And of all modes of influence, 
 men are most easily flattered or disparaged by reference 
 to what is no worthiness or fault of their own — the 
 social station in which it has pleased the Creator 
 that they should enter this world. The keen brain 
 behind the keen eyes knew this well ; the fact had 
 oiled a way for his wedge many a tima What 
 was his motive for endeavouring to ingratiate 
 himself with young Wynn for the next twenty 
 minutes ? 
 
 ' Now, mister, if it's a fact that you be settling, I 
 can give you a chance of some of the finest lots of 
 land ever offered for sale in Montcalm township. A 
 friend of mine has a beautiful farm there that would 
 just suit you ; best part cleared and under fence — fine 
 water privilege — land in good heart, and going, I may 
 say, dirt cheap.' ■ 
 
 Robert felt much obliged for the interest in his 
 
w 
 
 80 
 
 CEDAR CHEEK. 
 
 m . 
 
 1! Hi ' 
 
 I! !| % 
 
 welfare, which prompt "^d this eligible offer. ' But, 
 unfortunately, I have very little money to invest,' said 
 he carelessly. The swift penetrating glance that 
 followed from his companion was unseen, as he 
 crumbled his biscuit on the table-cloth. * I am rather 
 disposed to try the backwoods,' he added. 
 
 ' The bush ! ' in accents of amazement. ' The bush ! 
 it may do very well for labourers, but for a gentleman 
 of your pretensions, it would be misery — wholly 
 unsuitable, sir — wholly unsuitable. No, no, tnke my 
 advice, and settle where the advantages of civilisation 
 — the comforts of life to which you have been 
 accustomed — are accessible. A few thousand 
 dollars ' — 
 
 * I regret to say,' Eobert interposed, * that even one 
 thousand is immensely more than I possess,* turning 
 to the Canadian with a frank smile, which was by no 
 means reduplicated in the sharp face. And from 
 the era of that revelation, conversation unaccountably 
 flagged. 
 
 ' Do you know to whom you talked at table ? ' 
 asked Hiram Holt afterwards. He had been sitting 
 some way farther up at the other side. * One of the 
 most noted land-jobbers in the country — a man who 
 buys wild lands at three shillings an acre, to sell them 
 again at ten or fifteen, if he can ; and he never loses 
 an opportunity of driving a trade. His bargain of a 
 cleared farm is probably some worn-out dilapidated 
 location not worth half-a-doUar an acre till huLdreds 
 have been spent on it.' 
 
 ' Then I've gained one benefit by being poor,' said 
 Robert ; ' nobody can have a motive for over-reaching 
 me ' — which was philosophic consolation. 
 
'JEAN BAPTISTE' AT HOME. 
 
 8i 
 
 Mr. Holt's business would not permit him to leave 
 till next evening. And so the Wynns, continuing to 
 lionize, looked into the vast but dreary Romish 
 cathedral, which seats ten thousand people m its nine 
 spacious aisles and seven chapels ; clambered to the 
 roof, and viewed the city from a promenade at an 
 elevation of 120 foet ; and then drove to that special 
 beauty of Montreal — the mountain. This is a hill 
 more than 500 feet i leight, and clothed from head 
 to foot with the .ivh3st verdure cf woods; among 
 which grow the most delicious apples extant since Paris 
 selected one as a prize. From the summit a land- 
 scape of level country stretches lelow westwards; in 
 middle, distant villages ; on the horizon, the Ottawa 
 confluence, bounding Montreal Island and forming 
 others. Southwards, across the St. Lawrence, the 
 hill'j of Vermont far away ; nearer, the fertile valley 
 of the Richelieu. 
 
 'Let's go off to one of the habitan villages,' said 
 Arthur suddenly. * Dismiss the caliche, and we will 
 walk back. I'll ask for a drink of water in one of 
 the cottages just to scrape acquaintance.' 
 
 * Furbish up your French, too,' said Robert, * for 
 they do gabble it fast. I heard a fellow chattering in 
 the steerage, coming up the river yesterday morning : 
 by the way, he and Andy had struck up a friendship : 
 and such bowing as they had to each other's incompre- 
 hensible lingo ! ' 
 
 ' I wonder what he is doing to-day,' said Arthur 
 reflectively ; ' he asked me so particularly whether we 
 should want him again till the evening.' 
 
 ' Found out a nest of Irish somewhere, I sup- 
 pose.' 
 
 ^%? 
 
mm 
 
 li ^' 
 
 h 'i v> I' 
 
 8fl 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 " fi' 
 
 I ; 
 i ' 
 
 ill 
 
 ' There's a fellow taking off his hat to us,* remarked 
 Arthur, as they passed a carter. ' Everybody seems to 
 bow to everybody in tliis country. But did you ever 
 see such an old-fashioned vehicle as he drives ? And 
 he keeps talking to himself and his horse ail the way, 
 apparently.' 
 
 Rapidly walking down the fine road to the 
 plain, thoy were not long in nearing a group of 
 neat white houses round the invariable shining 
 steeple. 
 
 * The village looks as sociable as the people,' said 
 Robert. ' How neat everything seems ! — Hallo, Arthur, 
 we've come in for some festivity or other, by all the 
 gay ribbons about.' 
 
 * Bon jour, Madame,' said Arthur boldly, to a tidy 
 old lady, sitting in her gieen verandah. ' Nous sommes 
 des Strangers — I'd like to ask her what it's all about,' 
 he whispered conudentially to Robert ; ' but I'm out of 
 my depth already." 
 
 The aged Canadienne arose, with the politeness 
 so natural to her Gallic dercent, and bade them 
 welcome. But sounds issuing from ,he opposite 
 house riveted their attention. * As sure as I'm here, 
 that's Andy's violin,' exclaimed Arthur ; ' I'd know 
 his scrape anywhere ; ' and he crossed the road in a 
 moment. 
 
 Without doubt Andy was the player, ay, and the 
 performer too ; for he was dancing a species of quick- 
 step solo, surrounded by a circle of grinning and 
 delighted hahUans. The most perfect gravity dwelt in 
 his o^vn countenance meanwhile, alloyed by just a spice 
 of lurking fun in his deep-set eyes, which altogether 
 faded, as a candle blown out, when suddenly he per- 
 
*JEAN BAPTISTE' AT HOME. 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 ceived the accession to the company. Silence succeeded 
 the dead blank on his features, down hung the violin 
 and its bow on either side, and the corners of his mouth 
 sunk into a dismal curve. 
 
 ' Go on, old boy — scrape away,' shouted Arthur 
 hilariously. ' So many pretty faces would inspire 
 anybody;' and whether it was that the black -eyed 
 Canadian damsels felt the compliment through the 
 foreign idi >m, there was considerable blushing and 
 bridling as the speaker's glance travelled round the 
 group. 
 
 They deserved his encomium. The slight sprightly 
 type of dark beauty abounded ; and so prettily decked 
 out with bright ribbons and flowers, that it was evi- 
 dent the tastefulne-is wliich renders French modistes 
 unrivalled had not died out in these collateral relatives 
 of the nation. Forward stepped Monsieur, the master 
 of the house and father of the bride, begging that Mes- 
 sieurs would be so benevolent as to seat themselves, and 
 would honour him by partaking of refreshment ; both 
 which requests Messieurs were nothing loth to fulfil. It 
 was hardly to be realized that these were the bpsotted 
 hdbitans, the unimprovable race, the blotch on the fair 
 face of Canadian civilisation ; these happy-looking, 
 simple-minded people. Hiram Holt was a slanderer. 
 Full an hour passed before the Wynns could get 
 away from the embarrassing hospitalities and polite- 
 ness of the good villagers, who shook hands all 
 round at parting in most affectionate style. As 
 for Andy, much to his own discomfort, he was kissed 
 by his host. 
 
 ' Now I could ondherstand if it was the missus that 
 shaluted me/ said he, rubbing across his cheek with 
 
! 
 
 r 
 
 ' 1 ii I 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 I'M 
 
 ■II 
 
 III' 
 
 84 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 his cuff as soon as he was on the road ; ' throth an* 
 they're all very fond of me intirely, considherin' they 
 never laid eyes on me till this mornin*, barrin' 
 himself. An' I never see nater houses — they're as 
 clean as a gintleman's; you might ate off the flure. 
 If only the people wud forget that queer talk 
 they have, an' spake like Christians, that a body 
 could know what they're sayin', 'twould be a deal 
 more comfortable.' 
 
 'And how could you get on without v derstanding 
 them ? ' asked Arthur. 
 
 ' Oh, 'twas aisy enough sometimes ; for whin they 
 wanted me to come to dinner they had only to show 
 me the table; and when they v ,s : ^ me to play, they 
 only rubbed across th.-^ir arm this way, and said, " Jawer, 
 jawer" (I brought away that word, anyhow,' added 
 Mr. Callaghan, with gieat satisfaction). * All other 
 times they spake to me I bowed plinty, and that did 
 the business. But there was a man alongside me at 
 the dinner that had a few words of English ; an' he 
 tould me that this time of the year they all marries 
 to be ready against the winter. I Ukes that fashion, 
 Misther Eobert ; ' and herewith Andy heaved a little 
 si,uh, thinking perhaps of a certain pretty blue-eyed 
 Mary in Ireland. 
 
 ' Put your best foot foremost, Callaghan,' said Mr. 
 Wynn ; ' we shall scarcely reach town in time ; ' and 
 all three quickened their pace. 
 
 ' I'll never believe a syllable against the hahitaiu 
 again,' said Arthur. ' Their old-fashioned politeness is 
 a perfect relief from the bluff manners of most other 
 Canadians. They seera to me to have a >■/; of ^"^'Hues, 
 — cleanliness, good-humour, good-na<^ovj --ijind "{ ''ke 
 
'JEAN BAPTISTE' AT HOME, 85 
 
 their habit of living altogether, children settled round 
 the parent tree like branches of a banyan. We would 
 give a trifle to be able to do it ourselves, Bob ; ' and 
 the smile with which the brothers met each other's eyes 
 was rather wistful. 
 
 !: ■ \e 
 
 I ,: ■} 
 
 \ 'i' 
 
 ii 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 * FliOM MUD TO MAKBLE.' 
 
 ill 
 
 Wl.iAM HOLT was proud of his ancestry. 
 Nou that he had sixteen qiiarteriiigs whereof 
 to boast, or even six ; his pedigree could 
 have blazoned an escutcheon only with 
 spade, and shuttle, and saw, back for generations. 
 But then, society all about him was in like plight •, 
 and it is a strong consolation in this, as in matters 
 moral, to be no worse than one's neighbours. Truly, 
 a Herald's College would find Canada a very jungle as 
 to genealogy. The man of marble has had a grand- 
 father of mud, as was the case with the owner of Maple 
 Grove. 
 
 And, instead of resenting such origin as an injury 
 received from his progenitors, worthy Hiram looked 
 back from the comfortable eminence of prosperity 
 whereunto he had attained, and loved to retrace the 
 gradual steps of labour which led tliither. He could 
 remember most of them ; to his memory's eye the 
 virgin forest stretclied for unknown and unnumbered 
 miles west and northward of the settler's adventurous 
 clearing, and tlio rude log shanty v/as his home beside 
 the sombre pinos. Now the pines were dead and gone. 
 
 
'FROM MUD TO MARBLE: 
 
 8? 
 
 ' 
 
 . 
 
 I 
 
 except a few isolated giants standing gloomily among 
 the maple plantations ; but the backwoodsman's shanty 
 had outlived all subsequent changes. 
 
 Here, in the wide courtyard to the rear of Mr. Holt's 
 house, it was preserved, like a curious thing set apart 
 in a museum — an embodiment of the old struggling 
 days embalmed. The walls of great unhewn logs 
 fastened at the comers by notching ; the crevices 
 chinked up with chips and clay ; the single rude 
 square window shuttered across ; the roof of basswood 
 troughs, all blackened with age ; the rough door, creak- 
 ing on clumsy wooden hinges when Mr. Holt unlocked 
 it, — these were not encouraging features, viewed by 
 the light of a future personal experience. Kobert stole 
 a glance at Arthur as they stepped inside the low dark 
 shed, and, as Arthur had with similar motives also 
 stolen a glance at Kobert, their eyes naturally met, 
 and both laughed. 
 
 They had been thinking a twin thought — ' How 
 will my brother like such quarters as this in the 
 forest ? ' 
 
 ' A queer concern,' remarked Arthur in a low voice, 
 and rubbing his chin. 
 
 'Eather!' replied Robert, looking equally dubious. 
 
 * I like to show the shanty to youngsters,' said Mr. 
 Holt, as he turned from pushing back the shutter, 
 * that they may see what they have to expect. From 
 such a start as this we Canadians have all waked up 
 into opulence — that is, the hardworking share of us ; 
 and there's room enough for tens of tiiousands to do 
 the same off in the bush.' 
 
 ' I hope so, sir,' was the least desponding remark of 
 which Kobert could think. For the naked reality of 
 
 ■ ^ 
 
 If 
 
 '. 
 
 f 
 
 m 
 
 ,\ 
 
88 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 I'Ci 
 ll:.': 
 
 m 
 
 hi! 
 
 a forest life came before him as never previously. 
 The halo of distance had faded, as he stood beside the 
 rude fireplace, fashioned of four iipriglit limestone 
 slabs in a comer, reaching to a hole in the roof, down 
 which the wind was howling just now. It was rather 
 a bleak look-out, notwithstanding the honeyed promises 
 of the old settler pouring on his ear. 
 
 ' To be sure there is. Fortune's at your back in 
 the bush ; and you haven't, as in the mother country, 
 to rise by pushing others down. There's no impassable 
 gulf separating you from anything you choose to aim 
 at. It strikes me that the motto of our capital is as 
 good as a piece of advice to the settler — " Industry, 
 Intelligence, and Integrity " — with a beaver as pattern 
 of the first two principles, anyhow. So recollect the 
 beaver, my young chaps, and W(^rk like it.' 
 
 ' I don't remember the building of this,' he added ; • 
 ' but every stick was laid by my father's own hands, 
 and my mother chinked between them till all was 
 tight and right. I tell you I'm prouder of it than of 
 a piece of fancy-work, such as I've seen fnunod and 
 glazed. I love every log in the old timbers.' And 
 Mr. Holt tapped the wall affectionately with his 
 walking - staff. ' It was the farthest west clearing 
 then, and my father chose the site because of the 
 spring yonder, which is covered with a stono and 
 civilised into a well now-a-days.' 
 
 * And is the town so modern as all that comes to f ' 
 said Robert. 
 
 * Twenty years grows a city in Canada,' replied Mr. 
 fiolt, somewhat loftily. ' Twenty years between the 
 swamp and the crowded street : while two inches o| 
 ivy would be growing round a European ruin, we turn 
 
 p:i5- 
 
 I 
 
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'FROM MUD TO MARBLE: 
 
 9> 
 
 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
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 a wiUlerncss into a cultivated co\intry, dotted with 
 villages. The history of Mapleton is easily told. My 
 father was the first who ever built a sawmill on the 
 riv(T down there, aud the frame-houses began to 
 gather about it shortly. Tlien he ventured into the 
 grist line ; and I'm the owner of the biggest mills in 
 the place now, with half-a-dozen of otliers com pet mg, 
 and all doing a fair business in Hour, and lumb^'.r for 
 exportation. You see in this land we've rnnni enough 
 for all, and no man need scowl down another of the 
 same trade. 'Taint so in England, where you must 
 knock your bread out of somebody else's mouth.' 
 
 ' Not always, sir,' said liobert, * nor commonly, I 
 hope.' 
 
 ' T forgot you were a fresh importation,' observed 
 Mr. Holt with a satisfied clmckle. ' You ain't 
 colonized yet. Well, let's come and look at some- 
 thing else.' 
 
 Meanwhile Arthur had measured the dimensions of 
 the shanty, by pacing along and across : sixteen feet 
 one way, twelve the other. Narrow limits for the 
 in-door life of a family ; but the cottage had some- 
 what grown with their growth, and thrown out a 
 couple of small bed-chambers, like buds of incipient 
 shanties, from the main trunk. A curiosity of wood- 
 craft it looked, so mossy, gnarled, and weather-beaten, 
 that one could easily have believed it had sprung from 
 the ground without the inters'ention of hands, a 
 specimen of some gigantic ff^rest fungua. 
 
 ' I'll leave a charge in my will that it's not to be 
 disturbed,* said Hiram. ' 'Twould be sacrilege to move 
 a log of the whole oonsam. D'ye hear, Sam ? ' 
 
 His son had jiujt come up and shaken handg ; for 
 
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 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 this was a matutinal expedition of Mr. Holt and hia 
 guests round the farm. Being given to habits of 
 extreme earliness, the former was wont to rouse any 
 one in the house whose company he fancied, to go 
 with him in his morning walks ; and the Wynns had 
 been honoured by a knocking-up at five o'clock for 
 that purpose. Mr. Holt had strode into their room, 
 flung open the windov^ shutters and the sash with a 
 resounding hand which completely dissipated sleep, 
 and rendered it hardly matter of choice to follow hira, 
 since no repose was to be gained by lying in bed. 
 Sam's clear brown eyes sparkled as he saw the 
 victims promenading after his tall father at the Gothic 
 hour of six, and marked Arthur furtively rubbing his 
 eyes. 
 
 'You're tremsadously early people here,' remarked 
 Aithur, when young Holt joined them. ' I had a 
 mind to tarn round and close the shutters again, but 
 was afraid I might affront your father.' 
 
 ' Affront him ! oh no ; but he'd just come again 
 and again to rouse you, till you were compelled to 
 submit in self-defence. He wakes up young people 
 on principle, he says.* 
 
 * Well, he practises his precepts,' rejoined Arthur, 
 ' and seems to have trained his child len in the same.' 
 
 ' Yes, he has made us all practical men ; seven 
 chipa of the old block,' observed Sam. 
 
 ' Seven brothers ! ' ejaculated Arthur. ' I saw only 
 tliree last night. And are they all as tall as you ? ' 
 
 ' About forty-four feet of lengtli among us,* said 
 Sam. ' We're a long family in more ways than one ; ' 
 and be looked down from his altitude of seventy-five 
 inches on the young Irishman. 
 
'FROM MUD TO MARBLE! 
 
 93 
 
 
 '■% ; 
 
 • It is quite a pleasant surprise to see your sister/ 
 Arthur remarked. 
 
 ' Bell hasn't kept up the family tradition of height, 
 I must say. She's a degenerate specimen of the 
 Holts ; ' i.nd the speaker's brown eyes softened with a 
 beam of fondness ; ' for which reason, I suppose, she'll 
 not bear the name long.' 
 
 ' And who's the lucky man ? ' asked Arthur, feeling 
 an instant's disagreeable surprise, and blushing at the 
 sensation. 
 
 'Oh, out of half-a-dozen pretenders, 'twould be 
 hard to say. We all marry early in Canada ; most of 
 my contemporaries are Benedicts long ago. Three 
 brothers younger than I have wives and children, and 
 are settled in farms and mills of their own.' 
 
 ' And might I ask ' — began Arthur, hesitating when 
 the very personal nature of the inquiry struck 
 him. 
 
 ' To be sure you might. Well, in the first place, 
 I took a fancy to go through college, and my father 
 left me in Toronto for four years at the University of 
 Upper Canada. That brought me up to twenty-three 
 years old ; and then — for the last two years nobody 
 would have me,' added Sam, elevating his black blows. 
 
 'Perhaps you are too fastidious; I remark that 
 about men who have nice sisters,' said Mr. Arthur, 
 with an air of much experience \ ' now, Eobert and I 
 never see anybody so nice as Linda — at least hardly 
 ever.' 
 
 ' A saving clause for Bell,' said her brother, laugh- 
 ing, • which is polite, at all events. I must tell her 
 there's a young lady at home that you prefer im- 
 mensely.' 
 
f 
 
 
 94 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 •: 
 
 Which he accordingly did, at the ensuing breakfast ; 
 and pretty Miss Holt pretended to take the matter 
 greatly to heart, and would not permit Arthur to 
 explain ; while mischievous Sam scouted the notion of 
 the unknown ' Linda, ' being his sister, except by the 
 rather distant tie of Adam and Eve. 
 
 What a plentiful table was this at Maple Grove 
 Several sorts of meat and wild fowl, several species 
 of bread and cake, several indigenous preserves ; and 
 Robert could not help going back with aching heart 
 to the scant supply of meagre fare at home ; he saw 
 again his sweet pale raotlier trying to look cheerful 
 over the poor meal, and Linda keeping up an artificial 
 gaiety, while her soul was sick of stints and priva- 
 tions. His face grew stern and sad at the memory ; 
 enjoyment or amusement was criminal for him while 
 they were suffering. So when, by and by, Mr. Holt 
 invited him and Arthur to remain for the winter 
 months at Maple Grove, with a view of gaining in- 
 sight of Canadian manners and Canadian farming, he 
 decidedly declined. He wished to push on at once ; 
 whatever hardships lay before them, had better be 
 combated as soon as possible. A lengthened stay here 
 would be a bad preparation for the wilderness life ; 
 they could scarcely but be enervated by it. 
 
 ' You're a brave lad,' said Mr. Holt, * and I admire 
 your pluck, though you are plunging right into a pack 
 of troubles ; but the overcoming of each one will be 
 a step in the ladder to fortune. Now I'll go and get 
 out the horses, and ride you over to Mr. Landenstein's 
 office : he'll know all about the wild lands, and perhaps 
 has a cleared farm or two cheap.' 
 
 But unfortunately such farms did not suit Robert's 
 
■ l! 
 
 'FROM MUD TO MARBLE: 
 
 95 
 
 pocket. One of two hundred acres, fifty cleared and 
 the rest bush, was offered for £240, with a wooden 
 house thrown into the bargain; but the purchaser's 
 fancy for the forest was unconquerable: it puzzled 
 even Mr, Holt. He returned from Mapleton the 
 proprietor of a hundred acres of bush in a newly 
 settled western township, and felt much the better 
 and cheerier that his excursion had ended so. The 
 future had something tangible for his grasp now ; and 
 he only grudged every hour spent away from his 
 sphere of labour as au opportunity of advantage 
 lost 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 

 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CORDUROY. 
 
 JHEY wor very kind to us/ observed Andy, 
 from his elevation in the waggon ; * an' 
 tliis coimthry bates all the world at 
 'ating and dhrinking.' 
 Thiy to Arthur Wynn, who was seated rather 
 despondingly in front of the collection of boxes, pots, 
 and pails, which formed their stock-in-trp.de for bush 
 life. Sam Holt and ltol)ert were walking on before 
 the horse, a furlong ahead ; but Arthur had dropped 
 behind for meditation's sake, and taken up his resi- 
 dence on the waggon for awhile, with his cap drawn 
 over his eyes. 1 dare say Miss Bell had something 
 to do with the foolish boy's regret for leaving Maple 
 Grove. 
 
 'Every day was like a Christmas or an Aisther,' 
 continued Andy, who had no idep that any one could 
 prefer silence to conversation; 'an' the sarvints had 
 parlour fare in the kitchen always, an' a supper that 
 was like a dinner, just before goin' to bed. Throth, 
 they had fine times of it — puddins an' pies, if you 
 plaze : the bare lavins would feed a family at home. 
 An' it's the same, they tell me, in all the farmers' 
 
CORDUROY. 
 
 97 
 
 houses round about. I never thought to see so much 
 vittles.' 
 
 No reply could be elicited from Mr. Arthur Wynn 
 but a grunt. 
 
 ' Didn't you ? * put in the driver; with a small 
 sneer. Andy had deemed him too far distant to catch 
 his words, as he walked beside his horse. 
 
 'Why, then, you've long ears, my man; but sure 
 it's kind for ye,' retorted Mr. Callaghan. his eye 
 twinkling wickedly. I fear that his subtle irony was 
 lost upon its subject. ' Of coorse I'm not used to 
 ye're foreign food. Our vittles at home are a dale 
 dacenter, though not so common.' 
 
 And Arthur, through his half - drowsy ears, was 
 amused by the colloquy that ensued, in the course 
 of which Andy completely floored the Canadian by a 
 glowing description of Dunore, delivered in the present 
 tense, but referring, alas ! to a period of sixteen or 
 twenty yeirs previously. But the smart black-eyed 
 backwoodsman wound up with the utterly mcredulous 
 speech, — 
 
 ' They left all them riches to come and settle in 
 our bush ! whew ! ' He jerked his whip resoundingly 
 upon the frying-pan and tin-kettle in the rear, which 
 produced a noise so curiously illustrative of his argu- 
 ment, that Arthur laughed heartily, and shook off his 
 fit of blues. 
 
 The aspect of nature would have helped him to do 
 that. The thousand dyes of the woods were brilliant, as 
 if the richest sunset had gushed from the heavens, and 
 painted the earth with a permanent glory of colour. 
 A drapery of crimson and gold endued the maples ; 
 the wild bines and briars were covered with orange 
 
 \lk\ 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 S! 
 
 t 
 
 and scarlet berries ; the black-plumed pine trees rose 
 solemnly behind. A Hat country, for the most part ; 
 and, as the travellers slowly receded westward, settle- 
 ments became sparse and small ; the grand forests 
 closed more densely round them ; solitary clearings 
 broke the monotony of trees. 
 
 The first of auytliing tliat one sees or experiences 
 remains stronger than all aiLer impressions on the 
 memory. With what interest did the embryo settlers 
 regard the first veritable log-hut that rresented itself, 
 surrounded by half an acre of stumps, among which 
 struggled potatoes and big yellow squashes. A dozen 
 hens pecked about; a consumptive-looking cow sus- 
 pended her chewing, as also did her master his hoeing, 
 to gaze after the waggon, till it disappeared beyond 
 the square frame of forest which shut in the little 
 clearing. 
 
 Again the long lines of stately oaks and firs, with 
 a straight and apparently endless road between them, 
 like the examples of perspective in beginners' draw- 
 ing-books, but with the vanishing point always 
 receding. 
 
 * I see they've turnpiked this road since I was on 
 it before,' observed the driver. 
 
 ' Where ? ' asked Andy, looking about. ' I don't 
 see a turnpike — an' sure I ought to know a tollman's 
 dirty face in any place. Sorra house here at all at all, 
 or a gate ; or a ha'porth except trees,' he added in a 
 disgusted manner. 
 
 ' There,' said the Canadian, pointing to a ploughed 
 line along each side of the road, whence the earth had 
 been thrown up in the centre by a scraper ; ' that's 
 turn piking.' 
 
 j; 
 
CORDUROY. 
 
 99 
 
 *Ye might have invented a new name/ rejoined 
 the Irishman, with an offended air, 'an' not be mis- 
 lading people. I thought it was one of the ould 
 pike-gates where I used to have to pay fourpiuce for 
 me, ass and car; an' throth, much as I hated it, I'd 
 be a'most glad to see one of the sort here, just for 
 company's sake. A mighty lonesome counthry ye 
 have, to be surel' 
 
 ' Well, we cau't be far from Greenock now ; and I 
 see a bit of a snake fence yonder.' 
 
 It was another clearing, on a more enterprising 
 scale than the last described; the forest had been 
 pushed back farther, and a good wooden house erected 
 in the open space ; zigzag rail fences enclosed a few 
 fields almost clear of stumps, and an orchard was 
 growing up behind. A man in a red shirt, who was 
 engaged in underbrushing at a little distance, said that 
 ' the town ' was only a mile away — Greenock, on the 
 Clyde. 
 
 Alas for iK)menclature ! The waggon scrambled 
 down a rather steep declivity, towards a dozen houses 
 scattered beside a stream : stumps stood erect in the 
 single short street, and a ferry-boat was the only craft 
 enlivening the shore. A Greenock without commerce 
 or warehouses, a Clyde without wharves or ships, or 
 the possibility of either — what mere travestie effected 
 by a name ! 
 
 ' A nest of Scottish emigrants, I suppose,' said 
 Eobert Wynn, as he contemplated ' the town.' 
 
 ' Yes, and they'll push their place up to something,' 
 replied Sam Holt: 'if pluck and perseverance can do 
 it, they will. Only one enemy can ruin a Scotchman 
 here, and that's the " drap diink." Ten to one that in 
 
 •! 
 
 :| i 
 
 >:! 
 
 "mmmm. 
 
r 
 
 lOO 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 i 
 
 < iC' I 
 
 twenty years you find tliis ground covered with 
 factories and thousands of houses ; that .solitary store 
 is the germ of streets of shops^ and the tavern will 
 expand into half a score hotels. Sandy will do it 
 all; 
 
 ' I'm afraid you could not speak so well of Irish 
 progress.* 
 
 • Because the canker of their religion continues to 
 produce its legitimate effects in most cases ; and the 
 influence of whisky — the great bane of social life in 
 our colony — is even more predominant than over the 
 lower class Scotch settlers. Still, they do iniinitely 
 better here than at home ; and yuu'U meet with many 
 a flourishing Hibernian in the backwoods and pioneer 
 cities.' 
 
 ' I presume this is a pioneer city ? * looking round 
 at the handful of wooden shanties. 
 
 ' Don't despise it ; Rome had as small a beginning, 
 and was manned by no more indomitable hands and 
 hearts than our frontier emigrants.' 
 
 ' We are producing quite a sensation,' said Robert. 
 For the major part of the inhabitants came out of 
 doors to view the strangers, with that curiosity which 
 characterizes a new-born society ; many of the men 
 bethought themselves of some business at the wooden 
 tavern by the water-side, where the waggon drew up 
 and the new arrivals entered in. 
 
 A store where everything wab sold, from a nail or 
 a spool of ' slack ' to a keg of spirits or an almanac : 
 sold for money when it could be had, for flour or wool 
 or potash when it couldn't ; likewise a post-office, 
 whither a stage came once a week with an odd pas- 
 senger, or an odd dozen of newspapers and letters; 
 
 I 
 
ANGUS MACGREGOR's HAcKUmuDS .SlnRK. 
 
 Ill 
 
 h 
 
 .f ^ ; 
 
 I. 
 
 ri 
 
 1 
 
 
 w^<H«.>m«iii|i|i0g||iipgi^ 
 
 ■rtarii'i — i 'tHi-^rtTaii'iii 
 
m^mm 
 
 ill 
 P 
 
 % I 
 
 . ; !i 
 
CORDUROY, 
 
 lOI 
 
 likewise the abode of a magistrate, where justice was 
 occasionally dispensed and marriages performed. The 
 dwelling that united all these offices in its single 
 person, was a long, low, framed house, roofed witli 
 shingles, and but one storey in height ; proprietor, 
 a certain canny Scot, named Angus Macgregor, who, 
 having landed at Quebec with just furty shillings in 
 the world, was making rapid strides to wealth here, 
 as a lauded proprietor and store -keeper without 
 rivalry. Others of the clan Gregor had come out, 
 allured by tidings of his prosperity; and so the 
 broad Doric of lowland Scotch resounded about 
 the tavern table almost au much as the Canadian 
 twang. 
 
 All doing welL Labour was the sole commodity 
 they possessed, and it sufliced to purchase the best 
 things of life in Canada, e?. ecially that slow upward 
 rising in circumstances and possessions wiiich is one 
 of the sweetest sensations of struggling humanity, and 
 which only a favoured few among the working classes 
 can enjoy at home. Kobert Wynn was almost as 
 curious about their affairs as they were about his ; for 
 he was energized afresh by every instance of progress, 
 and little inducement was required to draw from the 
 settlers their own histories, which had the single 
 monotony running through each of gradual growth 
 from poverty to prosperity. 
 
 ' Wliat sort of roads have you across the ferry to 
 the Cedars ? ' inquired Sam Holt of mine host. 
 
 ' The first part of the concession line is pretty good, 
 but I canna say as much for the " corduroy " after- 
 wards : the riding's not so easy there, I guess.' 
 
 ' Corduroy ! ' ejaculated Arthur. 
 
 { ;■ 
 
 'I 
 
wttmmm 
 
 !i 
 
 1 
 
 ■'. I 
 
 ) ia,.i, 
 
 1 
 
 i iiil 
 
 i'lM 
 
 It '1 
 
 !' • i 
 
 \i' tii 
 
 \ I 
 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 
 loa 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 * Oh, wait till you feel it/ said Som, with much 
 aravisement in his eyes. ' It's indescribable. I liope 
 we won't meet in the dark, that's all.' 
 
 * Drivin' acroDS ladders for ever, with the rungs 
 very far apart,' explained a Canadian to Andy, in 
 the background, as the latter rubbed his finger-tips 
 over the ribs in the material of his pantaloons, and 
 looked puzzled. 
 
 ' An' what description of vahicle stands sich 
 thratement ? ' asked Mr. Cailaghau, ' an' what descrip- 
 tion of baste ? ' 
 
 ' Oxen is the handiest, 'cos they've the strongest 
 legs,' returned his informant, with a fresh puff of 
 his pipe. 
 
 * Well, of all the counthries ' — began Andy, for the 
 twentieth time that day ; and perhaps as many as ten 
 additional utterances of the ejaculation were forced by 
 the discovery that he and the gentlemen were to 
 occupy the same sleeping apartment ; but, aoove all, 
 by the revelation that behind a ragged curtain in the 
 corner reposed two wayfaring women, going to join 
 their husbands in the woods, and having also 
 a baby. The latter creature, not being at all 
 overawed by its company, of course screamed in the 
 night whenever the fancy seized it ; and good-natured 
 Andy found himself at one period i^ctually walking up 
 and down with the warm bundle of flannel in his arms, 
 patting it on the back soothingly. 
 
 Next morning they left the little settlement, and, 
 crossing the ferry again, plunged into the primeval 
 forest. Eobert felt as if that mock Clyde were the 
 Rubicon of their fate. 
 
 ' I leave the old degenerate life/ be murmured to 
 
 i 
 
 1 1 1 
 
CORDUROY. 
 
 103 
 
 himself, ' with all its tradicions of ease. I go forth to 
 face Fortune in these wilds, and to win her, if ever 
 sturdy toil of limb and brain succeeded.* 
 
 This spirit of independence was manly, but Robert 
 did not at the moment join to it the nobler spirit of 
 dependence on the Divine Disposer of everts: self- 
 trust filled his heart; and tlds is the great snare 
 of youth. 
 
 'You are looking unusually valorous/ said Sam 
 Holt, wlio marched alongside. He had volunteered to 
 stay with ihem for their first fortnight of bush life, 
 like a kind fellow as he was. Something about these 
 young Wynns had attracted his regard, and perhaps a 
 touch of compassion. He would, at least, help them 
 to put up the shanty, he said. 
 
 And trul> :;he road grew very bad ; at a short bit 
 of swamp they made their first acquaintance with 
 ' corduroy.' Sam explained the structure when the 
 waggon had done bumping over it : trunks of trees had 
 been laid along the road as ' sleepers ' in three 
 continuous lines ; and across them round logs, close 
 together by theory, but in practice perhaps a foot ot 
 two apart, wiih unknown abysses of mud between. 
 
 They wished even for the corduroy expedient a 
 little farther on. whan the line became encumbered 
 with stumps left from the underbrushing, and which 
 caught in the axletree every few score yards. Now 
 came the handspikes into action, which provident Sara 
 had cut, and laid into the waggon when the road v/as 
 fair and smooth ; for tLe wheels hod to be lifted high 
 enough to slip over the obstacles. In the pauses of 
 manual labour came the chilling thought, * All this 
 difficulty between us and home.' 
 7 
 
 \i 
 
104 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Sunlight faded from the tree-tops ; and soon night 
 was descending darkly among the pines. 
 
 ' We must either camp in the woods, or get shelter 
 at some settler's,' decided Sam. ' We'll try a quarter 
 of a mile farther, and see what it brings.' So away 
 they went again, shouting at the oxen, and endea- 
 vouring to steer the equipage free of mud-holes and 
 stumps. ■ 
 
 ' I am afraid our cups and saucers are all in a 
 smash,' said Arthur. Robert had a secret misgiving to 
 the same effect ; but, then, crockeryware is a luxury to 
 which no shanty-man has a right. Andy rescued a 
 
 washing 
 
 basin and ewer, by 
 
 wearing 
 
 the former on 
 
 his head and the latter on his left arm — helmet and 
 shield-wise; except at intervals, when he took his turn 
 at handspiking. 
 
 A light gleamed through the trees, and a dog 
 barked simultaneously : they were on the verge of 
 a clearing ; and, hearing the voices outside, the owner 
 of the house came forth to welcorj^e the travellers, 
 virith a heartiness widely different from the common- 
 place hospitality of more crowded countries. 
 
 / 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ■THE BATTLE WITH THE WILDEENESS BEGINS. 
 
 ill 
 
 EOAEINGr fire of logs upon the wide hearth, 
 logs built up into walls and roof, logs wrought 
 into rough furniture of tables and stools- - 
 here, within the emigTant's hut, tlie all- 
 encompassing forest had but changed its shape. Man 
 had but pressed it into liis service ; from a foe it Iiad 
 become a friend ; the wooden realm paid tribute, being 
 subjugated. 
 
 The still life of the cabin was rude enough. No 
 appliances for ease, not many for comfort, as we in 
 England understand the words. Yet the settler's wife, 
 sitting by her wheel, and dressed in the home-spun 
 fruits thereof, had a well-to-do blooming aspect, which 
 gaslight and merino could not have improved; and 
 the settler's boy, building a miniature shanty of chips 
 in the corner, his mottled skin testifying to all sorts 
 of weather-beating, looking as happy as if he had 
 a toyshop at his connnand, instead of the word being 
 utterly unknown in his experience; and the baby, 
 rolled up in the hollowed pine-log, slept as sweetly as 
 if satin curtains enclosed its rest. Back to Sam 
 Holt's mind recurred words which he knew well: 
 
 i< 
 
 109 
 
io6 
 
 CEDAR CREEK 
 
 '■H 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 1 1 
 
 13' 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 r.M 
 
 ' A man's life conaisteth not in the abundance of the 
 things that he possesseth/ 
 
 The woman rose and curtsied. She had not been 
 accustomed to make that respectful gesture for a long 
 time back ; but something in the appearance of the 
 strangers half involuntarily constrained it. 
 
 * I needn't ask if you're Canadian born,' said Mr. 
 Holt ; ' you've the manners of the old country.' 
 
 ' My father and mother were from Wiltshire, and so 
 be I,' she answered, setting back her wheel, and look- 
 ing gratified at the implied commendation. ' But that 
 be so long ago as I scarce remember.' 
 
 'And she made amends by marrying me,* said the 
 settler, entering from the outer door, and latching it 
 behind him. * Mary, get the pan and fix some suppei 
 quick. Them duck I shot won't be bad. You see, 
 I've been expectin' you along rather ; ' and he flung 
 down an armful of wood, which he began to arrange 
 with architectural reference to the back-log and fore- 
 stick. 
 
 * Expecting us ? ' exclaimed Kobert Wynn. 
 
 * You're for lot fifteen in ninth concession, township 
 of Gazelle ? Wall, so I guessed ; for I heard from 
 Zack Bunting who lives at the " Corner," that it was 
 sold by Landenstein ; and I calc'lated you'd be along 
 presently:'" and he finished his fire-building by a touch 
 with his foot, which appeared to demolish much of his 
 labour, but in reality conduced to liis obiect of intensi- 
 fying the heat and blaze. 
 
 ' Benny,' to the boy, who had sat on the ground 
 staring at the new-comers, ' go tell your mother to be 
 spry.' The little fellow went accordingly, by the side 
 door through which she had disappeared a few minutes 
 
 
BATTLE WITH WILDERNESS BEGINS 107 
 
 previously ; and the Irish servant, planting himself on 
 the vacated spot with his toeu to the fire comfortably, 
 commenced to erect of the chUd's chips a two-storied 
 mansion. 
 
 • You've got a good slice of bush there, back from 
 the pond; though the cedars wiU be troublesome, I guess.' 
 
 ' Oh, we bargained for the: cedars,' said Sam Holt 
 •There's enough to clear without laying an axe to 
 them for many a day.' 
 
 'It's all the doing of that spring creek, running 
 through the middle of the lot, as fine a water-privilege 
 as ever I see ; but the cedars are where it gets to the 
 pond. If the bed was deepened down below, it's my 
 opinion the swamp would be drained.' 
 
 You seem to know the ground well,' said Eobert, 
 with interest. 
 
 ' I guess I ought to, that have shot over it before 
 ever a blazed line ran through them woods. We was 
 farthest west once, but that's over by a long spell ; 
 ^-he neighbourhood's pretty thick now, and the "Corner'' 
 will be a town shortly.' 
 
 'Well, if this is a thick neighbourhood, I should 
 like to know his idea of a thin one,' said Arthur, sotto 
 voce, to Sam Holt. ' We have met only this house for 
 miles.' 
 
 ' Oh, they ain't many miles, only you thought they 
 was, cos' I guess you ain't used to the stumps,' put in 
 the settler. 'The back lot to ours, of the same 
 number, is took by a Scotchman, and last week I run 
 a blazed line across to his clearing through the bush ; 
 for you see I'm often away, trapping or' still-hunting! 
 and Mary here thought she'd be a trifle less lonesome 
 if she had a way of going over the hiU to her friend 
 
 I 
 
 fi 
 
 
 * aii it ft w#< y> j ,' M'* HW' '>i*| g ' 
 
II 
 
 io8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Mrs. Macpherson. The other way is round by the 
 " Corner," which makes it five miles full ; but now 
 Benny can run across of a message, by minding the 
 marks ; can't you, my lad ? ' 
 
 'Yes, father,' answered the boy proudly. 'And I 
 can chop a blaze myself, too.' Benny was not much 
 taller than an axe handle. 
 
 Arthur looked from the child round at the wife, who 
 was often left alone in this solitude of woods, and 
 longed for the slender chain of a scarred line of trees 
 between her and some other woman. A healthy, firm 
 outline of face, wholly unacquainted with nervousness ; 
 quiet, self-reliant, hard-working; perhaps of a Dutch 
 type of character. Her husband was a sturdy broad- 
 set man, with lithe limbs, and quick senses looking out 
 from his clear-featured countenance : he had a roving 
 unsubdued eye, befitting the hunter more than the 
 farmer. 
 
 ' I wouldn't desire,' said the latter, seating himself 
 on the end of the table, while his wife superintended 
 a pan of frizzling pork on the coals — ' I wouldn't 
 desire, *or a feller that wanted to settle down for good, 
 a more promising location fchan yourn at the Cedars. 
 The high ground grows the very best sorts of hard 
 wood — oak, sugar maple, elm, basswood. Not too 
 many beech, or I'd expect sand ; with here and there 
 a big pine and a handful of balsams. The under- 
 brushing ain't much, except in the swamp.' 
 
 * I'm glad to hear that,' said Mr. Holt, ' for the fall 
 is going fast, and we'll have to work pretty hard before 
 snow comes.' 
 
 'So I'm thinkin'. But you ain't going to settle: 
 you haven't the cut of it : you're settled already.' 
 
 
 I 
 
BATTLE WITH WILDERNESS BEGINS. 
 
 109 
 
 'How do you know?' 
 
 'Oh, you didn't listen as they did,' pointing his 
 thumb towards the Wynns, ' when I fell to talkin' of 
 the ground. I kuow'd my men at once. Nor you 
 didn't stare about as they did, as if the house and 
 fixins was a show at a copper ahead.' 
 
 'You must excuse our curiosity,' said Sobert 
 politely. 
 
 ' Surely ; every man that has eyes is welcome to use 
 'em,' replied the backwoodsman bluntly. 'We ain't 
 got no manners in the bush, nor don't want 'em, as I 
 tell Mary here, when she talks any palaver. Now, 
 wife, them pritters must be done ; ' and he left his seat 
 on the table to pry over her pan. 
 
 ' Then take the cakes out of the bake-kettle, will 
 you ? ' said Mary ; ' and if them ducks be raw, 'tain't 
 my fault, remember.' She wau evidently a woman of 
 few words, but trenchant. 
 
 Thus warned, her husband did not press the point, 
 but took the stewing fowl undor his own care, display- 
 ing a practical experience of (;ookery won in many a 
 day of bush life. 
 
 ' These duck was shot on jour pond, stranger ; if 
 you be a good hand with the gun, you'll never want 
 for fresh meat while that water holds together. The 
 finest maskelonge and pickerel I ever see was hooked 
 out of it.' 
 
 Arthur's face brightened ; for the sportsman instinct 
 was strong in him, and he had been disappointed 
 hitherto by finding the woods along their track empty 
 of game. 
 
 ' 'Cos the critters have more sense than to wait by 
 the road to be shot/ explained the backwoodsman, as 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
no 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 M 
 
 % 
 
 
 he dished up his stew — a sort of hodgepodge of wild- 
 fowl, the theory of which would have horrified an 
 epicure ; but the practical effect was most savoury. 
 
 Now the boy Benny had never in his small life 
 seen any edifice nobler than a loghouse on the ground- 
 floor ; and the upper storey which Mr. Callaghan had 
 built with his chips seemed to him as queer a pheno- 
 menon as a man having two heads. 
 
 ' Well, only think of that ! ' exclaimed Andy ; ' the 
 boy doesn't know what a stairs is.' 
 
 * And how should he ? * asked the father, rather 
 sharply. 'He ha'n't seen nothin' bvt the bush. One 
 time I took him to Greenock, and he couldn't stop 
 wonderin' what med all the houses come together. 
 For all 'hat, he ha'n't a bad notion of chopping, and 
 can drive a span of oxen, and is growin' up as hardy 
 as my riflo— eh, Benny ? ' 
 
 'He cut all the wood I wanted while you were 
 away last time, Peter,' chimed in the mother. So the 
 strangers saw that the principle which leads parents 
 to bore their unoffending visitors with copybooks and 
 the * Battle of Prague,' is applicable to backwood 
 accomplishments also. 
 
 As a general rule, conversation does not flourish in 
 the bush. The settler's isolated life is not favourable 
 to exchange of thought, and events are few. Silence 
 had fallen upon the woman in this house to a remark- 
 able degree, and become incorporated with her. She 
 went about her work quietly and quickly, speaking 
 but five sentences in the course of the evening. The 
 last of these was to notify to her husband that ' the 
 skins was ready.' , . 
 
 'We've no beds/ said he, with equal curtness, 
 
 
BATTLE WITH WILDERNESS BEGINS, in 
 
 
 ' You must try and be snug in a wrap - up on the 
 floor to-night. More logs, Benny;' and additional 
 wood was heaped down, while he brought forward a 
 bundle of bear and buffalo skins, enough to blanket 
 them all. Mary had elready picked up the pine-log 
 containing her baby, and taken ic into the other room 
 out of sight, whither her husband followed ; and 
 Bonny crept into a sort of bed - closet in the far 
 corner. 
 
 All night long, through the outer darkness, came a 
 sound as of a limitless sea upon a lonely strand. 
 Robert knew it for the wind wandering iu the forest, 
 and even in his home dreams it mingled a diapason, 
 until the early sun gleamed through the chinks of the 
 door, and flung a ray across his face. Simultaneously 
 the poultry outside and the infant within woke up, 
 commencing their several noises ; and the farmer, 
 coming out, built up the fire, and hung down the 
 bake -kettle to heat for the breakfast bread. Then 
 he invited his company to ' a wash ' at the spring ; 
 and, leading them by a wood path beside the house, 
 they came to a pellucid pool fed by a rivulet, whi^h, 
 after flowing over its basin, ran off rapidly to lower 
 ground. Here Benny was flung in by his father, 
 though the water was quite deep enough to drown 
 him ; but he dived, and came out buoyant as a 
 coot. 
 
 * Now go fetch the cow, my lad, and help your 
 mother to fix breakfast, while we walk round the 
 clearing.* But this morning she had an efficient 
 coadjutor in the person of Andy Callaghan, who 
 dandled the baby while the cakes were being made, 
 his sharp eye learning a lesson meantime ; and milked 
 
 Mim 
 
i 
 
 iia 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 the cow while the child was 
 
 being dressed 
 
 and 
 
 It ' t 
 
 i \ 
 
 ill 
 
 I,, a, 
 
 
 It i i 
 
 w \ 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 cut 
 
 slices of pork, superintending its frizzling while the 
 room was being set to rights. Three or four attempts 
 to draw the silent woman into conversation were 
 utterly abortive. 
 
 ' Troth, an* you're a jewil of a wife,' remarked the 
 Irishman, when everything seemed done. * I'll en- 
 gage I won't have the good luck to get one wid her 
 tongue in such good ordher.' 
 
 Mary Logan laughed. * It be from having no folk 
 to talk with,' she said. 
 
 ' An' a sin an' a shame it is for himself to lave 
 you alone,' rejoined Andy, looking complimentary. 
 ' Now I want to know one thing that has been 
 botherin' me ever since I came in here. What's them 
 strings of y allow stuff that are hangin' out of the 
 rafthers, an' are like nothin' I see jn all my days, 
 'cept shavin's ? * 
 
 * Sarce,' answered Mrs. Logan, looking up ; * them's 
 sarce.' 
 
 * I'm as wise as ever,' said Andy. Whereupon she 
 went to the compartment which acted as store-closet, 
 and, bringing out a pie which had a wooden spoon 
 erect in it, proffered him a bit. 
 
 ' Ah,' quoth Mr. Callaghan with satisfaction, ' that's 
 English talk ; I know what that manes well So ye 
 calls apples " sarce ! " I've heerd tell that every 
 counthry has a lingo of its own, an' I partly b'lieve 
 it now. But throth, that way of savin' 'em would be 
 great news intirely for the childer at home ! ' 
 
 So thought Kobert Wynn afterwards, when he found 
 the practice p.imost universal among the Canadians, 
 and wondered that a domestic expedient so simple 
 
BATTLE WITH WILDERNESS BEGINS. 113 
 
 and serviceable should be confined to American 
 housekeepers. 
 
 * Peter planted an orchard the first thing when 
 wo settled, and maples be plenty in the bush,' said 
 Mrs. Logan, with unusual coniuiunicativeuess. 
 
 ' Yes, ma'am,' rejoined Andy suavely, and not in 
 the least seeing the connection between maple trees 
 and apple-pie. ' I wondher might I make bould to 
 ax you for one of them sthrings ? they're sich a 
 curiosity to me.' And he had the cord of leathern 
 pieces stowed away in one of the provision hampers 
 before the others came in from the fields. 
 
 There they had seen the invariable abundance and 
 wastefulness of bush-farming ; no trace of the economy 
 of land, which need perforce be practised in older 
 countries, but an extravagance about the very zigzag 
 fences, which unprofitably occupied, with a succession 
 of triangular borderings, as much space as would make 
 scores of garden beds. ' Nobody cares for the selvedges 
 when there is a whole continent to cut from,' remarked 
 Sam Holt, in a sententious way he had. 
 
 A yield of from twenty to five-and-twenty bushels 
 per acre of wheat, and two hundred and fifty bushels 
 of potatoes, were mentioned by the farmer as an average 
 crop. His barns and root-house were full to repletion. 
 Nothing of all this property was locked up: a latch 
 on the door sufficed. 
 
 ' I suppose, then, you have no rogues in the bush ? ' 
 said Eobert. 
 
 ' Where everybody's as well off as another, there 
 ain't no thievin',' was the pithy answer. ' A wolf 
 now and then among our sheep, is all the robbers we 
 has.' 
 
 
"4 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 ? 
 
 After breakfast the bullocks were yoked afresh. 
 
 ' I guess as how you've stumps before you to-day, 
 a few,' said the farmer, coming out axe on shoulder. 
 ' 'Taiu't only a blaze up beyond your place at the Cedars, 
 and not much better than a track of regulation width 
 from the " Corner " to there. Only for that job of 
 underbrushing I want to get finished, I'd be along 
 with you to-day.' 
 
 He and his boy Benny walked with the travellers 
 so far as their way lay together. The wife stood at 
 the door, shading her eyes with her liand, till the 
 lumbering waggon was lost to view round the edge of 
 the woods. 
 
 The day's journey was just a repetition of yester- 
 day's, with the stumps and the mud holes rather 
 worse. The ' Corner,* with its single sawmill and 
 store, offered no inducement for a halt ; and a tedious 
 two miles farther brought them to ' hum.' 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CAMPING IN THE BUSH. 
 
 ELL ! ' exclaimed Robert Wynn, ' here is my 
 estate ; and i> either pond, nor swamp, nor 
 yet spring creek do I behold.' 
 
 He looked again at the landmark — an 
 elm tree at the junction of the lot line and the con- 
 cession road, which bore the numbers of each, * Nine, 
 Fifteen,' in very legible figures on opposite sides. A 
 * blaze ' had been made by chopping away a slice of 
 the bark with an axe about three feet from the 
 ground, and on the white space the num))ers were 
 marked by the surveyor. All roads through the 
 forest, and all farm allotments, are first outlined in 
 this way, before the chopper sets to work. 
 
 The new townships in Upper Canada are laid out 
 in parallel lines, running nearly east and west, sixty- 
 six chains apart, and sixty-six feet in width, which are 
 termed concession lines, being conceded by Govern- 
 ment as road allowances. These lands thus enclosed 
 are subdivided into lots of two hundred acres by 
 other lines, which strike the concession roads at right 
 angles every thirty chains ; and every fifth of these 
 
 H 
 
 
1i' 
 iif, 
 
 w 
 
 'J« 
 
 ii6 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 Mi 
 ■ J 
 
 i 
 
 Hi 
 
 ill 
 
 11 
 
 !i' 
 
 % «-^ 
 
 lot lines is also a cross-road. We have all looked at 
 maps of the country, and wondered at the sort o* 
 chess-board counties which prevail in the back settle- 
 ments : the same system of parallelograms extends to 
 the farms. 
 
 Kobert's face was a little rueful. Twenty yards 
 in any direction he could not see for the overpower- 
 ing bush, except along the line of road darkened with 
 endless forest. The waggon was being unpacked, for 
 the driver sturdily declared that his agreement had 
 been only to bring them as far as this post on the 
 concession : he muat go back to the * Corner ' that 
 evening, on his way home. 
 
 ' An' is '1 on the road ye'll lave the masther's 
 things ? ' remonstrated Andy. 
 
 ' 1 guess we han't no masters here, Pat,' was the 
 reply ; ' but if you see any ^var else to stow the traps, 
 I ain't partic'ler.' And he stolidly continued un- 
 loading. 
 
 * Come,' said the cheery voice of Sam Holt, * we will 
 have daylight enough to explore the lot, and select a 
 site for a camp. I think I can discover the tops of 
 cedars over the hardwood trees here. The boxes will 
 take care of themselves, unless a squirrel takes into 
 his head to inspect them. Let's follow the concession 
 line along westward first.' 
 
 Callaghan stayed uy the luggage, feeling by no 
 means sure of its safety, and saw the rest of the party 
 gradually receding among the trees, with sensations 
 akin to those of a sailor on a desert island. Sitting 
 upon the tool-chest, like an item of property saved 
 from a wreck, Andy looked from the base to the summit 
 of the huge walls of forest that encompassed him, and 
 
CAMPING IN THE BUSH. 
 
 117 
 
 along the canal of sky overhead, till his countenance 
 had fallen to zero. 
 
 The shipwrecked sensation had gone farther ; Mi. 
 Holt saw it lurking in other faces, and forthwith found 
 all advantages possible in the lot. The soil was sure 
 to be the best : he could tell by the timber. Its 
 height proved tlie depth of earth. When the treed 
 grew shorter, a hidden treasure of limestone flag lay 
 beneath the surface, useful for drains and building. 
 And even the entangled cedar swamp was most desir- 
 able, as furnishing the best wood for rail-fences and 
 logs for a house. 
 
 But nothing could look more unpromising. Blackish 
 pools of water alternated with a network of massive 
 roots all over the soil, underneath broad evergreen 
 branches ; trunks of trees leaned in every direction, as 
 if top-heavy. Wilder confusion o! thicket could not 
 be conceived. ' The cedars troublesome! I should think 
 so,' gropned their owner. 
 
 ' This is the worst bit,' acknowledged Sam. ' Now, 
 if we could see it, the lake is down yonder ; perhaps if 
 we strike a diagonal across the lot, we may come to 
 some rising ground.' With the pocket compass for 
 guide they left the blazed line, which they had followed 
 hitherto. After a short distance the bush began to 
 thin, ard the forest twilight brightened. 
 
 ' A beaver meadow ! ' exclaimed Sam Holt, who was 
 foremost. Green as emerald, the small semicircular 
 patch of grass lay at the foot of gentle slopes, as if it 
 had once been a lakelet itself. 'Two acres ready 
 cleared, with the finest dairy grass only waiting to be 
 eaten,' continued encouraging Sam. ' And the clearing 
 on the hill will command the beat view in the town- 
 

 m 
 
 it8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 I! 
 
 ship ; there's the site for your house, Wynn. Altogether 
 you've hp.d rare luck in this lot.' 
 
 ' But why is that green flat called a hmver meadow ? ' 
 asked Kobert. 
 
 ' Do you see the creek running alongside ? No, you 
 can't for the underbrush ; but it's there all the same. 
 Well, they say that long ago beavers dammed up the 
 current in such places as this with clay and brushwood, 
 so that the water spread over all level spaces near ; 
 and when the Indians and French were at war, tlie 
 red men cut away the dams and killed the beavers 
 wholesale to spite their enemies. You're to take that 
 just as an on clit, recollect.' 
 
 ' And is all that verdure an appearance or a 
 reality ? ' 
 
 ' Something of both. I don't say but you will 
 occasionally find it treacherous footing, needing drain- 
 age to be comfortable. See ! there's vhe pond at last.' 
 
 They had been climbing out of the denser woods, 
 among a younger growth on the face of the slope ; and 
 when they turned, the sheet of water was partially 
 visible over the sunken cedar swamp. 
 
 'A pond!' exclaimed Arthur; 'why, it must be three 
 miles across to those limestone cliffs. What pretty 
 islets ! Such endless varieties of wood and water ! * 
 
 ' I think we Americans are rather given to the 
 diminutive style of parlance,' quoth Mr. Holt. ''We 
 have some justification in the colossal proportion of all 
 the features of nature around us. What is this pretty 
 lake but a mere pool, compared with our Erie and 
 Superior ? ' 
 
 ' It is one of a chain,' remarked Robert, taking from 
 his breast pocket a map of the district, which had his 
 
' I GUESS VOL'K'k GITTING AI.UNO CONSIDERABLE SMART.' 
 
 [,v,v A 128.1 
 
ui' 
 
 — Jl-..,^^.. 
 
 ii' r 
 
 
 137 
 
CAMPING IN THE BUSH. 
 
 191 
 
 own farm heavily scored in red ink. Often had he 
 contemplated that outline of the Urra incognita on 
 which he now trod, and longed for the knowledge he 
 now possessed, which, after its manner, had brought 
 him both good and evil. Like balls threaded on a 
 cord, a succession of lakes, connected by cascades and 
 portages, or by reaches of river, stretched away to the 
 north-west, sorely marring the uniformity of the chess- 
 board townships. 
 
 As they picked their way back along the lot lino 
 northward, Mr. Holt stopped suddenly. ' I hear a 
 very singular noise,' he said, ' for which I am wholly at 
 a loss to account, unless there be Indians about in the 
 neighbourhood. Even then it is totally unlike their 
 jries. Listen!' 
 
 His sharper senses had detected before theirs a 
 distant wail, proceeding from some distance in front, 
 apparently — weird and wild as it could be, dying away 
 or surging upon the ear as the wind swept it hither 
 or thither. Arthur shrugged his shoulders. ' You 
 have no ghosts in these forests. Holt, I suppose ?' 
 
 * The country's too new for anything of the sort,' 
 replied he gravely. 
 
 * Nor any mocking birds that can be playing us a 
 trick ? Or dryads warning us off their territory ? ' 
 
 He had recognised the performance of Andy 
 Callaghan, who, when they turned the comer of the 
 allotment, was discovered seated on the boxes as when 
 they saw him last, and crooning the dismalest melody. 
 But he had, in the meantime, recovered himself suffi- 
 ciently to gather brushwood, and kindle a fire beside 
 the road ; likewise m cook a panful of rashers as the 
 shadows grew longer and the day later. 
 8 
 
 
mm 
 
 i'' " ■ 
 
 ; 
 
 133 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ''■> ] 
 
 Ml 
 
 il 
 
 i ! 
 
 1*1 
 
 ' But sure I thought ye wor lost entirely ; sure I 
 thought ye wor never comin' at all, Masther Eobert, 
 avourneen. 'Twas that med me rise the keen. A 
 single livin' thing I didn't lay my eyes on since, barrin' 
 a big frog. I'm afeard thim are like sticks, Masther 
 Arthur, they're so long fryin'.' 
 
 * No matter, Andy, they'll do first-rate. I'd only 
 advise you to chop up more. I feel like eating all that 
 myself ; ' and, trencher on knee, they dined with real 
 backwood appetites. 
 
 A shelter for the night was the next consideration. 
 Mr. Holt constituted himself architect, and commenced 
 operations by lashing a pole across two trees at about 
 his own height ; the others cut sticks and shrubs for 
 roofing. Three young saplings sloped back to the 
 ground as principal rafters, and on these were laid a 
 thatch of brushwood ; the open ends of the hut were 
 filled with the same material. 
 
 * Now,' said Sam Holt, contemplating the work of 
 his hands with professional pride, ' when we have a big 
 fire built in front, and a lot of hemlock brush to lie on, 
 we sh(dl be pretty comfortable.' 
 
 And he instructed his novices further in the art of 
 making their couch luxuriously agreeable, by picking 
 the hemlock fine, and spreading over it a bulBfalo skin. 
 Sam Holt had evidently become acquainted with ' con- 
 siderable ' bush lore at his University of Toronto. 
 
 I 
 
 t. 
 
 ii 
 
I 
 
 'S 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER. 
 
 jHREE men stood with their axes amid the 
 
 primeval forest. Vast trunks rose around 
 
 hem to an altitude of thirty or even fifty 
 
 The odds were immensely m the diyads' favour the 
 p.nes and hardwoods might have laughed in every' lea 
 
 ^HaZ^U f"^"^""° «-- -^emorLT!:' 
 pire and scaueu that vis zncrtice alone must overeome 
 If, as Teunyson has bestowed unon tho l^t 
 
 H^Ji^"'"'". ,*^' '^^' ^^" y«^^^ sh^^ty, said Mr Holt 
 
 atrrzrtre'tis^irh'r^r^^^^ 
 
 oumuentiv near the concession line/ 
 
 Hi 
 
 k 
 
 .If 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 i( 
 
 ■1 i > 
 
r^ 
 
 134 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 II 
 
 
 'And I'm sanguine enough to believe that there 
 will be a view at some future period/ added Robert, 
 ' when we have hewed through some hundred yards of 
 solid timber in front. By the way, Holt, why are all 
 the settlers' locations I have yet seen in the country 
 so destitute of wood about them ? A man seems to 
 think it his duty to extirpate everything that grows 
 higher than a pumpkin ; one would imagine it ought 
 to be easy enough to leave clumps of trees in picturesque 
 spots, so as to produce the effect of the ornamental 
 plantations at home. Now I do not mean exclusively 
 the lowest grade of settlers, for of course from them 
 so much taste was not to be expected ; but gentlemen 
 farmers and such like.* 
 
 ' I dare say they contract such an antipathy to 
 wood of every species during their years of clearing, 
 that it is thenceforth regarded as a natural enemy, to 
 be cut down wherever met with. And when you have 
 seen one of our Canadian hurricanes, you will under- 
 stand why an umbrageous elm or a majestic oak near 
 one's dwellings may not always be a source of pleasur- 
 able sensations.' 
 
 ' Still, I mean to spare that beautiful butternut 
 yonder,' said Eobert ; ' of all trees in the forest it is 
 prettiest. And I shall tiy to clear altogether in an 
 artistic manner, with an eye to the principles of land- 
 scape gardening. Why, Holt ! many an English 
 parvemc planning the grounds of his country seat, and 
 contemplating the dwarf larches and infantine beeches 
 struggling for thirty years to maturity, would give a 
 thousand guineas for some of these lordly oaks and 
 walnuts, just as they stand.' 
 
 Sam Holt refrained from expressing his conviction 
 
(K- '3 
 
 I 
 
 THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER. 1,5 
 
 that, after a winter's chopping, Robert would retract 
 his admiration for timber in any shape, and would 
 value more highly a bald -looking stumpy acre 
 prepared for fall wheat, than the most picturesque 
 maple -clump, except so far as the latter boded 
 sugar. 
 
 'To leave landscape gardening for after considera- 
 tion,' said he, with some slight irony, ' let us apply 
 ouxselves at present to the shanty. I think, by work- 
 ing hard, we might have walls and roof up before 
 dark. Twenty by twelve will probably be large 
 enough for the present — eh, Kobert ?' 
 
 Oh yes, certainly ; for the house was to be com- 
 menced so soon, that the shanty could be regarded only 
 as a temporary shelter. Blessed, labour-lightening 
 sangumeness of youth ! that can bound over inter- 
 mediate steps of toil, and accomplish in a few thoughts 
 the work of months or years. 
 
 So Mr. Holt measured the above dimensions on the 
 ground, choosing a spot where the trunks appeared 
 sometlung less massive than elsewhere, and set his 
 auxiliaries to cut down all the trees within the oblong 
 and for a certain distance round ; arrangi.ig also that 
 the logs should fall as near as might be'to where they 
 were wanted fur the walls. 
 
 Now, the settler's first-felled tree is to him Hke a 
 schoolboy's first Latin declension, or a lawyer's first 
 bnef— the pledge of abiHty, the earnest of future 
 performances. Every success braces the nerves of 
 mmd, as well as the muscles of body. A victory over 
 the woodland was embodied in that fallen maple. But 
 Andy was so near getting smashed in the coming down 
 of his tree, that Mr. Holfc ordered him to lay by the 
 
 In 
 
 
 \: ■' 
 
 \< 
 
It6 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 m 
 
 ni 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 axe, and bring his spade, to dig a hole in a certain 
 spot within the oVjlong, 
 
 ' An' its mighty harmless that cratlmr *ud be agin 
 the wood,' muttered the Irishman ; ' throth, tiie earth 
 in this eounthry is mostly timber. An' in the name 
 of wondher what docs he want wid a hole, barrin' 
 we're to burrow like rabbits ? ' 
 
 But the others were too busy felling or chopping 
 trees into lengths of log to heed Andy's wonderment ; 
 and the novices V'ere agreeably surprised to find how 
 dexterous they bt^ame in the handling of the axe, 
 after even a few hours' practice. Their spirits rose ; 
 for * nothing succeeds like success,' saith the French- 
 man. 
 
 ' Now I'll give you a lesson in basswood troughs,' 
 Baid Mr. Holt. ' This shanty of yours is to be roofed 
 with a double layer of troughs laid hollow to hollow ; 
 and we choose basswood because it is the easiest split 
 and scooped. Shingle is another sort of roofing, and 
 that must be on your house ; but troughs are best for 
 the shanty. See here ; first split the log fair in the 
 middle ; then hollow the flat side with the adze.' 
 
 Eobert was practising his precepts busily, when he 
 was almost startled by a strange nasal voice beside 
 him. 
 
 ' Considerable well for a beginner ; but I guess you 
 put a powerful deal too much strength in yer strokes 
 yet, stranger.' 
 
 The speaker was a tall lank man, with black hair 
 
 to correspond, and lantern jaws ; little cunning eyes, 
 
 and a few scrubby patches of rusty stubble on chin 
 
 and cheeks. Eobert disliked him at once. 
 
 . ' Why didn't you stop at the " Corner " yesterday ? 
 
 ^ 
 
THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER. 
 
 la; 
 
 SI. 
 
 1 ! 
 
 Twarn't neighbourly to go on right away like that. 
 But it all come, I reckon, of JJritisher pride and 
 impudence.' 
 
 Kobert looked at him full, and demanded, ' Pray 
 who are you, sir ? ' 
 
 ' Zack Bunting as keeps tlie store,' replied the other. 
 * I'm not ashamed neither of my name nor country, 
 which is the U — nited States, under the glorious stars 
 and stripes. I come up to help in raising the shanty, 
 as I guessed you'd be at it to-day.' 
 
 Young Wynn hardly knew what to reply to such 
 an odd mixture of insolence and apparent kindness. 
 The Yankee took the adze from his hand before he 
 could speak, and set about hollowing troughs very 
 rapidly. 
 
 ' You chop, and I'll scoop, for a start. Now I guess 
 you hain't been used to this sort of thing, when you 
 was to hum ? You needn't hardly tell, for white 
 hands like yourn there ain't o' much use nohow in the 
 bush. You must come down a peg, I reckon, and let 
 'em blacken like other folks, and grow kinder hard, 
 afore they'll take to the axe properly. How many 
 acres do you intend to clear this winter ?' 
 
 'As many as I can.' 
 
 ' Humph ! you should blaze 'em off all round, and 
 work 'em reglar. You han't more than a month's 
 " brushing " now. Are you married ? ' 
 
 'No,' replied Eobert, waxing fierce internally at 
 this catechism. ' Are you ? ' by way of retaliation. 
 
 ' This twenty year. Eaised most of our family in 
 the States. The old woman's spry enough yet, as 
 you'll see when you come to the " Corner." ' 
 J^ ^^is time Mr. Butvting was chewing tobacco. 
 
 t 
 
 \{ 
 
ia8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 :it 
 
 '■(' 
 
 t 
 
 I ! 
 
 and tliscliarj,'ing the fluid about with marvellous 
 copiousness, at intervals. Kobert thought his dried- 
 up appearance capable of explanation. ' What made 
 you come to settle in the bush ? ' was his next 
 question. 
 
 ' Holt ! ' called out Robert, quite unable patiently 
 to endure any further cross - examination ; and he 
 walked away through tlie trees to say to his friend, — 
 ' There's an intolerable Yankee yonder, splitting troughs 
 as last as possible, but his tongue is more than I can 
 bear.' 
 
 ' Leave him to me,' answered Sam ; ' his labour is 
 worth a little annoyance, anyhow. I'll fix him.' But 
 he quietly continued at his own work, notwithstanding, 
 and kept llol)ert beside him. 
 
 Mr. Bunting speedily tired of manufacturing tho 
 basswood troughs alone, and sloped over to the group 
 who were raising the walls of the scanty. 
 
 *Wal, I guess you're gitting along* considerable 
 smart,' he observed, after a lengthened stare, which 
 amused Arthur highly for the concentrction of inquisi- 
 tiveness it betrayed. ' 'Tain't an easy job for green- 
 horns nohow ; but you take to i*- kinder nateral, like 
 the wood-duck to the pond. He chewed awhile, 
 watching Sam's proceedings narrowly. * I guess this 
 ain't your first time of notching logs, by a long chalk, 
 stranger ? ' 
 
 * Perhaps so, perhaps not/ was the reply. ' Here, 
 lend a hand with this stick, Mr. Bunting.' 
 
 Zack took his hands from the pockets of his hjan 
 
 rusty trousers, and helped to fit the log to its place 
 
 on the front wall, which, in a shanty, is always higher 
 
 , than the back, making a fall to the roof. Mr. Holt 
 
 iM 
 
THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER, 
 
 139 
 
 managed to keep the Yankee so closely employed 
 during the next hour, that he took out of him the 
 work of two, and utterly quenched his loquacity for 
 the time being. ' He shall earn his dinner, at all 
 events,' quoth Sam to himself. 
 
 'Wal, stranger, you art a close shave,' p^id Zack, 
 sitting down to rest, and fanning himself with a dirty 
 brownish rag by way of handkerchief. ' I hain't 
 worked so hard at any " bee " this twelve month. 
 You wani't born last week, I guess.' 
 
 ' I reckon not,' replied Sam, receiving the compli- 
 ment as conscious merit should. ' But we're not half 
 done, Mr. Bunting ; and I'd like such a knowledgeable 
 head as yours to help fix the troughs.' 
 
 ' Oil for oil in this world,' thought Robert. 
 
 ' Throth, they'll build me up entirely,' said Andy to 
 himself ; ' an' sorra door to get out or in by, only four 
 walls an' a hole in the middle of the floor. Of all 
 the quare houses that iver I see, this shanty bates 
 them hollow. Masther Robert,' calling aloud, * I 
 wondher have I dug deep enough ? ' 
 
 ' Come out here, and get dinner,' was the response. 
 ' We'll see to-morrow.* 
 
 ' 'Tis asier said than done,' remarked Andy, looking 
 for a niche between the logs to put his foot in. * I 
 hope this isn't the way we'll always have to be clam- 
 berin' into our house ; but sorra other way do I see, 
 barrin' the hole's to be a passage ondherground.* 
 
 ' You goose ! the hole is to be a cellar, wherein to 
 keep potatoes and pork,' said his master, overhearing 
 the tale of his soliloquy. Andy departed to his 
 cookery enlightened. 
 
 Before the pan had doue frizzling, whole rows of 
 
T^ 
 
 iRHHi 
 
 IRli 
 
 130 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 :;!. 
 
 ('■?> 
 
 ■!* 
 
 ' <ll 
 
 I ! 
 
 the ready - made trou^'hs were laid along the roof, 
 sloping from the upper wall plate to the back ; and 
 Mr. Bunting had even begun to place the covering 
 troughs with either edge of the hollow curving into 
 the centre of that underneath. Kobert and Arthur 
 were chinking the walls by driving pieces of wood 
 into every crevice between the logs: moss and clay 
 for a further stuffing must be afterwards found. 
 
 If the Yankee were quick at work, he fulfilled the 
 other sequent of the adage likewise. His dinner was 
 almost a sleight-ol-hand performance. Arthur could 
 hardly eat his own for concealed amusement at the 
 gulf-like capacity of his mouth, and the astonishing 
 rapidity with which the eatables vanished. 
 
 * While you'd be sayin' " thrapstick," he tucked in a 
 quarter of a stone of praties and a couple of pound of 
 rashers/ said Andy afterwards. * Before the gintle- 
 men was half done, be was picking his long yellow 
 teeth wid a pin, an' discoorsin' 'em as impident a-: 
 if he was a gintleman himself, the spalpeen ! * • 
 
 All unwitting of the storm gathering in the person 
 of the cook, Mr. Bunting did indulge in some free and 
 easy reflections upon Britishers in general, and the 
 present company in particular; also of the same 
 cook's attendance during their meal. 
 
 * Now I guess we free - born Americans don't be 
 above having our helps to eat with us ; we ain't poor 
 and proud, as that comes to. But I'll see ye brought 
 down to it, or my name's not Zack Bunting. It 
 tickles me to see aristocrats like ye at work — rael 
 hard work, to take the consait out of ye ; and if I 
 was this feller,' glancing at Andy, * I'd make tracks 
 if ye didn't give me my riahts, smart enough.' 
 
 ill! 
 
THE YANKEE STOREKEEPER. 
 
 131 
 
 The glow in the Irish servant's eyes was not to be 
 mistaken. 
 
 ' I guess I've riled you a bit,' added the Yankee 
 wonderingly. 
 
 'An' what's my rights, sir, if yf^r honour would be 
 plasin' to tell me ? ' asked Andy, with mock obsequi- 
 ousness ; 'for I donno of a single one this minit, 
 barrin' to do what my master bids me.' 
 
 ' Because I calc'late you've been raised in them 
 mean opinions, an' to think yerself not as good flesh 
 an' blood as the aristocrats that keep you in bondage.' 
 
 ' Come now,' interrupted Sam Holt, * you shut up, 
 Mr. Bunting. It's no bondage to eat one's dinner 
 afterwards ; and hell be twice as comfortable.' 
 
 ' That's thrue,' said Andy ; * I never yet could ate 
 my bit in presence of the quality ; so that's one right 
 I'd forgive ; and as for me — the likes of me, — bein' 
 as good blood as the Masther Wynns of Dunore, I'd 
 aa soon think the Yankee was himself.' 
 
 With sovereign contempt, Andy turned his back on 
 Mr. Bunting, and proceeded to cook his dinner. 
 
 * "Wal, iu's the first time I see a feller's dander riz 
 for tellin' him he's as good as another,' remarked Zack, 
 sauntering in the wake of the others towards the 
 unfinished shanty. ' I reckon it's almost time for me 
 to make tracks to hum ; the ole woman will be lookin' 
 out. But I say, stranger, what are you going to do 
 with that beaver meadow below on the creek ? It's a 
 choice slice of pasture that.' 
 
 • Cut the grass in summer,' replied Sam Holt, 
 tolerably sure of what was coming. 
 
 ' I've as fine a red heifer,' said the Yankee con- 
 fidentially, * as ever was milked, and I'd let you have 
 
I' ' 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 hi 
 
 r 
 
 \ 
 
 ] 
 
 I 
 
 1; 
 
 13a 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 it, being a new-comer, and not up to the ways of the 
 country, very cheap.* His little black eyes twinkled. 
 * I'd like to drive a trade with you, I would ; for she's 
 a rael prime article.' 
 
 'Thank you,' said Mr. Holt, 'but W9 don't con- 
 template dairy farming as yet.' Zack could not be 
 rebufiFed under half - a - dozen refusals. ' Wal, if 
 you won't trade, you'll be wantin' fixins from the 
 store, an' I have most everythin' in stock. Some 
 of my lads will be along to see you to-morrow, I 
 reckon, and any whisky or tobacco you wanted they 
 could bring; and if you chose to run a bill' — 
 
 Kefused also, with thanks, as the magazines say to 
 rejected contributions. This, then, was the purport 
 of Mr. Bunting's visit : to gratify curiosity ; to drive 
 a trade ; to estimate the new settlers' worldly wealth, 
 in order to trust or not, as seemed prudent. While 
 at dinner he had taker a mental inventory and valua- 
 tion of the boxes and bales about, submitting them to 
 a closer examination where possible. At the time 
 Robert thought it simply an indulgence of inordinate 
 curiosity, but the deeper motive of self - interest lay 
 behind. 
 
 * In their own phrase, that fellow can see daylight,' 
 remarked Mr. Holt, as Zack's lean figure disappeared 
 among the trees. ' I never sa^^ little eyes, set in a 
 parenthesis of yellow crowsfeet at the corners, that did 
 not betoken cunning.' : • 
 
 / ■', 
 
 : ■;,; 
 
CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 THE * CORNER.* 
 
 1- 
 
 JEVERAL days were employed in plastering 
 all the crevices of the shanty with clay, 
 cutting out a doorway and a single window 
 in the front wall, and building a hearth 
 and chimney. But when completed, and the goods 
 and chattels moved in, quite a proud sense of pro- 
 prietorship stole into the owner's heart. 
 
 As yet, this arduous bush-Hfe had not ceased to be 
 as it were a play : Sem Holt's cheery companionship 
 took the edge off every hardship ; and their youthful 
 health and strength flourished under toil. 
 
 'Now, considering we are to be dependent on our- 
 selves for furniture, the best thing I can fashion in 
 the first instance will be a work bench,' said Arthur, 
 whose turn for carpentering was decided. 'Little I 
 ever thought that my childish tool-box was educating 
 me for this.* 
 
 * I think a door ought to be your first performance,' 
 suggested Eobert. 'Our mansion would be snugger 
 with a door than a screen of hemlock brush.' 
 
 * But I must go to the " Corner " for boards, and 
 that will take an entire day, the road is so vile. I 
 
 ■\< 
 
 ISS 
 
 s . 
 
»34 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 'hDj, 
 
 w 
 
 can't see why T couldn't hew boards out of a pine 
 myself ; eh, Holt ? ' 
 
 ' You want to try yuui- Land at " slabbing," do you ? 
 r warn you that the labour is no joke, and the planks 
 never look so neat as those from the sawmill.' 
 
 * We have flung " looks " oveiboard long ago,' replied 
 Arthur. * Come, teach me, like a good fellow.' 
 
 ' Choose your tree as clean and straight in the grain 
 as possible.' 
 
 * And how am I to tell how its grain runs ? ' asked 
 the pupil. 
 
 * Experiment is the only certainty ; but if the tree 
 be perfectly clear of knots for thirty or forty feet, and 
 its larger limbs drooping downwards, so as to shelter 
 the trunk in a measure from the influence of the sun, 
 these are presumptions in favour of the grain running 
 straight.' 
 
 ' What has the sun to do with '': ?' 
 
 * The grain of most trees naturally inclines to 
 follow the annual course of the sun. Hence its 
 windings, in great measure. Having selected and 
 felled your pine, cut it across into logs of the length 
 of plank you want.' 
 
 * But you said something of experiment in deciding 
 about the grain of the wood.' 
 
 * Oh, by cutting out a piece, and testing it with the 
 axe, to see whether it splits fair. When you have 
 the logs chopped, mark the ends with a bit of charcoal 
 into the width of your planks : then slab them 
 asunder with wedges.' 
 
 ' Holt, where did you pick up such a variety of 
 knowledge as you have ? ' 
 
 ' I picked up this item among the lumber - men. 
 
i 
 
 THE • corner: 
 
 135 
 
 You must know I spent more than one long vacation 
 in exploring the most-out-of-the-way locations I could 
 find. But I'd advise you to go to the sawmill for 
 your planks, though I do understand the theory of 
 slabbing.' 
 
 After due consideration — and as glass for the 
 window was a want for which the forest could supply 
 no substitute — it was agreed that all should take a 
 half-holiday next day, and go down to the ' Corner ' to 
 Uncle Zack's store. 
 
 'Now that is settled,* said Robert, with a little 
 difficulty, * I wanted to say — that is, I've been think- 
 ing — that we are here in the wilderness, far away 
 from all churches and good things of that kind, and 
 we ought to have prayers of our own every evening, 
 as my mother has at home.' 
 
 ' Certainly,' said both Arthur and Sam Holt, 
 
 'I have never so felt the presence of God,' added 
 Robert solemnly, *as since I've been in these forest 
 Bolitudes ; never so felt my utter dependence upon 
 Him for everything.' 
 
 ' No,' rejoined Sam. * He seems to draw very near 
 to the soul in the midst of these His grand works. 
 The very stillness exalts one's heart towards Him.' 
 
 And so that good habit of family worship was 
 commenced, inaugurating the shanty that very night. 
 Andy Callaghan sat by and listened. 
 
 * Throth, but they're fine words,' said he. 'I wouldn't 
 believe any one now, that that book is bad to listen 
 to.' 
 
 ' And at home you'd run away from the sight of it. 
 How's that, Andy ? ' asked Mr. Wynn. 
 
 ' It's aisy explained, sir,' replied the servant, looking 
 
 I 
 'J 
 
136 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 t' J'4 
 
 m 
 
 droll. * Don't you see, I haven't his riverence at me 
 elbow here, to turn me into a goat if I did anything 
 contrary, or to toss me into purgatory the minit the 
 breath is out of my poor body.' 
 
 Thousands of Andy's countrymen find the same 
 relief to their consciences as soon as they tread the 
 free soil of Canada West. 
 
 Truly a primitive settlement was the ' Corner.' The 
 duBk forest closed about its half dozen huts threaten- 
 ingly, as an army round a handful of invincibles. 
 Stumps were everywhere that trees were not; one 
 log-cabin was erected upon four, as it had been, legs 
 ready to walk away with the edifice. ' Uncle Zack's * 
 little store was the most important building in the 
 place, next to the sawmill on the stream. 
 
 ' The situation must be unhealthy,' said Robert ; 
 'here's marsh under my very feet. Why, there's a 
 far better site for a town plot on my land, Holt.' 
 
 * Ay, and a better water privilege too. Let me see 
 what your energy does towards developing its resources, 
 Eobert.* 
 
 They discovered one source of the storekeeper's 
 pi' "Spviity in the enormous price he exacted for the 
 commonest articles. Necessity alone could have 
 driven Arthur to pay what he did for the wretched 
 little window of four panes to light the shanty. And 
 Uncle Zack had as much co say about the expense and 
 difficulty of getting goods to a locality so remote, and 
 as much sympathizing with his purchaser because of 
 the exorbitant cost, as if he were a philanthropist, 
 seeking solely the convenience of his neighbours by 
 his sales. 
 
 'That fellow's a master of soft sawder when he 
 
 
 ■■¥< 
 
 M 
 
THE ' CORNER: 
 
 U7 
 
 chooses : but did you see how he clutched the hard 
 cash after all ? My opinion is, he don't often get paid 
 in the circulating medium,' said Arthur. 
 
 'Of that you may be sure,' rejoined Sam Holt; 
 'currency here lies more in potash or flour, just as 
 they have salt in Abyssinia. Society seeTiis* to be 
 rather mixed at the "Corner." Yonder's a French 
 Canadian, and here's an Indian.' 
 
 No glorious red man, attired in savage finery of 
 paint and feathers; no sculptor's ideal form, or novelist's 
 heroic countenance ; but a mild-looking person, in an 
 old shooting jacket and red flannel shirt, with a straw 
 hat shading his pale coppery complexion. He wield 
 a tomahawk or march on a war trail ! Never. And 
 where was the grim taciturnity of his forefathers? 
 He answered when spoken to, not in Mohawk, or 
 Cherokee, or Delaware, but in nasal Yankeefied 
 English ; nay, he seemed weakly garrulous. 
 
 ' There's another preconceived idea knocked on the 
 head,' said Arthur. ' My glorious ideal Indian ! you 
 are fallen, never to rise.' 
 
 ... I 
 Mi 
 
 ; 
 
 I I 
 
I 
 
 ••hi 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ANDY TREES A * BASTE.' 
 
 1 > 
 
 ! 
 
 
 i ;: 
 
 I i ' 
 
 i li 
 
 li 
 
 OOE and window were fitted into the holes 
 cut in the front wall of the shanty, and no 
 carpenter's 'prentice would have owned to 
 such clumsy joinery ; but Arthur was 
 flushed with success, because the door could positively 
 shut and the window could open. He even proj(3cted 
 tables and chairs in his ambitious imagination, en suite 
 with the bedstead of ironwood poles and platted bass- 
 work bark, which he had already improvised ; and 
 which couch of honour would have been awarded by 
 common consent to Mr. Holt, had he not adhered 
 to the hemlock brush with all the affection of an 
 amateur. 
 
 The great matter on the minds of our settlers now, 
 was the underbrushing. They might calculate on the 
 whole month of November for their work — the beau- 
 tiful dreamy November of Canada, as different from 
 its foggy and muddy namesake in Britain as well may 
 be. Measuring off thirty acres as next summer's 
 fallow, by blazing the trees in a line around, took up 
 the best part of a day ; and it necessitated also a more 
 examination of Eobert's domains. Such 
 
 thorough 
 
 188 
 
AND Y TREES A • BASTE! 
 
 139 
 
 giant trees ! One monarch pine must be nigh a 
 hundred feet from root to crest. The great prepon- 
 derance of maple showed that the national leaf symbol 
 of Canada had been suitably selected. 
 
 'And is there no means,' quoth llobert, who had 
 been mentally gauging his small axe with the infini- 
 tude of forest — ' is there no means of getting rid of 
 wood without chopping it down ? ' 
 
 * Well, yes, some slower means still ; the trees may 
 be " girdled ; " that is, a ring of bark cut from the 
 trunk near the base, which causes death in so far that 
 no foliage appears next spring : consequently the tall 
 melancholy skeleton will preside over your crops 
 without injury.' 
 
 ' Can't say I admire that plan.' 
 'You are fastidious. Perhaps you would like 
 " niggers " better ? ' 
 
 * I thought they were contraband in any but slave 
 states.' 
 
 ' Oh, these are " niggers " inanimate — pieces of 
 wood laid round the trunk, and set on fire where they 
 touch it ; of course the tree is burned through in pro- 
 cess of time. These two expedients might be useful 
 in subsidiary aids ; but you perceive your grand reli- 
 ance must be on the axe,' 
 
 ' There is no royal road to felling, any more than 
 to learning. And when may I hope to get rid of the 
 stumps ? ' 
 
 ' I don't think the pine stumps ever decay ; but the 
 hardwood, or those of deciduous trees, may be hitched 
 up by oxen and a crowbar after six or seven years ; 
 or you might bum them down.' ■^\^....^-..--=^-^--^——'-- 
 
 ' HuUoa ! what's that ? ' 
 
 '^h 
 
"^^m 
 
 
 I 
 
 140 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 I 
 
 ■ \ 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 ! 
 
 
 The exclamation was from Robert, following a much 
 louder exclamation from Andy in advance. ' He has 
 met with some wild animal,' concluded Mr. Holt. IIo 
 was certainly cutting the strangest capers, and flourish- 
 ing his hand as if the fingers were burned, howling 
 the while between rage and terror. 
 
 * You disgustin' little varmint I you dirty vagabone, 
 to stick all thim things in me hand, an' me only goin' 
 to lay a hold on ye gentle-like, to see what sort of an 
 outlandish baste ye was ! Look, Masther Eobert, 
 what he did to me with a slap of his tail ! * 
 
 Callaghan's fingers radiated hanOsomely with por- 
 cupine's quills, some inches long, stuck in pretty 
 strongly and deeply ; and the animal himself, quite 
 ready for further offensive warfare, crouched in the 
 fork of a small maple, just out of reach. 
 
 'Ah, then, come down here, you unnatural baste, 
 an' may be I won't strip off your purty feathers,' 
 exclaimed Andy with unction. 
 
 * Cut down the tree,' suggested Arthur. But 
 the porcupine, being more au fait with the ways 
 of the woods than these new - comers, got away 
 among the branches into a thicket too dense for 
 pursuit. 
 
 * They're as sharp as soords,' soliloquized the 
 sufferer, as he picked out the quills from his hand 
 and wrist in rather gingerly fashion, and stanched 
 the blood that followed. ' Masther Eobert, avourneen, 
 is he a four-footed baste or a fowl ? for he has some 
 of the signs of both on him. Wisha, good luck to the 
 poor ould counthry, where all our animals is dacent 
 and respectable, eince St. Patrick gev the huntin' to 
 all the varmint.' 
 
 « 
 
 il \\ 
 
AND Y TREES A ' BASTE' 
 
 141 
 
 ' A thrashing from a porcupine's tail would be no 
 joke,' observed Arthur. 
 
 ' I've known dogs killed by it,' said Mr. Holt. 
 'The quills work into all parts of their bodies, and 
 the barbed points make extraction very difficult.' 
 
 ' I believe the Indians use these in some sort of 
 embroidery.' Robert held in his hand a bunch of the 
 quills such as had wounded Andy's tingera ' I've 
 seen penholders of them, when I little thought I 
 should handle the unsophisticated originals out here.' 
 
 Before this time he had learned how enervating 
 were reminiscences of home ; he resolutely put away 
 the remembrance from him now, and walked on to 
 chop the blaze on the next tree. Breast - high the 
 mark was cut, and at one blaze another could always 
 be discerned ahead. 
 
 * I've a regard for the beeches and elms/ quoth he, 
 as he hacked at a hickory stem. * They are home 
 trees ; but the shrubs have chiefly foreign faces, so I 
 can chop them down without compunction.' 
 
 'All such sentimental distinctions will evaporate 
 when you get infx) the spirit of your work,' said his 
 friend Sam. * Your underbrusliing rule does not spare 
 anything less than six inches in diameter; all must 
 be cut close to the ground, and piled in heaps for the 
 burning.' 
 
 * A tolerable job to clear such a thicket as this ! 
 What a network of roots must interlace every foot of 
 soil!' 
 
 * Rather, I should say. But the first crop will 
 amply repay your pains, even though your wheat and 
 Indian corn struggle into existence through stumps 
 and interlacing roots. Then there's the potash — thirty 
 
 1 * 
 
 t 
 
¥ 
 
 sa 
 
 "Sfli: 
 
 "i' 
 
 Ufl !| 
 
 
 14a 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 dollars a barrel for Beoond quality : less than two and 
 a half acres of hardwood timber will produce a barrel' 
 
 ' I don't quite understand.' 
 
 ' Next summer, after your logging bee, you'll know 
 what I mean. This creek is as if 'twas made on 
 purpose for an ashery.' 
 
 ' By the way, here's my site for a town plot ; ' as 
 they came to a fine natural cascade over a griinite 
 barrier, after which plunge the stream hurried down 
 the slope towards the beaver meadow. ' Water power 
 for half a dozen mills going to waste there. Holt.' 
 
 ' Let's give it a name ! ' sang out Arthur — ' this our 
 city of magnificent intentions.' 
 
 ' I hope you won't call it Dublin on the Liffey,' 
 said Mr. Holt. ' How I hate those imported names 
 — sinking our nationality in a ludicrous parody on 
 English topography — such as London on the Thames, 
 Windsor, Whitby, Woodstock ; while the language 
 that furnished "Toronto," "Quebec," Ottawa," lies 
 still unexplored as a mine of musical nomenclature.' 
 
 ' In default of an Indian name,' said Robert, * let us 
 call our future settlement after the existing fact — 
 Cedah Ckeek.' 
 
 ' And posterity can alter it, if it chooses,' rejoined 
 Arthur. 'AH right. Now I'll cut down this birch 
 where the post-office is to stand hereafter ; ' and a few 
 sturdy blows of his axe prostrated the young tree. 
 'When I'm writing to Linda, I shall date from Cedar 
 Creek, which will give her an exalted idea of our 
 location : at the same time she will be convinced it is 
 situated on the seashore, if I forget to say that in 
 Canada every otream is a " creek." ' 
 
 * Our people have an absurd partiality for what 
 
ANDY TREES A 'BASTE: 
 
 143 
 
 they Imagine "handsome names,"* said Mr. Holt. 
 ' Not satisfied with giving their children the mast 
 far-fetched they can discover, — for instance, we have 
 a maid Armenia, at Maple Grove, and I could not 
 resist designating her brother as Ararat, by way of 
 localizing their relationship, — but also the young 
 settlements of the country have often the most 
 bombastic names. In the backwoods, one time, I 
 found a party of honest settlers in a tavern over an 
 old romance, searching for some sulficiently high- 
 sounding title to confer on their cluster of cabins.' 
 
 ' I was amused to find that Zack Bunting's eldest 
 son is called Nimrod, familin zed to "Nim,"' said 
 Robert. ' I never saw a more remarkable likeness 
 to a parent, in body and mind, than that youth 
 exhibits ; every tuft of ragged beard and every twinkle 
 of the knowing little eyes are to match.' 
 
 Nearing the shanty they heard a sound as of one 
 making merry, and espied in the window the glow of 
 a glorious fire. Within, Peter Logan was making 
 himself at home, cooking his dinner, while he trilled a 
 Yankee ditty at the top of his powerful voice. 
 
 No manner of apology for having opened their 
 cellar, and made free with their barrel of pork, did ho 
 seem to think necessary ; but when his meal was 
 finished, he inquired abruptly why they hadn't built 
 their chimney of ' cats ' ? ' For I reckon this stick 
 chimney will blaze up some night,' added he. 
 
 Robert hearkened at that startling intimation. 
 
 ' Mine is of cats,' said Mr. Logan. ' Cats is clay,' 
 he continued sententiously, ' kinder like straw an' 
 clay mixed up. I guess I'll stay an' help you to fix 
 one to-morrow, if you've a mind to.' 
 
 !} 
 
 ) 
 
 111 
 
rr 
 
 Bia 
 
 
 144 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 V. I 
 
 
 With rugged but real kindness, he took a day from 
 his hunting excursion for the purpose. The framework 
 of the new chimney was of four upright poles, set in 
 one corner of thf' shanty, and laced across by rungs of 
 wood, round which the clay was well kneaded, and 
 plastered inside. An opening three feet high was left 
 for the fireplace in front. Peter promised that by and 
 by the clay would bum hard and red, like tilework. 
 
 ' I wonder you have not built yourself a handsome 
 house, before now,' said Mr. Wynn, * instead of that 
 handsome barn. Why you live in a shanty, while 
 your corn is in a frame building, puzzles me.' 
 
 * Ay,' assented the settler, * but the frame b^-rn is 
 paving the way for the frame house, I calculate: 
 Benny '11 have both ; and for the present I'd sooner 
 have my crops comfortable than myself ; ' a persuasion 
 which Ilob'irt afterwards found to be rooted in common 
 sense, for the Canadian climate permits not of stacks 
 or ricks wintering in the open air. 
 
 After his usual unmannerly fashion, Mr. Logan 
 bade no farewell, but shouldered his gun at some hour 
 prior to daybreak, and knapsack en back, left the 
 sleeping camp by the light of a young moon. 
 
 W 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LOST IN THE WOODS. 
 
 ■:s 
 
 |NE day it happened that about noon, while 
 Arthur was ' brushing ' at a short distance 
 from the shanty, he noticed a pack of grouse 
 among the underwood within shot. Drop- 
 ping his axe, he ran home for the gun, which stood 
 loaded in one corner. 
 
 It was not altogether the sportsman s organ of 
 destructiveness (for he had never forgotten little Jay's 
 lesson on that head), but probably a growing dislike 
 to the constant diet of pork, that urged him to an 
 unrelenting pursuit. Cautiously he crept through the 
 thickets, having wafted an unavailing sigh for the 
 pointer he had left at Dunore, his companion over 
 many a fallow and stubble field, who would greatly 
 have simplified this business. Unconsciously he 
 crossed the blazed side-line of the lot into the dense 
 cover beyond, tantalized by glimpses of game, which 
 never came near enough for good aim. 'I must 
 regularly stalk tliem,' thought Arthur. 
 
 Noiselessly creeping on, he was suddenly brought to 
 by an unexpected sight. The head and horns of a 
 noble buck were for a moment visible through the 
 
 us ° 
 
 % 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
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 i ■ 
 5 \ 
 
 > 
 
 - 1 
 
 ij 
 
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 1^ 
 
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 m^ 
 
 If 
 
 if 
 
 ■ i ; 
 
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 if 
 
 p, • ( 
 
 iH rR .1(1 
 
 
 
 146 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 thicket. Arthur's heart throbbed in his ears as he 
 stood perfectly motionless. Grouse were utterly for- 
 gotten in the vision of venison. With every sense 
 concentrated in his eyes, he watched the brush which 
 screened the browsing deer. By a slight crackling of 
 twigs presently, he was made aware that the animal 
 was moving forward; he crept in the same direction. 
 The leaves had been damped by a shower two hours 
 before, and the cloudy day permitted them to retain 
 moisture, or their crispness might have betrayed his 
 tread. 
 
 Ha ! a dried stick on which he inadvertently set 
 his foot snapped across. The splendid shy eyes of 
 the deer looked round in alarm as he bounded away. 
 A shot rang through the forest after him, waking such 
 a clamour of jays and crows and woodpeckers, that 
 Arthur was quite provoked with them, they seemed 
 exulting over his failure. Pushing aside the dried 
 timber which had caused this mischance, he pressed on 
 the track of the deer impetuously. He could not 
 believe that his shot had missed altogether, though 
 the white tail had been erected so defiantly ; which 
 * showing of the white feather,' as the Canadian sports- 
 man calls it, is a sign that the animal is unwounded. 
 
 But four feet had much the advantage of two in the 
 chase. One other glimpse of the flying deer, as he 
 came out on the brow of a ridge, was all that Arthur 
 was favoured with. Some partridge got up, and this 
 time he was more successful ; he picked up a bird, and 
 turned homewards. 
 
 Homewards ! After walking a hundred yards or so 
 he paused. Had he indeed gone back on his own 
 track ? for he had never seen this clump of pinee 
 
! ( 
 
 AMKRICAN WOLVES IN VVIA. CRY. 
 
 ,./ 
 
J 
 
 mm 
 
 f 
 
 I 'i 1 
 
 :*. 1 
 
 I 
 
 ?'' 
 
 ?| 
 
 ill, •• 
 
 I i 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS. 
 
 M7 
 
 before. He oould not have passed it previously 
 without notice of its sombre shade and massive boles. 
 He would return a little distance, and look for the 
 path his passage must have made in brushinj^ through 
 the thickets. 
 
 Brought to a stand again. This time by a small 
 creek gurgling deeply beneath matted shrubs. He 
 had gone wrong — must have diverged from his old 
 course. More carefully than before, he retraced his 
 way to the pine-clump, guided by the unmistakeable 
 black plumage of the tree-tops. There he stood to 
 think what he should do. 
 
 The sky was quite obscured : it had been so all the 
 morning. No guidance was to be hoped for from the 
 position of the sun. He had heard something of the 
 moss on the trees growing chiefly at the north side ; 
 but on examination these pines seemed equally mossed 
 everywhere. What nonsense ! surely he must be 
 close to his own path. He would walk in every 
 direction till he crossed the track. 
 
 Boldly striking out again, and looking closely for 
 footmarks on the soft ground, he went along some 
 distance ; here and there turned out of his straight 
 course by a thicket too dense for penetration, till 
 before him rose pine-tops again. Could it be ? The 
 same pines he had left ! 
 
 He covered his eyes in bewilderment Having 
 stood on the spot for several minutes previously, he 
 could not be mistaken. Yet he thought he could 
 have been sure that he was proceeding in a direction 
 diametrically opposite for the last quarter of an hour, 
 while he must have been going round in a circle 
 Now, indeed, he felt that he was lost in the woods. 
 
 il'' 
 
 II 
 
 i r 
 
 ■ 
 
 \ 
 
 k 
 
 : 
 
 
 I 
 
m 
 
 ■Kit 
 
 |Uti 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 148 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Poor j^rthur's mind was a sort of blank for some 
 minutes. All the trees seemed alike — his memory 
 seemed obliterated. What horrid bewilderment had 
 possession of his faculties ? Shutting him in, as by 
 the walls of a living tomb, the great frowning forest 
 stood on all sides. A mariner on a plank in mid- 
 ocean could not have felt more hopeless and helpless. 
 
 Kousing himself with a shake from the numb, chill 
 sensation which had begun to paralyze exertion, he 
 thought that, if he could reach the little creek before 
 mentioned, he might pursue his course, as it probably 
 fell into their own lake at the foot of the Cedars. 
 Keeping the pine-tops in a right line behind him, he 
 succeeded in striking the creek, and discovering which 
 way it flowed. After pushing bis way some hours 
 along a path of innumerable difficulties, he found 
 himself, in the waning light, at the edge of a cypress 
 swamp. 
 
 Almost man though he was, he could have sat down 
 and cried. Blackest night seemed to nestle unaer 
 those matted boughs, and the sullen gleams of stagnant 
 water — the plash of a frog jumping in — the wading 
 birds that stalked about — told him what to expect if 
 he went farther. At the same instant a gleam of 
 copper sunset struck across the heavens on the tops of 
 the evergreens, and the west was not in the direction 
 that the wanderer had imagined ; he now easUy 
 calculated that he had all this time been walking 
 from home instead of towards it. 
 
 Strange to say, a ray of hope was brought upon that 
 sunbeam, even coupled with the conviction that he 
 had been hitherto so wofuUy astray. To-morrow 
 might be bright (and to all the wanderers in this 
 
 y 
 
 ! i 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS, 
 
 149 
 
 world the anchor is to-morrow) ; he would be able to 
 guide his course by the sun, and would come all right. 
 He resolved to spend the night in a tree near his fire 
 for fear of wild beasts, and selected a fine branching 
 cedar for his dormitory. Laying his gun securely in 
 one of the forks, and coiling himself up as snugly as 
 possible, where four boughs radiated from the trunk, 
 about twenty feet from the ground, he settled him- 
 self to sleep as in an arm-chair, with the great hush- 
 ing silence of the forest around him. Unusual as his 
 circumstances were, he was soon wrapt in a dreamless 
 slumber. 
 
 Dull and slow dawned the November morning 
 among the trees ; broad daylight on their tops, when 
 but a twilight reached the earth, sixty or eighty feet 
 below. Arthur found himself rather stifif and chill 
 after his unwonted night's lodging ; he tried to gather 
 up the brands of the evening's fire, which had sunk 
 hours before into grey ashes, that he might at least 
 warm himself before proceeding farther. Simultane- 
 ously with its kindling appeared the oun — oh, wel- 
 come sight ! and shot a golden arrow aslant a line of 
 trees. Then was revealed to Arthur the mossy secret 
 of wood-craft, that the north side bears a covering 
 withheld from the south; for he perceived that, 
 viewed in the aggregate, the partial greenery on the 
 various barks was very distinct. Examining indi- 
 vidual trunks would not show this ; but looking at a 
 mass, the fact was evident. 
 
 Now he knew the points of the compass ; but of 
 what practical avail was his knowledge ? Whether 
 he had wandered from the shanty to the north, south, 
 east, or west, was only conjecture. How could that 
 
 ,M 
 
ISO 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Ill 
 
 creek have led him astray ? He must have crossed 
 the rising ground separating two watersheds — that 
 sloping towards his own lake and towards some other. 
 There flowed the little stream noiselessly, sucked into 
 the swampy cypress grove : of course it got out some- 
 where at the other side ; but as to following it any 
 farther into the dismal tangled recesses, with only a 
 chance of emergence in a right direction, he felt 
 disinclined to try. 
 
 No breakfast for him but a drink of water ; though 
 with carnivorous eyes he saw the pretty speckled trout 
 glide through the brown pool where he dipped his 
 hand ; and he crossed the creek over a fallen tree, 
 ascending to the eastward. He could not be insensible 
 to the beauty of nature this morning — to the majesty 
 of the mighty forest, standing in still solemnity over 
 the face of the earth. Magnificent repose ! The 
 world seemed not yet wakened ; the air was motion- 
 less as crystal ; the infinitely coloured foliage clung to 
 maples and aspens — tattered relics of the royal raiment 
 of summer. The olden awe overshadowed Arthur's 
 heart ; his Creator's presence permeated these sublime 
 works of Deity. Alone in the untrodden woods, his 
 soul recognised its God ; and a certain degree of freedom 
 from anxiety was the result. Personal effort was not 
 his sole dependence, since he had felt that God was 
 present, and powerful. 
 
 Still he kept on to the south-east, hoping at last to 
 strike some of the inhabited townships ; and the un- 
 varying solidity of forest was well-nigh disheartening 
 him, when he saw, after several miles' walking, the 
 distinctly defined imprint of a man's foot on some 
 clayey soil near a clump of chestnut trees. Yes, there 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS. 
 
 "5« 
 
 could be no mistake : some person had passed not long 
 since ; and though the tracks led away considerably 
 from the south-easterly direction he had hitherto kept, 
 he turned, without hesitation to follow them, and pro- 
 ceeded as rapidly as possible, in hope of overtaking 
 the solitary pedestrian, whoever he might be. He 
 shouted aloud, he sang some staves of various familiar 
 old songs ; but no response from other human voice 
 came, anxiously as he listened for ruch echo. But 
 the footmarks were before his eyes as tangible evi- 
 dence ; he had got very sharp by this time at detect- 
 ing the pressure of a heel on the dead leaves, or the 
 displacement of a plant by quick steps. The tracks 
 nmst lead to something. Certainly; they led to a 
 creek. 
 
 Impossible ! It cannot be that he has followed his 
 own footprints of yesterday ! Planting his boot fi'mly 
 on the bank beside the other mark, he compared the 
 twain. A glance was enough ; the impressions were 
 identical. 
 
 The bewildered feeling of one in a labyrinth re- 
 curred. He saw nothing better for it than to return 
 to the point whence he had diverged to follow the 
 tracks. He now remembered having made this detour 
 the previous day to avoid cutting his way through a 
 dense underwood on the bank of the stream. 
 
 Nigh an hour had been lost by this delusive retracing 
 of footmarks. He thought that if he climbed the 
 highest tree he could find, he would be able to get a 
 bird's-eye view of the country round. Oh that he 
 might behold some islet of clearing amid the ocean of 
 woods! 
 
 To reach the branches of any of the largest trees 
 
 I J 1 1) 
 
m 
 
 IS* 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 I; 
 
 i i 
 
 ii f. 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 was the difficulty ; for the smooth shaft of a massive 
 marble pUlar would be as easily climbed as the trunk 
 of some arboreal giants here, rising fifty feet clear of 
 boughs. However, by swinging from thj smaller trees, 
 he accomplished his object, and saw beneath him on 
 all sides the vast continuity of forest. 
 
 Desert could not be lonelier nor more monotonous. 
 No glimmer even of distant lake on the horizon ; no 
 brown spots of clearing ; no variety, save the autumn 
 coat of many colours, contrasted with sombre patches 
 of pine. Stay — was not that a faint haze of smoke 
 yonder ? a light bluish mist floating over a particular 
 spot, hardly moving in the still air. Arthur carefully 
 noted the direction, and came down from his observa- 
 tory on the run. He was confident there must be 
 a trapper's fire, or a camp, or some other traces of 
 humanity where that thin haze hung. He could not 
 be baulked this time. Hope, which is verily a 
 beauteous hydra in the young breast, revived again 
 in strength. If he only had somewhat to eat, he 
 wouldn't mind the long tramp before him. Beech- 
 mast rather increased than appeased his hunger ; and 
 nothing came in view that could be shot. 
 
 He had not walked far, when a sharp, wild cry, as 
 of some small animal in pain, struck his ear. Push- 
 ing away the brush at the left, he saw the cause — a 
 little dark furry creature hanging to a sapling, as it 
 seemed ; and at his appearance the struggles to escape 
 were redoubled, and the weakly cries of fear became 
 more piteous. Arthur perceived that to the top of 
 the sapling was fastened a steel snaptrap, clasping a 
 forepaw in its cruel teeth, and that each convulsive 
 effort to get free only set the animal dangling in the 
 
 M 
 
LOST IN THE WOODS, 
 
 153 
 
 -a 
 
 )e 
 le 
 
 air, as a txout ia played from a rod Hopelassly 
 snared, indeed, was the poor marten ; ho liad not even 
 the resource of parting with his paw, which, had he 
 had any ' purchase ' to strive against, would probably 
 have been his choice. By what blandishmenta of bait 
 he had ever been seduced into his present melancholy 
 position was out of Arthur's power to imagine. 
 
 But now at least it was beyond all doubt that men 
 were near. liaising his eyes from inspection of the 
 marten-trap, he saw on a tree close by a freshly -cut 
 blaze. Some rods farther on h« could see another. 
 Now a question arose, which way should he follow 
 the line ? — one end was probably in pathless forest. 
 He concluded to take that direction which suited the 
 smoke he had seen. 
 
 He wondered what blazed line this was — whether 
 marking the side lots of a concession, or a hunter's 
 private road through the woods. Presently, at a 
 little distance, the sight of a man's figure stooping 
 almost made his heart leap into his mouth. How 
 lonely he liad been, how almost desperate at times, he 
 had not fully known till this his deliverance. Oh, 
 that blessed human form ! be he the rudest trapper 
 or Indian, Arthur could havo embraced him. Much 
 more when, the face being lifted from examining the 
 trap, and fixing its eyes with a very astonished stare 
 on the approaching figure, Arthvr recognised the 
 shrewd features of Peter Logan. 
 
 > i 
 
 a 
 
 ^e 
 
 10 
 
% 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 BACK TO CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 DECLAR, if you hain't 'most skeered me !* 
 
 was Peter's exclamation. * Eor sartin I 
 
 never seed a ghost, but it looked like 
 
 enough this time. Now, do tell what 
 
 brought you so far from hum ? Thirteen mile, if it's 
 
 a rod. You ain't lookin' partic'ler spry, anyhow. Now, 
 
 Arthur, doen't, poor lad, doen't.' 
 
 For he could not speak during a minute or two; 
 his arm pressed heavily on the ba^ : woodsman's sturdy 
 shoulder, in the effort to steady the strong trembling 
 that shook him from head to foot like a spasm of 
 ague. 
 
 * Lost in the bush, you war ? Well, that ain't agree- 
 able nohow exactly ; ' and Peter betook himself to a 
 fumbling in his capacious pocket for a tin flask, con- 
 taining some reviving fluid. * Here, take a pull — this'll 
 fix you all right. Warn't it wonderful that I went my 
 road of traps when I did, instead of early this mcrnin'. 
 There's a providence in that, for sartin.* 
 
 Deep in Arthur's heart he acknowledged the same 
 trutli gratefully. 
 
 * You've got a plaguy touch of ague, likely,' added 
 
 104 
 
 i 
 
 U'i.^-'i 
 
BACK TO CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 »55 
 
 11 
 
 le 
 
 Peter considerately, willinf^ to shift the responsibility 
 of that tremblin*,' from tlio mind to tlio body, 
 ' Campin' out is chill enough these ni<,'lits. I han't 
 much finder to go to the end of my blaze, and then 
 I'll be back witli you. So will you wait or come 
 along ? • 
 
 Arthur had too lately found human company to be 
 willing to relinquish it, even with certainty of its 
 return ; he dreaded nothing so much as the same 
 solitude whence he had just emerged ; therefore he 
 followed Peter, who over hid shoulder carried a bag 
 containing various bodies of minks, fishers, and other 
 furry animals, snared in his traps, and subsequently 
 knocked on the head by his tough service-rod. 
 
 That night Arthur found comfortable shelter in 
 Peter's hut, and was initiated into many mysteries of 
 a trapper's life by him and his half-Indian assistant. 
 Next morning they guided him as far as a surveyor's 
 post, on which was legibly written the names of four 
 townships, which was the signal for the separation of 
 the party. Arthur turned his face towards civilisation 
 along a blazed boundary line. The others plunged 
 deeper into the woods, walking in the unsociable Indian 
 file. 
 
 The blazed line went on fairly enough for some 
 miles, over hillocks of hardwood, and across marshes 
 of dank evergreens, where logs had been laid length- 
 wise for dry footing. At last Arthur thought he must 
 be drawing n(3ar to a clearing, for light appeared through 
 the dense veil of trees before him, as if some extensive 
 break to the vast continuity of forest occurred beyond. 
 Soon he stood on its verga Ay, surely a clearing ; 
 but no hum;in hands had been at work. 
 
ri 
 
 I 
 
 Ulj' 
 
 
 M 
 
 » . i« 
 
 )|l 
 
 l> n >I 
 
 156 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Hundreds of huge trees lay strewn about, as if they 
 had been wrenched off their stumps by some irresistible 
 power seizing the branched heads and hurling them to 
 the earth. Torn up by the massy roots, or twisted 
 round as you would try to break an obstinately tough 
 withe, for many score of acres the wildest confusion of 
 prostrate maples and elms and pines, heaped upon one 
 another, locked in death-embraces, quite obliterated 
 any track, and blocked across the country. Arthur 
 had come upon what French Canadians call a ' renvers(S,* 
 effected by some partial whirlwind during the preceding 
 summer. 
 
 Such tornadoes often crash a road of destruction 
 through the bush for miles ; a path narrow in com- 
 parison with its length, and reminding the traveller of 
 the explosive fury of t^omo vast projectile. The track 
 of one has been observable for more than forty miles 
 right through the heart of uninhabited forest 
 
 To cross the stupendoua barrier seemed impossible 
 to Arthur. There was a tangled chaos of interlaced 
 and withering boughs and trunks ; such a chevaux de 
 /rise might stop a regiment until some slow sap cut a 
 path through, and he was without axe, or even a large 
 knife. He must work his way round ; and yet he was 
 most unwilling to part company with the blaze. 
 
 While hesitating, and rath or ruefully contemplating 
 the obstacle, a sound at a considerable distance struck 
 his ear. It was — oh, joy I— the blows of an axe. 
 Instantly he went in the direction. When near 
 enough to be heard, he shouted. An answering hail 
 came from the other side of the windfall ; but presently 
 he saw that an attempt had been made to log up the 
 fallen timber in heaps, and, making hia way through 
 
i 
 
 BACK TO CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 «57 
 
 the blackened stumps of extinct fires, he reached the 
 spot where f vo rough-looking men were at work with 
 handspikes and axes. 
 
 They had built a little hut, whence a faint smokf 
 curled, the back wall of piled logs still wearing dead 
 branches and foliage f^t the ends. A reddish cur, as 
 lawless- looking as his masters, rushed from the door- 
 way to snap at Arthur's heels. The suspicious glances 
 of the foresters bore hardly more welcome, till they 
 heard that the stranger belonged to the settlers on 
 Cedar Pond, and had simply lost his way. They 
 informed him in return, with exceeding frankness, that 
 they were squatters, taking possession of this strip of 
 bush without anybody's leave, and determined to hold 
 their own against all comers. An apparently well-used 
 rifle lying against a log close by gave this speech con- 
 siderable emphasis. 
 
 Arthur wanted nothing more from them than to be 
 put on the surveyor's line again ; and, when directed 
 to the blaze, speedily left the sound of their axes far 
 behind. In half an hour he reached other traces of 
 mankind — a regularly chopped road, where tlie trees 
 had been felled for the proper width, and only here and 
 there an obstinate trunk had come down wrongly, and 
 lay right across, to be climbed over or crept under 
 according to the wayfarer's taste. In marshy spots he 
 was treated to strips of corduroy ; for the settled parts 
 of tlie country were near. 
 
 ' Holloa ! Uncle Zack, is that you l ' 
 
 The person addres&ed stood in a snake-fenced field, 
 superintending a couple of labourers. He turned 
 round at the hall, and stared as if he did not believe 
 his senses. 
 
 
 h 
 
tmm 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 1' 
 i! 
 
 Wl 
 
 It . 
 
 I 
 
 pi" 
 
 «l 
 
 i| 
 
 iS8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ' Wal, 1 guess I warii't never skeered in my life 
 before. They're all out lookin' for you — Nira, an' the 
 whole " Corner " bodily. Your brother's distracted 
 ravin' mad this two days huntin' the bush ; but I told 
 him you'd be sartin sure to turn up somehow. Now, 
 whar are you runnin' so fast ? There ain't nobody to 
 hum, an' we 'greed to fire the rifles as a signal whoever 
 fust got tidins of you. Three shot/S arter another,' as 
 young Wynn fired in the air. ' Come, quick as wink, 
 they'll be listenin'.' 
 
 * Eobert will know the report,* observed Arthur, with 
 a smile, to think of his pleasure in the recognition, ' if 
 he's near enough.' 
 
 ' We'll make tracks for the " Corner," I guess,' said 
 Uncle Zack with alacrity ; ' that war the meetin'-place, 
 an' you must be powerful hungry. I'd ha' been to 
 sarch for you to-day, only them Irish felle.-s at the 
 clearin' wanted lookin' arter precious bad.' (' Lucky 
 I got in them kegs o' whisky ; he'll have to stand treat 
 for the neighbours,' thought 'cute Uncle Zack in a sort 
 of mental parenthesis.) * But now do tell ! you must 
 ha' gone a terrible big round, I guess. They took the 
 Indjin out to foUer your trail ; them savages has noses 
 an' eyes like hounds. We'll fire my rifle from the 
 store ; it's bigger than yourn.' 
 
 His abstraction cf mind during Arthur's narrative 
 was owing to a judicious maturing of certain plans for 
 exacting the greatest amount of profit from the occur- 
 rence ; but he contrived to interlard his listening with 
 such appropriate interjections as, ' Now do tell ! How 
 you talk I Wal, I kinder like to know ! ' mentally 
 watering liis whisky the while. 
 
 Mrs. Zack, also scenting the prey afar off, was polite 
 
 I 
 
BACK TO CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 159 
 
 as that lady could be to good customers only. Arthur's 
 impatience for the arrival of the parties from the bush 
 hardly permitted him to do more than taste the meal 
 ehe provided. Within doors he could not stay, though 
 weary enough to want rest. The few log-cabins of 
 the ' Corner ' looked more drowsily quiet than usual ; 
 the sawmill was silent. Zack was turning over some 
 soiled and scribbled ledgers on his counter. Suddenly 
 a shot in the woods quite near: a detachment of the 
 searchers had arrived. 
 
 That the rejoicing would take its usual form, an 
 emptying of his spirit-kegs, Zack Bunting had never 
 doubted. But the s'^cond word to the bargain, Mr. 
 Wynn's promise to stand treat, had not been given, 
 though it was a mere matter of form, Zack thought. 
 Robert spoke to the neighbours, and thanked them 
 collectively for their exertions in a most cordial manner 
 on behalf of himself and his brother, and was turning 
 to go home, when the Yankee storekeeper touched his 
 elbow. 
 
 "Tain't the usual doins to let *em away dry,' 
 suggested he, with a meaning smile. ' 'Spose you stand 
 treat now ; 'twill fix the business handsome.' 
 
 That kee snaky eye of his could easily read the 
 momentary fc uggle in Robert's mind between the 
 desire not to ippear singular and unfriendly, and the 
 dislike to encouraging that whisky drinking which is 
 the bane of working men everywhere, but most espe- 
 cially in the colonies. Sam Holt watched for his 
 decision. Perhaps the knowledge of what that calm 
 strong nature by his side would do helped to confirnv 
 Robert's wavering into bold action. 
 
 ' Certainly not,' he said loudly, that all might hear. 
 
w^mnmv 
 
 'til-, ^ 
 
 It I 
 
 h 
 
 m\ 
 
 .ii I i 
 
 1 60 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ' I'll not give any whisky on any account. It ruins 
 nine-tenths of the people. I'm quite willing to reward 
 those who have kindly given time and trouble to help 
 me, but it shall not be in that way.' 
 
 Zack's smoke-dried complexion became whitewashed 
 with disappointment. 
 
 A day or two afterwards, Zack's son, Nimrod, made 
 his appearance at the Wynns' shanty. 
 
 ' I say, but you're a prime chap arter the rise you 
 took out of the ole coon,' was his first remark. * Uncle 
 Zack was as sartin as I stand of five gallons gone, 
 anyhow ; and 'twar a rael balk to put him au' them 
 off with an apology. I guess you won't mind their 
 sayin' it's the truth of a shabby dodge, though.' 
 
 'Not a bit,' replied Eobert ; ' I expected something 
 of the kind. I didn't imagine I'd please anyb(jdy 
 but my own conscience.* 
 
 ' " Conscience I " ' reiterated Nim, with a sneer. 
 ' That stock hain't a long life in the bush, I guess, A 
 storekeeper hain't no business on it, nohow — 'twould 
 starve him out ; so Uncle Zack don't keep it.' And 
 his unpleasant little eyes twinkled again at the idea 
 of such unwonted connection as his father and a 
 conscience. 
 
 * That Indjin war hoppin* mad, I can tell you ; for 
 they be the greatest bnites at gettin' drunk in the 
 univarsal world. They'U do 'most aiiythin' for whisky.' 
 
 ' The greater the cruelty of giving it to them,' said 
 Eobert. 
 
 * What are you doin' ? ' asked Nimrod, after a 
 moment's survey of the other's work. 
 
 'Shingling,' was the reply. 'Learning to make 
 shingles.' 
 
 S 
 
BACK TO CEDAR CHEEK. 
 
 i6i 
 
 * An' you call them shingles ? * kicking aside, with a 
 gesture of contempt, the uneven slices of pinewood 
 which had fallen from Eobert's tool. * You hain't 
 dressed the sapwood off them blocks, and the grain eats 
 into one another besides. True for Uncle Zack that 
 gentry from the old country warn't never born to be 
 handlin' axes an' frows. It don't come kinder nateral. 
 They shouldn't be no thicker than four to an inch to 
 be rael handsome shingles,' added he, * such as sell for 
 seven-an'-sixpence a thousand.' 
 
 Nimrod's pertinacious supervision could not be got 
 rid of until dinner ; not even though Mr. Wynn asked 
 him his errand in no conciliatory tone. 
 
 ' Thought I'd kinder like to see how ye were gettin' 
 on,' was the answer. ' New settlers is so precious 
 awk'ard. Thought I'd loaf about awhile, an' see. 
 It's sorter amusin'.' 
 
 He was so ignorantly unconscious of doing any- 
 thing offensive by such gratification of his curiosity, 
 that Robert hardly knew whether to laugh or be 
 angry. Nimrod's thick - skinned sensibilities would 
 have cared little for either. He lounged about, whit- 
 tling sticks, chewing tobacco, and asking questions, 
 until Andy's stentorian call resounded through the 
 woods near. 
 
 * I guessed I'd dine with you to day,' said Nim, 
 marching on before his host With equal coolness, as 
 soon as the dish of trout appeared, he transfixed the 
 largest with his case-knife. 
 
 ' Not 80 fast, my friend,' interrupted Mr. Holt, 
 bringing back the captive. *We divide fair here, 
 though it's not Yankee law, I'm awara' 
 
 * Ah, you warn't born yesterday,' rejoined Nim, 
 
W i i 
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 i 
 
 i*) J 
 
 1*1 Ji 
 
 ^^« 
 
 y u 
 
 {J i 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 showing his yellow teeth, which seemed individually 
 made and set after the pattern of his father's, 
 'You're a smart man, I guess — raised iu Amerikay, 
 an' no mistake.' 
 
 ' But come, Andy,' said Arthur, * teU us where you 
 caught these fine trout ? You've altogether made a 
 brilliant effort to-day in the purveying line : the cakes 
 are particularly good.' 
 
 ' They're what them French fellers call " galettes," ' 
 observed Nimrod, biting one. ' Flour an' water, baked 
 in the ashes. Turnpike bread is better — what the ole 
 gall makes to hum.' 
 
 Be it remarked that this periphrasis indicated his 
 mother; and that the bread he alluded to is made 
 with a species of leaven. 
 
 * So ye ate turnpikes too,' remarked Andy, obliquely 
 glancing at the speaker. ' The English language isn't 
 much help to a man in this counthry, where everythin' 
 manes somethin' else. Well, Misther Arthur, about 
 the trout ; you remimber I went down to the "Comer" 
 this mornin'. Now it's been on my mind some days 
 back, that ye'd want a few shirts washed.' 
 
 ' But what has that to do with the trout ' — inter- 
 rupted Arthur, laughing. 
 
 'Whisht awhile, an' you'll hear. I didn't know 
 how to set about it, no more than the child of a month 
 old ; for there's an art in it, of coorse, like in everythin' 
 else ; an' one time I thried to whiten a shirt of my 
 own — beggin' yer honours' pardon for mintionin' the 
 article — it kem out of the pot blacker than it wint in. 
 So sez I to meself, " I'll look out for the clanest house, 
 an' I'll ax the good woman to tache me how to wash a 
 thing ; " an' I walks along from the store to a nate little 
 
 \ 
 
BACK TO CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 163 
 
 
 cabin back from the river, that had flowers ;~ 'owin' in 
 the front ; an' sure enough, the floor was as clane as a 
 dhrawin' room, an' a dacent tidy little woman kneadin' 
 a cake on the table. " Ma'am," sez I, " I'm obliged to 
 turn washerwoman, an' I don't know how ; ' but she 
 only curtseyed, and said somethin' in a furrin tongue.' 
 
 ' A French Canadian, I suppose,' said Mr. Wynn. 
 
 ' Jackey Dubois lives in the log - hut with the 
 flowers,' observed Nim, who was whittling again by 
 way of desert. 
 
 * May be so ; but at all events she was as like as 
 two peas to the girl whose weddin' I was at since I 
 came ashore. " Ma'am," sez I, " I want to lam to be a 
 washerwoman : " and wid that I took off my necker- 
 chief an' rubbed it, to show what I meant, by the rule 
 of thumb. " Ah, to vash," sez she, smilin' like a 
 leathercoat potato. So, afther that, she took my 
 handkercher and washed it foment me out ; an' I'd 
 watched before how she med the cakes, an' cleared a 
 little space by l>he fire to bake 'em, an' covered them 
 up wid hot ashes.' 
 
 'Not a word about the trout,' said Arthur. 
 
 ' How can I tell everything intirely all at wanst ? ' 
 replied the Irishman, with an injured tone. * Sure I 
 was comin' to that. I observed her lookin' partikler 
 admirin' at the handkercher, which was a handsome 
 yellow spot, so I up an' axed her to take a present of 
 it, an' I settled it like an apron in front, to show how 
 iligant 'twould look ; an' she was mighty plased, an' 
 curtseyed ever so often, an* Jackey himself gev me the 
 trout out of a big basket he brought in. The river's 
 fairly alive wid 'em, I'm tould: an' they risin' to a 
 brown-bodied fly, Misther Arthur.' 
 
 % 
 
1 
 
 i-i hi 
 
 
 
 ITi 
 
 'M.i 
 
 %^ 
 
 ^'% 
 
 164 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ' We'll have a look at them some spare day, Andy.' 
 ' But what tuk my fancy intirely, was the iligant 
 plan of bilin' 'em she had. There war round stones 
 warmin' in the fire, and she dropped 'em into a pot of 
 water till it was scalding hot ; then in wid the fish, 
 addin' more stones to keep it singin'. It's an Indjin 
 fashion, Jackey told me ; for they haven't nothin' to 
 cook in but wooden pails ; but I thried it wid them 
 trout yer atin', an' it answered beautiful* 
 
 Andy bid fair to be no mean chef-de-aiisine, if his 
 experiments always resulted so favourably as in the 
 present instance. 
 
 * An' the whole of it is, Misther Robert, that this 
 Canada is a counthry where the very best of atin' and 
 dhrinkin* is to be had for the throuble of pickin' it up. 
 Don't I see the poorest cabins wid plenty of bacon 
 hangin' to the rafthers, an' the trees is full of birds 
 that nobody can summons you for catchin', and the 
 sthrames is walkin' wid fish ; I'm tould there's sugar 
 to be had by bilin' the juice of a bush ; an* if you 
 scratch the ground, it'll give you bushels of praties an' 
 whate for the ^^xin'. I wish I had all the neighbours 
 out here, that's a fact ; for It's a grand poor man's 
 counthry, an' there's too many of us at home, IVIisther 
 Eobert ; an' (as if this were the climax of wonders) 
 I never see a beggar since I left the Cove o' Cork ! * 
 
 ' All true, Andy, quite true,' said his master, with a 
 little sigh. 'Hard work will get a man anything 
 here.' 
 
 * I must be goin',* said Nimrod, raising his lank 
 figure on its big feet. ' But I guess that be for you ; * 
 and he tossed to Eobert a soiled piece of newspaper, 
 wrapped round some square slight packet. 
 

 
 BACK TO CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 '<5S 
 
 Letters from home ! Why, you unconscionable '— 
 burst forth Arthur ; ' loafing about here for these three 
 hours, and never to produce them ! ' But Nim had 
 made off among the trees, grinning in every long 
 tooth. •' ° 
 
 Ah \ those letters from home ! How sweet, yet how 
 saddening ! Mr. Holt went off to chop alone. But 
 lirst he found time to intercept Nimrod on the road 
 and rather lower his triumphant flush at successfully 
 rding the Britishers,' by the information that he 
 (Mr. Holt) would write to the post-office authorities, 
 to ask whether their agent at the 'Comer' was 
 justified m detaining letters for some hours after they 
 might have been delivered. 
 
 i< 
 
 
 'i i' 
 
m 
 
 ■ ! H 
 
 ft ' i, 
 
 i- 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 GIANT TWO-SnOES. 
 
 W' 
 
 HE calendar of the settler is apt to get rather 
 confused, owing to tl uniformity of his 
 ^^ life and the absence of the landmarks of 
 civilisation. Where ' the sound of the 
 church-going bell ' has never been heard, and thei- ) is 
 nothing to distinguish one day from another, bub the 
 monotonous tide of time lapses on without a break, 
 it will easily be imagined that the observance of a 
 Sabbath is much neglected, eitlier through forgetfulness 
 or press of labour. The ministrations of religion by 
 no means keep pace with the necessities of S(jciety in 
 the Canadian wilds. Here is a wide field for the 
 spiritual toil of earnest men, among a people speaking 
 the English language and owning English allegiance ; 
 and unless the roots of this great growing nation be 
 grounded in piety, we cannot hope for its orderly and 
 healthful expansion in that * righteousness which 
 exalteth a people.' 
 
 Once a year or so, an itinerant Methodist preacher 
 visited the * Corner,' and held his meeting in Zack 
 Bunting's large room. But regular means of grace 
 the neighbourhood had none. A result was, that few 
 
 166 
 
 
 
 V 
 
GIANT TWO-SHUES. 
 
 167 
 
 of the settlers about Cedar Creek acknowledged the 
 Sabbath rest in practice ; and those who \' ore busiest 
 and most isolate<l sometimes lost the count if tlit'ir 
 week-days altogether. Ilobei-t Wyun thought it right 
 to mark ofl' Sunday very distinctly for himself and his 
 household by a total cessation of labour, and tlie 
 establishment of regular worship. Andy made no sort 
 of objection, now that he was out of the priest's reach. 
 
 Other days were laborious enough. In the under- 
 brushing was included the cutting up all fallen timber, 
 and piling it in heaps for the spring burnings. 
 Gradually the dense thickets of hemlock, hickory, 
 and balsam were being laid in windrows, and the long 
 darkened soil saw daylight. Thf line old trees, 
 hitherto swathed deeply in masses of summer foUage, 
 stood with bared bases before the axe, awaiting their 
 stroke likewise. 
 
 Then the latest days in November brought the 
 snow. Steadily and silently the grey heavens covered 
 the shivering earth with its smooth woolly coating of 
 purest flakes. While wet Atlantic breezes moaned 
 sorrowfully round Dunore, as if wailing over shattered 
 fortunes, the little log -shanty in the Cauadiam bush 
 was deep in snow. Not so large as the butler's 
 pantry in that old house at home, nor so well 
 furnished as the meanest servant's apartment had been 
 during the prosperous times, with hardly one of the 
 accessories considered indispensable to comfort in the 
 most ordinary British sitting - room, yet the rough 
 shanty had 8 pleasantness of its own, a brightness of 
 indoor weather, such as is often wanting where the 
 fittings of domestic life are superb. Hope was in the 
 Pandora's box to qualify all evils. 
 
 11 
 
 !i!l 
 
 I 
 
 
fmm 
 
 t68 
 
 CEDAR CREER. 
 
 By the firelight the settlers were this evening 
 carrying on various occupations. Mr. Holt' , seemed 
 the most curious, and was the centre of sittraction, 
 thoui^'h Robert was cutting shingles, and Arthur 
 manufacturing a walnut-wood stool in primitive tripod 
 style. 
 
 ' I tell you what,' said he, leaning on the end of his 
 plane, whence a shaving had just slowly curled away, 
 ' I never shall be able to assist at or countenance a 
 logging-bee, for I consider it the grossest waste of 
 valuable merchandise. The idea of voluntarily turning 
 into smoke and ashes the most exquisitely grained 
 bird's-eye maple, black walnut, heart-of-oak, cherry, 
 and birch — it'u a shame for you, Holt, not to raise 
 your voice against such wilful waste, which will be 
 sure to make woful want some day. Why, the 
 cabinetmakers at home would give you almost any 
 money for a cargo of such walnut as this under my 
 hand.* 
 
 ' I regret it as much as you do ; but till the country 
 has more railroads it is unavoidable, and only vexatious 
 to think of. We certainly do burn away hundreds of 
 thousands of pounds' worth of the most expensive 
 wood, while people in England pay enormous prices 
 for furniture which our refuse timber could supply.* 
 
 ' And don't you export any ornamental wood ? ' 
 asked Eobert. ' I saw plenty of deals swimming 
 down the St. Lawrence.' 
 
 ' Yes, pine timber meets with the readiest market, 
 and is easiest procurable. But even in that there is 
 the most unjustifiable wastefulness practised. I was 
 among the lumberers once, and saw the way they 
 square the white pine. You know that every tree is 
 
 I* t -^jifl 
 
GIANT TWO SHOES, 
 
 169 
 
 of course tapering in the trunk, narrower at the top 
 than at the base ; now, to wjuare the log, the best 
 timber of the lower part must Ikj hewn away, to make 
 it of equal dimensions with the upper part. T am not 
 above the mark when I say that millif)n8 of excellent 
 boards are left to rot in the forest by this piece of 
 mismanagement, and the white - pine woods are dis- 
 appearing rapidly.' 
 
 But Arthur's sympathies could not be roused for 
 such ordinary stuff as deal, to the degree of resentment 
 he felt for the wholesale destruction of ciibinetmakers* 
 woods. 
 
 ' If I may make so bould, sir,' said Andy, edging 
 forward, ' might I ax what yer honour is makin' ? 
 Only there aren't any giants in the counthry, I'd think 
 it was a pair of shoes, may be.' 
 
 ' You've guessed rightly,' replied Mr. Holt, holding 
 up his two colossal frames, 30 that they rested on edge. 
 ' Yes, Aiidy, a pair of shoes near six feet long ! 
 What do you think of that new Canadian wonder ? ' 
 
 ' I dunno where you'll get feet to fit 'em,' said 
 Andy dubiously. ' They're mostly as big as boats, an' 
 much the same shape. May be they're for crossin' the 
 wather in ? ' 
 
 ' I intend to wear them myself, Andy,' said the 
 manufacturer, ' but on dry land. You must be looking 
 out for a pair too, if the snow continues, as is pretty 
 certain, and you want to go down to the " Corner " 
 before it is frozen over.' 
 
 ' Why have you cut that hole in the middle of the 
 
 board ? ' asked Eobert, inspecting the gigantic wooden 
 
 Bole. 
 
 * To give the toes play,' was the answer. ' All 
 II 
 
 
 ;i 
 
 VW\ 
 

 pi 
 
 ' 
 
 170 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 parts of the foot must Live the freest action in snow- 
 shoes.' 
 
 ' I remember a pair at Maple Grove,' said Arthur, 
 ' made of leathern n'^twork, fastened to frames and 
 crossbars, with the most complicated apparatus for the 
 foot in the middle.' 
 
 ' It is said by scientific men,' said Mr. Holt, ' that 
 if the theory of walking over soft snow were pro- 
 pounded, not all the mechanical knowledge of the 
 present day could contrive a more perfect means of 
 meeting the difficulty, than that snow-shoe of the 
 Ojibbeway Indians. It spreads the weight equally 
 over the wide surface : see, I've been trying, with 
 these cords and thongs, to imitate their mechanism in 
 this hollow of my plank. Here's the walking thong, 
 and the open mesii through which the toes pass, and 
 which is pressed against by the ball of the foot, so as 
 to draw the shoe after it. Then here's the heel-cord, 
 a sort of sling passing round so as partially to imprison 
 and yet leave free. The centre of the foot is held 
 fast enough, you perceive.' 
 
 Kobert shook his head. * One thing is pretty 
 clear,* said he, * / shall never be able to walk in 
 snow-shoes.' 
 
 * Did you think you would ever be expert at felling 
 pines ? ' was Mr. Holt's unanswerable answer. 
 
eHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 A MF'");;-:-,?, 
 
 oE may soon expect winter/ said Sam Holt 
 as ho drew forth his giganti snow-shoes! 
 winch had been standing np against the 
 ^ interior wall of the shanty, and now 
 emerged into the brilliant sunsliine. 
 
 'Soon expect it!' ejaculated Robert; ' ^vhy j 
 should say it had very decidedly arrived plrerdv ' I 
 am sure twelve inches of snow must have fallen 'last 
 afternoon ;md night.' 
 
 ; It is late this year ; I've seen it deep enough for 
 sleighing the second week in November; and from 
 this till March the ground will be hidden, generally 
 under a blanket four feet thick. You are only on 
 the outskirts of winter as yet.' 
 
 Tour months! I wonder it doesn't kill all 
 vegetation.' 
 
 ' On^ the contrary, it is the best thing possible for 
 vegetation. Only for tlie warm close coverin- of 
 snow, the intense and long- continued frost w'^ould 
 penetrate the soil too deeply to be altogether thawed 
 by the summer sun.' ,._ ,, „-,... 
 
 •I was very much struck,' said Eobert, ' by seeing. 
 
 H i 
 
 -): 
 
ilii 
 
 il_»ii;<^nwi»niw^i^i^^liinp^ 
 
 h ' 
 
 
 17a 
 
 CEDAR CAEEK. 
 
 in a cemeteiy near Quebec, a vault fitted with stone 
 shelves, for the reception of the bodies of people who 
 die during winter, as they cannot be properly interred 
 till the next spring.* 
 
 ' Yes ; Lower Canada is much colder than our 
 section of thb Pro\lnce. I^^arned men say something 
 about the regular northward tendency of the isother- 
 mal lines from east to west ; certain it is that, the 
 farther west you go, the higher is the mean annual 
 temperature, back to the Pacific, I beliave. So the 
 French Canadians have much the worst of the cold. 
 You might have noticed flights of steps to the doors of 
 the liahitans ? That was a provision against snowing 
 time ; and another proof of the severity I; the frost is 
 that any mason work not bedded at least three feet 
 deep into the earth is dislodged by the April thaws. 
 
 * Now what would you say to freezing up your 
 winter stores of meat and fowls 1 They're obliged to 
 do it in Lower Canada. Fresh mutton, pork, turkeys, 
 geese, fowls, and even fish, all stifi' and hard as stone, 
 are packed in boxes and stowed away in a shed till 
 wanted. The only precaution needful is to bring out 
 the meat into the kitchen a few days before use, that 
 it may have time to thaw. Yet I cai tell you that 
 winter is our merriest time ; for snow, the great 
 leveller, has made all the roads, even the most rickety 
 corduroy, smooth as a bov/ling - green ; consequently 
 sleighinp; and toboggin parties without end are carried 
 on. 
 
 ' That's a terribly hard word,' renmrked Arthur. 
 
 ' It represents great fun, then, which isn't generally 
 the case with hard words. A toboggin is an Indian 
 traineau of birch -bark, turned up at one end, and 
 
A MEDLEY, 
 
 173 
 
 perfectly level with the anow. A lady takes her seat 
 on this, and about a foot and a half of a projection 
 behind her is occupied by a gentleman, who is the 
 propelling instrument for the vehicle. He tucks one 
 leg under him, and leaves the other trailing on the 
 snow behind, as a rudder. I should have told you 
 that, first of all, the adventurous pair must be on the 
 top of a slope ; and when all is ready, the gentleman 
 sets the affair in motion by a vigorous kick from his 
 rudder leg. Of course the velocity increases as they 
 rush down the slope ; and unless he is a skilful 
 steersman, they may have a grand upset or be 
 embosomed in a drift ; however, the toboggin and its 
 freight generally glides like an arrow from the summit, 
 and has received impetus enough to carry it a long 
 distance over the smooth surface of the valley at 
 foot.' 
 
 ' How first-rate it must be 1 * exclaimed Arthur. 
 * But we shall never see a human being in these 
 backwoods ; ' and over his handsome face came an 
 expression of ennui and weariness which Eobert 
 disliked and dreaded. ' Come, Holt, I'm longing 
 to have a try at the snow-shoes : ' and his white 
 volatile nature brightened again iraiiiediately at the 
 novelty. 
 
 ' I'm afraid they're too long for this clearing, among 
 all the stumps,' said the manufacturer; 'you may 
 wear them eighteen inches shorter in the forest than 
 on the roads or plains. At all events, I'll have to 
 beat the path for you first;' and having fixed his 
 mocassined feet in the walking thong and heel-cord, 
 with his toes just over tlie ' eye,' he began to glide along, 
 first slowly and then swiftly. Now was the advantage 
 
 A 
 
 .^ ■' : \ 
 
pi'? 
 
 11 
 
 MJ '! 
 
 -^ 
 
 ri 
 
 1 74 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 of the immense sole visible ; for whereas Robert and 
 Arthur sank far above their ankles at every step in 
 the loose dry snow, Mr. Holt, though much the 
 heaviest of the three, was borne on the top buoyantly. 
 
 * You see the great necessity is,' said he, returning 
 by a circuit, ' that the shoe should never press into 
 the snow ; so you must learn to drag it lightly over 
 the surface, which requires some little practice. To 
 render that easier, I've beaten the track slightly.' 
 
 * Holt, are those genuine Indian mocassins ? ' asked 
 Robert, as he ungirded his feet from the straps of the 
 snow-shoes. 
 
 * Well, they're such as I've worn over manv a mile 
 of Indian country,' was the answer; * j; I can 
 recommend them as the most agreeable chaussure 
 ever invented. Chiropodists nnght shut shop, were 
 mocassins to supersede the ugly and ponderous 
 ICuropean boot, in which your foot lies as dead as 
 if it had neither muscles nor joints. Try to cross a 
 swamp in boots, and see how they'll make holes and 
 stick in them, and only come up with a slush, leaving 
 a pool behind ; but mocassined feet trip lightly over : 
 the tanned deer-hide is elastic as a second skin, yet 
 thick enough to ward ofif a cut from thorns or pebbles, 
 while giving free play to all the muscles of the 
 foot.' 
 
 ' You haven't convinced me : it's but one remove 
 from bare footed ness. T.ike a good fellow, show me 
 how I'm to manage those monstrous snow-shoes : I 
 feel as queer as in my first pair of skates.' 
 
 Mr. Holt did as requiied. But the best theoretical 
 teaching about anything cannot secure, a beginner frcut 
 failures, and Arthur was presently brought up ty 
 
 ' 
 
 im 
 
A MEDLEY. 
 
 175 
 
 several inches of snow gathered round the edges oi 
 his boards, and adding no small weight. 
 
 'It wUl work up on them,' said he (as, when a 
 smaller boy, he had been used to blame everything 
 but himself), ' in spite of all I can do.' 
 
 * Practice makes perfect,' was Sam Holt's consolatory 
 remark. * Get the axes, Kobert, and we'll go chop a 
 bit.' 
 
 ' I'll stay awhile by the snow-shoes,' said Arthur. 
 
 The others walked away to the edge of the clearing, 
 Mr. Holt having first drawn on a pair of the despised 
 European boots. 
 
 Never had Robert seen such transparent calm of 
 heaven and earth as on this glorious winter day. It 
 was as if the common atmosphere had been purified of 
 all grosser particles — as if its component gases had 
 been mixed afresh, for Canadian use only. The cold 
 was hardly felt, though Mr. Holt was sure the 
 thermometer must be close upon zero ; but a bracing 
 exhilarating sensation strung every nerve with glad- 
 ness and power. 
 
 ' You'll soon comprehend how delightful our winter 
 is,' said Sam Holt, noticing his companion's gradually 
 glowing face. * It has phases of the most bewitching 
 beauty. Just look at this white spruce, at all times 
 one of our loveliest trees, with branches feathering 
 down to the ground, and every one of its innumerable 
 sea-green leaves tipped with a spikelet which might be 
 a diamond !' 
 
 They did stand before that splendid tree—magni- 
 ficent sight ! 
 
 ' I wonder it escaped the lumberers when they were 
 here ; they have generally pretty well weeded the 
 
 
^^gm 
 
 m- 
 
 il#i 
 
 176 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 m 
 
 , f '-■■ 
 
 r*: 
 
 H \h 
 
 [ai 
 
 forests along this chain of lakes of such fine timber as 
 this spruce. I suppose it's at least a hundred feet 
 high : I've seen some a hundred and forty.' 
 
 ' And you think lumberers have been chopping in 
 these woods ? I saw no signs of them,' said Eobert. 
 
 ' I met with planks here and there, hewed off in 
 s<:[uaring the timber : but even without that, you 
 know, they're always the pioneers of the settler along 
 every stream through Canada. This lake of yours 
 communicates with the Ottawa, through the river at 
 the " Corner, " which is called " Clyde " farther on, and 
 is far too tempting a cht nnel foi the lumberers to 
 leave unused.' 
 
 The speaker stopped at the foot of a i3alm-"f-Gilead 
 fir, on the edge of the swamp, and partially cleared 
 away the snow, revealing a tuft of cranberries, much 
 larger and finer than they are ever seen in England. 
 
 ' I noticed a bed of them here the other day. Now 
 if you want a proof of the genial influence of the long- 
 continued snow on vegetation, I can tell you that 
 these cranberries — ottakas, the French Canadians call 
 them — go on ripening through the winter under three 
 or four feet of snow, and are much better and juicier 
 than in OcUjber, when they are geii'^rally harvested. 
 That cedar swamp ought to be full of them.' 
 
 ' 1 womler can they be preserved in any way,' said 
 Robert, cms} ling in his lips the pleasant bitter-sweet 
 berry. ' Linda is a wonderful hand at preserves, and 
 when she comes ' — 
 
 The thought seemed to energize him to the needful 
 preparation for that coming: he immediately made a 
 chop nt, a middle-aged Weymouth pine alongside, and 
 began to cut it down. 
 
 t^nSa.- i i 
 
\ P! 
 
 A MEDLEY, 
 
 177 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 'Well, as to preserving ilie cran berries,' said Mr. 
 Holt, laughing in his slight silent way, ' there's none 
 required ; they stay as fresh as when plucked for a 
 long time. But your sister may exercise her abilities 
 on the pailfuls of strawberries, and raspberries, and 
 sand cherries, and wild plums, that fill the woods in 
 summer. As to the cranbeny patches, it is a curious 
 fact that various Indian families consider themselves 
 to have a property therein, and migrate to gather them 
 every autumn, squaws and children and all' 
 
 ' It appears that my swamp is unclaimed, then,' 
 said Robert, pausing in his blows. 
 
 * Not so with your mapUis,' rejoined the other ; 
 'there's been a sugar camp here last spring, or I'm 
 much mistaken.' 
 
 He was looking at some old scars in the trunks of 
 a group of maples, at the back of the Weymouth pine 
 on which Eobert was operating. 
 
 ' Yes, they've been tapped, sure enough ; but I don't 
 see the lowpes — the vats in which they leave the sap 
 to crystallize : if it were a regular Indian " sucrerie," 
 we'd find those. However, I suspect you may l)e on 
 the look-oflt for a visit from them in spring — au temps 
 des sucres, as the habitans say.' 
 
 ' And I'm not to assert my superior rights at all ? ' 
 
 ' Well, there's certainly sugar enough for both 
 parties during your natural lives, and tlie Indians will 
 slieer off when they find the ground occupied ; so I'd 
 advise you to say nothing about it. Now, Wyi\n, let 
 your pine faU on that heap of bnishwood ; 'twill save 
 a lot of trouble afterwards; if not, you'll have to 
 drag the head tliither and chop and pile the liranches, 
 which is extra work you'd as soon avoid, I dare say.' 
 
 ri 
 
 i 
 
178 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 After some judicious blows from the more experi- 
 enced axe, the pine was good enough to fall just as 
 required. 
 
 ' Now the trunk must be chopped into lengths of 
 twelve or fourteen feet ; * and Mr. Holt gashed a mark 
 with his axe at such distances, as well as he could 
 guess. When it was done — 
 
 * What's the rate of speed of this work ? ' asked 
 Robert. ' It seems so slow as to be almost hopeless ; 
 the only consideration is, that one is doing it all for 
 one's self, and — for those as dear as self,' he could 
 have added, but refrained. 
 
 * About an acre in eight or nine days, according to 
 your expertness,' was the reply. Robert did a little 
 ciphering in his mind immediately. Three axes, plus 
 twenty-seven days (minus Sundays), equal to about 
 the chopping of ten acres and a fraction during the 
 month of December. The calculation was somewhat 
 reassuring. 
 
 'What curious curves there are in this Canadian 
 axe ! ' he remarked, as he stood leaning on the handle 
 and looking down. 'It differs essentially from thfi 
 common woodman's axe at home.' 
 
 * And which the English manufacturers persisted in 
 seiuling us, and could not be induced to make on pre- 
 cisely tlie model required, until we dispensed with 
 their aid by establishing an edge-tool factory of our 
 own in Gait, on the Grand River.* 
 
 'That was a declaration of independence which 
 must Imve been very sensibly felt in Shoffield,' re- 
 marked (lobert. 
 
 They worked hard till dintief, ttt i^fcicli ^etldd Hliiy 
 found Arthur limping about the slianty. 
 
A MEDLEY. 
 
 179 
 
 ' I practised those villainous snow-shoes for several 
 hours, till I walked beautifully ; but see what I've got 
 by it; he said: 'a pain across the instep as if the 
 bones would split,' 
 
 ' Oh, just a touch of mal de raquette' observed Sam 
 Holt, rather unsympathizingly. 'I ought to have 
 warned you not to walk too much in them at first' 
 
 ' And is there no cure ? ' asked Arthur, somewhat 
 sharply. 
 
 * Peter Logan would scarify your foot with a gun- 
 flint, that is, if the pain were bad enough. Do you 
 feel as if the bones were broken, and grinding togethei 
 across the instep ? ' 
 
 But Arthur could not confess to his experiences 
 
 being so bad as this. Only a touch of the mal de 
 
 raqueite, that was aR Just a-payiug for his footing 
 in snow-shoes. 
 
w^^ 
 
 m\ 
 
 U ' 
 
 CKAPTEE XX. 
 
 THE ICE-SLEDGE. 
 
 ^V.M HOLT hfid long fixed the first enow as 
 
 the limit of his stay. He liad built liis 
 
 colossal shoe? in order to travel as far as 
 
 Greenock on them, and there take the 
 
 stage, which came once a week to that boundary of 
 
 civilisation and the post. 
 
 Two or three days of the intensest frost intervened 
 between the first snow and the Thursday on which 
 the stage left Greenock. Cedar Pond was stricken 
 dead — a solid gleaming sheet of stone from shore w 
 shore. A hollow smothered gurgle far below was all 
 that remained of the life of the streams ; and nightly 
 they shrank deeper, as the tremendous winter in the 
 air forced upon them more ice, and yet more. 
 
 Notwithstanding the roaring fires kept up in the 
 shanty chimney, the stinging cold of the night made 
 itself felt through the imfinished walls. For want of 
 boards, the necessary interior wainscoting had never 
 been put up. The sight of the frozen pond suggested 
 to Mr. Holt a plan for easily obtaining them. It was 
 to construct an ice-boat, such as he had seen used by 
 the Indians • to go down to the * Corner ' on skates, 
 
 180 
 
THE ICE SLEDGE. 
 
 i8i 
 
 lade the ice-boat with planks, and drive it before them 
 back attain. 
 
 Arthur, who hailed with delight any variety from 
 the continual chopping, entered into the scheme with 
 ardour. Kobert would have liked it well enough, but 
 he knew that two persons were quite sufficient for 
 the business ; he rather connived at the younger 
 brother's holidays ; he must abide by the axe. 
 
 One board, about nine feet long, remained from 
 Arthur's attempts at ' slabbing.' Tliis Mr. Holt split 
 again with wedges, so as to reduce it considerably in 
 tliickness, and cut away from th^i breadth till it was 
 only about twenty inches wide. The stoutest rope in 
 the shanty stores was fastened to it fore and tilt, and 
 drawn tightly to produce a curve into boat shape, and 
 a couple of cross pieces of timber were nailed to the 
 sides as a sort of balustrade and reinforcement to the 
 rope. The ice-sledge was complete ; the voyagers tied 
 down their fur caps over their ears, strapped i.he 
 dreadnought boots tightly, and launched forth. 
 
 ' Throth, I donno how they do it at all, at all,' said 
 Andy, who had lent his strength to the curving of the 
 sledge, and now shook his head as he viewed them 
 from the shore. ' I'd as soon go to walk on the edges 
 of knives as on them things they call skates ; throth, 
 betune the shoes as long as yerself for the snow, an' 
 the shoes wid soles as sharp as a soord for the ice, our 
 own ould brogues aren't much use to ua An' as for 
 calling that boord a boat, I hope they won't thry it on 
 the wather, that's alL' 
 
 As if he had discharged his conscience by this pro- 
 testing soliloquy, Mr. Callaghan turned on his heel, 
 and tramped after Robert up to the shanty. 
 
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 183 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
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 Meanwhile, thu voyagers had struck out from the 
 natural cove formed by the junction of the creek with 
 the pond, where were clumps of stately reeds, stiffened 
 like steel by the frost. The cedar boughs in the 
 swamp at the edge drooped lower than ever under 
 their burden of snow ; ths stems looked inky black, 
 from contrast. The ice-boat pushed on beautifully, 
 with hardly any exertion, over the greyish glistening 
 surface 01 the lake. 
 
 * I fancy there's a bit of breeze getting up against 
 us,' said Mr. Holt, in a momentary paucse from their 
 rapid progression. 
 
 "Twill be in our backs coming home/ suggested 
 Arthur, as an obvious deduction. 
 
 'And if we can fix up a sail anyhow, we might 
 press it into our service to propel the sledge,' said Mr. 
 Holt. 
 
 ' Well, T never did hear of sails on dry land before,* 
 said Arthur, thereby proving his Irish antecedents ; of 
 which his quick-witted companion was not slow to 
 remind him, 
 
 'But I don't much admire that greyish look off 
 there,' he added, becoming grave, and pointing to a 
 hazy discolouration in the eastern skies. * I shouldn't 
 be surprised if we had a blow to - night ; and our 
 easterly winds in winter always bring snow.' 
 
 Uncle Zack was lost in admiration of the spirit 
 which projected and executed this ice-boat voyage. 
 ' Wal, you are a knowin' sha\e,' was his complimentary 
 observation to Mr. Holt. * 'Twar a smart idee, and 
 no mistake. You'll only want to fix runners in front 
 of the ice-sled goin' back, an' 'twill carry any load as 
 easy ai) drinkin*. 'Spose you han't got an old pair of 
 
THE ICE-SLEDGE. 
 
 183 
 
 skates handy ? I've most remarkable good 'uns at 
 the store, that'll cut right slick up to the Cedars in 
 no time if tacked on to the sled. You ain't disposed 
 to buy 'em, are you ? Wal, as you be hard fixed, I 
 don't care if I lend 'em for a trifle. Quarter dollar, 
 say. That's dog-cheap — it's a rael ruination. Take 
 it out in potash or maple sugar next spring — eh ? Is 
 it five cents cash you named. Mister Holt ? Easy to 
 see you never kep a backwoods store. Did anybody 
 ever hear of anythin' so onreasonable ? * 
 
 To which offer he nevertheless acceded after some 
 grumbling ; and the runners of the borrowed skates 
 were fastened underneath the sled by Mr. Holt's own 
 hands and hammer. Next, that gentleman fixed a 
 pola upright in the midst, piling the planks from the 
 sawmill close to it, edgeways on both sides, and bracing 
 it with a stay-rope to stem and stem. At the top 
 ran a horizontal stick to act as yard, and upon this 
 he girt an old blanket lent by Jackey Dubois, the 
 corners of which w^re caught by cords drawn taut 
 and fastened to the balustrade afore-mentioned. 
 
 Sam Holt had in his own brain a strong dash of 
 the daring and love of adventure which tingles in the 
 blood of youthful strengtL He thoroughly enjoyed 
 this rigging of the ice-boat, because it was strange, and 
 paradoxical, and quite out of everyday ship-building. 
 The breeze, become stronger, was moaning in the tops 
 of the forest as he finished ; the greyish haze had 
 thickened into well-defined clouds creeping up the sky, 
 yet hardly near enough to account for one or two 
 flakes that came wandering down. 
 
 ' Ye'll have a lively run to the Cedars, I guess,' 
 prophesied Zack, as he helped to pack in the last 
 
 
 % 
 
 lit 
 
rjT'^pilSgHRHHi 
 
 ;iii 
 
 'i.:^ 
 
 IS4 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 plank. * An' the quicker the better, for the wcathei 
 looks kinder dirty. Sea if them runners ain't vallyable 
 now ; and only five cents cash for the loan/ The 
 queer Jittlc craft began to push ahead slowly, her sail 
 filHng out somewhat, as the wind caught in it at a 
 curve of the shore. 
 
 Certainly the runners materially lessened the friction 
 of the load of timber on the ice. The skaters hardly 
 felt the weight more than in propelling the empty 
 sledge. When they got upon the open surface of the 
 pond, they might expect aid from the steady swelling 
 of the sail, now fitful, as gusts swept down, snow- 
 laden, from the tree-covered banks of the stream. 
 They hardly noticed the gradually increasing power 
 of the wind behind them ; but the ilakes in the air 
 perceptibly thickened, even before they had reached 
 the pond. 
 
 * Now make a straight course across for the pine 
 point yonder,' said Sam Holt, as they passed in lee 
 shelter for an iLstant. * I suspect we might almost 
 embark ourselves, Arthur, for the breeze is right 
 upon it.' 
 
 A few minutes of great velocity bore them down 
 on the headland. They stopped for breath, the 
 turned -up prow of their ice-boat resting even in the 
 brush on shore. Then they coasted awhile, until 
 another wide curve of the pond spread in front. 
 
 By this time the falling snow was sufficiently dense 
 to blur distant outlines, and an indistinct foggy white- 
 ness took the place of the remaining daylight. Mr. 
 Holt hesitated whether to adopt the safer and more 
 laborious plan of following the windings of the shore, 
 or to strike across boldly, and save a mile of meander- 
 
THE ICE-SLEDGE. 
 
 '8S 
 
 ing by one rapid push ahead The latter was Arthur's 
 decided choice. 
 
 • Well, here goes ! ' and by the guiding rope in his 
 hand Mr. Holt turned the head of the ice-boat before 
 the wind. They giuspcd the balustrades at each side 
 firmly, and careered along with the former delightful 
 speed ; until suddenly, Arthur was astonislied t°o see 
 his companion cast himself flat on the ice, bringing 
 round the sledge with a iierculean effort broadside to 
 the breeze. A few feet in front lay a dark patch on 
 the white plain — a hreathiiUj-lwU, 
 
 f 
 
 13 
 
 i 
 
 
 i 
 
 ■3 
 
 ■ \i 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 hh 
 
 
 if 
 
 
 
 II 
 
n 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 
 THE FOEEST MAN. 
 
 ^URING the momentary pause that followed 
 the bringing up of the ice - boat broadside 
 
 ^sr^i^^ to the breeze, they could hear the fluc- 
 tuating surge of deep waters, sucking, 
 
 plunging — in that large dark patch on the ice. An 
 
 instant more of such rapid progression would have 
 
 sunk them in it, beyond all hope. 
 
 * Live and learn, they say,' remarked Sam Holt, 
 rising from his prostrate position beside the cargo; 
 ' and I certainly had yet to learn that breathing- 
 holes could form at such an early period in the winter 
 as this. We had better retrace our steps a bit, AVynn ; 
 for the ice is probably unsound for some distance 
 about that split.' 
 
 * A merciful escape,' said Arthur, after they had 
 worked their way backwards a few yards. 
 
 'Ay, and even if we could have pulled up ourselves 
 on the brink, the sledge must have been soused to a 
 dead certainty. Had the snow-llakes been a trifle 
 thicker, we wouldn't have seen the hole till we were 
 swimming, I guess. And it's well this cord of Uncle 
 Z-ack's was rotten, or the sail would have been too 
 
 186 
 
THE FOREST MAN. 
 
 187 
 
 much for my pull.' One of the ropes stretching the 
 lower side of the blanket had snapped under the 
 sudden pressure of Sam Holt's vigorous jerk round 
 and thereby lessened tne forward force. 
 
 They made a long circuit of the deadly breatliing- 
 hole, and then ran for the nearest shore on the farthest 
 side. The deepening layer of soft snow on the 
 surface of the ice impeded the smooth action of the 
 runners considerably, and made travelling laborious. 
 
 Under the lee of a promontory covered with pines 
 they drew up to rest for a few minutes, and shake 
 away loose snow. 
 
 • You know everything, Holt, so you can tell me 
 why those treacherous breaks in the ice are called 
 breathing-holes.' 
 
 ' I believe there's no reason to be given beyond a 
 popular Canadian superstition that a lake needs air 
 as well as a human being, and must have it by burst- 
 ing these openings through its prison of ice The 
 freezmg is generally uniform all over the surface at 
 farst, and after a month or so it cracks in certain 
 spots, perhaps where there exisis some eddy or cross 
 current in the water. But evidently the hole we 
 saw a while ago was never frozea at aU. Uncle Zack 
 would tell you it is over some dismal cavern whence 
 issue whirlwinds and foul air.' 
 
 7 I^^""^, ^^ '^«^^^d get on almost better without 
 skates, said Arthur, when they had struggled a 
 furlong farther. ^ 
 
 ^ ' We are in a drift just now,' answered Mr. Holt • 
 the wind has heaped the snow up along here Cer- 
 tainly the skates would be of more use to us farther 
 out on the pond; but I think we had better be 
 
 n 
 
 / 
 
 ft i: 
 
 •^4 
 
 S «: 
 
i88 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 !, 
 
 cautious, and continue to coast ; ' and so they did, 
 having the fear of other possible breathing - holes 
 before their eyes. 
 
 How grandly roared the wind through the forest of 
 pines with a steady persistent swelling sound, as of 
 breakers upon an iron shore, sweeping off masses of 
 snow wherewith to drown all landmarks in undis- 
 tinguishable drifts of whiteness, and driving aslant the 
 descending millions of flakes, till the outlines of the 
 lake landscape were confused to the eyes which tried 
 to trace familiar copse or headland. 
 
 Sam Holt was secretly somewhat disquieted, and 
 watched narrowly for the cedars which denoted the 
 Wynns' land. He would have abandoned the ice- 
 boat but for unwillingness to risk the fruit of their 
 day's journey. They must be near the swamp and 
 the creek now ; it was scarcely possible they could 
 have passed without recognising the cove whence they 
 had issued in the morning ; and yet there was a 
 chance. For the weather was extremely thick, and 
 dnylight was fading quickly : the disguise of drifts is 
 bewildering, even to the most practised eye. 
 
 * Ha ! there are our cedars at last ! ' exclaimed 
 Arthur. * How the snow has buried them ; they look 
 stunted. I suppose up here's the creek ; ' and he laid 
 his hand beside his mouth to shout a signal to the 
 shanty, which was smothered immediately in the 
 greater tumult of the storm. 
 
 Mr. Holt left the grounded ice-boat, and proceeded 
 farther inland to examine the locality, returning in a 
 few minutes, when Arthur had his skates off, with the 
 information that this was merely a cove running in 
 among trees, and by no means the estuary of a stream. 
 
THE FOREST MAN, 
 
 189 
 
 'Now you know, Holt, if this isn't our creek it 
 must be our swamp, and I'm blinded and petrified on 
 that lake. Do let us get overland to the shanty. 
 I'm certain we would travel faster ; and we can haul 
 up the planks to-morrow or next day. You see it's 
 getting quite dark.' 
 
 ' And do you think the pathless forest will be more 
 lightsome than the open ice ? No ; we'd better kindle 
 a fire, and camp out to-night. I'm pretty sure we 
 must have passed Cedar Creek without knowing.' 
 
 Arthur was already so drowsy from the excessive 
 cold that he was only glad of the pretext for remaining 
 still, and yielding to the uncontrollable propensity. 
 But Mr. Holt pulled him on his feet and commanded 
 him to gather brushwood and sticks, while ho went 
 about himself picking birch - bark off the dead and 
 living trees. This he spread under the brush and 
 ignited with his tinder-box. The sight of the flame 
 seemed to wake up Arthur with a shock from the 
 lethargy that was stealing over his faculties. Mr. 
 Holt had chosen a good site for his fire in the lee of 
 a great body of pines, whose massive stems broke the 
 wind; so the blaze quickened and prospered, till a 
 great bed of scarlet coals and ends of fagots remained 
 of the first relay of fuel, and another was heaped 
 on. Now Arthur was glowing to his fingers' ends, 
 thoroughly wide awake, and almost relishing the 
 novelty of his lodgings for the night ; with snow all 
 around, curtaining overhead, carpeting under foot. 
 
 ' Curious way they camp out in the Far West,' said 
 Holt, with his arms round his knees, as he sat on 
 their hemlock mattress and gazed into the fire, wherein 
 all old memories seem ever to have a trysting - place 
 
 ., f i ^ 
 
 11 
 
 X. 
 
ir- 
 
 190 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 
 with fiincy. And so scenes of his roving years carao 
 back to him. 
 
 ' You must know that out in the Hudson's Bay 
 territory the snow is often ten or fourteen feet deep, 
 not only in drifts, but in smooth even layers, obli- 
 terating the country inequalities wonderfully. That's 
 the native land of snow-shoes and of furs, where your 
 clothes must be mainly of both for half the year. 
 But I was going to tell you how the voyagcurs build 
 a fire when they have to camp out on a winter's night, 
 and there's twelve feet of snow between them and the 
 solid ground.' 
 
 ' Sheer impossibility,' said Arthur presumptuously ; 
 ' the fire would work a hole down.' 
 
 ' You shall hear. First, they cut down a lot of 
 trees — green timber — about twenty feet or more in 
 length. These are laid closely parallel on the snow, 
 which has previously been beaten to a little consist- 
 ency by snow-shoes ; on the platform thus made the 
 fire is lit, and it burns away merrily.' 
 
 ' Don't the trees ever burn through ? ' asked Arthur. 
 
 ' Seldom ; but the heat generally works a cavity in 
 the snow underneath, sometimes quite a chasm, seven 
 or eight feet deep — fire above, water below. Ha ! 
 I'm glad to see my old friend the Great Bear looking 
 through over the pines yonder. Our storm has done 
 its worst.' 
 
 'Holt, though I'm rather hungry and sleepy, I'm 
 heartily glad of this niglit's outing, for one reason : 
 you won't be able to leave us to-morrow, and so are 
 booked for another week, old fellow.' 
 
 It seemed irrevocably the case ; and under this 
 conviction Arthur rolled himself in the blanket (cut 
 
 i 
 
THE FOREST MAN, 
 
 191 
 
 from the spar of the ico-boat), and went into dream- 
 land straight from his brusliwood bed, Mr. Holt 
 continuing to sit by the firo gazing into it as before ; 
 which sort of gazing, experienced })eople say, is very 
 bad for the eyes. Perhaps it was that which amsud 
 a certain moisture to swell into most visible biii^ht 
 drops, filling the calm grey orbs with unspeakable 
 sadness for a little while. The Great Bear climbed 
 higher round the icy pole ; the sky had ceased to 
 snow before the absorbed thinker by the fire noticed 
 the change of weather. Then he rose gently, laid 
 further wood on the blazing pile, threw brush alK)ut 
 Arthur's feet and body for additional warmth, and, 
 skates in hand, went down to the lake to explore. 
 
 On reaching the point of the headland, he looked 
 round. The weather was much clearer ; but westwards 
 a glimmering sheen of ice — l)lack land stretching 
 along, black islands, snow - crowned, rising midway 
 afar. Eastward, ha ! that is what should have been 
 done hours ago. A fire burned on the edge of the 
 woods at some distance. So they had really passed 
 Cedar Creek unawares, as he suspected from the nature 
 of the ground and trees. 
 
 While Kobert and Andy crouched by their fire, 
 feeding it up to full blaze with the most resinous wood 
 they could find, the distant shout of the coming tra- 
 vellers gladdened their ears. The servant fiung his 
 whole stock of balsam on the beacon at once, causing 
 a most portentous fiame-burst, and sprang up with a 
 wild ' hurroo ! ' wielding one half - buDit ftigot A la 
 shillelah about his head. 
 
 * Oh, then, Mister Robert, achora, it's yerself is the 
 janius ; an' to think of mekiu' a lighthouse to guide 
 
 i i 
 
^^ 
 
 193 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 'cm wid, an' lierc they are safe home hy the manes of 
 it. P»ut now, sir, if ye'll take my advice, as we're 
 always lost when we goes anywhere by ourselves, we 
 ouj^ht niver part for the futliur, an' thin we'll all go 
 awthray together safe an' sound.' 
 
 • Let's wanu ourselves at this glorious fire before 
 we go up to the shanty,' said Arthur, stretching out 
 his feet to the fire. ' Pity to let it waste its sweet- 
 ness on the desert air.* 
 
 So they stood explaining matters by the fire for a 
 few minutes, till Andy, who was never tired of heaping 
 on fresh fuel, came forward with an armful and a 
 puzzled face. 
 
 ' Mr. Holt, there's somethin' quare in that three, sir, 
 which has a big hole in it full of dliry sticks an' 
 brush, and there's something woolly inside, sir, that I 
 felt wid me two hands ; an' more be token it's a big 
 baste, whatever it is.' 
 
 'A bear, probably,' said Mr. Holt, as he wanned 
 the sole of one foot. ' Better let him alone till 
 morning, a.id tuck in his bedclothes again for to-night, 
 poor fellow.' But Arthur had started up to investi- 
 gate, and must pull the black fleece for his personal 
 satisfaction. 
 
 ' Oh, throth he's stirrin' now ! * exclaimed Andy, 
 who had begun to cram the orifice with the former 
 stuffing of dried bough and brush. 'We've woke him 
 up, Masthcr Arthur, if it's asleep he was at all, the 
 rogue ; an' now he's sthrugglin' out of the hole wid 
 all his might. Keep in there, you big villyan, you 
 don't dare to offer to come out ; ' for Andy set his 
 shoulder against the great carcase, which nevertheless 
 sheered round till muzzle and paws could be brov;ght 
 
 71 
 
THE FOREST MAN. 
 
 193 
 
 into action, anu their use illustrated on Andy's 
 person. 
 
 ' Cell, niurther ! ' roared the sufferer ; ' he has his 
 arms rriind me, the baste; he's squeezing me into 
 m — m — mash ! * 
 
 A blazing stick, drawn from the fire by Mr. Holt's 
 hand, here struck the bear's nose and eyes ; which, 
 conjoined with Andy's own ]K)werful wrenching, caused 
 him to loosen his hold, and a b.ill from the rifie which 
 Kobert had fortunately brouglit aown as the com- 
 panion of their night watch, finished his caveer. 
 
 ' Well done. Bob ! ' when, after a run of thirty yards 
 or so, they stood beside the ])rostrate enemy ; ' you've 
 won our first bear-skin. Now we shall see what the 
 paws are like, in the way of eatables ; don't you say 
 they're delicious, Holt ? ' 
 
 Borne upon ^;vo strong poles, the bear made his 
 way up to the shanty, and was housed for the rest of 
 the night. Poor Andy was found to be severely 
 scratched by the long sharp claws. ' Sure I'm glad 
 'twas none of yerselves he tuk to huggin',' said the 
 faithf id fellow ; * an' scrapin' as if 'twas a pratie he 
 wanted to peel ! * 
 
 He had his revenge on the forepaws next morning 
 when Mr. Holt cut them off, some time before break- 
 fast, and set them in a mound of hot ashes to bake, 
 surrounding and crowning them further with live 
 coals. Bruin himself was dragged outside into the 
 snow, preparatory to the operation of skinning and 
 cutting up into joints of excellent meat. 
 
 ' Do you know, I saw an amazing resemblance to 
 a fur-coated man, as he stood up last night before 
 Hobert's shot,' said Arthur, 
 
 y 
 
 i 
 
 I i' 
 
194 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 li i 
 
 ' You're uot the first tc see it,' replied Holt. * The 
 Iiu^ians call him ' the forest man," and tlie Lower 
 Canadians the " bourgeois ; " they attribute co him 
 a sagacity almost human ; the Crees and Ojibbeways 
 fancy him an enchanted being, and will enter into 
 conversation with him when they meet in the 
 woods.' 
 
 ' Yet they take an unfair advantage of his paws.* 
 
 ' That's true : my cookery must be almost done.' 
 And he re-entered the hut to dish up his dainty. 
 ' Come, who'll feast with me ? ' 
 
 * Appearances are much against them,' said Eobert, 
 eyeing the charcoal - looking paws, which presented 
 soles uppermost on the trencher. Mr. Holt ocooped 
 out a portion on to his own plati, and used no further 
 persuasion. 
 
 ' 'Twould never do not to know the taste of b'^iar's 
 paw,' said Arthur, as if winding himself up to the 
 effort of picking a small bit. Mr. Holt «vas amused 
 to see the expression of enlightened satisfaction that 
 grew on his face. * Oh, Bob, 'tis really capital. That's 
 only a prejudice about ity black look,' helping himself 
 again. ' The Indians aren't far removed from epicures, 
 when this is their pet dish.' 
 
 ' Well,' observed Mr. Holt, filling his horn cup with 
 tea from the kettb, ' they equally relish fried por- 
 cupines and skunks ; but some of their viands might 
 tempt an alderman — such as elk's nos3, beaver's tail, 
 and buffalo's hump.* 
 
 ' Holt,' said Arthur, scooping the paw a third time, 
 'it seemed to me that chap had fixed himself in a 
 hole barely big enough, to judge by the way he 
 wriggled out' 
 
THE FOREST AfAN. 
 
 '95 
 
 'Very likely. '• Bears aie the knowingest varmint 
 in all creation," as Uncle Zack would say. They 
 sometimes watch for days before entering a tree, and 
 then choose the smallest opening possible, foi warmth's 
 sake, and scrape up brush and noss to conceal them- 
 selves. I've known the hollow tree to be such a 
 tight fit that the hunters were compelled to cut 
 it open to get at the bear afcer he was shot. I 
 suspect the heat of our fire had roused this one, even 
 before Andy pulled away the brush, or he wouldn't 
 ha' been so lively.' 
 
 'What's the meat like, Holt? I hope it don't 
 tas^e carnivorous.' 
 
 * You'll hardly know it from beef, except that the 
 L.sjdQi grain makes it tenderer; for the bear lives 
 on the best products of the forest. He'll sit on his 
 haunches before a serviceberry tree, bend the branches 
 with his paws, and eat off the red fruit wholesale. 
 He'll grub with his claws for the bear potatoes, and 
 chew them like tobacco. He'll pick the kernels out 
 of nuts, and help himself to your maize and faU 
 wheat when you have them, as well as to your sucking 
 pigs and yearly calves.' 
 
 ' Then we may fairly eat him in return,' said Eobcrt; 
 ' but I'll leave the paws to you and Arthur.' 
 
 'Thank you for the monopoly. Now theae knives 
 are sufficiently sharp.' Gam Holt had been putting 
 an edge on them at the grindstone during his udk. 
 ' Come and have your lesson in fur-making, for I must 
 be off.' 
 
 ' Off ! oh. nonsense ; not to-day,' exclaimed both. But 
 he v/as quite unpersuadeable when once his plan was 
 fixed. He took the stage at Greenock that afternoon. 
 
 I ; 
 
mmm 
 
 II '<■ 
 
 tt^ ':ii 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SILVER SLEIGII-BELLS. 
 
 
 \RE shanty was ere long lined in a comely 
 manner with the planks which had j(Hir- 
 neyed np the pond in the ice-boat, affording 
 many an evening's work for Arthur. About 
 Christmas all was right and tight. 
 
 Now, to those who have any regrets or sadnesses 
 in the background of memory, the pain fullest of all 
 times are these anniversaries. One is forced round 
 face to face with the past and the unalterable, to 
 gaze en it, perchance, through blinding tears. The 
 days return — unchanged : but, oh, to what changed 
 hearts ! 
 
 Were they not thinking of the Canadian exiles 
 to-day, at home, at dear old Dunore ? Por nothing 
 better than exiles did the young men feel themselves, 
 this snow-white Christmas morning, in the log-hut 
 among the backwoods, without a friendly face to smile 
 a greetin , except poor Andy's; and his was regretful 
 and wist il enough too. 
 
 *I sa}, Bob, what shall we do with ourselves ? I'm 
 sure I wish I didn't know 'twas Christmas day at all. 
 It makes a fellow feel queer and iionsensicnl — home- 
 
 196 
 
 ■J [ s 
 
SIL VER SLEIGH-BELLS, 
 
 197 
 
 sick, I suppose they call it — and all that sort of thing. 
 I vote we obliterate the fact, by chopping as hard as 
 any other day.' 
 
 So, after reading the chapters for the day (how the 
 words brought up a picture of the wee country church 
 in Ireland, with its congregation of a dozen, its white- 
 washed walls and blindless lancet windows!), they 
 went forth to try that relief for all pains of memory 
 — steady hard work. The ten acres allotted for 
 December were nearly chopped through by this 
 time, opening a considerable space in front of the 
 shanty, and beginning to reveal the fair landscape 
 of lake and wooded slopes that lay beyond. The 
 felled trees lay piled in wind rows and plan 
 heaps so far as was possible without the help of 
 oxen to move the huge logs ; snow covered them 
 pretty deeply, smoothing all unsightliness for the 
 present. 
 
 ' How I long to have something done towards the 
 building of our house ! ' said Robert, pausing after the 
 fall of a hemlock spruce, while Arthur attacked the 
 upper branches. * I'd like so much to have it neatly 
 finished before my father and mother and Linda come 
 next summer.' 
 
 ' Well, haven't you no end of shingles made for the 
 roof ? ' said the other, balancing his axe for a blow. 
 * You're working at them perpetually ; and Andy 
 isn't a bad hand either at wooden slates, as he calls 
 them.' 
 
 * We must have a raising-bee in spring,' concluded 
 Robert, after some rumination — ' as soon as the snow 
 melts a little. Really, only for such co - operative 
 working in this thinly peopled country, nothing large 
 
 \< 
 
198 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 could be ever effected. Beea were a great device, 
 whoever invented them.' 
 
 ' By the way,' said Arthur presently, returning from 
 chopping apart the trunk into two lengths of fifteen 
 feet, ' did you hear that the Scotchman between us 
 and the " Corner," at Daisy Burn, wants to sell his 
 farm and improvements, and is pushing out into the 
 wild land farther up the pond ? Nim told me 
 yesterday. He expects three pounds sterling an acre, 
 including fixtures, and he got the ground for nothing ; 
 so that's doubling one's capital, I imagine.' 
 
 * How for nothing ? ' 
 
 ' It was before a human being had settled in these 
 townships, and the concession lines were only just 
 blazed off by the surveyors. Davidson obtained a 
 grant of land on condition of performing what are 
 called settlement duties, which means chopping out 
 and clearing the concession lines for a certain distance. 
 Of course that was another way of payment, by 
 labour instead of cash. But on swearing that it was 
 done, he obtained what Nim calls a "lift," a crown 
 patent, we should say, and the land was his estate for 
 ever.* 
 
 * I wish we could transfer a couple of his fenced 
 fields here,' said Kobert, ' and his young orchard. We 
 must have some sort of a garden, Arthur, before Linda 
 comes.' 
 
 'Yes, she never could get on without her flower 
 beds. I say. Bob, won't Cedar Creek look awfully 
 wild to them ? ' 
 
 They worked on awhile both thinking of that. 
 Any one accustomed to smooth enclosed countries, 
 with regular roads and houses at short distances, 
 
SILVER SLEIGIJ'BELLS. 
 
 199 
 
 would indocd find the backwoods ' awfully wild.* And 
 that most gentle mother, how would she bear the 
 transplanting ? 
 
 ' I had a very misty idea of what bush-life was, I 
 own, till I found myself in it,' quoth Robert, after a 
 long silence, broken only by the ring of the axes. 
 
 ' Living like a labourer at home, but without half 
 his comforts,' said Arthur, piling the boughs. ' Tell 
 you what, Bob, we wouldn't be seen doing the things 
 we do here. Suppose Sir Eichard Lacy or Lord 
 Scutcheon saw us in our present trim ? ' 
 
 ' But you know that's all false pride,' said Robert, 
 with a little glow on his cheek nevertheless. ' We 
 shouldn't be ashamed of anything but wrong.' 
 
 ' Say what you will, Bob, it strikes me that we aren't 
 of the class which do best in Canada. The men of 
 hard hands, labouring men and women, are those who 
 will conquer the forest and gain wealth here.' 
 
 * Well, if that be the rule, you and I must strive to 
 be the exception,' said Robert ; ' for I'm determined to 
 have a comfortable homestead for the dear old people 
 from Dunore, and I'm equally determined to set my 
 mark on Canadian soil, and to prosper, if it be God's 
 will.' 
 
 He lifted off his cap for a moment, looking at the 
 serene sky. The rising discontent in his brother's heart 
 was stilled by the gesture. Both worked assiduously, 
 till Andy, with an unusual twinkle in his eyes, summoned 
 them to dinner. 
 
 * What has the fellow been about, I wonder ? I 
 know 'twasn't respect for the holiday kept him indoors 
 all the morning.' 
 
 It was presently explained. Andy, ignorant of 
 
 tM 
 
 it: 
 
P-K 
 
 r|i 
 
 300 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ! i 
 
 1 ' 
 
 ^y 
 
 courses, dished up, together with the ham, a very fine 
 dumpling emitting the odour of apples. 
 
 ' Sure, as ye can't have yer own plum puddin' in 
 this outlandish counthry, ye can have a tiling the 
 same shape, anyhow. Mrs. Jackey showed me how to 
 make it iligant, of the string of dried bits I had thrun 
 in the box since we kem here first. Throth an' I'm 
 cur'ous to see did they ever swell out agin, afther the 
 parchin' they got.' 
 
 But for a slightly peculiar taste in the sweet, the 
 dumpling was unimpeachable. 
 
 ' I suppose Mrs. Jackey uses maple sugar in her 
 confectionery,' said Robert ; ' a soup^on of trees runs 
 through it.* 
 
 Late in the evening, as the pitch-pine logs were 
 flaring abundance of light through the cabin — light 
 upon Eobert at his shingles, and upon Arthur at his 
 work-bench, and upon Andy shaving and packing the 
 slips of white pine as fast as his master split them, 
 with a stinging night outside, some twenty-five degrees 
 below zero, and the snow crusted at top hard enough 
 to bear anything — all three raised their heads to listen 
 to some approaching sound through the dead siience 
 of the frozen air. It was a very distant vagrant 
 tinkUng, as of sheep-bells on a common in old Europe ; 
 they looked at one another, and Andy crossed himself 
 reverently. 
 
 ' Like chapel bells over the say from poor Ireland,* 
 he muttered, and crept to the door, which Robert had 
 opened. ' Sure there isn't fairies all the ways out here ? 
 an' 'tis mighty like it ' — 
 
 ' Hush — h — I ' Andy crossed himself again as the 
 tiukling became more plainly audible. A sweetly 
 
 mZ '« 
 
 k:'.:- 
 
 
SILVER SLEIGH-BELLS. ^oi 
 
 plaintive jangliiir. it seemed— a tangled careless music 
 iNearer, and still nearer it came. 
 
 'What a fool I am ''exclaimed Robert; 'it must 
 be sleigh-bells. Travellers, I suppose.' 
 
 And before many minutes were past, the slei-h had 
 romided its way among the stumps, over the smooth 
 snow, to the shanty door, filled with brilliant wood- 
 lighfc. 
 
 13 
 
 
 < 
 
 f, . 
 
 
 J 
 
 "^ 
 
 ^'t 
 
 1 
 

 II ; 
 
 CHArTER XXIII 
 
 ' STILL-HUNTING.' 
 
 J^:^EOM the buffalo robes of the sleigh emerged 
 '^fl a gentleman so wrapped in lynx-fuis and 
 I bearskin, that, until his face stood revealed 
 by the firelight, nothing but his voice was 
 recognisable by the AVynns. 
 
 ' Argent ! is it possible ? ' 
 
 ' ]\Iost possible : didn't you remember that my regi- 
 ment was quartered out here ? Bi:t I'm sure it is a 
 very unexpected pleasure to meet you in the bush, old 
 fellow ; ' and they shook hands warmly again. * For 
 though I heard from my mother that you had gone to 
 settle in Canada, she didn't mention the locality, and 
 I've been inquiring about you in all directions without 
 success, until, as good fortune would have it, I stopped 
 at the odious Yankee tavern yonder this evening, and 
 overheard a fellow in the bar mention your name. You 
 may imagine I seized him, and ascertained particulars — 
 harnessed the sleigh again, and started off up here, to 
 ask you for a night's lodging, which means a rug before 
 the fire.' 
 
 His servant had been unloading the sleigh of knap- 
 sacks, and rifles, and other hunting gear. Captain 
 
STARTING lOK THK HUNTING GROUNDS. 
 
it ! 
 
 'I. 
 
 
 I I 
 
 mit] , ! 
 
STILL HUNTING. 
 
 aos 
 
 Arj^ent gave him a few directions, ond presently the 
 silver- sounding bells tinkled swiftly away along the 
 concession road, and back to the ' Corner ' again. 
 
 ' Och sure/ quoth Andy to himself, as he witnessed 
 from among his shingles the reunion of the old 
 acquaintances, ' what a house for him to come into— 
 not as big as the butler's ))edroom at Scutcheon Castle 
 — an' nothin' but pork an' bear's mate to give the likes 
 of a gran' gintlemau like him : I wish he'd sted at 
 home, so I do. Oh, Mislher Kobert asthore, if I ever 
 thought to see the family so reduced ; an* sure I was 
 hopin' nobody would know it but ourselves — leastways, 
 none of the quality at home.' 
 
 Andy's soliloquy was interrupted by a summons 
 from his master to prepare supper ; but the under- 
 current of his thoughts went on as he set about his 
 cooking. 
 
 * An' to have to be fryin' mate ondher his very nose, 
 an' the kitchen in the castle is a good quarther of a 
 mile from the dinin' parlour, anyhow ; an' all our 
 chaney is made of wood, barrin' the couple of plates ; 
 an' our glasses is nothin' but cows' horns. An' sorra 
 a bit of a table-cloth, unless I spread one of the sheets. 
 An' to sit on shtools for want of chairs. An' to sleep 
 on the flure like meself. An-ah, what brought him 
 here at all ? ' 
 
 The subject of these reflections had meanwhile lighted 
 his silver-mounted meerschaum, and was puffing con- 
 tentedly in the intervals of animated chat, apparently 
 quite satisfied with his position and prospective hard- 
 ships, not giving a thought to the humble accommoda- 
 tions of his friends' shanty; which, on the first entrance, 
 had contracted in Robert's vision into a mere wood- 
 
 i' 
 
 i|ll 
 
Ift' 
 
 ao6 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ;'^' 
 
 cutter's hut, devoid of every c4egance and most of the 
 comforts of civilised life, lie iiiiiiijiiied that thus it 
 would be aeeu through Argent's eyes. But if it was so, 
 Argent neither by look nor manner gave token of the 
 least thought of the sort. 
 
 He was the youngest son of a poor peiT, Lord 
 Scutcheon, living in the neighbourliood of Dunore ; 
 and often had the Wynns ridden witli him at the same 
 meet, and shouldered fowling-pieees in the same sporting 
 party. 
 
 ' But picking off pheasants in a preserve is tame 
 work to the noble game one can shoot in these forests,' 
 said he. ' I'm bound at present on a " still-hunting " 
 expedition ; which doesn't mean looking out for illegal 
 distilleries, as it might signify in Treland, ha, ha ! ' 
 
 Captain Argent had very high animal spirits, and 
 a small joke sufliced to wake them into buoyant 
 laughter, which was infectious by its very abundance. 
 
 ' Deer-stalking is the right word ; I've done it in 
 Scotland, but now I mean to try my hand on the 
 moose — grandest of American ruminants. I've en- 
 gaged an old trapper to come with me for a few days 
 into their haunts. Now, 'twould be a delightful party 
 if you two would join. What do you say, Wynn ? 
 Come, lay by your axe, and recreate yourself for a 
 week, rnan.' 
 
 Arthur looked a "cry decided acceptance of the 
 proposition, but Robert shook his head. ' Couldn't 
 leave the place,' said he, smiling ; * too much to be 
 done.' 
 
 * Nonsense ; the trees will stand till your return, 
 and you can't plough through four feet of snow.' 
 
 ' If I was far enough advanced to have land fit for 
 
 *•]:;). \ 
 
STILL-HUNTING. 
 
 S07 
 
 ploughing, nothing could bo pleasanter than to join 
 you, Argent ; but unfortunately no end of trees have 
 to be cut down, and logged in heaps for burning before 
 then. But, Arthur, wouldn't you go ? ' 
 
 His faint oppopition, because he did not like to 
 leave his brother, was easily overcome. Captain 
 Argent made another attack upon Robert's resolve. 
 ' People always consider winter the time for amuse- 
 ment in Canada. Nature gives a tolerably gooo hint 
 to the same effect, by blocking up the rivers so that 
 ships can't sail, and snowing up the farms, so that the 
 ground isn't seen for months ; and if that isn't a 
 licence for relaxation ' — 
 
 ' I suspect that in the earlier stages of bush-life 
 there are no holidays,' replied Robert : ' if you just 
 reflect that everything in the way of civilisation has 
 to be done afresh from the beginning pretty much like 
 living on a desert island. Now I've got a house 
 to build by summer time, and here are all the 
 preparations towards it as yet ; ' and he pointed to 
 the shingles. 
 
 * Why, thin, I'd like to know for what Misther 
 Robert is dhrawin' up the poverty of the family, an' 
 makin' little of himself before the captain,' thought 
 Andy angrily, and betraying the feeling by a bang 
 of the frying-pan as he laid it aside. ' Can't he talk 
 to him of sojers, or guns, or wild bastes, or somethiu' 
 ginteel of that kind, an' not be makin' a poor mouth, 
 as if he hadn't a single hap'ny.' Andy was relieved 
 when the conversation veered round to a consideration 
 of Canada as military quarters. 
 
 * About the pleasantest going,' was the Hon. Captain 
 Argent's opinion. ' Of course I can't exactly make 
 
 il f 
 
 . t I 
 
 ij l:Ii 
 
 
 I' 
 
KM 
 
 ■* 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 ao8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 ;*■'! 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■'V 
 
 'm^ 
 
 out why we're sent here, unless to stave off the 
 Yankees, which it seems to me the colonists are 
 sufficiently inclined and sufficiently able to do them- 
 selves ; neither can T imagine why Joe Hume and his 
 school of economists submit to such expense without 
 gaining anything in return, save the honour and glory 
 ^f calling Canada our colony. But leaving that 
 matter to wiser heads than mine, I can say for myself 
 that I like the quarters greatly, and am inclined to 
 agree with Canadian eulogists, that it is the finest 
 country in the world — barring our own little islands.' 
 
 ' I don't feel, though, as if it ever could be home', 
 obb-rved Eobert, who had taken to his shingles 
 again. 
 
 * Perhaps not ; but we military men have an 
 ^-ssentially homeless profession, you know.' 
 
 ' The red-coats in Montreal and Quebec seemed a 
 visible link with mother country, most welcome to 
 my eyes in the new land ; and so, Argent, when you're 
 commander - in - chief, do continue the regiments in 
 Canada, for my sake.' 
 
 ' But, my dear fellow,' said the officer quite seriously, 
 as he struck the ashes from his pipe, ' it is waste of 
 the most expensive manufactured material on earth, 
 the British soldier. When he's within reach of tlie 
 States, he deserts by whole pickets, ready armed and 
 accoutred to the Yankees' hands ; I've had the pleasant 
 job of pursuing the chaps myself, and being baulked 
 by the fi'ontier. It's the garrison duty they detest; 
 and an unlimited licence beckons them over tlie 
 border.' 
 
 ' And you think,' said Robert, ' the colonists are 
 sufficiently loyal, and all that, to be left to themselves ? 
 
STILL-HUA TING. 
 
 209 
 
 * I don't think they would join the States, at all 
 events. What a horrid set those Yankees are ! 
 Canadians are too respectable to wish to sail in the 
 same ship with them.' This truly cogent argument 
 was followed by a series of profound whiffs. ' And 
 if they did,' added Captain Argent presently, ' we've 
 been building the strongest fortifications in the world, 
 spending millions at Halifax and Quebec and other 
 places, on fosses and casemates, and bomb - proof 
 towers, just for the Yankees ! And I suppose that 
 Barrack Hill in the middle of By town will be made 
 into another Acropolis for the same end.* 
 
 ' Ah,' said Robert, shaving his shingle attentively, 
 ' so long as Canadians look back to England as home, 
 and speak of it as home, there's little fear of annexa- 
 tion or revolt. Moth<^.r country has only to keep up 
 tbi.'. notherly relation, and patiently loosen the leading 
 strings, according as her colonies grow able to run 
 alone/ 
 
 ' That sentiment might fall from the lips of a 
 Colonial Secretary in his place in the Commons. By 
 the way, did you hear that my brother Percy has 
 been returned member for the county at home ? ' 
 
 * No ; we have not seen a newspaper since we left, 
 except a shabby little Canadian print, which gives 
 half a dozen lines to the English mail. Tell us 
 about it. Argent. Was there a contest ? ' 
 
 How intensely interesting were the particulars, and 
 how Eobert and Arthur did devour tlie ill-printed 
 provincial news-sheet issuing from the obscure Irish 
 country town, and burning all through with political 
 partisanship ! Luckily Argent had the last received 
 copy in his pocket, which detailed all the gossip ol 
 
 i I 
 
 M' 
 
 J' \ 
 
 

 210 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 I<! ;,J 
 
 
 *^he election, with the familiar names, and localities of 
 the struggle, 
 
 Looking back half a lifetime seemed to be concen- 
 trated in the months since they had left Europe. 
 Things widely different from all past experience had 
 filled their thoughts to overflowing, and drowned out 
 old sympathies, till this evening vivified them afresh. 
 Yet Eobert felt, with a sort of little pain, that they 
 must gradually die away, be detached, and fall off 
 from his life. His logs and shingles, his beaver 
 meadow and water privilege, were more to him now 
 than all the political movements which might shake 
 Ireland to its centre. 
 
 Long after Argent's short athletic figure, crowned 
 with fair curls, lay fast asleep on his buffalo rugs, 
 enjoying hunters' repose, the brothers sat talking and 
 musing. It was not the first time that Kobert had 
 to reason down Arthur's re&tless spirit, if he could. 
 This rencontre had roused it again. He was not 
 satisfied with the monotonous life of the backwoods. 
 He envied Argent, rather, who could make pleasure 
 his pursuit, if he chose. 
 
 They set off for the hunting grounds with sunrise 
 next morning ; the experienced Ina Moose, a half-bred 
 trapper, marching in advance of the sledge. First, he 
 had stored in the shanty the jingling strings of bells, 
 without consulting their owner ; he had a constitu- 
 tional antipathy to noise of ail sorts, and could see 
 no especial good iu warning the game. 
 
 ' What an erect fellow he is, and as taciturn as a 
 mole ! ' quoth the lively Argent. * I hope we shall 
 meet with some of his step-relaiions, the Indians ; I've 
 quite a passion for savage life, that is, to look at 
 
 ■'t Ji 
 
STILL-HUNTING. 
 
 911 
 
 Last winter's leave I mftde some excursions on Lake 
 Simcoe ; the islands there are all savage territory, 
 belonging to the Ojibbeways. Poor fellows, they're 
 dying out — every year becoming fewer; yet one can 
 discern the relics of a magnificent race. Eed cunning 
 has been no match for white wisdom, that's certain.' 
 
 Arthur was a willing listener to many stories about 
 his friend's excarsions ; and so the time was wiled 
 away as they drove deeper into the recesses of the 
 forest, even to the 3xtreme end of all concession 
 lines. 
 
 Here was Ina's wigwam, on the edge of a small 
 pond, which was closely hedged in with pines. Wast- 
 ing no words, he merely stepped back to unbuckle the 
 shaggy pony, and at the ensuing noonday meal Arthur 
 for the first time tasted the wilderness preserve called 
 'pemmican.' It was not unlike what housewives at 
 home denominate * collar,' he thought, cutting in com- 
 pact slices of interwoven fat and lean. 
 
 ' How is it made. Argent ? ' 
 
 ' I believe the dried venison is pounded between 
 stones till the fibres separate, and in that powdery 
 state is mixed with hot melted buffalo's fat, and sewed 
 up in bags of skin. They say it is most nutritive — a 
 pound equal to four pounds of ordinary meat. A sort 
 of concentrated nourishment, you see.' 
 
 ' What are those blackisli things hanging up in the 
 smoke, I wonder ? ' 
 
 * Beavers' tails, captured in the creeks off the lake, 
 1 suppose ; capital food, tasting like bacon, but a little 
 gristly.' 
 
 ' And does the fellow live here, all alone ? ' A 
 quick and perhaps unfriendly glance of Ina's black 
 
 ifti' 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
313 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 P;H 
 
 t-! 
 
 !:i? 
 
 
 1 1 ; 
 
 ' ^5^HM \ 
 
 ■' .'^"^lil 
 
 li * 
 
 
 V. 
 
 W'-\ 
 
 eyes proved that he was not deaf, though by choice 
 dumb. 
 
 * Well, I suppose so, this year ; but he's a great 
 rover. Was with me on the Simcoe last y ar. I 
 never met such a lover of the chase for its own sake. 
 His forefathers' instincts are rampant in him. Ina, 
 have we any chance of a moose ? ' 
 
 The trapper shook his grisly head. ' Only on the 
 hard wood ridges all winter,' he answered; they "yard" 
 whar maples grows, for they live on the tops and bark. 
 Bariboos come down here, mostly.' 
 
 What these were, Arthur had soon an opportunity 
 of knowing. Ina kindled into a different being when 
 the hunting instinct came over him. Every sense wa^ 
 on the alert. 
 
 The hunters had drawn white shirts over their 
 clothes, to disguise their approach through the snow 
 from the far-seeing deer which they were to stalk. 
 They proceeded some distance before meeting with 
 game. What intense and inexpressible stillness 
 through the grand woods ! Arthur started, and almost 
 exclaimed, when, from a pine tree close to him, issued 
 a report sharp as a pistol shot. It was only the 
 violent contra 'ion of the wood from the severe frost, 
 as he knew in a moment ; and the deer browsing 
 yonder on branch tops never winced, though a whisper 
 or a footfall would have sent them bounding away. 
 Presently the crack of Argent's rifle was followed by 
 the spring of a buck high into the air, all four feet 
 together, poor animal, as the death-pang pierced his 
 heart. 
 
 ' I thought I never should get fair aim, from the 
 way he was protected by trees,' said the sportsman, 
 
 , 
 
 :|i 
 
 
 

 STILL-HUNTING. 
 
 213 
 
 reloading with satisfaction. ' And it's cruel to maim 
 a creature, you know ; ' whence the reader may per- 
 ceive that Captain Argent was humane. 
 
 ' Holloa ! what's this?' said Arthur, nearly stumbling 
 over a pair of antlers. 
 
 ' Moose,' replied Ina laconically, as he glanced 
 upwards to see whether the maple twigs had been 
 nipped short. 
 
 ' He must have been a trifle lighter for the loss of 
 these,' observed Arthur, lifting them. ' Nearly six feet 
 across, and half-a-hundred weight, if an ounce. I'm 
 curious 10 see the animal that can carry them com- 
 posedly.' 
 
 'The largest beast on the continent,' said Argent. 
 But much as they searched, the shed antlers were all 
 they saw oC moose for that day. 
 
 ! U 
 
 r \ 
 
 \i 
 
 .1 1 > 
 
 i 1'^ 
 
 I 
 

 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 LUMBEIIERS. 
 
 
 
 ^CENE, early morning ; the sun pouring clear 
 liglit over the snowy world, and upon 
 Captain Argent in front of the hut, just 
 emerged from his blankets and rugs. 
 
 ' Why, Arthur, here's an elk walking up to the 
 very hall door ! ' 
 
 Almost at the same minute Ina appeared among 
 the distant trees, and fired. He had gone off on snow- 
 shoes long before daybreak, to run down the moose he 
 knew to be in the neighbourhood, had wounded a fine 
 bull, and driven him towards his camp. 
 
 ' Wliy didn't you finish him off on the spot,' asked 
 Arthur, ' instead of taking all that trouble ? ' 
 
 ' No cart to send for the flesli,' replied Ina signi- 
 ficantly. 
 
 There miglit be a thousand pounds of that, covered 
 with long coarse hair, and crested with the ponderous 
 antlers. A hunch on the shoulders seemed arranged 
 as a cushion support to these last ; and in the living 
 specimens seen afterwards by Arthur, they carried the 
 huge horns laid back horizontally, as they marched at 
 
 S14 
 
LUMBERERS, 
 
 "5 
 
 a long trot, nose in the air, and large sharp eyes look- 
 ing out on all sides. 
 
 ' It was a sharp idea to make the elk his own 
 butcher's boy/ quoth Argent. 
 
 The massive thick lips formed the ' mouffle,' prized 
 in the wilderness as a dainty: Arthur would have 
 been ashamed to state his preference for a civilised 
 mutton chop. Other elks shared the fate of this first ; 
 though it seemed a wanton waste of nature's bounties 
 to slay the noble animals merely for their skins, noses, 
 and tongues. Ina was callous, for he knew that thus 
 perished multitudes every year in Canada West, and 
 thousands of buffaloes in the Hudson's Bay territory. 
 Arthur could not help recalling little Jay ; and many 
 a time her lesson kept his rifle silent, and spared a 
 wound or a life. 
 
 One day, while stalking wild turkeys, creeping 
 cautiously from tree to tree, an unwonted sound 
 dissipated their calculations. Coming out on a rid^e 
 whence the wood swept down to one of the endless 
 ponds, they heard distant noises as of men and horses 
 drawing a heavy load. 
 
 ' Lumberers,' explained Ina, pricking his ears. He 
 would have immediately turned in a contrary direction ; 
 but the prospect of seeing a new phase of life was a 
 strong temptation to Captain Argent, so they went 
 forward towards a smoke that curled above a knot of 
 pines. 
 
 It proceeded from the lumber shanty; a long, 
 windowless log-hut with a door at one end, a perpetual 
 fire in the centre, on a large open hearth of stones ; 
 the chimney, a hole in the roof. Along both sides 
 and the farther end was a sort of dais, or low platform 
 
 1? 
 
 '. ■ 
 
 [i: 
 
 ; ft \ 
 
3l6 
 
 CEDAE CREEK, 
 
 it.t 
 
 I' ' 
 
 It ' 
 
 ' I 
 
 M.-, 
 
 I«' i 
 
 of unhewn trees laid close together, and supporting 
 tho ' bunkj/ or general bed, of spruce boughs and 
 blankets. Pots slung in the smoke and blaze uere 
 bubbling merrily, under presidenco of a red niglit- 
 cap])ed French Canadian, who acted as cook, and was 
 as civil, after the manner of his race, as if the now 
 arrivals were expected guests. 
 
 ' Ah, bon-jour, Messieurs ; vous ^tes les bienvenus. 
 Oui, monsieur — sans doute ce sont des gens de chantier. 
 Dey York in forest,' he added, with a wave of his hand 
 — plunging into English. ' Nous sommes tons les gens 
 de chantier — vat you call hommes de lumbare : mais 
 pour moi, je suis chef de cuisine pour le prdsent : * 
 and a conversation ensued with Argent, in which 
 Arthur made out little more than an occasional word 
 of the Canadian's — with eas3 when it was so Anglican 
 as ' le foreman.' 
 
 ' What a good - looking, merry - faced chap he is ! * 
 observed Arthur, when the red nightcap had been 
 pulled off in an obeisance of adieu, as they went to 
 seek for the others, and witness their disforesting 
 operations. 
 
 ' French Canadians are generally the personifica- 
 tions of good humour and liveliness,' returned Argent ; 
 ' the pleasantest possible servants and the best voyagers. 
 Listen to him now, carolling a " chanson " as he 
 manages his smutty cookery. That's the way they 
 sing at everything.' 
 
 ' So the lumberers have a foreman V 
 
 ' Curious how the French can't invent words ex- 
 pressive of such things, but must adopt ours. He 
 tells me " le foreman's " duty is to distribute the work 
 properly, allotting to each gang its portion ; and also to 
 
LUMBERERS. 
 
 •19 
 
 make a report of conduct to the overseer at tlie end of 
 the soasou, for which purpose he keeps a journal of 
 events. I had no idea there was so much organization 
 among them ; and it seems the gan},^s have regular 
 duties — one to fell, one to hew, one to draw to the 
 water's edge wiih oxen ; and each gang has a headman 
 directing its labours.' 
 
 Nearing the sound of the axes, they came to where 
 a group of lumber-men were cutting down some tall 
 spruce- firs, having first laid across over the snow a series 
 of logs, called ' bedding timbers,' in the line that each 
 tree would fall. One giant pine slowly swayed down- 
 wards, and finally crashed its full length on the 
 prepared sleepers, just as the strangers approached. 
 Immediately on its fall, the ' liner ' commenced to chop 
 away the bark tor a few inches wide all along the 
 trunk, before marking with charcoal where the axes 
 were to hew, in squaring the timber; meantime 
 another man was lopping the top off the tree, and a 
 third cutting a sort of rough mortise-hole at the base, 
 which he afterwards repeated at the upper end. 
 
 So busy were the whole party, that the hewer, a 
 genuine Paddy, who stood leaning on his broad axe 
 until the timber was ready for him, was the first to 
 raise his eyes and notice the new-comers. Arthur 
 asked him what the holes were for. 
 
 ' Why, then, to raft the trees together when we get 
 'em into the water,' was his reply ; and in the same 
 breath he jumped on to the trunk, and commenced to 
 notch with his axe as fast as possible along the sides, 
 about two feet apart. Another of his gang followed, 
 splitting ott' the blocks between the deep notches into 
 the line mark. And this operation, repeated for the 
 
 I !, 
 
 
m. 
 
 
 
 ai8 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 
 ii 
 
 Hi 
 
 four sides, squared the pine into such a beam as we 
 see piled in our EngHsh timber yards. 
 
 What was Arthur's surprise to recognise, in the 
 mass of lumberers gathered round a hug(i mast, the 
 Milesian coaiitenance of Murty Keefe, a discontented 
 emigrant with whom he had picked up a casual 
 acquaintance on the steamboat which took him to 
 Montreal He was dressing away the knots near the 
 top with his axe, as though he had been used to the 
 implement all his life. When, after infinite trouble 
 and she iting in all tongues, the half-dozen span of 
 strong patient oxen were set in motion, dragging the 
 seventy-feet length of timber along the snow towards 
 the lake, Arthur contrived to get near enough to his 
 countryman for audible speech. Murty's exaggerated 
 expectations had suffered a grievous eclipse ; still, if 
 he became an expert hewer, he might look forward to 
 earning more than a curate's salary by his axe. And 
 they were well fed : he had more meat in a week now 
 than in a twelvemonth in Ireland. He was one of 
 half-a-dozen Irishmen in this lumberers' party of 
 French Canadians, headed by a Scotch foreman ; for 
 through Canada, where address and administrative 
 ability are required, it is found that Scotchmen work 
 themselves into the highest posts. 
 
 During the rude but abundant dinner which 
 followed, this head of the gang gave Argent some 
 further bits of information about the lumber trade. 
 
 ' We don't go about at random, and fell trees where 
 we like,' said he. ' We've got a double tax to pay : 
 first, ground rent per acre per annum for a licence, 
 and then a duty of a cent for every cubic foot of 
 timber we bring to market. Then, lest we should 
 
 x% 
 
LUMBERERS. 
 
 ai9 
 
 take land and not work it, we are compelled to 
 produce a certain quantity of wood from every acre of 
 forest we rent, under pain of forfeitiuj,' our licence.' 
 
 ' And will you not have it all cut down some day ? 
 Then what is the country to do for fuel and the world 
 for ships ? ' 
 
 The foreman rubbed his rusty beard with a laugh. 
 
 'There's hundreds of years of lumbering in the 
 By town district alone/ said he ; ' why, sir, it alone 
 comprehends sixty thousand square miles of forest' 
 
 li 
 
 .X 
 
 i. 
 

 m 
 
 Hi 
 
 1 \'M 
 
 ■'a 
 
 CIIAriER XXV 
 
 CIIILDKEN OF THE FOREST. 
 
 
 i 
 
 W.^ 
 
 N^^IIERE could hardly be a wider contrast tiian 
 between Captain Argent's usual dinner at 
 ^^i^cT&iii l^is regimental mess, and that of which he 
 now partook in the lumbermen's shanty. 
 Tables and chairs were as unknown as forks and 
 dishes among the f/cns de I'Jiantic?' ; a large pot of tea, 
 (lil)ped into by everybody's pannikin, served for beer 
 and wine ; pork was ^he 2 '^^'^ ^^ residance, and 
 tobacco - smoking the dessert ; during all of whicli 
 a ]iabel of tongues went on in French patois, inter- 
 mingled with an occasional remark in Irish or Scottish 
 brogue. 
 
 'Your men seem i^. be temperance folk.' observed 
 Argent to the foreman. 
 
 ' Weel, they must be,' was the laconic reply. ' We've 
 no stores where they could get brandy-smash in the 
 bush, and it's so much the better for them, or I 
 daursay they wad want prisons and juries next. As 
 it is, they're weel behaved lads eneugh/ 
 
 * I'm sure it must be good in a moral point of view ; 
 
 but do you find them equal to as nmch work as if 
 
 they had beer or spirits ? ' asked Captain Argent. 
 - nw , 
 
 
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST 
 
 aai 
 
 * And lumbering seems to me to be particularly 
 lal)orious.' 
 
 ' Weel, there's a fact I'll mak a present to the 
 teetotallers,' answered the foremr.u. ' Our lumberers 
 get nothinf? in the way of stimulant, and they don't 
 seem to want it. When 1 camo fresh from the auld 
 country, I couldna hardly b'lieve that.' 
 
 *Au large, au large!' 
 
 At this word of command all hands turned out of 
 the shanty, and went back to work in their several 
 gangs. Again the fellers attacked the hugest pines ; 
 the hewers sprang upon the fallen, lining and squaring 
 the living trees into dead beams ; and the teamsters 
 yoked afresh their patient oxen, fitiing upon each 
 massive throat the heavy wooden collar, and attaching 
 to chains the ponderous log which should be moved 
 towards tlie water highway. 
 
 Argent and Arthur found themselves presently at 
 the foot of a colossal Weymouth or white pine, the 
 trunk and top of which were almost as disproportionate 
 as a pillar supporting a paint-brush, but which the 
 Scottish foreman admired enthusiastically, couoidering 
 it in the abstract as ' a stick,' and with reference to its 
 future career in the shape of a mast. All due pre- 
 paration had been made for its reception upon level 
 earth ; a road twenty feet wide cut through the forest, 
 that it and half-a-dozen brother pines of like calibre 
 in the neighbourhood might travel easily and safely to 
 the water's edge ; and forty yards of bedding timbers 
 lay a ready-made couch, for its great length. 
 
 ' I daursay now, that stick's standing aboot a 
 thousand years : I've counted fourteen hunder rings 
 in the wood of a pine no much bigger. Ou, 'twill 
 
.h;Mi<- 
 
 It 
 
 iia 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 )i 
 
 W' 
 
 V: I 
 
 mak a gran' mast for a seventy-four — nigh a hunder 
 feet laiig, and as straight as a rod.' 
 
 Strippijig otf the bark and dressing the knots was 
 the next work, which would complete its reacliucrfs for 
 Devonport dockyards, or perchance for the Cherbourg 
 shipwrights. JJuring this operation the foreman made 
 an excui'sion to visit his other gangs, and then took 
 his visitors a little aside into the woods to view what 
 he termed a ' regular take-in.' It was a group of line- 
 looking pines, wearing all the outward semblance of 
 health, but when examined, proving mere tubes of 
 bark, charred and blackened within, and ragged along 
 the seam where the fire had burst out. 
 
 ' Hov7 extraordinary ! ' said Argent. ' Why were 
 they not burned equally through ? ' 
 
 * I hae been thinkiu' the fire caught them in the 
 spring, when the sap rins strong ; so the sap-wood 
 saved thae shells, to misguide the puir axmen. I 
 thought I had a fair couple o' cribs o' lumber a' ready 
 to hand, when I spied the holes, and found my tine 
 pines naething but empty pipes.' 
 
 lie had been fashioning two saplings into strong 
 handspikes, and now otfered one each to the gentle- 
 men. ' Ye'U not bo too proud to bear a hand wi' the 
 mast aboon : it'll be a kittle job lugging it to the 
 pond ; so just lend us a shove now and then.' 
 
 The great mass was at last got into motion, by a 
 difficult concerted starting of all the oxen at the same 
 moment. 
 
 Round the brilliant log fire, while pannikins of tea 
 circulated, and some flakes cf the falling snow outside 
 came fiulterinj down into the blaze, the lumberers lay 
 on their bunks, or sat on blocks, talking, sleeping, 
 
 li 
 
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. 2,3 
 
 singing, as the mood moved. French Canadians are 
 native-born songsters; and their simple ballad 
 melodies, full of rifrain and repetition, sounded veir 
 pleasing even to Argent's amatear ears. 
 
 'I can imagine that this shanty life must be 
 pleasant enongh.' said Argent, rolling himself in his 
 buffalo robe preparatory to sleep by the fire. 
 ^ ' I'll just tell ye what it is.' returned the foreman ; 
 nane that has gane lumbering can tak' kindly to ony 
 ither calling. They hae caught the wandering instinct, 
 and the free life o' the woods becomes a needcessity if 
 I might say sae. Dye ken fh^ greatest trouble I find 
 in towns? Trying to sleep on a civilised bed. I 
 canna do't, that's the fact ; nor be sitting to civilised 
 dinners, whar the misguided folk spend thrice the 
 time that's needfu', fiddling with a fork an' spune. I 
 hke to eat an' be done wi' it.' 
 
 Which little social trait was of a piece with Mr 
 Foreman's energy and promptness in all the circum- 
 stances of life In a very few minutes from the 
 aforesaid speech he was sound asleep, for he was 
 determined to waste no time in accomplishing that 
 eitner. 
 
 Argent and Arthur left this wood -cutting polity 
 next morning, and worked, or rather hunted their way 
 back to the settled districts. The former stayed for 
 another idle week at Cedar Creek; and then the 
 brothers were again alone, to pursue their strife with 
 the forest. 
 
 It went on, with varying siiccess. tUl ' the moon of 
 the snow crust,' as the Ojibbeways poetically style 
 March. A chaos of fallen trunks and piled loge lay 
 for twenty-five acres aboP*-^ tJhe little shanty ; Robert 
 
 1| 
 
 .1 
 
 
 \ 
 
n. 
 
 •'""fno'^rm-^mmmtmrfm^miflll^ffgm'W^llfmr 
 
 224 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ;i 
 
 ^i 
 
 was beginning to understand why the French Canadians 
 called a cleared patch * un desert,' for beyond doubt 
 the axe had a desolating result, in its present stage. 
 
 'Why, then, Masther Robert, there's one thing I 
 wanted to ax you,' said Andy, resting a moment from 
 his chopping : ' it's goin' on four months now since we 
 see a speck of green, an' will the snow ever be off 
 the ground agin, at all, at all ? ' 
 
 ' You see the sun is only just getting power enough 
 to melt,' returned his master, tracing with his axe- 
 head a furrow in the thawing surface. 
 
 ' But, sure, if it always freezes up tight agin every 
 evenin', that little taste of meltin' won't do much 
 good,' observed Andy. ' Throth, I'm fairly longin' to 
 see that lake turn into wather, instead ov bein' as hard 
 as iron. Sure the fish must all be smothered long ago 
 the crathurs, in prison down there.' 
 
 'Well, Andy, I hope they'll be liberated next 
 month. Meanwhile the ice is a splendid high road. 
 Look there.' 
 
 From behind a wooded promontory, stretching far 
 into the lake, at the distance of about half a mile 
 from where they were chopping, emerged the figure of 
 a very tall Indian, wrapped in a dark blanket and 
 carrying a gun. After him, in the stately Indian file, 
 marched two youths, also armed ; then appeared a 
 birchen traineau, drawn by the squaw who had the 
 honour of being wife and mother respectively to the 
 preceding copper-coloured men, and who therefore was 
 constituted their beast of burden. A girl and a child 
 — future squaws — shared the toil of pulling along the 
 family chattels, unaided by the stalwart lords of the 
 creation stalking in front. " 
 
 li. 
 
 i?- 
 
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. 
 
 225 
 
 • Why, thin, never welcome their impidence, an' to 
 lave the poor women to do all the hard work, an' they 
 marchin' out forenenst 'em like three images, so stitf 
 an' so sthraight, an' never spakin' a word. I'm afeard 
 it's here they're comin.' An' I give ye my word she 
 has a child on her back, tied to a boord ; no wondher 
 for 'em to be as stiff as a tongs whin they grows up, 
 since the babies is rared in that way.' 
 
 Not seeming to heed the white men, the Indians 
 turned into a little cove at a short distance, a^d 
 stepped ashore. The woman -kind followed, pulling 
 their traineau with difficulty over the roughnesses of 
 the landing place ; while husband and sons looked on 
 tranquilly, and smoked ' kinne-kanik ' in short stone 
 pipes. The elderly squaw deposited her baby on the 
 snow, and also comforted herself with a whiff; certain 
 vernacular conversation ensued between her and her 
 daughters, apparently about the place of their camp, 
 and the younger ones set to work clearing a patch of 
 ground under some birch trees, Mrs. Squaw now 
 drew forth a hatchet from her loaded sledge, and 
 chopped down a few saplings, which were fixed firmly 
 in the earth again a few yards ojff, so as to make an 
 oval enclosure by the help of trees already standing. 
 
 ' Throth an' I'll go an' help her,' quoth good- 
 natured Andy, whose native gallantry would not 
 permit him to witness a woman's toil without trying 
 to lighten it. ' Of all the ould lazy-boots I ever see, 
 ye're the biggest,' apostrophizing the silent stoical 
 Indians as he passed where they lounged ; ' ye've a 
 good right to be ashamed of yerselves, so ye have, for 
 a set of idle spalpeens.' 
 
 The eldest of the trio removed his pipe for an 
 
 1 
 
 i \ 
 
 m\ 
 
 ill-' 
 
 
m 
 
 '% 
 
 I i 
 
 i 
 
 326 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 instant and uttered the two words — ' I savage.' 
 Andy's rhetoric had been totally incomprehensible. 
 
 ' Why, then, ye needn't tell me ye're a savidge : 
 it's as plain as a pikestaff. What'll I do with this 
 stick, did ye say, ma'am ? Oh, surra bit o' me knows 
 a word she's sayin', though it's mighty like the Irish 
 of a Connaught man. I wondher wh^.t it is she's 
 tryin' to make ; it resimbles the beginnin' of a big 
 basket at present, an' meself standin' in the inside of 
 the bottom. I can't be far asthray if I dhrive down 
 the three where there's a gap. I don't see how they're 
 to make a roof, an' this isn't a counthry where I'd 
 exactly like to do 'athout one. Now she's fastenin' 
 down the branches round, stickin' 'em in the earth, an' 
 tyin' 'em together w'd cord. It's the droll cord, never 
 see a rope-walk anyhow,' 
 
 Certainly not ; for it was the tough bast of the 
 Canadian cedar, manufactured in large quantities by 
 the Indian women, twisted into all dimensions of cord, 
 from thin twine to cables many fathoms long ; used 
 for snares, fishing nets, and every species of stitching. 
 Mrs. Squaw, like a provident housekeeper, had whole 
 balls ol it in her traineau ready for use ; also rolls of 
 birch -bark, which, when the skeleton wigwam was 
 quite ship-shape, and well interlaced with crossbars of 
 supple boughs, she began to wrap round in the fashion 
 of a covering skirt. 
 
 Had crinoline been in vogue in the year 1851, 
 Kobert would have found a parallel before his eyes, in 
 these birch-bark flounces arranged over a sustaining 
 framework, in four successive falls, narrowLig in 
 circumference as they neared the top, where a knot 
 of bast tied the arching timbers together. He wai 
 

 1 1 
 
 p 
 
 l{ 
 
 i 
 

 h\ 
 
 
 W4 
 
 
 
 ANDY HELPS THE INDIAN S(,)rAW lO CONSTRUCT THIC WIGWAM, 
 
 j:^i^ 
 
CHILDREN OF THE FOREST. 
 
 227 
 
 interested in the examination of these forest tent 
 cloths, and found each roll composed of six or seven 
 quadrangular bits of bark, about a yard square apiece, 
 sewed into a strip, and having a lath stitched into each 
 end, after the manner in which we civilised people use 
 rollers for a map. The erection was completed by 
 the casting across several strings of bast, weighted at 
 the ends with stones, which kept all steady. 
 
 The male Indians now vouchsafed to take possession 
 of the wigwam. Solemnly stalking up to Andy, the 
 chief of the party offered his pipe to him for a puff. 
 
 ' Musha thin, thank ye kindly, an* I'm glad to see 
 ye've some notions o' civiltude, though ye do work the 
 wife harder than is dacent.' But after a single ' draw,' 
 Andy took the pipe in his fingers and looked curiously 
 into its bowl. ' It's the quarest tobacco I ever tasted,* 
 ne observed : ' throth if I don't think it's nothin' but 
 chips o* bark an' dead leaves. Here 'tis back for you, 
 sir ; it don't shute my fancy, not bein' an Indjin yet, 
 though I dunno what I mightn't come to.' The pipe 
 was received with the deepest gravity. 
 
 No outward sign had testified surprise or any other 
 emotion, at the discovery that white men had settled 
 close to their ' sugar-bush,' and of course become joint 
 proprietors. The inscrutable sphinx-like calm of these 
 countenances, the strangeness of this savage life, 
 detained Robert most of 'he afternoon as by a sort of 
 fascination. Andy's wrath at the male indolence was 
 renewed by finding that the squaw and her girls had 
 to cut and carry all the firewood needful : even tlie 
 child of seven years old worked hard at bringing in 
 logs to the wigwam. He was unaware that the Indian 
 women hold labour to be their special prerogative; 
 
$tt 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 W¥ 
 
 that tliis very squaw despised him for the help he 
 rendered her; and that the observation in her own 
 tongue, which was emphasized by an approving grunt 
 from her husband, was a sarcasm levelled at the 
 inferiority and mean-spiritedness of the white man, as 
 exemplified in Andy's person. 
 
 One of the young fellows, who had dived into the 
 forest an hour before, returned with spoil in the shape 
 of a skunk, which the ever-industrious squaw set about 
 preparing for the evening meal The fearful odour of 
 the animal appeared unnoticed by the Indians, but 
 was found so hateful by Eobert and his Irish squire, 
 that they left the place immediately. 
 
 11 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ON A. SWEET SUBJECT. 
 
 ^HIS Indian family was only the precursor of 
 
 half a dozen others, who also established 
 
 * camps/ preparatory to their great work of 
 
 tapping the maple trees. The Wynns 
 
 found them inoffensive neighbours, and m le out a 
 
 good deal of amusement in watching their ways. 
 
 * I'd clear 'em out of that in no time,' said Zack 
 Bunting, 'if the land were mine. Indians hain't no 
 rights, bein' savages. I guess they darsn't come nigh 
 my farm down the pond — they'd be apt to cotch it 
 right slick, I tell you. They tried to pull the wool 
 over my eyes in the beginnin', an' wanted to be tappin' 
 in my bush as usual, but Zack Buntin' warn't the 
 soft-headed goney to give in, I tell you. So they 
 vamosed arter jest seein' my double-barrel, an' they 
 hain't tried it on since. They know'd I warn't no 
 doughface.' 
 
 ' Well, I mean to let them manufacture as much 
 sugar as they want,' said Eobert ; ' there's plenty for 
 both them and me. 
 
 * Rights is rights,' returned Zack, ' as I'd soon show 
 the varmints if they dar'st come near me. But your 
 
 S39 
 
 Si 
 
<3o 
 
 fil 
 
 '',\- 
 
 i 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Britisher Government has sot 'em up altogether, by 
 makin' treaties with 'em, an' givin' 'em money, an' 
 buyin' lands from 'em, instead of kickin' 'em out as 
 an everlastin' nuisance.' 
 
 'You forget that they originally owned the whole 
 continent, and in common justice should have the 
 means of livelihood given to them now,' said Robert. 
 ' It is not likely they'll trouble the white man long.' 
 
 ' I see yer makin' troughs for the sap,' observed 
 Zack. 'What on airth, you ain't never hewin' 'em 
 from basswood ? ' 
 
 ' Why not ? ' 
 
 * 'Cos 'twill leak every single drop, Yer troughs 
 must be white pine or black ash ; an' as ye'll want to 
 fix fifty or sixty on 'em at all events, that half-dozen 
 ain't much of a loss.' 
 
 ' Couldn't they be made serviceable anyhow ? ' asked 
 Robert, unwilling quite to lose the labour of his hands. 
 
 ' Wal, you might burn the inside to make the grain 
 closer : I've heerd tell on that dodge. If you warn't 
 so far from the " Corner," we could fix our sugar 
 together, an' make but one bilin' of it, for you'll want 
 a team, an' you don't know nothin' about maples.* 
 Zack's eyes were askance upon Robert. 'We might 
 'most as well go shares — you give the sap, an' I the 
 labour,' he added. 'I'll jest bring up the potash 
 kettle on the sled a Monday, an we'll spill the trees. 
 You cut a hundred little spouts like this : an' have 
 you an auger ? There now, I guess that's fixed.* 
 
 But he turned back after a few yards to say — 
 ' Since yer hand's in, you 'most might jest as well fix 
 a score troughs for me, in case some o* mine are 
 leaked : ' and away he went. ,-- -- - — - 
 
ON A SWEET SUBJECT 
 
 «3i 
 
 i 
 
 •( 
 
 ' That old sharper will be sure to have the best of 
 the bargain,' thought liobert. ' It's just his knowledge 
 pitted against my inexperience. One satisfaction is 
 that I am learning every day.' And he went on 
 with his troughs and spouts until near sundown, when 
 he and Arthur went to look at the Indian encamp- 
 ment, and see what progress was being made there. 
 
 ' I can't imagine,* said the latter, ' why the tree 
 which produces only a watery juice in Europe should 
 produce a diluted syrup in Canada.' 
 
 ' Holt said something of the heat of the March sun 
 setting tlie sap in motion, and making it sweet. You 
 feel how burning the noon is, these days.* 
 
 ' That's a statement of a fact, but not an explana- 
 tion,* said the cavilling Arthur. * Why should a hot 
 sun put sugar in the sap ? ' 
 
 Eobert had no answer, nor has philosophy either. 
 
 The Indians had already tapped their trees, and 
 placed underneath each orifice a sort of rough bowl, 
 for catching the precious juice as it trickled along a 
 stick inserted to guide its How. These bowls, made 
 of the semicircular excrescences on a species of maple, 
 serve various uses in the cooking line, in a squaw's 
 m(5nage, along with basins and boxes of the universally 
 useful birchen bark. When the sap has been boiled 
 down into syrup, and clarified, it is again transferred 
 to them to crystallize, and become solid in their 
 keeping. 
 
 An Indian girl was making what is called gum- 
 sugar, near the kettles : cutting moulds of various 
 shapes in the snow, and dropping therein small quan- 
 tities of the boiling molasses, which cooled rapidly 
 into a tough yellowish substance, which could be 
 
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 I- ( 
 
 I 
 
 h . V-. 
 
 i w^ \ 
 
 n 
 
 • ^li^- 
 
 11 .i 
 
 
a$i 
 
 CEDAR CHEEK. 
 
 IP 
 
 drawn out with the fingers like toffy. Arthur much 
 approved of the specimen ho tasted ; and without 
 doubt the sugar-making was a sweetmeat saturnalia 
 for all the ' papooses ' in the camp. They sat about 
 on the snow in various attitudes, consuming whole 
 haiidfuls and cakes of the hot sweet stuff, with rather 
 more gravity, but quite as much relish, as English 
 children would display if gifted with the run of a 
 comfit establishment. 
 
 'Did you ever see anything like their solemnity, 
 the young monkeys ! ' said Arthur. ' Certainly the 
 risible faculties were left out in the composition of the 
 Indian. I wonder whether they know how to ^ f^h 
 if they tried ? ' 
 
 ' Do you know,' said Eobert, * Holt says that Indian 
 mythology has a sort of Prometheus, one Menabojo, 
 who conferred useful arts upon men ; amongst others, 
 this art of making maple-sugar ; also canoe-building, 
 fishiiig, and hunting.* 
 
 ' A valuable and original genius,* rejoined Arthur • 
 ' but T wonder what everybody could have been 
 doing before his advent, without those sources of 
 occupaticn.* 
 
 Zack and his team arrived two mornings subse- 
 quently. 
 
 * Wal, Kobert, I hope you've been a clearin' yer 
 sugar-bush, an' choppin' yer firewood, all ready. Last 
 night was sharp frosty, an' the sun's glorious bright 
 to-day — the wind west, too. I hain't seen a better 
 day for a good run o' sap this season. Jump on the 
 sled, Arthur — there's room by the troughs.' 
 
 *No, thank you,' said the young man haughtily, 
 marching on before with his auger. He detested 
 
 1 
 
 N 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
ON A SWEET SUBJECT. 
 
 «33 
 
 Zack'a familiar manner, and could hardly avoid 
 
 rosGutiug it. 
 
 ' We're worth some pnnkins this mornin', I guess/ 
 observed Zack, glancing after him. 'He'll run his 
 auger down instead of up, out o' pure Britisher pride 
 an' contrariness, if we don't overtake him.' 
 
 Arthur was just applying the tool to the first tree, 
 when he heard Zack's shout. 
 
 'The sunny side! Fix yer spile the sunny side, 
 you goney.' 
 
 Which term of contempt did not contribute to 
 Arthur's good humoun He persisted in continuing 
 this bore where he uad begun; and one result was 
 that, at the close of the day, the trough underneath 
 did not contain by a third as much as those situate on 
 the south side of the trees. 
 
 ' It ain't no matter o' use to tap maples less than 
 a foot across. They hain't no sugar in 'em,' said 
 Zack, among his other practical hints. 'The older 
 the tree, the richer the sap. This 'ere sugar bush 
 is as line as I'd wish to tap : mostly hard maple, an' 
 the right age. Soft maple don't make nothing but 
 molasses, hardly — them with whitish skin; so you 
 are safe to chop 'em down.' 
 
 The little hollow spouts drained, and the seventy 
 troughs slowly filled, all that livelong day in the 
 sunny air ; until freezing night came down, and the 
 chilled sap shrank back, waiting for persuasive sun- 
 beams to draw its sweetness forth again. Zack came 
 round with his team next afternoon, emptied all the 
 troughs into one big barrel on his sled, and further 
 emptied the barrel into the huge kettle and pot 
 which were swung over a fire near the shanty, and 
 
 w. 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 IVf ; 
 
 I! 
 
 
 t''i 
 
 ii r 
 
5^ 
 
 234 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 (,,» 
 
 which he superintended with great devotion for some 
 time. 
 
 'I could not have believed that the trees could 
 spare so much juice,' observed Kobert. 'Are they 
 injured by it, Bunting ? ' 
 
 ' I ha' known a single maple yield a matter o' fifty 
 gallons, an' that not so big a one neither,' was the 
 reply. 'An' what's more, they grow the better for 
 the bleedin'. I guess you hadn't none of this sort 
 o' sugar to hum in England ? ' 
 
 ' Not a grain : all cane sugar imported.' 
 
 ' Wal, you Britishers must be everlastin' rich,' was 
 Zack's reply. ' An' I reckon yo: i don't never barter, 
 but pays hard cash down ? I wish I'd a good store 
 somewhar in your country, Kobert : 1 guess I'd turn a 
 proilt.' 
 
 V- 
 
^ 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 'l GIKSS I'd bk i.atk ior DINNKR, IUJI' I AIN'I'.' 
 
u 
 
 V 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A BUSY BEE. 
 
 the 
 
 E'D ha' best sugar off the whole lot « /together,' 
 Zack had said, and being the only one of 
 the makers who knew anything about the 
 manufacture, he was permitted to prescribe 
 procedure. The dark amber - coloured molasses 
 had stood and settled for some days in deep wooden 
 troughs, before his other avocations, of farmer and 
 general storekeeper at the 'Corner,' allowed him to 
 come up to the Cedars and give the finishing touch. 
 
 A breathless young Bunting — familiarly known as 
 Ged, and the veriest miniature of his father — burst 
 into the shanty one day during dinner — a usual 
 visiting hour for members of his family. 
 'Well, Ged, what do you want ?' 
 ' Uncle Zack 11 be here first thing in the mornin' 
 to sugar the syrup, and he says yo're to have a 
 powerful lot o' logs ready chopped for the fires,' was 
 the message. ' I guess I thought I'd be late for 
 dinner,' the boy added, with a sort of chuckle, ' but I 
 ain't ; ' and he winked knowingly. 
 
 'Well,' observed Arthur, laughing, 'you Yankees 
 beat all the world for cool impudence.' > 
 
 15 
 
 23: 
 
i 
 
 H*:. 
 
 "T^'i 
 
 236 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ' I rayther guess we do, an' fur most things else 
 teu,' was the lad's reply, with his eyes fixed on the 
 trencher of bear's meat which Andy was serving up 
 for him. 'Don't you be sparing of the pritters — I'm 
 rael hungry : ' and with his national celerity, the viands 
 disappeared. 
 
 When the meal was ended, Eobert, as always, 
 returned thanks to God for His mercies, in a few 
 reverent words. The boy stared. 
 
 ' I guess I hain't never heerd the like of that 
 'afore,' he remarked. 'Sure, God ain't nowhar 
 hereabouts ? ' 
 
 Robert was surprised to find how totally ignorant 
 he was of the very rudiments of the Christian faith. 
 The name of God had reached his ear chiefly in oaths ; 
 heaven and hell were words with little meaning to Lis 
 darkened mind. 
 
 * I thought a Methodist minister preached in your 
 father's big room once or twice a year,' observed 
 Eobert, after some conversation. 
 
 • So he do ; but I guess we boys makes tracks for 
 the woods ; an' besides, there ain't no room for us 
 nowhar,' said Ged. 
 
 Here I may just be permitted to indicate the wide 
 and promising field for missionary labour that lies 
 open in Canada West. No fetters of a foreign tongue 
 need cramp the ardent thought of the evangelist, but 
 in his native English he may tell the story of 
 salvation through a land large as half a dozen 
 European kingdoms, where thousands of his brethren 
 according to the flesh are perishing for want of 
 knowledge. A few stray Methodists alone have 
 pushed into the moral wilderness of the backwoods ; 
 
^ 
 
 A BUSY BEE. 
 
 »37 
 
 and what are they among so many ? Look at the 
 masses of lumberers : it is computed that on the 
 Ottawa and its tributaries alone they number thirty 
 thousand men ; spending their Sabbaths, as a late 
 observer has told us, in mending their clothes and 
 tools, smoking and sleeping, and utterly without 
 religion. "Why should not the gospel be preached to 
 these our brothers, and souls won for Christ from 
 among them ? 
 
 And in outlying germs of settlements like the 
 * Corner,' which are the centre of districts of sparse 
 population, such ignorance as this of young Bunting's, 
 though rare elsewhere in Canada or the States, is far 
 from uncommon among the rising generation. 
 
 Zack arrived with the ox-sled at the time appointed, 
 and Ged perched on it. 
 
 'Just look at the pile of vessels the fellow has 
 brought to carry away his share of the molasses and 
 sugar,' said Arthur, as the clumsy vehicle came 
 lumbering up. ' *Twas a great stroke of business to 
 give us all the trouble, and take all the advantage 
 to himself — our trees, our fires, nothing but the use 
 of his oxen as a set-off.' 
 
 The advantage was less than Arthur supposed ; 
 for maples are not impoverished by drainage of sap, 
 and firewood is so abundant as to be a nuisance. 
 But for Zack's innate love of even the semblance 
 of overreaching, he might have discerned that 
 his gain in this transaction was hardly worth the 
 pains. 
 
 ' Wal, Robert, you ha' poured off the molasses into 
 the kettles ; an' now fur the clarifyin'. I knowed 
 as how ye had nothen' fit — mUk, nor calf's blood, nor 
 
 \< 
 
 i-'i 
 
 rii 
 
238 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 eggs, nor nothen* — so I brought up the eggs, an' when 
 we're settlin' shares they kin be considered.' 
 
 * The old sharper ! ' muttered Arthur. 
 
 'I'm afeerd like they're beat up already,* said 
 Mr. Bunting, picking them gingerly out of his pockets, 
 ' though I made Ged drive a purpose. But that near 
 ox has a trick of stickin' over stumps, an' I had 
 obliged to cut a handspike to him. I declar' if they 
 ain't all whole arter all, 'cept one.' He smashed them 
 into a WO'" Jen bowl half full of molasses, and beat 
 them up with a chip, then emptied the contents into 
 the kettles, stining well. Hung over a slow tire, 
 from a pole resting on two notched posts, the slight 
 simmiiring sound soon begai> ; and on the top of the 
 heated fluid gathered a scum, which Zack removed- 
 After some repetitions of this skimming, and when 
 the molasses looked bright and clear, Mr. Bunting 
 asked for a bit of fat bacon. 
 
 'Which can be considered when ive're dividing 
 shares,' said Arthur, handing it to him a few minutes 
 afterwards. A glance was Zack's reply, as he strung 
 the bacon on a cord, and hung it below the rim, 
 within two inches of the boiling surface. 
 
 ' Indeed,' quoth Kobert, looking on at the operation 
 of this expedient for preventing the spilling over of 
 the molasses, ' I wonder some cleaner mode of keeping 
 the boiling within bounds has not been invented.' 
 
 ' The Scotchman Davidson cools with a run of cold 
 sap, out of a little spout an' a keg ; but them notions 
 don't suit me nohow ; the bit o' bacon fixes it jest as 
 right. By the way, did you hear that his farm is 
 took ? By a Britisher gentleman — I'm told an officer, 
 too ; I guess he'll want to back out 0' the bush faster 
 

 A BUSY BEE. 
 
 «39 
 
 than he got in, ef he's like the most of 'em, I know'd 
 some o' the sort, an' they never did a cent's worth 
 o' good, hardly, though they was above bein' spoke to. 
 'Tain't a location for soft hands an' handsome clothes, 
 I guess; an* I declar ef I don't think I ever saw 
 gentlemen Britishers git along so remarkably smart 
 as yerselves : but ye hain't been above work, that's a 
 fact.' 
 
 The Wyuns were glad enough of the prospect of 
 a new neighbour of the educated class ; for, more than 
 once or twice, the total absence of congenial society 
 in any sense of the word had been felt as a minor 
 privation. Robert foresaw that when with future 
 years came improved means and enlarged leisure., this 
 need would be greater. Zack thought the new settlers 
 ought to try and arrive before spring thaw. 
 
 'Yer own logging - bee might be 'bout that time, 
 Kobert,' he observed, while he narrowly watched his 
 kettles ind their mcipient sugar. * The fallow looks 
 ready for burnin', I guess.' 
 
 * Yes, 'tis nearly all chopped and piled ; but I'm 
 more anxious to have a raising-bee for my new house. 
 The logging can wait for a couple of months, Davidson 
 tells me.' 
 
 * Wal, you'll want considerable of whisky for the 
 teu,' observed Zack briskly ; ' all the " Corner " '11 be 
 sure to come, an' raise yer house oiT the ground right 
 slick at oust. A fr?.me-house, I calc'late ? ' 
 
 ' Clapboarded and painted, if I can, Mr. Bunting.' 
 ' Now I don't want ever to hear of no better luck 
 than I had in gittin' that consignment of ile an' white 
 lead t'other day Jest the very thing fur you, I 
 guess ! ' 
 
 ^ t\\ 
 
 \f 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
n> 
 
 340 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 -\\ 
 
 
 i* I 
 
 I t 
 
 Robert did not seem similarly struck by the 
 coincidence. 
 
 ' Any one but Zack would have melted away long 
 ago over that roaring fire ' said Arthur some time 
 afterwards, withdrawing from his kettle to fan 
 himself. 'Being a tall bag of bones, I suppose h: 
 can't dissolve readily. "What's he going to do now, 
 I wonder? ' 
 
 Mr. Bunting had chipped a thin piece of wood from 
 one of the fire logs, and wrought through it a narrow 
 hole, inch long ; this he dipped in the seething molasses, 
 and drew it forth filled with a thin film, which he 
 blew out with his breath into a long bubble of some 
 tenacity. 
 
 ' Thar ! 'tis sugared at last,' said he, jerking aside 
 the chip ; * an' now fur the pans.* 
 
 By a remarkable clairvoyance, just at this juncture 
 various younger members of the Bunting family made 
 their appearance in the sugar-bush ; and as fast as 
 Uncle Zack poured forth the sweet stuff into the tins 
 and shallow wooden vessels placed to receive it, did 
 half-a-dozen pilfering hands abstract portions to dip 
 in the snow and devour. Zack's remonstrances and 
 threats were of no avail, and whenever he made a 
 dash towards them, they dispersed in all directions 
 ' quick as wink.' 
 
 ' Ef I ketch you, Ged, you'll know the defference 
 of grabbin' a pound out of this 'ere tin, I guess, you 
 young varmint ! ' 
 
 ' 'Taint so kinder aisy to catch a 'coon, Ur^.le Zack,' 
 was the lad's rejoinder from the fork of a birch where 
 he had taken refuge, and sucked his stolen goods at 
 ease. Similar raids harassed the long line of cooling 
 
A BUSY BEE. 
 
 241 
 
 tins, and not all the efforts of the sugar-makers at 
 mounting guard could protect them, until the guerilla 
 corps of youngsters became in some degree surfeited, 
 and slid away through the woods as they had come. 
 Meanwhile, the best part of a stone of the manu- 
 facture had vanished. 
 
 ' Them are spry chaps, I reckon,' was the parent's 
 reflection, with some pride in their successful free- 
 booting, though he had opposed its details. 
 
 * I would teach them to be honest, Mr. Bunting ; ' 
 which speech only evoked a laugh. 
 
 ' Now I guess you're riled 'cos they ran away with 
 yer sugar, jest as ef 'twam't more mine than yourn.' 
 
 This was unpromising as portended the division into 
 shares, wherein Robert was overreached, as he knew 
 he should be ; but he comforted himself by the reflec- 
 tion that next year he should be able to do without 
 his odious assistant, and that for thijs summer he had 
 housekeeping - sugar enough. He utterly refused to 
 enter into any coalition for the making of vinegar or 
 beer. Towards the close of the sap season he tapped 
 a yellow birch, by his Scotch neighbour's advice, drew 
 from it thirty gallons in three days, boiled down that 
 quantity into ten gallons, and set it to ferment in a 
 sunny place, with a little potato yeast as the exciting 
 cause. Of course the result was immensely too much 
 vinegar for any possible household needs, considering 
 that not even a cucumber bed was as yet laid out in 
 the embryo garden. 
 
 But now April, ' the moon for breaking the snow- 
 shoes,' in Ojibbeway parlance, was advancing ; patches 
 of brown ground began to appear under the hot sun- 
 light, oozy and sloppy until the two - feet depth of 
 
 l^'i 
 
 .r* < ' 
 
 I; 
 
iH 
 
 H; 
 
 li t 
 
 II' • . 
 
 
 I 
 
 34a 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 1 
 
 frost was gradually exhaled. The dwellers in the 
 shanty had almost forgotten the look of the world in 
 colours, for so many months had it slept in white 
 array. Ilobert could have kissed the earliest knot 
 of red and blue hepaticas which bloomed at the base 
 of a log-heap. But he looked in vain for that eldest 
 child of an English spring, ' the wee modest crimson- 
 tipped * daisy, or for the meek nestling primrose among 
 the moss. And from the heaven's blue lift no music 
 of larks poured down; no twitter of the chnffirch or 
 whistle of the thrush echoed from the greeniug woods. 
 Robert thought the blue-bird's voice a poor apology for 
 his native songsters. 
 
 He had, indeed, little time for any reflections 
 unconnected with hard work. The cedar swamp was 
 shrinking before his axe, and yielding its fragrant 
 timbers for the future house. From early morning 
 till late at night the three men never ceased labour 
 except for short meals; having, as their object and 
 reward, the comfort of those dear ones who would 
 arrive in July or August at farthest. 
 
 The existing shanty was to be retained as kitchen, 
 and a little room could be railed off the end as a 
 place for stores. Four apartments would constitute 
 the new house, one of them to be a sitting room for 
 the mother and Linda. How easy to build and furnish 
 in fancy; how difficult in fact! Yet the raising-bed 
 accomplished a great deal, though the Yankee store- 
 keeper was discomfited to find that Davidson of Daisy 
 Burn had undertaken the guidance of the hive ; he 
 sulked somewhat in consequence, and also because the 
 consumption of spirits was not, as he had contem- 
 plated, to intoxication. Robert was backed by his 
 
 \ 
 
 u 
 
 <« ij 
 
 11 'I 
 
A BUSY BEE. 
 
 «43 
 
 Sturdy Scottish neighbour in lliat resolve ; and the 
 more sensible of the workers could not but approve. 
 
 Four walls and roof were put together by the 
 joint-stock labour of the day. Standing in the vacant 
 doorway, Robert looked over the moonlit view of 
 v.'oods and islanded lake well pleased. 
 
 Ij 
 
 I 
 
 Mi 
 
P|5 ■ ; 
 
 1 "I 
 
 ■ 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 :i 
 
 
 ; , 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 OLD FACES UPON NEW NEIGHBOURS. 
 
 OW, while Arthur devoted himself chiefly t(\ 
 tlic interior carpentering,', Itol)ert burned 
 and cleared a j)atch of fallow to be a 
 garden. Their j?ood friend Hiram Holt, 
 among his other useful gifts, had sent with them in 
 the waggon a stock of young apple trees, which had 
 lain all winter half buried in a corner of the hut, to 
 be grubbed up in sp. "ag and planted out in rows four 
 rods apart. Beds of potatoes and turnips, set at the 
 edges with pumpkin seeds and squares of Indian corn, 
 filled the garden space in an orderly manner before 
 the end of May ; then rail fences sprang up about it, 
 and the first bit of forest was fairly reclaimed. 
 
 During breakfast one morning, Andy rushed in, 
 proclaiming that a raft was in sight on the lake, ' one 
 'most as big as a five-acre field,' he said. This proved 
 rather an imaginative description on Andy's part, like 
 many other of his verbal sketches ; for the raft was 
 infantine compared with its congeners of the great 
 lake and the St. Lawrence. A couple of bonds lashed 
 together — that was all ; and a bond containeth twenty 
 
 cribs, and a crib containeth a variable amount of 
 
 2U — 
 
OLD FACES UPON NEW NEIGHBOURS. 245 
 
 beams, according to lumberers' arithmetical tables. 
 Arthur recognised his acquaintance, the Scotch fore- 
 man, pacing the deck ; he hailed the unwieldy craft, 
 and shipped liimself aboard for a voyage to the 
 'Comer,' where he had business at the store. 
 
 ' Wid a horn in front, an' a tail behind, there it 
 goes,' observed Andy, in allusion to the long oars 
 projecting from rowlocks at each end. * An' now, 
 Masther Robert, what'U become o' that in the rapids 
 below the sawmill ? Sure 'twill be batthered in pieces, 
 an' the "water so mighty coorse intirely there ; enough 
 to make chaneys of any raft.' " 
 
 ' 'Twill be taken asunder, and the cribs sent down 
 separately over the falls,' replied Mr. Wvnn. 
 
 Arthur saw the operation by and by, and the hardy 
 raftsmen shooting the rapids in what appeared to him 
 circumstances of exciting peril. "While he and all the 
 disengaged dwellers at the * Comer ' were as yet look- 
 ing on, a waggon came in sight from among the trees, 
 and turned their curiosity into another channel. 
 
 Gradually it drew near, stumbling among the stumps 
 and ruts, with all sorts of language applied to the 
 oxen. Arthur thought he had formerly seen that 
 figure marching by the off- wheel. That peculiar 
 gentleman-like and irilitary air, even shouldering a 
 handspike, could not be mistaken. 
 
 * I guess as how 'tis the Britisher officer as has took 
 Davidson's betterments,' said 'cute Zack ; ' an' thar's 
 womanfolks behind the waggon afoot. Wal, now, but 
 I say I do pity them Britisher ladies a-comiug into 
 the bush — them that hain't never in their hull life 
 as much as baked a biscuit I ha' seen the like o' 
 such in Montreal — delicate critters, that you wouldn't 
 
 \ 
 
". ' 'i' 
 
 1^ ' 
 
 I' 
 
 ^ 
 
 246 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 hardly think knowed the use of a fryin'-pan when 
 they see'd it, an' couldn't lift one if they was to git a 
 handful 0' dollars. I guess these ain't much betterer 
 nohow.' 
 
 It was a homily on the appearance of Edith Army- 
 tage and the child Jay picking their steps along after 
 the waggon ; while within, on hampers and boxes, 
 stretched heavily, lay their brother, taking things easy 
 by means of sleep. The captain's salute to Arthur 
 was most cordial. 
 
 * So, my dear young friend ! What most fortunate 
 fate has thrown us together again ? A very pleasant 
 freak of destiny, truly. I left you last with an 
 uncomfortable old gentleman, who was particularly 
 obstinate in his opinions about the seignorial system, 
 as I remember. He was right, my young friend, in 
 condemnmg that system, eh ? Perfectly right. I 
 left it in dibgust. Incompatible with a British officer's 
 feelings, eh ? ' 
 
 Here his monologue was disturbed by little Jay's 
 running up to Arthur very joyously. • I told Edith 
 wo should meet yea. I knew we should. And how 
 is Robert and your funny servant ? Ah, I am very 
 glad!' 
 
 ' Jane, my dear, I have repeatedly told you not to 
 be so boisterous,' put in her father. ' Go back, and 
 walk with your sister Edith.' 
 
 The little girl tried to withdraw her hand and 
 obey, though with a wistful look ; but Arthur detained 
 it, and went with her the few steps to meet Miss 
 Armytage. ■ --^/.-f--,— ■..;■-.-—;-"-.:• — ---■ --:- -i^'- 
 
 * Edith, are you not glad ? They all live at Cedar 
 Creek, quite close to Daisy Burn, and w^ can see 
 
 I ' J 
 
OLD FACES UPON NEW NEIGHBOURS. 247 
 
 them every clay ; and he says Daisy Burn is a very 
 nice place' — : ' , 
 
 ' I have had some experience of children/ began 
 Captain Armytage stiffly, ' but one so talkative na 
 Jane I have seldom met. You should correct ^^f, 
 Edith, my dear.' For the man's voice was what =io 
 wished to hear. Edith's hand was most gently laid 
 on the dear little sister's arm as a caution ; but at 
 this juncture both gentlemen were obliged to presis 
 forward and help the oxen out of some critical situa- 
 tions, and Jay could whisper her delight and her 
 anticipations without fear of reprimand for a few 
 minutes at least. 
 
 Then, when the waggon brought up in front of Mr. 
 Bunting's store, young Armytage woke up with a 
 mighty yawn and stretch to declare that bush travel- 
 ling was the greatest bore — would they ever reach 
 the farm ? And he thereupon arose to tho exertion 
 of kindling his pipe. 
 
 • Nonsense, Wynn, can that be you ? Glad to see 
 some face I know among these endless tree"*. They're 
 nearly as sickening to me as waves to a fellow in his 
 first voyage. Hope the farm has been well cleared of 
 them. You know tlie ground, eh ? ' 
 
 ' Not all cleared by any means ; but if you had to 
 take the axe in hand as we have '-— 
 
 'Gentlemen, are you going to liquor?' said Zack 
 in a persuasive tone, marshalling the way into his bar. 
 ' Almeria, tell your ma to bring here some of her best 
 beer to treat these gentlemen — partic'lar friends. Be 
 spry, will you?' ^^ ,.,,,,- 
 
 The tawny black-eyod young lady answering to the 
 above high - sounding cognomen returned in a few 
 
 I -.t. 
 
 
 ■I 
 
 
 III 
 
 :,:i. 1i 
 
 w\ 
 
iri 
 
 l, .1 
 
 
 ! > 
 
 >i 
 
 248 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 moments with a jug, whence her father poured forth 
 three horn goblets of dark fluid. Arthur, through 
 superior knowledge not touching his, was highly 
 amused by the grimaces of the others. Indeed, the 
 captain had swallowed a huge gulp of it before he 
 realized fully its strange flavour, and then could but 
 sputter and scour his moustache and lips with his 
 handkerchief. Mr. Bunting looked on with exemplary 
 gravity. 
 
 'Thar! I told th' ole woman that spruce beer 
 ain't so good as usual this brewin'.' 
 
 'Good! the vilest compound. A fir-tree steeped 
 in a stagnant pool ! ' exclaimed the irate captain, with 
 considerable warmth of colouring. 'Bring me some- 
 thing, sirrah, to take away the odious taste — anything 
 you like.' 
 
 Mr. Bunting obeyed witb alacrity. Arthur left 
 father and son over their pipes and glasses, and went 
 outside to join Miss Armytage and Jay, who had 
 declined various overtures to enter the store, and were 
 the cynosure of all eyes in the ' Corner ' as they walked 
 to and fro on the stumpless strip of ground in the 
 place — a fair child and a pale girl. Presently forth 
 came the captain. 
 
 ' Edith, my dear,' he sa'd blandly, ' I may be 
 detained here for half an hour ; I find that mine 
 host, Mr. Bunting, has a very exact knowledge of the 
 locality to which we are going. I think you both 
 might be going on with the waggon ; your brother 
 will follow in a minute or so when his smoke is 
 finished, he says. Driver, you may go forward ; au 
 revoir, Edith.' 
 
 He kissed the tips of his fingers to his daughter 
 
 K t 
 
OLD FACES UPON NEW NEIGHBOURS. 249 
 
 gallantly, and passed into the bar again with a jaunty 
 air. 
 
 'If you will allow me to accompany you/ said 
 Arthur, seeing that she hesitated, ' you will do me a 
 kindness, for I have rather a large pack to carry going 
 home ; I can rest it on the waggon ; and Daisy Burn 
 is more than half-way to Cedar Creek.' 
 
 ' Did I not tell you we would find out Arthur and 
 Robert ? ' said the child Jay, with an ecstatic clasp of 
 her fingers upon young Wynn's. ' You said you were 
 afraid we should have no friends in the woods, but I 
 knew that God would not let us be so forsaken as 
 that.' 
 
 And the three walked on into the long vista of the 
 concession line. 
 
 < i 
 
 J-! 
 

 : I 
 
 M ! 
 
 1 i 
 
 iir 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 1^ i 
 
 i^ 
 
 I'll 
 
 ONE DAY IN JULY. 
 
 SUMMER more glorious than our settlers 
 could have imagined, followed oa the steps 
 of the tardy spring. What serene skies — 
 what brilliant sunshine — what tropical 
 wealth of verdure ! At every pore the rich earth 
 burst forth into fruit and flower. Two months after 
 the grass had been sunk deep beneath the snow, sheets 
 of strawberries were spread in the woods, an extem- 
 porized feast. 
 
 One might think that the cottage at Cedar Creek 
 had also bloomed under the fair weather ; for when 
 July — hottest of Canadian months — came, the dingy 
 wooden walls had assumed a dazzling white, with a 
 roof so grey that the shingles might have been 
 veritable slates. iieiemblance to the lime -washed 
 houses of home was Kobert's fancy ; which, in Zack 
 Bunting's mind, was a perverted taste, as he recom- 
 mended a brilliant green groundwork, picked out with 
 yellow, such canary-bird costume being favourite in 
 Yankee villages. 
 
 The few feet of garden railed off in front are filled 
 with bushes of the fragrant Canadian wild-rose ; yellow 
 
ONE DAY IN JULY, 
 
 «S» 
 
 violets, lobelias, and tiger-lilies, transplanted thither 
 from the forest glades, appear to flourish. The 
 brothers had resolved that linda should not miss her 
 liower-beds and their gentle care even in bush-life. 
 
 For the rest, the clearing looks wild enough, not- 
 withstanding all civilising endeavours. That mighty 
 wall of trees has not been pushed back far, und the 
 debris of the human assault, lying on the soil in vast 
 wooden lengths, seems ponderous even to discourage- 
 ment. Robert has been viewing it all through 
 stranger eyes for the last week, since he lieard the 
 joyful news that they for whom he has worked have 
 landed at Montreal ; he has been putting finishing 
 touches wherever he could, yet how unfinished it is ! 
 
 To-day Andy alone is in possession ; for his young 
 masters have gone to meet the expected waggon as 
 far as Peter Logan's — nay, to Greenock if necessary. 
 He has abundance of occupation for the interval ; 
 first, to hill up a patch of Indian corn with the hoe, 
 drawing the earth into little mounds five ci' six inches 
 high round each stalk ; and after that, sundry mis- 
 cellaneous duties, among which milking the cow stands 
 prominent. She is enjoying herself below in the 
 beaver meadow, while the superior animal, Andy, toils 
 hard among the stumps, and talks to himself, as wont. 
 
 * Why, thin, I wondher what th' ould masther 'uU 
 say to our clearin', an' how he'll take to the life, at 
 all, at all ; he that niver did a hand's turn yet in the 
 way of business, only 'musin' himself wid papers an' 
 books as any gintleman ought ; how he'll stand seein' 
 Masther Robert hoein' and choppin' like a labourin' 
 man ? More be token, it's little o' that thim pair 
 down at Daisy Bum doea. I b'lieve they 'spect 
 
 i6 
 
 i< 
 
Hi 
 
 I '': 
 
 I!! 
 
 •s« 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 li" 
 
 
 things to grow ov thimselves 'athout any cultivatin'. 
 An' to see that poor youug lady hilliu' the com 
 herself — I felt as I'd like to bate both the captin an' 
 his fine idle son — so I would, while I could stand 
 over 'em.' 
 
 He executed an aerial flourish with his hoe, and 
 the minute after, found practical occupation for it in 
 chasing two or three great swme who were poking at 
 the fence, as if they longed for the sweet young corn- 
 stalks within. Whence the reader may perceive that 
 Mr. Wynn had become proprietor of certain items of 
 live stock, including sundry fowls, which were apt 
 to keep all parties in exhilarating exercise by their 
 aggressions on the garden. 
 
 * Musha, but 'tis very hot intirely,* soliloquized 
 Andy, returning from the aggravated stem -chase of 
 the swine, and lifting his grass hat to fan his flushed 
 face. ' The sun don't know how to obsarve a madium 
 at all in this counthry, as our poor ould Irish sun does. 
 We're aither freezin' or fryin' the year round.' Here- 
 upon, as reminded by the last-named experience, he 
 threw down his hoe, and went to settle the smouldering 
 fires in the fallow, where one or two isolated heaps of 
 brush were slowly consuming, while their bluish smoke 
 curled up lazily in the still air. ' It's quare to think 
 of how lonesome I am this minnit,' continued he, as 
 he blackened himself in ministering to the heaps. 
 ' Sorra livin' sowl to spake to nearer than the captin's, 
 barrin' the cow, an' the pigs, an' thim savidges down 
 at the swamp.' 
 
 Here he made an infuriate swing backwards of a 
 bush, fortunately in his hand ; but it was against no 
 Indian foe ; on the contrary, his own shoulders received 
 
 \ 
 
 " ■ i' 
 
 !? 
 
ONE DA Y IN JUL Y. 
 
 «53 
 
 \ 
 
 the blow, and another to niuKe sure; whereby an 
 iudividual enemy was pasted to the spot where its 
 proboscis had pierced shirt and skin, and half-a-dozen 
 others saved themselves by flight — being the dreaded 
 black flies of Canada. 
 
 ' Why, thin, ye murtherin' villins, will ye follow me 
 into the smoke itself ? ' said Andy, whirling his busb 
 in the air to disperse their squadrons. ' I thought ye 
 wor satisfied wid most atin' us last week, an' blindin' 
 the young gintlemin, an' lavin' lumps on their faces as 
 big as hazel nuts. Betune yerselves an' the miss 
 kitties, it's hard for a man to do a sthroke of work, 
 wid huntin' ye. Ay, ye may well moo, ye crathur 
 below in the meadow, that has only horns an' a tail 
 to fight 'em. An' sure, may be 'tain't the cow at all 
 that's roarin', only one of them big frogs that bellows 
 out of the swamp, for all the world as if they was 
 bullocks.' 
 
 To settle the question, he walked away down to the 
 beaver meadow, now an expanse of the most delicious 
 level green, and found that the cow hnd protected 
 herself against all winged adversaries by standing in 
 the creek up to her throat in the cool water, where 
 she chewed the cud tranquilly, and contemplated with 
 an impassive countenance the construction of a canoe 
 at a little distance by two red "men and their squaws. 
 Andy paused and looked on likewise. 
 
 One woman was stripping a large white birch of its 
 bark with a sharp knife ; she scraped away the internal 
 coating as a tanner would scrape leather, and laid the 
 pieces before the other squaw, whose business was to 
 stitch them together with bast. The men meanwhile 
 prepared a sausage - shaped framework of very thin 
 
r^'^" 
 
 :^ii iiii 
 
 »S4 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 \l 
 
 ^' S 
 
 •V 
 
 cedar ribs, tying every point of junction with firm 
 knots ; for the aforesaid bast is to the Indian what 
 glue and nails are to the civilised workman. 
 
 ' Throth, only for the birch threes I dunno what 
 they'd do ; for out of it's skin they make houses, an* 
 boats, an' pots to bile vittles, an' candles to burn, an' 
 ornaments like what Mr. Ilobert has above.' A pause, 
 as he watched the bark turned over the ribs, and 
 wedge - shaped pieces cut out to prevent awkward 
 foldings near the gunwale — all carried on in solemn 
 silence. ' Well, there's no manner of doubt but 
 savages are great intirely at houldln' their tongues ; 
 sure, may be it's no wondher, an' their langidge the 
 quare sort it is, that they don't want to spake to each 
 other but as little as they can help.' 
 
 Here the nearest Indian raised his head, and 
 appeared to listen to a distant sound ; a low word or 
 two attracted the attention of the others, who also 
 listened, and exchanged a few sentences, with a glance 
 at Andy, whose curiosity was roused ; and he asked, 
 ch^'efly by signs, what it was all about. 
 
 ' Oxen — waggon,' was the reply ; ' me hear driver. 
 White man no have long ears.' 
 
 Andy fled with precipitation to his neglected duties, 
 while the red men laughed their low quiet laugh, 
 knowing that the wo,ggon they heard could not reach 
 Cedar Creek in less than an hour. 
 
 But at last it came. At last Linda, pressing 
 eagerly forward upon Eobert's arm, had caught a first 
 glimpse of their cottage home, and exclaimed, ' O Bob, 
 how pretty 1 Why, you told me it was a rough sort 
 of a place ; how very pretty I ' 
 
 ' Well, you can't deny that the |3/<w« is rough,' said 
 
 *v_,. 
 
ONE DAY IN JULY. 
 
 ^l<» 
 
 he, after a pause of much satisfaction ; ' look at the 
 log-heaps — as tangled as a lady's work-basket.' 
 
 ' Never mind the log - heaps ; the house is reat 
 enough for a picture ; and the view ! what a lovely 
 placid lake 1 what islands 1 what grand woods !' 
 
 Linda's speech was nothing but interjections of 
 admiration for the next half - hour ; she would be 
 charmed with every handiwork of the dear brothers 
 who had wrought so hard for them. And how were 
 these repaid for that past toil, by the sweet mother's 
 smile as she entered the neat little parlour, and was 
 established in the rocking - chair which Arthur had 
 manufactured and cushioned with exceeding pains ! 
 The other furniture was rather scholastic, it is true, 
 being a series of stools and a table, set upon rushen 
 matting of Indian make ; the beams overhead were 
 unceiled, and the hearth necessarily devoid of a grate. 
 But the chimney space — huge in proportion to the 
 room — was filled with fragrant and graceful forest 
 boughs ; and through the open casement window 
 (Arthur had fitted the single sash on hinges, doorwise) 
 looked in stray sprays of roses, breathing perfume. 
 Mrs. Wynn was well satisfied with her exile at that 
 moment, when she saw the loving faces of her sons 
 about her again, in the home of their own raising. 
 
 A most joyful reunion ! yet of that gladness which 
 is near akin to tears. Kobert would not give anybody 
 a minute to think, or to grow sad. His father and 
 George must walk with him all round the clearing and 
 down to the beaver meadow. His acres of spring- 
 burned fallow, his embryo garden, his creek and its 
 waterfalls, must be shown off as separate articles of the 
 exhibition. 
 
SR3 
 
 [ill 
 
 n 1 
 
 l-^: 
 
 li! li 
 
 156 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ' Bob, what are these V The old gentleman stopped 
 before an expanse of blackened stumps, among which 
 a multitude of molehills diversified the soil. 
 
 ' Potatoes, sir. That's the Canadian way of raising 
 them on new land — in hills of live thousand to the 
 acre. You see ridges would be out of the question, or 
 any even system of culture, on account of the stumps 
 and roots.' 
 
 ' I suppose so,' said Mr. Wynn drily ; ' such groimd 
 must certainly require a peculiar method of working. 
 I daresay you find it incumbent on you to forget all 
 your Irish agriculture.' 
 
 • Well, I had a good deal to unlearn,' answered 
 Robert. * I hoped to have had our logging-bee before 
 your arrival, and thtm the farm would have looked 
 tidier ; but I could not manage it.' 
 
 ' Do you mean to say the trees stood as thick here 
 as they do there ? If so, you have done wonders 
 already,' said his father. ' My poor boys, it was 
 killing work.' 
 
 'Not at all, sir,' contradicted TJobert right cheerily ; 
 * I enjoyed it after the first few weeks, as soon as I 
 began to see my way. We've been quite happy this 
 winter in the woods, though bush-life was so new and 
 strange.' 
 
 ' It seems to me simply to mean a permanent 
 descent into the ranks of the labouring classes, without 
 any of tlie luxuries of civilisation such as an English 
 artisan would enjoy, said the old gentleman. 
 
 ' Except the luxury of paying neither rent nor 
 taxes,' rejoined Eobert promptly. 
 
 'You seem to have been carpenter, house-painter, 
 wood-cutter, ploughman' — 
 
 
I 
 
 ONE DAY IN JULY. 
 
 257 
 
 'No, sir; there isn't a pl< 'i^h ou the premises, and 
 I shouldn't know what to do vvitb it if there were.' 
 
 ' Had you no assistance in all this ?' 
 
 ' Oh yes ; invaluable help in Jacques Dubois, a 
 lively little French Canadian from the " Corner," whose 
 indomitable tsfprii was worth more than the stronger 
 physique of a heavy Anglo-Saxon. But come, sir, I 
 hear the dinner bell.' 
 
 Which was the rattling of a stit k on an invalided 
 kettle, commonly used by Andy to summon his 
 masters home. To impress the new arrivals with a 
 sense of tlieir resources, a feast, comprising every 
 accessible delicacy, had been prepared. Speckled trout 
 from the lake, broiled m the hot wood ashes, Indian 
 fashion ; wild- fowl of various species, and wild fruits, 
 cooked and an naturel, were the components. 
 
 ' I hardly thought that you would have found time 
 for strawberry cultivation,' observed Mr. Wynn the 
 elder. 
 
 ' And we have far more extensive strawberry beds, 
 sir, than I ever saw in Ireland,' said Eobert, with a 
 twinkle of his eyes. ' I'm thinking of turning in the 
 pigs to eat a few pailfuls ; they are quite a drug for 
 abundance.' 
 
 ' A raspberry tart ! ' exclaimed Linda, ' and custards 1 
 Why, Bob ! ' 
 
 ' Would you like to know a secret ? ' — followed by 
 a whisper. 
 
 ' Nonsense ! not you ! ' 
 
 They seemed to have other secrets to tell by and 
 by, which required the open air. The eleven months 
 last gone past had brought many changes to both. 
 And there they walked to and fro on the margin 
 
 W 
 
 f, 
 
■1 ' 
 
 II 
 
 I ' 
 
 258 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 of the forest, until the moon's silver wheel rolled up 
 over the dusk trees, and lit Cedar Creek gloriously. 
 
 ' Wliat pure and transparent air ! ' exclaimed Linda, 
 coming back to the present from the past. ' Is your 
 moonlight always laden with that sweet aromatic 
 odour ? * 
 
 ' Don't you recognise balm of Gilead ? Your 
 greenhouse and garden plant is a weed here. Our 
 pines also help in the fragrance you perceive.' 
 
 ' Iiobert, I know that the red patches burning 
 steadily y>)iuler are the stumps you showed me ; 
 but the half circular rings of fire, I don't understand 
 them.' 
 
 'The niggers round the trunks of some trees,' 
 explained llobert. ' That's a means we use for 
 burning through timber, and so saving axe -work. 
 Do you notice the moving light in the distance, on 
 the lake ? It comes from a pine-torch fixed in the 
 bow of a canoe, by which an Indian is spearing fish.' 
 
 ' Oh, have you Indians here ? how delightful ! I 
 have always so longed to see a real live red man. Are 
 they at all like Uncas and Chingachgook ? I shall 
 pay them a visit first thing in the morning.' 
 
 * You'll be visited yourself, I imagine ; ' and Eobert 
 laughed. ' You don't know the sensation youi arrival 
 has caused.' 
 
 ' ■; 
 
CHArTER XXX. 
 
 VISITORS AND VISITED. 
 
 'ND next day Mrs. and ^liss Wynn liad 
 indeed visitors. Up from the ' Corner ' 
 trundled Mrs. Zack Buntinj,' on the ox-sled, 
 accompanied by her son Nimrod, and by 
 her dauohter Alnieria ; and truly, but for the honour 
 of bringing a vehicle, it had been better for her 
 personal comfort to have left it at home. Dressed in 
 the utmost finery they could conmiand, and which had 
 done duty on all festive occasions for years back, they 
 lumbered up to the front door, where Linda was doing 
 some work in the flower-beds. 
 
 ' Good morning. Miss. Is your ma to hum ? ' said 
 Mrs. Zack, bestowing a stare on her from head to foot. 
 ' I'm Miss Bunting, as you may have heerd Robert 
 speak on. This young lady is my daughter Almeria ; 
 I guess you're older than her, though she's a good 
 spell taller. Nim, call that boy to niind the oxen 
 wliile you come in, or I've a notion they'll be makin' 
 free with Miss's flowers here.' 
 
 The boy was George Wynn, who came up slowly 
 and superciliously in answer to Nim's shout, and 
 utterly declined to take charge of the team, intimating 
 
 289 
 
 u 
 
 i^ 
 
w 
 
 260 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 Mi 
 
 I 
 
 his oj)inion that it was very good employment for 
 ' swallow-tail * himself. Which remark alluded to the 
 coat woru by Mr i^imrod — a vesture of blue, with 
 brass buttons, rendered further striking by loose nankeen 
 continuations, and a green cravat. 
 
 How insignificant was gentle Mrs. Wynn befdde 
 the Yankee woman's portly presence ! How trifling 
 her low voice in answer to the shrill questioning ! 
 Linda cast herself into the breach (metaphorically), 
 and directed the catechism upon herself. As for the 
 young lady Almeria, she was quite satisfied to sit and 
 stare with unwinking black eyes, occasionally hitching 
 up her blvie silk cap** by a shrug of shoulder, or 
 tapping the back of her faded pink bonnet against the 
 wall, to push it on her head. Nim entered the room 
 presently, and perched himself on the edge of a stool ; 
 but his silent stare was confined to Linda's face, now 
 flushed prettily through the clear skin with a mixture 
 of anger and amusement. 
 
 ' I guess now, that's the latest Europe fashion in 
 yer gown ? * taking up the hem of the skirt for closer 
 inspection. ' Half - a - dollar a yard 'twould be in 
 Bytown, I reckon ; but it's too fine for a settler's wife. 
 Miss. You've come to the right market for a husband, 
 I guess ; gals is scarce in Gazelle township,' with a 
 knowing smile. The crimson mounted to Linda's 
 brow, under the conjoint influence of Nimrod's sta^'e 
 and also of the entrance of another person, Sam Holt, 
 who had come with the party yesterday from Mapleton. 
 
 But in two minutes he had quietly turned the 
 conversation, and repressed, as much as it was in 
 man's power to do, Mrs. Bunting's interrogative 
 propensities. , .' 
 
VISITOJiS AND VISITED. 
 
 361 
 
 
 * That's a wasliy, good - for - notliiii' woraan, that 
 Mis' Wyiin,' was the visiuor's judt^'meiit, as she de- 
 parted in state on the ox - sled. ' The young un'a 
 spryer ; but I'd like to be waitin' till they'd ha' the 
 house clar'd up between 'em, wouldn't I ? Did you 
 see that liired help 0' theirn, Almeria ? ' 
 
 ' Yes, ma, an Irish girl, I guess. She was a -top o' 
 the waggon yes' lay.* 
 
 ' So our Lil s>; hain't no chance 0' bein* took, 'less 
 this young uu should grow cockish, as 'most all 
 Britisher helps does, when they gets a taste o' liberty. 
 Wal, now, but I'd like to kaow what business them 
 ladies has — for they're rael, an' no mistake, very 
 different from Mis' Davidson, with her hands like 
 graters an' her v'ice like a loon's so loud an' hard — 
 an' you may know the rael ladies by the soft hand an' 
 the aisy v'ice.' 
 
 Almeria rubbed her own knuckles, seeking for the 
 symptom of gentle blood. 
 
 ' Wh;'.t business ha;? they,' continued Mrs. Zack, 
 'away down here in the bush ? I guess they couldn't 
 wash a tub o' clothes or fix a dinner for the men.' 
 
 * But they hadn't need to,' put Miss Almeria, out of 
 sorts at finding her hand rough as a rasp. ' They've 
 helps, an' needn't never look at a tub.' Which cir- 
 cumstance apparently set her in a sulk for the next 
 mile. 
 
 Although Mrs. Davidson was failing in some lady- 
 like requirements, as the storekeeper's wife had 
 indicated, and also came to visit her new neighbour 
 in a homespun suit, the very antipodes of Mrs. Zack's 
 attire of many colours, yet her loud cl ery voice and 
 sensible face — with a possible friendship in it — were 
 
 i.. 
 
m 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^^^ff^^^^^^*^"****** 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 263 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 exceedingly pleasing, in contrast with the first visitor's 
 nasal twang and ' smart ' demeanour. Mrs. Wynn 
 would like to see her often ; but the .Scotchwoman was 
 thrifty and hardworking, with a large family to provide 
 for: she could not afibrd to pay visits, and scarcely 
 to receive them. 
 
 ' I wadna ha' come down the day, but thinkiu' 
 mayhap ye wad be wantin' help o* some sort ; an' if 
 there's anything we could do — Srndy or me and the 
 lads — just send your lad rinnin' up; we'll be glad 
 eneugh. Sabbath, may be, I'd ha' timu Co tak' a stroll 
 down : ye ken there's na kirk.' 
 
 Ah, it was one of Mrs. "v^/ynn's greatest troubles in 
 coming to the bush that there were no public means 
 of grace, and that no aou.nd of the church-going bell 
 was ever heard in these solitudes. 
 
 Late in the afterLJon Linda was able to find Robert, 
 and bring him with her towards the Indian encamp- 
 ment. Sam Holt joined them. 
 
 * Now for my first introduction into ravage life : I 
 hope I shan't be disappointed.' 
 
 'Unreasonable expectations always are,' observed 
 Mr. Holt. ' Don't expect to find I enimore Cooper's 
 model Indians. But I believe them in the main to 
 be a fine people, honest and truthful where " civilisa- 
 tion " has not corrupted them.' 
 
 * Is it not dreadful that the first effect of European 
 contact with original races everywhere should be 
 destructive ? ' said Linda ; ' even of the English, who 
 have the gospel ! ' 
 
 ' Yes : how sad that they who bear Christ's name 
 should dishonour Him and thwart His cause among 
 men, by practical disregard of His precepts I I shouldn't 
 
 V. 
 
:^ 
 
 VISITORS AND VISITED, 
 
 263 
 
 wonder if the red man hated the white man with a 
 deadly hatred ; for to him is owing the demoralization 
 and extinction of a noble race — if it were by no other 
 means than the introduction of ti^tj " iire-v/ater," which 
 has proved such a curse.' 
 
 ' I have heard,' said Robert, ' that in the Indian 
 languages there are no words which could be employed 
 in swearing ; and the native must have recourse to 
 the tongue of his conquerors if he would thus sin/ 
 
 * And has no effort been made to Christianize them?' 
 asked Linda. ., , ^ 
 
 * 1 have visited the Manitoulin tsland in Late 
 Huron/ said Mr. Holt, ' where the remains of several 
 Indian tribes have been collected by Sir Francis Head, 
 with a view to their civilisation ; and I can hardly 
 say that the experiment impressed me favourably, it 
 is the largest fresh-water island in the world, more 
 than a hundred miles long, and serves as a fine roomy 
 cage for the aborigines, who support themselves by 
 hunting, fishing, and a little agriculture, and receive 
 those luxuries which to us are necessaries, such as 
 blankets and clothes, as annual presents irom Govern- 
 ment. They seemed miserably depressed and stolid ; 
 but the schools are well attended, and we may indulge 
 some hope about the rising generation.' 
 
 ' Tliey seem too apathetic to improve,' said Robert. 
 
 ' Still, it is our duty to work, however unpromising 
 the material. I was pleased with a service which I 
 attended in one of their log-schoolhouses. Nothing 
 could be more devout than the demeanour of the 
 Indians ; the women's sweet plaintive hymns haunted 
 me for a long while.' 
 
 ' That's curious ; for in their wild state I cm't make 
 
fll 
 
 
 i . 
 
 ;i 
 
 364 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 out that they Bing at all,' remarked Eobert. 'The 
 noise they call music is far more like the growling of 
 beasts ; and their only instruments, that I have ever 
 seen, is a sort of drum with one head.' 
 
 ' Hush, here are some of them,' said Linda. 
 
 In a glade of the forest two young girls were cutting 
 wood, wielding hatchets as though well accustomed to 
 their use, and displaying finely formed arms at every 
 movement. For, as a general rule, the hardworking 
 Indian woman is more strongly developed in pro- 
 portion than her lazy lord. Lounging against a pine 
 close by, was a tall, slender young man, attired in a 
 buffalo skin cloak, of which *"> aead and fore-legs 
 portion hung down with a ru^^^d effect ; from under 
 his arm projected an ornamented pipe. 
 
 ' 1 think he might work, and the ladies look on,' 
 observed Linda. 
 
 She could hardly repress an exclamation as he 
 turned his face towards her. Round his eyes were 
 traced two yellow circles, and his mouth was enclosed 
 by a parenthesis of vermilion ; an arabesque pattern 
 adorned each dusky cheek. 
 
 * Isn't he a brilliant fellow ? ' whispered Eobert. 
 ' A lover, you may be certain, who has attired himself 
 thus to come out here and display his painted face to 
 these girls.' 
 
 * But he does not appear to speak a single word to 
 them.' 
 
 ' Oh, they do a good deal with the eyes,' he answered, 
 laughing. ' Now that I look at the girls, one of them 
 is quite pretty, and I fancy I ca,n dp*^?»«:».t a blush 
 through the oHve of h or cheek.* 
 
 ' What a hideous custom that pamciLg tho fi-no s£ I 
 
 111 
 
VISITORS AND VIS/TED. 
 
 265 
 
 ' I can't agree with you ; that young fellow would 
 look much worse if he washed the paint off, and he 
 knows it. You'd regret the change yourself, when 
 you saw him look mean, dirty, and insignificant, as at 
 ordinary times ; for rarely he decorates himself thus.' 
 
 ' Well, I beg you won't carry your liking so far as 
 to practise it, nor Mr. Holt either.' Sam bowed 
 obediently. 
 
 Perhaps nothing in the camp amused the European 
 young lady more than the infants, the ' papooses,' in 
 their back-board cradles, buried up to the armpits in 
 moss, and protected overhead by an arch of thin wood, 
 whence hung various playthings for the inmate. 
 
 ' Now I can comprehend the use of this rattle, or 
 even of the tiny mocassins,' said Mr. Holt philo- 
 sophically, as they investigated the pendants to the 
 papoose. 'But why this piece of deer-leather, with 
 
 bits of stag-horn attached ? Except as a charm ' 
 
 Here nature answered the ingenious speculation, by 
 the little coppery hand put forth to grasp the debated 
 toy, and champ it in the baby mouth, after the fashion 
 of our own immemorial coral-and-bells. This was the 
 beginning of Linda's acquaintance with, and interest 
 for, the poor Indians. She afterwards saw much of 
 them in their wigwams and at tlieir work. A litde 
 kindness goes far towards winning the Indian heart. 
 They soon learned to regard all at Cedar Creek as 
 friends, while to the young lady they gave the admiring 
 cognomen of Ahwao, the Eose. 
 
 { t 
 
 i 
 
Mmamiimmjmt^ 
 
 £SS 
 
 
 ri ■ 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 SUNDAY IN THE FOREST. 
 
 'IN Da soon learned to liail it with delimit. 
 For the overwhehnintr labours of the other 
 six days were suspended during this bright 
 first : the woodman's axe lay quietly in its 
 niche by the grindstone, the hoe hung idly in the 
 shed ; Eobert shook off sundry cares which were wont 
 to trouble his brotherly brow from Monday till 
 Saturday, and almost to obscure the fact of his loving 
 little sister to his brotherly eyes ; and was able to 
 enjoy that rarity in bush-life, an interval of leisure. 
 
 She found a consideraljlc development in these 
 brothers of hers. From coping with the actual needs 
 and stern realities of existence, from standing and 
 facing fortune on their own feet, so to speak, they had 
 mentally become more muscular. The old soft life of 
 comparative dependence and conventionality was not 
 such as educates sturdy characters or helpful men. 
 This present life was just the training required. Linda 
 discovered that Robert and Arthur were no loiiger 
 boys to be petted or teased, as the case might be ; but 
 men in the highest attributes of manhood — forethought, 
 decision, and industry. It was on Sunday that she 
 
 266 
 
SUNDA Y IN THE FOREST. 
 
 267 
 
 got glimpses of their old selves, and that the links of 
 family affection were riveted and brightened ; as in 
 many a home that is not Canadian. 
 
 For the rest ; these Sundays were barren days. 
 The uncommon toil of the past week was not favour- 
 able to spirituality of mind ; and which of all the 
 party could become teacher to the others ? Mr. Wynn 
 had some volumes of sermons by old orthodox divines, 
 brought out indeed in his emigration with a view to 
 these Sabbath emergencies. When prayers were read, 
 and the usual psalms and lessons gone through, he 
 would mount his silver spectacles, fix himself in a 
 particularly stately attitude in his high-backed chair, 
 and commence to read one of the discourses (taking 
 out a paper mark beforehand) in a particularly stately 
 voice. It is not exceeding the truth to say that George 
 oftentimes was driven to frantic eflurts to keep himself 
 awake ; and even Arthur felt the predisposition of 
 Eutychus come stealing over him. 
 
 Sometimes the Davidsons came down. The sturdy 
 Scotchman had all his national objections to ' the 
 paper ; ' and when convinced that it was better to 
 hear a printed sermon than none at all, he kept a 
 strict outlook on the theology of the discourse, which 
 made Mr. Wynn rather nervous. A volume of 
 sermons was altogether interdicted as containing 
 doctrine not quite orthodox ; as he proved in five 
 minutes to demonstration, the old gentlemaja havijig 
 fled the polemic field ignominiously. 
 
 ' Robert, in all your dreams for a settlement, have 
 you ever thought of the church there ought to be ? ' 
 
 ' Thought of it ? — to be sure, and planned the site. 
 Come along, and I'll show it to you — just where the 
 
 i 
 
368 
 
 CEDAR CRMER. 
 
 Hi 
 
 tinned spirn win gleam forth prettily from the woncis, 
 and be seen from all sides ot the pond. Come ; ill 
 bring you an easy way throii£»h the bushes : ' and as 
 she was leaning on his arm for an afternoon stroll, 
 with the other dear brother at her left hand, of course 
 she went where he wished. 
 
 * When I was out with Argent last winter,' observed 
 Arthur, we came to a lot of shanties, called by courtesy 
 a village (with some grand name or other, and intend- 
 ing, like all of them, to be some day at least a capital 
 city), wLere they were beginning to build a church. 
 It was to be a very liberal-minded affair, for all sects 
 were to have it in turn till tlicnr own places were 
 built : and on this understanding all subscribed. Odd 
 subscriptions ! Tlie paper was brought to Argent and 
 me, he gave a few dollars ; most people gave produce, 
 lumber, or shingles, or so many days' work, or the 
 loan of oxen, and so on.' 
 
 ' And as they do everything by " bees," from build- 
 ing a house down to quilting a counterpane, 1 suppose 
 they had a bee for this,' said Linda. 
 
 ' Exactly so. But it seemed a great pull to got it 
 on foot at all. New settlers never have any money 
 — like ourselves,' jauntily added Arthur. * I never 
 thought I could he so hnppy with empty pockets. 
 Don't be deceived by that jingling — it is only a few 
 keys which I keep for purposes of deception, Haven't 
 I seen Uncle Zack's eyes glisten, and I am certaifi his 
 mouth watered, when he thought the music proceeded 
 from red cents ! ' 
 
 ' But why must our church have a tin ipire ? * 
 asked Linda by and by. ' |t wcmKi remind rne of 
 some plaything. Jiob.' 
 
 II! 
 
SVNDA Y IN THE FOREST. 
 
 a69 
 
 • Because it's national,' was the reply. ' But you 
 needn't be afraid ; if we have a shed like a white- 
 washed barn for the first ten years, with seats of half- 
 hewn logs, we may deem ourselves fortunate, and never 
 aspire to the spire. Excuse my pun.* 
 
 ' Oh, did you intend that for a pun ? ' asked Linda 
 innocently. ' [ beg your pardon for not laughing in 
 the proper place. But how about the minister of 
 these bush churches, Bob ? ' 
 
 ' Well, as the country opens up and gets cleared, 
 we may reckon on having some sort of minister. 1 
 mean some denomination of preacher, within twenty- 
 five or thirty miles of us ; and he will think nothing 
 of riding over every Sunday. It's quite usual.' 
 
 ' He's a zealous man that dues it in the bitter 
 winter, with the weather some degrees below zero/ 
 remarked Arthur. 
 
 ' How haj^py he must feel to be able to deny him- 
 self, and to suffer for Jesu.' sake,' said Tiinda softly. 
 ' Robert, I often think co"1d \m do nothing down in 
 that wretched plnoe they call the " Corner," wliero 
 uubtiil) appnal'N Lu know iiiiythiiif,' about God at all ? 
 Couldn't we have a Sunday srjiool, or a l>i])le class, or 
 sonit'tliing of tliat sort ? (t hardly flp|H!ar8 right \^\ 
 be Cimstians, and yet hold our tongues about our 
 Saviour unmiig all these (JHrk soiils,' 
 
 The thought had been visiting llobert too, during 
 some of his Sundays; but had been put asid(3 from a 
 false fcituidity and fear of man. 'How holy niUMt be 
 my life, how blameless my actions, if I set up tu toaoli 
 others ? ' was one deterring consideration. As if he 
 could not trust his God's help to keep him what a 
 Christitin <)U|j;ht lu be I 
 
 ( \ 
 
 H 
 
'vT, 
 
 270 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 IK I 
 
 i B' ' 
 
 • We will think over it, Linda/ ho said gravely. 
 
 An opening socmed lo come ere next Sabbath. On 
 the Saturday arrived at tlie ' Corner ' the worthy 
 Itinerant preacher wlio occasionally visited there, and 
 was foi til with sent up to the Wynns* shanty for enter- 
 tainment by Zack J'untini,' ; who, however willing to 
 enjoy the eclat of the minister's presence, was always 
 on the iook-out for any loophole to save his own purse; 
 and had indeed been requetiLed by Mr. Wynn to 
 commit the pastor to his hospitality when next he 
 came round. Little of the cleric in appearance or garb 
 was about this man of God. A clear-headed, strongly 
 convictioned person, with his Bible for sole theologic 
 library, and a deep sense of the vast consequence of 
 his message at his heart, he dismounted from the 
 sturdy Canadian horse which his own hands were used 
 to attend, and entered the emigrant's dwelling with 
 apostolic salutation — ' l*eace be to this house.' 
 
 'Very unlike our old-cuuntry nruisters, my dear,' 
 said gentle Mrs. Wynn to her daughter ; ' and 1 fear I 
 never could get reconciled to that blanket-coat and 
 top-boots ; but he's a good man — a very good man, I 
 am sure. I found him speaking to Andy Callaghan 
 in the kitchen about his soul ; and really Andy looked 
 quite moved by his earnestness. It seems he makes 
 it a rule never to meet any person without speaking 
 on the subject : I must say I highly approve of that 
 for a minister.' 
 
 What a strange congregation was gathered in Zack 
 Bunting's large room next noon ! All sorts of faces, 
 all sorts of clothes. Mrs. Zack and Almeria in rain- 
 bow garments ; the Davidsons in sensible homespun ; 
 the Wynns in old -country garb, were prominent 
 
SUNDA Y IN THE FOREST, 
 
 #71 
 
 Ktws had ^'one far and near that preaching was to be 
 enjoyed that Sahhath at the ' Corner ; ' and from day- 
 break it had made a stir along the road.s. Ox-sleds, 
 waggons, mounted horses, came thitlier apace by every 
 available path through the woods. Old men and 
 maidens, young nnii and matrons ami children, 
 crowded before the preacher, as he spoke to them from 
 the verse — ' Peace be with all them that love our 
 Lord Jesus Christ in sincrri'y.' 
 
 Now an emphasis was laid on those last two words 
 that might well make hypocrites wince. And Zack 
 Bunting had been singing with considerable fervour 
 various hymns totally unsuited to his state of soul ; as 
 proprietor of the meeting-place, it became him to set 
 an example of devotion — besides, was not religion a 
 highly respectable thing ? Among other hymns had 
 been that beautiful outpouring of individual faith and 
 love, — 
 
 Jestis, my all, to hcavon ih gone, 
 He whom I fix my hopes vipon.' 
 
 All this had Zack sung uiiilinchinjly, as though one 
 syllable of it were true for him! 
 
 The preacher dealt with the evil faithfully. He 
 told his hearers that the common words repeated con- 
 tinually and often thoughtlessly, ' Our Lord .Tesus 
 Christ,' contained in themselves tlie very essence of 
 God's glorious salvation. ' Jesus,' Saviour — He whose 
 precious blood was nhcd to take away the sin of the 
 world, and who takes away our sins for ever, if only 
 we believe in Him : ' Clirist,' the Divine title, whose 
 signification gave value inconceivable to the sacrifice 
 on Calvarv the Anointed One, the Prince of the 
 kings of the earth ; ' Our Lord,' our IVIaster — the 
 
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 appropriation clause which makes Hira and all the 
 blessings of His gospel truly ours for ever, by faith in 
 His name. In simpler words than are written here it 
 was told ; and the grand old story of peace, the good 
 news of all the ages, that whicli has gladdened the 
 heaHs of unnumbered millions with the gladness which 
 death does not extinguish, but only brighten into 
 celestial glory — how God can be 'just, and yei the 
 justifier of him that believeth in Jesus ; ' how there is 
 no preparation needed for the reception of this vast 
 boon of pardon, but simply the prerequisite of beiug a 
 sinner and needing a Saviour ; how all present might 
 there, that hour, become forgiven souls, children of the 
 royal family of heaven, heirs of God, and joint heirs 
 of Christ, by means no more laborious than believing 
 on Jesus as the Pardoner, coming to Him in prayer for 
 His great gift of forgiveness, and taking it, being sur<'i 
 of it from His hands, as a beggar takes alms for no 
 deservings of his own. The preacher spoke all this 
 with soul-felt earnestness ; it v/as the message of his 
 life. 
 
 Even when the motley congregation drifted away 
 down the creaking narrow stairs and into the open 
 sunny air, wh3re their motley vehicles stood among 
 the stumps waiting, they could not at once shake off 
 the impression of those earnest words. In amidst 
 their talk of fall wheat, and burning fallow, and 
 logging-bees, would glide thoughts from that sermon, 
 arresting the worldliness with presentations of a 
 mightier reality still ; with suggestions of something 
 which perhaps indeed was of deeper and more vital 
 interest than what to eat, or what to drink, oi 
 wherewithal to be clothed. 
 
wmmBmrn^ 
 
 SUNDA Y IN THE FOREST. 
 
 273 
 
 Plenty of invitation had the pastor as to his further 
 progress. Few settlers but would have deemed it an 
 honour to have his shanty turned for tlie nonce into 
 a churclL Many there were accustomed to the means 
 of grace weekly at home, who pined unavailingly for 
 the same blessings in the bush. Ah, our English 
 Sabbaths, how should we thank God for them ! 
 
 llobert plucked up heart, and asked two or three 
 seriously disposed young men to meet him every 
 Sunday afternoon in the cottage of Jacques Dubois, 
 for the purpose of reading the Eible together. Linda's 
 plan of a Scripture class for girls was rather slower 
 of realization, owing partly to a certain timidity, 
 not unnatural in a gently nurtured girl, which made 
 her shrink from encountering the quick-witted half- 
 republican, and wholly insubordinate young ladies of 
 the * Corner.' 
 
 1 f 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 IIOY^- THE CAPTAIN CLEARED HIS BUSH. 
 
 '0n rv HE next great event in our settlers' history 
 ^_ i-\:y was their Tirst logging-bee, preparatory to 
 l^i^S ^^^ i)lanting of fall wheat. The ladies 
 had been quite apprehensive of tlie scene, 
 for Eobert and Arthur could give no pleasant accounts 
 of the roysterings and revelry wliich generally dis- 
 tinguished these gatherings. But they hoped, by 
 limiting the amount of liquor furnished to sufhcient 
 for refreslnnent, though not sufficient for intoxication, 
 tharfc they could in a measure control the evil, as at 
 their raising-bee four months previously. 
 
 The mass of food cooked for the important day 
 required so much extra labour, as sorely to discompose 
 the Irish damsel who acted under Linda's directions. 
 ]\Iiss Biddy IVIurphy had already begun to take airs 
 on herself, and to value her own services extravagantly. 
 Life in the bush was not her ideal in coming to 
 America, but rather high wages, and perchance a well- 
 to-do husband; and, knowing that it would be difficult 
 to repla,ce her, she thought she might be indolent 
 and insolent with impunity. Linda's mother never 
 
 174 
 
wmmmmm^m^^ma 
 
 ,^' 
 
 HO W THE CAPTAIN CLEARED HIS BUSH. 275 
 
 knew of all the hard household work which her frail 
 fragile girl went through in these days of preparation, 
 nor what good reason the roses had for deserting her 
 cheeks. Mamma should not be vexed by hearing of 
 Biddy's defection ; and there was an invaluable and 
 indignant coadjutor in Andy. 
 
 Everybody was at the bee. Zack Bunting and his 
 team, Davidson and his team, and his tall sons; 
 Captain Armytage and Mr. Reginald ; Jacques Dubois 
 and another French Canadian ; a couple of squatters 
 from the other side of the lake ; altogether two 
 dozen men v.ere assembled, with a fair proportion 
 of oxen. 
 
 It was a burning summer day : perhaps a hundred 
 degrees in the sun at noon. What a contrast to the 
 season which had witnessed the fall of the great trees 
 now logging into heaps. Robert could harcFly believe 
 his memory, that for three months since the year 
 began, the temperature of this very place had been 
 below the freezing-point. 
 
 Mr. Reginald Armytage volunteered to be grog-bos, 
 an office which suited his ' loafing ' propensities, since 
 his duties consisted in carrying about a pail of water 
 and a bottle of whisky to the knots of workmen. 
 His worthy father's position was almost as ornamental, 
 for after one or two feeble efforts with a handspike, he 
 went to talk with Mr. Wynn tlie elder — chiefly of a 
 notable plan which he had for clearing a belt of wood 
 lying between his farmhouse and the lake, and which 
 quite shut out all view. 
 
 ' You see that Scotch fellow had no taste about his 
 place, eh ? He just thought of the vulgar utilitarian 
 facts of the farm as it were ; but for the cultivation 
 
 !'• 
 
/ 
 
 i 
 
 V. 
 ! 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 !'■ 
 
 ii 
 
 ,i 91 
 
 11 
 
 276 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 of the eye, tlie glorious influence of landscape, he had 
 no thought. Daisy Burn might as well be in the 
 bottom of a pit ; all one can see is the sky and the 
 walls of forest outside the clearing. Now my plan is 
 — Reginald, my boy,' as the grog-bos passed within 
 hearing distance, ' give me the cup. The day is sultry 
 to an extreme, eh ? ' Having refreshed his throat, he 
 proceeded : ' My plan is, to set on fire that stiip of 
 forest, eh ? I never could abide the slow work of 
 the axe. With proper precautions, such as engineers 
 use along the new rail - lines, the burning might be 
 kept within bounds, eh ? ' 
 
 Mr. Wynn, who knew nothing at all about the 
 matter, courteously assented. 
 
 ' Just look at my father, the glorious old gentleman, 
 how he stands like a general overseeing a lot of 
 pioneers,' said Robert to Arthur, as they passed one 
 another. ' Wonder what he and that drone are 
 conversing abjut so long.' 
 
 ' I heard Armytage saying he would clear the belt 
 of his forest on the lake with fire,' was the reply. ' In 
 which case we may look out.* 
 
 ' Whew ! ' Robert whistled a long note. But his 
 gang of teamsters wanted him and his handspike, so 
 he went on. Each yoke of oxen had four men attached 
 to it, for the purpose of rolling the logs on top of each 
 other, and picking the grouud clear after them ; which 
 last means gathering all chips and sticks into the pile 
 likewise. An acre to each team is considered a fair 
 day's work. Robert was so busy as quite to forget 
 the captain and his alanning method of clearing, 
 thenceforth. 
 
 By evening something had been done towards dis- 
 
HO W THE CAPTAIN CLEARED HIS B USH. 2 7 7 
 
 entangling Cedar Creek. The trees, which had lain 
 about at every conceivable angle, in the ^vildest 
 disorder, were rolled into masees ready for burning, 
 through six acres of the clearing. The men had 
 worthily earned their supper. In the old shanty it 
 was laid out, on boards and tressels from end to end. 
 The dignified Mr. Wynn of Dunore took tlie chair ; 
 Captain Armytage was vice, or croupier. As to 
 attendance, the Irish damsel struck work at the most 
 critical juncture, and refused to minister to them in 
 the article of tea. The ever-ready Andy, just in with 
 blackened hands from his long day's field-work, washed 
 them hurriedly, and became waiter for the nonce, 
 having first energetically declared that if he was Biddy 
 Murphy, he'd be 'shamed to ate the bread he didn't 
 aim ; and that she might go home to her mother as 
 soon as she liked, for an iligant young lady as she 
 was. Zack Bunting overheard the strife, and the 
 same night, on bis return home, dropped a hint 
 to the girl Libby — short for Liberia — his wife's 
 orphan and penniless niece, who dwelt with them 
 as a servant, and whose support tliey were anxious 
 to get off their hands ; and so, to her ovm prodigious 
 astonishment, the recalcitrant Biddy found herself 
 superseded, and the American help hired a day or 
 two afterwards. 
 
 ' The whole affair of the bee was not so formid- 
 able as you thougJit,' said Robert to his sister sub- 
 sequently. They were together in a canoe upon the 
 pond, enjoying a tranquil afternoon, and ostensibly 
 fishing. 
 
 ' Oh no, not so bad. You know I saw very little 
 of your hive, except indeed the storekeeper's son, who 
 
ayS 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 
 was dressed so fantastically, and who would come 
 offering his help in my cookery.' 
 
 * I saw you talking to Jackey Dubois. Could you 
 make anything of his French ? ' 
 
 ' Well, I tried, and of course could understand him ; 
 but the accent is very queer. He calls Canada always 
 Conodo ; in fact, he puts " o " for " a " and " i " con- 
 stantly. The article "la" turns into " lo," "voir" 
 becomes " voar." That puzzles one — and the nasal 
 twang besides. I wonder why that is so universal. 
 Even your nice friend Mr. Holt is afifected by it, 
 though slightly.' 
 
 ' He told me once that it is a national peculiarity ; 
 and no matter what pains a man takes to preserve 
 himself or his children from it, insensibly it grows in 
 the pronunciation. He believes that something in the 
 climate affects the nasal organs ; he predicts it for me, 
 and I suppose for all of us.' 
 
 * I hope not. Eobert, I think the foliage on the 
 shores is changing colour already.' 
 
 ' I daresay ; the maple blushes scarlet very early. 
 Ah, wait till you see the Indian summer, with its 
 gorgeous tinting and soft pink mists' 
 
 And here Robert jerked into the boat a fine speckled 
 trout caught by the bait -of a garden worm. He had 
 captured half-a-dozen in half-an-hour. 
 
 ' One would think the ni'sts were come already,' 
 said Linda, still gazing at the waved outline of the 
 shora ' There seems to be fog away yonder.' 
 
 ' The captain burning his fallow, I presume,' said 
 Robert, raising his eyes from his hook. But the 
 smoke was larger than tliat would account for. 
 
 ' We will paddle a little nearer and investigate, 
 
 1^ 
 
HO W THE CAPTAIN CLEARED HIS B USIL 2 7 9 
 
 said he, laying down his tackle. A dread of suspicion 
 stole uito his mind, which whitened his very lips. 
 
 They approached and coasted ; the smell of burning 
 wood becoming stronger — the smoke hanging ever 
 those headlands denser. 
 
 It was aa he feared — the forest was on fire. 
 
i 
 
 -1 \ 
 
 
 if 
 
 
 i* 
 
 IteL 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE FOEEST ON FIRE. 
 
 ROBERT drew his paddle into the canoe, and 
 sat perfectly still for some moments, 
 gazing towards the lire and taking in its 
 circumstances. TJiey could hear the dull 
 roar of the blaze distinctly, and even caught a glimpse 
 of its crimson glare through an opening in the tall 
 pines fringing the lake. It must have been burning a 
 couple of hours to have attained such mastery. Dark 
 resinous smoke hung heavily in the air : a hot stifling 
 gust of it swept down on the canoe. 
 
 * The wind is towards the pond, most providentially,' 
 said Kobert, taking up his paddle, and beginning to 
 stroke the water vigorously towards home. * The 
 burning rnay do no harm ; but fire is a fearful agent 
 to set afoot. I'm sure the captain heartily wishes his 
 kindling undone liy this time.' 
 
 ' Is there no danger to the farm, Kobert ? ' asked 
 his sister, who had become blanched with fear. * I 
 never heard such a terrible sound as that raging and 
 crackling.' 
 
 * To Daisy Burn none, I should say ; for, of course, 
 the man had sense enougli to fire the bush only a long 
 
THE FOREST ON FIRE. 
 
 281 
 
 way down in front, an extensive clearing rather 
 round the house, and the breeze will keep away the 
 blaze.' 
 
 ' Thank God,' fervently ejaculated Linda. ' I wiah 
 we could bring Miss Annytage and little Jay to 
 the Creek while it lasts. Wouldn't you go across 
 for them, Bob ? I know they must be frightened' 
 
 Eobert hardly heara her, and certainly did not take 
 in the import of her words. With some wonder at 
 his set face and earnest watch along shore, she did 
 not press her wish. He was looking at the belt of fat 
 resinous pines and balsams, dry as chips from the long 
 summer droughts and tropical heats, which extended 
 along from the foot of Armytage's farm even to the 
 cedar swamp ; he was feeling that the slight wind was 
 blowing in a fair direction for the burning of this most 
 inflammable fuel, and consequently the endangering of 
 his property on the creek. A point or two from °the 
 east of south it blew ; proved by the strong resinous 
 smell wafted towards the landing cove. 
 
 • Bob, you're forgetting the trout and the tackle,' as 
 he jumped ashore, helped her out, and hurried up the 
 beaten path beside the beaver meadow. ' Never mind ; 
 I want to see Holt,' was his answer. ' If any man can 
 help, 'tis he.' 
 
 'Then there is danger!' She still thought of the 
 Daisy Burn people. Before they reached the house, 
 they met Mr. Holt and half-a-dozen Indians. 
 
 ' We must burn a patch of brushwood, to deprive 
 the fire of fuel,' said the former. ' These Indians have 
 done the like on the prairies westward. It is worth 
 trying, at all events.' 
 
 ' GK) up to my mother, Linda ; thare's nothing to be 
 
 t 
 
aSa 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 much alarmed for as yet ; I hope this plan of TToU's 
 may stop its progress, I'll be at tiie house as soon as 
 I can, tell her ; ' and he ran after tlie oLliers, down to 
 the mouth of tlie creek, where a strip of alluvial land, 
 covered with bushes and ran\ grass, interrujjtetl the 
 belt of tirs and cedars. Calling in fire as an ally 
 against itself seemed to liobert very pt>rUous ; but the 
 calm Indians, accustouied to wilderness exigencies, set 
 about the protective burning at once. The flame 
 easily ran through the dry brushwood ; it was kept 
 within bounds by cutting down the shrubs where it 
 might spread farther than was desirable. Soon a 
 broad blackened belt lay beside the creek, containing 
 nothing upon which the fire could fasten. Axes were 
 at work to widen it still further. 
 
 * The wind has risen very much, Holt,' said Eobert, 
 as they felt hot currents of air sweep past them. 
 
 ' Just the result of the rariiied atmosphere over the 
 flames,' he answered. They spoke little : the impending 
 risk was too awful. For once, the while man submitted 
 himself to the guidance of the red. To prevent the 
 fire from crossing the creek was the great object. 
 The water itself, perhaps a hundred feet wide, would 
 be an ineffectual barrier ; such fierce flame would 
 overleap it. Therefo/e the Indians had burned the 
 left bank, and now proceeded to burn the right. 
 Indomitably self-possessed, cool and silent, they did 
 precisely what met the emergency, without flurry 
 or confusion. 
 
 All this time the fire was advancing behind the 
 green veil of woods. Volumes of thick smoke were 
 borne off across the pond, alarn^ing the dwellers in 
 distant shanties and oases of clearing, v/ith sugges- 
 
THE FOREST ON FIRE. 
 
mmmimmi^SmSBmm 
 
 i'« 
 
 I I 
 
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 1 
 
 ii 
 
 
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 ■ 
 
 
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 THE FOREST ON FIRE. 
 
 28s 
 
 Before sunset the conilagiation came 
 Marching resistlessly 
 
 tion of the most terrific danger that can befall a settler 
 in the bush. 
 
 in sight of Cedar Creek, 
 oi'ward, to the sound of great detonations of crashing 
 and crackling timber, and its own vast devouring roar, 
 the mighty tire presented a front of Hame thirty feet 
 higher than the tree-tops. Daylight went down before 
 that huge glare. The low hanging clouds were 
 crimsoned with a glow, not from the sinking sun, but 
 from the billows of blaze beneath. As the dusk 
 deepened, the terrors of the icene intensified by 
 contrast, though in reality the triumphant fire recoiled 
 from that blackened space fringing the stream, where 
 it m^ > die for want of fuel. 
 
 To prevent its spreading up to the concession line, 
 and catching the forest there, and perhaps destroying 
 the whole township, all the men in the neighbourhood 
 had assembled to cut down trees, and leave a barrier 
 of vacancy. If the v/ind had not been blowing fr*:*!:! 
 that diiectiou, it is improbable that their endeavours 
 would have been sufficient to keep back the burning. 
 The crestfallen Captain Armytage, author of all the 
 mischief, wield(d an axe among them. Truly he had 
 created a view of black mioking poles and cheerful 
 charcoal vistas before his dwelling. Whether that 
 were better than the utilitarian Scotchman's green 
 woodS; lie did not say just now, nor have spirit even 
 to answer Davidson's sarcastic remarks on his ' muckle 
 clearin'.' 
 
 Far into the night, the gieat gaunt boles of trees 
 stood amid wreathing flame. When all risk was over 
 that it would communicate further, and destroy the 
 garden or the house, Robert and the rest could admire 
 
286 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 41 
 
 W \ 
 
 \ 
 
 its magnificence, and Sam Holt could tell of other 
 forest-burnings of which he liad heard, especially of 
 the great fire which occurred in the year 1825, and 
 consumed about two hundred square miles of woods 
 on the Miramichi Eiver in New xJrunswick, left 
 fourteen hcises standing in the town of Newcastle, 
 and destroyed five hundred people. Two thousand 
 were thus reduced to pauperism. 
 
 ' Such things are never heard of in Europe. Why 
 are these forests more inflammable than those in the 
 old world ? ' asked Mr. Wynn the elder. 
 
 ' Because the drought and heat of the climate are 
 so much greater,' answered Sam Holt; 'and the 
 preponderance of pines, loaded to the end of every leaf 
 and twig with pitch and resin, afibrds uncommon food 
 for fire.' 
 
 Then as to the cause ; he considered it could never 
 be spontaneous combustion, but always accident, un- 
 less, indeed, in an exceptional case like the present, 
 said Mr. Holt sotto voce. Settlers, burning brush 
 heaps, or logging, sometimes permit the flame to run 
 along the ground into the bush ; and in dry weather 
 entrance was sufficient. The boundary fences of 
 farms were often consumed in this way, and more 
 extensive mischief might follow. 
 
 For days the charred chaos of timber poles and 
 fallen trunks gave forth such heat and flickering 
 flames as to be unapproachable. Zack's Yankee brain 
 had a scheme tor utilizing the ashes, if only he had 
 machinery big enough for converting all into potash 
 and pearlash. This man was old Mr. Wyun's special 
 aversion. There was indeed little in common between 
 the well-bred European gentleman, who always, even 
 
 
THE FOREST ON FIRE. 
 
 287 
 
 in these poor circumstances, wore the whitest linen 
 (he never knew liow Linda toiled over those neat 
 shirt-fronts and ruffles), and kept up the canvenances 
 of society in the bush, and had a well-educated range 
 of thought — between all this and the Yankee store- 
 keeper, who wore no linen at all, nor had the faintest 
 idea of the usages of the polite world, nor an idea 
 which might not be paralleled in the mental experience 
 of a rat in a bam. ' Get ' and ' grasp ' were the twin 
 grooves of his life. 
 
 Unconscious of the antipathy, Zack would saunter 
 up to Cedar Creek sometimes of an evening, and, if 
 not intercepted, would march straight into the parlour 
 where the ladies sat, and fix his feet on the wooden 
 chimney-piece, discharging tobacco juice at intervals 
 into the fire with unerring labial aim. Mr. Wynn's 
 anger at the intrusion signified notlring, nor could a 
 repellent manner be understood by Zack without some 
 overt act, which a strained respect for hospitality 
 prevented on the part of the old gentleman. 
 
 ' Well, Eobert, how you could permit that man to 
 walk with you for the last half-hour I do not know.' 
 Mr. Wynn stood on the threshold, looking a complete 
 contrast to the shuffling, retreating figure of the lank 
 Yankee striding over to the road. 
 
 * I assure you it is not for the pleasure I take in 
 his society, sir; but he gives me useful hints. We 
 were talking just now of potash, and I showed him my 
 new raU-feuces ; he has rather put me out of conceit 
 with my week's work because it is of basswood, which 
 he says does not hold.' 
 
 ' Are those the rails which I helped to split ? * 
 
 Be it noticed here that Mr. Wynn the elder could 
 
788 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 not bear to be totally dependent on his sons, nor to 
 live the life of a faineant while they laboured so hard ; 
 he demanded some manual task, and believed himself 
 of considerable use, wliile they had often to undo his 
 work when he turned his back ; and at all times the 
 help was chieliy imaginary. No matter, it pleased 
 him ; and they loved the dear old gentleman too well 
 to undeceive him. 
 
 * As to the potash business, sir, I fear it is too 
 complicated and expensive to venture upon this year, 
 though the creek is an excellent site for an ashery, 
 and they say the manufacture is highly remunerating. 
 What do you thhiK, father ? ' And they had a 
 conference that diverged far from potash. 
 
 After closely watching Davidson's management, and 
 finding that he realized twenty -eight shillings per 
 hundredweight, llobert resolved to try the manu- 
 facture. Details would be tedious. Both reader and 
 writer might lose themselves in leach-tubs, ash-kettles, 
 and coolers. The ' help,' Liberia, proved herself valu- 
 able out of doors as well as indoors at this juncture ; 
 for Mrs. Zack's principle of up -bringing was that 
 young folk should learn to turn their hand to 'most 
 everythin'. And Libby, a large plump girl with 
 prodigiously red cheeks and lips, had profited so far 
 by her training as to be nearly as clever in the field 
 as in the kitchen. Her great otrength was a constant 
 subject of admiration to Andy, though the expression 
 of any such sentiment was met by unmitigated scorn 
 on the lady's part. 
 
 ' Why, thin, Miss Green, an* it's yerself has tlie 
 beautifullest arm, all to nothing', that ever I see ; an' 
 it's mottled brown with freckles, an' as big as a black- 
 
THE FOREST ON FIRE. 
 
 389 
 
 smith's anyhow. Och, fin' look how she swings up 
 tlie potasli kettle as light as if it was only a stone 
 pot; musha, but yer the finest woman, my darlin', 
 from this to yerself all round tlic world agin ! ' 
 
 ' I guess, Mister Handy, if yer was to bring some 
 logs, an' not to stand philanderin* thar, 'twould be a 
 sight better,' rejoined Miss Liberia sourly. 
 
 'Look now,' answered Andy; *ye couldn't make 
 yerself ugly musthore, not if yer wor thryin' from this 
 till then, so ye needn't frown ; but ye're very hard- 
 hearted intirely on a poor orphaiit like me, that has 
 nayther father nor motlier, nor as much as an uncle, 
 nor a cousin near me itself. Though sorra bit o' me 
 but 'ud sooner never have one belongin' to me than 
 thim out-an-out disgraceful cousins of yer own at the 
 " Corner." ' 
 
 Libby was immovable by this as by any other 
 taunt, to all appearance. ' Throth, T thried her every 
 way,' quoth Andy subsequently, after an experience of 
 some months ; ' I thried her by flatthery an' by 
 thruth-tellin', by abusing her relations an' herself, an' 
 by praisin' 'em, by appalin' to her compassion an' by 
 bein' stiff an' impident, an' I might as well hould me 
 tongue. A woman that couldn't be coaxed wid words, 
 I never seen afore.' 
 
 Perhaps she was the better servant fov this dis- 
 qualification ; at all events, she had no idea of any 
 nonsense keeping her from the full discharge of her 
 duties in the house. Her propensity to call the 
 gentlemen by their baptismal names, without any 
 respectful prefix, was viewed by Linda as a very 
 minor evil when set off against strength and willing- 
 heartedness. But oxie day that she wanted her young 
 
J' ' ' 
 
 I* ■■ 
 
 11 i 
 
 290 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 mistress, and abruptly ;;^^»ut her head into the parlour, 
 asking, in a strong tone, ' Whar's Linda ? Tel) lier 
 the men that's settin' the fall wheat '11 be 'long in no 
 time for dinner,' Mr. Wynn could have turned her 
 away on the spot. 
 
 ' Wal ! sure it ain't no sin to forget the " miss " of 
 an odd time, I guess,' was the large damsel's rejoinder, 
 though without the least spice of sauciness. ' Come, 
 I hain't no time to be spendin' here ; ' and she closed 
 the door after her with a bang which made gentle 
 Mrs. Wynn start. There was some trouble in con- 
 vincing her husband that it was only the servant's 
 rough manner — no real disrespect was intended ; the 
 incident put him into low spirits for the day, and 
 turned many a backward thought upon the wealth of 
 his youth. 
 
 He would say, in these downcast moods, that Canada 
 was no place for the gentleman emigrant ; but could 
 he point out any colony more suited ? Also, that his 
 sons earned daily bread by harassing toil, worse than 
 that of a bricklayer or day labourer at home ; but 
 were they not happier than in pursuit of mere pastime 
 like thousands of their equals in the province they 
 had left ? Kobert would certainly have answered in 
 the affirmative. Arthur's restless spirit less wisely 
 pined for the pleasure-seeking of such a life as Argent's. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV: 
 
 TRITOX AMONG MINNOWS. 
 
 ^INDA was stooping one morning in the 
 corner of her garden. Some precious plant 
 was there, protected from the full glare of 
 the noon sun by a calico shade, carefully 
 adjusted, and with a circle of brown damp about it, 
 which told of attentive watering. A few roundish 
 leaves were the object of all this regard ; in the centre 
 of the knot to-day stood a little green knob on a short 
 stem. 
 
 ' Oh, Georgie ! papa ! come and look at my daisy ; 
 it has actually got a bud.' 
 
 ^ Master George, nothing loth to have lessons 
 disturbed by any summons, ran round from the open 
 window through the open hall door, and his father 
 followed more slowly to behold the marvel. 
 
 * You see, papa, I thought it never would get on, it 
 was such a sickly little thing ; but it must be growing 
 strong, or it could not put out a bud. How glad I 
 shall be to see a daisy's face again I I would give all 
 the fragrance of the blue wild iris for one. But, papa, 
 the laurel cuttings are dead, I fear.' 
 
 291 
 
B 
 
 III J 
 
 % '-i:. 
 
 If 
 
 ?j' ■ 
 
 f: 
 
 
 p ■ 
 
 ■1 
 
 1 , •" 
 
 292 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 They looked very like it, though Mr. Wynn would 
 still give them a chance. He apprehended tlie 
 extreme dryness of the air might prove too much 
 for the infant daisy also. But linda would see 
 nothing except promise of prosperity as yet 
 
 ' Now, papa, when I am done with my melons, and 
 you have finished Georgie's lessons, T want you to 
 walk down to Daisy Burn with me. I have some- 
 thing to say to Edith.' 
 
 ' With pleasure, my dear. But I have always 
 wondered why that name was given to that farm, 
 except on the principle of lucus a non' 
 
 After the mid - day dinner they went. Meeting 
 Andy on the road, trudging up from the ' Corner ' on 
 soiue message, he informed them that the captain and 
 his son had gone to a cradling-bee at Benson's, an 
 English settler a few miles off. ' But as to whether 
 'tis to mako cradles they want, or to rock 'em, meself 
 doesn't rightly know.' 
 
 The fact being that a ' cradle,' in American farming, 
 signifies a machine for cutting down corn wholesale. 
 It is a scythe, longer and wider than that used in 
 mowing hay, combined with an apparatus of ' standard,' 
 ' snaith,' and ' fingers,' by means of which a single 
 workman may level two acres and a half of wheat or 
 oats in one day. 
 
 ' Captain Armytage is of a very sociable disposition,* 
 remarked Mr, Wynn, after a few steps. ' A man 
 fresh from the mess table and clubs must find the 
 bush strangely unsuitable.' He was thinking of 
 certain petty occurrences at his own bee, which 
 demonstrated the gallant officer's weaknesses. 
 
 'Oh, papa, did you ever see anything like these 
 
TRITON AMONG MINNO IVS. 293 
 
 vines ? Grapes will be as plentiful as blackberries 
 are at home.' For along the concession line many 
 trees were festooned with ripening clusters ; and deeper 
 in the woods, beyond Linda's ken, and where only the 
 birds and wild animals : .uld enjoy the feast, wliole 
 hundredweights hung in gleams of sunshine. Well 
 might the Northmen, lighting upon Canadian shores in 
 one hot sunmier, many centuries before Cabot or 
 Cartier, name the country Vine-land ; and the earliest 
 French explores up tlie St. Lawrence call a grape- 
 laden rock the Isle of Bacchus. 
 
 ' But is it not a wonder, papa.' pressed the young 
 lady, ' when the cold is so terrible in winter ? Do 
 you remember all the endless trouble the gardener at 
 Dunore had to save his vines from tlie frost ? And 
 Robert says that great river tlie Ottawa is frozen up 
 for five months every year, yet here the grapes 
 flourish in the open air.' 
 
 ' I suppose we are pretty much in the latitude of 
 the Garonne,' answered Mr. Wynn, casting about for 
 some cause. ' But, indeed, Linda, if your Canadian 
 grape does not enlarge somewhat ' — 
 
 ' You unreasonable papa, to expect as fine fruit as 
 in a hothouse or sunny French vineyard. I really 
 see no reason why we Canadians should not have 
 regular vineyards some day, and you would see how 
 our little grapes must improve under cultivation. 
 Perhaps we might make wine. Now, you dear 
 clever papa, just turn your attention to that, and 
 earn for yourself the sobriquet of national bene- 
 factor.' 
 
 Clinging to his arm as they walked, she chattered 
 her best to amuse the sombre mind, so lately uprooted 
 
 .•If. 
 
 f , 
 

 It I' 
 
 ■I 
 i . 
 
 I 
 
 ni 
 
 tM 
 
 fei 
 
 r 
 
 »94 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 from old habits and ways of life into a mode of 
 existence more or less distasteful. The birds aided 
 her effort with a variety of foreign music. Wood- 
 pigeor, bobolink, bluebird, oriole, cooed and trilled 
 and warbled from the bush all around. The black 
 squirrel, fat, sleek, jolly with good living of summer 
 fruits, scampered about the boughs with erect shaggy 
 tail, looking a very caricature upon care, as he 
 stowed away hazel - nuts for the frosty future. 
 Already the trees had donned their autuTiiu coats 
 of many colours ; and the beauteous maple - leaves, 
 matchless in outline as in hue, began to turn 
 crimson and gold. The moody man yielded to 
 the sweet influences of nature in a degree, and 
 acknowledged that even this exile land could be 
 enjoyable. 
 
 Arriving at the snake fences of Armytage's farm, he 
 said he would go down to the post at the ' Corner ' 
 for letters, and call in an hour for Linda on his return. 
 She found Edith and Jay working hard as usual. 
 Their employment to-day was the very prosaic one of 
 digging potatoes. * What horrid occupation for a 
 lady ! ' exclaims somebody. Yes ; Miss Armytage 
 would have much preferred an afternoon spent in 
 painting flowers, for which she had a talent. But 
 there was no help for such manual labour in this case. 
 Don't you imagine her pride suffered before she took 
 part in field work ? I think so, by the deep blush 
 that suffused her face when she saw the visitor coming 
 along, though it was only Linda Wynn, who made 
 some not very complimentary reflections on the father 
 and brother whose absence on an amusing expedition 
 permitted this, — whose general indolence compelled 
 
TRITON AMONG MINNOWS. 
 
 295 
 
 severe labour from the girls. They were misplaced 
 men, certainly, and had as much business in tlie bush, 
 with their tastes and habits, and want of self-control, 
 as Zack Bunting would have had in an English 
 drawing-room. 
 
 Linda had been thinking over a plan, which, whon 
 uttered, was proved to have also suggested itself to 
 her friend. Could not something be done in the way 
 of a Sunday-school class for the miserable ignorant 
 children at the ' Comer ' ? Now the very rudiments 
 of revealed religion were unknown to them ; and to 
 spend an hour or two on the vacant Sabbath in trying 
 to teach them some of Heaven's lore, seemed as if it 
 might be the germ of great good. Miss Armytage, 
 naturally not of Linda's buoyant disposition, foresaw 
 abundance of difficulties, — the indifference or 
 opposition of parents, the total want of discipline 
 or habits of thought among the young themselves. 
 Still, it was worth trying ; if only a single childish 
 soul should be illuminated with the light of life to 
 all eternity by this means, oh, how inestimably worth 
 trying ! 
 
 Mr. Wynn was seen coming up the clearing. ' I 
 know papa has had a letter,' exclaimed Linda, ' and 
 that it is a pleasant one, by his pleasant face. Confess 
 now, Edith, isn't he the handsomest man you ever 
 saw?' 
 
 Her friend laughed at the daughterly enthusiasm, 
 but could have answered in the affirmative, as she 
 looked at his stately grey-crowned figure and handsome 
 features, lighted with a grave, kind smile, as Linda 
 took possession of his left arm — to be nearer his heart, 
 she said. She was not very long in coaxing from him 
 
 fi 
 
w 
 
 !« 
 
 I 
 
 H 
 
 " , I 
 
 : i 
 
 I 
 
 396 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 the blue offirinl letter which contained his appoint- 
 ment to the magistracy of the district, about which he 
 pretended not to be a bit pleased, 
 
 ' And there's some other piece of nonsense in that,' 
 said he, taking out a second blue envelope, and 
 addressed to Arthur Wynn, Esquire. 
 
 ' " Adjutant-General's Otrico," ' read Linda, from the 
 corner. ' His appointment to the militia, I am sure. 
 That good, powerful Mr. Holt ! ' Even at the name 
 she coloured a little. ' He said that he would 
 try and have this done. And I am so glad you 
 are taking your proper footing in the colony, papa. 
 Of course they should make you a magistrate. I 
 should like to know who has the dignified presence, 
 or will uphold the majesty of the law, as well as 
 you ? ' 
 
 ' Magistracy and militia — very different in this 
 mushroom society from what they are in the old 
 country,' said Mr. Wynn despairingly. 
 
 ' Well, papa, I have ambition enough to prefer being 
 chief fungus among the mushrooms, instead of least 
 among any other class. Don't you know how 
 poverty is looked down upon at home ? Here we 
 are valued for ourselves, not for our money. See 
 how all the neighbourhood looks up to Mr. Wynn 
 of Cedar Creek. You ere lord - lieutenant of the 
 county, without his commission : these men fee^ the 
 influence of superior education and abilities and 
 knowledge.* 
 
 *I verily believe, saucebox, that you think your father 
 fit to be Governor-General; or, at least, a triton among 
 the minnows.* 
 
 ' Papa, the fun is, you'll have to marry peoplp now 
 
TRITON AMONG MINNOWS. 197 
 
 whenever you're asked. It is part of a magistrate's 
 duty in out-of-the-way places, Mr. Holt says.' 
 
 ' Then I am to consider my services bespoke by the 
 youn-,' ladies present, eh ? ' said Mr. Wyun, making' a 
 courtly inclination to Edith and Jay. 'With Uio 
 greatest pleasur©,* 
 
 '* 
 
r r 
 
 p ir 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 fl! 
 
 Ill 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 THE PINK MIST. 
 
 R WYNN became his magisterial functions 
 well, though exercised after a primitive 
 fashion, without court - house or bench 
 whence to issue his decisions, without clerk 
 to record them, or police force to back them, or any 
 other customary paraphernalia of justice to render his 
 oihce imposing. To be sure, his fine presence was 
 worth a great deal, and his sonorous voice. As Linda 
 predicted, he was obliged to perform clerical duty at 
 times, in so far as to marry folk who lived beyond 
 reach of a clergyman, and had thrice published their 
 intention in the most public part of the township. 
 Tho earliest of these transactions affianced one of 
 Davidson's lads to a braw sonsie lass, daughter of 
 Benson, the Shropshire settler beyond the * Corner.' 
 The bridegroom, a tall strapping young fellow of about 
 twenty-three, had a nice cottage ready for his wife, 
 and a partially cleared farm of a hundred acres, on 
 v/hich he had been working with this homestead in 
 view for the last year and a half The prudent 
 Scotsman would portion off his other sons in similar 
 respectabihty as they came of age. 
 
 298 
 
THE PINK MIST. 
 
 299 
 
 ' And yer niither and I cam' here wi' an axe and a 
 cradle,' he was wont to say, ' eh, Jeanie Davidson ? ' 
 
 He had good cause for gratulation at the wedding 
 that day. His own indomitable industry and 
 energy had raised him from being a struggling 
 weaver in Lanarkshire to be a prosperous landowner 
 in Canada West. He looked upon a flourishing 
 family of sons and daughters round the festive 
 board in Benson's bam, every one of them a help 
 to wealth instead of a diminution to it; strong, 
 intelligent lads, healthy and handy lasses. With 
 scarce a care or a doubt, he could calculate on their 
 comfortable future. 
 
 *I tell you what, neighbour,' cried stout John 
 Benson, from the head of the table, ' throw by cold 
 water for once, and pledge me in good whisky to the 
 lucky day that brought us both to Canada.' 
 
 ' Na, na,' quoth Davidson, shaking his grizzled head, 
 ' I'll drink the toast wi' all my heart, but it must be 
 in gude water. These twenty year back I hae been a 
 temperance man, and hae brought up thae lads to the 
 same fashion ; for, coming to Canada, I kenned what 
 ruined mony a puir fallow might weel be the ruin o' 
 me, an' I took a solemn vow that a drap o' drink 
 suld never moisten my lips mair. Sandy Davidson 
 wouldna be gettin' John Benson's daughter in 
 marriage the day, if it werena for the cauld 
 water.' 
 
 Captain Armytage, who never missed a merry- 
 making of any description within a circle of miles, 
 took on himself to reply to this teetotal oration. 
 
 It was all very well for Mr. Davidson to talk thus, 
 but few constitutions could bear up against the ex- 
 
W^^sat 
 
 "I 
 
 \ \ 
 
 *.- n 
 
 300 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 pessive labour of bush life without proportionate 
 stimulants. For his own part, he would sink under 
 it, but for judicious reinforcement of cordials, ordered 
 him by the first medical man in Europe. 
 
 ' I daur say,' replied Davidson, whose keen hard 
 eye had been fixed on the speaker ; ' I daur say. Ye 
 mak' nae laces at yer medicine, anyhow. It's weel 
 that Zack's store is so handy to Daisy Burn, only 
 I'm thinkin' the last will go to the first, in the long 
 run.' 
 
 ' What do you mean, sir ? ' demanded the captain 
 fierily. 
 
 ' Naething,' responded Davidson coolly, — * naething 
 save what e'er the words mean.' 
 
 * But we were a - goin' to drink to Canada, our 
 adopted country,' put in Benson, willing to stifle the 
 incipient quarrel — ' the finest country on the face of 
 the earth, after Old England.' 
 
 Hia stentorian Shropshire lungs supplied a cheer 
 of sufficient intensity, taken up by his guests. 
 
 ' The country whar we needna fear factor, nor laird, 
 nor rent- day,' shouted Davidson. 'We're lairds an' 
 factors here, an' our rent-day comes — never.' 
 
 ' Whirroo ! ' exclaimed an Irishman, Pat O'Brien, 
 who, having been evicted in his own country, was 
 particularly sensitive as to landlord and tenant-right. 
 * No more agints, nor gales 0' rint, nor nothin', ever to 
 pay!' 
 
 'Not forgetting the tax-gatherer,* interposed portly 
 Mr. Benson, ' None of us are partikler sorry to part 
 with him.' 
 
 Meanwhile the comely bride was sitting with her 
 husband at one side of the table, thankful for the 
 
 ^U' 
 
THE PINK MIST. 
 
 301 
 
 diversion from herself as a topic of enthusiasm and 
 mirih. 
 
 ' Lads, you'd be a' at the loom, an' your sisters in 
 the factories, only for Canada,' said Davidson, now on 
 his legs. ' An' I suld be lookin' for'ard to the poor- 
 house as soon as my workiu' days were ower \ an' 
 Sandy couldua marry, except to live on porridge an' 
 brose, wi' cauld kail o' Sabbath. How wad ye relish 
 that prospect, bonnie Susan ? * 
 
 Bonnie Susan liked the prospect of the folds of her 
 own silk dress best at that moment, to judge by the 
 determinately downward glance of her eyes. 
 
 By and by Davidson (for the subject was a favourite 
 one with him) hit upon another of the Canadian 
 advantages as a poor man's laud — that the larger a 
 man's family, the wealthier was he. No need to look 
 on the little ones as superfluous mouths, which by dire 
 necessity the labourer in mother country is often 
 forced to do ; for each child will become an 
 additional worker, therefore an additional mean? of 
 gain. 
 
 ' An' if the folk at hame kenned this mair, dinna 
 ye think the emigration wad be thrice what it is, Mr. 
 Bobert ? Dinna ye think they wad risk the sea an' 
 the strangers, to make a safe future for their bairns ? 
 Ay, surely. An' when I think o' the people treading 
 one anither down over the edges 0' thae thr^e little 
 islands, while a country as big as Europe stands 
 amaist empty here ' — 
 
 Mr. Da\'idson never stated the consequences of his 
 
 thought ; for just then came a universal call to clear 
 
 the tables, stow away the boaras and tressols, and 
 
 make room for dancing and small plays. The hilarity 
 19 
 
r 
 
 !:..■ 
 
 30* 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 WS 
 
 may be imagined — the boisterous fun of general blind- 
 man's buff, ladies' toilet, and all varieties oi forfeits. 
 Robert Wynn stole away in the beginning ; he had 
 come for an hour, merely to gratify their good 
 neighbour Davidson; but, pressing as was his own 
 farm-work, he found time to spend another hour at 
 Daisy Burn, doing up some garden beds under direction 
 of Miss Edith. She had come to look on him as a 
 
 very good friend ; and he well, there was some 
 
 indefinable charm of manner about the young lady. 
 Those peculiarly set grey eyes were so truthful and so 
 gentle, that low musical voice so perfect in tone and 
 inflection, that llobert was pleased to look or listen, as 
 the case might be. But chiefest reason of all — was 
 she not dear Linda's choicest friend and intimate ? 
 Did they not confide every secret of their hearts to 
 each other ? Ah, sunbeam, Linda knew well that there 
 was a depth of her friend's nature into which she 
 had never looked, and some reality of gloom there 
 which she only guessed. 
 
 Perhaps it was about Edith's father or brother. 
 That these gentlemen neglected their farm business, 
 and that therefore affairs could not prosper, was 
 tolerably evident. Fertile as is Canadian soil, some 
 measure of toil is requisite to evolve its hidden 
 treasures of agricultural wealth. Except from a hired 
 Irish labourer named Mickey Dunne, Daisy Burn 
 farm did not get this requisite. The young man 
 Eeginald now openly proclaimed his abhorrence of 
 bush life. No degree of self - control or arduous 
 habits had prepared him for the hard work essential. 
 Most of thfi autumn he had lounged about the 
 'Comer,' except when his father was in Zack's bar, 
 
 ,, ,: I.. 
 
wmm 
 
 THE PINK MIST. 
 
 303 
 
 which was pretty often ; or he was at Cedar Creek on 
 one pretext or other, whence he would go on fishing 
 diid shooting excursions with Arthur. 
 
 Meanwhile, Eobert's farming progressed well. Hia 
 fall- wheat was all down by the proper period, lifteeiith 
 of September; for it is found that the earlier the 
 seed is sown, the sti-onger is the plant by the critical 
 time of its existence, and the better able to withstand 
 frost and rust. Complacently he looked over the 
 broad brown space, variegated with charred stumps, 
 which occupied fully a twelfth of the cleared land; 
 and stimulated by the pleasures of hope, he cal- 
 culated on thirty- five bushels an acre next summer 
 as the probable yield. Davidson had raised forty 
 per acre in his first season at Daisy Bum, though he 
 acknowledged that twenty-five was the present average. 
 The garden stuff planted on Eobert's spring-burn 
 ground had flourished ; more than two hundred bushels 
 per acre of potatoes were lodged in the root-house, 
 and a quantity of very fine turnips and carrots. 
 Beans had not thriven : he learned that the climate 
 is considered unfavourable for them. The pumpkins 
 planted between his rows of Indian corn had swelled 
 and swelled, till they lay huge golden baUs on the 
 ground, promising abundant dishes of 'squash' and 
 sweet piR through the winter. 
 
 'How is it that everything thrives with you, 
 Wynn ? ' young Armytage said one afternoon that he 
 found the brothers busy slitting rails for the fencing 
 of the aforesaid fall -wheat. 'I should say the 
 genius of good luck had a special care over Cedar 
 Creek.' 
 
 ' Well, nature has done three-fourths of it,' answered 
 
 |! 
 
r 
 
 •^i 
 
 It ' 
 
 304 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Eobert, driving in a fresh wedge with his beetle ; ' for 
 this soil reminds me of prjme poet's line — " Tickle the 
 earth with a straw, and forth laughs a yellow harvest." 
 The other quarter of our success is just owing to hard 
 work, -Ajmytage, .as you may see.' 
 
 ' I can't stand that/ said the young man, laugliing : 
 ' give me something to do at once ; ' and he began to 
 split rails also. Linda, coming from the house, found 
 them thus employed — a highly industrial trio. 
 
 * I recollect being promised wild plums to preserve,' 
 said she, after looking on for a little. ' Suppose you 
 get out the canoe, Bob, and we go over to that island 
 where we saw such quantities of them unripe ? Now 
 don't look so awfully wise over your wedges, but just 
 consider how I am to have fruit tarts for people, if 
 the fruit is never gathered.* 
 
 Whether the motive was this telling argument, or 
 that his work was almost finished owing to the 
 additional hand, Eobert allowed the beetle to be taken 
 from his fingers and laid aside. 'You imperious 
 person ! I suppose we must obey you.' 
 
 The day was one of those which only Canada in 
 the whole world can furnish — a day of the 'pink 
 mist,' when the noon sun hangs central in a roseate 
 cup of sky. The rich colour was deepest all round 
 the horizon, and paled with infinite shades towards 
 the zenith, like a great blush rose drooping over the 
 earth. Twenty times that morning Linda went from 
 the house to look at it : her eyes could not be satiated 
 with the beauty of the landscape and of the heavens 
 above. 
 
 Then, what colours on the trees ! As the canoe 
 glided along through the enchanted repose of the 
 
THE PINK MIST. 
 
 305 
 
 
 lake, what painted dstas of forest opened to the 
 voyagers' sight! what glowing gold islets against an 
 azure background of distant waters and purple shores ! 
 what rainbows had fallen on the woods, end steeped 
 them in hues more gorgeous than the imagination of 
 ey^n a Turner could conceive ! Shades of lilac and 
 violet deepening into indigo ; scarlet flecked with gold 
 and green ; the darkest claret and richest crimson in 
 opposition : no tropical forest was ever dyed in gi-eater 
 glory of blossom than this Canadian forest in glory of 
 foliage. 
 
 ' What can it be, Eobert ? ' asked Linda, after 
 drinking in the delight of colour in a long silent gaze. 
 ' Why have we never such magnificence upon our trees 
 at home ? ' 
 
 • People say it is the sudden frost striking the sap ; 
 or that there is some peculiar power in the sunbeams 
 — actinic power, I believe 'tis called — to paint the 
 leaves thus; but one thing seems fatal to this sup- 
 position, that after a very dry summer the colouring 
 is not near so brilliant as it would be otherwise. 
 I'm inclined to repose faith in tlie frost theory myself; 
 for I have noticed that after a scorching hot day and 
 sharp night in August, the maples come out in scarlet 
 next moruinir.* 
 
 ' Now, at home there would be some bald patches 
 on the trees,' observed Arthur. 'The leaves seem 
 to fall wholesale here, after staying on till the 
 last.' 
 
 ' I have heard much of the Indian summer,' said 
 Linda, ' but it far exceeds my expectation. An artist 
 would be thought mad who transferred such colouring 
 to his canvas, as natural. Jusu look at the brilliant 
 

 
 Mi 
 
 *" 
 
 n 1 
 
 11 
 
 ,n 
 
 
 306 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 gloam in the water all along under that bank, from 
 the golden leafage above it ; and yonder the refleotion 
 is a vermilion stain. I never saw anything so lovely. 
 I hope it will last a long time, Bob.' 
 
 That was impossible to say ; sometimes the Indian 
 summer was for weeks, sometimes but for a few days ; 
 Canadians had various opinions as to its arrival and 
 duration : September, October, or November might 
 have portions of the dreamy hazy weather thus called. 
 As to why the name was given, nobody could tell ; 
 except it bore reference to an exploded idea that the 
 haze characteristic of the time of the year arose from 
 the burning of the great grassy prairies far west by 
 the red men. 
 
 'What has become of your colony of Indians?' 
 asked Armytage, 'those who lived near the cedar 
 swamp ? ' 
 
 * Oh, they left us in " the whortleberry moon," as 
 they call August, and migrated to 
 
 region 
 
 some 
 
 where that fruit abounds, to gather and store it 
 for winter use. They smoke the berries over a slow 
 fire, I am told, and when dry, pack them in the usual 
 birch-bark makaks ; and I've seen them mixed with 
 the dough of bread, and boiled with venison or por- 
 cupine, or whatever other meat Tas going, as we 
 would use whole pepper.' 
 
 'After the whortleberries, they were to go to the 
 rice - grounds,' observed Arthur. 'Bob, suppose we 
 paddle over and try for ducks in the rice-beds, to the 
 lee of that island.' 
 
 Here were some hundred yards of shallow water, 
 filled with the tall graceful plant, named by the 
 Jesuits ' folle avoine,' and by the English ' wild rice.' 
 
 «'! ' 
 
THE PINK MIST. 
 
 307 
 
 The long drooping ears filled with very large grains, 
 black outside and white within, shook down their 
 contents into the silt at bottom with every movement 
 which waved their seven-feet stems. Arthur knew it 
 as a noted haunt of wild duck, a cloud of which arose 
 when he fired. 
 
 * It was here we met all the pigeons the other day,' 
 said he. ' Those trees were more like the inside of a 
 feather-bed than anything else, so covered were they 
 with fluttering masses of birds ; you couldn't see a bit 
 of the foliage ; and 'twas quite amusing to watch some 
 of them lighting on the rice, which wasn't strong enough 
 to support them, and trying to pick out the grains. 
 As they could neither swim nor stand, they must have 
 been thoroughly tantalized. Don't you remember, 
 Armytage ? * 
 
 But their main business, the plums, must be 
 attended to ; the islet was found which was bordered 
 with festoons of them, hanging over the edge in the 
 coves ; and after due feasting on the delicious aromatic 
 fruit, they gathered some basketsful. When that was 
 done, it was high time to paddle homewards ; the sun 
 was gliding forth from the roseate vault over the 
 western rim, and a silvery haze rose from the waters, 
 softly veiling the brilliant landscape. 
 
 'A great improvement to your charcoal forest, it 
 must be owned,' said Robert, pointing Armytage to 
 where the sharp black tops of rampikes projected over 
 the mist. The young man did not relish allusions to 
 that folly of his father's, and was silent. 
 
 ' Oh, Bob, what a pretty islet ! ' exclaimed Linda, as 
 they passed a rock crested with a few trees, and 
 almost carpeted by the brilliant red foliage of the 
 
 1 '■ ■ .' 
 
 - igwf 
 
 mw.^ 
 
' f 
 
 i 
 
 .! ! 
 
 li 
 
 Vti 1 i 
 
 !4 ''i 
 
 308 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 pyrola, or winter green. ' The buslies make quite a 
 crimson wreath round the yellow poplars.' 
 
 ' I think,' said Eobert, with deliberation, ' it would 
 be almost worth the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean 
 to see this single day of " the pink mist," ' 
 
CIIAriEIl XXXVI. 
 
 BELOW ZERO. 
 
 iNDIAN summer was succeeded by the 
 ' temps boucaneux,' when hoarfrost drooped 
 noiselessly on the night its silver powdci- 
 on all the dazzling colouring, presenting 
 nature robed in a delicate white guise each morning, 
 which the sun appropriated to himself as soon as he 
 could get above the vapours. Now were the vast 
 waters of Canada passing from a fluid to a solid form, 
 giving out caloric in quantities, accompanied by these 
 thin mists. Towards the close of November naviga- 
 tion ceases on the Ottawa ; the beginning of December 
 sees the mighty river frozen over. Yet it lies in the 
 latitude of Bordeaux ! All honour to the benevolent 
 Gulf Stream which warms France and 
 comfortably. 
 
 When Linda's fingers were particularly cold, she 
 would puzzle Eobert and her father with questions as 
 to why this should be so. Mr. Holt once told her 
 that the prevailing wind came from the north-west 
 across a vast expanse of frozen continent and frozen 
 ocean. Also that James's Bay, the souther a tongue 
 of Hudson's, was apt to get choked with masses of ice 
 
 England 
 
 |i 
 
 *. i 
 
 
 f ': i 
 
 808 
 
 I" 'P- 
 
3»o 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 H 
 
 (Jritted in from the arctic seas, and which, being with- 
 out a way of eaciipe, just jammed together and radiated 
 cold in company on the surrounding lands. 
 
 This explanation was given and received within 
 earshot of a spl«3ndid fire on one of those tremendous 
 January mornings when the temperature is perhaps 
 twenty-five degrees below zero, when the very smoke 
 cannot disperse in the frozen atmosphere, and the 
 breath of man and beast returns upon them in snowy 
 particles. Nobody cares to be out of doors, for the 
 air cuts like a knife, and one's garments stiffen like 
 sheet-iron. Linda stands at the window of the little 
 parlour — well she understands now why the hearth 
 was made almost as wide as one side of the room — 
 and looks out on the white world, and on ^he. coppery 
 sun struggling to enlighter the icy heavens, and on 
 that strange phenomenon, the ver glas, gleaming from 
 every tree. 
 
 ' Now, Mr. Holt, as you have been good enough to 
 attempt an explanation of the cold, perhaps you could 
 tell me the cause of the ver glas ? What makes that 
 thin incrustation of ice '.ver the trunk and every twig 
 which has been attractiii'^ my admiration these three 
 days ? It was as if each tree was dressed in a tight- 
 fitting suit of crystal when the sun succeeded in 
 shining a little yesterday.' 
 
 ' I imagine that the cause was the slight thaw on 
 Monday, and the freezing of the moisture that then 
 covered the bark and branches into a coat of ice. So 
 I only attempt explanations, Miss Linda.' 
 
 * Oh, but it is not your fault if they are unsatis- 
 factory, as I own that of the north-west winds and 
 James's Bay was to me ; it is the fault of science. 
 
LINDA BUSY AT 111.14 WoRK. 
 
BELOW ZERO. 
 
 3" 
 
 I'm afraid you'll not answer another question which I 
 have, since I am so ungrateful as not to accept every- 
 thing you say with becoming reverence.' 
 
 ' Name your question.' 
 
 ' Why is every fourth dny milder than the others ? 
 Why may we reckon with almost certainty on a 
 degree of soft weather to-morrow ? ' 
 
 ' Those are the tertian intervals, and nobody under- 
 stands them.' 
 
 ' Concise and candid, if it doesn't make me wiser ; 
 but I'm compensated for that in finding something of 
 which you are equally ignorant with myself, Mr. Holt.' 
 
 Eemarks of a more superficial character were 
 extorted by the severity of the weather from the 
 inmates of the kitchen. 
 
 ' Arrah, Miss Libby asthore, wor ye able to sleep 
 one wink last night wid the crakling of the threes ? 
 I niver heerd ' — 
 
 ' Sartin sure I was,' replied the rubicund damsel, as 
 she moved briskly nbout her work. She had a pecu- 
 liarity of wearing very short skirts, lest they should 
 impede her progress ; but once that Andy ventured a 
 complimentary joke on her ankles, he met with su^h 
 scathing scorn that he kept aloof from the subject in 
 future, though often sorely tempted, 
 
 'Nothen ever kep me waking,' asseverated the 
 Yankee girl with perfect truth. ' Now, young man, 
 jest git out o' my way ; warm yar hands in yar hair, 
 if you've a mind teu — it's red enough, I guess.' 
 
 * Throth an' I wish I could take your advice, Miss ; 
 or if you'd give me a few sparks of yer own hot 
 timper, I needn't ever come up to the hearth at all 
 at all 
 
 I 
 
\ 
 
 312 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 'Thar, go long with you for a consaited sot-np 
 chap, an' bring in a couple of armfuls of wood,' said 
 the lady. ' I reckon you'd best take care of your hair 
 settin' fire to the logs. Mister Handy,' she added with 
 a chuckle. 
 
 Linda entered the kitchen on some household 
 business, and Mr. Callaghau was too respectful to 
 retort in her presence. But this is a specimen of the 
 odd sort of sparring which Arthur chose to consider 
 courtship, and to rally both parties about. 
 
 ' 'Deed then I hope 'tisn't the likes of a crooke;' 
 stick of her kind I'd be afther bringin' home at long 
 last,' Andy would say, wielding his axe with redoubled 
 vigour. 
 
 * I guess I ain't agoin' jest to be sich a soft un a*:, 
 to take the care of him for nothen',' the lady would 
 say, flouncing about her kitchen and laying ineffable 
 emphasis on the last word. Whence it would appear 
 that the feud was irreconcilable. 
 
 Next day was bright, and the mercury liad climbed 
 nearer to zero ; so the sleigh was had out — Mr. Holt's 
 sleigh, which had brought him from Mapleton to Cedar 
 Creek, and was very much at everybody's seivice 
 while he remained. Linda dressed in her warmest 
 attire, and prepared for a run to the * Corner ' with 
 her father. The sleigh was but a ' cutter ' for carrying 
 two, and had handsome robes of its equipment, a pair 
 for each seat ; one of wolf-skins garnished with a row 
 of tails at the bottom and lined with scarlet ; another 
 a bear-skin, in which the beast's grim countenance 
 liad been preserved, and his claws affixed as a fringe. 
 When Linda was comfortably wrapped up, Mr. Holb 
 produced a third robe to throw over all. 
 
BELOW ZERO, 
 
 313 
 
 'What a curious texture! a platted material and 
 yet fur ! ' she said, looking at it. 
 
 * 'Ti5j of Indian manufacture, and I believe is made 
 of rabbit skins cut in strips, twisted and netted 
 together so as to keep the hair outside on both surfaces. 
 You have a lovely Jay for your trip ; I hope you will 
 crjoy it.' 
 
 Did she not ? A large set-off against the severity 
 of a Canadian winter should be the ecstatic pleasures 
 of sleighing. Those who have not tasted it know not 
 the highest bliss of movement. Gliding smoothly and 
 rapidly over the solid snow to the tinkUng music of 
 bells, the motion alone has something in it most 
 exhilarating, to say nothing of the accompaniments of 
 the ride, the clear bracing air, the beauty of the frost- 
 bound forests all around. Linda was determined that 
 her friend Edith should have her share of the enjoy- 
 ment this brilliant day : so, stopping the ' steel-shod 
 'sleigh ' at Daisy Burn, she persuaded Miss Armytage 
 to don her cloak and muffetees and warm hood, and 
 take her place beside Mr. Wynn for the rest of the 
 way to the ' Corner ' and back. 
 
 Edith had been in the midst of ironing her father's 
 and brother's linen, while Jay read aloud. As soon 
 as she was gone, despite the protestations of the little 
 girl, Linda took the smoothing iron herself, and con- 
 tinued the work merrily. While thus engaged, and 
 Jay getting through her history lesson still, a 
 scratching was heard at the outside door ot the 
 kitchen. 
 
 ' That's Ton to ; what can have brought him home ? 
 he went wiuh lieginald to chop at the edge of the 
 clearing.' 
 
 1.(1 
 f ,f 
 
 r 
 
 
 I 
 
 |fj i 
 
.!' 
 
 m 
 
 U 
 
 314 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 The dog was no sooner admitted than he jumped 
 on them both, pulled their gowns, ran back whim^nc. 
 and repeated these movements many times 
 
 ' He wants us to go with him, Jay— don't you think 
 so I 
 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIL 
 
 A CUT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 i ! 
 
 I 
 
 dHAT could be the matter? Ponto, at all 
 events, seemed to think it of much import- 
 ance, for he never ceased to pull their 
 skirts and whine an entreaty, and go 
 through the pantomim.> of r inning off in a great hurry 
 — never farther than the threshold — until he saw the 
 girls put on their cloaks and hoods. Gravely he sat 
 on his tail, looking at them with patient eyes, and, 
 when the door was opened, sprang off madly towards 
 the pond. 
 
 'Could Eeginald have cont him for anything? 
 Something might have happened to Eeginald. Ponto 
 never came home in that way before. Could a tree 
 have fallen on Reginald?' and Jay's small hand 
 shivered in Linda's at the thought. They hurried 
 after the dog, over the spotless surface of snow, into 
 the charred forest, where now every trunk and bough 
 of ebony seemed set in silver. Thither Reginald had 
 gone to chop at noon, in a little fit of industry. They 
 were guided to the spot by the sad whinings of 
 faithful Ponto, who could not comprehend why his 
 master was lying on the ground, half against a tree. 
 
 SIA 
 
3x6 
 
 CEDAR CHEEK, 
 
 n . 
 
 '^■■^'■■-^ *" 
 
 and what meant that large crimson stain deepening in 
 the pure snow. 
 
 A desperate axe-cut in his foot — this was the 
 matter. Linda ahnost turned sick at the sight ; but 
 Jay, compressing her white lips very firmly, to shut 
 in a scream, kneeled down by her brother. 
 
 He had succeeded, with infinite effort, in drawing 
 off his long leather boot, through which the axe had 
 penetrated, and had been trying to bind his neckcloth 
 tightly above the ankle, aay helped him with all her 
 little strength. 
 
 'Give me a stick,' said he hoarsely — *a strong 
 stick ; ' Linda flew to find one. ' Something to make 
 a tourniquet ; ' and, not readily seeing any wood to 
 answer the want, she used his axe, stained as it was, 
 to chop a branch from the single tree he had felled. 
 She had never tried her strength of arm in this way 
 before ; but now the axe felt quite light, from her 
 excitement. "Before the stick could be ready, in her 
 unpractised fingers. Jay cried out, ' Oh, Linda, he is 
 dying ! he has fainted ! ' 
 
 Still, she had common sense to know that the first 
 necessity was to stop the bleeding ; so, quieting the 
 little sister by a word or two, she inserted the stick in 
 the bandage above the ankle, and turned it more than 
 once, so as to tighten the ligament materially. Look- 
 ing at the pallid features, another thought struck her. 
 
 ' Let us heap up snow round the wounded foot and 
 leg ; I'm sure the cold must be good for it ; ' and, with 
 the axe for their only shovel, the two girls gathered a 
 pile of frozen snow, as a cushion and covering to the 
 limb — ' Oh, if Edith were liere ! if Edith were here ! ' 
 being Jay's suppressed cry. 
 
 1^ 
 
A CUT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 317 
 
 * Where is the labourer whom I saw working on the 
 farm?' 
 
 ' Gone away ; discharged last week. Papa said he 
 couldn't afford to pay him any longer. That's why 
 Eeginald went out to chop to-day. Oh, Linda, I wish 
 somebody came. He -'s lying so white and still : are 
 you sure he is not dead ? ' 
 
 His head was on the little sister's lap, and Linda 
 chafed the temples with snow. Would the sleigh- 
 bells ever be heard? She longed for help of some 
 sort. As to surgery, there was not a practitioner 
 within thirty miles. What could be done with such a 
 bad hurt as this without a surgeon ? 
 
 A universal slight shudder, and a tremor of the 
 eyelids, showed that consciousness was returning to 
 the wounded man. Almost at the same instant Ponto 
 raised his head, and ran off through the trees, whining. 
 A man's footsteps were presently heard coming 
 rapidly over the crisp snow. It was Mr. Holt : and a 
 mountain load of responsibility and dread was lifted 
 from Linda's mind at the sight of him. This was not 
 the first time that she had felt in his presence the 
 soothing sense of confidence and restfulness. 
 
 He could not help praising them a little for what 
 they had done with the primitive tourniquet and the 
 styptic agency of the snow. Beyond tightening the 
 bandage by an additional twi^^t or two of the inserted 
 stick, he could do nothing more for the patient till he 
 was removed to the house; but he began collateral 
 help by cutting poles for a litter, and sent Jay and 
 Linda for straps of basswood bark to fasten them 
 together. When the sleigh at last came up the 
 avenue, Mr. Wynn the elder helped him to carry 
 
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 318 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 young Aitnytage home, wherein Sam Holt's great 
 physical strength carefully bore two-thirds of the dead 
 weight. 
 
 It seemed that he had been chopping up that fir for 
 firewood, perhaps without giving much thought to his 
 work, when the axe, newly sharpened before he came 
 out, caught in a crooked branch, which diverted almost 
 the whole force of the blow on his own foot. Well 
 was it that Mr. Holt, in his erratic education, had 
 chosen to pry into the mysteries of surgery for one 
 session, and know something of the art of putting 
 together severed flesh and bone ; although many a 
 dreadful axe wound is cured in the backwoods by 
 settlers who never heard of a diploma, but neverthe- 
 less heal with herbs and bandages, which would excite 
 the scornful mirth of a clinical student. 
 
 Thus began a long season of illness and weakness 
 for the young man, so recently in the rudest health 
 and strength. It was very new to his impetuous 
 spirit, and very irksome, to lie all day in the house, 
 not daring to move the injured limb, and under the 
 shadow of Zack Bunting's cheerful prediction, that be 
 guessed the young fellar might be a matter o' six or 
 eight months a-lyin' thar, afore such a big cut healed, 
 ef he warn't lamed for life. 
 
 Keginald chafed and grumbled and sulked for 
 many a day ; but the fact could not be gainsaid ; those 
 divided veins and tendons and nerves must take long 
 to unite again ; Mr. Holt found him one morning in 
 such an unquiet mood. 
 
 ' Armytage,' said he, after the usual attentions to 
 the wound, ' I suppose you consider this axe - cut a 
 great misfortune ?' — - 
 
A CUT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 319 
 
 a 
 
 • " Misfortune !" ' and he rose on his elbow in one of 
 the fifty positions he was wout, for very restlessness, 
 to assume. ' Misfortune ! I should think I do : nothiiitr 
 much worse could have happened. Look at the farm, 
 without a hand on it, going to rack and ruin' — 
 
 Eather a highly coloured picture ; and Eegiuald 
 seemed to forget that, while his limbs were whole, he 
 had devoted them almost entirely to amusement. Mr. 
 Holt heard him out patiently. 
 
 ' I should not be surprised if it proved ore of the 
 best events of your life,' he observed ; * that is, if you 
 will allow it to fulfil the object for which it was sent.' 
 
 ' Oh, that's your doctrine of a particular providence,' 
 said the other peevishly, lying back again. 
 
 * Yes ; my doctrine of a particular pro^/idence 
 taught in every leaf of the Bible. Now, Arm^ tage, 
 look back calroly over your past life, and forward, 
 whither you were drifting, and see if the very kindest 
 thing that could be done for you by an all-wise and 
 all-loving God was not to bring you up suddenly, and 
 lay you aside, and force you to think. Beware of 
 trying to frustrate His purpose.' 
 
 Mr. Holt went away immediately on saying that, for 
 he had no desire to amuse Keginald with an unprofit- 
 able controversy which m:^ht ensue, but rather to 
 lodge the one truth in his mind, if possible. Young 
 Armytage thought him queer and methodistical ; but 
 he could not push out of his memory that short con- 
 versation. Twenty times he resolved to think of 
 something else, and twenty times the dismissed idea 
 came round again, and the calm forcible words visited 
 him, * Beware of trying to frustrate God's purpose.' 
 
 At last he called to his sister Edith, who was busy 
 
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 3*0 
 
 CEDAR CHEEK. 
 
 at some housework in the kitchen, across a little 
 passage, 
 
 ' Come here ; I want to ask you a question. Do you 
 ihiuk that I am crippled as a punishment for my 
 misdeeds, idleness, etcetera V 
 
 ' Indeed, I do not,' she answered with surprise. 
 • What put such a thought into your liead V 
 
 ' Holt said something like it. He thinks this axe- 
 cut of mine is discipline — perhaps like the breaking-in 
 which a wild colt requires ; and as you and he are of 
 the same opinion in religious matters, I was curious to 
 know if you held this dogma also.' 
 
 She looked down for a moment ' Not quite as you 
 have represented it,' she said. ' But I do tliink that 
 when the Lord sends peculiar outward circumstances, 
 He intends them to awake the soul from indifference, 
 and bring it to see the intense reality of invisible 
 things. Oh, Eeginald,' she added, with a sudden 
 impulse of earnestness, ' I wish you felt that your soul 
 is the most precious thing on earth.' 
 
 He was moved more than he would have cared to 
 confess, by those tearful eyes and clasped hands ; he 
 knew that she went away to pray for him, while about 
 her daily business. More serious thoughts than he 
 had ever experienced were his that afternoon : Jay 
 could not avoid remarking — in private — on his un- 
 usual quietude. Next morning he found a Bible 
 beside his bed, laid there by Edith, he had no doubt ; 
 but for a long time she could not discover whether he 
 ever looked into it. 
 
 When Mr. Holt left the country, he gave Eobert 
 Wynn charge of the patient mentally as well as 
 corporeally. He knew that Eobert's own piety would 
 
A CUT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 321 
 
 grow more robust for giving a helping hand to 
 another. 
 
 Somehow, the Yankee storekeeper was very often 
 hanging about Daisy Burn that winter. Captain 
 Armytage and he were great friends. That gallant 
 officer was, in Zack's parlance, ' the Colonel,' which 
 brevet-rank I suppose was flattering, as it was never 
 seriously disclaimed. He was king of his company 
 in the tavern bar at the ' Corner ;' and few days 
 passed on which he did not enjoy that bad eminence, 
 while compounding ' brandy - smash,' ' rum - salad,' 
 ' whisky -skin,' or some other of the various synonyms 
 under which the demon of drink ruins people in 
 Canada. 
 
 But where did the captain find cash for this ? The 
 fact is, he never paid in ready money ; for that was 
 unknown to his pockets, and very rare in the district. 
 He paid in sundiy equivalents of produce ; and a nice 
 little mortgage might be effected on his nice little 
 farm of Daisy Bum if needs be. Zack held his greedy 
 grasping fingers over it ; for the family were obliged 
 to go a good deal in debt for sundry necessities. Slave 
 and scrape as Miss Armytage might, she had no way 
 of raising money for such things as tea and coffee. 
 Once she attempted to make dandelion roots, roasted 
 and ground, do duty for the latter ; but it was stigma- 
 tized as a failure, except by loving little Jay. Then 
 wages must be paid to the Irish labourer, whose 
 services to chop wood, etc., were now absolutely 
 necessary. Meat was another item of expense. A 
 large store of potatoes was almost the sole provision 
 upon which the household could reckon with certainty; 
 mismanagement and neglect had produced the usual 
 
TW^T^T- 
 
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 3aa 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 result of short crops in the foregoing season, and their 
 wheat went chiefly to the store in barter. 
 
 *An' ef Zack ain't shavin' the capting, I guess I'm 
 a Dutchman/ remarked a neighbourizig settler to 
 Robert. ' I reckon a matter of two year 11 shave him 
 out o' Daisy Burn, clear and clean.' 
 
 But its owner had some brilliant scheme in the 
 future for lifting him free of every emban-assment. 
 Rainbow tints illuminated all prospective pages of 
 Captain Armytage's life. 
 
 ' Edith, my dear,' he would say, if that young lady 
 deprecated any fresh expenditure, or ventured an 
 advice concerning the farm, — 'Edith, my dear, > 
 main fault of your character is an extraordinary ' 
 of the sanguine element, for the excess of which I 
 have always been so remarkable. You know I com- 
 pare it to the life-buoy, which has held me up above 
 the most tempestuous waves of the sea of existence, 
 eh ! But you, my poor dear girl, have got a sad way 
 of looking at things — a gloomy temperament, I should 
 call it perhaps, eh ? which is totally opposite to my 
 nature. Now, as to this beast, which Mr. Bunting 
 will let me have for twenty-eight dollars, a note of 
 hand at three months, he is kind enough to say, will 
 do as well as cash. And then, Reginald, my boy, we 
 need drink cafi noir no longer, but can have the 
 proper cafS au lait every morning.' 
 
 ' I don't know who is to milk the cow, sir,' said his 
 son, rather bluntly. ' Edith is overwhelmed with 
 work already.' 
 
 ' Ah, poor dear 1 she is very indefatigable.* He 
 looked at her patronizingly, while he wiped his well- 
 kept moustache in a handkerchief which she had 
 
A CUT, AND JTS CONSEQUENCES. 323 
 
 washed. ' Indeed, Edith, I havo sometimes tliought 
 that such continual exertion as yours is unnecessary. 
 You should think of us all, and spare yourself, my 
 child.' 
 
 ' I do, papa,* she answered : whether that she 
 thought of them all, or that she spared herself, she 
 did not explain. Her brother knew which it was. 
 
 * That is right, my child. It grieves me to see you 
 condescending to menial offices, unsuitable to your 
 rank and position.' 
 
 She did not ask — as a less gentle nature would 
 have asked — who else wis to be the menial, if not she ? 
 
 'That is the worst (» a bush life. If I had known 
 how difficult it is to retain one's sphere as a gentleman, 
 I think I should not have exposed myself to the 
 alternative of pecuniary loss or debasing toil. Perhaps 
 it would be well to walk down to the " Corner " now, 
 and conclude that bargain with our good friend the 
 storekeeper, eh ? Is there anything I can do for 
 either of you, eh ? Don't hesitate to command me,' 
 he added blandly. What ! you want nothing ? A 
 very fortunate pair — very fortunate, indeed, eh ? ' 
 And Captain Armytage kissed hands out of the room. 
 
 'Edith,' said her brother, after a pause of some 
 minutes, ' my father will be ruined by his confidence 
 in that man. Bunting can twine him round his 
 finger. I am ashamed of it.' 
 
 She shook her head sadly. But there was no help 
 for the fact that their fatlier was in the toils already ; 
 unless, indeed, the debt could be paid off, and tlie 
 acquaintanceship severed. Hopeless ! for the ten- 
 dencies of a life cannot be remodelled in a day, except 
 by the power of divine grace. 
 
ill i 
 
 i , 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 J ACK-OF- ALL-TRADES. 
 
 f^LEIGIIIXG was good that year, till the 
 iiiidille of ]\Iarch. Before tiie season was 
 
 past, Captain Argent paid a ilying visit on 
 
 his way to the hunting grounds, as usual, 
 
 and on his return found something so pleasant in the 
 
 household at Cedar Creek, that he remained many 
 
 days. 
 
 They were all old acquaintances, to be sure, and 
 had many subjects of interest in common. Mr. Wyun 
 the elder, who, perhaps, was imbued with a little of 
 the true Briton's reverence for aristocracy, was ])leased 
 to entertain his former neighbour, Lord Scutcheon's 
 son, especially when that young officer himself was 
 endowed with such a frank, genial bearing as rendered 
 him almost a universal favourite. 
 
 Had there ever been more than mere pleasant 
 acquaintanceship between him and IMiss Wynn ? 
 nightly or wrongly, Sam Holt fancied it the case. 
 He heard manv allusions to ftu-mer times and incidents, 
 not knowing that as children they had been playmates. 
 The gallant captain's present admiratio i was pretty 
 plain ; and tiie young lady was amused by it after the 
 
 32i 
 
J A CK- OF-ALL-TRADES. 
 
 3^5 
 
 manner of her sex. Being very downright himself, 
 Mr. Holt had no idea how much admimtion is required 
 to till the measure of a proposal of marriage in a 
 red-coat's resolve, or how much harmless coquetry lies 
 dormant in the sweetest woman. 
 
 The precipitate gentleman leaped to sundry con- 
 clusions, gathered himself and his fur robes into 
 his cutter, and left on the third day of Captain 
 Argent's visit. In her secret heart, I imagine that 
 Linda knew why. 
 
 P.ut an engrossing affair to her at this period was 
 the concealment from their visitor of the decidedly 
 active part slie took in iiouseliold duties. Innocent 
 Captain Argent was unaware that the faultless hot 
 bread at breakfast was wrought by her hands ; tb.at 
 the omelets and ragofttc at dinner owned her as cook ; 
 that the neatness of the little parlour wlis attributable 
 t^^ her as its sole housemaid. The mighty maiden 
 c. lied Liberia had enough to do in other departments, 
 outdoor as well as indoor, besides being rather a 
 ponderous person for a limited space, 
 
 And so, when Captain Argent one morning pushed 
 open the parlour door long before he ought to have 
 left his apartment, he beheld a figure with short 
 petticoats, wrapt in a grey blouse, and having a hood 
 of the same closely covering her hair, dusting away 
 at the chairs and tables and shelves, with ri^lit 
 goodwill. 
 
 •Now, Georgie, you know that you can't sit here 
 till I have quite finished,' said the figure, without 
 turning its head. ' Like a good boy, ask Libby to 
 come and build up the tire : ask gently, remember, oi 
 she'll not mind you,' 
 
t.- a fcftMe Jrttt^tu i--<r 
 
 326 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 II' 
 
 The noiseless manner of closing the door caused her 
 first to doubt the identity of the person spoken to, and 
 a very vivid crimson dyed her cheeks, when, Liberia 
 coming in, her blacksmith arms laden with logs, she 
 threw them down with resounding clatter, and said, 
 ' Wal, ef that ain't the nicest, soft speakin'est gentle- 
 man I ever see ! He asked me as perlite for the 
 wood, as he couldn't be perliter ef I war Queen 
 Victory herself.' 
 
 ' How fortunate that I didn't turn round my head ! ' 
 thought Linda, her first confusion over ; ' for of all 
 horridly unbecoming things, showing no hair about 
 one's face is the worst.* 
 
 Whence it will be seen that Miss Wynn was not 
 exempt from female vanity. 
 
 To the cat thus let out of the bag, Captain Argent 
 made no further allusion than was involved in a 
 sudden fondness for the nursery tale of Cinderella, 
 Every subject of conversation introduced for the 
 morning was tinged by that fairy legend, wliicli tinged 
 Linda's countenance also, rose-colour. Mr. Wynn the 
 elder was slightly mystified ; for the topics of pro- 
 motion by purchase in the army, and the emigration 
 of half-pay officers, seemed to have no leading reference 
 to the above world-famed story. 
 
 The dear old gentleman ! he did the honours of his 
 small wooden cottage at Cedar Creek as finely as if 
 it had been his own ancestral mansion of Dimore. 
 Their delf cups might have been Dresden, the black 
 ware teapot solid silver, the coarse table-cloth danuisk 
 — for the very air which he spread around the 
 breakfast arrangements. One might have fancied 
 that he infused an orange-pekoe flavour into the rough 
 
 Di 4: 
 
JACK- OF-ALL-TRADES. 
 
 327 
 
 muddy congou for which Bunting exacted the highest 
 price. He did not know that the coffee, which he 
 strongly recommended to his guest, was of native 
 Canadian growth, being to all intents and purposes 
 dandelion roots; for you see they were obliged to 
 conceal many of their contrivances from this grand 
 old father. I doubt if he was aware that candles were 
 made on the premises: likewise soap, by Liberia's 
 energetic hands. The dandelion expedient was sug- 
 gested by thrifty Mrs. Davidson, who had never 
 bought a pound of coffee since she emigrated; and 
 exceedingly well the substitute answered, with its 
 bitter aromatic flavour, and pleasant smell. If Captain 
 Argent had looked into the little house closet, he 
 would have seen a quantity of brownish roots cut up 
 and stored on a shelf. Part of Linda's morning duty 
 was to chop a certain quantity of these to the size of 
 beans, roast them on ; pan, and grind a cupful for 
 breakfast. They cost nothing but the trouble of 
 gathering from among the potato heaps, when the hills 
 were turned up in autumn, and a subsequent washing 
 and spreading in the sun to dry. 
 
 Mrs. Davidson would also fain have introduced 
 peppermint and sage tea ; but even Zack's bad congou 
 was declared more tolerable than those herb drinks, 
 which many a settler imbibes from year to year. 
 
 * Throth an' there's no distinction 0' thrades at all 
 in this counthry,' said Andy ; ' but every man has to 
 be a farmer, an' a carpiuther, an' a cobbler, an' a tailor, 
 an' a grocer itself ! There's Misther Robert med an 
 iligant shute 0' canvas for the summer ; an' Misther 
 Arthur is powerful at boots ; an' sorra bit but Miss 
 Linda spins yarn first-rate, considherin' she never held 
 

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 328 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 a distaff before. An' the darlin' Missus knits stocking ; 
 oh mavrone, but she's the beautiful sweet lady intirely, 
 that ought to be sitting in her carriage I ' 
 
 News arrived from Dunore this spring, which Linda 
 fancied would sorely discompose Andy. The Wynns 
 kept up a sort of correspondence with the old tenantry, 
 who loved them much. In an April letter it was 
 stated that the pretty blue-eyed Mary Collins, Andy's 
 betrothed, had been base enough to marry another, 
 last Shrovetide. But the detaching process had gone 
 on at this side of the Atlantic also. Linda was 
 amazed at the apathy with which the discarded lover 
 received the intelligence. He scratched his red head, 
 and looked somewhat bewildered ; indulged in a few 
 monosyllable ejaculations, and half an hour afterwards 
 came back to the parlour to ask her ' if she was In 
 airnest, to say that over agin.' 
 
 ' Poor fellow ! he has not yet comprehended the full 
 extent of his loss,' thought the young lady compas- 
 sionately. She broke the news to him once more, and 
 he went awav without a remark. 
 
 When Arthur came in, she would beg of him to 
 look after the poor suffering fellow. The request was 
 on her lips at his appearance, but he interrupted her 
 with, — 
 
 ' What do you think of that scamp, Andy, proposing 
 for Libby in my hearing ? The fellow told her that 
 his heart was in her keeping, and that she was the 
 light of his life, and grew quite poetical, I assure you ; 
 in return for wliich, he was hunted round the wood- 
 yard with a log ! ' 
 
 And Linda's sympathy expired. 
 
CHAPTEE XXXIX. 
 
 SETTLEK THE SECOND. 
 
 [EXT summer brouglit a scourge of frequent 
 visitation to the ' Corner.' Lake fever and 
 ague brolce out among the low-lying log- 
 houses, and Zack's highly adulterated and 
 heavily priced drugs came into great demand. He 
 was the farthest west adventurer at that date who 
 took upon him to supply apothecary's wares among 
 the threescore and ten other vendibles of a backwoods 
 store. So the ill wind which blew hot fits and cold 
 fits to everybody else blew profit into Zack's pockets. 
 
 The population had swelled somewhat since our first 
 introduction to this little pioneer settlement. The 
 number of wooden huts mottling the cleared space 
 between the forest and the river edge, clustering, like 
 bees round their queen,, about the saw and grist mill, 
 had increased during the last two years by some half- 
 score — a slow rate of progression, as villages grow in 
 Canada ; but the ' Corner ' had a position unfavour- 
 able to development. An aguish climate will make 
 inhabitants sheer off speedily to healthier localities. 
 No sensil)le emigrant will elect to live on a marshy 
 site where he can help it. The value of the Corner' 
 
 329 
 
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 330 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 was just now as a stage on the upper branch of that 
 great western highway, whose proper terminus lies no 
 nearer than the Pacific, and whose course is through 
 the fertile country of future millions of men. 
 
 This summer waggon-loads of emigrants and their 
 chattels began to file each month into the bush beyond. 
 Cedar Creek ceased to be farthest west by a great 
 many outlying stations where the axe was gradually 
 letting in light on the dusky forest soil. To these 
 the ' Comer ' F'.ust be the emporium, until some 
 enterprising person set up a store and mills deeper in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 The shrewd Davidson saw the country opening 
 about him, and resolved to gather to himself the profit 
 which must accrue to somebody. His first measure 
 was to walk down one evening to the Wynns' farm. 
 A thoroughly good understanding had always existed 
 between these neighbours. Even patrician Mr. Wynn 
 relished the company of the hard - headed Lanark 
 weaver, whose energy and common sense had won him 
 the position of a comfortable landholder in Canada 
 West. Added to which qualifications for the best 
 society, Davidson was totally devoid of vulgar assump- 
 tion, but had sufficient ballast to retain just his own 
 proper footing anywhere. 
 
 He found the family assembled in their summer 
 parlour, beneath the handsome butternut tree which 
 Kobert's axe had spared, and which repaid the in- 
 dulgence by grateful shade and continual beauty of 
 leafage. They were enjoying supper in the open air, 
 the balmy evening air alloat with fragrant odours. I 
 say advisedly supper, and not tea ; the beverage was 
 a lady's luxury out here, and ill suited hours of fore- 
 
SETTLER THE SECOND. 
 
 331 
 
 going labour. Milk was the staple draught at Cedar 
 Creek meals for all stout workers. 
 
 'Gude even, leddies;' and Davidson dofied his 
 bonnet with European courtesy. 'Fine weather for 
 loggin' this.' Indeed, he bore evident grimy and 
 smoky tokens on his clothes that such had been his 
 day's work. Applepie order was a condition of dress 
 which he rarely knew, though he possessed a faultless 
 homespun suit, in which he would have been happy 
 to gang to tlie kirk on Sabbath, were that enjoyment 
 practicable. 
 
 English papers had come to hand an hour before ; 
 among them a bundle of the provincial print nearest 
 Dunore. Linda had learned not to love the arrival 
 of these. It was a pebble thrown in to trouble theij 
 still forest life. The yearning of all hearts for home 
 —why did they never dream of calling Canada 
 home ? — was intensified perhaps to painfulness. She 
 could interpret the shadow on her father's brow for 
 days after into what it truly signified ; that, howevei 
 the young natures might take root in foreign soil, ho 
 was too old an oak for transplantation. Back he 
 looked on fifty -eight years of life, since he could 
 remember being the petted and cherished heir of 
 Dunore ; and now — an exile ! But he never spoke 
 of the longing for the old land ; it was only seen in 
 his poring over every scrap of news from Britain, in 
 his jealous care of things associated with the past, 
 nay, in his very silence. 
 
 Now, the dear old gentleman was letting his tea 
 grow eool beyond all remedy, while, with gold double 
 eyeglass in hand, he read aloud various paragraphs of 
 Irish news. Diverging at last into some question of 
 
33« 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ^ '\ 
 
 » ' 'J ; 
 
 party politics uppermost at the time, though now, in 
 1861, extinct as the bones of the iguanodon, he tried 
 to get Davidson interested in the subject, and found 
 him so totally ignorant of even the names of public 
 men as to be a most unsatisfactory listener. 
 
 ' 'Deed, then, Mr. Wynn, to tell you truth, I hae 
 never fashed my head wi' politics sin' I cam' oot to 
 Canada,' observed the Scotchman a little bluntly. 
 ' 'Twas nae sae muckle gude I gained by't at hame ; 
 though I mind the time that a contested election was 
 ane o' my gran' holidays, an' I thought mair o' what 
 bigwig was to get into Parliament for the borough 
 than I did o' my ain prospects in life, f ule that I was ; 
 until I found the bairns comin', an' the loom going 
 to the wall a'thegither before machinery and politics 
 wouldna mak' the pot boil, nor gie salt to our parritch. 
 So I came oot here, an' left politics to gentlefolk.' 
 
 Mr. "Wynn, rather scandalized at Davidson's want 
 of public spirit, said something concerning a citizen's 
 duty to the State. 
 
 * Weel, sir, my thought is, that a man's first earthly 
 duty is to himsel' and his bairns. When I mind the 
 workin' men at hame, ruggin', an' rivin', an' roarin' 
 themselves hoarse for Mr. This or Sir Somebody That, 
 wha are scramblin' into Parliament on their shouthers, 
 while the puir fallows haen't a pound in the warld 
 beyond their weekly wage, an' wuU never be a saxpence 
 the better for a' their zeal, I'm thankfu' that mair 
 light was given me to see my ain interest, an' to 
 follow it.' 
 
 ' I hardly wonder at your indifference to the paltry 
 politics of the Province,' observed the gentleman from 
 the old country, sipping his tea loftily. 
 
SETTLER THE SECOND, 333 
 
 T wish Mr. Hiram Holt heard that speech sir' 
 said Robert. ' To him Canada is more important than 
 Great Britain by so much as it is larger.' 
 
 * The citizen of Monaco has similar delusions as to 
 the importance of his petty Principality.' rejoined Mr. 
 WyniL ' I should rather say there was no political 
 pnnciple among Canadians.' 
 
 'No, sir, there's none in the backwoods,' replied 
 Davidson, with perfect frankness. ' We vote for our 
 freends. I'm tauld the> hae gran' principles in the 
 auld settlements, an' fecht ane anither first-rate every 
 election. We hae too much to do in the new townships 
 for that sort o' work. We tak' it a' easy.' 
 
 Eobert remembered a notable example of this 
 poHtical indifference in an election which had taken 
 place since their settlement at Cedar Creek. On the 
 day of polling he and his retainer Andy went down 
 to the ' Corner,' the latter with very enlarged antici- 
 pations of fun, and perchance a ' row.' His master 
 noticed him trimming a sapling into a splendid 
 'shillelagh,' with a slender handle and heavy head as 
 ever did execution in a faction fight upon Emerald 
 soil. The very word election had excited his bump 
 of combativeness. But, alas I the little stumpy street 
 was dull and empty as usual ; not even the embryo 
 of a mob ; no flaring post-bills soliciting votes ; the 
 majesty of the people and of the law wholly unre- 
 presented. 
 
 'Arrah, Misther Eobert, this can't be the day at aU 
 at all,' said Andy, after a prolonged stare in every 
 direction. ' That villain Nim tould us wrong.' 
 
 'Jacques!' called Eobert into the cottage adorned 
 with flowers in front, ' is this polHng day ? ' 
 
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 334 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 ' Oh, oui,' said the little Canadian, running out 
 briskly. 'Oui, c'est vat you call le jour do poll 
 Voilk, over dere de house.' 
 
 A log - cabin, containing two clerks at two rude 
 desks, was the booth ; a few idlers lounged about, 
 whittling sticks and smoking, or reading some soiled 
 news-sheets Andy looked upon them with vast 
 disdain. 
 
 ' An' is this what ye call a 'lection in America ? ' 
 said he. ' Where's the vothers, or the candidates, or 
 the speeches, or the tratin,* or the colours, or the sojers, 
 or anythink at all ? An' ye can't rise a policeman 
 itself to kape the pace ! Arrah, let me out ov this 
 home, Misther Eobert. There's not as much as a 
 single spark ov sperit in the whole counthry ! ' 
 
 So he marched off in high dudgeon. His master 
 stayed a short while behind, and saw a few sturdy 
 yeomen arrive to exercise the franchise. Their air of 
 agricultural prosperity, and supreme political apathy, 
 contrasted curiously with young Wynn's memories of 
 the noisy and ragged partisans in home elections. It 
 was evident that personal character won the electoral 
 sufixage here in the backwoods, and that party feeling 
 had scarce an influence on the voters. 
 
 The franchise is almost universal throughout Canada. 
 In 1849 it was lowered to thirty dollars (six pounds 
 sterling) for freeholders, proprietary, or tenantry in 
 towns, and to twenty dollars (four pounds) in rural 
 districts. This is with reference to the hundred and 
 thirty representatives in the Lower House of the 
 Provincial Legislature. The members of the in- 
 dissoluble Upper House, or Legislative Council, are 
 also returned at the rate of twelve every two 
 
SETTLER THE SECOND. 
 
 335 
 
 ida. 
 ids 
 
 in 
 iral 
 md 
 I the 
 
 in- 
 lare 
 
 two 
 
 years, by the forty-eight electoral divisions of the 
 Province. 
 
 ]>ut to come back to our family party under the 
 butternut tree. Kobert related the above anecdote of 
 Andy's disappointment ; and from it old Mr. Wynn 
 and Davidson branched off to a variety of cognate 
 topics. 
 
 ' Noo, I'll confess,' said the Scotchman, ' that the 
 municipal elections hau an interest for me far aboon 
 thae ithers. The counc'^ in my township can tax me 
 for roads, an' bridges, an' schules: that's what I call 
 a personal and practical concern. Sae I made nae 
 manner of objection to bein' one of the live councillors 
 mysel' ; and they talk of electin' you too, Maister 
 Kobert.* 
 
 Robert shook his head at the honour. 
 
 ' I hae a fancy mysel' for handlin' the purse strings 
 wherever I can,' added Davidson. ' Benson will be 
 the neist town-reeve, as he has time to be gauu' to 
 the county council, which I couldna do. But noo, 
 will ye tak' a turn round the farm ? ' 
 
 Plucking a sprig from an ash- leaved sugar maple 
 close by, according to a habit he had of twisting some- 
 thing in his lips during intervals of talk, Mr. Davidson 
 walked down the slope with Eobert. While they 
 are discussing crops, wiih the keen interest which 
 belongs not to amateurs, we may enlighten the reader 
 somewhat concerning the municipal system of self- 
 government in which the shrewd Mr. Dfvidson pro- 
 fessed his interest. Nowhere is it so perfect as in 
 Canada. Each district has thorough control over its 
 own affairs. Taxation, for the purpose of local 
 improvement or education is levied by the town or 
 

 m* 
 
 
 n 
 
 : 1 
 
 s ; 
 
 !i 
 
 Wi 
 
 33« 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 county councils, elected by the dwellers in each town- 
 ship. No bye-l;iw for raising money can bo enforced, 
 unless it has previously been submitted to the electors 
 or people. The town council consists of hve members, 
 one of whom is town- reeve ; the town-reeves form the 
 county council ; and the presiding olKcer elected by 
 them is called the warden. From the completeness 
 of the organization, no merely local question can bo 
 brought before the provincial legislature, and it would 
 be well if Imperial Parliament could, by siu:ilar means, 
 be relieved of an immense amount of business, in- 
 consistent with its dignity. 
 
 ' Eh ! what's this ? ' asked Davidson, stopping before 
 the partially raised walls of a wooden cottage. * Wha's 
 gaun to live here ? ' 
 
 ' Don't you recollect my town plot ? ' asked Robert 
 ' My first tenant sets up here. Jackey Dubois ia 
 removing from the " CoruiT : " he was always getting 
 the ague in that marshy spot, and isn't sorry to 
 change.' 
 
 ' Then that brings me richt down on what I hae 
 been wantin' to say,' quoth Davidson. • If ye'll gie us 
 the site, me an' my son Wat wull build a mill.' 
 
 * With all my heart ; a giist or a saw mill ? * 
 
 ' Maybe baith, if we could raise the cash. Nae doot 
 the sawmill's the proper to begin wi', seein' yer toun's 
 to be builded o' wood ' — 
 
 ' For the present,' observed Mr. Wynn ; ' but there's 
 plenty of limestone under that hardwood ridge.' 
 
 ' An* the finest water power in the township rinnin' 
 a* to waste on top of it. Weel, noo, I'm glad that's 
 settled ; though 'twuU be an awfu' expense first cost. 
 I dinna exactly ken how to overtake it.' 
 
 

 SETTLER THE SECON'n. 337 
 
 » 
 
 Rohert imarrfnefl that he was magnifying matters, 
 in order to lessen any possible demand of ground-rent! 
 But it is probable that Davidson would have even 
 paid something over and above his ideas of equitable, 
 for the pleasure of Zack Bunting's anticipated mortifi- 
 cation at finding a rival mill set up in the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 m 
 
 •■^ 
 
VH\ 
 
 
 El! 
 
 l-^i 
 
 !l'l 
 
 CIIAPTEE XL. 
 
 AN UNWELCOME SUITOE. 
 
 )HEN tlie affair of the mill was arranged, 
 and Robert's mind's eye beheld it already 
 built and noisily flourishing, they sauntered 
 along the bend of the pond towards where 
 the charcoal forest of last autumn had donned a thin 
 veil of greenery. The sight set Davidson upon his 
 favourite irritation — the decay of his farm Daisy 
 Burn, under its present owner. 
 
 * He's an a'thegither gude-for-naetliing,' was his 
 conclusion respecting Captain Armvtage. * Such men 
 as he hae nac mair business settlin' in the bush than 
 he wad hae in tryin' the life o' a fish. A mon may 
 come without land, or money, or freends, an I'll 
 warrant him to get on ; but there's ane thing he must 
 hae, the willingness to work hard. That will bring 
 him the lands, and money, and freends, as plenty as 
 V)lackberries. Sae far as I can see, your gentlefolk 
 dinna do weel in the bush ; tliey're ower proud to tak' 
 to the axe and the hoe as they ought, an' they hae 
 maistly line habits o' life that mak' them unhappy. I 
 wad like to see the captain or his son cobblin' their 
 ain shoon ! Though I'm tauld the young fellow's 
 
 838 
 
 
AN UNWELCOME SUITOR. 
 
 339 
 
 greplly improved sin' his hurt ; but that wiuna rnak' 
 him handier.' 
 
 ' He is much more industrious,' said Eobert, ' and I 
 hope will be able to pull up affairs on the farm, even yet.' 
 
 ' Na, sir, na ! Zack Bunting's got his claw on it in 
 the shape of a mortgage already. That farm o' his 
 below the " Corner " he grasped in just the same way ; 
 put the owner in debt to the store, foreclosed the 
 mortgage, and ruined the puir man. I ken he has his 
 eye on Daisy Burn for Nim, ever sin' he saw the 
 captain. And that Yankee cam' here, Maister Eobert, 
 without as much as a red cent aboon the pack on his 
 back ! ' 
 
 Just then Arthur and George came in sight round 
 the lee of a small island, paddling swiftly along. 
 
 * Trolling for black bass and maskelongc^,' remarked 
 Eobert. * There ! he has a bite.' 
 
 Arthur's line, some seventy or eighty feet long, was 
 attached to his left arm as he paddled, which gave a 
 most tempting tremulousness to the bait — a mock- 
 mouse of squirrel fur; and a great pike-fish, lying 
 deep in the clear water, beheld it and was captivated. 
 Slowly he moved towards the charmer, which vibrated 
 three or four feet beneath the surface ; he saw not the 
 treacherous line, the hook beneath the fur ; his heavily 
 under-jawed mouth (whence he obtained the name of 
 masque-longue, misspelled continually in a variety of 
 ways by his Canadian captors), his tremendous teeth, 
 closed voraciously on the temptation. Arthur's arm 
 received a sudden violent jerk from tlie whole force of 
 a lively twenty-five pound maskelong(^ ; a struggle 
 began, to be ended successfully for the liuman party 
 by the aid of the gaff-hook. 
 
340 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 r^-ti! 
 
 This was the noblest prey of the pond. Pickerel 
 of six or seven pounds were common ; and a profusion 
 of black bass-spotted trout in all the creeks ; sheep- 
 heads and suckers ad liMtum, the last-named being 
 the worst fish of Canada. George thought the success 
 far too uniform for sport ; Arthur hardly cared to call 
 the killing of God's creatures 'sport' during some 
 time back. 
 
 ' Davidson, here's a contribution for your bee,' cried 
 Arthur, holding up the prize by its formidable snout. 
 * For your good wife, with my compliments.' 
 
 Mrs. Davidson was in the thick of preparations for 
 a logging-bee, to be held two days subsequently, and 
 whither all the Cedar Creek people were invited. 
 Every settler's wife's housekeeping is brought to a 
 severe test on such occasions, and the huge maskelong^ 
 was a most acceptable addition. 
 
 The four gentlemen and Mr. Callaghan went with 
 their team of oxen to help their good neighbour on 
 the appointed morning. 
 
 It might have been four I«ours afte/warrls that 
 Linda was working in her garden, hoeing a strawberry 
 bed, and singing to herself some low song, when, 
 attracted by a slight movement at the fence, she 
 raised her eyes. Mr. Nim'tod Bunting was leaning 
 against the rails. 
 
 ' I guess you may go on. Miss,' said he, showing all 
 his yellow teeth. ' I've been admirin' yar voice this 
 quarter of an hour past. I've never happened to hear 
 you sing afore ; and I assure you, Miss, I'm saying 
 the truth, that the pleasure is highly gratify in'.' 
 
 Linda felt greatly inclined to put down her hoe and 
 run into the house ; but that would be so ridiculous. 
 
■ ''I 
 
 <i'' 
 
'i' 
 
 ! 
 
 ill 
 
 am 
 
 MR. MMRdO BINTING WAS LKANING AGAINST TIIK KAILS. 
 
»v 
 
 
 AN UNWELCOME SUITOR. 34, 
 
 She hoed on in silence, with a very displeased colour 
 on her cheek. 
 
 'I see all yar people at the bee: yar too hiL-h 
 yarself to go to them kind'er meetings, I reckon. 
 Miss? Wal, I like that. I like pride. Th' ole 
 woman said always, so did Uncle Zack, "Nim yar 
 above yar means ; yar only fit for a Britisher gentle- 
 man, they did, I guess ! ' 
 
 'The sun is getting so hot,' quoth Miss Wynn 
 laying down her hoe. 
 
 •! reckon I ain't agoin' to have come down from 
 Davidson's to here to speak to you. Miss,' md Nim 
 vaulted over the fence, ' an' let you slip through my 
 fingers that way. Uncle Zack said he'd speak^o the 
 ole feller up at the bee, an' bade me make tracks an' 
 speak to you. Miss. He's agoin' to foreclose the 
 mortgage, he is.' 
 
 'What on Daisy Burn?' Linda was immensely 
 relieved for the moment. 
 
 "Tain't on nothen' else, I guess. 'Tis an elegant 
 farm — ain t it ? ' 
 
 Cannot your father wait for his money— even a 
 little time ? Captain Armytage would surely pay in 
 the long run ; or his son would ' 
 
 'But s'pose we don't want 'em to pay ? S'pose we 
 wants the farm, and house, and fixins, and all, for a 
 new-mamed pair to set up, Miss ? ' 
 
 ' I don't think you should allow anything to inter- 
 fere with what is just and merciful,' said Miss Wynn 
 with a strong effort. Her tormentor stood on the 
 path between her and the house. '^ 
 
 'S'pose I said they wanted that new-married pair 
 to be you an' me, Miss V , 
 
■■ w 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 
 -'r 
 
 M 
 
 l-ar^'i 
 
 342 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 1 ' 
 
 ! I 
 
 I . 
 
 The audacity of the speech nearly took away her 
 breath, and sent the blood in violent crimson over her 
 face and throat. ' Let me pass, sir,* was her only 
 answer, most haughtily spoken. 
 
 ' Uncle Zack's a rich man,' pleaded his son. ' He's 
 always been an ole 'coon, with a fine nest of cash at 
 his back. It's in a Xew York bank, 'vested in shares. 
 He's promised me the best part of it, an' the store 
 into the bargain. You'll be a fool if you say " No," I 
 guess.' 
 
 Here he was seized from behind by the throat, and 
 hurled round heavily to the ground. 
 
 * Why, then, you spalpeen of an owdacious vagabone, 
 it's well but I smash every bone in yer skin. Of all 
 the impudence I ever heerd in my whole life, you 
 bate it out, clear and clane ! 0, murther, if I could 
 only give you the batin' I'd like, only maybe the 
 master 'ud be vexed ! ' And Mr. Callaghan danced 
 round his victim, wielding a terrible shillelagh. 
 
ler 
 ler 
 
 :e's 
 at 
 •es. 
 3re 
 'I 
 
 nd 
 
 ae, 
 all 
 ou 
 lid 
 he 
 «d 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE MILL-TRIVILEGE. 
 
 ^EANWITILE the noonday dinner at Davidson's 
 bee progressed merrily. The miglity niaske- 
 longe disappeared piecemeal, simultaneously 
 with a profusion of veal and venison pies, 
 legs and sides of pork, raspberry tarts, huge dishes of 
 potatoes and hot buns, trays of strawberries, and other 
 legitimate backwoods fare ; served and eaten all at the 
 same time, with an aboriginal disregard of courses. 
 After much wriggling and scheming— for he could 
 not do the smallest thing in a straightforward manner 
 — -Zack Bunting had edged himself beside Mr. Wynn 
 the elder ; who, to please his good friend Davidson, 
 occupied what he magnificently termed the vice-chair, 
 being a stout high stool of rough red pine ; and Zack 
 slouched beside him, his small cunning eyes glancing 
 sidelong occasionally from liis tin platter to the noble 
 upright figure of the old gentleman. 
 
 ' What's in the wind now ? ' quoth Robert to him- 
 self, at the other end of the board, as he surveyed this 
 contrast of personages. Looking down the lines of 
 hungry labourers for Nim's duplicate face, it was 
 absent, though he had seen it a-field. Andy's was 
 
 818 
 
 \\ 
 
 i i 
 
'r 
 
 k:^^v9i 
 
 sas. 
 
 m 
 
 f: :t 
 
 i ' 1: 
 
 . 
 
 
 ^^ ! 1 
 
 > ' s 
 
 1 • ; 
 
 rL 
 
 M. \ 
 
 344 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 also wanting, and with it the hilarity which radiated 
 from him upon surrounding company. Not liaving 
 the key of the position, llobert failed to connect these 
 absences, although just then they were being connected 
 in a very marked manner at Cedar Creek. 
 
 Zack wanted to speak on a particular subject to his 
 lofty neighbour, but somehow it stuck in his throat. 
 His usual audacity was at fault. Mr. Wynn had 
 never seemed so inaccessible, though in reality he was 
 making an effort to be unusually bland to a person he 
 disliked. For the first time in his existence, cringing 
 Zack feared the face of mortal man. 
 
 'Spell o' warm weather, squire, ain't it, rayther? I 
 wor jest a say in' to Silas Duff here that I never want 
 to see no better day for loggin', I don't.' 
 
 ' It is indeed beautifully fine,' answered Mr. Wynn, 
 who was generally called in the neighbourhood ' the 
 squire,' a sort of compliment to his patriarchal and 
 magisterial position. ' I hope our friend Davidson will 
 have his work cleared off satisfactorily before dark.* 
 
 ' Oh, ro fear, squire, no fear, I guess. There's good 
 teamfi a -field. Them cattle druv by my lad Nim are 
 the finest in the township, I reckon.' 
 
 * Indeed 1 ' quoth Mr. Wynn, who just knew an ox 
 from an ass. 
 
 ' 'Tain't a losin' game to keep a store in the bush, 
 ef you be a smart man,' observed Zack, with a leer, 
 after a few minutes' devotion to the contents of his tin 
 plate. By this adjective ' smart ' is to be understood 
 ' sharp, overreaching ' — in fact, a cleverness verging 
 upon pafe dishonesty. ' I guess it's the high road to 
 bein' worth some punkins, ef a feller has sense to 
 invest his money well.' 
 
THE MILL-PRIVILEGE, 
 
 345 
 
 'I daresay/ rejoined Mr. Wyiin vaguely, looking 
 down on the mean crooked face. 
 
 ' Fact, squire, duw nright fact. Now, I don't mind 
 tulliu' you, squire,' lowering his voice to a whisper, 
 ' that I've cleared a hundred per cent, on some sales in 
 my time ; an' the money hain't been idle since, you 
 may b'lieve. Thar ! that's sharp tradin', I guess ?' 
 
 ' Yes, sir, very sharp indeed.' Mr. Wynu's face by 
 no means rellected the Yankee's ^mile. But Zack saw 
 in his gravity only a closer attention to the important 
 subject of gain. 
 
 'I've shares in a big bank in New York, that 
 returns me fifteen per cent. — every copper of it : an' 
 I've two of the best farms in the township — that's 
 countin' Daisy Burn, whar I'll foreclose some day soon, 
 I guess.' 
 
 ' You are a prosperous man, as you calculate pro- 
 sperity, Mr. Bunting.' 
 
 *I guess I ain't nothin' else,' answered the store- 
 keeper, with satisfaction. ' But I kin tell you, squire, 
 that my lad Nim is 'tarnal 'cute too, an' he'll be worth 
 lookin' arter as a husband, he will' 
 
 Still with an unsuspicious effort at cordiality, Mr. 
 Wynn answered, * I suppose so.' 
 
 ' He might get gals in plenty, but he has a genteel 
 taste, has Nim: the gal to please Nim must be 
 thorough genteel. Now, what would you say, squire ' 
 — an unaccountable faint - hearteduess seized Uncle 
 Zack at this juncture, and he coughed a hesitation. 
 
 'Well, sir!' For the old gentleman began to 
 suspect towards what he was drifting, but rejected the 
 suspicion as too wild and improbable. 
 
 'Wul, the fact is, squire. Nim will have the two 
 
 l^m 
 
 
 Vi 
 
1< 
 
 It ' 
 
 I - 
 
 \ ! 
 
 i 1 
 
 .! 1.1 
 
 
 346 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 farms, an* the store, au' the bank shares— of course 
 not all that till I die, but Daisy Jiurn at once : an' — 
 an' — he's in a 'tarnal everlastin' state about your 
 dauj^hter Linda, the purticst gal in the towtislii[). 1 
 
 l^'llt'SS.* 
 
 Mr. Wynn rose from his seat, his usually pale 
 countenance deeply Hushed. What ! his moss - rose 
 Linda — as often in a fond moment he named her — 
 his pretty Linda, thought of in connection with this 
 vulgar, cheating storekeeper's vulLjiir sou ? ' Sir, how 
 dare you V were all the words his lips framed, when 
 Robert, beholding the scene fi the other end of the 
 board, came to the rescue. 
 
 'The fellow has been drinking,' was the most chari- 
 table construction Mr. Wynn could put upon Zack's 
 astounding proposition. His dignity was cruelly out- 
 raged. ' Baiting the trap with his hateful knavish 
 gains !' cried Linda's father. ' This is the result of the 
 democracy of bush-life ; the indiscriminate association 
 with all classes of people that's forced on one. Any 
 low fellow that pleases may ask your daughter in 
 marriage!' 
 
 Eobert walked up and down with him outside the 
 building. Though sufficiently indignant himself, he 
 tried to calm his father. ' Don't make the affair more 
 public by immediate withdrawal,' he advised. ' Stay 
 an hour or so longer at the bee, for appearance' sake. 
 It's hardly likely the fellow will attempt to address 
 you again, at least on that subject.' So the old 
 gentleman very impatiently watched the log heaps 
 piling, and the teams straining, and the 'grog -bos' 
 going his rounds, for a while longer. 
 
 We left Andy Callaghan over his victim, with a 
 
3r 
 
 MR. I'ALI.AGIIAN WAS ACROSS THE FliNCE IN A IWINKI.ING. 
 
i-T - -, 
 
 ' 
 
 A ^ i 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 [ 
 
 
 1 
 i 
 
THE MILL-PRIVILEGE, 
 
 347 
 
 flourishing shillelagh. Having spun him round, he 
 stirred him up again with a fow sharp taps ; and it 
 must be confessed that Nini showed viry little fight 
 far a man of his magnitude, but sneaked over the 
 fence after a minute's bravado. 
 
 ' Och, but it's myself that 'ud like to be batin' ye ! 
 groaned Andy for the second time most sincerely. 
 * Only I'm afeard if 1 began I wouldn't know how to 
 lave off, 'twould be so pleasant, ye owdacious villain. 
 Ha ! ye'd throw the stick at me, would ye ? ' and Mr. 
 Callughan was across the fence in a twinkling. 
 Whereupon Nim fairly turned tail, and fled ignomini- 
 ously, after having ineffectually discharged a piece of 
 timber, javelin-wise, at his enemy. 
 
 A loud peal of laughter, in a very masculine 
 key, broke upon Andy's ear. It proceeded from the 
 usually undemonstrative maiden Liberia, who was 
 bringing a pail of water from the creek when her 
 path was crossed by the flying pair. From that hour 
 the tides of her feminine heart set in favour of the 
 conqueror. 
 
 ' Troth, an' I may as well let ye have the benefit 
 of yer heels, ye mortal spalpeen,' said Andy, reining 
 himself in. * An' it's the father of a good thrashin' 
 I could give ye for yer impidence. To think o' Miss 
 Linda, that's one of the ould auncient Wynns of 
 Dunore since Adam was a boy ! I donno why I 
 didn't pound him into smithereens when I had him 
 so 'andy on the flat of his back — only for Miss Linda, 
 the darlin' crathur, telling me not. Sure there isn't 
 a peeler in the whole counthry, nor a jail neither, for 
 a thousand mile. Now I wondlier, av it was a thing 
 I did bate him black an' blue, whose business would 
 
348 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 .'I', I 
 
 If: 
 
 li I 
 
 'fl 
 
 i .' 
 
 i I 
 
 I ' 
 
 41 ! 
 
 it be to 'rc«?t me ; an' is it before the masther I'd be 
 brought to coort ? ' 
 
 Cogitating thus, and chewing the cud on the end 
 of his sapling, Andy returned homewards leisurely. 
 His young mistress was nowhere to be seen ; so he 
 picked up the hoe and finished her strawberry bed ; 
 and when he saw the elder Mr. Wynn approaching, 
 he quietly walked off to Davidson's and took his 
 place among the hive again, as if nothing had 
 happened. Nor did the faithful fellow ever allude to 
 the episode — with a rare delicacy judging that the 
 young lady would prefer silence — except once that 
 Kobert asked him what had brought him to Cedar 
 Creek so opportunely. 
 
 ' Why, thi:7, didn't I know what the vagabone 
 wanted, lavin' the bee 'atliout his dinner, an' goin' 
 down this road, afther me lookin' at him this 
 twel'montli dressing himself out in all the colours of 
 neckties that ever was in the rainbow, an' saunterin' 
 about the place every Sunday in particler, an' starin' 
 at her purty lace as impidsnt as if he was her aqual. 
 Often I'd ha' given me best shute of clothes to pluck 
 the two tails off his coat ; an' he struttin' up to Daisy 
 Bum, when she and Miss Armytage tached the little 
 childher there ; an' Miss Linda thinkin' no more of 
 him than if a snake was watchin' her out ov the 
 bushes. But, moreover, I heerd him an' his old 
 schemer of a father whispering at the bee : " Do you 
 go down to herself," said Zack, " an I'll spake to the 
 squire." " Sure, niy lad," thinks I, " if you do you'll 
 have company along wid you ; " so I dogged him every 
 step of the way.' 
 
 Which explains Andy's interposition. 
 
THE MILL-PRIVILEGE. ^^ 
 
 Kobert Wynn, when his wrath at the Buutinc-s' 
 presumpt ou subsided, had gloomy anticipations iC 
 h s would prove the beginning of an ineconcUable 
 But' T'"^ '" ''^'g'"'°"hood very disagreeable 
 
 wdtchmg the workmen buildi,,.; the dam for the 
 projected mUI, he ticard the well-known draw! at U 
 elbow, and turning, b.' .Id the unabashed Zack He 
 
 that tt ?■' ' "■'■"" '"• """^ ^Sainst, and found 
 that the squjre w^s too powerful tor a pleasant 
 quarrel and too big to injure with impunity ^ 
 
 Wal, Bobert, so yer raisin' a sawmill i ' he had 
 uttered m a tone of no agreeable surprise. Mr. Wynn 
 pomted^to Davidson, and left U^ to'settle thatTo'^m 
 
 'We wuU divide the custom o' the co.nitrv Peebor 
 Zack,' quoth the other. ' ' " 
 
 'I don't deny that you have an elegant miU- 
 pnvdege here; but I guess that's all y^uU have. 
 Wbars gnst to come from, or hnnber? D'ye think 
 the> 11 pass the four roads at the "Corner" whar mv 
 miU stands handy ? ' corner, wnar my 
 
 i>avidson a room eneugh in Canada for a million 
 •ther mUls, freend.' And he walked down the slop ng 
 bank to assist at the dam. ^'oping 
 
 vlt'l ■''^'-» "»« at the pocket-seemed to affecl 
 essence, h;s family honour. He could see his son 
 
 a rr.tt .'"^.^-^-"'--tsof ctith: 
 
 a pang for it is in vulgar Yankee nature to tling 
 abroad the sons and daughters of a house iar and 
 wide mto the waters of the world, to make their own 
 
wn 
 
 i . 
 
 t 
 
 li 
 
 v'i? 
 
 350 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 way, to sink or sv>im as happens. But the new 
 sawmill came between him and his rest. Before 
 winter the machinery had been noisily at work for 
 many a day ; with hu<;e beams walking up to the 
 saw, and getting perpetually sliced into clean fresh 
 boards ; with an intermittent shooting of slabs and 
 sawdust into the creek. ' Most eloquent music ' did it 
 discourse to Eobe»-t's ears, whose dream of a settlement 
 was thus fulfilling, in that the Cw^sential requisite, 
 lumber for dwelling-houses, was being prepared. 
 
 v.'\ 
 
nwiptijie 
 
 mm': 
 
 CHAPTER XLTT. 
 
 UNDER THE NOETIIERN LIGHTS. 
 
 jOR some sufficient reason, the Yankee .store- 
 keeper did not at that time prosecule his 
 avowed intention of foreel(,sing tlie mort- 
 
 a dmppojnted settler has resorted to c row, is a , 
 and found the intoxicating glass indeed f„l, Z T^ 
 
 One brilliant day in midwinter, when the sky was 
 He a crystallised sapphire do.ne. and the earth 
 
 the smooth road towa,ds the ' Corner.' ' A heavy faU 
 of snow s eqnnalent to the sinudtaneous construetio 
 
 mnersaly <j, oted personage, Good Authority. So it 
 .s found ly thousands of sleighs, then liheratcd a te 
 a rusty summer rest. Then is the season for C 
 
 m 
 
If 
 
 35a 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 The idlers in Bunting's bar heard the sleigh-bells 
 long before they left the arches of tha forest ; and as 
 the smallest atom of gravel strikes commotion into a 
 still pool, so the lightest event was of consequence in 
 this small stagnant community of the * Corner.' The 
 idlers speculated concerning those bells, and a dozen 
 pair of eyes witnessed the emergence of the vehicle 
 into the little stumpy street. 
 
 Zack's sharp vision knew it for one that had been 
 here last year, as he peered through the store-window 
 stufi'ed with goods of all sorts ; but the occupant was 
 not the same. Grizzled hair and beard escaped the 
 bounds of the fur cap tied down over ^'. - /s, and the 
 face was much older and harder. Tiie mills seemed 
 to attract his attention, frozen up tightly as they were ; 
 he slackened his sleigh to a pause, threw his reins 
 on the horse's neck, and walked to the edge of the 
 dam. After a few minutes, Bunting's curiosity stimu- 
 lated him to follow, and see what attracted the 
 stranger's regard. 
 
 * Are you the proprietor of this mill, sir ? ' called 
 out the tall grey-haired gentleman, in no mild tone. 
 Zack hesitated, weighing the relative advantages of 
 truth and falsehood. * Wal, I guess ' — 
 
 * You need guess nothing, sir ; but the construction 
 of vour dam is a di'^c'race to civilisation — a murderous 
 construction, sir. Do you see that it is at least 
 twelve feet, perpendicular, sir ? and how do you ever 
 expect that salmon can climb over that barrier ? 1 
 srppose a specimen of the true '' salmo salar " has never 
 been caught in these waters since you blockof' r ■■, ■^hc 
 passage with your villainous d;an, sir ? ' 
 
 * I warn't ever a - thinkin' o' the p«lmon l^v .»il, ? 
 
lemit 
 
 UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS 353 
 
 guess/ answered the millowner truly and humbly, 
 because he conceived himself in the authoritative 
 presence of some bigwig, senator, or M.P., capable of 
 calling him, Zack Bunting, to a disagreeable account, 
 perchance. 
 
 ' But you should have thought,' rejoined the stranger 
 irately. ' Through such wrong-headedness as yours 
 Canada is losing yearly one of her richest possessions 
 in the way of food. What has exterminated the 
 salmon in nearly all rivers west of Quebec ? dams 
 like this, which a fish could no more ascend than he 
 could walk on dry land. But I hope to see parlia- 
 mentary enactments which shall render this a felony, 
 sir, — a felony, if I can. It is robbery and murder 
 both together, sir.' 
 
 Mr. Hiram Holt walked rapidly to his sleigh, 
 wrapped himself again in the copious furs, and left 
 the storekeeper staring after the swift gliding cutter, 
 and wondering more than ever who he was. 
 
 This matter of the dams had so much occupied his 
 attention of late, that even after he reached Cedar 
 Creek he reverted to it once and anon ; for this fine 
 old Canadian had iron opinions welded into his iron 
 character. The capacity of entertaining a conviction, 
 yet being lukewarm about it, was not possible to 
 Hiram Holt. He believed, and practised suitably, 
 with thorough intensity, in everything ; even in such 
 a remote subject as the Canadian fisheries. 
 
 The squire, wlio knew what preservation of salmon 
 meant in tlie rivers of Britain, and who in liis time 
 had been a skilful angler, could .sympathize with him 
 about the reckless system of extinction going on 
 through the Province, and which, if it be not arrested 
 
w 
 
 > i 
 
 
 
 354 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 by the hand of legislative interference, will probably 
 empty the Canadian streams of this most delicious 
 and nutritive of fish. 
 
 ' A gold-field discovered in Labrador would not be 
 more remunerative than that single item of salmon, 
 if properly worked,' remarked Hiram. 'When the 
 fisheries of the tiny Tweed rent for fifteen thousand 
 a-year, a hundred times that sum v/ould not cover the 
 value of the tributaries of the St. Lawrence. And 
 yet they're systematically killed out, sir, by these 
 abominable dams ' 
 
 ' Why, Mr. Holt,' said Linda, looking up from her 
 work, ' I think the mills are of more consequence than 
 the salmon.' 
 
 ' But they're not incompatible, my young lady,' he 
 answered. ' Put steps to the dams — wooden boxes, 
 each five feet high, for the salmon to get upstairs into 
 the still water a-top.' Whereat Miss Linda, in her 
 ignorance, was mightily amused at the idea of a fish 
 ascending a staircase. 
 
 ' The quantity of salmon was almost infinite twenty 
 years ago,' said Hiram, after condescending to enlighten 
 her on the subject of its leaping powers. ' I remember 
 reading that Koss purchased a ton weight of it from 
 the Esquimaux for a sixpenny knife ; and one haul of 
 his own seine net took thirty-three hundred salmon.* 
 
 George, manufacturing a sled in the corner, whistled 
 softly, and expressed his incredulity in a low tone ; 
 not so low but that Mr. Holt's quick ears caught the 
 doubt, and he became so overfiowing with piscatory 
 aaecdotes, that Linda declared afterwards the verv 
 tea had tasted strongly of salmon on that particular 
 evening. 
 
 ' 
 
UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. 355 
 
 ' It is only a few years since Sir John Macdonald 
 
 and his party killed four hundred salmon in one week, 
 
 from a part of I'Esquemain Kiver, called the Lower 
 
 Pools. Thirty -five such rivers, equally full, flow 
 
 through Labrador into the St. Lawrence ; am I not 
 
 then right in saying that this source of wealth is 
 
 prodigious ? ' asked Mr. Holt. ' But the abominable 
 
 dams, and the barrier nets, and the Indians' spearing, 
 
 have already lessened it one -fourth.' A relativ^'e 
 
 comparing of experiences, with reference to fishy 
 
 subjects, ensued between the squire and his guest; 
 
 and both agreed that— quitting the major matter of 
 
 the dams— an enforcement of ' close time,' from the 
 
 20th of August till May, would materially tend to 
 
 preserve the fish. 
 
 ^ 'Nature keeps them tolerably close most 0! ttiat 
 time,' remarked Arthur, ' by building a couple of yards 
 of ice over them. From November till April they're 
 under lock and key,' 
 
 'And han't you ever fished througli holes in the 
 ice ? ' asked Mr. Holt. ' Capital sport, I can teU you, 
 with a worm for bait.' 
 
 ' No ; but I was going to say, how curiously thin 
 and weak the trout are just when the ice melts. 
 They've been on prison allowance, I presume, and are 
 ready to devour anything.' 
 
 During all the evening, though Linda took openly 
 a considerable share in the' conversation, her mind 
 would beat back on one question, suggested repeatedly : 
 • Why did Mr. Sam Holt go to Europe ? ' for one item 
 of news brought by to-day's arrival was, that his eldest 
 son had suddenly been seized with a wish to visit 
 England, and had gone in the last boat from Halifax. 
 
it 
 
 i 
 
 'I i 
 
 35^ 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 Glancing up at some remark, she encountered Mrs. 
 Wyun's eyes, .ind coloured deeply. That sweetest 
 supervision of earth, a mother's loving look, had read 
 more deeply than the daughter imagined. Rising 
 hurriedly, on some slight excuse, she went to the 
 window and looked out. 
 
 ' Oh, papa ! such glorious northern lights ! ' 
 
 Ay, surely. Low arcs of dazzling light stretched 
 from east to west across the whole breadth of the 
 heavens ; whence coruscated, in prolonged flashes, 
 gorgeous streamers of every colour, chiefly of pale 
 emerald green, pink, and amber. 
 
 ' A ricli aurora for this season of the year,' remarked 
 Hiram Holt. ' Those that are brightly coloured 
 gen<irally ajtpear in autumn or spring.' 
 
 ' Oh, yes,' said George ; ' do you fecoUect how 
 magnificent was one we had while the fall-wheat was 
 planting ? the sky was all crimson, with yellow 
 streamers.' 
 
 ' Do you know what the Indians think about 
 auroras ? ' asked Mr. Holt. ' They believe tluit these 
 flashes are the spirits of the dead dancing before the 
 tjiroue of the Manitou, or Great Spirit' 
 
 • N« wonder they filuiiild seek for some supernatural 
 cause of such splendour,* observed Jioljert. 
 
 Th«5 (lurora borealis exhibited another fihasn of its 
 worulrous fxintlty on tJio ensuing evening. The young 
 people from (Jetlai ('Miolt li»d gone fo a corn-husking 
 bee at ViTuon's, an old gentle;/jfl;> eetfjer, who llvwi 
 some eight \n\\m ttft o;i tbe (/OnresHJon Ulin } and 
 (Miinbig home in the sleiglia, ih'' w/iole riHignlfl^'unt 
 panoranm of the bI(I<4« wprend above Uit^ftf Wavrs of 
 liglit rolled sltiwly from shore to sliora of t^if» ImhHff 
 
UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. 357 
 
 in vast pulsations, noiselessly aseending to the zenith, 
 and descending all across the stars, like tidal surges 
 of the aerial ocean sweeping over a shallow silver 
 strand. 
 
 Three sleighs, a short distance from each other, 
 were running along the canal-like road, through dark 
 walls of forest, towards the ' Corner.' Now, it is a 
 principle in all bringings home from these midwinter 
 bees, that families scatter as much as may be, and no 
 sisters shall be escorted by their own brothers, but 
 by somebody else's brothers. ConsequcTitly, Kobert 
 Wynn had paired ofl' with Miss Armytage for this 
 drive ; and Mr. Holt, greybeard though he was, 
 would not resign Linda to any one, but left young 
 Armytage, Arthur, and Jay to fill the third sleigh. 
 
 Of course that sublime aurora overhead formed a 
 main topic of conversation ; but irrelevant matter 
 worked in somehow. Blunt Hiram at last furnisliod 
 a key to what had puzzled his fair compiniion l>y 
 asking abruptly, when Captain Argent was expected 
 at (-edar Creek ? 
 
 ' Captain Argent ? ' slie fepeahed, In fllli'lirlse ; * he's 
 not expected at all ; I believe lie has gone to Ireliind 
 on a year's leave;.' 
 
 ' Then you are not about to be married to him ? ' 
 said Mr. Holt, still tiiore Ijluutly. 
 
 ' No indeed, sir,' she answered, feeling very red, and 
 thankful for Mm comparative gloom. Whereupon 
 Mr. Holt shook hands with her, and expressed bin 
 conviction that she was the best and prettiest girl in 
 the enmity ; afterwards fell into a brown study, 
 lusting till they got hnnm. 
 
 Tlut jiair ill thu hindmost nloigh <llvf»rj|m1 (I'jttnily 
 
Ml •- 
 
 , I 
 
 'i 
 
 lii 
 
 \[ 
 
 358 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 far from the aurora ; for heavy upon Editli's heart lay 
 the fact that the mortj^a^e was at last al)out to be 
 foreclosed, and they should leave Daisy Burn. Tliis 
 very evening, her father coming late to Mrs. Vernon's 
 corn-shelling bee, had told her that Zack would be 
 propitiated no longer ; he wanted to get the farm in 
 time for spring operations, and vowed he would have 
 it. They jnust all go to Montreal, where Captain 
 Armytage had some friends, and where Edith hoped 
 she might be able perhaps to turn her accomplisliments 
 to good account by opening a school, 
 
 * Papa is not at all suited for a settler's life,' she 
 said. ' He haF, always lived in cities, and town habits 
 are strong upon him. It is the best wo can da* 
 
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 CHArTER XLIII. 
 
 A BUSII-FLITTING. 
 
 ]^T0 RoLort Wynn's mind, during thai slei-l,- 
 ^ drive under the nortliern lights, had enten-d 
 one or two novel ideas. Tlie first was a 
 plan for frastrating the grasping store- 
 keeper s design. He laid the wl.ole ciremnstan.os 
 before Mr. Holt, and asked for the means of rede ,min<. 
 the mortgage by paying Captain Armytage's debt to 
 Bunting, which was not half the value of the farm. 
 
 i he gallant offic-r was not obliged for his friend's 
 officiousness. He had brought himself to anticipate the 
 move to Montreal most pleasurably, notwithstanding, 
 the great pecuniary loss to himself. The clement 
 of practicality liad little place in his mental com- 
 position. An atmosphere of vagueness surrounded 
 lialo "'"'''' ^""^ ^"^^^^"^^ ^^'^"^ ^^ith a seductive 
 
 ' You see, my dear fellow,' he said to liobert, when 
 the proposition of redeeming the mortgage was made, 
 you see, it does not suit my plans to bury myself 
 any longer in these b..k woods, eh ? There are so 
 few opportunities of relnxation— of intellectual con- 
 verse, of~a— m short, of any of those refinements 
 
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360 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 required by a man of education and knowledge of the 
 world. You will understand this, my dear Mr. Eobert. 
 I — I wish for a more extended field, in fact. Nor is 
 it common justice to the girls to keep them immured, 
 I may say, in an atmosphere of perpetual labour. I 
 am sure my poor dear Edith has lived a slave's life 
 since she came to the bush. Only for your amiable 
 family, I — I positively don't know what might have 
 been the consequence, eh ? ' 
 
 Eobert felt himself getting angry, and wisely 
 withdrew. On Mr. Holt's learning the reception of 
 his offer, he briefly remarked that he guessed Sam 
 wouldn't object to own a farm near Cedar Creek, and 
 he should buy it altogether from the captain, which 
 was accordingly done. We refrain from picturing 
 Zack's feelings. 
 
 The other idea which had visited Eobert under the 
 aurora — why should he not himself become the tenant 
 of Daisy Burn ? He took his fur cap and weuu down 
 there for an answer. 
 
 The captain had gone to the ' Corner,' this being 
 post - day, and he expected some letters from the 
 Montreal friends in whom he believed. Reginald was 
 chopping wood ; the two sisters were over their daily 
 lessons. W'hat to do with Jay, while the above 
 question was being asked and answered, was a pro- 
 blem tasking Robert's ingenuity, and finally he assumed 
 the office of writing-master, set her a sum in long 
 division, which he assured her would require the 
 deepest abstraction of thought, and advised a with- 
 drawal to some other room for that purpose. 
 
 Jay fell into the snare, and went, boasting of her 
 arithmetical powers, which would bring back the sum 
 
ssa 
 
 tstaa 
 
 
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 'no, rohkrt,' siik answkrkd, 'it cannoi hi-.,' 
 
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 ) t: 
 
A BUSH-FLITTING. 
 
 363 
 
 completed in a few minutes. The instant the door 
 ciosed,— 
 
 ' I came down this morning,' said Eobert, ' to tell 
 you tnat I have concluded to take Daisy Burn as 
 tenant to Mr. Holt, from the tirst of April next. 
 That is,' he added, ' on one condition.' 
 
 'What?' she asked, a faint colour rising to her 
 cheek, for his eyes were fixed on her. 
 
 ^ Arthur is much steadier than he was, since that 
 visit to Argent last spring made him see that a 
 penniless proud man has no business to endeavour to 
 live among his equals in social rank, but his superiors 
 in wealth. He is good enough farmer to manage Cedar 
 Creek, with George's increasing help, and Dubois as a 
 sort of steward. Edith, if I come here and settle 
 on this farm, I cannot live alone: will you be mv 
 wife V J J 
 
 He leaned forward, and took her passive hand. 
 The conscious crimson rose for one moment to her 
 throat and averted face, crept even to the finger-tips, 
 then left her of the usual marble paleness again. 
 
 'No, Eobert,' she answered firmly, withdrawing 
 her hand ; ' it cannot be ; I cannot leave my father 
 and Jay.' 
 
 To this determination she held fast. For she had 
 known that such an option might be ofifered her, aa 
 every woman in like circumstances must know ; she 
 had weighed the matter well in the balance of duty, 
 and this was her resolve. Could she have counted 
 the cost accurately, it might not have been ; but she 
 hid from her eyes the bright side of the possible future, 
 and tried steadily to do what she deemed right. 
 
 Great was Jay's surprise, when she came back with 
 
3^4 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 
 \\ 
 
 the long division sum triumphantly proved, to find her 
 writing - master gone, and Edith with her eyes very 
 tearful. That occurrence was a puzzle to her for 
 some time afterwards. Crying was so rare with 
 Edith — and what could Eobert Wynn have to do with 
 it ? But Jay prudently asked no questions after the 
 first astonished ejaculation. 
 
 When Eobert was walking back to the Creek, 
 feeling his pleasant ' castle in the air ' shattered about 
 his ears, blind to the splendour oi the sunlit winter 
 world, and deaf to the merry twit of the snow-birds, 
 young Armytage came out of the woods and joined him. 
 He, poor fellow, was preoccupied with his own plans. 
 
 ' I think, and Edith agrees with me, that my best 
 chance is to get a small lot of wild land, and begin 
 at the beginning, as you did. I want t)ie discipline 
 of all the enforced hard work. Bob. My unfortunate 
 bringing up in every species of self-indulgence was no 
 good education for a settler ; but, with God's help, 
 I'll get over it.* 
 
 Eobert was lifted out of his own trouble for a time 
 by seeing the manful struggle which this other heart 
 had to make against the slavery of habit. He roused 
 himself to speak cheeringly to the young man, and 
 receive his confidence cordially, in an hour when 
 selfishness would rather have been alone, 
 
 * Perhaps an application for a Governmental free 
 grant of land would be advisable,' said Eeginald. 
 ' I've been thinking of it. You see I would rather 
 like to be bound down, and forced to stay in one 
 spot, as I must if I undertake the himdred acres on 
 Government terms.* 
 
 ' What are the terms ? * asked Robert. 
 
 '^\ 
 
 11 
 
A BUSH-FLITTING. 365 
 
 'Well, in the first place, I must be more than 
 eighteen years old ; must take possession of the land 
 m a month from the date of allotment ; must put 
 twelve acres at least into cultivation within four years 
 besides building a log-house, twenty feet by eighteen ' 
 and must guarantee residence on the lot till these 
 conditions be fulfilled.' 
 
 ' Hard work, and no mistake,' said Robert. ' I've 
 a mind to go with you.' 
 
 'Ymt. ' exclaimed the other, with unfeigned surprise, 
 looking m Wynn's face. 
 
 ' Yes, I feel as if I would be the better for a few 
 months of the old difficulties. I'd like to get f^wav 
 from this for awhile.' ^ 
 
 ' But perhaps you wouldn't hke the " while " to 
 extend over four years,' remarked Armytage. ' Of all 
 people, I never expected to ^nd you a rover, Wynn ' 
 
 It was the passing fancy of a wounded spirit, 
 Lefore the captain departed from Daisy Burn, Ko>^ert 
 had become wiser. Duty called on him to remain in 
 the home which his labour had created in the bush 
 After some deUberation, he asked Eeginald to work 
 Mr. Holt s newly acquired farm in shares with himself • 
 and Eegxnald, though looking wistfully on his receding 
 vision of solitary bush life, consented. 
 
 'Farming upon shares' signifies that the owner 
 furnishes the land, implements of husbandry and 
 seed ; the other contracting party finds all the labour 
 required ; and the produce i« divided between them 
 This agreement was slightly modified in the case of 
 Daisy Bum, for Kobert did many a hard day's work 
 on it himself, and was general superintendent. The 
 plan may answer well where ignorance and capital go 
 

 
 M ' 
 
 i, 
 
 / 
 
 it 
 
 
 
 
 :i ' - 
 
 
 I' 
 
 I 
 
 J : 
 
 366 
 
 CEDAR CREhK. 
 
 together, and chance to secure the services of honest 
 industry ; but the temptations of the labourer to fraud 
 are strong, and his opportunities unlimited. Many 
 a new settler has been ruined by farming upon shares 
 with dishonest people. 
 
 The last sleighing week saw the departure of the 
 Armytage family. Before a thaw imprisoned the back 
 settlements in spring isolation, they had reached the 
 city of Ottawa, where the captain showed a disposition 
 to halt for some days to look about hira, he said — a 
 favourite occupation in his lotos -eating life: Edith 
 protested in vain. No ; he might fall in with some 
 employment to suit him perchance : though what would 
 suit Captain Armytage, except a handsome salary for 
 keeping his hands in his pockets, he would himself 
 have been puzzled to define. 
 
 However, for the purpose of falling in with such 
 employment, he frequented most of the hotel and 
 tavern bars in the town, lea^ang the girls chiefly to 
 their own devices. So, as the weather was fine. Miss 
 Armytage and Jay walked about a great deal beside 
 the broad brown river, just unchained from ice, and 
 rushing, floe -laden, towards the Chiudi^re Falls; 
 through the wide rectangular streets, lined with the 
 splendid stores and massive houses of a busy popula- 
 tion ; through the village -like suburbs, where each 
 cottage was fronted with a garden ; and ascended the 
 Major Hill, to behold the unrivalled view of forest, 
 flood, and field from its summit. Far to the right and 
 left stretched a panorama, such as only British North 
 America could furnish ; the great Ottawa river gliding 
 by, a hundred and fifty feet below, the long line of 
 cataracts flashing and dashing to the north, a frame- 
 
A BUSH-PUTTING. 
 
 3«7 
 
 work of black forest closing into tho edge of the 
 streeta, and bounded itself on the horizon b/high b e 
 mountains. ^ ^ "® 
 
 H«^»7 'hey were overtaken by Mr. Hiram Holt 
 He had seen them pass as he sat ir, some lawyers 
 office near by, and followed them when his bnsfness 
 
 should go with him to Mapleton, while their fa her 
 chose to idle about Bytown. Miss Armytage deiln d 
 for she hoped they might leave for MontrJl ,n a dav 
 or wo at urthest; but if Mr. Holt commanded any 
 mfluence there, -and she told him, poor girl the 
 httle plan of teaching which she had farmed 
 
 on ^Ti T'' f "" ^™°'' "''«'■ »™-^ conversation 
 on that head, and a promise of writing to friends in 
 Montreal, • take my arm, young lady, and ' 'how 
 
 CTthlr °"^^: "0- Bigi;stofa' *:; 
 
 fane,, ,s the town itself-only twenly-five years old 
 
 Ihe man ,s only ,n the prime of life who felled the 
 first tree on this site, and now the town covers as 
 muc^^^ound as Boston. Certainly the site Tu" 
 
 Edith, thinking a good deal of other more personallv 
 
 miportant things, acquiesced in aU he said ^ ^ 
 
 ITou see, it's the centre of everything- three 
 
 Sfrnd G^ ''"' '°«^"'^' >>eref the'ottt: 
 Kideau and Gatmeau; water privilege is unlimited- 
 
 crtrion Z 7'" T"' '"™ '" '->« -'"" n 
 cCdil're.mrd^r'""^'''"'--^''^^^'^'' 
 This to Jay, who had to confess her ignorance. 
 Because the vapour-do you see the cloud always 
 
■7! : ; i I 
 
 
 
 5^> 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 ascending from the crest of the Falls ? — reminded 
 somebody of the steam from a boiling kettle. Hence 
 these are the Kettle Falls, Miss Jay.' 
 
 She thought the appellation very undignified. 
 
 * The finest building sites are on this Barracks 
 Hill/ observed Mr. Holt, relapsing into contemplation. 
 ' But Government vi^ou't give them up : it is to be a 
 sort of Acropolis, commanding the whole position at the 
 fork of the three rivers, and the double mass of houses 
 on both sides. Bytowu hasn't seen its best days yet, 
 by a long chalk, I guess.' 
 
 ' I thought it was called Ottawa,' said Jay in- 
 quiringly. 
 
 * Well, madam, in this country, when cities arrive 
 at the dignity of ten thousand inhabitants, they are 
 permitted to change their names. So a town named 
 York has very properly become Toronto, and the town 
 founded by Colonel By has become Ottawa. But, as 
 I was saying, its best days are in the future : it must 
 be the capital of the Oanadas yet.' 
 
 Jay remembered that her geography book assigned 
 that distinction to Quebec and Montreal. Mr. Holt 
 affirmed that the pre-eminence of these must dwindle 
 before this young city at their feet, wliich could be 
 captured by no coup-de-main in case of v/ar, and was 
 at the head of the natural land avenue to the great 
 Lakes Huron and Superior. 
 
 * The ancient Indian route,' said he — * the only safe 
 one if there were war with the United States ; and 
 you may depend on it, if railways take in the country, 
 one of the greatest termini will be here, at the head- 
 quarters of the lumber trade.' 
 
 His vaticination has been fulfilled. Lines of tele- 
 
 f ,i 
 
A BVSH-FUTTING. 
 
 3«9 
 
 graph rail, and steamers radiate from Ottawa citv as 
 a centre at tl,i., day. It has successfully conSrd 
 for the honour of being acknowledged capital of the 
 
 Sl:nvi'';::.^-"^-'"-^-"''^^'''e<'ecisio: 
 
 Lions in the way of antiquity it had none to show 
 temg the veriest mushroom of a capital; hut S 
 Holt took his friends to see the great sluice-works th. 
 beautiful Suspension Lridge. the chain ofTockltrn. g 
 a water sta.n=ase on the Kideau canal, and one of ht 
 huge sawmd s turned by a rill from Chaudiire lals 
 where Jay admired immensely the glittering machine^' 
 of saws, chisels, and planes, and the gay paintin^T:^ 
 the iron-work. Sinee then, the vast tubula "£ „" 
 he Grand Trunk Railway spans the river, andTs a 
 larger hon than all the rest. 
 
 \ 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 SHOVING OF THE ICE. 
 
 sE must pass over a year ; for so long did 
 Sam Holt continue in Europe. Eanibling 
 over many countries, from the heatlier hills 
 of Scotland and the deep fiords of Norway, 
 to the Alhambra and the sunlit ' isles of Greece,' this 
 grandson of a Suffolk peasant, elevated to the ranks of 
 independence and intellectual culture by the wisdom 
 and self-denial of his immediate ancestors, saw, and 
 sketched, and intensely enjoyed the beauty with which 
 God has clothed the Old World. And in that same 
 sketch-book, his constant companion, there was one 
 page which opened oftener than any other — fell open of 
 itself, if you held the volume carelessly — containing a 
 drawing, not of Alpine aiguille, nor Italian valley, nor 
 Spanish posada, nor Greek temple, but of a comfortable 
 old mansion, no way romantically situate among 
 swelling hills, and partially swathed in ivy. The 
 corner of the sketch bore the lightly pencilled letters, 
 * Dunore.' 
 
 And now he fancied that twelve months' travel had 
 completed the cure, and that he had quite conquered 
 his affectiou for one who did not return it. He was 
 
 w ' n 
 
 S70 
 
 Vri- 
 
 w '3! fl >i Hi. ^' ^ l H » . 
 

 SHOVING OF THE ICE, 37, 
 
 prepared to settle down in common life agaji, with 
 the second scar on his heart just healed. 
 
 Coming home by Boston, he took 'rail thence to 
 Burhngton on Lake Champlain, and near the head of 
 that noble sheet of water crossed the Canadian frontier 
 into French scenery and manners. The lire stopped 
 short at the edge of the St. Lawrence, where passengers 
 take boat for La Chine or the island of Montreal— 
 that i\ ice permitting. Now, on this occasion the ice 
 did not permit, at least for some time. Sam Holt 
 had hoped that its annual commotion would have 
 been over ; but it had only just begun. 
 
 A vast sheet of ice, a mile in breadth and perhaps 
 ten m length, was being torn from its holdfasts by the 
 current beneath ; was creaking, grinding, shoving tXon^ 
 crunchmg up against the shore in masses, block over 
 block ten or fifteen Teet hia>,, yielding slowly and 
 reluctantly to the pressure of the deep tide below 
 which sometimes with a tremendous noise forced the 
 humniocks into long ridges. The French Canadians 
 call these ' bourdigneaux.' 
 
 The sights, the sounds, were little short of sublime 
 But when night came down with its added stillness 
 then the heaving, grating, tearing, wrenching noises 
 were as of some prodigious hidden strength, riving the 
 very foundations of solid earth itself. People along 
 shore could hardly sleep. Mr. Holt, having a taste 
 for strange scenery, spent much of that sharp spring 
 night under ' the glimpses of the moon,' watching the 
 struggle between the long-enchained water and its icy 
 tyrant Another passenger, like-minded, was com- 
 panion of his ramble. 
 
 'I fear it is but a Utopian scheme to dream of 
 
I : 
 
 V' i 
 
 b^ 
 
 . i", 
 
 37a 
 
 CEDAR CRZEK. 
 
 bridging such a flood as this,' observed Holt. *No 
 piers of man's construction could withstand the force 
 that is in motion on the river to-night. I fear the 
 promoters of the Victoria Bridge are too sanguine.* 
 
 * Well, I could pin my faith upon any engineering 
 project sanctioned by Stephenson,' rejoined the other. 
 ' We had him here to view the site, just a mile out of 
 Montreal He recommended the tubular plan — a 
 modified copy of the English Britannia Bridge. And 
 Eoss, the resident engineer, has already begun pre- 
 luninaries, with cofferdams and such like mysteries.' 
 
 ' It will bo the eighth wonder of the world it com- 
 pleted,' said Mr. Holt, ' and must add immensely to 
 the commercial advantages of Canada.* 
 
 ' My dear sir,' quoth the other impressively (he was 
 a corn merchant in Montreal), ' unless you are in trade 
 you cannot duly estimate the vast benefits that bridging 
 the St. Lawreice will confer on the colony. For six 
 months of the year the river is closed to navigation, 
 as you are aware, and the industry of Canada is con- 
 sequently imprisoned. But this noble highway which 
 the Grand Trunk Railway Company have commenced 
 will render all seasons alike to our commerce. Con- 
 sider the advantage of being able to transport the 
 inexhaustible cereals of the Far West, "without 
 break of bulk or gauge," from the great com countries 
 of the Upper Lakes to th^ very wharves oii the 
 Atlantic' 
 
 Mr. Holt was not surprised to hear, after this, that 
 the speaker was a heavy shareholder in the Grand 
 Trunk Kailway, and placed unlimited faith in its 
 projects. Whether, in subsequent years, its complete 
 collapse (for a time) as a specu)aucr lowered his 
 
SHOVING OF THE ICE. 
 
 373 
 
 enthusiasm, we cannot say ; perhaps he was satisfied 
 to suffer, in fulfilment of the superb ambition of 
 opening up a continent to commerce. 
 
 The corn merchant had got upon his hobby, and 
 could have talked all night about the rail and its 
 prospects in Canada. * The progress of the Province 
 outstrips all sober calculation,' said he. • Population 
 has increased twelve hundred per cent, within the last 
 forty years ; wherever the rail touches the ground, an 
 agricultural peasantry springs up. Push it through 
 the very wilderness, say I ; there is no surer means of 
 filling our waste places with industrial life ; and the 
 Pacific should be our terminus.' 
 
 This design has ceased to be thought extravagant, 
 since Professor Hind's explorations have proved the 
 existence of a fertile belt across the continent, through 
 British territory, from the Lake of the Woods to the 
 Eocky Mountains ; along which, if speedily and wisely 
 opened up, must travel the commerce of China and 
 Japan, as well as the gold of Columbia. The nation 
 which constructs this line will, by its means, hold the 
 sceptre of the commercial world. Brother Jonathan 
 is well aware of the fact, and would long since have 
 nm a chain of locomotives from Atlantic to Pacific if 
 he could ; but thousands of miles of the great American 
 desert intervene, and along the western seaboard there 
 is no port fit for the vast trade, from Acapulco to 
 Esquimalt on "Vancouver's Island, except San Francisco, 
 which, for other reasons, is incapacitated. 
 
 Grinding, crushing, heaving, the broad current of 
 the St. Lawrence bore its great burden all night along. 
 The same might continue for many days , and Sam 
 Hol^ v^as anxious to get home. He determined, in 
 
i ! 
 
 1 
 
 4' M 
 
 374 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 company with his new friend the corn merchant, to 
 attempt the passage in a canoe. 
 
 'Now, sir,' said the latter gentleman, while they 
 waited on the bank, mulHed to their eyes in furs, 
 'you .vill have some experience of what a complete 
 barrier the frozen St. Lawrence is to Canadian com- 
 merce, or the commonest intercourse, and how much 
 the Victoria Bridge is needed.' 
 
 * Au large ! an large ! ' called the boatmen — sturdy, 
 muscular fellows, accustomed to river perils ; and, 
 laying themselves at the bottom of the canoe as 
 directed, shoulders resting against the thwarts, the 
 passengers began their ' traject.' Sometimes they had 
 open water in lanes and patches ; sometimes a field of 
 jagged ice, whereupon the merry-hearted voyageurs 
 jumped out and dragged the canoe across to water 
 again, singing some French song the while. What 
 perilous collisions of foes they dexterously avoided ! 
 What intricate navigation of narrow channels they 
 wound through within half a boat's length of crushing 
 destruction ! Notwithstanding all their ability, the 
 passengers were thankful to touch land again some 
 miles below the usual crossing place, and some hours 
 after embarkation. 
 
 Here the banks were deeply excoriated with the 
 pressure cf the ice against them ; for the edges of the 
 vast field set in motion the previous day had ploughed 
 into the earth, and piled itself in immense angular 
 'jambs.' On the quay of Montreal it lay in block 
 heaps also, crushed up even into the public thorough- 
 fare ; and men were at work to help the break in the 
 harbour with pickaxes and crowbars on the grey 
 
 plain. ^, ■; _:_-_,;_ .._, ■-__ _„.__::., „w.- -,-,- —--ST" -irjv r--i-'n3r---:"r 
 
 ■ w 
 
SHOVING OF THE ICE. 
 
 375 
 
 Mr. Holt had only a few minutes wherewith to visit 
 a fritiud in one of the obscure streets of the city in a 
 mean-looking house, made known to him by the coming 
 out of children bearing school satchels. A gentleman 
 with semi-military air, wearing his hat somewhat 
 jauntily on top of a bloated face and figure, met them 
 as he emerged from a side street, and, paternally 
 patting their heads, called them * little dears ; ' and, 
 from his seedy dress and unoccupied manner, it was 
 not hard to perceive that he must still be unsuccessful 
 in his search after the employment to suit him. 
 
 Whether Edith's suited her or not was a question 
 her friend would fain have asked, when he saw the 
 tired look and dull eye after her morning's work. 
 Captain Amiytage observed that he had frequently 
 wished her to take holidays — in fact, had done every- 
 thing short of exercising his paternal authority ; which 
 perhaps he ought to have used on the occEisiou. In 
 fact, he had thoughts of removal to Toronto ; the air 
 of Montreal evidently did not agree with either of the 
 girls, eh ? It is to be noticed that Jay stood by, 
 having suddenly shot into a slender shy girl, very 
 efficient over the smallest pupils. 
 
 Mr. Holt was cordially pleased when Captain Army- 
 tage made many apologies for not remaining longer ; the 
 fact was, he had a, business appointment ; and herewith 
 he whispered to his daughter, who gave him something 
 from her pocket. Mr. Holt fancied it was money. 
 
 She knew of the approaching marriage of his sister 
 Bell, to attend which he had hastened home ; and 
 knew, also, that some of the Cedar Creek household 
 would be thera Sinewy athlete as Sam Holt was, he 
 could not frame his lips to ask whether Linda might 
 
376 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 If. 
 
 i 'iS 
 
 be one of them. But how often had he to put the 
 question resolutely away during that and the next 
 day's travelling? And what would have been hia 
 disappointment if, on entering the family at Mapleton, 
 that pretty brown head and fair face had not met his 
 glance ? And you fancied that you were cured, Mr 
 Holt ; you reckoned fifteen months' travel a specific. 
 
 Yes ; Linda was one of Bell's bridesmaids. And 
 that same sketch-book, filled with glimpses of European 
 scenery, brought about an enduring result on this wise. 
 
 The girls were looking over it the day before the 
 wedding — Miss Bell in a manner rather preoccupied, 
 which, under the circumstances, was excusable. Hav- 
 ing both a trousseau and a bridegroom on one's handa 
 is quite sufficient for any young lady's capacity ; so 
 she presently left her brother Sam to explain his 
 sketch-book to Linda alone. 
 
 All went evenly until the page was opened, the bit 
 of silver paper lifted ofif, and Dunore was before her. 
 What a start — colour — exclamation! Her beloved 
 Irish home, with its green low hills, and its purple 
 sea-line afar. ' Oh, Mr. Holt, I am so glad that you 
 went to see Dunore ! ' Her eyes were full of tears as 
 she gazed. 
 
 * Are you ? I went there for your sake, Linda, to 
 look at the place you loved so much.' And — and — 
 what precise words he used then, or how he under- 
 stood that she would prize the drawing a thousand- 
 fold for his sake, neither rightly remembered afterwards. 
 But — 
 
 ' In April the ice always breaks up,' remarked old 
 Hiram, with a huge laugh at his own joke. 
 
SHOVING OF THE ICE. 377 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sam Holt, after their wedding trip to 
 Niagara, settled dovvu soberly at Daisy Burn as if they 
 had been married a hundred years, Arthur said. They 
 brought back with them a fugitive slave, who had 
 made her escape from a Virginian planter. Dinali 
 proved a faithful and useful nurse to the Daisy Burn 
 children. Fugitive slaves are found all over Canada 
 as servants, and generally prove trustworthy and 
 valuable. 
 
CHAPTER XLY. 
 
 EXEUNT OMNES. 
 
 ;ii 
 
 OW, in the year 1857, came a retributivo 
 justice upon Zack Bunting, in tlie shape of 
 complete collapse of all his gains and 
 
 a 
 
 their produce. He had placed them in a 
 New York bank which paid enormous interest — thirty 
 per cent., people said ; and when that figure of returns 
 is offered, wise men shake their heads at the security 
 of the principal. Nevertheless, all went rightly till 
 the commercial panic of the period above mentioned, 
 when Zack's possessions were reduced to their primi- 
 tive nonentity, and the old proverb abundantly illus- 
 trated, ' 111 got, ill gone.' 
 
 'Libby,' quoth Andy one afternoon, soon subse- 
 quently to the above occurrence, 'they say that 
 precious limb of an uncle of yours isn't goin' to come 
 back here at all at all. I'm tould Mrs. Zack an' Ged 
 is packing up, to be off to some wild place intirely.' 
 
 He waited, gazing at her energetic movements in 
 washing the dinner plates (for the luxury of ware had 
 supplanted tin before now at Cedar Creek), to see 
 what effect the news would produce. None. Miss 
 Liberia merely uttered * Wal ! ' 
 
 178 
 
■f , 
 
 '.? . : 
 
 r 
 
 1 J 
 
 
 ■? 
 
 . iUm L,, 
 
 III 
 
 nttf- 
 
 V 
 
 '.won't \ov he very lonesome in the world all by yourself, 
 
 libbv, asthoke?' 
 
 i;f 
 
EXE V NT OMNES, 
 
 379 
 
 * Won't you be very lonesome in the world all by 
 yourself, Libby, asthore ? ' he rejoined, casting a melt- 
 ing tenderness into voice and manner; 'without a 
 relation that ever was ? ' 
 
 ' Not a bit, I guess,' was the curt reply. 
 
 * Och,' groaned the lover, * av there ever was in the 
 whole 'varsal world a woman so hard to manage! 
 She hasn't no more feelin's than one of them chaneys, 
 or she wouldn't be lookin' at me these four years 
 'a-pinin' away visibly before her eyes. My new shute 
 o' clothes had to be took in twice, I'm got so thin ; 
 but little you cares.' Then, after a pause, 'Libby, 
 mavoumeen, you'd be a grand hand at managin' a 
 little store ; now the one at the " Corner " '11 be shut. 
 'Spose we tried it togedder, eh, mabouchal ? ' 
 
 Without hesitation, without change of countenance, 
 without displacing one of her plates, the Yankee 
 damsel answered, 'I guess 'twould be a spry thing, 
 rayther; we'd keep house considerable well. And 
 now that's settled, you can't be comin' arter me a 
 tormentin' me no more ; and the sooner we sot up the 
 fixin's the better, I reckon.' 
 
 Thus calmly and sensibly did the massive maiden 
 Liberia prepare to glide from single into wedded life ; 
 and though she has never been able quite to restrain 
 the humorous freaks of her husband, she has succeeded 
 in transforming the pauper labourer Andy Callaghan 
 into an independent shopkeeper and farmer. 
 
 Not long after the happy accomplishment of this 
 last alliance the post-office was transferred from the 
 decaying knot of cabins at the 'Corner' to the 
 rising settlement of Cedar Creek. Andy's new 
 store had a letter-box fixed in its window, and his 
 

 y 
 
 
 :! if 
 
 j: 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 380 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 wife added to her multifarious occupations that of 
 postmistress. 
 
 ' Anything for me this evening, Mrs. Callaghan ? ' 
 asked the silver-headed squire, in his stately way, 
 coming up to the counter. 
 
 ' I guess thar's the newspaper,' answered Liberia, 
 pushing it across, while the ether hand held a yard 
 measure upon some calico, whence she was serving a 
 customer. A new face Mr. Wynn saw in a moment : 
 probably one of the fresh emigrants who sometimes 
 halted at the Creek proceeding up country. 
 
 Mrs. Callaghan looked doubtfully at the piece of 
 English silver produced by the woman, and turned it 
 round between her finger and thumb. ' I say, squire, 
 stop a minute : what sort o' money's this ? * 
 
 'A crown-piece sterling; ycu'll give six shillings 
 and a penny currency for it,' answered Mr. Wynn. 
 
 'Now I guess that's what I don't understand,' 
 said Liberia. * Why ain't five shillin's the same every- 
 whar?' 
 
 That Mr. Wynn could not answer. He had been 
 indulging some thoughts of a pamphlet on currency 
 reformation, and went out of tlie store revolving them 
 
 again. 
 
 For it is to be noted that the squire felt somewhat 
 like Lycurgus, or Codrus, or some of those old law- 
 givers and state-founders in this new settlement of the 
 Creek. He knew himself for the greatest authority 
 therein, the one whose word bore greatest weight, the 
 referee and arbitrator in all cases. Plenty of interests 
 had sprung up in his life such as he could not have 
 dreamed of nine years before, when rooted at Dunore. 
 His thoughts of the latter had changed since he learned 
 
■ 
 
 EXEUNT OMNES. 
 
 38' 
 
 that a railway had cut the lawn across and altered the 
 avenue and entrance gate, and the new owner had 
 constructed a piece of ornamental water where the 
 trout-stream used to run ; likewise built a wing to the 
 mansion in the Tudor style, with a turret at the eixl. 
 Which items of news, by completely changing the 
 aspect of the dear old home, as tliey remembered 
 Dunore, had done much towards curing the trouble- 
 some yearning after it. 
 
 Now the squire walked through the broad sloping 
 street of pretty and clean detached cottages (white, 
 with bright green shutters outside), fronting fields 
 whence the forest had been puslied back considerably. 
 Orchards of young trees bloomed about them; the 
 sawmill was noisily eating its way through planks on 
 the edge of the stream ; groups of ' sugar-bush ' maples 
 stood about ; over all the declining sun, hastening to 
 immerse itself in the measureless woods westward. 
 ' Pleasant places,' said Mr. Wyun to himself, quoting 
 old words ; ' my lot has fallen in pleasant places.' 
 
 Sitting in the summer parlour of the butternut's 
 shade, he read his newspaper — a weekly Greenock 
 print, the advertisement side half-filled with quack 
 medicines, after the manner of such journals in 
 Canada. Presently an entry in the ' Deaths ' arrested 
 his attention. 
 
 'Died, at his house in Montreal, on the 11th inst., 
 Captain Eegiuald Ai-mytage, late of H.M.'s 116th foot.' 
 Friends at a distance will please accept this intimation.' 
 
 Kobert sprang to his feet. ' Let me see it, father.' 
 
 Now was the twentieth day of the month. ' I 
 wonder she has not written to some of us — to Linda 
 even,' said he, returning the paper. Then going over 
 
! I 
 
 I I 
 
 •"i 
 
 38a 
 
 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 ■v V 
 
 \i 
 
 
 il 
 
 'I'A 
 
 
 I 
 -(t- 
 
 :^....- 1. 
 
 beside his mother, he whispered, ' I shall go to her, 
 mother.' 
 
 ' Poor Edith ! But what could you do, my son ? * 
 
 ' Mother ' — after a pause — * shall I not bring you 
 another daughter to fill Linda's empty place ? ' 
 
 Mrs. Wynn had long before this been trusted with 
 tlie story of l^obert's aflection. Her gentleness won 
 every secret of her son's heart. 
 
 What could she say now but bless him through her 
 tears ? 
 
 And so he went next day. He found the mean 
 house in the obscure street where Edith had for years 
 toilftd, and not unhappily. Duty never brings unmixed 
 pain in its performance. 
 
 The schoolroom was full of the subdued hum of 
 children's voices ; the mistress stood at her desk, deep 
 mourning on her figure and in her face. It was only 
 the twelfth day since her bereavement ; but she was 
 glad of the return of regular work, though the white 
 features and frail hands hardly seemed equal to much 
 as yet. Presently the German girl who was her 
 servant opened the door, and Miss Armytage went to 
 hear her message. 
 
 * Vc.i gentleman's in parlour ; ' which suggested to 
 Edith a careful father of fresh pupils. She gave her 
 deputy. Jay, a few charcrea. and went to the visitor, 
 who had thought her an mterminable time in coming. 
 He, blooming, strong, fresh from his healthy farm life 
 in the backwoods, saw with compassion how wan and 
 worn she looked. Nursing at night during her father's 
 illness, and school-keeping in the day, might be blamed 
 for this. Would she come to Cedar Creek and be 
 restored ? 
 
 U 
 
EXEUNT OAfNES, 
 
 383 
 
 • Yes/ she answered, with perfect franiness, but not 
 antil the current six months of schooling had elapsed. 
 At the end of Juno she would be free; and then, if 
 Mrs. Wynn asked her and Jay 
 
 The other, the old question, was on Eoberfs lips at 
 the instant. And to this also she said ' Yes.' 
 • 
 
 Now for the prospects of the settlement which we 
 have traced from its first shanty to its first street. 
 Its magnates looked forward confidently to its develop- 
 ment as a town — nay, perchance as a city of ten 
 thousand inhabitants, when it purposes to assume a 
 new name, as risen from nonage. Future maps may 
 exhibit it as Wynnsboro', in honour of the founder. 
 A station on the line of rail to connect the Ottawa 
 with Lake Huron is to dtand beside that concession 
 hue (now a level plank road) where liobert Wynn 
 halted elevei- years ago, axe in hand, and gazed in' 
 dismay on the impenetrable bush. 
 
 XHE END, 
 
 PRINTED BY MORHISON AND OIBB UMITKD, EDINBUHOH 
 
1 I 
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A Sdected List of %^ 
 The Religious Tract 
 Society^s fllustrated <^ 
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 London! 4 Bouverie Street 
 and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard 
 and sold by all Bookselleri 
 
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 True Stories cf Heroic Deeds by Lads and 
 
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 By H. E. BURCH, author of 'Dick Denver' 
 etc. With IS Illustrations. 
 
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 the Whaler.' With 17 illustrations. 
 
 7. CEDAR CREEK : Or, From Shanty to Settle- 
 
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 with 15 Illustrations. 
 
 8. A BOOK OF HEROES ; Or, Great Victories 
 
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 By HbNRY JOHNSON. With 16 Illustrations. 
 LONDON! THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
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 ^- London: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIErV. 
 
ILLUSTBATED STORIES FOB BOYS. 
 
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 Cyril's Ques^ : 
 
 or, 0*er Hill and Vale in the Land of the Inca. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by Alfred Pbarsb, 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Glasgow Herald says : — ' " Cyril'a Quest " takes not only the 
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 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2S. 6d. 
 
 The Shei]\eld Daily Telegraph says : — ' It is a tale of adventure at 
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 Through Fire and Through Water. 
 
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 stacles that intervene. THe story never flags for a moment ; it goes 
 with a swing from start to finish. ' 
 
 m 
 
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 SB,, 
 
 tha 
 
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 >W, 
 
 IS. 
 
 D. 
 
 St 
 
 POPULAR STORIES. 
 
 By JOSEPH HOCKING. 
 
 The Chariots of the Lord. 
 
 With Fifteen Full-Page Pictures by Adolf Thiedb; 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
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 although all of fliem have admitted its magnificent possibilities, 
 and he has welded out of U a story that is instinct with life and 
 vigour, and, among the novels of tht present season, ought to 
 stand very high.' 
 
 TAt Christian World says :— ' Told with great spirit will 
 
 be keienly relished by Mr. Hocking's host of admirers.' 
 
 The Daily Telegraph says : — ' A sound, honest story, written 
 round one of the most picturesque incidents in history. For a 
 heroine there is a charming young lady. " The Chariots of the 
 Lord " should meet with hearty approbation.' 
 
 Tht Record says : — ' Ingeniously constructed .... abounds in 
 strong situatiors and in exciting incidents. Mr. Joseph Hocking 
 has never done better work than this ; perhaps, indeed, he haa 
 reached— for the present — his high-water mark.' 
 
 By SILAS K. HOCKING. 
 
 Author »/ ' God's Outcast,' • The Day of Recompense,' ' The Hetirt of 
 Man; 'In Spite of Fate,' etc. 
 
 The Awakening of flnthony Weir. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by Harold Coppino. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Times says : — ' TBe story is a remarkable proof of the 
 
 Author's adaptability.' 
 
 The Daily News says : — ' A well-written story.' 
 
 The Contemporary Review says : — ' The best story which Mr. Si1?s 
 
 K. Hocking has written for many a day, in my opinion one ol 
 
 the best stories he has ever written.' 
 
 By J. BLOUNDELLE-BURTON. 
 
 Author of ' The Scourge of God,' ' The Silent Shore,' et$. 
 
 The Intriguers' Way. 
 
 Tha Story of m. Joiooblta Plot. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by Adolf THt3DI« 
 Larpfe crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Morning Post says : — ' It is a good story.' 
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 The Daily Chronicle says ■ — ' It is one of th, best stories thai 
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Ns 
 
 
 BY DAVID LYALL 
 
 Author of • Tk» Land o' th$ Ltal,' tt$. 
 
 The Gold that Pcrisheth. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by W. H. C. Groomb. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Guardimti saya : — * An interesting story.' 
 
 The Scotsman nays : — ' Ther* ar« some delightful, aa well ai 
 dramatic, domestic sceses.' 
 
 Literature says : — ' His characters are truly charming in th«ir 
 quaintness.' 
 
 The Glasgow Herald, says : — ' Mr. David Lyall has made a 
 strong story, and one well suited to drive home a moral. From 
 the first chapter, in which a ruined merchant dies by his own 
 hand, to the last, in which that man's soti is rewarded for his 
 courage and fortitude by the rehabilitation of his father's memory, 
 there is not a dull chapter.* 
 
 The Methodist Times says : — ' We have here the sure skilled 
 touch of an expert, and David Lyall has given us what, to youitg 
 people especially, is an excellent story.* 
 
 The Intervening 5ca. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by Harold Copping. 
 Large Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Tht Spectator says: — 'This is really a powerful book.* 
 The Scotsman says : — ' It is a most interesting story.' 
 The Review of Reviews says : — ' This story of a self-made, 
 arbitrary factory owner and his sons is full of sympathy and in- 
 terest, and we follow it with great pleasura.* 
 
 Another Man's rioney. 
 
 With a Frontispiece by Alprsd Pearsb. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Athenetum says: — 'It is not devoid of the charm that the 
 best Scottish character affords to novelists.' 
 
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 life of well.to-do people in the Highlands of Scotland. The 
 volume also contains a shorter story from the same pen, an in- 
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 in such large numbers.' 
 
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 The Glasgow Herald says : — ' It is a most readable volume.' 
 The Record says : — ' It is a pathetic Scotch lova atoxy. Th« 
 character! arc all well Arawa.' 
 
BY S. R. CDOCKBTT. 
 
 MB. 
 
 at 
 
 i«ir 
 
 a 
 om 
 wn 
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 ry, 
 
 ed 
 
 a. 
 
 The White Plumes of Navarre. 
 
 A Romano* of the Wars of Religion. 
 
 With Sixteen Illustrations by W. H. MarghtsoNc 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 S. R. Crockett, the Author of The Raiders, The Lilac 
 Sunbonnet and other stories, needs no introduction to readers 
 of modern literature. Wherever the English language is 
 spoken, there Mr. Crockett's books have found a welcome. 
 
 Among these books we confidently predict a high place for 
 his new stirring historical romance. The White Plumes of Navarre. 
 
 It is a tale of the Inquisition under Philip II. of Spain. The 
 scene is laid in Paris and the south of France, and also in 
 Spain. From beginning to end the story throbs with life and 
 love. The fight for freedom gives it a thrilling interest. A 
 romance of the past, it has its lesson and its inspiration for the 
 present. 
 
 
 BY MRS. 0. F. WALTON. 
 
 Author of 'A Peep Behind tht Sctnes' etc. 
 
 Doctor Forester. 
 
 With Four Illustrations by Ernest Prater. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 
 In Doctor Forester Mrs. O. F. Walton gives us a romance of 
 everyday life, which embraces a puzzling mystery, a dastardly 
 act which nearly ended in a tragedy, and two wholesome love 
 stories. Her hero is a fine yet human character. The young 
 people of the story are such as we meet in flesh and blood. 
 The incidents are lively yet natural. The religious teaching is 
 clear, without being conventional or forced. The story is just 
 the book to win the attention of young people ; and it should be 
 especially welcomed by those who recognise the need of bright, 
 wholesome fiction which can be introduced into the home 
 without misgivings. 
 
i- 
 
 
 POPDLAfi STORIES. 
 
 By LESLIE KEITH. 
 
 The Deceiver. 
 
 With Fifteen Illustrations by J. Finmemorr. 
 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 Leslie Keith has given us in this fascinating story some vivid 
 pictures of human life. Verney Drake, the younger brother, returns to 
 England after ten years' wanderings in far-off lands, only to be con- 
 fronted with a danger to the family name. To rescue his brother from 
 dishonour, he performs a heroic act of self-sacrifice. It costs him 
 his fortune, and he sets to work to make a living in London by 
 his pen. Away on the shore of the Carribean Sea, Maisie Kingdon 
 watches by the grass hammock in which her husband lies dying. 
 Soon after this she sees an advertisement in a London newspaper 
 sent her by a friend, as the result of which she lays claim to a 
 large property, and comes home to England. To find out who is 
 'the deceiver' is a problem which excites the readei'i interest 
 through a large part of the story. 
 
 By ELEANORA H. STOOKE. 
 
 Angel's Brother. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by W. H. C. Groomb. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 
 
 By ALICE JANE HOME. 
 
 Helen Plurdoch; or, Treasures of Darkness, 
 
 With Three Illustrations by Sidney Covvell. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2S. 
 Tht Jfeeord says : — ' It is a story which will appeal to educated 
 girls, keeping its hold upon their interest from first to last.' 
 
 By flora KLICKMANN. 
 
 The Ambitions of ilenny Ingram. 
 
 With Thr^a Illustrations by J. Finnemorb. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 
 Tht British Weekly says: — 'From the first page to the last it 
 is more than readable, it is intensely interesting.' 
 
 By jean a. OWEN. 
 
 Pacing the World. 
 
 Jk Volume of Seven Short Stories. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by A. Guy Smith. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 
 The Dundee Courier says : — ' This is an excellent book to put into 
 the hands of a girl or young woman.' 
 
 The Pall Mall Gauette says : — ' These stories show a quiet charm 
 and tender brightness which ore aminentlj suited to their themes.' 
 
 I 
 
 aa 
 

 STOBIES BY DEBOBAH ALCOCK. 
 
 Author of • The Spanish Brothtrt,' $U., $U, 
 
 Under Calvin's 5pell. 
 
 With Fifteen Illustrations. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d, 
 T^t Pfcord says: — 'It is a remarkable book. It transports the 
 
 leader straight away to Geneva, and introduces him to the stirring 
 
 events of the Reformation period.* 
 
 The Standard says : — ' A powerfully written story.' 
 
 The Literary World says : — ' " Under Calvin's Spell " describes 
 
 the life of the Genevese under Calvin ; it is an inspiring story, 
 
 well told, and the many admirers of D. Alcock will read it with 
 
 pleasure and profit.' 
 
 Dr. Adrian. 
 
 A Stopy 
 
 •f Old Holland. 
 
 With many Illustrations. 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s. 
 This story deals with the thrilling experiences and episodes of 
 the Dutch struggle with Spain in the sixteenth century. 
 
 The Christian World says : — ' F'ora beginning to «nd the story 
 is vividly interesting, and reading it should stir and strengthen 
 Protestant impulses.' 
 
 The Friends of Pascal ; 
 
 or. The Children of Port Royal. 
 
 A Stopy of Old France. 
 
 With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 The Expository Times »ays : — 'The Religious Tract Society 
 has published a very good historical novel under the title 
 ef '^The Friends of Pascal." It carries us into the 
 heart of a great movement, until we throb with sympathy. It 
 intro'Ia<>es us to men and women who would have been great or 
 mean in any age. It diverts us for an hour, it makes us wise lor 
 all tinne.' 
 
 The King's Service. ThtrtVv^.X.**'... 
 
 Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Crushed, yet Conquering. 
 
 A Story of Oonatanco and Bohemia. 
 
 New edition, with Seven Illustrations. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 This story gives a complete and authentic sketch of the trial 
 and martyrdom of John Huss ; it abounds in incident, and while 
 riveting the attention of the reader, conveys much information and 
 teaching of the highest valve. 
 
11 
 
 .Mi 
 
 .i, .iiu 
 
 THE ALEXANDRA LIBRARY. 
 
 A splendid Series of Gift Books for Girls, mil illustrated and artistically 
 
 bound. 
 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth full gilt, containing from 320 to 
 384 pages of reading matter, 3s. 6d. per volume. 
 
 By L. E. TIDDEMAN. 
 
 Tender and True. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by Percy Tarrant. 
 
 Shows considerable skill in the drawing of character. Both 
 •• Granny " and " Betty " are vivid personalities and Miss Tiddenian 
 Kakes us feel they are real. The story, too, is above the average in 
 merit and its winding up — especially the scene in London — is full of 
 interest. 
 
 By M. H. CORNWALL LEGH. 
 
 Gold i.i the Furnace. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by Lancelot Speed. 
 
 This Is a story of powerful dramatic interest. A true-hearted, 
 noble girl is made to suffer for the sins of a guilty scheming one, and 
 has even to undergo a term of imprisonment. Jealousy and vanity 
 have prompted this shameful injustice. In the end the true state of 
 things is brought to light, wrongs are righted, and the innocent 
 girl goes free. 
 
 By MARY E. PALGRAVE. 
 
 Deb Gavel. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by Frank Dadd. 
 
 •' • Deb Clavel ' sustains the reader's interest throughout, with 
 plenty of incident." — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 " There is both interest and excitement in this quaint and charming 
 book."— £«7mA Weekly. 
 
 By ELEANORA H. STOOKE. ' ^^ 
 
 Author 0/ ' Litth Maid Marigold,' etc. 
 
 The Bottom of the Bread Pan. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by J. Finnemore, R.I. 
 By anna MAXWELL. 
 
 Carpenter and King. 
 
 With Three Illustrations by E. Barnard Lintott. 
 
UNIFORM EDITIONS OP 
 
 EVELYN EVEfiETT-GBEEN'S TALES. 
 
 Mils Evtr$tt-Gr$tn has kng hun known and tppneiatid as « prtutiui ani 
 tkilltd urit$r, and whiU many of ktr tales »r$ spicially suited for 
 girls, they will also be read with fro/it and inUrest by adults. Thi 
 Soeitty is issuing the whole series 0/ her longer stories in « unijorm styU. 
 
 Lcnorc Annandalc*3 Story. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cleth gilt, as. fid. 
 
 The ^formnf Pott says : — ' The pervading thought of the book 
 is the fulfilment of duty in obedience to the commands of religion, 
 whose dictates are represented as the only sure fuide through life.' 
 
 The Western Morning News says: — 'The writer has aimed at 
 producing a story of good too*, and she has most dccidcdlj 
 succeeded.' 
 
 &arbara'd Brothers. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 A tale ti>at will make a splendid gift-book. It is written in • 
 Uflj style, and is full of clever character portraituxo. 
 
 The Head of the House. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 The Christian says : — ' A story with a deep lesson for many 
 a household, where barriers of mutual misunderstanding have 
 prevented the display of affection which was all the time strong 
 enough to be kept back only with great effort. The young people 
 into whose hands this book comes are thereby supplied with much 
 food for reflection, yet presented with the attractiveness which only 
 the skilled ratonttur can impart.' 
 
 The Glasgow Herald says : — ' The reading which it snipplies 
 is sound without being dreary, serious, yet rclieived by happy 
 touphea of humoiir.' 
 
 Old liiss Audrey. 
 
 With a Frontispiece by Lancblot Spbbd. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2S. 6d, 
 
 Sketches some very interesting pictures of English village life, 
 in which persons of different rajiks figure, in whose live* the 
 power of tAe Gospel is illustrated. 
 
UNIFORM EDITIONS OF 
 
 EVELYN EVERETT^GBEENS TALES. 
 
 The family; 
 
 dome Reminiscences of & housekeeper. 
 
 * * With a Frontispiece by A. Guy Smith. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as, 6d. 
 
 A very clever and beautiful etory. The old housekeeper narrates 
 the varied incidents and experiences of a large family in which 
 she is a trusted friend. The story, in a very helpful manner, deals 
 with gambling, social reform, and other buiniag qutitions. 
 
 Fir Tree Farm. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. C^own 8vo, cloth gilt, 2*. 6d. 
 
 Two Cnthusiadta. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth pilt, as. 6d. 
 
 This is a tale describing; the experiences of a wealthy heiress 
 and her young companion in their efforts to carry out their views 
 on social and religious questions. It abounds ia pleasant inci* 
 dents, and conveys some very helpful, practical lessons. 
 
 The Mistress of Lydgate Priory ; 
 
 or. The Story of a Long Life. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. 
 
 This is a story of love and self-will, beautifully told in auto* 
 biographical style by the accomplished, well-known writer of 
 ' Barbara's Brothers.^ A girl staying for a lengthened period 
 at her grandmother's house, hears the story of her long eventful 
 life, and is a witness of the calm in that lifo produced by the ulti> 
 male bending of a strong will. 
 
 Tom Meron of 5ax. 
 
 A Story of th« BvanMAllosil R«vh 
 Kighteantn 0«ntury. 
 
 With a Frontispiec*. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. 
 
 dcint Guardians. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. CrowB 8yo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 A tale of two families of cousins whose fathers are joint guaX' 
 dians of a young girl. Many incidents of a romantic and engross- 
 ing character run through the storjr, and the main teaching of the 
 book is the influence exercised by a consistent Christian lit*. 
 
 
UNIFORM EDITIONS OF 
 
 EVELYN EVEDETT-GfiEENS TALES. 
 
 The Percivala. 
 
 With a I rontisptece. Crowu Sv* rloth gilt, as. 6(1. 
 Tkt Independent says: — 'A ipirited stor^ ■> a household ol 
 firls and their doings.' 
 
 T,'ie Record says : — ' Will prov« popular among gxtls.' 
 
 Marcus 5tratford'3 Charge ; 
 
 or, Roy's Temptation. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 The Bookseller says: — • Ab English country story, tho real hero 
 bein^ one Roy, whom his guardian had for a long timt taken (or a 
 relaUve. A capital tale, full of good teaching.* 
 
 5ir Reginald's Ward ; 
 
 or, Talcs of the ramlly. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 Alvyn Ravendale. 
 
 With Frontispiece by Harold Copping. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 Tkt Birmitiikam Pest says :— ' It is an admirable study of the 
 development of character.' 
 
 The Review tf Reviews says : — ' It is an original and fascinating 
 
 story.* 
 
 At 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Conscience of Roger Trehernc. 
 
 Illustrated. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d' 
 
 The Spectator says :— ' Roger Treheme, with his sterling honesty 
 of purpose, is a very attractive person. He goes through 
 a year or so of storm and stress, and finally his light shines clearl* 
 and he obeys his call. 
 
 The Faith of Hilary Lovel. 
 
 A Tale of th« Reign of Queen ElizmbetH. 
 
 With Seven Illustrations by Alprbd Fearss. 
 
 Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. 6d. 
 The Morning Post says :— ' It is a brightly written story.' 
 The Christiart World says :— ' It is a vigorous well-told tale widi 
 a pleasant love story woven Into it.' 
 
 i. 
 
 t 
 
iSV t 
 
 ffi»>a 
 
 UNIFOfiM EDITIONS OF STOBIES 
 
 By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY. 
 
 Thi storiis by this gifted *ni popular author contain graceful, vivid pieturet 
 of gtrl-life. They abound in striking incidents, are full of pathos, and 
 the character-sketching is very trut to lift. The books art now to bt 
 obtained in a new uniform stylt of binding, in blm cloth, with author's 
 autograph in gold on tht sidt. 
 
 £6ther Cameron's Story. 
 
 A Talc of Life and Influence. 
 
 With a Frontispiece by Alfred Pearsb. 
 
 Crown 8vo. cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. 
 Tht Christian Leader says : — ' A more charming story for girls 
 could not be found. Simple, pure, natural, home-life is pre- 
 sented in an aspect so daintily attractive that the reade.* rises 
 from th« perusal of Esther's story refreshed and inspired.' 
 
 Little riiss Muffet. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d 
 
 The Independent says: — 'One of the prettiest stories we hav* 
 read for a long time.* 
 
 Aunt Diana. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, f»9. 6d. 
 
 Another of Miss Carey's stories which has already become popu' 
 lar. It illustrates in the author's best and most telling sty la 
 the working of duty founded upon Christian principle. 
 
 3vcril. . 
 
 Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, ss. 6d. / v 
 
 The Leeds Mercury says : — ' A Tcry interesting tale, which 
 will not be readily put aside by the reader until the end has beea 
 reaxhed.' 
 
 Cousin Mona. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 Merle's Crusade. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, as. 6d. 
 
 Our Bessie. 
 
 With a Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, is. 6d. 
 
 The Record says : — ' " Our Bessie " is one of Miss Carey's suc- 
 cessful efforts. We can heartily recommend it as an appropriate 
 gift book for younf ladies.' 
 
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