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^^..«_r — .--f— ' 
 
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 /^/. 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES 
 
 OR, 
 
 HOW THE BUSHMAN FAMH.Y 
 GOT THEIR HOMES. 
 
 liElNi; 
 
 \ HOOK OK FACTS AND INCIDKNTS OF PIONF.F.R LIFE IN UPPER 
 CANADA. ARRAN(;F.D IN THlv FORM OF A STORY. 
 
 nv TIIF. 
 
 RF.V. JOSKPH H. HILTS, 
 
 Anther of " Kx,.orioii..cH of a Backwoods Preacher," etc. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 PRINTF.n FOK THE AUTHOR BY 
 
 fVILLIAM J3RIGGS, 78 & 80 KING STREET EAST. 
 
 1S88. 
 
T 
 
 Entered, according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one 
 thousand elpht hiindred and eighty-eight, by Rkv. Joseph H. Hii.tm. in Ok 
 Office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa. 
 
 BY 
 
jpcdtcatloii 
 
 TO THF DESCKNDANTS 
 
 OF TIIOSF. RRA\"F. MF.N AND WOMF.N WHO BRAVEl") THE DANCERS, 
 
 FACFH ruK Dill icri/riKs, endl'red the hardships 
 
 AND SCFKERED THE PRIVATIONS OF 
 
 PIONEER I. IKE IN THIS OPR NATIVE PROVINCE, THIS BOOK IS 
 
 RF.SPECTFl'Ll.Y DEDICATED. 
 
 AND THE AITHOR INDUI,(.ES I HE HOPE THAT 
 
 ITS PROniMTION AND I'ERITSAl, MAY BE THE MEANS OF CAUSING 
 
 HOIM WRITER AND READER MORE HIGHLY TO APPRECIATE 
 
 THE BOON SECURED TO THEM 
 BY THE NOBLE EFFORTS OF THE EARLY HOME BUILDERS 
 
 OF OUR COUNTRY. '' ' 
 
rji 
 
iNTEODuanoN 
 
 DVERSE criticism has sounded the deatli-knell of 
 so many literary productions, that I felt many 
 misgivings when 1 sent out my tirst book, " Ex- 
 Iperiences of a Backwoods Preacher,'' to seek a, place in the 
 arena of Canadian literature. But the favorable comments 
 lof tiie Press, and the hearty commendations of hundreds of 
 [the readers of these " F]xperiencps," have encouraged me 
 [to try find produce a work that would be more worthy of 
 Ipublic favor than my tirst effort can claim to be. 
 
 Acting on the advir^e of persons of large experience in 
 the book trade, I have written "Among the Forest Trees," 
 in the form of a story. The book is really a narrative of 
 facts and incidents, around wliich the imagination has been 
 :)ermitted to throw some of the draperies of fiction. But 
 bi'uth is none the less true because some fancy pictures are 
 found in its surroundings. A good piece of cloth is no less 
 .valuable because, by coloring, it is made beautiful. And 
 il though a man may be as good a man in an outfit made 
 j)f sail-cloth, or of an Indian blanket, as he would be if he 
 /ere dressed in the finest production of the weaver's and 
 |he tailor's art, yet no one will say that he would be just 
 Ls presentable in the one case as in the other. So facts may 
 become more impressive, when nicely clothed. 
 
 In writing the following pages, three things have been 
 [ept steadily in view. 1st. The facts and incidents must 
 e substantially true, 2nd. All the drapery and coloring 
 
VI 
 
 iNTODnrc^TioN. 
 
 must he in strict harmony with piuo nioralitv, and with the 
 dpiiiands of a sound religious sentiniont. 3rd. And the 
 wholo must ho illustrative of pioiK^er life, in its conditions 
 and surroundings, and calculated to show something of the 
 toils, privations, hardships, ditKculties and sorrows of the 
 early settlers. 
 
 Keeping within these limits, 1 believe that I have produced 
 a book that can with entire safety, and not without profit, 
 Ije put into the hands of either young or old, since there is 
 not one line from the beginning to the ending that will 
 excite bad passions or mislead the judgment. And while 
 this is true, there is much that will toucii the finer sensi- 
 bilities and sympathies of the i-eader. 
 
 It will be observed that the author has recorded the 
 narrations and conversations as though they were the 
 utterances of others. Hence the first pei'son is generally 
 left in the background. 
 
 This method was adopted, because by it a great variety 
 of characters could be brought on the scene, and a larger 
 diversity of style could be presented. 
 
 Another thing to which I would call the reader's atten- 
 tion is the fact that dates and localities have mostly been 
 left out of the text of the book. Where these are given 
 they are found in the explanatory notes. This plan was 
 adopted to atibrd greatei* facilities for grouping together 
 facts and incidents, that were separated by time and 
 distance, so as to give an aspect of unity to the whole 
 production. 
 
 The reader will also observe that the names of persons 
 and places are mostly taken from trees and shrubs and 
 plants and flowers, as these are found in the forest wilds. 
 It may be a mere fancy of mine ; but I thought that it 
 would add to the attractiveness of the book, if the names 
 
 found in i 
 treated of 
 
 John Hi 
 
 means a ti 
 
 lived, i woi 
 
 almost ul)ii 
 
 the questio 
 
 to say wh< 
 
 neigliborho( 
 
 tirst woman 
 
 Another 
 
 vai-ied char; 
 
 pages, there 
 
 tioned in th 
 
 if they are n 
 
 are not relijj 
 
 writing that 
 
 good, in hui 
 
 far as mysell 
 
 lip left to do 
 
 And now 
 
 the thousan( 
 
 came to thi 
 
 wonderful el 
 
 continue in t 
 
 on the part c 
 
 that the bra 
 
 unless some i 
 
 to the future 
 
 But vei'v fi 
 
 to gain from 
 
 pioneer life. 
 
 frontier soon 
 
INTKOnurTION. Vll 
 
 found in it coinrirled, as far as possible, M'ith the subject 
 treatf^d of in its pa^es. 
 
 John iiusliinan is i\ ticrtitious name. But lie is by no 
 luciins a fictitious character. If you asked me wliere he 
 lived, i would answer, you mi^dit as well try to confine the 
 almost ubitjuitous John Smith to one locality, as to settle 
 the (jue.stion where John Bushman lives, or more properly' 
 to say where he don't live. Every township and every 
 neighborhood have, at some time, had their first man and 
 first woman, their John and Mary Bushman. 
 
 Another thing that is to be noted is this : among the 
 varied characters, and diversitied actions described in these 
 pages, there is not a wicked act, nor a vicious per.son men- 
 tioned in the whole book. All the actors are strictly moral 
 it' they are not pious, and all the actions are virtuous if they 
 are not religious. I have no sympathy with that style of 
 writing that gives more prominence to the bad than to the 
 good, in human character. Therefoi'e 1 resolved that, so 
 far as myself and my book are concerned, the devil shall 
 he left to do his own advertising. 
 
 And now as to why the book has been written. Since 
 the thousands of refugees, known as the U. E. Loyalists, 
 came to this country a little over a hundred years ago, 
 wonderful changes have been effected. And these will 
 continue in the future. Tn the race for ease and opulence, 
 on the part of the people of this country, there is danger 
 that the brave p'oneers and their works may be forgotten. 
 iniless some records of their noble deeds are handed down 
 to the future. 
 
 But very few persons had Vjetter facilities than the writer 
 to gain from personal experience a practical knowledge to 
 pioneer life. Both of my parents were born on the Niagara 
 frontier soon after the Loyalists came to this country. I 
 
hi 
 
 t f * 
 
 VUl 
 
 IMTKODUCTION. 
 
 wiis but tliret' yc.'irs old when my fatlii-r cut lii.s Wiiy to his 
 shiiuty throuj,'h seven inilpsof unbroken wilderness; and tivc 
 sevenths of my wlioh; life have been s])ent Jinio.;;^ pioneer 
 s(!ttlers. So tluit if a personal knowled<;e of the thin<,'.s 
 written al)Out be of any advantage, I have that knowledge. 
 
 One word n)ore. To those readers who, like myself, make 
 no claim to elassieal learning, 1 wish to say that I have 
 tried to pi-oduce a book that would at the same time both 
 please and instruct you. How far my ellbrt has been suc- 
 cessful can be decided only after you have read it. 
 
 To my scholarly readers, if I should be so fortunate as to 
 secure any such, I wish to say, Don't u.se a telescope in 
 searching for defects; you can see plenty of them with 
 the naked eye. And when you Hnd them, which no douht 
 you will, don't be too severe witli your criticisms. But 
 remember that the writer never saw the inside of a coUecp 
 in his life. Remember that he never attended a hi(jh school 
 until he went as a member of a school board to settle a 
 rumpus among the teachers. And remember that he never 
 had twelve months' tuition in any sort of school. His book- 
 learning has been picked up by snatches of time and while 
 other people slept. No, don't be too sevei-e in judging, nor 
 too quick in condemning. Please don't ! 
 
 J. H. H. 
 
 Octohrr 7, 1S^8. 
 
 
 ClIAHTEIl 
 
 (/'oriiii 
 .■\t( 
 
 ChaI'IKK I 
 
 Ihwi 
 po- 
 
 Chai'tkh 1 
 Till- I) 
 
 !l I 
 
 ClI.M'TKK I 
 
 J oil II }l 
 
 S(ii 
 
 ("HAI'TKK \ 
 
 A 'I 
 
 C'UAi'TKK V 
 
 Treed 
 Cha 
 
 CHAnKH V 
 Tlie Ui 
 
 ("llAPTKK V^: 
 
 VVillian 
 Poel 
 
 Chai'TER O 
 
 Migrate 
 a Cc 
 
 Chai'Ter X. 
 
 A Wife 
 plori 
 
 Chapter X] 
 
 Hcinloel 
 Motl 
 
 Chapter XI 
 
 The Thi 
 ~Vo. 
 
 Chapter XI 
 
 Threshlr 
 Wild 
 
TABLK OF CONTEiNTS. 
 
 lile 
 nor 
 
 Chapter I. —Found by Sohvkyoks 
 
 (Ndiiriiciiciiit; Life -Till' Littlt! Sluiiily Sylvan Lake Hiiiulay 
 MoriiinK Alone with Nature aiul with Ood. 
 
 Chaitick II. TiiK RoAh Makkks - - ... 
 
 UiHT and WolvcH Solilndti HousekeeiJinK Mr. Koot'.s I'ro- 
 po.sal 'I'he Travoy The TogKled Chain. 
 
 ("llAl'TKH III. HoCSK-BlMLDI.NCi 
 
 The Dinner I'oe'ie Ktfusions A Ueniiniseonco— Wants to he 
 a I'oet A Surprise, 
 
 I'liAi'TKii IV.- A I'aktnkk FoUM) 
 
 John Makes a Discovery Asking Consent Conung Home - 
 .Squire Myrtle— -\ Glad Mother. 
 
 ("iiAi'TKR V" —An Old-Timk. Wkddini! 
 
 lilunders -Practical Courting— A Wedding Sister Holsy 
 A Thrilling Tale-A l»lucky Hoy. 
 
 C'uAi'TKK VI. -Talk About Wolvks 
 
 Treed by Wolves -Good Luck Wolf Scalps and Bread 
 Chasing the Deer— The Last Jtace. 
 
 C MAin-KR VII.— Some Oral History 
 
 The United Empire Loyalists- Tho Gourley Trial A He- 
 fogged Jury— A Harsh Verdict— A Cruel Sentence. 
 
 ClIAHTKtt VIII.— PrePAKINO TO MoVE 
 
 William Hriars— lafe's Realities— Friendly Offerings— Betsy's 
 Poetry— The Old Man's Story Little Bright Eyes. 
 
 Chapter IX. — Homeward Bound 
 
 Migratory Waves— Moses Moosewood's Resolve— Picture of 
 a Court— Take a Gun Along— A Mother's Vision. 
 
 Chapter X.— Some White (tipsies 
 
 A Witch Story— Backwoods Welcome- Housekeeping— Ex- 
 ploring the Premises— Forest Aristoci'ats. 
 
 Chapter XI, — Clearing Land 
 
 Hemlock Compass — Poor Grip's Fate — Log Rolling — A 
 Mother-in-law's Question— Philosophers in Petticoats, 
 
 Chapter XII. — Sowing and Reaping 
 
 The Three-square Harrow— Tests of Character— Post OtHccs 
 —Forty Miles' Walk— A Letter- Plenty of News, 
 
 Chapter XIII, — Harvesting the Crop .... 
 
 Threshing-flooi-s- Skilful Housekeeper — Beavers— Gathering 
 Wild Fruit— Finding a Dutcliman— A Fawn. 
 
 ■AOR 
 
 II 
 
 22 
 
 34 
 
 58 
 
 72 
 
 86 
 
 99 
 
 115 
 
 128 
 
 141 
 
 155 
 
 168 
 
 -#.' 
 
OONTKNTS. 
 
 CHAiitB XIV.— Makv Kinds a Friend . . . . 
 
 Being Isolateil A Glad Siiriirinc Canadian Girls (^art 
 \Taking Dr. Ashgrovo rndorhriisliing. 
 
 OUAVTKK X\'. WiNTKK IN TIIK WoOD.s . . . . 
 
 Threeliing ('loaning White Gaps Ivatrina !VIixnd>H) 
 Droanis .Fohn Goes to .Mill Killing Veni.son. 
 
 Chapter XVI. — Vi.sitoks a.nd C;allkr.s . . . . 
 
 Familiar Faeus Harkvvoods I'olite Woman's IntuitioiiH— 
 Making .Sap-Troughs The Hig Ston -Trough. 
 
 Chapter X\'II. -Sr»MK-MAKiN<i 
 
 A Good Husiness— Sugaring-otl' .Moses Conies Home The 
 Iloot-(»\vl .\ .Sugaring I'arty Duteh I'h^asanlries. 
 
 Chapter XVill. More Setplers Comiscj ... - 
 
 Rapid Settlement-^ A Crowded House l.ost Children Harry 
 Hawthorn- Mr. Ht^eeh Shearing Sheep. 
 
 Chapter XIX. —And Still They Come . . . . 
 
 A True Woman- A Hear Kats a Hov A Hear in a Herr) 
 Hatch Mat I hew M ill wood. 
 
 Chapter XX. — A Neujhborhood ok Stranoeks - 
 
 Canadian Socicsty— Married I'nder a Tree- The First Baby- 
 Neighborly Kindness- Mean Spee\dalion. 
 
 Chapter XXL — Riveruend Mills 
 
 The Stolen Baby-White «quaw Children Killed— The First 
 Funeral— A Xeighborhood Sensation. 
 
 Chapter XXII.— A Boardino-Hou.se Wanted 
 
 A Cook Needed— Backwoods Society- Wolves at Work— The 
 Wolf Classitied— Uo is a Sniniking Coward. 
 
 Chapter XXIIL— A Backwoods Lyceum .... 
 
 The Old Mill-The Boy's Load The Bear and the Hunter- 
 No Toll Allowed -The Bear and the Mill Saw. 
 
 Chapter XXIV.— More Boardino-House Tales - 
 The Lost Girl— The Lost Woman Hoys and (J hosts. 
 Chapter XX\'.— More Glimp,se.s ok Bu.sh Like 
 
 A Tobacco-chewing Christian - A Strange Clock - A Big 
 Scare -A Race for F^ife— Plucky Canadians— Killed by 
 Indians. 
 
 Chapter XXVI. —The Mills Completed .... 
 
 The First Grist -The First I'reacher- The Meeting-house— 
 The Post OlHce— The Store Sylvanus Yardstick. 
 
 Chapter XXVIL— Home Old-Time Customs 
 
 Seeking Information— The Logging-Bee- Husking-Bees— Hod 
 Corn and Kissing The Spinning-Bee— How to Treat a 
 Dude. 
 
 Chapter XXVIIL— Twenty Years of Progress 
 
 Drawbacks and Discouragements— Cheap Butter and Eggs- 
 No Whiskey General Success -John's Dream Realized. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 181 
 
 I»4 
 207 
 221 
 
 •23:> 
 
 261 
 274 
 
 287 
 3O0 
 
 313 
 320 
 
 331) 
 354 
 
 360 
 
 AM( 
 
 Shaded 
 spread ovi 
 on t,he d 
 behind th 
 uninviting 
 betook the 
 before the: 
 . ;-#■ 
 
AMONG THE FOREST TREES 
 
 •23J 
 
 '24S 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 •261 
 
 274 
 
 •287 
 
 300 
 
 313 
 I 326 
 
 1^54 
 
 m 
 
 FOUND BY SURVEYORS. 
 
 NUMBER of men were on their way to lay out 
 some townships in the unsurveyed parts of 
 Upper Canada. While passing through the 
 rear range of the surveyed townships one day about 
 noon, they came to a beautiful spring of water that 
 issued in streams of refreshing coolness out of a ledge 
 of rocks that arose on one side of a valley through 
 which ran a large creek, whose waters were making 
 their way to Lake Ontario. 
 
 Being weary and hungry, they stopped for dinner. 
 
 Shaded by the thick branches of the hemlock, which 
 spread over them like a protecting canopy, and resting 
 on the dried leaves that passing seasons had left 
 behind them, making a couch that was by no means 
 uninviting to weary limbs and jaded bodies, they 
 betook themselves to the task of demolishing the food 
 before them as only hungry backwoodsmen can do. 
 
 a 
 
 ,t' ' 
 
12 
 
 AMONC; THE FOREST THEES. 
 
 They were too intent on taking their dinners to 
 spend any time in unnecessary talk. 
 
 The stillness that reigned around was only broken 
 by the murmuring sounds that came from the creek 
 that ran but a short distance from them, and the 
 gentle rippling of the spring that issued from rocks 
 just beside them. 
 
 While they were busily engaged in satisfying the 
 demands of appetite, they were startled by the sound 
 of an axe not far from where they were. 
 
 " What is that ? " came from two or three at once. 
 They all listened. Sure enough, there was distinctly 
 heard the blows of a man chopping. Every doubt was 
 soon removed by the falling of a tree in the direction 
 of the sound of the axe. 
 
 Although they were seven or eight miles from any 
 settlement, it was evident that some one was working 
 near by. They resolved to find out what he was 
 doing, and who he was. Accordingly they went to 
 the place. There they found a young man of about 
 twenty-one or two years of age, with his coat ott' and 
 his sleeves rolled up, swinging an axe with as much 
 dexterity as though he had been accustomed to that 
 sort of work all his life. 
 
 " What are you doing here ? " said one of the men, 
 after a few friendly words had been spoken. 
 
 " Commencing life in the backwoods," was his quick I 
 reply. " I have no house, as yet, to invite you into, 
 nor have I any chair to ofFer you. But both the! 
 house and the chair are on the list of thino-s that I 
 hope for in the not very distant future. - But, in the 
 
 meantii 
 
 and res 
 
 " Hoi 
 
 come fi' 
 
 " I h( 
 
 the vici 
 
 " Hov 
 
 " Two 
 
 from tl 
 
 bought t 
 
 " Is it 
 
 " Yes ; 
 
 two hun 
 
 "Do y 
 
 life ? " w{ 
 
 " A ma 
 
 degrading 
 
 so," said i 
 
 liis vest p 
 
 " That 
 
 man. " £ 
 
 costs to h( 
 
 you know 
 
 bored Ian* 
 
 it ofi" meai 
 
 more, and 
 
 so that ev 
 
 weeks of \ 
 
 " Yes," r 
 
 hII of that. 
 
 hi the tov 
 
FOUND BY SURVEYORS. 
 
 13 
 
 meantime, make yourselves as comfortable as possible, 
 and rest for awhile." 
 
 " How long have you been here, and where did you 
 come from ? " asked the foreman of the company 
 
 " I have been here just one week, and I came from 
 the vicinity of the " Falls." 
 
 " How much land have you here ? " 
 " Two hundred acres. One hundred I got as a ofrant 
 from the Government, and the other my father 
 bought and gave it to me." 
 " Is it all good land ? " 
 
 " Yes ; there is not an acre of useless land on the 
 two hundred acres." 
 
 " Do you think that you shall enjoy this sort of 
 life ? " was asked by one of the men. 
 
 " A man can enjoy almost any sort of life that is not 
 degrading nor sinful, if he makes up his mind to do 
 so," said the young man, as he took a small stone from 
 his vest pocket, and began to whet his axe v/ith it. 
 
 " That seems like sound philosophy," said the fore- 
 man. " But have you made an estimate of what it 
 costs to hew out a homestead in the wilderness ? Do 
 you know that to chop an acre of this heavily tim- 
 bered land means six days of hard work, and to clear 
 it ort' means three days more, and to fence it, two days 
 more, and another day to sow and harrow in the seed, 
 so that every acre you put into crop will cost two 
 weeks of hard work." 
 
 " Yes," replied the other, " my father has told me 
 all of that. He cleared up the farm he still lives on 
 in the township of Pelham. He says that , clearing 
 
14 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 land is hard work. But he says, too, that not very 
 much can be honcdly j?ot in this world without hard 
 work." 
 
 " Are you married ? " This question was put by a 
 young man who had recently Vjeen " engaged," but 
 whose marriage had been deferred till the return of the 
 surveying party. 
 
 Young Bushman colored up, and in an emphatic 
 manner said, " No ; not yet. ' Build your cage before 
 you catch your bird,' is old advice ; but it is good, and 
 I intend to act upon it." 
 
 " Where do you sleep and take your meals ? " was 
 asked. 
 
 " I have a small wigwam or shanty not far away, 
 where, like Robinson Crusoe, ' I am monarch of all I 
 survey,' and where I live, much as that far-famed gen- 
 tleman did, only I have no man ' Friday ' to help while 
 away the time. Will you come and see it ? " 
 
 They consented to go. He led them over a lot of 
 fallen trees, and around some " brush-heaps," and soon 
 brought them to his shanty. It was made of poles 
 small enough for one man to handle. They were 
 notched together at the corners. The spaces between 
 them were tilled with moss. It was covered with 
 hemlock bark, such as is now sold by the cord at the 
 tanneries. The doorway was just wide enough for a 
 man to pass in and out, and a couple of cedar slabs an- 
 swered for a door. There was nothing very inviting | 
 about this little substitute for something better. But 
 plenty of men in this Canada of ours have lived for | 
 months in just such humble homes. 
 
 Buti] 
 
 wild-wo 
 
 Just i 
 
 clear spi 
 
 and it w 
 
 a frintre 
 
 right doi 
 
 in the di 
 
 their con 
 
 maple tr 
 
 their brai 
 
 fied the si 
 
 protectior 
 
 right a ni 
 
 toward th 
 
 All of 
 the enirac 
 a log in fi 
 lake, he b 
 
 " There, 
 !"isthefut 
 
 The tran 
 I so sudden, 
 
FOUND BY SURVEYORS. 
 
 16 
 
 of 
 
 lOon 
 
 loles 
 
 ere 
 
 een 
 
 ith 
 
 the 
 
 )V a 
 
 an- 
 
 iBut 
 
 for 
 
 But in the surroundings were found such a scene of 
 wild-wood beauty as is seldom met with. 
 
 Just in front of the shanty was a miniature lake of 
 clear spring water. It was about an acre in extent, 
 and it was as round as a hoop. It was surrounded by 
 a fringe of beautiful spruce and cedar trees that grew 
 right down to the water's edge. On the opposite side, 
 in the distance, were a number of upland pines, raising 
 tlieir cone-like heads far above the forest of beech and 
 maple trees around them, that seemed to be lifting 
 their branches in homage to those giants that had de- 
 fied the storms of fifty decades, appealing to them for 
 protection against the woodman's axe. A little to the 
 riofht a nice brook tiowed out of the lake, and ran off 
 toward the creek before spoken of. 
 
 All of them agreed that it was a lovely spot. But 
 the engaged young man became poetical. Standing on 
 a log in front of the shanty, and pointing out over the 
 lake, he broke out in the following : 
 
 ' ' What beauteous mirror here ia found 
 Set in a fringe of evergreen ; 
 On whose smooth surface may be seen 
 The tops of all the trees around. 
 
 Were I commissioned from above 
 
 To find some spot of earthly bliss, 
 
 I'd want no nicer place than this 
 To spend my days with one I love." 
 
 " There," said young Bushman, pointing to the lake, 
 is the future Mrs, Bushman's duck-pond." 
 The transition from the poetical to the practical was 
 [so sudden, that the whole company saw the incon- 
 
16 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 gruity of sentiment as expressed by the two young 
 men, and indulged in a hearty laugh. 
 
 " My friend," said the foreman, " I wish, before 
 leaving you, to congratulate you on the beauties of 
 your home on the border of Syb an Lake, and I hope 
 that under the guiding hand of our kind and good 
 Father above, the coming years may bring to you all 
 the prosperity and happiness that your manly courage 
 and your fearless energy deserve." 
 
 " Thank you for your kindly and encouraging- 
 words," said the young man in a somewhat trembling 
 voice, " and if ever you come this way again don't for- 
 get Sylvan Lake. You will tind a welcome here at any 
 time. 
 
 They shook hands and parted, and young Bushman 
 was left alone.* 
 
 " That young fellow deserves to succeed," said the 
 foreman, as the party walked away. " He has got the 
 sort of stuff in him of which true manhood is made 
 
 up." 
 
 " Yes," said the poetic young man. " I wish that I 
 could face things with as much self-reliance as he 
 seems to do. But the bringing up, I suppose, makes 
 the difference." 
 
 " Bringing up," replied the foreman, " has a good 
 
 * In the Township of Elma was a man by the name of Twamley, 
 who for two mouths never saw a human face. One day he heard 
 some men talking. He ran after them and persuaded them to stop 
 with him for a day and night, and then they went on their way. 
 He told the writer that he never was so much pleased to see any one j 
 before. They were entire strangers to him. 
 
FOUND BY SURVEYOUS. 
 
 17 
 
 )re 
 of 
 
 lood 
 
 leard 
 stop 
 /ay. 
 one 
 
 deal to rlo with the formation of character ; but no 
 kin<l of bringing up can make a real manly man out of 
 a milksop, any more than i, blacksmith can make a 
 good axe out of a piece of cast iron. To develop a 
 ma you must have manly qualities to work upon. A 
 sneak or a coward may become a good man and a sin- 
 cere Christian ; but to make up a brave, manly man, 
 you must have better material to work upon than the 
 kind of stuff that sneaks and cowards are made of. ' 
 
 We will look into the shanty. In one corner is a flat 
 stone set up on its end, so that its sides touch two sides 
 of the wall, and its face forms the diagonal of the angle 
 of the corner. An opening at the top, for the smoke 
 to escape, answers for a chimney. Here the cooking 
 is done. In another corner is a lot of hemlock bouofhs 
 and some bedding. Here the sleeping is done. What- 
 ever may be said against this sort of couch, one thing- 
 can be said in its favor, gout and rheumatism seldom 
 torture the limbs that repose on a bed of hemlock. 
 In still another corner sits a very large basket, 
 which was lately bought from some Indians, and in 
 which Mr. Bushman keeps his supplies of provisions. 
 He may as well become reconciled to be called Mr., for 
 in time to come that will be a very familiar and a very 
 popular name. 
 
 But what is in the basket ? That is the question 
 now. 
 
 Well, here is a supply of good bread that was made 
 by the wife of the nearest settler, which is seven 
 miles distant. Then here is a lot of boiled ham, good 
 enough for a prince to eat, and a roll of butter (we 
 
18 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 won't say anything about the butter, for fear of mak- 
 ing? a mistake). Here is salt, pepper, mustard, and a 
 lot of spices too numerous to mention. 
 
 But what have we here so carefully done up in this 
 clean white cloth ? Well, as sure as anything, here is 
 half a dozen speckled trout. They are the same kind 
 of lish that Dr. Wild says the Ashurites used to carry 
 to Jerusalem to sell on the market. These, no doubt, 
 are the product of Sylvan Lake. 
 
 We find the basket well filled, and we conclude that 
 a man in health would be a long while starving on 
 such substantial food, supplemented by such royal 
 dainties. 
 
 In the other corner we see a rifle and its accoutre- 
 ments, some fishing tackle and an axe, ready for use, 
 and held in reserve in case the other one should break. 
 
 A covered box sitting against the wall serves for a 
 dish cupboard. Four crotched stakes, driven into the 
 ground with the forked end upward, represent the 
 four posts of a table. Two small poles are used for 
 cross bars, and a couple of cedar slabs make the top, 
 and, altogether, make a substitute for a dining-room 
 table of the most fashionable class. 
 
 A couple of cedar blocks of convenient size and 
 length are the only chairs to be found in this unpreten- 
 tious home. But it is wonderful how men can adapt 
 themselves to their surroundings when strong motives 
 for doing so are present. 
 
 John Bushman was a man of a strong will, and 
 much decision of character, and one not easily turned 
 from his purpose at any time. But he now had a 
 
 powerfi 
 a home 
 those w 
 than lif( 
 
 We 
 Bushma 
 
 
 rn 
 
 any 
 
 among t 
 
 sible to 
 
 tiee for 
 
 fair repr 
 
 Thene 
 
 bath. J( 
 
 day in a 
 
 it was po 
 
 had been 1 
 
 of the Si 
 
 habit witl 
 
 ciple as w 
 
 had joinec 
 
 life. If t 
 
 world th; 
 
 young Ch; 
 
 such objec 
 
 have not ^ 
 
 Whenh 
 
 with the s 
 
 ing upon 
 
 speaking i 
 
 children si 
 
 bers. 
 
FOUND BY SURVEYORS. 
 
 19 
 
 powerful motive actuating him, viz., a desire to have 
 a home of his own, and to secure a competence for 
 those who might become, in after years, dearer to him 
 than life itself. 
 
 We have been thus minute in the description of 
 Bushman's shanty for the reason that we shall find 
 many similar ones in filling out our story of life 
 among the forest trees, and we wish as much as pos- 
 sible to avoid repetition. We let this descrintion suf- 
 fice for the class of shanties of which this one is a 
 fair representative. 
 
 The next day after the surveyors left was the Sab- 
 bath. John Bushman resolved to observe the sacred 
 day in accordance with its requirements, as far as 
 it was possible to do so in his lonely situation. He 
 had been trained from childhood to respect the claims 
 of the Sabbath. But it was not simply the force of 
 habit with the young man, it was a matter of prin- 
 ciple as well. In early youth he had been converted, 
 had joined the Church, and pledged himself to a godly 
 life. If there is any grander object in this sinful 
 world than an intelligent, earnest, devoted, manly 
 young Christian gentleman, will those who have seen 
 such object please tell where it may be found, for we 
 have not yet seen it. 
 
 When he went out in the morning the air was vocal 
 with the song of birds, and sweet perfumes were float- 
 ing upon the morning breezes, that seemed to be 
 speaking in gentle whispers lest too soon nature's 
 I children should be awakened from their restful slum- 
 bers. 
 
20 
 
 AMON(J THE FOUKST TREKS. 
 
 T.ie sun was already above the horizon, and it was 
 shooting its beams through tlie openings that here and 
 there were found in the fringe of evergreens that sur- 
 rounded Sylvan Lake. Wherever these golden sun- 
 beams fell upon the surface of the clear water, it 
 looked as if a large diamond had exploded, and scat- 
 tered its fragments in all directions, like drops of 
 melted gold, and making the lake appear like a great 
 overgrown mirror upon whose face a hundred lamps 
 were blazing. 
 
 To say that the young man enjoyed the scene 
 around him would be too tame an expression. He 
 was fairly entranced. Though his life had been spent 
 almost entirely on a farm, there was nothing of the 
 rustic about him. He had enough of the poetic ele- 
 ment in his composition to place him [n harmony with 
 the beautiful in nature or art. And although he was 
 not, perhaps, sufficiently schooled in metaphysical lore 
 to be able to explain why he was pleased, yet any one 
 that could have looked on his beaming face that morn- 
 ing could not for one moment doubt the fact that he 
 was highly gratified with what he saw around him. 
 
 He prepared and ate his breakfast in a thoughtful I 
 mood. After he put things to rights in the shanty he 
 took one of his block-seats out, and placing it under a 
 cedar, he sat down with his bpck against the tree and 
 commenced to read Dr. Blair's " Sermon on the Source! 
 of True Enjoyment." When he came to the question, 
 " Is the source of true enjoyment external, internal or 
 mixed ?" he closed the book and began to reflect. To 
 deny that things outside of himself were a source of 
 
 true enj 
 taste an( 
 presence 
 
 On th 
 enjoyme 
 evidence 
 ' that bei 
 And this 
 So til at 
 which <a 
 religion 
 with Go(J 
 
 Such V 
 beautiful 
 he spent 
 forest trei 
 
FOUND BY SURVEYORS. 
 
 21 
 
 true enjoyment would be to ignore the sensibility of 
 taste and all the aesthetie emotions awakened by the 
 presence of beautiful obj^ects of every kind. 
 
 On the other hand, to deny that there are sources of 
 enjoyment that are internal would be to dispute the 
 evidence of consciousness, " for," said he, " I know, 
 ' tliat being justified by faith, I have peace with God.' 
 And this knowledge must be a source of enjoyment. 
 So that both around me and within me I find that 
 which gives enjoyment. I believe that it is true, that i 
 religion puts a person in harmony with nature and' 
 with God." 
 
 Such were the reflections of John Bushman on that 
 beautiful morrung, and in such a happy frame of mind 
 he spent his first Sabbath in his new home among the 
 forest trees. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ROAD-MAKERS. 
 
 BOUT a month at'ter Jolin Bushman had com- 
 munce<l his work, lie started one morning for a 
 fresh supply of bread. This he did every 
 week. As he was leisurely following the blaze marks 
 on the trees he was somewhat surprised to hear loud 
 speaking, like some one driving oxen. He stopped 
 and listened. He heard men talking not far off. He 
 concluded to go to them, and see what they were 
 doinir. The iirst man he came to was an Irishman. 
 When he came up to the man he put down the axe 
 that he was awkwardly trying to handle, and looking 
 the young man in the face, he said, with a good honest 
 Irish brogue, " An' shure, sur, it's meself that's nearly 
 surprised out of me foive sinses, for by the life of 
 Paddy Maguire, I niver expected to foind a livin' sowl 
 in this wild wilderness. An' shure, an' would yez 
 moind to be after tellin' a body where ye're from, and 
 where ye're goin' ?" 
 
 Young Bushman was much amused by the quaint 
 manner in which the Irishman put the case. 
 
 He answered by saying in a pleasant way, " My 
 name is John Bushman. I live some four miles from 
 
 here, an( 
 supply 
 home to 
 pleased t 
 name ; 
 
 " Sure 
 name ; ai 
 to wear v 
 can grani 
 " And 
 " Maki 
 and setth 
 long life 
 '' Who 
 rods furtl 
 "The t 
 l)i'others. 
 That one 
 who staru 
 is the for 
 lit in this 
 Bushma 
 I ping, and 
 |few inhabi 
 They an 
 [words in a 
 I tongues fi 
 I taught to 
 After a : 
 I Mr. Root V 
 As he c 
 
THE UOAD-MAKKKS. 
 
 23 
 
 here, and I am on iny way out to the settlement for a 
 supply of l)roa<l, as unfortunately I liave no one at 
 home to bake it for me. And 1 am both surprised and 
 pleased to meet you here. Now, I liave <^iven you my 
 name ; will you intrust me with yours ? " 
 
 "Sure that 1 will, sur. You are wilcoine to me poor 
 name ; and if, on a further ac(|uaintance, ycz are found 
 to wear well, yez shall be wilcome till any favor that I 
 can ijfrant yez. My name, sui*, is Harry Hawthorn." 
 
 " And what are you doinjij !* " 
 
 " Making a road, so that people may come in here 
 and settle up this part of Her Majesty's dominions ; 
 loni,^ life to her." 
 
 " Who are those other gentlemen that 1 see a few 
 rods further on ? " said Bushman. 
 
 " The two who are chopping at the big tree are 
 lnothers. Their names are John and George Brusky. 
 [That one piling brush is Peter Birch, and the man 
 who stands beside the oxen is Mister John Root. He 
 is the foreman or contractor, I belave, is what yez call 
 it in this country." 
 
 Bushman went on to where the two men were chop- 
 Iping, and introduced himself to them as one of the 
 few inhabitants of the newly surveyed townships. 
 
 They answered him very civilly. They spoke their 
 Kvoids in a way that showed that they inherited their 
 tongues from Yorkshire parents, or they had been 
 jtaught to speak by a Yorkshire family. 
 
 After a few words with them, he passed on to where 
 jMr. Root was feeding his oxen. 
 
 As he came up, Mr. Root said to him, " I presume 
 
24 
 
 AMONfJ THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 you are hunting work, and I ?.m glad you have come, 
 for I am in want of men. Good choppers is what I 
 want, and I suppose you can chop, for if I am not 
 greatly mistaken you are a native of this province, 
 and they are generally pretty good with an axe.* How 
 much do you expect by the day, or do you want to 
 work by the month ? " 
 
 These words were spoken in such rapid s\iccession, 
 that there was no chance to correct the contractor's 
 mistake until he had finished his long paragraph of 
 questions. As soon as he could find a chance to speak, 
 Bushman said to him, " You are correct in supposing 
 me to be a native of this province, also in thinking 
 that I know something about chopping. But you are 
 mistaken in supposing that I am hunting work." 
 
 " 0," said the other, " I ask your pardon. I thought 
 you looked like a working-man. That led to the mis- 
 take." 
 
 " No harm is done," said the young man good na- 
 turedly. I am a working-man ; but I have recently] 
 commenced a job that will last me thirty or forty 
 years, if I live so long." 
 
 " What kind of a job have you that is likely to last] 
 so long ? " asked Mr. Root. 
 
 " I have started to make a home in the bush. Il 
 have two hundred acres of land, and I expect that IT 
 shall some day be able to drive the plough through 
 the most of it, if I am spared." 
 
 * This was true forty or fifty years ago more than it is at the pre- 
 sent time. 
 
T 
 
 THE ROAD-MAKERS. 
 
 25 
 
 " That means a good many hard days' work, many 
 a blistered hand, and many a tired arm before your 
 task will be completed," said the other. 
 
 " What you say is true," said Bushman. " But I am 
 not afraid of work. And as to blistered hands and 
 tired limbs, time and use will do much towards miti- 
 gating that ditliculty. And the thought of haviuL; a 
 comfortable home is a strong motive for enduring 
 hardships. Besides all this, there are many homes in 
 this countrj^ that have been made in this way, and I 
 believe that I can do what so many others have done." 
 
 No; ,Mr. John Root was an American. He was of 
 German descent, but his ancestors' had lived in Penn- 
 sylvania for three or four generations, and as an 
 American he could appreciate a pushing, plucky man 
 wherever he met with him. He stepped up to young 
 Bushman, and said, " Give me your hand young man. 
 I like your way of looking at things. I am always 
 glad to meet with men of your stamp, men who have 
 got some vim and backbone in them. These are the 
 men who have made your country and mine what they 
 are socially, commercially and politically. Go ahead, 
 and may your fondest hopes be realized." 
 
 " Well," said the young man, " I hope that you, too, 
 may have success. But you spoke just now of want- 
 ing men. Have you much of this kind of work to 
 do ? " 
 
 " I have to clear out the road around two townships, 
 and to open one leading line through each of them. 
 That is not less than seventy-five miles of road. And 
 then there are all the swamps to be causewayed, and 
 
26 
 
 AMONTJ THE I'OllEST TRKP:S. 
 
 the creeks and rivers to be brido^ed over. So, you see, 
 I need all the suitable men that I can get." 
 
 " Yes," said Bushman, "you have plenty of work for 
 all the men you will be likely to Hnd. My land is 
 riL;ht on this line, and only four miles further on. 1 
 shall be pleased to see you at my bachelor's hall on 
 the bank of Sylvan Lake at any time you can favor 
 me with a call." 
 
 Root thanked him for the invitation so kindly 
 o'iven, and the two parted, each one havin«f a good 
 opinion of the other. 
 
 Bushman got back with his weekly supply of bread 
 about noon. He was much pleased at the prospect of 
 havinir a road so soon. He had feared that it migrht 
 be years before he would have the advantages of a 
 good road. But the Provincial Government had 
 adopted the policy of opening out leading roads 
 through what was known as the " Queen's Bush " 
 and the " Huron Tract." This was one of the first 
 efforts in that direction. The adoption of this policy 
 has been a source of great convenience to the early 
 settlers in different parts of the province, and it has 
 also had nmch to do with the rapid filling up of the 
 back country. 
 
 But after all that the fostering hand of any Gov- 1 
 ernment can do to smooth the way for the pioneers, 
 yet they have much to contend with by way of toil- j 
 ing and suffering. 
 
 One day, not long after his interview with the road- 1 
 makers, as he was going out from dinner, he saw a 
 deer come bounding through the opening, and not far 
 
THE ROAD-MAKERS. 
 
 27 
 
 behind it were two large wolves in full chase. Neither 
 the deer nor the wolves seemed to })ay any attention 
 to the man. He watched them until the deer ran into 
 tlie lake, as deer will do when chased by dogs or 
 wolves, it' they can find water to run into. They 
 seem to know, by some means, that wolves will not 
 follow them into the water. 
 
 Bushman went back to the shanty for his rifle. 
 When he returned the deer was swimming toward the 
 middle of the lake, and the wolves were crouching on 
 the o-round with tongues hanging out, and with gleam- 
 ing eyes and savage looks, watching the deer. 
 
 The young man was good with the ritle. It was but 
 [the work of a moment to lift the weapon to his shoul- 
 der, take aim, and send a VjuUet crashing through the 
 head of the largest wolf, it being the one that was 
 nearest to him. The wolf rolled over on its side, 
 I stretched itself out and was dead. 
 
 The other one sprang up, looked at its dying com- 
 
 Ipanion for an instant, and then started to run away. 
 
 But from the other barrel of the ritle a bullet was 
 
 sent through its heart, and it dropped dead a few rods 
 
 I from its mate. 
 
 It being in the early summer, neither the meat nor 
 
 Ithe skin of the deer was worth much, so it was left 
 
 lalone. But the reports of the gun frightened it so 
 
 that it left the water, and disappeared in the forest, on 
 
 |the other side of the lake. 
 
 Bushman saved the scalps of the two wolves, and 
 [when he went home he carried them as far as Hamil- 
 ton, and got the bounty for thera. 
 3 
 
28 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 Livin<^ alone in tlic bush, and miles away from .any 
 neigh l)ors, like everything else, may be said to have 
 two sides — one bright and the other dark. 
 
 This sort of life has a pleasant side. There is per- 
 fect freedom of action. One is more completely his 
 own master here than he can be where his doings are 
 liable to aflect the rights and privileges of others. But 
 in the woods, alone, when no one but yourself is to be 
 affected by your acts, you can just do as you please. 
 
 There is the fresh, green beauty of the forest trees, 
 clad in their lovely vernal summer dresses — 
 
 Where nature M'hispers its delight, 
 
 Where sun and showers their influence spread. 
 
 Where wild-wood flowers their odors shed, 
 And nought but beauty meets the sight. 
 
 But while this mode of life has its independent 
 aspect, it also has a helpless aspect. There is its lone- 
 liness. To have no one to speak or to be spoken to 
 to cook and eat one's meals in silence ; to go to bed atj 
 night and get up in the morning ; to go to work with- 
 out a parting word, and to come in at noon and night I 
 with no words of encouragement, no look of apprecia- 
 tion, and no smile of welcome, is not the most pleasant 
 mode of existence that one might desire. 
 
 And to this must be added the fear of cutting; | 
 oneself, and other accidents to which choppers are par- 
 ticularly exposed. Or a man might be taken suddenly 
 ill, and die before any person would be aware that any- 
 thing was wrong with him. Some danger might arise! 
 from wild beasts, and in some localities the Indians] 
 have occasionally been troublesome in times past. 
 
THE ROAD-MAKERS. 
 
 29 
 
 When all these, and other causes of uneasiness that 
 might bo mentioned, are summed up and estimated, we 
 can easily see that a man must have a good deal of 
 nerve, and no small amount of courage and self-con- 
 trol to enable him to face, for any length of time, 
 such a condition of things. 
 
 Youno: Bushman had nerve and courage and self- 
 control fully up to the average of men in civil life, 
 but he was no boaster. He added to these natural 
 traits an unbendino; determination to succeed, a con- 
 science void of offence, a mind at peace with (lod and 
 with all mankind, and an unswerving faith in the 
 Divine guidance and protection. He could be com- 
 paratively happy in any condition : 
 
 For worldly things small influence had 
 
 ["ponhis faith or liope or love; 
 He Wc'vs content, and could be glad 
 
 To know he had a friend above. 
 
 As the summer months passed away the opening at 
 Sylvan Lake grew larger week by week. The young 
 backwoodsman found that by continual handling the 
 axe his hands got hard and his arm became strong, so 
 that he could chop all day without much weariness. By 
 the middle of August he found that he had chopped 
 twelve acres since the middle of May. 
 
 He now concluded to do something toward prepar- 
 itig a better residence. One evening, as he threw him- 
 self on his hemlock bed, a happy thought struck him; 
 and he was so carried away with the new idea that he 
 spoke it out aloud. Said he, " I will try and change 
 work M'ith Mr. Root, and get him to come with his men 
 
30 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TllEES. 
 
 and team, and help me to put up the body of a house. 
 Then I will go and help him on the road till he is 
 paid." 
 
 " Yes, my friend, I will do that, not only willingly, 
 but gladly," said Mr. Root from the outside of the 
 door, where he stood and heard young Bushman's 
 talk, while he supposed he was alone. 
 
 Mr. Root came in and sat down on one of the blocks. 
 Then he said, " We are working along by the side of 
 your land on the boundary, and on looking at my in- 
 structions I see that the road that I have to open 
 through the township is the concession that runs 
 along the end of your lots. 80, you see, we shall be 
 in this locality for a considerable length of time. Now, 
 I have two bridges to build not far from here. You 
 told me one day that you could do something at fram- 
 ing. I called in to-night to see if I could secure your 
 help. That is why I said 1 would gladly change work 
 with you." 
 
 " Well," said Bushman. " There could nothing suit 
 me better. I can help you at the bridges, or chop, or 
 drive oxen, whichever you like. I am very anxious 
 to put up a house this fall, for if I live till next 
 spring I shall have all that I can attend to in clearing 
 otf land." 
 
 Mr. Root answered : " I have twelve men now, and 
 next week four more are coming. That will be six- 
 teen, besides ourselves. That ought to be force enough 
 to put up a fair sized house, if the logs are not too 
 heavy." 
 
 " I can, without much trouble, find a sufficient nuni- 
 
THE ROAD-MAKERR. 
 
 31 
 
 ber of nice cedars," said the young man. " I want to 
 make the house about 24 feet by 18, if we can raise 
 one as large as that." 
 
 " Never fear," said Root. " You cut your logs, and 
 make a ' travoy ' to haul them on, and we will get 
 them together. Then, if the men cannot raise all of 
 j them, I will show you a ' Yankee trick ' in the mat- 
 ter of ox-driving." 
 
 'But what do you mean by a 'travoy,' said Bushman, 
 [with a puzzled look, "I never saw the article that I 
 I know of." 
 
 Mr. Root said, " I don't know as I can describe it so 
 las to make you understand. But, did you ever see an 
 [old-fashioned three-square harrow ?" 
 
 " 0, yes, I have often worked with one of them." 
 
 " Well ; make a good strong three-square harrow, and 
 
 [leave out the teeth. Pin a good sized block of wood 
 
 on the top of it about two-thirds of the distance from 
 
 the point towards the heel. That will make a good 
 
 substitute for a ' travoy.' I will show you how to use 
 
 lit." 
 
 " I can easily do that," replied the young man. " But 
 [let me tell an anecdote about a three-square harrow." 
 
 " When I was a boy, my father had a pair of three 
 [year old steers. They were partly broken in to work. 
 lOne day I was sent to harrow in a patch of oats on a 
 Istumpy piece of new land. The chain that fastened 
 the steers to the harrow had a broken link, and it was 
 |too;<]jled together." 
 
 "What do you mean by being >ggled together?" 
 lasked Mr. Root. 
 
32 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ■'l!:l 
 
 " Why ! Don't you know what a ' toggle ' is ?" said 
 the young man, laughing. 
 
 " No ; I do not," was the reply. 
 
 "Well; I will tell you. When we broke a link of| 
 our chain, and had not time to go away to a black- 
 smith's, we took the ends of the broken chain and put I 
 one link into another. We then took a piece of hard 
 wood and drove it into the link that passed through j 
 the other, thus fastening the chain solidly together." 
 
 "All right," said the American, "I understand now." 
 
 " As I was saying," replied Bushman, " the chain hadj 
 a break in it. While driving along among the stumps, 
 by some means the toggle fell out, and let the steers 
 away from the harrow. After some trouble I got 
 them around to their place again and went in between 
 them to fix the chain. Just then the steers made a! 
 start to run away. Before they got fairly under way, 
 I caught hold of the tops of the ox-bows, where they 
 projected through the yoke and held, on for life, think- 
 ing that if I lost my hold and fell between the steers I 
 the harrow would run over me and tear me to pieces. 
 But a few rods had been travelled over in this peril- 
 ous way, when the harrow caught firmly on a stump.j 
 and stopped the runaways." 
 
 " My father came up just then with a face as white! 
 as a sheet. He had seen the whole affair. He helped 
 me out of my unpleasant position, saying : ' My boy, 
 this is no place for you.' He took the steers in hand,! 
 and finished the job himself. Yes, Mr. Root, I have a! 
 right to know what an old fashioned three-square! 
 harrow is," 
 
THE KO AD-MAKE US. 
 
 33 
 
 " I say, Buslnnan," said Mr. Root, after a iiioinont's 
 silence, " I have an offer to make you. Now, by a 
 little managment I can arrange my plans so that we 
 can be in the vicinity during the coldest months in the 
 winter. We shall need a warmer place to stay in 
 ourselves, and a better stable for the oxen, than I could 
 artbrd to build for the short time that we should use 
 them. Now, my proposition is thi.s. We will turn in 
 and help you build your house. Then we will put up a 
 stable for the cattle, after which we will go to another 
 part of my job and work until the cold winter comes 
 on. Then we will come back here and stop till we 
 complete all that is within reach of this place." 
 
 "All right. That will suit me exactly. And after 
 the house and stable are done, I will go to work for 
 you to pay you for your time and trouble," was the 
 young man's answer. 
 
 " Very well," replied Mr. Root. " We will work it 
 out on that line." 
 
 And they did, to the entire satisfaction of all parties. 
 They were honest men, and between such there is sel- 
 dom any difficulty about business matters. In two 
 days' time the house-logs were cut, and on the ground 
 where the house was to be erected. 
 
 The spot was a nice one for a residence, it was be- 
 tween the lake and the line where the road was to be. 
 From the front door the future occupants would be 
 able to look up and down the prospective road, and 
 from the back there would be a splendid view of 
 Sylvan Lake. 
 
Chapter III. 
 
 HOUSE-BUILDING. 
 
 to raise a log house of any great size re([uires some 
 mechanical contrivance, as well as considerable 
 force, either mechanical or otherwise ; and to 
 lay up the walls properly demands a good deal of 
 practice, and not a little skill. 
 
 To notch up a corner perfectly is a piece of work 
 that but few men can do. Either it will be " out of 
 plumb," or it will " bow in," or " bow out." Or maybe 
 the logs will " ride," that is, rest on each other, or they 
 will be too far apart, leaving too much of a " crack " 
 between them. The fact that so few men are able to 
 do a nice job on a corner, makes good cornermen an 
 important factor at log-raisings. Such men sometimes 
 go long distances. And there have been instances in 
 which cornermen have been hired to sfo into other 
 neighborhoods than their own to lay up corners. 
 
 When Bushman enquired among Mr. Root's men he 
 found that three of them claimed to be good corner- 
 men. He could do something at that work himself 
 so that he felt easy on that score. He then went to 
 Mr. Root and asked him if he had a large auger among 
 his tools. 
 
HOUSK-BUILDING. 
 
 35 
 
 " What do you want with it ? " asked the American- 
 
 " I want to make some 'bull heads ' for the raisin<i^,'' 
 replied Bushman. 
 
 " What are they, and what use do you make of 
 them ?" asked Hoot. 
 
 " Don't you know what a bull's head is for ? Why, 
 we use them, and bull's eyes, too, at loj:; raisini:,'. Were 
 you never at such a place ? " said Bushman. 
 
 " No ; nothing more than puttint^ up a shanty in the 
 Michigan lumber w^oods. But what are the things, 
 anyway ? I want to see them." 
 
 Bushman \nswered, " Now, I think of it, that you 
 caine from an old State where the log raising is one of 
 tlie old things that are looked back to as belonging to 
 the times of your great-grandfathers, and of course 
 you can't remember them." 
 
 Mr. Root said, " That is all true. But are you never 
 going to tell me what bull's heads and bull's eyes are 
 like ? " 
 
 " Yes, as soon as I can get you ready for the infor- 
 mation." 
 
 " I am ready now, and have been for some time." 
 
 " Not quite ready yet," said Bushman ; " did you 
 ever see a ' skid ? ' " 
 
 " Yes, I have cut and used scores of them in the 
 lumber woods," was the reply. 
 
 " 1 thought so. We use skids at log-raisings for the 
 same purpose, and the same way that they are used in 
 the lumbering woods, namely, to roll or slide logs on. 
 But one more (question, if you please : ])id you ever 
 see a man on crutches ? " 
 
86 
 
 AMONG THE FOHKST TREES. 
 
 " Yes, more than once. But what earthly connec 
 tion can there be between a man on crutches and the 
 use of a l)uirs head at a lofj-raisiii^ ? " 
 
 " I will tell you, my imjuisitive friend," said Bush- 
 man. " I dare say you have noticed that the head of 
 the crutch, or, in other words, the part that is placed 
 under tlie arm in walkinfif, is shaped like a new moon 
 with the points of the horns cut oti". Tiiat piece is put 
 on a long start', or handle. Well, a bull's head is like 
 a great overgrown crutch, with a handle from ten to 
 twenty feet long, and the head large enough and stronj^ 
 enough to bear the strain of six or eight men pushing 
 on it with all their strength at once." 
 
 " I see," said the other. " But after the thing is 
 made, how is it used ? " 
 
 " In raising, we roll the logs up on the skids as far 
 as we can reach with our hands. Then we put one or 
 two bull's heads under each end of it, and the men 
 take hold of the long handles and push against the log 
 and slide it along the skid to the place where they 
 want it. " 
 
 " I think I understand. But what is a bull's eye ?' 
 asked Mr. Root. 
 
 " We cut a long, slim beech, or hickory sapling about 
 the size of a chair post. We leave the top limbs all 
 on, and twist them together until they are like a rope 
 Bring the end around in a circle of about fifteen inches 
 diameter, fasten it securely to the main body of the 
 sapling. Then you have a hoop on the end of a long| 
 pole. Now, the man on the corner takes the pole in 
 his hand, then he slips the hoop on the end of the lo] 
 
HOUSE-BUILDING. 
 
 87 
 
 an<l pulls with all his nii<^ht, to help the men who are 
 pu.shiii(,' the log up the skid. Sometimes ropes are 
 used. But the withes are cheaper pml handier." 
 
 " 1 think that I could make either a bull's head or a 
 iuli'seye now," said Mr. Root. " But in answer to the 
 
 Iqucstion you asked so long ago, I want to say, I have 
 
 I both a large and a small auger among my tools." 
 " All right," Bushman answered, " I want a two-inch 
 
 [auger to bore into the bull's head for the handles, and 
 I want an inch auger to bore into the handles to put 
 pins into for the men to take hold of when using the 
 articles." 
 In a few days the necessary preparations for the rais- 
 
 linnf were all finished. Mr. Root and his staff of road- 
 makers came according to the previous arrangement. 
 lUit the four extra men who were expected did not 
 
 I come in time for the raisinsr, so that the force was not 
 as strong as they had thought it would be. However, 
 they had fourteen men and a good yoke of oxen. This 
 was by no means a light team for the job, especially 
 as the logs to be handled were all cedar. 
 
 Bushman had made the best preparations in his 
 power for the comfort of the men, by providing plenty 
 of food and tea and coffee. His bachelor experiences 
 had developed him into a very passable cook. 
 
 No whiskey was found in the " bill of fare." There 
 were two reasons for this. The young man never 
 used it, and he was too conscientious to give to others 
 what he would not take himself. And besides this, 
 there was no place for many miles where it could be 
 obtained. It would have been a great gain to this 
 
38 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 'A 
 
 country, if whiskey had always been conspicuous by 
 its absence from the social life, and individual habits 
 of the people, in all the provinces of this young 
 Dominion. But the men were well satisfied with the 
 efforts made for their enjoyment. 
 
 As this was to be the first house of any respectable 
 size in two or three townships a great deal of care was 
 taken in laying the foundation and rearing the walls. 
 It must be exactly square. It must be entirely level, 
 and it must stand so that the sides and ends would 
 face the four cardinal points of the compass — East, 
 West, North, and South. And this would make it 
 correspond with the concessions and sidelines of the 
 township. And more than this, an example would be 
 set that all new comers might follow in building their 
 new homes. 
 
 But a lot of active, handy men would not be long in 
 laying the foundation and in getting the floor sleepers 
 in their places. By nine o'clock they had everything 
 ready to commence the raising. 
 
 Mr. Rorc superintended the work on the ground, 
 while Bushman himself gave directions to cornermen 
 in regard to t^^eir part of the work. 
 
 And now, kind reader, let us pause a little to watch 
 those men at their work. See with what readiness 
 they do as they are told by the foremen. Each seemed 
 to vie with the other in doing his part. And when the 
 word is given, see how every man seems to spring 
 with all his might, and how the log fairly seems to 
 jump along the skids toward the place where it is 
 wanted. 
 
 But do 3 
 are spokei 
 I He-o-heavt 
 Itliose wor( 
 great man^ 
 levt'iy one 
 Ition of the 
 iquestion as 
 I think I 
 lis easily unc 
 is implied i 
 "heave," ev 
 Ion. 
 
 We have 
 laction. No 
 until they d: 
 land make { 
 impossible t 
 jacconiplishec 
 But if we 
 Iwill have th 
 Iprocess of r 
 Iwe are inte 
 [already, and 
 llunch or wh? 
 Wo will si 
 jhave no misf 
 It'or back woo 
 Ihospitality. 
 
 The men s 
 |inij two larg( 
 
HOUSE-BUILDING. 
 
 39 
 
 But do you notice the peculiar kind of words that 
 are spoken. The only thing said is, " He-o-heave, 
 He-o-heave." Do you ask what is the meaning of 
 those words ? I cannot tell • you. I have been at a 
 great many raisings, and I have heard the words at 
 every one of them ; but I have never heard a defini- 
 tion of them by any one. In fact, I never heard a 
 l([uestion asked about the meaning of them. 
 
 I think I can give you an ecjuivalent for them, that 
 
 lis easily understood. " Prepare-lift," seems to be what 
 
 [is implied in the words " He-o-heave." At the word 
 
 "heave," every man does his best, and the work goes 
 
 ion. 
 
 We have here an illustration of the benefit of united 
 
 I action. Now, these men might lift, one at a time, 
 
 until they died, and they could not put up those logs, 
 
 and make a house of them. But what would be/* 
 
 impossible to do by individual effort can easily be 
 
 laccomplished by united and concentrated effort. 
 
 But if we do not make haste these busy workers 
 [will have the walls up while we are describing the 
 [process of raising them. How swift time flies when 
 Iwe are interested in anything. Here it is noon 
 lalready, and the men are preparing for their dinner or 
 [lunch or whatever it may be called. 
 
 We will sit down and share with them. We need 
 [have no misgivings as to our being welcome to do so, 
 [for backwoodsmen are noted for their unpretentious 
 [hospitality. 
 
 The men sat at an extempore table, made by plac- 
 ling two large logs so that poles could be laid across 
 
40 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES, 
 
 
 from one to the other. These were thickly covered 
 over with bed-quilts, and over all was spread a white 
 table cloth that had been borrowed from the nearest 
 neighbor. The dishes had been got from the road I 
 makers. 
 
 They sat on the ground in the same manner that] 
 tailors sometimes sit on the bench when sewing. 
 
 There was considerable mirth among the dinner- 
 party who partook of that first public meal ever! 
 enjoyed on the banks of Sylvan Lake. 
 
 After they had finished their dinners, some one pro- 
 posed to drink the health of the future mistress of thel 
 house they were raising. The idea took, and the tea- 
 cups were filled with the clear, pure water from the] 
 lake. 
 
 It was decided that Mr. Root should propose thej 
 toast, and John Bushman was to reply. 
 
 After a little hesitation, Mr. Root lifted his cup,andi 
 the rest followed his example. He looked around! 
 upon the beaming faces of the good-natured lot, andj 
 spoke as follows : — 
 
 " Here's to the lady who one clay will come 
 And, as the loved mistress of this rural liome. 
 Will preside like a genius that chases away 
 All the cobwebs and darkness ; and make people say, 
 \Vliat a splendid housekeeper John Bushman lias got, 
 ^Vho can make Sylvan Lodge such a l)eautiful spot ; 
 May her heart long be lightened with music and song ; 
 May her path still be bright as the years pass along, 
 And as age creeps upon her may her life still be l)lest 
 With the love of a husband, the kindest and best ; 
 And at last when the work of this life is all done. 
 May she rest in the home where the Master has gone.'" 
 
HOUSE-BUILDING. 
 
 41 
 
 As Mr. Root sat down, the whole company broke out 
 in a storm of applause. "Hurrah for Root! long life 
 to the Mistress of Sylvan Lodge ! " rang into the ears 
 )f John Bushman, who colored up and looked like a 
 liimn who is charged with some mean action. The cups 
 )f water were forgotten, and Bushman was called 
 for by half a dozen voices at once. 
 
 The young man stepped upon the end of one of the 
 logs used as supports for the table, and commenced by 
 raying :— 
 
 Gentlemen, for the first time in my life I find 
 lyself wishing that I was a poet, so that I might 
 I'eply to my friend in a proper way. But I shall have 
 ask you to listen to a short speech in prose, and it 
 lay be too prosy a speech. 
 
 '■ In reply to the kindly wishes so well expressed by 
 mr friend, and so heartily endorsed by you, all I wish 
 bo say is, I do indulge a hope that at no very distant day 
 sylvan Lake will reflect a fairer face than mine, 
 md that the house we are raising to-day may have 
 the presence of a mistress as well as that of a master, 
 md, gentlemen, if, in the future, any of you should 
 jc passing this way do not forget this place. And I 
 ^ant you all to remember that the sun that lavishes 
 its warmth and light upon us, is not more free to kiss 
 uvay the dew-drops from the leaves that bend in the 
 lorning under their loads of liquid brightness, than 
 the hospitalities of Sylvan Lodge, as you have been 
 ^leased to call this house, shall be free to anyone who 
 |s helping to raise this house to-day." 
 As he finished his short address he was loudly 
 
42 
 
 AMONG thp: forest trees. 
 
 applauded by his comrades. Harry Hawthorn became 
 enthused, as the newspaper men say. He cried out at 
 the top of his voice, " Sucess till yez Maisther Bush- 
 man, and may your shaddy niver grow shorter, and 
 may your purse become longer and heavier; and may 
 your d-icent lady, Mrs. Bushman, grow purtier, and 
 swater timpered as the years go by," 
 
 They now concluded to resume their work. But be- 
 fore they commenced an elderly man, named Adam 
 Switch, told the men that their mirthfulness brought 
 a sad recollection to his mind. Some one asked him 
 to what he referred. 
 
 He said, " A number of years ago — I think it was 
 before the Rebellion — I was at the raisintj of a I02 
 barn. The men all seemed to be carried away with 
 the spirit of miruh. Although there was not a drop of 
 intoxicating liquor about the place, they acted as if 
 all hands were tipsy. 
 
 " Everything went well until about the middle of 
 the afternoon. The barn was up ten or twelve feet 
 high. In putting up one of the long side-logs the 
 men got racing to see whose end would be ahead. In 
 their thoughtless haste one end was shoved so far 
 ahead that it slipped off the skid, and fell. In fallinr; 
 to the ground it struck the owner of the barn and 
 killed him instantly.* He left a wife and small family 
 to battle with life in a new country, as best they 
 could without him 
 day without solemn feelings.' 
 
 I never go to a raisii^g since that| 
 
 *In the Township of Wallace a man was killed in the same way| 
 in A.D. 1860, while at his own raising of a log barn. 
 
 .i,i:;it 
 
HOUHE-IUTILDING. 
 
 43 
 
 By sundown the walls were up and the rafters on. 
 riien the men concluded that their task was done, 
 aid it was done, too, without Mr. Root having to 
 ^how them a " Yankee trick by way of ox-driving." 
 
 Bushman was well pleased with the way in which 
 the work was done. And Mr. Root, after congratu- 
 lating him on the success of the day's eftbrts, said. 
 Inasmuch as all his men had agreed to come to a 
 I bee,' no charge would be made for the time spent at 
 the raising." 
 
 The young man was completely taken by surprise, 
 [e thanked them for their kindness, and hoped he 
 [night be yet able to make them ill a suitable return. 
 
 One of the men, a Mr. Beech, said to him, " So far 
 lis I am concerned, very likely you may have a chance 
 to do it before many months are gone. One of my 
 [easons for joining this party of roadmakers was the 
 mportanity it would give me to select a good lot of 
 ^ind on which to settle. 
 
 " 1 am so well pleased with the looks of the land 
 bid timber about here that I have sent in an applica- 
 lion for the lot on the other side of the road from 
 ours. If I get it, which most likely I will, I expect 
 |o settle on it early next spring. So, you see, we are 
 ikely to become fellow-citizens of the new country, 
 Ind we may as well commence to be sociable and 
 jeighborly at once." 
 
 " 1 am glad to hear it," said Bushman ; " and I hope 
 
 lat you may never have cause to think of me in any 
 [ther character than that of a good neighbor and 
 Irubtv friend." 
 
44 
 
 AMONG THE FOllKST TREES. 
 
 " Well, upon me sowl," broke in Harry Hawthorn. 
 "an', share, wonders will niver cease. It's meselfl 
 that's jist afther securin' the roight to build a shanty 
 fur meself, and a byre fur me cow on the lot over tliel 
 bound'ry, and jist furnenst the lot we are on thi« 
 blessed minute. Thin I will sind to ould Iieland, that) 
 I love so well, and bring out my Biddy and our chil- 
 der, and we will make ourselves a home, and may thcl 
 saints be good till all of us." 
 
 " I am delighted," said Bushman, " to hear that I aral 
 to have two such neighbors as Mr. Beech and Mr] 
 Hawthorn, and I hope that we shall do what we caul 
 for each other, so as to lighten the burdens of pioneerj 
 life." 
 
 " Shure, and we will do that same thing," repliedl 
 the Irishman. " But, if you plaze, do not call mei 
 Misther. Let me name be only Harry on wake days 
 and Harry Hawthorn on Sunday fur a change, t(j 
 match wid me Sunday clothes, you see." 
 
 They all laughed at the way that Harry presentee] 
 his wishes respecting the cognomen by which he woukj 
 have himself addressed by his neighbors. 
 
 " Will you allow me a place in your Backwoo(i!| 
 Society ? " 
 
 The question was asked by Mr. John Brushy. HI 
 was the most quiet and the most powerful man in thel 
 group. He stood six feet, and weighed two hundreJ 
 pounds. When he was roused, he was just the kind oil 
 man to be let alone by ordinary men. But he seldom 
 got roused, unless he had too much whiskey in hin 
 Then he was quarrelsome, and sometimes dangerou*| 
 
HOUSK-BUILDINCi. 
 
 45 
 
 But he was the right man for the bush, and his friends 
 were always safe with him, and could trust him. 
 
 They all looked at the bi<;' man, and they saw that 
 lie was in earnest. 
 
 " Yes, cheerfully," said Bushman, in answer to his 
 ([Uestion. 
 
 " Yes, wiiih all my heart," said Peter Beech. 
 
 " Yes, me too," said Harry ; " give us your sledge- 
 hammer of a hand, and long may we all live in peace 
 and harmony together." 
 
 " Well, I hope none of you will leave me till my 
 contract is tilled," said Mr. Root. " Then if I conclude 
 to stay in Canada, and in the meantime, if I find no 
 tiner tract of land, I will see if I can come across a 
 vacant lot hereabouts, and settle down in your neigh- 
 borhood. But at present we will talk about our plans 
 for the future," and turning to Bushman, he said, 
 " What do you calculate on doing next ? " 
 
 " I think I will go on and finish up the house first, and 
 then pay you back the work that I owe you. By that 
 time winter will be here. Then I will leave the house 
 to you and your men, and go home for a couple of 
 months, and come back in the spring." 
 
 " And bring a wife with you," broke in one of the 
 men. 
 
 " As to that, I don't know whether any one would 
 have me," he said, with a blush on his cheek. 
 
 " The first thing to be done will be to go out to 
 
 Mapleton, and bring in the glass and nails. That will 
 
 take about two trips. Then I shall have to get a 
 
 jfrow and drawing-knife, and cross-cut saw, to make 
 
46 
 
 AxMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 ti 
 
 i 
 
 ^ f 
 
 the shinrrles. I think I can borrow thoni from the 
 people where 1 ijjet my bread." 
 
 " How far is it to Mapleton ? " a.sked one of tliem. 
 
 " About twenty-two miles," was the answer. 
 
 " And what direction is it ? " 
 
 " There is only one way out from here yet, and that] 
 is the way we all came in on." 
 
 " What are you j,'oinj^ to do for lumber ? ''' was asked] 
 by James Brushy. 
 
 " I shall have to hew out timber for the floors, and] 
 split cedar slats for the sheeting," was the reply. 
 
 " Well," said Brushy, " can't we all who are intend- 1 
 ing to settle here put in together and buy a whip saw .' 
 I know how to use it, and in that way we can get I 
 on until somebody comes along to put up a saw- 
 mill." 
 
 The four men agreed to adopt the plan, and directed I 
 Bushman to order the saw through the storekeeper at 
 Mapleton. 
 
 Everything succeeded as they wished. The house! 
 was made as comfortable as such a one could be. 
 The stable was built for the cattle, the work was duly 
 paid back to Mr. Root, and by the middle of December 
 John Bushman started for home, having been absent] 
 since early in the last spring. 
 
Chai^ter IV. 
 
 A PARTNER FOUND, 
 
 , rOHN BUSHMAN had been so absorbed since 
 ^, cominfj to the backwoods that he had scarcely 
 thoutrht of the old home and its snrroundinors. 
 jHe believed that he was not forofotten there. He felt 
 confident that he was often carried to the Great Helper, 
 of the needy on the wings of a mother's prayers and a 
 father's faith. And he fully believed that in some 
 I mysterious way he was bene ti ted by those prayers. 
 
 But he had now been away from home for seven 
 Iraonths, and his life among the forest trees had been 
 jsuch a busy one, that attention to present duties had 
 jso fully occupied his mind that he may be truly said 
 |to have taken no thought for to-morrow. 
 
 But now, as he journeyed homeward on foot, for 
 [this was before the time of railroads, he had time to 
 Ithink. His first thouijhts were about the loved ones at 
 Ihomo. He had not heard from them since he left them 
 pn the spring. There were no post offices then in the 
 3ack country. 
 
 He woidd ask himself many questions as he walked 
 ilong. " Were they all alive and well or should he find 
 an empty seat, and if so, whose seat would it be ? 
 
48 
 
 A MONO THK FORKST TREES. 
 
 Il'i:i 
 
 Would it bo baby Littio's / How sad it would be if 
 the little prattler should be ^one. Or wonld it be one 
 of the older members of the family?" -lust then a 
 startlintj thought crossed his mind : " What if mother 
 should be jjfone to come back no more ? " The very 
 thoui^ht made him almost sick. He felt a sinking at 
 his heart and a dizziness in his head. He never, till 
 that moment, realized the strength of his attachment 
 to his mother. But he tried to dismiss such unpleasant 
 thoughts and think of something not so gloomy. 
 
 He wondered if sister Betsy had accepted the otter of I 
 young William Briers to become his wife. He believed 
 that she was more than half inclined to do so before I 
 he left. But he was not certain, for Bet was such 
 a queer girl, that no one but mother could get any- 
 thing out of her. He said to himself, " I do wish she! 
 would have him, for Will is a good fellow; and 1 think @ 
 more of him than any other youn man in the settle- 
 ment." 
 
 Thinking of his sister and her lover started a ne\v| 
 train of ideas. He thought of the house so recently 
 built, called by the men Sylvan Lodge. Who was| 
 to be its mistress in the days to come ? 
 
 John Bushman was by no means what is called a I 
 lady's man. He had never shown any particular] 
 partiality to any of the young women of his acquaint- 
 ance ; and, though he w^as on good terms with all of I 
 them, he would not acknowledge, even to himself, that 
 he had ever been in love with any of them. He| 
 flattered himself that he had not been touched by any 
 of the darts from the bow of the sly god. No, no; I 
 
A PARTNER FOUND. 
 
 49 
 
 Cupifl had lost his arrows if any of tlieiii had been 
 shot at him. And he straightened himself up, and 
 stepped along with the feeling of perfect composure 
 and complete satisfaction on the score of his being an 
 entirely unpledged young man. But something told 
 him to look down into his heart, and when he had 
 (loiio so, he made a discovery that might upsco a man 
 of less self-control than he had. 
 
 Down deep in his heart he saw the picture of a face, 
 not a pretty one, perhaps, but it was a very attractive 
 one — not a dashing, saucy, bewitching face, but a 
 modest, thoughtful, honest one, and, moreover, he 
 seemed to hear a gentle voice softly whispering, " I am 
 here, John. You fancied that your heart was unoccu- 
 pied, but I am here ; I found it empty and crept into 
 it years ago, when we were only children, and I don't 
 want to be turned out now." 
 
 John knew the face. It was that of an old play- 
 mate and school-mate. When he came to realize the 
 state of the case he was not displeased, though he was 
 somewhat surprised. He said to himself, " I did not 
 know that the little witch was there, but when did 
 she get there, and how ? I don't remember ever show- 
 ing her any more attention than 1 gave to other girls, 
 and I am sure that she has not been more friendly to 
 me than the other young women ; in fact, I have 
 thought of late that she seemed cold and offish. But 
 no matter how she got there, I now see that she has 
 the strongest hold on my affections, and if J can get 
 her consent to go with me to my new country home, 
 little Mary Myrtle shall be the future mistress of 
 Sylvan Lodge." 
 
50 
 
 AM<)\0 TflK FOHKST THEES. 
 
 J! 
 
 Youn(( Buslunan was no bliistcror, and there was 
 not a particlt) of tho l)ia<;gait in liis composition ; hut 
 wlien he made up liis mind to do a thinr,^ lie called to I 
 his assistance a ir'ill that was tinbendinjif, and an ener^'y 
 that was most unyieldin^^ So, havinj^' settled in his 
 own mind the question as to who should be the chosen 
 one to brii:jhten his home with her presence, he resolved 
 to let the matter rest until he could have an oppor- 
 tunity to mention the thing to the younij lady herself, 
 and find out if her views and feelint^s harmonized with| 
 his. 
 
 After three days' travel, made doubly tiresome by I 
 the soreness of blistered feet, he came into the neij^h- 
 borhood of home. He looked in the direction of his 
 father's house and he could see the tops of the chim- 
 neys with the blue smoke curling up towards the calm 
 cerulean sky. He thought that smoke never seemed 
 so beautiful before. He almost fancied that it spread 
 itself out like loving arms to encircle him and give 
 him words of welcome. 
 
 The first person that he met was a blunt old York- 
 shireman, who lived on a farm adjoining his father's. 
 
 When the old man came up he took the young 
 man's hand with a grip that fairly made him wince, as 
 he said, " A Jock, beest this you ? How hast thee 
 been sin' ye left us last spring?" 
 
 " I have been well, Mr. Roanoak," said John, " but 
 how are they at home ? Do you know that I have not 
 heard from home since I went away last April ? " 
 
 " Well," answered the Englishman, " yc ur mother 
 be'ant very blissom sin' you went oil* to the woods to 
 
 MIII!lJto'»!M_ 
 
A I'AHTNEU FCUNI). 
 
 51 
 
 livo on bear's meat. The rest of tlieiii are hearty and 
 w.-ll." 
 
 After a few more words vvitli his ohl friend whom he 
 had known from his boyhood, John went on to the old 
 home, wliere so many liappy days to him had come and 
 i^'oiie. 
 
 As he came to the door he listened before j];oinjT in. 
 Ho heard his father askini,^ (Jod's blessing on their 
 food. They were just sitting down to tea. 
 
 Presently he heard his sist(!r say in a bantering sort 
 of way, " Mother, cheer up, for I believe that John is 
 on the way home. J have felt like it all day." 
 
 " 1 dreamed last night," said the mother, " that he 
 came honie tired and hungry, an<l asked n\e to give 
 him some dinner." 
 
 The father spoke and said: " He will be here before 
 many days. The winter must have set in back where 
 he is, and he promised to come home before Christmas 
 to help me butcher the pigs. If he is alive and well 
 he will soon be here, for John always was a truthful 
 boy" 
 
 John could wait no longer, but giving a rap on the 
 door, he opened it and went in, at the same time say- 
 ing, " Mother, where is my plate ? I'm as hungry as a 
 bear in the month of March." 
 
 We will gently close the door and retire, as it is not 
 seemly to intrude upon the privacy of family reunions. 
 
 The people in the neighborhood were all pleased 
 to see young Bushman looking so strong and healthy, 
 after his summer in the bush. He was a sfeneral 
 favorite among his acquaintances. 
 
52 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 r ii 
 
 The old people liked John because they had always 
 found him truthful and honest, even from childhood. 
 
 The young people liked him because he never put on 
 any airs of superiority, or assumed any authority over 
 them ; and he always showed himself to be the sin- 
 cere friend of all his young companions and school- 
 mates. Their mode of expressing themselves was, 
 " We like John Bushman, because he always treats us 
 as his equals, and we can always trust him." 
 
 The children liked him because he always spoke 
 cheerfully and kindly to them, and he never passed 
 them on the road without letting them know that he 
 saw them. He seemed to understand the truism that 
 " kind words cost nothing," and he acted upon it. But 
 when kind words are bestowed upon children, they are 
 like precious seed scattered on a fertile soil, they yield 
 a rich harvest in calling out the affections, and in gain- 
 ing the confidence of the little ones. 
 
 John had to answer a great many questions in 
 regard to his lonely life among the forest trees. What 
 degree of success had attended his efforts ? Was he 
 going back in the spring ? Was the land and water 
 good ? How far off was his nearest neighbor ? What 
 was the soil and timber ? What were the prospects 
 of an early settlement of the country ? These and 
 many other questions he had to answer to the best of 
 his ability, which he did cheerfully and satisfactorily. 
 
 One evening as the family sat by the large fire that 
 was blazing in the old-fashioned Dutch fire-place, 
 John told about having killed the wolves; and he 
 showed them the bounty money that he got for the 
 
A PARTNER FO'JND. 
 
 13 
 
 scalps in the village of Hamilton, as he was on his way 
 home. 
 
 " Are you not afraid, John, that the wolves will catch 
 you alone sometime without your gun, and tear you 
 to pieces i " asked his mother. 
 
 He answered, " I never go away from the house 
 without either the gun or the axe in my hand. Wolves 
 are great cowards, and will very seldom attack a man 
 in day time. It is only at night, when they can sneak 
 up behind in the darkness, that they are at all dan- 
 gerous to human kind." 
 
 " What <lid you do with the slvins of the wolves ? 
 Are they good for anything ? What color are they, 
 and how big are they ?" asked his sister. 
 
 "There Bet," said he, with a laugh, "that is just 
 like a girl. They want to know everything at once. 
 Here you have been shooting questions at me so fast 
 that I had no time to answer one of them ; and they 
 come so swiftly that a fellow has no chance to dodge 
 them. Please hold on a while, and give me time to 
 think." 
 
 " Humph ! you think everything is like shooting 
 since you shot the wolves," shouted Betsy, " but will 
 the great hunter condescend to answer my girlisJi 
 quedions ? " 
 
 " Most certainly, sister mine, if you will hold your 
 tongue and your temper for a few minutes. 
 
 " Firstly, then, I got my nearest neighbor, who is 
 soiiiething of a tanner, to dress them with the hair on, 
 and I spread them on my block seats for cushions; and 
 they are, in this way, both ornamental and useful. 
 
54 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TRKES. 
 
 " Your second question is answered in the first one. 
 
 " Thirdly, they are gray, with dark stripes running' 
 through them, making them a sort of V^rindle. 
 
 "Fourthly, a wolf is a good bit larger than a fox, 
 and son ething smaller than a bear. His .skin is just 
 big enough to cover him from nose to tail. Will that 
 do, Sis ? '' 
 
 " Well," said she, " I am wonderfully enlightened on 
 the subject. How should I know the size of a fox or 
 a bear, since I never saw either." 
 
 " A full-grown wolf," said John, " is as tall as a largo 
 dog, but he is not so heavy nor so strongly built. He 
 is more like a greyhound than anything else that 1 
 know of, unless it is another wolf. That is all that I 
 can say about him." 
 
 The father here spoke, <aying, " It is time to change 
 the subject for the present. We will have some more 
 talk about wolves at another time. But I think it 
 would be well to be on the look-out for a good, 
 stronor, resolute doGf for John to take with him to 
 the bush, when he goes back to his place next spring. 
 He will want a dog to guard his place, as 1 intend to 
 give him a yoke of oxen, a cow and half a dozen sheep 
 as soon as he can get anything to feed them." 
 
 " I am very thankful to you, father," said John, 
 " for your intended gift. And as for feed, I can get 
 that as soon as it is needed, for I have live or six acres 
 of splendid beaver-meadow on my lot, and T can cut 
 hay enough there to keep a number of cattle and 
 sheep." 
 
 " Squire Myrtle has got ju.st the sort of a dog that 
 
 ^S 
 
 you ougl 
 William. 
 At th( 
 and his 
 irgained| 
 noticed 
 ;ind tritiiJ 
 (i\vn cone) 
 his secrel 
 Myrtle's ■ 
 liu.sh.' 
 
 Durint 
 lioniestead 
 farms in t 
 a very lar 
 the greater 
 
 The tiel( 
 growth che 
 trees. But 
 especially < 
 garden. T 
 mer, and i 
 winter. 
 
 Nobody's 
 did his ; ai 
 nor with Ic 
 clear, cold 
 heard for t' 
 mill or froi 
 
 The you 
 greeting b} 
 
A PAKTXEU KUUND. 
 
 00 
 
 you ought to have, John ;" so said his younger brother, 
 Willifun. 
 
 At the mention of that name the young man started 
 and his face Hushed up for moment. He soon 
 regained his equilibrium, and no one but his mother 
 noticed his perturbation. Her sharp eyes saw it, 
 and trifling as the incident was in itself, she drew her 
 own conclusion from it. She said to herself, " I have 
 his secret now. 'There is more than a dog at Squire 
 Myrtle's that he would like to take with him to the 
 bush." 
 
 During the Christmas week John paid a visit to the 
 homestead of Squire Myrtle. It was one of the oldest 
 farms in the vicinity of the Short Hills On it was 
 a very large orchard, mostly of seedling fruit. But 
 the greater part of it was of a good quality. 
 
 The fields were beautified by numerous second- 
 growth chestnut, shellbark hickory, and black-walnut 
 trees. But there were two things that Squire Myrtle 
 especially doted on. These were his horses and his 
 garden. The latter took up much of his time in sum- 
 mer, and the same may be said of the horses in 
 winter. 
 
 Nobody's garden produced better vegetables than 
 did his ; and nobody's team stepped off more lively, 
 nor with long-^r strides than the Squire's. And, on a 
 clear, cold night in winter, his sleigh-bells could be 
 heard for two miles or more, as he drove home from 
 mill or from market. 
 
 The young man was received with a warmth of 
 greeting by Mr. and Mrs. Myrtle that ought to have 
 
56 
 
 AMONG THE FORKST TREES. 
 
 convinced him that he was a little more than a merely 
 welcome visitor. 
 
 After the usual enquiries as to the health of himself I 
 and family at home, he had many (juestions to answer 
 about the back country. 
 
 What were the prospects of success in farming andi 
 fruit growing? How far from lake navigation? 
 Were there any churches and schools within reach, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 He told them that his place was some thirty-five | 
 miles from Lake Ontario. The nearest church or 
 school, so far as he knew, was twenty miles, and the 
 nearest doctor or magistrate was twenty-five miles 
 from where he had located. " The soil is, I think, 
 good for grain and the hardier kinds of fruit. But it ! 
 has not yet been tested by actual experiment," said he. 
 
 " Dear me, John, you have gone a long way back, 
 Could you not have found land to settle on without 
 going so far ?" said Mrs. Myrtle. 
 
 John answered, " It is, to be sure, a long way back 
 now, but it will not always be so. Some persons have 
 to be pioneers, and I am willing to take my place 
 among them. I believe that I can stand the roui^h 
 and tumble of bush life as well as others." 
 
 " I can remember," said the Squire, " when young 
 couples had to come all the way from Long Point on 
 Lake Erie to get married. There was only one 
 minister in all this part of the province that was 
 authorized to marry." 
 
 " Yes," said his wife, " and you know what a trip 
 we made on horseback when we got married. And I 
 
 %iiL 
 
A PARTNER FOUND. 
 
 57 
 
 can never forget how old Mr. Greenhedge laughed 
 when we told where we came from and what we 
 wanted. It seems to me that I can see hitn yet, as he 
 pronounced the benediction on William Myrtle and 
 Polly Thorntree." 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Myrtle," said John, with a shaky 
 voice, " I have an important (juestion to ask you, and 
 I may as well do it now as to put it off till another 
 time. Are you both willing that I should try and 
 persuade your Mary to go with me to the bush as my 
 wite. 
 
 Tliey looked at each other for a moment. Then Mr. 
 Myrtle said, "John, I know you are truthful and 
 honest. You may iry, and all I say now is, success to 
 you." He did succeed. After John was gone, Mrs. 
 Myrtle said, " I am glad of this, for I know she likes 
 him." 
 
Chaptkr v. 
 
 AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 
 
 #\iyV LEVER men sometimes do silly things when theyj 
 undertake to hunt a wife. A man mav show 
 good judgment in all the ordinary affairs of life, 
 and yet he may act more like a lunatic than anything I 
 else when he goes courting. 
 
 The reason of this may be found in the false esti- 
 mate which men sometimes make of woman's charac-j 
 ter and position. If a man looks upon a woman as 
 being inferior to himself, he will likely assume an air 
 of superiority over her, that will set her against him, 
 and di'ive her from him. 
 
 And on the other hand, if he looks on her as an 
 angel, done up in skirts and corsets, he will act the 
 part of a cringing weakling, and in this way he calls 
 out contempt where he wishes to gain esteem, and pro- 
 vokes aversion where he hopes to awaken love. 
 
 If this man would counsel with his mother or his 
 sister they would tell him that a woman never can re- 
 spect what she despises, nor love what she stands in 
 dread of. 
 
 John Bushman was a sensible young man. He did 
 not estimate woman to be either better or worse than 
 
AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 
 
 59 
 
 limself. He simply treated her as his equal — noth- 
 Incj more, nothing less. As a natural consequence, he 
 lad the respect of his lady friends. 
 
 But there was one of the number that had a stronger 
 [eeling towards him than simple respect. This one 
 ms little Mary Myrtle, whose image John so unex- 
 pectedly discovered that day that he looked into his 
 leart when on his way home. We call her little, not 
 pecause she was so very small, but from a habit that 
 jearly every one got into when Mary was a child. It 
 ma done to distinguish her from an aunt of the same 
 iiame, who was a young woman when she was an in- 
 lant. 
 
 John had not as yet said anything to her about 
 becoming Mrs. Bushman, although, like an honest, 
 nanly man, he had asked her parents' consent to do 
 
 io. 
 
 Mrs. Myrtle said to Mary the next morning after 
 le interview recorded at the close of the last chapter, 
 [John Bushman asked your father and rae if he might 
 ry and persuade you to go with him to the bush as 
 [is wife. What do you think of that ?" 
 
 " Did you tell him he might ? " demurely asked the 
 [oung lady. 
 
 " What else could we tell him ? He is all ricrht him- 
 bU", and we cannot expect to keep you always. Will 
 |e have a very difficult task ?" said the mother, witii 
 
 mischievous twinkle in her eye. 
 
 " I do not think so," was the candid reply. 
 
 About a week after his visit to the Squire's, John 
 
 lade another call one afternoon. The old people were 
 
60 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 both away to Fort George on some business in connec- 
 tion with the estate of Mrs. Myrtle's father, who liad 
 died recently, leaving his business all in the hands of 
 his dauirhter and son-in-law to settle. 
 
 Mary received him kindly enouf^h, but without 
 evincinfr any emotion. He tho>ight at first that shel 
 seemed a little cool and distant; but on second thou2;ht 
 he made up his mind that it was only his own fancy. 
 He was conscious that his feelinj^s towards her had 
 been fTjreatly intensified since his conversation with 
 her parents, so that now, if she failed to respond fully 
 to his warmth of manner, it was not because she was| 
 too fricjid in her deportment, but it was because he| 
 had been too sanguine in his expectations. 
 
 After conversing for some time on a variety of I 
 topics, they stood in silence for a while. They both 
 seemed to be a little embarrassed. Presently John 
 broke the silence by saying, "Mary, I came here to- 
 day to ask from you a great favor — such as men, as a 
 rule, only ask once in a life-time, and one which, if 
 granted, I hope you may never regret, and I pray that 
 I may never have occasion to seek the like again, 
 Mary, can you guess what that favor is ? But, stay: 
 I don't want you to guess it. I want to tell it to you | 
 in plain, honest English. Now, Mapy, we have known 
 each other from childhood. I know that you have tool 
 much modesty to be a coquette, and too much honesty 
 to be a flirt. And I trust that I have too much true I 
 manhood in me to court either a coquette or a flirt. I 
 intend, vso far as I know how, by the help of God, to 
 be a true man. I want a true woman. I believe that j 
 you are qne. Will you be my wife ?" 
 
\\ 
 
 AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 
 
 61 
 
 She looked for a moment into his honest face, and 
 then said : 
 
 " Your outspoken, truthful honesty entitles you to 
 expect the fullest candor from me. I will be just as 
 frank with you as you have been with me. I have 
 dreamed of this hour oftentimes in my sleep, and I 
 have sometimes thought of it in my wakeful mo- 
 ments. But I hardly allowed myself to hope that it 
 would ever come, and yet I could see no reason why it 
 min;lit not. I know that I love you, and I feel that I 
 can trust you. Yes, I will be your wife." 
 
 One long, loving kiss, which was fully reciprocated, 
 sealed the contract. 
 
 Just then they heard the noise of the Squire's lum- 
 ber waggon rattling over the frozen ground. They 
 looked out and saw him and his wife coming home 
 from the chief town of the district, and they won- 
 dered where the afternoon had gone to. 
 
 The young man bid his affianced good-bye, and 
 started for home. As he passed out at the bars he 
 met the old people, and accosted them in a friendly, 
 though somewhat timid manner. As he was passing 
 on, Mary's father said, in a loud tone of voice, so that 
 the girl, M^ho was standing in the door, could hear : 
 
 " I say, John, have you a very hard time in finding 
 [ some one to go with you to the bush ? " 
 
 " No, sir," replied John ; " the first (me that I asked 
 [has consented to go." 
 
 " I wonder," said Mrs. Myrtle, " if he and Mary are 
 j engaged ?" 
 
 " Very likely," was the only answer the Squire re- 
 I turned to his wife's query. 
 
62 
 
 AMONG THK KOREST TREES. 
 
 
 "I am afraid, after all, that you are not just satis- 
 fied to let him have Mary," said she thouirhtfully. 
 
 " What objections can I have ? The yonn^ man is 
 all that I could wish. 
 
 "But the trouble with me is to get my feelings to I 
 • harmonize with my judgment. It seems to me that 
 in taking Mary from us, John will, in^ some way, do 
 me an injury." 
 
 "Well," answered she, "I remember overhearing; I 
 father talk like that to mother after we wei'o enrjajjed, 
 Your words sound just like echoes of what he said I 
 about you. Probably men do feel like that when some 
 one takes away one of their pets. You know, it has 
 been said that a man has three pets, viz. ; the youngest 
 child, the eldest daughter and the living wife." 
 
 " Well, I don't know how it is with other men, but I| 
 do know that my greatest pet is the living wife," sa 
 he, as he jumped out of the waggon and lifted her to I 
 the ground. 
 
 As John walked home that evening he felt that he I 
 was a highly favored man. The Myrtle family wa? 
 among the most respectable in the township, and Mary 
 was looked upon b; all her acquaintances as being one 
 of the best young women in the neighborhood. 
 
 That such a one should say that she loved him, am 
 she could trust him with her life's happiness was, he 
 thought, enough to make any young man imagine that 
 the hard rough frozen road was as smooth as a flag- 
 stone pavement. 
 
 As he walked along he fancied that he heard a soft| 
 voice singing in sweet and soothing cadence — 
 
AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 63 
 
 " John IJushinan , who will be your wife, 
 And walk with you the path of life, 
 ' To help you in its toil antV strife? 
 
 Sweet Mary Myrtle. 
 
 John liushnian, if in coming years, 
 Your eyes should he hedimnied with tears. 
 Who then shall try to (juell jour fears ? 
 Sweet Mary Myrtle. 
 
 John Bushman, when life's dream is past, 
 And darkness gatliers round you fast, 
 Who will stand by you till the last? 
 Sweet Mary Myrtle." 
 
 Here the voice seemed to stop. The young man 
 listened for a while, but he heard no more. Then, as 
 he was musin(^ by himself, he began in a low modu- 
 lated voice to sing — 
 
 "John Busliman, whom do you intend. 
 To honor cherish and defend, 
 And live with until life shall end ? 
 Sweet Mary Myrtle. " 
 
 " John," said a voice, '' what is all this about Mary 
 Myrtle ? " 
 
 The young man was awakened from his reverie. 
 The speaker was his sister. She was coming out for 
 an armful of kindling just as he came into the wood- 
 shed, and she heard the concluding words of his little 
 song. 
 
 He stood and looked at her for a moment, and then 
 said — 
 
 " I say, Bet, how would you like to dress up white 
 kid gloves, and other things to match, and stand by 
 the side of a friend of mine, while she gets married ? " 
 
64 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " You must be green, John, if you tliink that you 
 can fool me by talking,' about kid {gloves and white 
 dresses. What have they got to do witli tlie girl you 
 were just now speaking about ?" she asked. 
 
 " More than you think, little Sis. But never mind 
 now; go in and get the supper, for I am luingry. I 
 will tell you some other time," and the two went into 
 the house together. 
 
 After the supper was over, and they were sitting 
 around the cheerful fire, old Mr, Bushman said — 
 
 " John, I have traded off one of the spare horses for 
 a yoke of cattle for you to take with you to the bush ; 
 I might have given you a span of horses, but I know 
 from my own experience, as well as from what others 
 have told me, that, for the tirst few years in the new 
 country, oxen are handier than horses. They are 
 easier provided for, it costs less to keep them, there is 
 less danger that they will stray off, and they are easier 
 and more cheaply harnessed ; and, besides all this, 
 when they wear out you can turn them into beef." 
 
 " I am glad, father," said John, " that you are able 
 to help me in this way, and I am grateful to you for 
 being willing to do it. There are not many who go to 
 the bush under as favorable circumstances as I shall 
 be able to do through your generosity. I only hope 
 that I may some day be able to make some return for 
 all your kindness." 
 
 " The best return that you can make to your mother 
 and me is to live a sober, honest, Christian life," said 
 the father, with some signs of emotion; and "that you 
 can do with the help of the Lord." 
 
 "And b 
 the young 
 
 " Vou m 
 in compaii.'- 
 yet since ; 
 Tlioy had < 
 Independeri 
 country. ' 
 doctrine is, 
 acted upon 
 find, and se: 
 of unbroke: 
 they could i 
 the wild V 
 mother's pe( 
 which was t 
 few articles 
 pack-horses. 
 
 "Where ( 
 John. 
 
 " We cros 
 Rock is noM 
 Indians to b 
 
 " Were yo 
 let you all ir 
 
 " There wi 
 way to get 
 heavily, and 
 
 " Father," 
 about that n 
 
 " Ves, qui 
 
AN OM)-TIMK VVEDDIXd. 
 
 65 
 
 "And by the Lord's assi.stunce I will, father," said 
 the yonr)]!,' man. 
 
 " Yuii may well say tliat. You are hii^hly favored 
 
 in compaiison with others. It is not quite forty years 
 
 yet since your grandparents came to this country. 
 
 Tliey had good homes in Pennsylvania. The War of 
 
 Independence came on : they sided with the mother 
 
 countiy. The Americans were the victors. Their 
 
 doctrine is, ' to the victors belong the spoils.' They 
 
 acted upon it ; they took everything that they could 
 
 tind, and sent the Loyalists through hundreds of miles 
 
 of unbroken wilderness, to make their way as best 
 
 they could to where the British flag still floated over 
 
 the wild woods of Canada. My people and your 
 
 mother's people came through the State of New York 
 
 which was then mostly a wilderness. They brought a 
 
 few articles with them, such as could be carried on 
 
 pack-horses." 
 
 "Where did you first touch this country?" asked 
 John. 
 
 " We crossed the river at the place where Black 
 Rock is now. We swam the horses, and we got some 
 Indians to brinji us over in their bark canoes." 
 
 " Were you not afraid the canoes would tip over and 
 let you all into the water?" asked Betsy. 
 
 " There was no use being afraid — there was no other 
 way to get over. We did not load the crafts too 
 heavily, and we were good sailors," was the reply. 
 
 " Father," said John, " do you remember anything 
 about that revolutionary war ? " 
 
 " Yes, quite distinctly. You know 1 was near 
 
66 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 seventeen years old when we came to this place. My 
 father belonffed to the 'Licfht Horse,' and he was away 
 from home most of the time. I remember he caini 
 home one day to see how we were getting aloni: 
 Some of the Americans found it out in some way 
 they resolved to take him prisoner. 1 remember my 
 mother came into the house with a frightened look 
 and said to father, ' The Yankees are after you.' 
 
 " The floor was made of wade boards, and not nailed I 
 down very securely ; mother took up a spade that 
 stood in the corner and pried up one o the boards, 
 saying, 'Here, Joe, get down under the lloor, it is your 
 only chance.' 
 
 " He did as she said, and she had only got the board 
 replaced when the parties were at the door. 
 
 "They came in without ceremony. Looking around 
 the room, one of them said to mother, in a rough 
 insulting way, 
 
 " 'Where is your husband?' 
 
 " ' He is not here,' she answered. 
 
 "' Was he not here this morning?' said he sternly. 
 
 " ' Yes; but he is not here now. Do you suppose that 
 he would be such a fool as to stay here till you come 
 after him ? He knew you were coming, and he dodged 
 you. That is all that I can tell you about him.' 
 
 " ' Look here, woman,' said he, lifting his gun in a 
 menacing way and stepping toward her ; ' you know 
 where he is ; now tell me, or, by the powers above, I 
 will run the bayonet through you.' 
 
 "I never will forget how mother looked just then, 
 Her Teutonic blood was up. 
 
AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 
 
 67 
 
 " She looked him fully in the face, as she said, ' You 
 think to scare me. do you? I will never tell j^ou where 
 he is. But you are a pretty man, are you not ? You 
 are a brave soldier, too, are you not, to threaten to kill 
 a woman, because .she refuses to betray Tier children's 
 father into the hands of a band of cat-tliroats ? ' 
 
 " That is the sort of stutl' the women were made of, 
 who ffave to Canada and to Britain the ' United 
 Empire Loyalists.' 
 
 "One of his companions called to the man, saying, 
 ' Come away, Bill ; don't touch her. But you are 
 playing a losing game.' 
 
 "At this, he struck the bayonet through the floor and 
 fired off his mu.sket, with a terrible oath, saying, 'If I 
 
 could only find the Tory, 1 would send an ounce 
 
 of lead through his heart.' 
 
 "They went away without further molesting any- 
 thing about the place. 
 
 " The bayonet and the contents of the gun passed 
 throiigh the floor within six inches of the man's head.* 
 
 " Another incident that I heard of," continued Mr. 
 Bushman, " was like this : A number of women and 
 children of the Loyalists were concealed in a cave 
 away in the woods, while the men were all away in 
 the war. One day a boy, about fifteen years of age, 
 was sent out to try and get some news about how 
 things were going on in the army. As he was return- 
 ing, he was discovered by a company of the rebel 
 scouts. They asked him where his people were con- 
 
 *This incident occurred with the writer's paternal great-grand- 
 parents. 
 
68 
 
 AMONG THE FOKKST TRKES. 
 
 cealed. He refused to tell them. They threatened to] 
 shoot him if he did not do it, but he persistently 
 refused to comply. They then took and tied him to a 
 tree, six men were placed a dozen yards from him, and 
 ordered to prepare to shoot him. They pointed their 
 guns at him, and waited for the order to fire. The 
 leader approached the boy and said, ' Will you tell us 
 now where they are?' The boy answered, 'If I tell 
 you, and you find them, you will kill them. It is 
 better for one to die than for so many to die. / vjUI\ 
 not tell y Oil ! You may shoot me if you will,' The 
 leader turned to his men and said, 'Hold on, boys. 
 Don't shoot. It is too bad that such a little hero 
 should be shot like a dog. Untie him and let him 
 go.' * Some ether time I will give .some more reminis- 
 cences of the early times of our country," 
 
 The engagement between young John Bushman and 
 Mary Myrtle gave entire satisfaction to both families. 
 This was only what might be expected under the cir- 
 cumstances. The two families had been neighbors for 
 a number of years. They had together battled with the 
 hardships of pioneer life *' among the forest trees. 
 They were both Protestants, and attended the same 
 meetings. And although the Bushmans were of Ger- 
 man descent, and the Myrtles of English, yet five gen- 
 eration separated both families from their connection 
 with either country. They were just the kind of people 
 to commence to build up a distinct nationality — the 
 
 * That boy came to Canada after the war. He married an aunt 
 of the writer's mother, lived to be an old man, and died respected 
 by everyone. 
 
AN OLD-TIME WEDDING. 
 
 69 
 
 riflit kind of seed from which to produce a national 
 tree of vi:^orous fjrow^th — a tree that should strike its 
 [root so deep and firm in the virgin soil of the northern 
 British territory, that the most bitter enemies of the 
 Empire could neither uproot nor break it down. 
 
 The winter was rapidly passing away. February 
 I was almost gone, and yet but little preparation for the 
 fippi'oaching wedding had been made. The time fixed 
 upon was the twenty-first of March, the time of the 
 vernal equinox, when, as people used to say, " the sun 
 crossed the line." John said that they selected that 
 day because they thought it would be a good time to 
 pass from the frigid, cloudy days of unmated winter, 
 into the bright spring sunshine of matrimonial summer. 
 Like thousands of others, he placed a higher value on 
 the ideal future than on the actual present. 
 
 One serious question was, who .should be got to per- 
 form the ceremony. The clergy of the Church of 
 England and the ministers of the old Kirk of Scotland 
 were the only reverend gentlemen in the Province 
 allowed to marry. It was some years after this before 
 Dissenters could legally marry people. 
 
 Magistrates did the marrying in many cases, and 
 under certain conditions. These conditions existed in 
 this case. Mary's father was a magistrate, and it was 
 desired, after much consultation, that he would officiate. 
 A notice was posted on the door of the only mill in 
 the township, stating that " John Bushman and Mary 
 Myrtle intended to enter the bonds of holy wedlock 
 on the twenty-first of the ensuing month of March, in 
 the house of William Myrtle, Esquire, at the hour of 
 
70 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 eleven o'clock in the forenoon ;" and calling upon any 
 persons who had legal objections to offer to present 
 themselves at the time and place above-mentioned, or| 
 to " hold their peace forever after." 
 
 The approaching wedding became a thing of great! 
 interest in the neighborhood. The time came around 
 at last. Nearly everybody, old and young, for miled 
 around, were invited, and most of them came. The 
 house was full of people. John's sister Betsy, and her 
 affianced, William Briars, " stood up," to use the phrase 
 then in vogue. Squire Myrtle soon got through with 
 his part, and Mary changed the name of Myrtle for that 
 of Bushman, 
 
 One of the most striking features of an old-time j 
 wedding was its simplicity. There was no effort for 
 mere display. There were no costly gifts by those who 
 could ill afford it. No affected friendship where there 
 was concealed aversion. But a genial atmosphere of 
 friendship, and a healthy exercise of neighborly cour- 
 tesies, along with a generous provision for the satisfy- 
 incr of hunger and thirst, constituted the leading 
 features of the old-time weddings, such as prevailed 
 among the early settlers in the time of our grand- 
 fathers. 
 
 The congratulations were hearty and sincere. Mirth 
 and merriment pervaded the large assemblage, and 
 none seemed more joyous than the two elderly gentle- 
 men, one of wdiom had gained a son and the other one 
 a daughter, by the day's proceedings. 
 
 The two mothers-in-law took chings very coolly, and 
 kept themselves from an} thing like noisy demonstra- 
 
 Itioii. But 
 the fact th{ 
 for a lif'e-lo 
 an early ho 
 hajtpiness a 
 was offeree 
 people disp( 
 and Mary .\ 
 
AX 0IJ)-T1ME WEDDINO. 
 
 71 
 
 tion. But it was easy to see that neither regretted 
 ! the fact that their chibh-en had been yol^ed together 
 for a hfe-long work in the matrinionial harness. At 
 I an early hour of the evening, a short prayer for the 
 happiness and prosperity of the newly- wedded pair 
 was offered up by the oldest man in company ; the 
 people dispersed, and the nuptials of John Bushman 
 and Mary Myrtle were things of the past. 
 
Chaf^tkr VI. 
 
 TALK ABOUT WOLVES. 
 
 WEEK or two after the wedding, as they were 
 __-i^X sittinsx around the fire one evenin<x, John saiil 
 to liis father : 
 
 " 1 think we were to have a talk about wolves some I 
 time. Now would be a good time, and I would like 
 to have a good wolf story to-night." 
 
 " Why so ? " inquired his sister, " Do you feel 
 decidedly wolfish since you are married ? If you do, 
 we will tell Squire Myrtle to shut Mary up somewhere, 
 so that she won't be devoured by a wolf." 
 
 " There, Bet," .said he, " that is just like you ; always 
 taking a fellow up, before he knows that he is down, 
 But you are wonderfully smart, since that Briar has 
 been scratching around our place." 
 
 " Oh ! for shame, John ; I would not be as mean as 
 you are for anything. Since you have the smooth, 
 sweet, pretty little Myrtle, I think you might allow 
 me to hold on to the Briar if I can. But don't lot us 
 be gabbling nonsense all the evening, and keep father 
 from the talk about wolves. But I hope he won't put 
 too many of them in, for if he does I shall dream about 
 them." 
 
TALK ABOUT WOLVES, 
 
 iS 
 
 " That is a sensible speech for you, Sis. Now we will 
 be as silent as a very sedate young man and his chat- 
 terbox of a sister can be expected to be," replied John. 
 
 " I heard that there were twenty-five or thirty of 
 them," said the father. 
 
 " ' Dear sakes,' as grandma used to say," said Betsy ; 
 " who can listen to a story with that many wolves in 
 it?" 
 
 " But the wolves were there all the same,'" replied 
 Mr. Bushman. 
 
 TREED BY WOLVES. 
 
 " The occurrences I am about to relate took place 
 about thirty miles from here, and only a few years 
 atn). A man who had a fjreat liking for the bush, and 
 who was a noted hunter, was tlie hero of the story. 
 He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and at the time he 
 had a sliop on the banks of the Twenty- Mile Creek. 
 Not far off was a dense forest of many miles in extent. 
 The forest, in many places, w^as thick with the alder 
 and other shrubs. This was the home of man}' wild 
 animals, especially the wolf. 
 
 " One day Mr. Scantling took his gun and ammuni- 
 tion, and started for a hunt. Before going into the 
 swamps of alder, he rubbed some oil of cumin on the 
 bottom of his shoes to attract the wolves. This device 
 proved to be such a complete success, that he got a 
 great deal more wolf than he intended. 
 
 " When he was between three and four miles from 
 home, he heard the wolves coming on his track, howl- 
 ing and yelping like a pack of hounds. He intended 
 
74 
 
 AMONG THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 p!fiil 
 
 to get up into a tree, and then shoot the wolves at his 
 leisure. 
 
 "But lie had some difficulty in finding one of suit- 
 able size, with strong- branches neur enough to the 
 ground to answer liis purpose. At length he found 
 one. But the wolves were so near now, that he had 
 to use all his agility to get out of their reach before 
 they would be around the tree. In his hurry he 
 dropped his powder-flask, and there was no time to 
 spare to go back and get it. 
 
 " His rifle was an old-fashioned one, witli a sin^He 
 barrel that only carried one charge. It was loaded, 
 however. But one bullet seemed like a mere trifle in 
 such an emergency. The scent that Scantling had put 
 on his shoes not oidy drew a large number of wolves, 
 but it seemed also to set them all wild with excite- 
 ment. They would howl, and snarl and snap at each 
 other, and jump up, and try to climb the tree. In fact, 
 it made them act as if every wolf was forgetting hU 
 usual dignified sneakinrjness, and was actinof under 
 some sort of temporary delusion, that made him regard- 
 less of danger and of public opinion ; for each wolf 
 tried to be as hateful as possible to his fellows. 
 
 " One very large wolf sprang up several times, so 
 that its mouth was but a few' inches from Mr. Scant- 
 ling's feet. And when his jaws came together they 
 would snap as loud as the jaws of a steel trap. And 
 every time, when he found that he had missed his 
 prey, he would make the woods echo with his howls 
 of disappointed rage. 
 
 " After a short time Mr. Scantling said to himself, 
 
 I can sto 
 do it.' 
 
 " He lift 
 The brute 
 he got the 
 his head, 
 upon the g 
 
 " The re] 
 moment, 
 few rods, 
 seemed, if j- 
 saw their c( 
 
 " They e\ 
 to the man 
 at it, and tl 
 whole of th 
 thirty wolvt 
 i.s .something 
 tremble, as i 
 the volume 
 the trees, it 
 back to the 
 that fell upc 
 a thou.sand < 
 
 "Mr. Seal 
 accustomed \ 
 wards, that ! 
 force to ke 
 inidst. It w 
 influence tha 
 and their tie 
 6 
 
TALK ABOUT WOLVES. 
 
 7o 
 
 I can stop that fellow's pranks, at least, and I will 
 do it.' 
 
 " He lifted the gun, and pointed it towards the wolf. 
 The l)rute made a rush at the muzzle of the ritle, when 
 he fjot the full contents of it in his mouth and throujjfh 
 his head. He ^a,ve a yell of balfled rage and fell dead 
 upon the ground. He literally met death half way. 
 
 "The report of the gun .startled the wolves for a 
 moment. Some of them scattered and ran otF for a 
 few rods. They .soon came back to the tree, and 
 seeiiie(l, if po.s.sible, more furious than ever when they 
 saw their companion lying dea<l upon the ground. 
 
 " They evidently attributed its death, in some way, 
 to the man in the tree. They would stand and look 
 at it, and then set up a terrible howl, in which the 
 whole of them would join ; and when twenty-five or 
 thirty wolves go in for a concert, the noise they make 
 is something frightful. The forest fairly .seemed to 
 tremble, as if swept by a hurricane of sound. And as 
 the volume of sound, in its outward progre.ss, struck 
 the trees, it was bn^ken into fragments, which came 
 back to the centre of the circle in succeeding echoes, 
 that fell upon the listener's ear like the screechings of 
 a thousand demons. 
 
 " Mr. Scantling was a man of nerve, and he was 
 accustomed to seeing wild animals. But he said after- 
 wards, that sometimes he had to call up all his will 
 force to keep from dropping right down in their 
 midst. It was hard to resist the strangely fascinating 
 influence that their terrible noise, their gaping mouths, 
 and their fierce, fiery eyes had upon him. 
 
7C 
 
 AMONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Sotnetitnes tlte wolves would try to gnaw the treejj 
 flown. Then they would lie down in a circlq aroundl 
 it, and watch their prisoner as sharply as a cat will[ 
 watcli a mouse. 
 
 " And this was ke])t up from ten or eleven o'clocli| 
 on Monday mornino;, until sunrise on Wednesday! 
 morning. ' Two nights and two days, treed by wolves] 
 is what the people used to say when speaking of tliel 
 incident. 
 
 " As the sun began to .shine on Wednesday niornin.' 
 the whole pack sent up one most pitiful wail. Thecl 
 they set to work and tore their dead companion into! 
 shreds, and left its fragments .scattered on the ground] 
 After this was done the wolves, as if by common con- 
 sent, went oft' in different directions.* Mr. S. waited! 
 for an hour or two to see if the wolves would coniel 
 back. But nothing could be seen or heard of them 
 He came down from his place of forced retirement! 
 hunted up his powder, loaded his gun, and started foi| 
 home. 
 
 " When he got part way out of the woods he meta| 
 lot of his neighbors, who had been out all night hunt- 
 ing for him. His family had got very uneasy about I 
 him." 
 
 "Are you not afraid, John, to go back to the wild! 
 woods after hearing that story about wolves ?" asked] 
 his mother. 
 
 * This is a simple narrative of facts, as it occurred, some fiftyfin| 
 years ago, in the Township of Caistor. The man's name was Stocking [ 
 The story is told, as it has been related to the writer, by per80Di| 
 who were conversant with all the facts of tlie case. 
 
TALK AnorrT wolves. 
 
 77 
 
 " No, mother, I cannot say that I am," said .Fohn. 
 ' I havo heard before what a wolf- den the aldfjr 
 s\vaini)s of Caistor used to be ; but I don't think they 
 are so thick there as tliey were at the time that 
 Fatlier's story refers to." 
 
 " Perliaps tliey are not," said tlio father, " but it is not 
 !onf( a,(,^o since a !nan found six young wolves in a hol- 
 low loi^. He took them home and kept them until 
 they would take milk like a dog. The old wolf came 
 to hunt up her family. He shot her, and then he 
 killed the young ones, and got the bounty money for 
 the scalps of all of them. This was in the same local- 
 ity of the other story." 
 
 " Why did he not keep some of the young ones for 
 dogs ? Would they not do as well as a dog to watch 
 the place, if they were trained to it ? " inquired Betsy. 
 
 "No amount of training could take the sneaking, 
 wolfish nature out of them," replied the father, " They 
 would be entirely too watchful for the interest of their 
 owners, if there were any sheep or calves about the 
 place." 
 
 "They are cowards as well as sneaks," remarked 
 John. 
 
 CHASED BY WOLVES. 
 
 " When I was coming home I heard of a man up in 
 Grimsby who was followed by a lot of wolves. Mr. 
 Hardwood had his wife and two or three children 
 with him on an ox-sled. He had a quarter of fresh 
 beef that he was taking to his home in the woods. 
 While thev were going through what is called the 
 Pepperage Swamp three wolves got after them. It was 
 
7H 
 
 AM()N(J IHK KOIIKST TKKKS. 
 
 bright moonlight, so that every movement could he, 
 .seen. The wolves evidently wanted the meat. 
 
 " iMr. Hardwoud gave the whip to hi.s wife, and told 
 her to hurry up the oxen while he would try and keep 
 the wolves ofl' the sled. He had with him a new i>xe- 
 handle, which had heen given him by a friend. Thi.sii, 
 used for a club. When the wolves came near lie woujiil 
 strike at them. Sometimes he hit tliem. Then thev 
 would jump back, and stand and howl as if they were 
 calling for reinforcements. In a short time they would 
 come on again, full cha.se. And when they were about 
 to jump on the sled a rap or two with the axe-handle 
 would put them to tiight again. 
 
 "The oxen, poor things, did not require any whip- 
 ping when they found what was after them. Thf^y did 
 their best to get out of danger. This chase continued 
 for a mile or more. Then a neiijjhbor'.H clearinnf was 
 reached, and the barking of a couple of dogs fright- 
 ened the wolves, .so that they ran otl' into the woods, 
 and were seen no more." 
 
 " John," said his sister, " your story is about as ro- 
 mantic as father s was." 
 
 " I don't think there is much romance in being 
 cha.sed by wolves, especially when there is a woman 
 and a lot of children in the case," said John 
 
 " Well, if it was not romantic, 1 don't know what 
 would be," she replied. 
 
 " I can't see where the romance comes in," was Johns 
 reply. 
 
 " Let me tell you where," said Betsy. " I fancy my- 
 belf vsittiug down on a lot of straw in in rougii bo?; 
 
TALK AHOITT Wol-VES. 
 
 79 
 
 of nil old ox-slf'd. Around me, in the straw, three 
 lovely hiihes lie slccpinif, all nnconscious of the dan<j^or 
 that threatens them. Behind me, {tartly hidden by 
 the straw, is a quarter of a nohle steer, that had done 
 little else than to eat and drink, an<l jump and frisk all 
 its life. But a few short hours a^o if- took its last sup of 
 water, and its last hite of hay. Then the hard-hearted 
 luitchei' laid it low with his cruel hanuner, and with 
 his treacherous knife he took its precious life, and 
 ended all the strife by skinninf^ it. 
 
 " In front of me a f^ood -sized man sits on a board 
 that is laid across the top of the box for a seat. The 
 oxen are jofjging alonnj at the rate of about two miles 
 an hour. We enter the precincts of Pepperage Swamp. 
 I look up to see what has so increased the darkness. 
 Then I see the tall, slender trees standing, like two 
 walls, about sixty feet apart, a.s if they were placed as 
 sentinels to guard the ' Queen's highway,' said high- 
 way in this place consisting of a four-rod strip of black 
 muck and corduroy. 
 
 "The trees lift their weird-like forms high up in the 
 direction of the stars, breaking the moonlight into a 
 thousand fragments, that shoot like silvery arrows 
 through the small openings among the interlacing 
 branches. 
 
 " The man is talking to his oxen, saying, ' Come, 
 come ; hurry up. Hurry up, old boy.s, and get these 
 tender plants, the woman a!id children out of the 
 cold.' 
 
 "Just then we hear what sounds like the whining 
 of a dog. Then another, and another. We look back, 
 
80 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 and away behind us, running towards us, through the 
 shadows, we dimly see three moving bodies, that seem 
 to be the size of rats. But they grow larger and 
 larger. Now they look like foxes. Now they are as 
 big as dogs. Now, dear ! what are they ? 
 
 " ' Wolves,' cries the man in front. " H.re, wife, yon 
 take this gad and lay it on to the oxen with all your 
 miirht, while I fjet into the hind enu of the sled and 
 keep off the wolves.' John, you have told the rest," 
 said his sister. 
 
 " Well done, my girl," said the father. 
 
 " You have put some romance into tlie story, haven't 
 you, Bet ? I never knew you had such a vivid imagina- 
 tion. 1 am almost ashamed of the way 1 told my 
 story," was John's reply.* 
 
 " I hope," said Mrs. Bushman, "that John and Mary 
 may never have any such an experience as that in 
 their backwoods life." 
 
 " Don't fear, mother," said John. " If that Mr. 
 Hardv/ood and his wife could save their beef and their 
 children and themselves from the v Ves, I think 
 Mary and I will be able to take care of ourselves." 
 
 Before closing: this " talk about wolves," we may 
 venture to relate a few incidents of a later date. We 
 have said that the wolf is -> cringing sneak when he is 
 cornered. He has not half the grit in him that the 
 wild cat, or the ground-hog, or ven an old rat has, 
 Get any of these in a trap and they will tight till they 
 
 * The two incidents above related occurred many years ago ; oue 
 in Grimsby Towraliip and the other in Caistor. The parties con 
 cerned in them e'e all dead r.jw. 
 
 die. But n( 
 to be true, 
 first thing t 
 He will n( 
 possible reti 
 is no way o 
 i but he will 
 comini; ever 
 among the 
 sheep, as m 
 borne testin 
 
 Some yea 
 men set som 
 ("ay or two, 
 see if there ' 
 to one of th( 
 feet in the t 
 But as thej 
 seemed so g 
 minds, and c 
 He seemed t 
 foot still in j 
 of sympathy 
 friend, pitit 
 fondled it ar 
 
 It started 
 home to an 
 mistress the 
 
 The wolf 
 
 
 jii_ 
 
TALK ABOUT WOLVES. 
 
 81 
 
 die. But not so the wolf. It is said, and we believe it 
 
 to be true, that, if a wolf gets into a sheep-pen, the 
 
 first thing that he will do is to try to find a way out. 
 
 He will not touch a sheep until the question of 
 
 possible retreat is settled. And if he finds that there 
 
 is no way out, he will lie down and watcli the sheep, 
 
 i but he will not touch one of them. He quietly awaits 
 
 I coming events. But if he fintls that a safe retreat is 
 
 p among the possibilities, then woe betide the helpless 
 
 I sheep, as many a pen of slaughtered innocents has 
 
 |, borne testimony. 
 
 MISTAKEN TRAPPERS. 
 
 Some years ago, in one of our back townships, two 
 men set some traps near the edge of a swamp. In a 
 ('ay or two, they went out, early in the morning, to 
 see if there was anything in the traps. As they came 
 to one of them they saw a wolf, with one of its front 
 feet in the trap. At first they thought it was a wolf. 
 But as they came nearer it looked so friendly, and 
 seemed so glad to see them that they changed their 
 minds, and concluded that it was somebody's gray dog. 
 He seemed to be in great pain, with the poor lacerated 
 foot still in the trap. The kind-hearted hunters, full 
 of sympathy for the sufferings of their newly-found 
 friend, pitied it and patted it on the head, and 
 fondled it and let it go. 
 
 It started off limping, as they supposed, to carry 
 home to an indignant master and a sympathizing 
 mistress the proof of its cruel treatment. 
 
 The wolf went about half a mile away, and then 
 
 ■':^ii 
 
 ik 
 
.S2 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TRKES. 
 
 found his way into a farmyard anionic the sheep and 
 cattle. A youth, who was at the barn, saw the wolf, 
 went to the house, jxot a jjun and shot hiui. [n a few 
 minutes after the two men came alon<(, and went into 
 the yard to see what the boy had killed. On examin- 
 ation they saw the foot that had very recently been 
 in the trap. Here was unmistakable evidence that 
 the dead wolf was their property half an hour aifo, 
 But they had kindly released it, and now it is tlk 
 property of the youth who killed it The bounty 
 and skin brouofht him some twenty dollars. For 
 months after this, if any one wished to hear word; 
 that were more stron;^ than elegant, all that lie iieod 
 to do was to ask one of these men what was the latest 
 news about the price of wolf -scalps. 
 
 WOLF-SCALPS AND BREAD. 
 
 An industrious Christian family was livinfj on a new 
 farm in a back settlement. Their resources were 
 limited. They depended on the f^rain that they raised, 
 not only for bread, but also for other household 
 supplies. 
 
 One summer the frost cut off nearly all their crops, 
 and left them in comparative destitution. They 
 managed by hard work and the strictest economy to 
 get through the winter without any re;il sufferinf;; 
 but by the first of June, they found them.selves out of 
 flour and out of money. No chance to get a supply 
 on credit either, for none of their acquaintances had 
 anything to spare, and but few of them had enough 
 for themselves. And jet it was two full months till 
 
TALK AHOTT WOLVES. 
 
 88 
 
 3t' 
 
 |v 
 
 Id 
 
 h 
 
 11 
 
 harvest, and no bread in the house and nothiiiL; to buy 
 it with. This was a sad plight to be in. 
 
 But man's extreniity is often God's opportunity. At 
 all events, it seemed like it in this case. 
 
 One evening, towards sundown, Mr. Fernleaf started 
 out to hunt the cows, that were in the bush. He was 
 inakinu' his wav towards the sound of the bell, with a 
 heavy heart, as he thought of the dark prospects before 
 liiiii. He was crossing one of those peculiar spots, 
 described in backwoods language as a beaver-meadow. 
 Just then a large wolf ran across his path, and went 
 towards the woods a little distance off". He started 
 after it, makino- all the noise he could. The wolf ran 
 only a few rods in the woods, and then took refuge 
 in a hollow tree that had been broken oti' by the 
 wind. It made a very excellent place for a wolf or a 
 t'ux to hide in. 
 
 Mr. P^'ernleuf gathered up pieces of poles and chunks 
 of wood until he completely filled up the end of the 
 log, and made it impossible for the wolf to get out. 
 Then he went after his cows, leaving the wolf a close 
 prisoner for the night. 
 
 Next morning he took a neighbor, and a gun and a 
 ?ouple of axes, and went to see how the prisoner was 
 LTettinsx on. Thev found evervthinc; as it was left the 
 night before. 
 
 Thev shot the wolf in the tree. In cutting the tree 
 so as to cfet at the dead one, thev found six living 
 wolves about the size of an ordinary cat. These they 
 killed. The seven scalps brought between seventy 
 and eighty dollars. This they divided between them, 
 
84 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 and they had ample supplies till the harvest came in, 
 which, it' we remember rightly, was a good one. 
 
 As Mr, Fernleaf related the incident to us, sometime 
 after, a tear moistened his eye while he said, "I 
 have thought, and I still think, tl'."'»t God sent that 
 wolf across my path that day, as the easiest and best 
 way of fulfilling His promise, where He says, ' Thy 
 bread shall be given thee and thy water shall be sure.'" 
 Who will say that he was mistaken. 
 
 THE LAST RACE. 
 
 We have been told a great deal about the de.struc- 
 tion of deer by the wolves. When the snow in the 
 woods is from two to three feet deep and a heavy 
 crust on it, the deer has no chance for escape if the 
 wolves come across them in their hiding-places in 
 the upland thickets. They seem, as much as they can, 
 to keep away from the swamps, these being the lurk- 
 ing-places of the wolves. 
 
 But sometimes hunc^er drives the wolves out in search 
 of food. Then they go to the thickets to hunt the 
 deer. And when they are found the slaughter begina 
 The wolves can run on the crust. The deer cannot do 
 so, their small, sharp hoofs break the crust and 
 they go down; and besides this, the crust is nearly 
 as sharp as broken glass. It cuts the legs of the poor 
 struggling deer, so that in a short time they fall a 
 helpless prey to their ferocious enemy. Then the 
 wolves hold high carnival. 
 
 But when there is nothing to prevent the deer from 
 using its locomotive powers, the wolf has to earn his 
 
 venison be 
 breakfast i 
 ut' it. 
 
 Some yt'i 
 fur from E 
 are preeipi 
 buck, whic 
 only one ju 
 edge of the 
 killed on th 
 last race. 
 
TALK ABOUT WOLVES. 
 
 85 
 
 venison before he eats it, and he frequently takes his 
 breakfast miles away from where he started in pursuit 
 of it. 
 
 Some years ago a chase of this kind occurred, not 
 fur from Elora, where the banks of the Grand River 
 are precipitous and hig-h. A wolf was after a large 
 buck, which was almost tired out, so the wolf was 
 only one jump behind him. When they came to the 
 L'llge of the precipice they both went over, and were 
 killed on the ice that covered the river. It was their 
 last race. 
 
Chapter VII. 
 
 SOME ORAL HISTORY. 
 
 
 FEW ni<:^hts after tlie talk about the wolves, 
 John said to his father, " In that new country 
 to which I am goinof, and where I expect to 
 spend my days, I shall meet with people from different 
 countries. Some of them will, to a great extent, be 
 ignorant of the character and doings of the first settlers 
 on the Canadian frontier, and many who come from 
 the Old Country will have prejudices against the U. E. 
 Loyalists and their descendants. You know, according 
 to history, there were a large number in Britain who, 
 if they did not go so far as to justify the revoltint,' 
 Americans, did, at least, strongly sympathize with them. 
 Now, I would like to be as well prepared as possible 
 to meet those objections, whether they originate in 
 ignorance or prejudice. Can you relate some facts and 
 incidents in connection with the early settlement of 
 the Niagara District ? " 
 
 "Yes," replied the father; "I am glad to have an 
 opportunity to enlighten your mind on this subject, 
 and I trust that your loyalty will be strengthened by 
 a knowledjre of what vour immediate ancestors and 
 
]\ 
 
 SOME ORAL HISTORY 
 
 87 
 
 ' tf 
 
 their xurterinf;,^ t'ellow-su1»jects did and suffered to win 
 the title of United Empire Loyalists." 
 
 " But, father," said the young Canadiaji, " where and 
 liow (lid those people get the nanie of U. E. Loyalists ? 
 Did they take it to themselves, or did the Americans 
 (five it to them ? " 
 
 Answer, "Neither. The name was given, as a title, 
 by the PJritish Government, to those wdio stood by the 
 royal cause in the War of Independence. In the Treaty 
 of Paris it was stipulated that the American Congress 
 should use its influence, and exert its authority with 
 the State Governments, to have the Loyalists dealt with 
 as conijuered people, who had been faithful in their 
 alleiriiince to the Government that is overthrowui, are 
 always treated in civilized countries. 
 
 " But, if the Congress ever attempted to fulfil this 
 ensjarrement, their efforts were not successful. So far 
 as mitigating the punishment of the Loyalists was 
 concerned, if the Congress spoke, its voice was not 
 heard. Perhaps it was the clamor of Tom Paine, who 
 just then was screaming his anti-British and anti- 
 Christian bombast into the willing ears of the new 
 Republic, that made the words of the people's represen- 
 tatives fall uselessly upon ears that were dull to hear 
 the right. 
 
 " Whatever may have been the cause of it, one thing 
 is certain, that is this: The Loyalists could not have 
 been more cruelly treated, unless they had been mas- 
 sacred wdthout regard to age or sex. And there were 
 many cases in which death itself would have been less 
 cruel than the treatment to which the sufferers were, 
 subjected* 
 
88 
 
 A MONO THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 "They were driven from their homes — and many of 
 them were tlie owners of good liomes. Tliey had their 
 property taken from tliem, and some liad \i\i'm 
 (^states." * 
 
 " But, father," in(|uired .lohn, " why could they m 
 have stayed where they were, instead of starting on 
 such long and tedious journeys, as some of tliem did 
 You said once that they travelled hundreds of inile> 
 through dense forests, having no roads but Indian 
 trails to follow." 
 
 " Your question, John," said the father, " is a naturail 
 one ; but there were two very potent reasons why tliel 
 Loyalists did not remain in the States. They couli 
 not stay if they would, and they would not stay if 
 they could. Every State passed laws against thern- 
 some more severe than others, it is true ; but not onel 
 of them proposed to deal either kindly or justly witti 
 them, 
 
 " And there were two reasons why these peoplt 
 would not stay in the States. They were Britisl| 
 in all their sympatides and in all their aspiration.^ 
 The system of government, secured by the British Conl 
 stitution was, to them, the best in the world, and thej 
 would not voluntarily change it for any other. And 
 besides this, these people would not consent to stajl 
 and become mere serfs among those who had robbeJ 
 them of their property and driven them from thei| 
 homes." 
 
 * For proof that this is not an exaggeration of facts, see Rev. PrI 
 Ryeraon's "Loyalists of America," Vol. II., pages 177, 178 
 
 " How r 
 British tci 
 " About 
 vinces in 
 Islands, ar 
 " Ten th 
 and settle 
 Some weni 
 others sett 
 went north 
 and the to 
 " When 
 of Lincoln 
 " In or a 
 "Where 
 " Mostly 
 a number o 
 from Virgil 
 " Well," s 
 nnderstand; 
 seeing they 
 "They r( 
 order of thi 
 no intercou] 
 suffered ab( 
 themselves.' 
 "Why d 
 these peopl 
 
 *See Ryersf 
 
 Gregg's " Hist( 
 
 f See Ryersc 
 
SOME ORAL HISTORY, 
 
 89 
 
 " How many of those peoj)le left the States to go to 
 British territory ? " 
 
 " About forty thousand came to the British pro- 
 vinces in 1784, and more went to Florichi, the Baliama 
 Islands, and British West Indies.* 
 
 " Ten thousand of the numher came to this Province,*!' 
 and settled along the frontier in different localities. 
 Some went as far west as Long Point, on Lake Erie, 
 others settled in the Niagara Peninsula, while others 
 went north of Lake Ontario, about where York County 
 and the town of York now is." 
 
 '■ When did the first settlers co)ne into the County 
 of Lincoln ? " asked John. 
 
 " In or about 1780," replied the father. 
 
 " Where did the first settlers come from ? " 
 
 "Mostly from Maryland and Pennsylvania; though 
 a number of families came from New York and some 
 from Virginia," was the answer. 
 
 " Well," said John, " there is one thing that I cannot 
 understand, Why were the Quakers interfered with, 
 seeing they are non-combatants ? " 
 
 "They refused to pledge themselves to the new 
 order of things. And they would not promise to hold 
 no intercourse with the Loyalists, hence some of them 
 suffered about as much persecution as the Loyalists 
 themselves." 
 
 " Why did not the British Government reward 
 these people for their sacrifices and sufferings, in a 
 
 *See Ryerson's " Loyalists," Vol. II., page 180, 187; also see Dr. 
 Gregg's " History of the Presbyterian Church in Canada,'' page 17, 
 tSee Ryeraon'a "Loyalists," Vol. IL, page 308- 
 
90 
 
 AMONG THK I'OllKST TllKES. 
 
 more honoraV)le way tViaii to leave them to the morci- 
 less treatment of their hitter entmiies?" asked tlie 
 youn^ man. 
 
 " As sooji as the British Government hecame aware 
 of the fact> of this casr, tlicy actcil very lionnrahly hy 
 the Loyalists. Von mnst knijw that iMi^lishmen aiv 
 very much set in their ways, hut once they are cmii- 
 vinced that they ate wron^, or that they have inailca 
 iiiistake, there ai'e no people in the woild that wii. 
 acknowledi^e the wiohl; moi*e ^n*acefully or correct a 
 mistake more promptly or cheerfully. S > it was ii 
 tliis case. 
 
 " When the people of Enjjfland came fully to realb 
 the exposed condition in which the Treaty of Pai'h 
 left the Loyalists, all })arties agreed that the mistake 
 must at once be corrected as far as it was possible to 
 do so. The feeling on this subject may be gathered 
 from extracts from speeches of British statesmen aiul 
 others. Lord North, who was Premier during the 
 war, said : 'Now let me, sir, pause on a part ot' the 
 treaty which awakens human sensil)ility in a very 
 irresistible and lamentable deu;ree. I cannot but 
 lament the fate of those unhai)py men who, I conceive, 
 were in general objects of our gratitude and protei'- 
 tion. They have exposed their lives, endured an age 
 of hardships, deserted their interests, forfeited their 
 possessions, lost their coiniections and ruined their 
 families in our cause.' 
 
 " Mr. Wilberforce said, in the House of Connnoiis, 
 that ' when he considered the case of the Loyalists. 
 be corxfessed he felt himself conquered.' 
 
 "Lord iM 
 Loyalists Ik 
 ment of luil 
 
 "Mr. Bur 
 
 all hands, tl 
 
 (ioluded by 
 
 in our cause 
 
 " imd its hon( 
 
 "The Lor, 
 'fi lists, they i 
 
 rliis country 
 
 '.Mr. Shor 
 
 [i)t' tho.se unfc 
 
 taken of the 
 [over to a pov 
 Ion them for 1 
 land <T;overnm 
 "Sir Peter 
 |claimed the c 
 "Sir Willi, 
 Ithe treaty at 
 Ition to the L( 
 Inot but feel 
 Jmalice of the 
 llisgraceful. 1 
 
 any conditior 
 [They had fou: 
 jour cause, ar 
 Ithem protect! 
 
 "In the Ho 
 
 7 
 
" f 
 
 SOME ORAL HISTORY. 
 
 91 
 
 ive. 
 
 I^ord Mulnrrave said : ' Tlio article respoctinr,' the 
 ^ I.ovalistH lie never could rpj]fard but as a lastin<^ monu- 
 ment of ndfioval (l\srjrare! 
 
 "Mr. Burke said: ' At any rate it must be arjveed on 
 all hands, that a vast number of Loyalists had been 
 deluded hy this country, an<l had risked everythinj^ 
 in our cause ; to such men the nation owed protection, 
 and its honor was pledpjed for their protection at all 
 \ hazards.' 
 
 The Lord Advocate said : ' With re^^ard to the Loy- 
 ||alists, they merited every possible effort on the part of 
 this country.' 
 
 " .Mr, Sheridan, said : 'He execrated the treatment 
 
 iof those unfortunate men, who without the least notice 
 
 taken of their civil and religious rii^dits, were handed 
 
 lover to a power that would not fail to take vengeance 
 
 on them for their zeal and attachment to the reliirion 
 
 1 
 
 [and government of this country.' 
 
 'Sir Peter Burrill said: 'The fate of the Loyalists 
 [claimed the compassion of ever)' human breast.' 
 
 "Sir VVilliam Booth said: 'There was one part of 
 [the treaty at which his heart V)led, the article in rela- 
 tion to the Loyalists. Being himself a man, he could 
 inot but feel for men so cruelly abandoned to the 
 [malice of their enemies. It was scandalous. It was 
 disgraceful. Such an article as that ought scarcely on 
 [any condition to have been admitted on our part. 
 iThey had fought for us, and run every hazard to assist 
 lour cause, and when it most behoved us to afford 
 |them protection we deserted them.' 
 
 "In the House of Lords, Lord Wal.singham said : 'He 
 7 
 
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 ^>_ *> 
 
 v«>, 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 11= 
 
 U ill 1.6 
 
 P 
 
 /i 
 
 <^ 
 
 /a 
 
 WJ^ 
 
 %' 
 
 ^f. 
 
 ^/ J"^ 7 
 
 /A 
 
 "^'4"^. '^i 
 
 7 
 
 
 (<> 
 
 r^ 
 
L^ 
 
 ;\ 
 
92 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 I''l 'f 
 
 \i' i 
 
 1 1 ^ !' 
 
 
 could neither think nor speak cf the dishonor of leav- 
 mr these deservinr,' people to their fate with patience,' 
 
 " Lord Townsend said that, 'To desert men who had 
 constantly adhered to loyalty and attachment, was a 
 circumstance of such cruelty as had never before been 
 heard of.' 
 
 " Lord Stormont said that, * Britain was bound in 
 justice and honor, gratitude and affection, and by every 
 tie, to provide for and protect them.' 
 
 " Lord Sackville regarded the abandonment of the 
 Loyalists as a thing of so atrocious a kind, that the 
 sacrifice of these unhappy subjects must be answered 
 for in the sight of God and man. 
 
 " Lord Loughborougli said : ' The fifth article of the 
 treaty had excited a general and just indignation, and 
 that neither in ancient nor modern history had there 
 been so shameful a desertion of men, who had sacri- 
 ficed all to their duty, and to their reliance on British 
 faith.' 
 
 "At the close of this discussion, the Commons 
 passed a direct vote of censure against the Govern- 
 ment for neglecting to protect the Loyalists in the| 
 Treaty of Paris." * 
 
 "Father," said John, "I am very much pleased I 
 that you have told us so many things about the 
 Loyalists, and also about the way in which the home 
 Government took up their cause at the last. I never 
 knew that they had endured so much." 
 
 "The time will come," said the father, "when I 
 
 •See '* Loyalists of America," Vol. II. pp. 60 and 61, where th»| 
 extracts are found, and much more of the same kind. 
 
SOME ORAL HISTORY. 
 
 93 
 
 people in this country will be as prourl to be able to 
 fracp their ancestry back to the United Empire 
 Loyalists as ever people in Encrland were to be able to 
 trace theirs back to the heroes of the Norman Con- 
 quest. These people formed the nucleus of a distinct 
 nationality, and one that will yet make itself 
 heard among the nations — a nationality that is 
 different from the American or the English type, 
 hut one that shall exhibit the best traits of both these 
 nation;^." 
 
 " The first settlers in this country must have ex- 
 peritmced many liardships here, after all the ill-treat- 
 inent they endured before they came here," said John. 
 
 " Yes," answered his father, " that is so. Now, 
 it seems like a big undertaking for you and others 
 to l;o to the New Purchase or to Talbot District 
 to settle. But light will be your trials as compared 
 with those of the first settlers of this district. 
 
 "If you get into any kind of trouble, tliere are 
 tho^^e who are able and willing to help you. They 
 had to help themselves or go without, no matter what 
 came in their way. If you need supplies, you can get 
 them. They had to supply them.selves or go without. 
 It' they were sick, they had to be their own doctor. 
 If they needed medicine, they went to nature's great 
 laboratory of herbs and roots and flowers to get it." 
 
 " Well," said John, " it must have been very difficult 
 to keep house at all in tho.se days, where there were 
 no mills, no stores, no blacksmiths, no shoemakers, no 
 tanners, no weavers, no tailors, no tinsmiths, nor 
 coopers. How could they manage to live ?" 
 
94 
 
 AMONG THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Your questions are very natural ones, John," said 
 his father. " In a country where none of these are 
 found people have to do the best they can. They 
 must use what ingenuity they have to provide for 
 themselves. For instance, I can remember when I 
 was a young man, J often helped ray mother to grind 
 both wheat and Indian corn on the top of a large oak 
 stump," 
 
 " On the top ot a stump ! Of all things, who would 
 ever think of doing that ? Why, how did you manage 
 it," broke in Betsy, who had come into the room in 
 time to hear a part of the conversation. 
 
 " I don't know who first thought of it, but I know 
 that it was a very common practice at one time. We 
 would scoop out a sort of butter tray in the top of the 
 stump with a hollow adze ; then we took a stone or a 
 piece of hardwood and, after fitting it to the dish, we 
 pounded the grain until we made it as fine as we could, 
 then we run the meal through a sieve. The finest 
 was made into johnny cake or bread, and the coarsest 
 into porridge or mush." 
 
 " I can remember, John," said his mother, " when 
 your wife's grandmother used to grind corn and 
 wheat in a large pepper mill, to make bread and mush 
 for a family of eight." 
 
 " Where did they get salt to put into their iiiusb 
 and other things, mother?" asked John. 
 
 " At first," she replied, " we found a great deal of 
 hardship in doing without salt ; but, after a while. 
 some friendly Indians showed our people where there 
 was a salt spring. We used to boil our own salt out 
 
11 iV. 
 
 SOME ORAL HISTORY. 
 
 95 
 
 of tins water until the home Government sent out 
 salt fiom Liverpool." 
 
 " Father," said John, " how did these people keep 
 themselves in clothes and shoes ? " 
 
 "The most of them brourjht a pretty good supply 
 with them when they came. But for some years there 
 was a great deal of suffering, especially in the winter 
 time. But they soon got into the way of raising flax 
 and wool. The women became very expert in carding 
 and spinning, and weaving, and making up garments 
 for their families," was his answer. 
 
 "Did the women do the carding?" asked Betsy, 
 who was very much interested in the conversation. 
 
 " Yes ; they used hand cards. It was a slow and, 
 tedious work, but it had to be done. I tell you, Bet, 
 that with the vast range of work that these old women 
 had to do, and the heavy burdens they had to carry, it 
 is no wonder that they became stoop-shouldered and 
 hard-handed. The wonder is, that there was one bit 
 of feminine sweetness or womanly tenderness left in 
 them. They had to be housekeeper, cook, servant, 
 mistress, carder, spinner, weaver, tailor, dressmaker, 
 nurse, doctor, gardener, butter and cheese maker, and 
 i whitewasher, all in one." 
 
 " How did the men do their part of the work ? " 
 I asked John. 
 
 " Their jobs were just as various, and no less 
 
 I numerous, than the women's were. They had to raise 
 
 the tlax, and rot it, and crackle it, and swingle it, and 
 
 hatchel it for the women. They must raise the wool, 
 
 and shear the sheep ; they must chop and clear the 
 
 s^ff^^hi 
 
96 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 PI 
 
 Ifsllilj 
 
 land ; they looked after the cattle ; they must attend 
 to the sugar-bush in the spring ; they must be their 
 own tanner, and currier, and shoemaker, and carpenter, 
 and sleighmaker, and blacksmith. In a word, they 
 must be both boss and hired man. Jack and his master, 
 landlord and tenant, all in one, or, if they did not do 
 this, they would come in behind in the race." 
 
 " Father," said John, " you have not told me since 
 I came home how that Scotchman came off in his trial, 
 that was to come on in August, I think. Were you at 
 the trial ? " 
 
 " You refer to the agitator, Robert Gourley, I sup- 
 pose ? Yes, I heard the trial," was the answer. 
 
 " You see, I went to town on business, and when I 
 learned that the ' troublesome Scotchman ' was to be 
 tried that day, I went to hear the trial and see the 
 man who had made such a noise in the country. And 
 I am sure that I never pitied a man more than I did 
 poor Gourley that day. 
 
 " It did seem to me that the whole thing was a bur- 
 lesque on the sacred name of justice. There was the 
 prisoner, in a box, looking like a ghost more than like 
 a man.* There was the Chief-Justice, looking and 
 acting more like some despotic ruler than like a new 
 country judge. There sat the twelve men in the jury- 
 box, looking as though they wanted to do right, if 
 some one would only tell them what was right in this 
 case. They had the fate of the prisoner in their 
 hands, but they did not know what to do with it. 
 
 *See Dent's "Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion," Vol. I., 
 page 31 and following. 
 
SOME ORAL HISTOHY. 
 
 97 
 
 " There were the lawyers, hoppinf; about like red 
 squirrels in the top of a chestnut tree, and trying to 
 look wise, as lawyers always try to do, but sometimes 
 they make sad failures. 
 
 " There sat the witnesses, looking as it' they would 
 like to retain the good opinion of the two convicting 
 luaijistrates, who sat there, enjoying the torture of 
 their victim with as little tenderness of feeling as a 
 cat enjoys the fruitless struggles of the poor little 
 squeaking prisoner that is held fast in its merciless 
 claws. 
 
 " When the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, the 
 judge asked the prisoner if he had anything to say. 
 He said something about British law and British gen- 
 erosity. But he soon learned, to his sorrow, that the 
 court had no ear for logical argument or pathetic 
 appeal. The judge ordered him to leave the country 
 in the short space of twenty-four hours, and to suffer 
 death as a felon if he ever dared to come back to 
 Upper Canada," 
 
 " How could these U. E. Loyalists so soon forget the 
 cruelty to which they had been exposed, and the un- 
 feeling treatment the Americans had subjected them, 
 to only one generation back ? It seems to me, that in 
 their treatment of Gourley they were exhibiting the 
 same spirit and performing the same acts against 
 which they and their fathers had so loudly protested 
 during, and after, the Revolutionary War." This was 
 aaid by the young man with considerable warmth. 
 
 The father answered, "The Loyalists were not wholly 
 responsible for what was done. Two at least of Gour* 
 
98 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 |i) 
 
 ir 
 
 
 ley's persecutors were his own countrymen, namely, 
 Dickson, of Niagara, and the afterwards notorious 
 Dr. Strachan, of York. And I do not think the 
 Chief-Justice is a U. E. Loyalist, though I am not 
 certain as to that. 
 
 " And you know it sometimes happens that servants 
 become the hardest masters, and it often occurs that 
 persons who are elevated from the lower to the higher 
 positions in society become the most overbearing and 
 tyrannical. This is one of the ways in which the 
 rebound or strike-back that there is in human nature 
 manifests itself. You know it is easy for a coward to 
 be brave when there is no danger. And a weak man 
 may act like a strong one when he has a weak or 
 helpless victim to deal with. Bearing these facts in 
 mind, we can account for a great many things that 
 would otherwise be very difficult to understand. 
 
 "It seems that Gourley's enemies dare not face him 
 in court until they had tried, for seven months, what 
 the foul air of a pri.son cell, and the scanty sustenance 
 of prison fare could do towards taming the wild, rest- 
 less spirit of the clear-headed, vigorous Scotchman, 
 When they had the lion chained they could extract 
 his teeth at their leisure. It was a strange scene that 
 presented itself in our little town on the 20th day of 
 August, in the year 1819, for Robert Gourley had com- 
 mitted no crime either against the state or- any indi- 
 vidual in the state. " 
 
Chapter VIII. 
 
 n. 
 
 PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 ". T^^OOK here, Bet," said John to his sister one day, 
 
 'I^ as they were alone together, " I wish that you 
 and Will Briars would hurry up and get mar- 
 ried before Mary and I move away to the bush, so 
 that vvt could be at the wedding." 
 
 " Who told you that Will Briars wanted me, and 
 what makes you think that I would have him if he 
 did? "said the girl, as she gave him a look that was 
 intended to demolish inquisitiveness. 
 
 " Now, Bet, none of your feminine artfulness, if 
 you please, for it would be lost on me," said the 
 brother with a laugh, " for I have the best of reasons 
 for believing that he wants you. He told me so him- 
 self. And equally good are my reasons for thinking 
 that you intend to have him, for mother told me so." 
 
 "Feminine artfulness; O dear!" .said Betsy, with a 
 look of feigned sadness. " Can it be that modest- 
 looking little Mrs. Bushman has been giving my poor 
 brother such severe lessons in ' feminine artfulne.ss ' 
 that he has become a disbeliever in his own loving 
 sister's truthfulness and sincerity." 
 
100 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Bet? You look as 
 sorry as a patch of Vjeans on a frosty morning," said 
 he. " But come, now, let us begin to talk a little 
 sober sense." 
 
 "What kind of stuti' is sober sense?" said she, 
 demurely. 
 
 " O you incorrigible primp ; will you never get over 
 your old trick of trying to head a fellow off when he 
 is doing his best to come to a safe conclusion about 
 any matter." 
 
 " What weighty matter are you trying to conclude 
 now, brother mine ?" .said she, with provoking cool- 
 ness. 
 
 " I am wanting to find out if a certain couple with 
 whom I am acquainted are going to be married before 
 myself and wife will be obliged to flit to our cabin 
 home, on the banks of Sylvan Lake, among the forest 
 trees." 
 
 She answered : 
 
 " You want to know, then, if tlie pair 
 Will likely be made one 
 Before the time when you must tear 
 Yourself away from home ? 
 
 Now, I'll be honest, brother dear, 
 
 For Will and I have said, 
 We will not marry till one year 
 
 Has passed ; and then we'll wed," 
 
 " Bravo ! Betsy. Why, you can be poetical as well 
 as pert, when you like, can't you ? " said the brother. 
 " And now, since you have broken silence on the sub- 
 ject, tell all about your plans, won't you, Sis ? " John 
 
 had been 
 wished to 
 
 " We art 
 to he niai 
 upon. Til 
 at It'fi.st, bt 
 
 " What 
 much /" a! 
 
 " Yourse 
 el.se,'' she r 
 
 "How 1 
 arrangemei 
 
 She ans 
 about the i 
 in the new 
 it. And tl 
 been char 
 made up 
 land in the 
 that he hj 
 wisely i" 
 
 " Yes ; 
 best thing 
 sort of nia 
 and not af 
 of the Lor 
 that help." 
 "Youdc 
 the miser, 
 no favors i 
 "Old Hi 
 
 Mm 
 
PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 101 
 
 ha<l l«en in the habit of calling her " Sis," when he 
 wished to please her, ever since they were children. 
 
 " VV^e are engaged," said Betsy, " and we did intend 
 to be married this spring ; but no time was fixed 
 upon. This is all changed now, and it will be a year, 
 at least, before we will be married." 
 
 " What has changed your plans so soon and so 
 much I*'" asked John. 
 
 " Yourself has had more to do with it than any one 
 else,'' she replied. 
 
 "How have I been the means of changing your 
 arrangement ?" said he. 
 
 She answered, " When you came home and told 
 about the fine land and water and timber there is back 
 in the new country, Will was greatly taken up with 
 it. And the more he heard about it, the more he has 
 been charmed by your descriptions. He has fully 
 made up his mind to go out with you and take up 
 land in the bush, instead of settling on the fifty acres 
 that he has here. L»o you think that he is acting 
 wisely ?" 
 
 " Yes ; decidedly so," answered John. " It is the 
 best thing that he ever did. Will is just the right 
 sort of man for a new country — hardy and steady, 
 and not afraid of work. He will succeed by the help 
 of the Lord, and no one, you know, can do so without 
 that help." 
 
 " You don't believe in the doctrine of old Hickory, 
 the miser, do you ? He says, ' Help yourself, and ask 
 no favors from God or man.' " 
 
 " Old Hickory is a wicked old sinner, and as mean 
 
102 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 M 
 
 as dirt, or he would not talk like that. But then, a 
 man that will rol) his own si.ster, and she a widow, is 
 bad enou<,di to do anythin<^," said John, with a ^'ood 
 deal of ener^fy. 
 
 Then, turning to his sister, he said, mirthfully, 
 " Won't you make a tine wife for a backwoodsman. 
 You are stronfj, and tough, and fearle.ss — exactly the 
 woman for the bush. I fancy that I can see you now 
 as you will look then, — 
 
 " With face begrimed with soot and ashos, 
 
 With hands ))e.smeared with smoke and rust ; 
 Witli eyes that Hooni as though their lashes 
 Wore lost in cloutls of charcoal dust." 
 
 " My, how smart we can be when we try, can't we, 
 Bub ? " said she. " And now let me try, — 
 
 " Say, how about your loving Mary ? 
 Will siie be like some little fairy, 
 With visage bright, and garments airy, 
 •'residing over Sylvan Lodge? 
 
 " Or, will ycni make the poor girl sorry 
 For having wed in such a hurry 
 A man who keeps her in a woiry 
 
 By lliiiging olulw she cannot dodge ?" 
 
 " How will that do, Johnnie, dear ?" said Betsy, 
 laughing. 
 
 " Now, let us drop the poetical and take up the 
 practical," said he. 
 
 " You say Will is going out with us ; I am glad of 
 that. If it has not been taken up since I came away, 
 the lot next to mine on one side is vacant. Would it 
 
 ^j. 
 
PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 103 
 
 not be a good th'mrr for Will to send in an application 
 for that lot at once ? Tliere will be a bi«r rush there 
 next smniner. I will «lo all that 1 can to helj) him 
 make a start, if he j(ocs, and he can make our house 
 his home till he jj^ets one of his own." 
 
 " Where do they rro to <^et the land ?" she asked. 
 
 " They f(o, or send, to the land otlice at Little York. 
 S(|niro Myrtle has had a <^ood deal to do with busine.ss . 
 of this kind; no doubt he will help Will in the 
 matter, if he asks him to do so. But if he wants to 
 fjet land near to mine, there is no time to be lost ; that 
 section will till up very rapidly. The line of road 
 that runs by my place will be a leading line of travel 
 between the front and rear settlements. And besides 
 this, the locality is so situated that it must, in the 
 nature of things, become the centre of a large settle- 
 ment in the near future. Two large and rapid 
 streams form a junction near the corner of my lot 
 and there are a number of tirst-class mill sites within 
 a short distance of the road. I expect .some day to 
 see a village, perhaps a town, on that spot." 
 
 "Well," said Betsy, "I think you had better tell 
 Will to see Squire Myrtle, and get him to .send in an 
 application at once ; I don't like to speak to him about 
 it my.self." 
 
 When dinner was over that day, John went to see 
 William Briars. He found him in the barn, threshing 
 oats with a flail. After a few commonplace words, 
 John said, " Will, I am told by one who ought to know, 
 that you are thinking of going to the bush with me. 
 Is that so?" 
 
104 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Yes ; I hav^e made up my mind to go to the new 
 country, and try my lot as a pioneer," said William. 
 
 " My father-in-law has had a good deal of experience 
 in connection with land operations," said John. *■ Sup- 
 pose we go and ask him to write away and see what 
 can he done for you ; I think you are entitled to om 
 hundred acres for services in the militia the last year 
 of the war." 
 
 " When I joined the Fldiikers,^^ said Will, " 1 vva^ 
 told that I would have a claim for two hundred acres 
 — one hundred for head right, and another hundred 
 for ' Flanker ' right." 
 
 " yes ; you were a ' Flanker,' sure enough ; yon 
 are entitled to the two hundred acres ; I had not 
 thoujxht of that. You are all right. We will go right 
 off and see Squire Myrtle, and have him send in your 
 certificate and get a location ticket for the lot next to 
 mine." 
 
 The young men found the Squire at home, and told 
 him what they wanted. He took the matter in hand 
 for Will, and he succeeded so well, that by the time 
 that John and Mary were ready to move, the papers 
 came to hand, and William Briars was granted the 
 two hundred acre lot that joined John Bushman's two 
 hundred acres. 
 
 As the first of April was now here, and as the 
 middle of that month was the time set for starting to 
 the new home of John and Mary, V)oth their families 
 were making preparations for helping them in their 
 undertaking. 
 
 As has already been stated, old Mr. Bushman had 
 
I I. 
 
 1 
 
 PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 105 
 
 procured a yoke of oxen for John. Beside.s these he 
 rrave him a cow and half a dozen sheep. But it was 
 understood that the sheep were to be left where they 
 were for a year, or until John could have a suitable 
 place for them, so as to save them from the wolves. 
 
 Mary's father gave her a covv and such an outfit as 
 would enable them to start housekeepino- in a new 
 settlement with a fair share of comfort. 
 
 As the time came near when they were to start for 
 their new home in the wilderness, the young people 
 seemed to realize the importance of the step they were 
 about to take. They were going to shoulder life's 
 burdens and face life's difficulties ; and that, too, in a 
 new country where, in the nature of things, many 
 privations would have to be endured, and many dis- 
 couragements would have to be met and overcome. 
 
 But neither John Bushman nor his young wife were 
 hot-house plants. They had both been brought up to 
 industry and economy. They had stood face to face 
 with life's realities all their days. Mary's mother was 
 a woman of good sense, and she had trained her 
 dautjhter for usefulness, rather than for helplessness, 
 and had taught her to understand that God's arrange- 
 ment is that " drowsiness shall clothe a man with 
 rags," and that " an idle soul " (whether man or woman) 
 "shall sufter hunger." The woman who, in those old- 
 fashioned times, was called a good hou.sekeeper, was 
 as proud of the title as her granddaughter i?s proud of 
 being called the belle of the town. But although 
 Mary was not much past twenty years of age, she 
 was a good housekeeper. She knew how to do her 
 
106 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 own work, and she intended, while health permitted 
 her, to do it. She had no notion to flit over the 
 journey of life on the gaudy pinions of the short- 
 lived butterfly. 
 
 There are three kinds of women in relation to life's 
 duties and its burdens. There are those who help 
 their husbands ; there are those who hinder him by 
 making him spend his time in helping them ; and 
 there are those who are like a handful of clean chips 
 in a pot of soup — they do neither good nor harm. 
 
 Mary Bushman was among the first class, and, con- 
 vSequently, she was one of the best. Such a woman is 
 a blessing to any man. Such a woman is fit to adorn 
 life in a log hut or in a marble palace. Such a woman 
 was the wife of John Bushman. Happy is the man 
 who finds such a wife. " Her husband shall be known 
 in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the 
 land." Prov. xxxi. 28. 
 
 Johr, too, had been taught that work is respectable, 
 and that it is a part of God's arrangements concerning 
 men in the present state of existence. He learned to 
 view a life of honest industrv, based on Christian 
 principles, and wrought out on the line of duty as 
 [aid down in God's Word, as being the highest type of 
 noble manhood. And from a boy it had been his am- 
 bition to present to the world such a character. How 
 far he succeeded in doing so the future will tell. 
 
 Such were the two young people who, on a bright 
 morning about the middle of April, in one of the 
 years that compose the first quarter of this century, 
 started out from the parental domiciles to hew out a 
 
 home for 
 native Pr( 
 Tiiese c 
 honest con 
 the wildui 
 their chih 
 are found 
 successes. 
 
 Tiie nmf; 
 farms and 
 in all (liroc 
 past, or th( 
 have left b 
 large, an u 
 These pc 
 ance that 
 lor it is fre 
 ters of the 
 fields that 1 
 went befor 
 indolent, to 
 sweat- drop^ 
 years of toi 
 inortuajred 
 'Speculation 
 would-be s] 
 that must cl 
 the rest of 
 wakefulness 
 One of til 
 in this year 
 
 8 
 
 m 
 
I'REPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 107 
 
 home for themselves among the forest trees of their 
 native Province. 
 
 Tliese are but the counterparts of thousands of 
 honest couples who have, at different times, gone into 
 the wilderness and made homes for themselves and 
 their children. And to-day, all over this fair land, 
 are found the monuments of their toils and their 
 successes. 
 
 The magnificent homesteads, in the shape of splendid 
 farms and princely dwellings, that adorn the landscape 
 in all directions, are the outcome of the toils of the 
 past, or the rapidly parsing, generation. The-e people 
 have left behind them, for the good of the country at 
 large, an untarnished name and a \ irtuous example. 
 
 These people have left to their children an inherit- 
 ance that is often too lightly appreciated by them, 
 lor it is frequently the case that the sons and daugh- 
 ters of the hard-wrought pioneers refuse to work the 
 fields that have been cleared and fenced by those who 
 went before them. They become too proud, or too 
 indolent, to till the soil that has been enriched by the 
 sweat-drops of their parents. Farms, that cost long 
 years of toil to make them what thev are, are beinff 
 mortcjaged for means to engajje in some kind of 
 speculation that in a few years collapses, leaving the 
 would-be speculator penniless, and with the regrets 
 that must chase him, like a restless spirit, through all 
 the rest of his life, torturing him in his hours of 
 wakefulness, and troubling him in his nightly dreams. 
 One of the most jjloomv outlooks that can be seen 
 in this year of grace, 1888, is the fact that so many 
 
108 
 
 AMOxNG THE FOREST IHEES. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1. ' ■ ' ^'i 
 
 t 
 1 
 
 i I 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 of the younger portion of our population are learning' 
 to look with contempt upon the agricultural part of 
 our national industries. They are too ready to 
 exchange the healthy exercise, and independent posi- 
 tion of the owner and cultivator of the soil, for the 
 doubtful chances of commercial life, or the uncertain 
 prospects of some towm or city enterprise. How few 
 there are who have common sense enough to know 
 when they are w^ell off in this world. 
 
 But it is time to return to the affairs of John Bush- 
 man and his friends. 
 
 About a week before the time for starting, a sort of 
 family consultation was held at Squire Myrtle's, when 
 final arrangements were made. 
 
 It was decided that Mr. Bushman and the Squire 
 should each of them take a load — the one of pro- 
 visions, and the other household stufi. William Briars 
 was to go along and drive the cows. John was to 
 borrow a waggon from Mr. Roanoke, the Yorkshire 
 neighbor, and with his oxen take a load of seed grain j 
 and potatoes. The waggon was to be sent back by 
 tying it behind his father's, on the return journey. I 
 Mary's mother insisted on going along to see what 
 sort of a place her daughter was to live in. The bad 
 roads and the Jong distance had no terrors for her 
 that were sufficient to make her give up the idea. So| 
 it was decided that she was to go. 
 
 The other mother would have been very willing to I 
 go, too, but she could not do so then. But she told 
 the young people that she would come and see thenij 
 when the sleighing came again. 
 
"^ 
 
 1 
 
 PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 109 
 
 The time and manner of their exit being jBxed 
 upon, it only remained that the articles needed be 
 collected and ready at the time. There wa.s not much 
 troulile, however, in gathering up all that wa.s wanted, 
 or at least all that they could tind room for in the 
 loads. 
 
 The people, who had known John and Mary from 
 their infancy, were very much attached to both of 
 thciu, and now that they were going away, every- 
 hody .seemed di.sposed to .show them kindnes.s and to 
 do them favors. 
 
 One farmer gave John a couple of bags of seed 
 sprin?,' wheat ; another sent a lot of seed oats ; and 
 still another brought him half a bu.shel of millet to 
 sow. Mr. Blueberry, an old and highly respected 
 Quaker, brought one day a bag of pink-eye potatoes 
 to John, for seed, and after presenting them, he gave 
 him a small parcel, done up in a bit of grey cloth, 
 saying, " Here, my friend, I have brought thee a lot of 
 apple seeds to plant. If thee will put them in good 
 ground, and when they grow to be as tall as thyself, 
 set them out in an orchard, by the time thee has 
 children big enough to pick up apples, thee will have 
 plenty of apples for them. I have always liked thee, 
 John, and I have liked thy wife since she was a little 
 midget of a girl, and I hope she and thee will do well. 
 Fare thee well." 
 
 The old man's reference to children picking up 
 apples, awakened some new thoughts in John's mind. 
 He fancied himself some twenty years older. It was 
 in the fall of the year. He stood in the door of a nice 
 
 M 
 
no 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ill 
 
 frame house, lookinfjj through an orchard of well- 
 loaded I'ruit trees toward Sylvan Lake, on the clear 
 waters of which were playing flocks oi geese and 
 ducks. Among the trees, gathering apples, were bop 
 and girls, ranging from the pretty mis,, of eighteen, 
 down to the rollicking youngster of eight, all of them 
 working and playing by turns, but giving the lar2;e,«t 
 share of the time to playing. 
 
 " John," said a soft and pleasant voice behind. He 
 turned suddenly with a start ; he stood and looked in 
 a .sort of dreamy way at the speaker. It was Betsy. 
 " What have you been thinking about that is .so vin 
 interesting that you can't hear me call you to dinner. 
 Three times I called you, and then I had to comeafte 
 you. What is it, John ?" said his .si.ster. 
 
 "Never mind. Bet," .said he; "in about twenty 
 years from this I will tell you, if we are alive, and I 
 perhaps .show ^'ou, too, what I was thinking about; 
 but to-day I can't." 
 
 When John went to ask Mr. Roanoak for liisi 
 waggon, the ready and cheerful manner in which the 
 good-natured Englishman gave his con.sent would 
 make it seem as though he had been anxiously waitind 
 for an opportunity to oblige his young friend. 
 
 "Aye, Jock; tho bee.st welcome to tak the wagin, 
 and, mayhap, tho'lt need sumut else from among injl 
 fixins. If tho do, say what it mought be, Jock, and 
 tho'lt get it, if it beest anything but the old ooman.' 
 
 John thanked him for his kindness, and said he wouldl 
 not need anything besides the waggon. As he wasj 
 starting away, the other called him back and said,-- 
 
^ 
 
 n 
 
 PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 "Jock, when tho coouis for the waj^in, fetch a sack 
 vvie thee, and I will till it up wic English bull's-eye 
 potatoes for seed. If tho'lt plant un on new land, 
 tho'lt <^ro\v them as big as turnips, and as mealy as 
 tlour.'" 
 
 The white English bull's-eyes were in vogue fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 As John walked homeward, after this interview, he 
 liej^'an to question himself as to the reason of all the 
 kindness that was being .shown him by his old neigh- 
 bors. John did not think of the many eyes that had 
 been watching him all these years, as he had passed 
 from infancy up to manhood. He did not know that 
 his character had been highly appreciated for some 
 years past. He did not know how often one had said 
 to another, in their friendly intercourse, " That boy of 
 neighbor Bushman's is a noble lad, so true,and honest, 
 and obedient." He had not yet learned that a truth- 
 ful, honest and thoughtful boy, brought up in any 
 community, is not only a comfort to his parents and 
 an honor to his friends, but he is also a blessing to the 
 neighborhood where he lives, by his example and his 
 influence over other boys. 
 
 John Bushman had been such a boy, and the people 
 j all remembered it to his credit now that he was leav- 
 |ing the oUl home for a new one. 
 
 But while the farmers around were showinof so 
 [much kindness to John, their women folks were 
 tqually forward in helping Mary. And their presents 
 were not, like many of the wedding gifts of to-day, 
 an unwilling offering at the shrine of fashion, rather 
 than the honest expression of sincere friendship. 
 
112 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ■ il 
 
 : f i 
 
 i 
 
 ' ' ' 
 
 A number of articles of utility in housekeepintj 
 were given to Mary clurinj^ lier last week in the old 
 home. One old lady gave her a pair of beautiful 
 ducks, and another gave her a pair of beautiful geese 
 to swim, as they sai<^\ on Sylvan Lake, but not for 
 " fox feed." 
 
 An old playmate of hers brought her half a dozen 
 hens and a rooster, " to lay eggs for custard pies for 
 John and Mary, and to crow in the morning to wake 
 them up in time," as she said. 
 
 Besides all these, many dishes and napkins and 
 sheets and blankets were added to the store provided 
 by the two mothers of the departing couple. But the 
 most unexpected and most valuable of these presents 
 came from a quarter that surprised every one. 
 
 The night before their departure old Hickory, the 
 miser, came to bid them good-bye. Before leaving he 
 said to Mary, " May I call you once more by the 
 name that I used to do when vou were a little cfirl ? I 
 may not see you any more ; will you let me just this 
 once call you by the old, pretty name of long ago ? " 
 
 There seemed to be a pathetic ring in the old man's 
 voice that none could understand, and yet it touched 
 every heart. 
 
 Then, turning to the rest of the company, the old 
 . man said, " I will explain the reason for my strange 
 conduct, for I know you think it strange. 
 
 " Long years ago I had a loving and lovely wife 
 and one sweet little angel girl. They were everything 
 to me. O how near to my heart that woman and her 
 baby got. But the small-pox came and took them 
 
 m 
 
PREPARING TO MOVE. 
 
 lis 
 
 both. With her little head Ij'ing on my arm, my baby 
 (lied at niojht, and my precious wife followed it the 
 next morning. The world to me, since then, has had 
 no charms ; and, as I turned from the grave that held 
 the remains of !ny wife and child, I made a vow that 
 nothing human should ever touch my heart again. 
 
 " I travelled far by sea and land ; I worked at what- 
 ever would pay the best ; I gathered wealth, I hardly 
 knew what for, but its acquisition gave a semblance of 
 rest to my weary heart. 
 
 " Nineteen years ago I was passing along the road 
 on a hot summer day; being thirsty, I came to this 
 same house to ask for a drink. As I came alonor the 
 path I saw a little girl playing with some pebbles; 
 when I saw the little one I stopped as if spellbound 
 to the spot. For a moment I fancied myself looking 
 down a vista, and seeing at the other end the identi- 
 cal child that thirty years before I had laid in the 
 grave with its mother in an Old England graveyard. 
 My first thought was, Can it be that, after all, the old 
 Hindoos are riji^ht about the transmigration of souls ? 
 Of the child before me, and my own long-lost darling, 
 it might with truth be said that sameness could go no 
 further without becoming identity. 
 
 " As I came up to her I said, Will you let me call 
 you ' my little bright eyes?' 
 
 " She looked at me for a moment, and said, in her 
 childish way, ' Oo may tall me what oo yikes, if oo 
 won't hurt yittle Mary.' The identical name, too, I 
 said to mvself. How strange it seems. 
 
 " Well, that little child got nearer my heart than 
 
114 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 any human being had done in thirty y^nrs. It setiined 
 whimsical, but I could not help it; I resolved to settle 
 in this localit}', where this one little ray of light miirlit 
 occasionally shine upon niy darkened pathway." Then, 
 looking Mary in the face, he said to her, "May I call 
 you by the old, sweet name that I gave my darling so 
 long ngo ?" 
 
 "Yes, poor heart-sore old pilgrim, call me what you 
 like," she said, with tears in her eyes. 
 
 Putiing his hand in his pocket, he took out a num- 
 ber of shining gold oins. He placed them in Mary's 
 hand, as he said, " Here, little blight eyes, take these 
 as some slight compensation for the good you have 
 done to a lonelv, friendless man." Then turning to the 
 young husband, he said, " John Bushman, my little 
 bright eyes is an angel. Your little blight eyes is a 
 woman. See to it that you never, mver, nevtr use her 
 bailly. Good-bye, and may Heaven's blessings attend 
 you botli." 
 
 As the old man walked away. Mary said, with much 
 earnestness, " O, I am so sorry that I did not know of 
 this before; there are so many ways in which I might 
 have helped the poor oLl man." 
 
f.. 
 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 'T^UREE distinct epochs have marlcecl the migra- 
 fX)^ tory movements of the people of this Province 
 hetv\een tlie closing years of the last century 
 and the last quarter of the present. The first one is 
 included between about 1780 and 1800, the second is 
 between about 181.3 and about 1830, and the third 
 reaches from about 1850 till 1875 or 1880. 
 
 The first wave of immigration that struck the fron- 
 tier of this Province was the U. E. Loyalists, when 
 they sought shelter, under the British flag, in the wil- 
 derness of Canada. The second was mostly composed 
 of the children of the first settlers. When the.se came 
 to be men and women they struck for the wilderness, 
 as their fathers and mothers had done in their day. 
 This wave rolled itself further inland than its prede- 
 cessor had done. The Talbot District, the New Pur- 
 chase, and the country north of the eastern settlements 
 constituted mostly the objective points during this 
 period. The third wave was made up of both 
 native and foreign elements. It spread itself over 
 the Huron tract, the Queen's bush, and the country 
 between the Georgian Bay and Ottawa. 
 
116 
 
 A MONO THF, KDREST TREES. 
 
 m 
 
 Of the trials i-ndured, tho hardships underwent, the 
 privations sufiiTed, the difficulties overcome, the dis- 
 couraf];einents met with, and the wearisome toils of 
 many of those immi^rrants no one can form a correct 
 estimate, unless liis knowled<;e is the result of per- 
 sonal experience. If nil the facts settinnr forth tin 
 sutterinfi;s endured durin<jj, and as the result of, these 
 migrations, could lie written in a hook, there is iin 
 douht but it would i;»' one of the most absorbiiii: 
 volumes ever read. 
 
 John Bushman <,'()es to the woo Is with the second 
 of these miijrat/ions. He forms asoitof coimectiiii: 
 link between the Hr.st and third, and, to a certjiin 
 extent, his experi^.'nces are tlie countei-pjirt of both df 
 them. The position of the fathers was like that of 
 .soldiers that invade a hostile country, and tear u}) the 
 roads an<l break down all tiie brid<;es behind them, so 
 that there is no chance for retreat, nor for reinforce- 
 ments to follow. With them it is either conquer or 
 die — death or victory. The pioneers of this country 
 had no choice but to stand at their post and fight it out 
 The Yankees had robbed them of their property, and 
 driven them from their homes, so that they had no 
 place to retreat to, and they had no kind friends be- 
 hind them to send on needed supplies. With them it 
 was, either get for yourselves or go without. Do or 
 die. Produce or perish. 
 
 But with John Bushman and his associates it was 
 different. They had to face similar hardships, and do 
 the same hard work, in clearing up the land, in mak- 
 ing roads, in building school-houses, mills and churches, 
 
HOMEWA^RD BOUND. 
 
 117 
 
 as wrll as homes for tliomsolvos. Rut they had bet- 
 tor tWilities than th»'ir fatliers had possessed in doing 
 thcst' tiiinrjs. Most of the pioneers of John's day had 
 I'lionds tliat wen' able and \villin<^ to lielp them in 
 case of an emer(r«>ncy, and if not, they couhl <;o to tlie 
 front for a few weeks, in hayinc; and liarvest, and 
 cam money to pureha.se wliat tiiey nee(h'd. 
 
 And this is etpially true coneerninL; the pioneers of 
 tlie later niii^ration. Many »in lionest backwoodsman 
 has i,fone to tiie front and earned tlie doUars needed to 
 tide him over some pressincr financial diiiiculty. And 
 whin tlie task was done he w«'nt to his rustic home 
 with a lii,dit step, thankful that he had the ability and 
 opporttniity to help himself. It is in this way that 
 many of the best homes of our land have been built 
 up The people who come after us will never fully 
 realize what the pioneers have done and suifered to 
 make this the banner Province of this wide Dominion; 
 and if the time should ever come when justice will be 
 done to the memory of these successive waves of ira- 
 inicfration, there is no doubt but the highest place will 
 be given to the sturdy men who first sent the sound 
 of the woodman's axe rinoring through the frontier 
 wilderness of Upper Canada. 
 
 The day before John was to start a young man by 
 the name of Moses Moosewood came to see him. He 
 said to him : 
 
 " I hear that Will Briars is going with you to the 
 Purchase. Is that so ? " 
 
 "Yes; he and I are intending to start in the morn- 
 ing. He will drive the cows, and I am to take a load 
 
118 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 of .stuff with the oxen. The horse teams will come on 
 the day a,''ter, so that we will all reach the place about 
 the same time," was John's answer. 
 
 " Well, John," said Mo.se, as he was called by every- 
 body, " I have a great mind to get ready and go too. 
 You know I am old enough to strike out for myself. 
 Father has plenty of help without me ; besides, if 1 am 
 ever going to build up a home and have something of 
 my own, it is time that 1 began to lay the foundation.' 
 
 "That is all true," .said John; " l)ut, Mose, do you 
 want to know my honest opinion about your going :*" 
 
 "Yes, John, 1 do," he answered: " I know you have 
 not got a very high opinion of me, in a general way, but 
 I dare say it is as good as I deserve. But T would like 
 very much to know what you think of my chances in 
 the bush. You know I have a right to a hundred 
 acres of land whenever 1 choose to settle." 
 
 "Well, Mose," .'^aid he, "if you could be persuaded 
 to give up your wild, reckless ways, and keep your- 
 self out of mi.schicf, I don't know a young man that 
 would be more likely to succeed. You have in you 
 the stuti' that 'inen are made of ; but I am sorry to say 
 that it is terribly warped and twisted. If you could 
 get straightened out and keep straight, you could suc- 
 ceed anywhere." 
 
 " John," said the young man .solemnly, " I thank 
 you for your honest and friendly words. I have had 
 these thoughts myself before now. My mind is made 
 up ; time is too precious to be frittered away as I have 
 been doing. Life is worth too much to throw it away 
 on .senseless and useless pursuits. I am going to 
 
K 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 119 
 
 straid^htcn up. I am j^oing to turn over a new leaf. I 
 am ijoing to start out on anew line of life." 
 
 "Those are no])le resolves," said John, with great 
 earnestness; " I am more than pleased, I am delighted, 
 Moses, to hear you talk like this; but there is only one 
 way in which you can carry these good intentions to 
 a successful issue." 
 
 " What way is that?" inquired Moses. 
 
 "Go to the great Helper of the weak, and seek 
 strength and guidance from Him." 
 
 ' I have done that already, and He has heard and 
 helped me. That is why 1 am here. I want to go 
 with you, John, that I may have the benefit of your 
 counsel and example. And another reason that I have 
 for going is, that I may get away from my evil asso- 
 ciations. What would you advise me to do ?" 
 
 " I would not like to persuade you in any way to do 
 what you might regret hereafter," John said. " But, 
 so far as I can see, no young man, who is able and 
 willing to work, can do any better than to go to the 
 new country and make a home for himself. And if 
 you do as you say you will, there is every prospect 
 that you can do well by gomg with us to the bush." 
 
 "Wbsther I fail or succeed, John, one thing is set- 
 tled, nnd that is, I am done with the old reckless life 
 that 1 have always lived," said Moses. " I am going 
 to be a man, the Lord helping me. I will go with you 
 and try my fortune in the woods. I only wish that 
 I nad gone with you last spring. I might have made 
 a commencement then, as you did, and now I would 
 have a place to go to." 
 
120 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Well, Moses, yon can't recall the past," said his 
 friend, " but you can improve the present. Take this 
 number of a lot to Scjuire Myrtle. Get him to write, 
 and tind if it is still vacant, and send in your naiiif 
 and certificate, showing that you are entitled to land. 
 If the lot is vacant you will get it. If it is taken up 
 you will be granted a lot in the immediate neighbor- 
 hood." 
 
 " How far is this lot from yours ?" he asked. 
 
 " Will Briars' lot is betw^een it and mine." 
 
 " That is not so far but that we can be neighbors. I 
 will go to see the Squire at once, and then make my 
 preparations to start with the teams." 
 
 " I think you had better wait until you get the lot 
 secured, for two reasons. You would not know where 
 to commence work, if you were there, until you get 
 your papers. And if you go without them there is no 
 telling how long you would have to wait for them, as 
 there is not a post-office within tw^enty-five or thirty 
 miles of the place," said Bushman. 
 
 " Well, can't you find something for me to do until 
 the papers come to hand? Why not hire me for a 
 month, and pay me by boarding me after I get my 
 papers ? " 
 
 " I would be very glad to do that. But how would 
 you get the papers ?" was the reply. 
 
 " When we come to the last post-office, as we are 
 going out, I will write back to the Squire and tell him 
 the name of it, and he can send the papers there, and 
 I will come and get them.* I would rather do that 
 
 *The writer can easily remember when there was no post-office 
 nearer than thirty-five miles from where the family lived. 
 
I 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 121 
 
 than to lose so much time in waiting for them," said 
 Moses. 
 
 " That is well thought of," said John. " We will 
 settle the matter in that way. You go to work for 
 me until you want to start for yourself. I will pay 
 you in board, and perhaps help you sometimes, if you 
 wish it." 
 
 " Now for another thing, John," said Moses ; " what 
 will 1 need to take with me to the bush ?" 
 
 " Well, the first thing is an axe or two — better take 
 two, in case one should break. You will want your 
 clothes, as a matter of course ; beyond these, you 
 would do well to let your mother give directions and 
 do the packing up, for, you know, she will think of 
 things that we could not. Remember there is no need 
 for superfluities in the backwoods. But if you have 
 a gun you had better take it along, and some ammuni- 
 tion, too, for there are plenty of things to shoot at ; 
 and, in fact, a man is hardly safe without a gun," said 
 John. 
 
 "What kinds of game are there ?" inquired Moses. 
 ' Anything dangerous ? " 
 
 " There are martins, minks, muskrats, beavers, otters, 
 i'oxes, deer, moose, wolves, bears, and, if rumor may be 
 credited, panthers have been seen occasionally. These 
 are rather dangerous customers, more so than the bear 
 or the wolf. Besides, there are wildcats and racoons 
 in abundance, as well as squirrels of all kinds. Then 
 there are wild ducks of different descriptions, par- 
 tridges and blue pigeons in large numbers. Yes, Moses, 
 you will have use for a gun for many years to come if 
 you stay in that part of the country," John said. 
 
122 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 I 
 
 " My stars, John, liut that is a long list. What 
 would hecome of a fellow if all of these should come 
 at him at once ? He could not climb a tree from the 
 panther, he could not hide from the bear, he could not 
 run from the wolf, and he coidd not dodge the wildcat 
 nor stand before the moose," was Modes' rejoindei'. 
 
 " I think," said John, " that you would be safer if 
 you met them all together than you would be to meet 
 one of them alone. They would get to fighting amon,' 
 themselves about which should have you, and which 
 was the best way of killing you. The bear would say, 
 let me hug him to death ; the panther would say, let 
 me claw him to death; the wolf would sav, let me bite 
 him to death; the wildcat would say, let me scratch 
 him to death ; and the moose would say, stand back, all 
 of you, and let me stamp him to death. 
 
 " Then they would go into court to settle the ques- 
 tions in dispute. Eloquent lawyers and astute judges! 
 would focalize their legal lore upon the subject. One 
 lawyer woidd put in a plea, another lawyer would put 
 in a counterplea. One learned judge would say it wasj 
 one way, another learned judge would say it wa.s an- 
 other way. Then all the learned judges would say] 
 that it was not any way. One attorney would move! 
 foi' an enlargement, another attorney would move tol 
 tighten things up by giving the screw another twist 
 one grave counsel would show cause, another gravd 
 counsel would show contra. One month a point woiil 
 be advanced a stage, another month a point would be| 
 put back a stage. 
 
 " Now, while the snapping and snarling pack ws 
 
^ 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 123 
 
 settlins^ the matter, you could run away to a place of 
 safety, like a wise man ; or, if you were fool enough 
 to wait for the Hnal decision, you would likely die with 
 old af^e before you found out whether you were to be 
 killed by the bear or the panther, or the wildcat or the 
 wolf." 
 
 " Well done, John," said Moses, " I knew you were 
 something of a philosopher, but I did not know that 
 vou were a painter as well. That is a fine fancy 
 picture that you have given." 
 
 "It is not all fancy, my honest friend," said he. 
 "When I was a boy, two men got into a dispute about 
 the line between their farms. One wanted it moved 
 two rods one way, and the other wanted it moved two 
 rods the other way. They went into court, and lawed 
 each other for thirteen years, until the case went 
 through all the courts ; and Comfort v. Johnston, and 
 Johnston* versus Comfort, became like a by-word 
 among the lawyers all over the country. After they 
 had spent money enough in law to have purchased 
 either of the two farms, they settled the dispute by 
 one buying the other out." 
 
 " Well, I shall take a gun and a good supply of 
 ammunition with me, anyway," replied young Moose- 
 wood, " for I don't want to be killed by any of the 
 snarling brigade." 
 
 Among the necessary articles for life in the bush, 
 iwas the flint and steel, to be used in producing tire, 
 
 * Mr. Johnston was the writer's grandfather, anil the facts were 
 I as stated above. 
 
124. 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 when, as was often the case, the fire on the hearth 
 went out. Iii>stea(l of striking a match, as we do 
 now, people would la}' a piece of punk on some gun- 
 powdt-r. Then thoy would produce a spark, either by 
 snapping the gun over it, or by striking a flint with 
 steel. When the powder ignited, it would set tire to 
 the punk. Wiili the help of a handful of tow, or 
 some diy kindling^!, our gjandniothers, in this way, 
 made the tire to do their cooking, and our grand- 
 fatliers could lieg or I orrow or steal, from under the 
 dinner- pot, tire eUMUgh to burn their brush-heaps or 
 log- heaps. 
 
 When Moses spoke of taking ammunition, John 
 was reminded that he had not yet provided for these 
 indispensable appendages to new country housekeep- 
 ing. He went and got a link of steel and a couple of 
 dozen flints to take with him. 
 
 The rest of the day \vas spent in getting things 
 together, and in loading up the waggon, as John and 
 Will Briars were to start the next morning at daylight. 
 The condition of things at the two homes can be 
 understood only by those who have had personal 
 experience in the matter. When the first permanent 
 break in the family circle is made, it seems to affect 
 the whole household. When the eldest son is going 
 away to commence for himself, it seems to throw a 
 shadow over the old home. For some years his father 
 has been leaning upon him more than he would be 
 willing to confess, and he has been guided by his 
 advice to a greater extent than he had been conscious 
 of. And now he feels as if some part of his strength 
 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 125 
 
 was leaving him, as though part of himself was going 
 
 away. 
 
 The younger children have learned to look upon 
 their elder brother as a sort of over-shadowing pro- 
 tection. He has been to them at once a brother, a 
 friend, a counsellor, and a guide. And now he is 
 going away. How sad they look ! The smaller ones 
 speak in whispers and walk on tiptoe, as if they were 
 afraid to awaken the spirit of weeping that they seem 
 to think is sleeping in some corner of the room. 
 
 And who can describe the feelings of the mother, as 
 for the last time she puts his things in place, and that 
 place the box in which they are to be carried from her 
 sight and from her home, perhaps forever ? 
 
 How the deepest emotions of her soul will be 
 awakened, as memory reproduces some of the events 
 of the past. She will think of that night, so many 
 years ago, when she gained, by a painful experience, 
 such a knowledge of some of the mysteries of human 
 life as she never had before. She will think of the 
 time when the girl-mother first looked into the blue 
 depths of the dreamy eyes of her baby boy. She will 
 remember how, in the old times, she rocked the cradle 
 with her foot, while her hands plied the needle. Then 
 her mother-love would fly off down the coming years, 
 on the airy wings of fancy, painting beautiful pictures 
 of the future of her son. " And now," she says to 
 herself, " he is going from me a man — a married man. 
 Another has come, and though she has not crowded 
 me out of his affections, she has crowded h rself into 
 the warmest corner of his heart. But I do lot com- 
 
:■' I 
 
 ii^ ' 
 
 126 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ! ■ -^ 
 
 plain. I don'fc blame Mary; I did the same myself; 
 and I hope that her married life may be as happy as 
 mine has been. I hope that John will be as good a 
 husband as he is a son." Unselfish woman ! unselfish 
 woman ! So it has been from the beginning ; so it 
 will be till the end. 
 
 The Myrtle home was no less agitated. When the 
 eldest girl goes out from the old home, she seems to 
 carry very much of the sunlight of that home with 
 her. The young children have learned to look upon 
 her as a kind of second mother to them. The older 
 children look to her for counsel, feeling that in her 
 they always have a sympathetic friend. 
 
 The mother has come to look upon her as a sort of 
 superfluous right hand, or as a second self. The father 
 has always looked on her as next to the mother in 
 importance to the household. And in the Myrtle 
 household all this was especially true. No daughter 
 ever filled all the positions above named better thin 
 Mary had done. She was leaving behind her four 
 brothers and three sisters, all younger than herself. 
 There was sadness in that home. The younger children 
 had got so accustomed to have Mary hear them say 
 their prayers, and put them to bed, that they thought 
 no one else could do it as well as she could. When 
 the last night came, poor Mary nearly broke down, a-^ 
 the children gathered around her, and at her knee said 
 their evening prayers for the last time, perhaps, for- 
 ever. But she soon regained her composure, and went 
 on with her preparations for the events of to-morrow. 
 
 John and Will Briars were on the way, and were 
 one day's journey with the cattle. 
 
I 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND. 
 
 127 
 
 Next morning early, the two teams, with their loads, 
 starti'il. But early as it was, they were not to get 
 away without a surprise. As they came opposite the 
 school-house, where John and Mary used to go to 
 school and to meeting, they were hailed by a lot of 
 young women, with Lucy Briars at their head. They 
 were carrying a box, and when they came to the 
 Squire's team, they asked him to take the box and 
 put it where it would be entirely safe. They said, " We 
 have Lought a set of dishes, as a present for Mary, 
 and we want you to take good care that they are not 
 broken on the way." The Sc^uire promised to do as 
 they wished. 
 
 Mary thanked them very sincerely, and gave them a 
 standing promise, which she said should last a hundred 
 years, that if any of them, either married or single, 
 should ever visit at her home among the forest trees, 
 they should be treated to the very best that Sylvan 
 Lodge could furnish. 
 
 At noon the next day they overtook John and Will, 
 with the cattle. Then they all went on together, 
 making but slow progress over the new and rough 
 roads. 
 
Chapter x. 
 
 SOME WHITE GIPSIES. 
 
 k T the close of the second day the movers found 
 themselves still nine miles from their journey's 
 end. A consultation was held as to what was 
 best to do. To go on in the darkness of the night, 
 made darker by the tops of the trees, many of which 
 were evergfreens, was a thini? not to be thoucjbt of, 
 Equally impracticable would be the idea of trying to 
 reach the only house on the road, which was all of 
 two miles ahead. There seemed to be no other way 
 than to become "gipsies " for one night, at least. They 
 decided to make a good fire, and draw the waggon up 
 around it, then tie the horses and cattle to trees, feed 
 them some hav, a number of bundles of which had 
 been secured at a farmhouse, ten or twelve miles back, 
 and get themselves some supper, and then put in the 
 night as best they could. 
 
 With people of energy, action is apt to follow deci- 
 sion. So it was in this case. Every one went to 
 work, and in a short time everything was arranged 
 for " the night in the woods," a term by which this 
 incident was designated in after years. 
 
 ! ■ ! ' ' 
 
m 
 
 SOME WHITE GIPSIES. 
 
 129 
 
 Every one seemed disposed to do a reasonable share 
 toward making the occasion not only bearable, but 
 enjoyable as well. 
 
 Alter Mrs. Myrtle and Mary had cleared away the 
 tea things, and the two elder men had indulged in 
 their " after supper smoke," as, I am sorry to say, thoy 
 were in the habit uf doing, the whole company sat 
 down around the blazing tire. Some sat on logs, and 
 others sat down on the leaves, and leaned themselves 
 a*'ainst the trees. When all was quiet, William Briars 
 spoke and said, " Squire Myrtle, I don't remember that 
 1 ever heard you tell a story. Can you tell us some 
 incident in your past experience to help to pass away 
 the time i " 
 
 " Oh, as to that," said the Squire, " I am not much 
 good at story-telling. As a magistrate, I have to deal 
 with hard, stubborn facts so much that I have about 
 lost all relish for fiction of all kinds." 
 
 " We don't want fiction," said Will ; " I could furnish 
 enough for the whole company, if that were needed. 
 And as for romance, we need not go far for that. Our 
 position to-night is romantic enough for anybody. 
 But give us some of the hard facts. Squire, and we will 
 be thankful." 
 
 " About the funniest case that I ever had on my 
 hands," said Squire Myrtle, " was the case of a man 
 who was a firm believer in wntches. He came to me 
 with a complaint against one of his neighbors, and 
 said the neighbor was a wizard. He said, * The man is 
 in the habit of coming in the night ; he steals me out 
 of bed, takes me to the stable, puts a saddle and bridle 
 
130 
 
 AMONO THE FOIIKST TREES. 
 
 :.| 
 
 'I 
 
 on rne, turns ino into a horse, i^oes into the barn, tills 
 one of my own ba<,rs with wheat, puts it on my hack, 
 gets on top of it, ri(U'S away to the mill, leaves the 
 grist, and then rides me hack liome again.' 
 
 " When he first came, I thought he had gone out of 
 his mind, for I knew tlie man very well, and I always 
 looked on him to be a man of more than average intel- 
 ligence. I tried to put hifu off, but he still adhered to 
 his statement, and insisted on havijig a trial. To please 
 him, I appointed a time to hear the case, sent a sum- 
 mons to the accused party, and gave directions about 
 witnesses. 
 
 " In the meantime, I felt a good deal of curiosity to 
 know how this thing was going to end. I knew the 
 accused party to be a man of a low type intellectually 
 and socially. But T knew nothing against his morality, 
 How he would take it was a matter of some import- 
 ance. If he had been of a higher intellectual cast, he 
 would likely enjoy it as a joke. But how he would 
 feel and act must be seen when the time came. 
 
 " When the trial came on, all the parties were on 
 hand. 
 
 " The complainant testified positively to the state- 
 ments made in the charge. And no amount of cross- 
 examination could shake his testimony in the least.* 
 
 * This is no handessfctioii. Seventy or eighty years ago the belief 
 in witclies was very connnon. Even some intelligent people were 
 firm believers in the power of witolioraft. The writer knew an old 
 man who went to his grave with the Hrni eonvictior thai he had 
 often earriecl grists for witches, and been led oats iu a trough like a 
 horse. 
 
 .1 
 
 I: :, ^ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
SOME WHITE GII'SIES. 
 
 131 
 
 " His wife te.stitiecl tluit on several occa.sion.s lier hus- 
 baii"! had «(()ne to bed at the usual time, all right 
 apinirently ; that on waking up in tlie night she found 
 him gone, and he could not be found ; that he would 
 come home about daylight, complain of being very 
 tired, go to shsep, and sleep till nearly noon. 
 
 "Two of the older children corroborated the state- 
 ment of their mother. So did a young man who made 
 his home at the place. 
 
 "The accused, as a matter of course, denied having 
 any knowledge of the att'air from iirst to last. 
 
 "Just at this juncture the miller, to whose null the 
 man-horse was said to have been driven, appeared on 
 the scene and recjuested to lie sworn. On being exam- 
 ined as a witness, he said : ' On hearing this morning 
 of this strange case, I felt it my duty to come here, as 
 I think I can throw some light on the subject. On 
 ditl'erent occasions, on going to the mill in the morn- 
 ing, I have found a bag of wheat standing just outside 
 the door, and having the name of the complainant 
 written on the bag with black ink. I do not know 
 who left it there. But I made up my mind that, 
 in some way, there was a mystery behind the affair, 
 and resolved to keep my own counsel, and await fur- 
 ther discoveries. Two or three times, when the owner 
 of the name on the bags has been to the mill with 
 other bags, I have been on the point of telling him 
 about them. But I felt sure that he could not clear 
 up the mystery. So I concluded to wait a little longer. 
 There are six bags of good wheat safely put away in 
 one corner of the mill. The owner can have them any 
 time he calls for them.' 
 
132 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 H 
 
 " The matter began to wear a serious aspect. The 
 evidence established two very important points. First, 
 the absence from home of the complainant ; and se- 
 condly, the fact that his bags were in some mysterious 
 manner conveyed to the mill in the night. The case 
 seemed to be getting more and more mystified. I 
 don't know how the matter might have ended, had it 
 not been that my wife had visitors that al'ternoon, 
 Two women came on a visit. They lived on the road 
 leading from the complainant's place to the mill. On 
 my wife's telling them that I hrad a case on hand that 
 afternoon, they naturally inquired what it was 
 about, and who were the parties. My wife toid them 
 what .she knew about it. Then one of them said, 'I 
 think that, perhaps, I might give some information 
 that would be of use.' 
 
 " My wife brou^lit the woman into the room saying, 
 ' Here is an important witness for you.' 
 
 " I asked her two or three questions, and then told 
 her she must testify, which she did, as follows: 
 
 ." 'My husband's brother lives on the lot next to ours, 
 He has been sick for more than a year. We are often 
 called in the night to go to him. On two, or perhaps 
 three occasions, we have met Mr. Crabtree going to- 
 wards the mill, with a bag full of some sort of grain 
 on his shoulder. He always seemed to be in a hurry, 
 We thought it was very strange, but knowing him to 
 be an honest man we said nothing about it.' 
 
 " Light now began to dawn on the minds of all pre- 
 sent. ' Sleep -ivalking,' was whispered from one to I 
 another, until the room was in a perfect buzz. Pre- 
 
SOME WHITE GIPSIES. 
 
 133 
 
 sently some one started laughing. This went like a 
 contagion until the court became a scene of boisterous 
 merriment. The finishing touch was given to the pic- 
 ture by Mr. Crabtree running across to Mr. Thistle- 
 down and, taking his hand, asked him if he could ever 
 fortrive this ridiculous blunder. 
 
 " ' We will let this pass,' said Mr. Thistledown. ' I 
 thought you were acting more like a child than any- 
 thing else. But I believed that you were honest in your 
 fancies, and I hoped that you would find out your 
 mistake some time. I am glad that you are satisfied.' 
 
 '"Court is dismissed without costs, and verdict re- 
 served,' said I, as the two men went off together." 
 
 "Well, Squire," said Will, "that is an interesting 
 story, and we are thankful to you for telling it." 
 
 " This is a good place for witch stories," said Moses. 
 "With the moon shining down through the tree tops 
 making shadows, and the fire shining up through the 
 tree tops making shadows, we have such a combina- 
 tion and interlacing of shadows, as are very well 
 adapted to give hiding places to witches." 
 
 "I move for an adjournment," said Mrs. Myrtle, 
 who was somewhat wearied, and a good deal shaken 
 up by the long ride, over the rough roads, on a lumber 
 
 waggon. 
 
 no 
 
 " Carried unanimously," said the Squire, in response 
 to his wife's motion. 
 
 Will and Moses decided that they would stay up 
 and keep a good fire while the rest lay down to sleep 
 on some temporary beds, fixed under the waggons. 
 
 After Mr. Bushman had offered a prayer for divine 
 
134 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ili! 
 
 ^■1 
 
 protection, they all retired for the night, except the 
 two young men. They faithfully fulfilled their 
 engagement. 
 
 Next morning the two young men had a good deal 
 to say about Squire Myrtle's nasal powers as a lirst- 
 class snorer, and John's ability as a nocturnal ox 
 driver. They claimed that the one could snore loud 
 enough to wake up a sleeping earthquake, and the 
 other could holla loud enough to frighten a young 
 tornado. 
 
 After a lunch had been enjoyed, and a prayer 
 offered by Mr. Myrtle, they hitched up the teams and 
 started. 
 
 In less than an hour they came to the house of 
 their nearest neighbor, it being seven miles from their 
 own place. Here John was warmly received by the 
 family where he had got his bread and butter the 
 year before. 
 
 On imjuiry they learned that Mr. Root and his men 
 were to move out of John's house either that day or 
 the next. They had already waited a week for John 
 to come, as they did not like to leave the place till he 
 was there. 
 
 On learning this, it was thought best for John to go 
 forward as fast as he could, and let Mose and Will 
 drive the cattle, and the whole party to follow as fast 
 as they could get on, over the new rough road. 
 
 John reached the place about ten o'clock, and was 
 just in time to met his old friends before a part of 
 them went away. They gave him a warm greeting, 
 Harry Hawthorn especially became almost boisterous 
 in his reception of an old friend. 
 
SOME WHITE GIPSIES. 
 
 135 
 
 After the first salutations were over, the first ([iies- 
 tion asked of John was, " Where's your wife ?" 
 
 John answered, " She is coming on behind, along 
 with some other friends, with three waggon loads of 
 stuti"." At this intelligence, the men began to hurrah 
 for Mrs. Bushman, until the woods echoed in all direc- 
 tions, hurrah, hurrah. 
 
 Ur. Root here said, " Boys, I move that we don't 
 move a foot until Mrs. Bushman and her friends come 
 on. I want to see a living woman once more before 
 I m ten miles further into the bush." 
 
 " Shure, and oigh seconds that ; come, boys, we can 
 all afford to take a half a day, or so, for the sake of 
 welconiin' the leddy, who will be after presiding over 
 Sylvan Lodge," said the exuberant Harry. 
 
 " Let us give the lady a short address of welcome, 
 to the back\, oods," said Mr. Beach. 
 
 " I propose that our respected ' boss ' be appointed 
 to give Mrs. Bushman an address of welcome, when 
 she comes," said John Brushy. 
 
 "All right, boys," said Mr. Root; "we will see what 
 can be done." 
 
 Then turning to John, he said, " I have had two 
 
 reasons for staying here till you came. One is, I did 
 
 not want to go and leave the house alone ; another is, 
 
 I got a lot of hay and other things in by the sleighing, 
 
 [and I find that I have more than I shall need, and 
 
 ^ want you to take it off' my hands." 
 
 "All right," said John; "what are the articles you 
 I want to dispose of?" 
 
 " There is about a ton of hay, and some hams of 
 
136 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 •i«. 
 
 if" 
 
 pork, and some flour, and a few bushels of potatoes," 
 was the answer. 
 
 " Very well," said John. " I will not only take them, 
 but I will be glad to get them, as I shall need them. I 
 have four head of cattle to feed, and 1 shall have two 
 men besides myself and wife to board, besides comers 
 and goers ; and if I am not much mistaken, there will 
 be plenty of the latter for the next year or two." 
 
 " Here are the waggons coming now, the first that 
 have ever been seen on this road," said Mr, Root. 
 
 As the teams came up, the men stood out in front of 
 the house, and gave three cheers for the first white 
 woman that ever stood in Rockland Township, as they 
 said. 
 
 Mary and her mother came forward, and were in- 
 troduced to the company by John. When all had gone 
 into the house, Mr. Root handed Mary the key of the 
 door, and said, 
 
 " Mrs. Bushman, by the appointment of the gentle- 
 men who have, with me, occupied this house during 
 the past winter, I now present to you the keys of Syl- 
 van Lodge. We are sorry that we could not present 
 it to you in a more tidy condition, but we have done 
 the best we could. And, in honor of my men, I wish 
 to say to you, that during our stay in this house I 
 have not heard a word said that might not have been 
 properly spoken in your presence. We look upon you 
 as the first white woman that ever came to reside ia 
 this township. You will feel lonesome, perhf s, at 
 fiirst, but let me say, you will not be long alone." 
 
 " Durinor the week that we have been waiting for 
 
SOMK WHITE GIPSIES. 
 
 137 
 
 iiitle- 
 lurincr 
 
 I' Syl- 
 
 •esent 
 
 done 
 
 wish 
 
 isel 
 
 been 
 
 you 
 
 Ide in 
 
 lO-'t, at 
 
 Icy for 
 
 vour husband's return we have assisted Mr. Beach to 
 put up a house on the lot next to this, and within 
 three iii')nths he expects to have his family settled 
 there. 
 
 " Also, Mr. Hawthorn has sent home fumls to hnn<r 
 out his family. His lot is just over the boundary, and 
 he intends to settle there in two or three months. 
 I think that by the first of September you will 
 have a warm-hearted Irishwoman and a true-hearted 
 Englishwoman for near neighbors. And it is not 
 improbable that next summer I may bring to the 
 loeaHty the best American woman in the State of 
 Michigan, Mrs. Root. May you long live to be the pre- 
 I siding genius of Sylvan Lodge, and an angel of mercy 
 I in the settlement." 
 
 The whole company cheered Mr. Root as he sat 
 [down. " Mrs. Bushman " was called for. 
 
 Mary, covered with blushes, for the first time in her 
 
 t'e attempted to make a speech. She said: " Mr. Root, 
 [and gentlemen, I thank you sincerely for your kind 
 Iwishes, ami for the cheering information you have 
 Ifiiven me. And I want to say to all of you, that if at 
 
 ' time any of you find the need of rest or refresh- 
 ments, don't pass by this place. The door of this 
 house will never be closed in the face of either the 
 liungry or- the weary." 
 
 "These are truly spoken words, brave little woman," 
 laid John to his wife. " And I will stand by you in 
 llus thing, Mary, as long as we have a shelter over our 
 leads or a crumb on our table." 
 
 Trust in the Lord, and do good, and thou shalt 
 
138 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 la 
 
 dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt bo fed.' 
 This," said Mrs. Myrtle, " is an old promise, made cen- 
 turies ago, but thousands have proved it to be true. 
 You may do the same." 
 
 The wagr^ons were soon unloaded, and an invitation 
 to wait for some dinner gladly accepted by Mr. Root 
 and his men. After this was over the road-makers 
 took their leave, after extorting a promise from Mr. 
 Bushman and Scjuire Myrtle to make them a visit at 
 their shanty before returning to their homes. 
 
 After the men went away all parties wore busy in 
 examining the place. John's father and father-in-law 
 were greatly taken up with the land and timber. 
 They also gave John credit for the neat and tasty way 
 in which the house was built. In fact, they expressed 
 satisfaction with the appearance of everything they 
 saw. 
 
 Mary and her mother, with the help of Will Briars, 
 were not long in setting things up in the house. There 
 were no stoves to be put up in those days, but an old- 
 fashioned fireplace answered the same purpose. With 
 its lug-pole and trammel hooks, and flagstone heartli, 
 sooty chimney, and its bed of hot coals, on which sets 
 the old-time bake-kettle, with its big loaf of bread in 
 it, and its shovelful of coals on the top, seems to the 
 memory like a fading picture of the long ago. But 
 fading and fanciful as this picture may seem to the 
 housekeepers of to-day, it represents what was a do- 
 mestic reality two generations back in this Ontario of 
 ours in thousands of homes. 
 
 Mary's mother had provided the wide and shallow I 
 
f, 
 
 SOME WHITK GIPSIES. 
 
 139 
 
 bake-kettle, with its iron lid, and the long-handled 
 frying-pan as its accompaniment, these being among 
 the indisponsables in the backwoods. 
 
 When the things were all placed, the house was far 
 from being an uncomfortable one. It was divided into 
 three rooni.'a by rough board partitions. In one corner 
 wa.s the ladder, by which the " loft " or upper part of 
 the house was reached. 
 
 The " upstairs " of a log house is an in<lescribable 
 place. If the reader has ever seen the upper room of 
 a log house, no description of mine is needed. If he 
 has never seen it, no description could make him fully 
 appreciate the reality. It would pay him to travel 
 fifteen or twenty miles, climb up a ladder eight or ten 
 feet, and look around him. If he does this he will 
 soon see that the place, like a bachelor's hall, 
 
 Is a store-house of comical oddities. 
 
 Things that have never been neighbors before. 
 
 He will likely see all sorts of things, ranging from 
 a baby's cast-ofF shoe to a high-post bedstead, with 
 curtains of glazed cambric in bright colors. 
 
 Before night the premises had been pretty tho- 
 roui^hly explored. Mary and her mother were delighted 
 with the beautiful little lake, with its evergreen sur- 
 roundings. And right there and then John had to 
 give them a promise that he would not cut away the 
 pretty Canadian balsam trees that stood a little back 
 jfrom the water, and threw their cone-like shadows 
 I upon the mirror-like surface of the lake. 
 
 When the two fathers and John took a walk 
 
 10 
 
140 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 r it 
 
 ■I 
 
 around the lake, they all agreed that it would be 
 folly to cut down the trees of cedar, spruce and bal- 
 sam that so completely environed it. 
 
 " Thin them out, John," said his father, " by ciittinij 
 out the underbrush, and clean off the rubbish. Then 
 seed it down. In a year or two you will have one of 
 the finest retreats that could be desired for cattle in 
 the hot summer days." 
 
 " Don't think of cutting them down, John," said 
 the Squire, " not for years to come, at all events— not 
 until their increased size makes it dangerous to leave 
 them standing." 
 
 When they came around to the house again, Mary 
 said to John, " What are those tall trees away off 
 over the lake? They stand so high above the other 
 trees, that they seem to be looking down on all their 
 neighbors." 
 
 " Yes, little wife," said he laughing, " that is what 
 they are doing, I hope that you will never get so high 
 and lofty, that you will look down on any person of 
 good character. These trees are the aristocrats of the 
 forest. They are pines. The oak is stronger, the maple | 
 is hardier, and the cedar is more durable, but none | 
 of them can compare with the pine in height. These 
 trees are on my land, and are the tallest among a j 
 pinery of about fifteen acres." 
 
 Night came on and sent the company into the house,! 
 where they spent a couple of hours in friendly chat, 
 and retired, after prayers by Mr. Bushman. Will am 
 Moses slept up stairs and the rest below. 
 
Chapter XI 
 
 CLEARING LAND. 
 
 JHE latter part of the month of April, in some 
 seasons, brings a spell of dry weather. This 
 was the case the sprinjr that John and his friends 
 went to the bush. The two fathers had made their 
 arrangements to stay a week with the young people, 
 and help to clear off a piece of land for spring wheat. 
 The first thing to be done was to burn the heaps of 
 brush that were thick and numerous all over John's 
 twelve acres of chopping, with the exception of a small 
 space by the house, which had been burnt in the fall. 
 The most of the chopping having been done while the 
 leaves were on the trees, the brush heaps were in good 
 condition for burning. 
 
 There is something that is awe-inspiring in seeing 
 a large fire anywhere ; but to one who, for the first 
 time, witnesses the burning of a large new fallow, 
 when everything is dry as tinder, there are thoughts 
 and feelings present that will not soon or ea.sily be 
 forgotten. 
 
 As he listens to the crackling of the flames, as 
 they consume whatever they fasten on, he will think 
 
142 
 
 AMONG THE FORKST TREP:S. 
 
 v. 
 
 of the time when, " the heavens being on fire, shall 
 be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat." 
 
 As he sees the smoke risinj^ in dark and whirlinf 
 columns, as it ascends towards the sky, he is reininded 
 of the " smoke that ascendeth for ever and ever." 
 
 As he watches the fire leaping up in cones of flame, 
 rising higher and higher, as the heat increases, until 
 it seems to send up its blazing tongues as if to kiss 
 the sun, he will think of a world on fire. 
 
 And as the heated air rises and the cool air rushes in, 
 from all directions, scattering the sparks and burning 
 leaves here and yonder, he will think of the whirlwind 
 of wrath, that will some day sweep all the enemies 
 of good into the destruction that awaits the ungodly 
 of every kind. 
 
 About eleven o'clock in the morning, the three 
 young men started out with lighted torches, made of 
 dry cedar, to set the brush on fire, ''he older men 
 and the women were to stay by the house, with pails 
 of water to put out any little fire that might kindle 
 too near the house or stable. 
 
 The progress of the young men could be followed 
 by the track of smoke and flame that they left behind 
 them, and in about twenty minutes the whole clearing 
 with the exception of the little space was in a solid 
 mass of smoke and flame. They all stood and looked 
 at the scene before them, until the heat sent the women 
 into the house. The men, blinded by the smoke, 
 covered with ashes and dust, and dripping with per- 
 spiration, battled back the fire when it came danger- 1 
 
 ously n 
 
 of the i 
 
 "Bui 
 
 no har 
 
 MoosL'W 
 
 "Boy 
 
 you lik( 
 
 We can' 
 
 both pk 
 
 house an 
 
 " Johr 
 
 Mrs. My 
 
 "No, 
 
 "It see 
 
 danger ir 
 
 I suppos 
 
 hundred ] 
 
 do if you 
 
 hear you 
 
 way horn 
 
 " Well, 
 
 do," said 
 
 in any sue 
 
 travel bei 
 
 in the wrc 
 
 tion to a 
 
 that to tl 
 
 Ontario, b 
 
 to take mj 
 
 ^ we wou 
 
 "vhen we ff 
 
CLEARING LAND. 
 
 143 
 
 ously near to the house, but in half an hour the hardest 
 of the tight was over. 
 
 " Burnt as bhick as your hat and nobody hurt and 
 no harm done," was tlie hiconic remark of Moses 
 Mooisewood at one o'clock p.m. that April day. 
 
 " Boys," said John to William and Moses, " would 
 you like to take a stroll and have a look at your lo'^s? 
 We can't well do any more here to-day." They were 
 both pleased with the proposal. They went into the 
 house and loaded two guns to take with them. 
 
 " John, are you not afraid of getting lost?" inquired 
 Mrs. Myrtle. 
 
 " No, mother, I cannot say that I am." 
 
 "It seems to me," .she answered, " that there is great 
 danofer in getting lost in such an unbroken wilderness. 
 I suppose that in some directions you might go a 
 hundred miles and not find a house. What would you 
 do if you got off* where you could not make anybody 
 hear you holla — and when you could not tell the 
 way home." 
 
 " Well, in that case I don't know what we would 
 do," said he, " but we are not going to place ourselves 
 in any such position ? But you ask, how far would we 
 travel before we would lind a house if we started 
 in the wrong direction ? That would be a hard ques- 
 tion to answer. The Indians and old hunters say 
 that to the north there are lakes as large as Lake 
 Ontario, but they are a long way off. I don't intend 
 to take my friends to hunt up these northern waters, 
 as we would find nothing better than fish and Indians 
 when we got to them." 
 
144 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 
 
 
 "Have you a compass ? " asked Mrs. Myrtle. 
 
 " No, we don't need one," said John. 
 
 " How can you tell in what direction you are rroing 
 without a compass ?" .she a.sked. 
 
 " Wherever nature has planted a hemlock tree, there 
 it has planted a compass, and one too, that is not 
 affected by mineral deposits," answered John. 
 
 " How is that," incjuired John's father, who catiie in 
 just in time to hear the remark. 
 
 " Last summer," said he, " two Indians came along niie 
 day, and asked for somethin<]j to eat. After they had 
 taken what I gave them, one of them said: 'Me like to 
 gib white brother .some to pay my dinner. Me hab no 
 money, but me tell you someting. Did white brother 
 ever see hemlock compash ? Me guess not. Look at 
 that tree dere,' said the Indian, pointing to a large one 
 that is chopped down since. ' Look up-up to very 
 top. You see him lean over to east. Every one hem- 
 lock lean over to see sun rise, sun home of Great 
 Spirit,' said he. 
 
 " As they were starting away I asked thein their 
 names, and where they lived. The old one answered, 
 my name is Leaning Tree. My friend's name is Bend- 
 ing Limb. We live in Huron country,, at Saugeen 
 River." 
 
 '* There is a germ of pleasant thought 
 Here by the wildwood Indian taught. 
 That nature bows a reverent head 
 When morning sun comes from its bed." 
 
 " Well, John," said the Squire, " do you think there is 
 any truth in the Indian's notion about the hemlock ?" 
 
OLEAUlNa LAND. 
 
 14') 
 
 "Decidedly there is truth in it," said John. "You 
 cant find a hemlock tree that the top branch don't 
 lean to the east, unless the top has been broken off. 
 And with this fact to start with, we can find any 
 point where we have hemlock timber to look to." 
 
 " How is it that we never heard of that before? We 
 have Indians in our vicinity, and we never hear any- 
 thing like that among them," was the remark of John's 
 father. 
 
 " I suppose," answered John, " tliat one reason is 
 because hemlock is not plentiful in that part of the 
 country, so that the Indians have some other method 
 of finding their way from point to point." 
 
 I have omitted to mention that two dogs had been 
 brou<,dit along with the company; the one was a large 
 mastiff', and the other a gray bull -dog, witli a mixture 
 of Scotch terrier. This dog was allowed to follow the 
 young men to the bush. He belonged to Mose. 
 
 They soon came to the corner of Will Briars' lot. 
 Here they saw the pretty little spring, by the side of 
 which the surveyors were taking their dinner when 
 they heard the sound of John's axe the year before. 
 Will and Mose were delighted with the place. 
 
 " Here," said Will, " I shall build my house, and 
 there will be no wells to dig." 
 
 " Yes," said Mose. " You can build your stable in 
 that low place down there by the big hemlock. Then 
 you can fix spouts to take the water as it pours out of 
 the rock, and carry it right into the stalls without 
 once having to lift it. Won't that be handy ? " 
 
 " Look, boys," said John. " See ; that big tree-top 
 
146 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 
 
 
 ^l 
 
 leans to the east. Now we will go east about half a 
 mile, and see what the land is like. Then we will turn 
 south about half a mile. That will take us on the 
 lot that has been applied for by Mose. Then we will 
 turn west for half a mile, then north for half a mile, 
 and come back to the place of starting, as the docu- 
 ments say. Now let us see how nicely we can go 
 around a square by the help of the Indians' hemlock 
 compass." 
 
 " All right," said the other two. " You go on, and we 
 will follow." 
 
 " Well," said John, " I will go ahead, and let Mose 
 keep two rods behind me, and let Will keep two 
 rods behind him, on a straight line. We will start 
 east, and if I turn to the right or left Will must tell 
 me. In this way we can go almost as straight as a 
 staked line, if we are careful." 
 
 They started, and went on as fast as they could 
 walk. The dog kept taking little circles, and some- 
 times chasing a chipmunk to its hole, and at other 
 times treeing a red squirrel. He kept himself in mo- 
 tion till they came to the tirst turning point, according 
 to their reckoning. While they were getting their bear- 
 ing for the next start Will cried out, 
 
 " See that strange-looking thing there ?" pointing 
 with his finger. " What in the world is it ?" 
 
 On looking, John saw something moving on the 
 ground that seemed to be neither walking nor run- 
 ning, but it was waddling along a little faster than a 
 snail, but not quite as fast as a duck. 
 
 When John sa a^ what it was he said to Mose, " Call 
 
CLEARING LAND. 
 
 147 
 
 your clog, and hold him, for it will ruin him it" he gets 
 hold of that creature. It is a porcupine." 
 
 But it was too late The dog had got his eye on the 
 porcuphie, and in less time than it takes to write it he 
 had bold of it. For a couple of minutes it seemed as 
 thouirh the dog was shaking a basliet tilled with white 
 thornpins, and scattering them at such a rate that it 
 was dirficult to see the dog or his victim. 
 
 But the light was soon over, and the porcupine lay 
 dead, nearly torn to pieces by the ferocious dog. But 
 such a looking dog as was there to be seen is not often 
 found. His mouth and eyes, and face and neck, and 
 breast were thick with quills. In fact, lie looked as 
 though he had suddenly turned himself into a porcu- 
 pine, only the quills were stuck in the wrong way. 
 It was a sad sight to witness the sufferings of the poor 
 brute as he rolled on the ground, and tried to dig the 
 quills out of his mouth with his paws ; and in every 
 possible way he seemed to try to make them under- 
 stand his tortures, and to ask them to help him. 
 
 After a while John said to Mose, " You can do as you 
 hke, but if that was my dog I would put him out of his 
 misery as soon as possible. He never can get over this, 
 and the longer he lives the more will he suffer." 
 
 Mose said, " Boys, if either of you can put him out 
 of pain by shooting him, I wish you would do it, for I 
 confess I have not the heart to kill the poor brute, 
 after he has come with me so far from his good home." 
 
 John Bushman quietly lifted his rifle, and in two 
 minutes the dog lay dead beaide his victim and his 
 destroyer. 
 
148 
 
 AMONri THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 The three formed into line and started south for 
 half a mile, as near as they could guess it. They then 
 turned west, and at the end of another half mile they 
 turned north. 
 
 "Now," said John, " we shall soon see how the old 
 Indian's hemlock compass works, and what kind of 
 surveyors we are." 
 
 " For my part," said Mose, " I have been more in- 
 terested in the land and timber than I have in survey 
 ing. I never saw finer timber than we have come 
 through since we started." 
 
 " John," said Will Briars, " how will we know when 
 we get back to the starting-place ? We did not leave 
 any mark." 
 
 " The spring is there," answered John, " and the big 
 hemlock will be a guide to the spring. We can't mis- 
 take them both." 
 
 " Is it not wonderful what a Bushman one summer 
 in the woods has made of John," said Will to Mose. 
 
 " Yes," said Mose ; " do you think that we can learn 
 as much in so .short a time ? " 
 
 " Boys," said John, " none of us need pretend great 
 ignorance of the woods. We can easily remember 
 when there was plenty of bush in Pelham, and other 
 townships around where we were raised. But goint; 
 into a new place, and into a strange wilderness, is like 
 going into wicked company. One wants to keep bis 
 thoughts about him, so as not to forget where he is." 
 
 They now started north to find the spring. After 
 walking nearly half a mile, they saw the large hem- 
 lock, a little out of their course. But the deviation! 
 
 was so 
 result 
 .so they 
 and tli( 
 They 
 not mill 
 after t 
 afterno( 
 fate of 
 backwo( 
 tragical! 
 blame b 
 were bot 
 any one. 
 out of sif 
 but in CO 
 " Well, 
 been awa 
 thinofs, 
 spikes, an 
 cold wate 
 be worth 
 " When 
 " In a t 
 the edge c 
 1 am \ 
 ' often tho 
 I of spring 
 I rocky ledg 
 
 " Well, 
 
 I f^tfier, " aii 
 
 two or thr 
 
 
CLEARING LAND. 
 
 149 
 
 was so triflinj:^ that they were well satisfied with the 
 result of their experiment. It was now near sundown, 
 so they went home, and found that supper was ready, 
 and the people at the house were waiting for them. 
 
 They had an appetite for their supper, so there was 
 not much talking done by any of the young men till 
 lifter the eating was over. Then they related the 
 afternoon's adventures. Every one felt sorry for the 
 fate of poor Grip, as the dog was called. That his 
 backwoods life should terminate so suddenly and 
 tragically was sad indeed. But, as :io one was to 
 blame but Grip and the porcupine, and, since they 
 were both dead, there could be no reflections cast on 
 any one. So Grip, like many another hero, soon passed 
 out of sight and memory. Poor Grip ! he conquered, 
 but in conquering died. 
 
 " Well, boys," said Squire Myrtle, " since you have 
 been away Mr. Bushman and I have done two good 
 things. We have made half-a-dozen first-class hand- 
 spikes, and we have found a beautiful spring of clear, 
 cold water. The time will come when the spring will 
 be worth a good deal." 
 
 " Where is the spring ? " asked John, earnestly. 
 
 " In a thick clump of cedars, only a few feet from 
 the edge of the lake," answered the other. 
 
 " I am very glad to hear it," replied John ; " I have 
 often thought about water supply. But I had no idea 
 of springs about here, as the ground is so dry, with no 
 rocky ledges in it." 
 
 " Well, the spring is there, all right," said John's 
 I father, " and it is a good one. Water enough to supply 
 i two or three families." 
 
150 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Don't talk about springs," put in Mose, " till you 
 have seen Will's spring ; it comes out of the rock in a 
 stream the size of your arm, as clear as crystal, and as 
 cold as ice-water. It comes out about three feet from 
 the ground. By building his house in the right place, 
 he can carry the water in pipes to his kitchen, and 
 from there he can send it to his stable, and into the 
 troughs to his cattle, without either lifting the water 
 or takinof the animals out of the stall." 
 
 Next mornincj the five men went to work to clear 
 off ground for spring wheat. The two older men were 
 old hands at logging. The young men had not done 
 very much at it ; but they had some experience, and 
 were willing to learn. 
 
 John's oxen proved to be a good team for the work. 
 They seemed to know what had to be done, and how 
 to do it, and they would do their work without being 
 whipped up to it. The first day they logged and 
 " picked up " an acre or more. They fired the heaps 
 after night, before going to bed. Next morning the 
 heaps were well burned down. The operations of the 
 day before were repeated, another acre was logged off 
 and set fire to. 
 
 The next day was the Sabbath, and it was spent in 
 resting, and in religious worship and cohversation. 
 
 On Monday the two older men took a couple of 
 guns, and Rover, the big dog, and went to pay the 
 promised visit to Mr. Root and his men. The road was 
 cut out and logged to the place where the men were at 
 work, so there was no difficulty in finding their way. 
 
 They came back before sundown, bringing a lot of 
 
 partrif 
 shot tl 
 the Ian 
 did not 
 ■ time th 
 "Joh 
 years t( 
 section 
 "Itl: 
 north o; 
 south oi 
 "Wh{ 
 plenty c 
 Myrtle, 
 "Well 
 lot on p{ 
 I could ] 
 by looki 
 last spri] 
 rear, I fe 
 some set 
 would m 
 the diffic 
 I will ha 
 had wait' 
 The yo 
 so the Sq 
 along vei 
 could not 
 By W 
 cleared. 
 
 ^h 
 
 a 
 
CLEARINO LAND. 
 
 151 
 
 partridges, that Rover had started up, and the men had 
 shot them. They had a glowin-.^ account to give of 
 the land and timber where they had been. But they 
 did not see any signs of a house, or shanty, from the 
 time they left till they came back. 
 
 " John," said Mose, " You will be able to tell, in the 
 years to come, that you were the first settler in all this 
 section of country." 
 
 " I think," said John, " that I cut down the first tree 
 north of where Mr. Ashcraft lives, that is seven miles 
 south of this, you know." 
 
 " What made you come so far back, when there is 
 plenty of good land before you get to this ? " asked Mrs. 
 Myrtle, of John. 
 
 "Well," answered John, "you see, I picked out the 
 lot on paper, and the distance looked small on paper, 
 I could not tell which was settled, and which was not, 
 by looking at the surveyor's maps. But when I came 
 last spring, and found that my land was so far in the 
 rear, I felt a little like going back, and waiting till 
 some settlers would come in. But then I thought it 
 would not be manly. And I made up my mind to face 
 the difficulty, and I am glad now that I did so. Now 
 I will have a start sooner than I could have had if I 
 had waited for some one else to break the road." 
 
 The young men had made out a good day's work, 
 so the Squire said, and they felt that they could get 
 along very well without the older men. But they 
 could not do so much in a day. 
 
 By Wednesday night they had about five acres 
 cleared, all but hauling off the rail cuts. That one 
 
152 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 man and a team could do, and John was to do it, and 
 Mose was to go and help Will commence on his lot, till 
 John got his wheat sowed. Then Will was to heln at 
 the logging again. 
 
 On Thursday morning the old people started home. 
 Mary and her mother parted without any very bois- 
 terous demonstrations. They both had a good supply 
 of fortitude and self-control, so that the parting was 
 not as sensational as it would have been between per- 
 sons of a more volatile nature. Though they had 
 never before been apart for one week, and now they 
 were parting for at least a year, neither of them gave 
 way to her feelings. 
 
 After old Mr. Bushman saw how the two women 
 deported themselves, he said to John, " There is good 
 stuff. There are two Christian philosophers done up in 
 \ women's clothes. 
 
 William Briars wrote a long letter to Betsy, and 
 put a large red wax seal on it, that made it look like 
 some of the iuiposing legal documents of the present 
 day. Thi& he handed, with great caution and with 
 strict injunctions to secrecy, into the hands of Mrs, 
 Myrtle, who promised him that nobody should see it 
 or hear from it until she could place it in Betsy's own 
 hands. 
 
 Squire Myrtle was to send the papers for the lot 
 
 when he got them, for Mose. He was to direct them 
 
 ' to Greenbush post-ofRce, a new office opened since last 
 
 -fall. This would be only twenty miles away, Mose 
 
 said he could go and come in a day. 
 
 After receiving many loving messages to those at 
 
CLEARING LAND. 
 
 153 
 
 home, from all the young people, the two teams started 
 homeward about eight o'clock in the morning of a 
 warm, bright April day. After they were out of sight 
 John said to the other young men : 
 
 " Now, boys, we're in for it, to sink or to swim, to 
 succeed or to fail, to live or to die. Boys, what this 
 neijijhborhood is to be in future years very largely 
 depends upon us. Shall it be a respectable, orderly, 
 well-doing neighborhood ; or shall it be the home of 
 rowdyism, and the birth-place of all kinds of mischief ? 
 Now let U.S, right here and now, solemnly pledge 
 ourselves to three things. First, we will always do 
 what we think is the right thing, by everybody ; 
 secondly, we will, both by precept and example, 
 discourage others from doing what is wrong; and. 
 thirdly, we will stand by each other, no matter who 
 else may come here, and no matter what may happen 
 in the settlement. If we do as I propose, we will be 
 a source of strength to each other, and a blessing to 
 the community." 
 
 " I am ready to do as you say John," said Mose, " I 
 know that I shall need help, and I am willing to do 
 what I can to help others." 
 
 " What do you say Will," asked John. 
 
 " As to that," said Will, " I am with you until the 
 end of my life, by the help of God." 
 
 "We will consider that matter signed, sealed and 
 delivered," John said, as he walked into the house to 
 see what Mary was doing. 
 
 He found her standing at the table washing up the 
 breakfast dishes. 
 
154 
 
 AMON(i TMK FDHKST TRKES. 
 
 He turned her face up, and kissed her, and said, 
 " Are you sorry, Mary, that you took the situation of 
 a pioneer's wife ? " 
 
 " No, John," she answered ; " I did it voluntarily, 
 because I wanted to be where you are, I expect to be 
 lonesome for a time; but under the great guiding hand 
 it will all come right in time. I like to be a pioneer's 
 wife, John; I certainly do. 
 
Chapter XII. 
 
 rar 
 
 
 SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 (^Y the first of May John had the ground ready 
 
 for his spring wheat and oats. He had brought 
 
 with him some tools, a thing that every man 
 
 going into the bush ought to do. If necessity is not 
 
 the mother of invention, it certainly is a mighty 
 
 stimulant to the inventor. At the dictation of 
 
 necessity men not only adapt themselves to new 
 
 modes of living, but they frequently become experts 
 
 at new methods of securing a livelihood. Mechanics 
 
 becorae farmers, and farmers are turned into mechanics, 
 
 and both become something else, as circumstances 
 
 change. 
 
 And a man that can not, or will not try to comply 
 
 th these demands of new country life, should never 
 
 bink of being a pioneer. If he does, the chances 
 
 gainst his success are fully nine to one ; and it is a 
 
 oral certainty that he will have a desptsrate hard 
 
 lime of it at best. A man that can't make a handle 
 
 nd hang an axe, or grind and hang a scythe, had 
 
 etter allow some one else to do the pioneering, and 
 
 ait till the country is supplied with the various 
 
 ad*:smen before he goes to live in it. 
 II 
 
156 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 I I 
 
 People who have no ingenuity about them have no 
 business in the backwoods, not even as hunters, lest 
 they get lost and are never heard of more, or are 
 found only in a condition to be buried. 
 
 But John Bushman was not one of this sort. Hv 
 had energy and ingenuity. And althougli lie lia^l 
 spent his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, he 
 had got a good many mechanical ideas, and about 
 home he was called " handy," whatever that means. 
 
 He went to work and made himself a three stjuaiv 
 harrow, or drag, as it was often called in those (lay.>. 
 But he made one .slight mistake in putting in tlie 
 teeth. Instead of putting them in straight, or slantiiiif 
 them back a little, he .slanted them forward a little. 
 And it was wonderful how that harrow would tear up 
 the ground. But it was also marvellous liow it 
 would hold on to a stump or a root when it caught 
 fast to them. 
 
 John was well pleased with his work, and he made 
 that harrow do service for two or three years. He 
 said he could afford to stop and lift it when it got fast, 
 because it did such good work when it was moving. 
 
 Next morning, after breakfast, John said to Wiili 
 and Mose, "Boys, I want you and Mary to come outj 
 and see me sow some wheat." 
 
 " What for ? " inquired they. 
 
 " Because in after years, when this cotnitry is all 
 cleared up, and everything is changed, I want you toj 
 be able to say, that you saw the first handful of grain! 
 sown in this township. It will be something for vodI 
 to tell your children of, you know," 
 
 vour 
 niarri 
 "W 
 renier 
 about 
 "W 
 Marv, 
 for tiftn 
 " Wi 
 " Yes 
 and see 
 John 
 stakes, 
 ground i 
 measure 
 seed \vi 
 ward. 
 
 After 
 
 and Mo,' 
 
 " Yes, 
 
 Then 
 
 here, my 
 
 lively, or 
 
 that We > 
 
 at every 
 
 always t( 
 
 The,se, vo 
 
 "Yes,t 
 
 very safel 
 
 one. But 
 
SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 157 
 
 e umw 
 
 :s. He 
 
 .■ot fast, 
 
 ving. 
 
 to Will 
 
 line out 
 
 IV is all! 
 
 you tOl 
 
 lot" grain] 
 for yoiil 
 
 " Children, indeed," said Will. " Yes, John, I like 
 vour .su^^gestion. But is it not wonderful how soon 
 married folks learn to talk like fathers and mothers ?" 
 
 " We were children not long ago," said Mose, " and I 
 remember how 1 always liked to hear my mother tell 
 about things that happened when she was a girl." 
 
 " Well, come on,"' said John. " But, hold a moment. 
 Mary, I want a couple of pieces of cloth of some kind 
 for flags, so that I can go straight, and sow even." 
 
 " Will white towels do ?" she inquired. 
 
 " Yes, anything that I can tie on the end of a stake, 
 and see it across the Held," said he. 
 
 John took the cloths and fastened them to two 
 stakes, one of which he placed at each end of the 
 ground to be sowed. Then he began to march with a 
 measured step across the ground, and scattered the 
 seed wheat broadcast as he went backward and for- 
 ward. 
 
 After he had gone a few rounds Mary said to Will 
 and Mose, " He looks like a farmer already, don't he?" 
 
 " Yes, he does," said they. 
 
 Then turning to Moses, Will Briars said, " Look 
 here, my friend, we have got to hustle things pretty 
 lively, or John will leave us so far behind in the race 
 that we will forget that we started with him. He goes 
 at everything in a systematic way, and he seems 
 always to do his best at everything he undertakes. 
 The,se, you know, are the men that come out ahea'^ " 
 
 "Yes, that is true," said the other. "And we n./ 
 very safely take him for a pattern in more ways than 
 one. But is it not time we were going to work ? " 
 
158 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 H 
 
 " Don't get too proud of your farmer, Mary," they 
 said to her as they went off to their work. 
 
 By this time John had got ready to start the harrow. 
 He had often driven a team to harrow on his father's 
 farm, but this was the first time that he had his own 
 team hitched to his own harrow, and putting his own 
 grain into his own ground. 
 
 He started to work, and as the harrow teeth tore up 
 the fresh, black soil, John thouL'ht that he had never 
 seen finer land. And as he walked along behind the 
 oxen, and watched his work, with an occasional glance 
 at Mary, who sat in the door looking at him at his 
 work, John took a sort of mental inventory of his 
 possessions. First, and foremost, there was his young 
 and prudent wife, next came his two hundred acres of 
 good land, then his cattle and other property, then his 
 health and dexterity, then his kind friends. "All 
 these," he said to himself, " with an approving con- 
 science, and the assurance of Divine favor, ought to 
 make any man happy." 
 
 He worked away with a light heart, and by the 
 time the other men came home from their work he 
 hao one bushel of wheat nicely harrowed in. The 
 next day was Sabbath, and it was spent much the 
 same as was the last one, only there was less variety 
 in the exercises, as there were not so many to take 
 part in them. But it was a day of rest and refresh- 
 ment to all of them. 
 
 As the evening came on, and as they sat around the 
 fire, Moses said to the rest of them, " Do you know 
 that since I changed my course of life I have more 
 
 V 
 
SOWING AND HEAPING. 
 
 159 
 
 r-al enjoyment in one day than I had in a whole year 
 before. I used to think that, for a young person, a 
 religious life was like a winter's fog, both dark and 
 freezing. But I never knew what heart sunshine was 
 until 1 gave my heart to the Master." 
 
 " I believe you, Moses," said John. " I have had the 
 same kind of experience, and can testify that what 
 you say is true." 
 
 " liut, John," replied he, " you never had one part of 
 my experience — I mean the wild, reckless, sinful past. 
 You never used to do such things as I and many 
 others did." 
 
 " Outwardly I might not have appeared so bad, but, 
 you know, sin has its headquarters in the heart. My 
 heart, Mose, might be as bad as yours, and yet, being 
 ditierently constituted, and being under different influ- 
 ences, the evil in me might not show itself to the 
 world to the same extent. And this, too, not by any 
 desire on my part to deceive the world, but by the 
 force of circumstances which threw around me power- 
 ful restraints." 
 
 " Do you think, John," broke in Will Briars, " that 
 we can't tell what a man is by what he does, unless 
 we know him fully ?" 
 
 " Not in all cases, though we can in some. If we 
 see a man committing wilful and deliberate sin, we 
 need not be told that he is a sinful man, ' for by their 
 fruits ye shall know them.' But if we see a correct 
 outward deportment, we cannot always tell whether 
 this deportment springs from a principle of right, in- 
 fluencing the actor, or whether the action may not be 
 
160 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 the result of some other cause. We give the actor credit 
 for the outward act, but the hidden motives we must 
 leave to be .searched out by a wisdom higher and 
 deeper than our own." 
 
 On Monday morning, after breakfast, Mary said to 
 Will and Mose: 
 
 " How much coaxing will it take to get you two to 
 stay and help me to-day ?" 
 
 " What do you want done ? " asked they. 
 
 " I want a nice hen-house built for my chick ';ns and 
 ducks. The hens are laying, and unless they are shut 
 in for a while, I am afraid they will steal oft' in the 
 woods, and the eggs will he lost, and perhaps the foxes 
 or some other chicken-eaters will take the hens," was 
 her ansv/er, 
 
 " I wonder if Rover could catch a fox ? I would like 
 to see him after one," said Mose. 
 
 " I hardly think he could catch a fox in the woods," 
 answered John; " but if he had it in an open field he 
 might." 
 
 " Chasing foxes won't answer my question or build 
 my hen-pen," said Mary good naturedly. 
 
 " The mistress of Sylvan Lodge has only to issue 
 her mandate to ensure attention and obedience on the 
 part of her dependents," said Mose with a laugh. 
 
 " Don't make fun of me, Mose. You are not my 
 dependents," Mary said. 
 
 " Yes we are, too," said he ; " for if you should turn 
 against us, who would cook our victuals, wash our 
 clothes, make up our beds, and keep us out of mis- 
 chief ?" 
 
 '•' .1 
 
SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 161 
 
 " My ! but that is a long, long list of questions to 
 ask, and so soon after eating your breakfast, too. I 
 don't see how you could think of them all at once," 
 she answered. " But, seriously, I want the hen-pen 
 huilt." 
 
 'And you shall have it," Will Briars said; "only 
 tell us where you want it to stand, and give the size 
 and description of it." 
 
 " For instructions in this I must refer you to John. 
 He knows better than I do where to place it," said 
 Mary. 
 
 Before John went to his harrowing, he hauled up a 
 lot of poles for the hen-pen, and by night the young 
 men had the job completed, to the entire satisfaction 
 of all concerned. 
 
 By the end of the week John had four acres of 
 wheat, and one acre of oats, and a half an acre of 
 millet, sowed and nicely harrowed in. Will and Mose, 
 too, bad got about ten acres underbrushed and an acre 
 cho))pevl. 
 
 The next thing in order now, was to split the rails, 
 and fence the fields of grain, to keep the cattle from it. 
 This is an important part of the work on a bush 
 farm. The rails are made from any kind of timber 
 that can be split into pieces of suitable length, and 
 small enough to be handled by one man. Cedar and 
 pine are, perhaps, the best timber for rails. But vari- 
 ous other timber is used, such as oak, either black or 
 white, black or white ash, beech, elm, basswood, 
 hickory, chestnut, and sometimes the knotty hemlock is 
 made into rails. 
 
162 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 John and Mose went to rail-splitting and fence- 
 making. They found it pretty hard work at first. 
 But they soon got used to it, and then it was like any 
 other work, after one gets accustomed to it. 
 
 About two weeks were spent in fencing, and by that 
 time a good fence surrounded the sowed land, along 
 with an acre for potatoes and vegetables of various 
 kinds. By this time, too, the grain was nicely up, and 
 beginning to look green, giving the place quite a farm- 
 like aspect, and driving away the look of wild loneli- 
 ness that is found in connection with a house standing 
 alone in a burnt piece of ground among the stumps. 
 
 Mary had got her ducks and geese so used to her 
 that they would come at her call. She would let them 
 out for a swim on thj lake an hour or two in the 
 middle of the day. Then .she would call them up and 
 feed them, and shut them in, for fear of foxes. 
 
 The woods now began to show signs of summer, in 
 the unfolding leaves, and the opening blossoms. 
 Various wild wood flowers began to show their beauty, 
 and numerous forest plants sprung up from their cold 
 wintry beds and, shaking off their covering of autumn 
 leaves, that kind nature spread over them in the fall, 
 they once more began to spread their leaves and add 
 beauty and attraction to the scene, as their predeces- 
 sors had done for a thousand generations. 
 
 "John, what are these ? " said Will, one evening, as 
 he threw down on the table a handful of some kind of 
 plants, or rather of different kinds of plants. 
 
 Looking them over carefully, and after smelling 
 some of them, John answered : " These are adder- 
 
 leeks : 
 butter 
 leek.s- 
 them- 
 taste ti 
 ourselv 
 Thi.s." .< 
 leaf, ' 
 base. 
 
SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 163 
 
 tongues, or some call them deer-tongues. These are 
 leeks; they arc the best things to spoil milk and 
 butter that grow in the woods. If the cows eat the 
 leeks — and they are sure to do so, if they can find 
 them — the milk and butter will have such a ' leeky ' 
 taste that it can be used only after eating the leeks 
 ourselves. That seems to take the bad taste away. 
 This," said he, picking up a plant with a large, round 
 leaf. " is called Adam and Eve. And here is cow cab- 
 bage. And this strange looking plant is the skunk 
 cabbage." 
 
 " How many more kinds of cabbage can you find in 
 the woods ? " inquired Mose. 
 
 " About as many as you can find cabbage eaters in 
 the clearing," said John. 
 
 One morning soon after these plants had been ex- 
 amined, on going into the yard, John found that an 
 addition had been made to his stock, in the shape of a 
 line heifer calf. 
 
 "Now," said Mary, when John told her, "I shall 
 .soon have some milk, and when Cherry follows the 
 example of old Brindle, we can make our own butter, 
 and raise the calves, too." 
 
 "Well, Mary," said he, jokingly, "If that is not 
 counting the chickens before they are hatched, it is 
 making butter before the cream is soured." 
 
 " Never you mind, John, the cream will be here, and 
 the butter too, in due time." 
 
 By this time the planting was all done, and the 
 grain was looking well, and everything seemed to be 
 prospering with these people in the wilderness. 
 
164 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " John," said Moses one night, before he retired, " I 
 have a mind to go out to the post-office to-morrow, and 
 see if those papers have come. Yoii know it's over a 
 month since they were sent for. They ought to be on 
 hand by this time ; don't you think so ? " 
 
 " All right," said John. " But you will need to start 
 early to go there and back in one day." 
 
 " If Mary will put up something for me to take 
 along to eat, I will start as soon as it is light, and take 
 my breakfast as I walk along." 
 
 " Certainly, I will give you something to take along 
 with you. But you are not to go before you have 
 breakfast, I will see to that," Mary replied. 
 
 " Now, I don't wish to give you any bother, Mary, 
 said he, " and I will do first-rate on a lunch for one 
 day." 
 
 " Whether you can or not, you won't get the chance 
 to try to-morrow, if I am alive and well in the 
 morning." 
 
 " Better let her have her way, Mose," said John, 
 " for I suppose she is like other women in that. I 
 once heard an old man say that — 
 
 ' When she will, she will, and you may depend on it ; 
 And when she won't, she won't, and tliat's the end on it.' 
 
 And he said that all women are that way." 
 
 " Well, I shall not contend with her about the 
 
 breakfast," said Mose. That would be too much like 
 
 a man quarrelling with his own bread and butter. " 
 " In the morning, by sunrise, Mosbs was on his way 
 
 to Greenbush post-office. But not before he had his| 
 
SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 165 
 
 breakfast, and a good one, too ; for Mary said that 
 "when a man is jGjoing to walk all day, he needs some- 
 thing substantial to start on." 
 
 When John went to the yard that morning he found 
 another calf among the stock ; a heifer, like the other. 
 
 " Now," said Mary, " I shall not have time to feel 
 lonesome. With two cows to milk, and two calves to 
 feed, and with chickens, and ducks, and goslings to 
 take care of, and butter-making, and bread-baking, 
 and cooking, and washing, and scrubbing, surely I can 
 employ myself so that I will not feel lonely." 
 
 When Will came in at evening, he said he had news 
 to tell them, and on being asked what it was, he said : 
 " This afternoon a man came to me, who says he has 
 the lot right opposite mine, on the other side of the 
 boundary. He has commenced working on it, and 
 he has a temporary little shanty up already. He 
 did not know that he would have neighbors so near 
 him till he heard me chopping, and came to see who it 
 was. He was greatly pleased when he found that he 
 was so near the oldest settler in the township." 
 
 " Well, I am thinking that he will be the pioneer in 
 the township of Oakland, for that is where he is. 
 Where did he come from, and did he tell you his 
 name ? " said John. 
 
 " He comes from the township of Ashdown, and his 
 name is Woodbine. He is a man about thirty years 
 old, and he has a wife and two children. He is a fine 
 looking man, and he is a Lowland Scotchman. But he 
 came ten years ago to this country." 
 
 " I am glad to hear of such men coming into the 
 
166 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 neighborhood. They will help to build up the place," 
 replied John. 
 
 It was now getting dark, and Mose had not yet 
 returned. 
 
 " I wonder where Mose is by this time," said Will. 
 
 " That would be a little hard to tell, especially since 
 we have had no experience as to the length of time it 
 takes to go over the road he has to walk over," was 
 John's answer. 
 
 " I can answer your question," said Mary. " He is 
 just now between the stable and the house. I see him 
 through the window." 
 
 By this time Mose came in and sat down, saying, 
 " Boys, but I am tired and hungry." 
 
 " We don't doubt that, Mose. Forty miles of walk- 
 ing, over a rough road, is enough to tire anybody. 
 But pull off your boots, and put on these slippers," 
 said John, as he reached and took a pair of slippers 
 from a shelf, and gave them to Mose. 
 
 " Mary," said Mose, " what can you do for me now I 
 You did grandly this morning." 
 
 " Your supper is all ready for you. I put it beside 
 the fire, in the bake-kettle, to keep it warm till you 
 came home. I will have it on the table by the time 
 you get yourself washed and ready for it," she said. 
 
 While Mose was eating his supper, John and Will 
 went out to fix things up for the night. After they 
 had gone, Mose took out of his side pocket a large 
 letter, and, holding it up, said to Mary, " Look here, 
 what I found in the office for William Briars. I think 
 it is from Betsy." 
 
 He pu 
 
 the other 
 
 " Well, 
 
 " Plent 
 
 right, so 
 
 glad of i 
 
 makes m( 
 
 "What 
 
 is it 1 " 
 
 "No, n( 
 
 Take it tl 
 
 Will to( 
 
 at the sea 
 
 "How r 
 
 up along f 
 
 we came h 
 
 "Perhaj 
 
 " Well, ;; 
 
 " Is that 
 
 " There 
 
 craft's, anc 
 
 and talked 
 
 young me 
 
 married m 
 
 " How fi 
 
 "About 
 
 " Well, t 
 
 settler risrh 
 
 g' 
 
 "lam 
 
 John. 
 "Here,) 
 
 letter, and 
 
-X 
 
 SOWING AND REAPING. 
 
 167 
 
 He put it back, and by the time he finished his meal 
 the others came in. 
 
 " Well, Mose," said John, " what is the news ? " 
 
 " Plenty of news," said he ; "1 got my papers all 
 right, so that I now know what I am to do. I am 
 cflad of that. But that is not the only thing that 
 makes me glad." 
 
 " What is that ? Got a letter from home, or what 
 is it ? " 
 
 " No, not for myself ; but here. Will, is one for you. 
 Talce it thankfully, and read it joyfully." 
 
 Will took the letter, looked at the handwriting and 
 at the seal, and then put it in his pocket. 
 
 "How many shanties do you think have been put 
 up along this road, between here and Greenbush, since 
 we came here," said Mose, turning to John. 
 
 " Perhaps four or five," answered John. 
 
 " Well, you may more than double that," said he. 
 
 " Is that so ? " enquired John and Will, both at once. 
 
 "There are four shanties between here and Ash- 
 craft's, and five between there and Greenbush. I saw 
 and talked with six of the owners. Four of them are 
 young men like myself and Will. The others are 
 raarried men." 
 
 " How far from this is the nearest one ? " asked Will. 
 
 " About two miles, I should judge." 
 
 " Well, then, you did not find them all. There is a 
 settler right across the line from me." 
 
 " I am glad that people are coming in so fast," said 
 John. 
 
 "Here, Will, take this candle, and go and read your 
 letter, and let us have the news," said Mary. 
 
Chaptbr XIII. 
 
 HARVESTING THE CROP. 
 
 ""^i^'^^HAT are you going to do with your <:^rain 
 when it is ready for harvesting ? " said 
 Will Briars to John one morning as they 
 were walking along the path that led through the 
 wheat. 
 
 " I hardly know," said John. " I have been think- 
 ing a good deal about it lately. One thing is certain, 
 that is, I cannot put up a barn this summer. I have 
 too much else to do." 
 
 " Could you not make a temporary floor, and thresh 
 the grain out of doors, the way we have often threshed 
 peas and buckwheat." 
 
 " I have thought of that myself, but how am I to 
 get the plank ? " 
 
 " Did you not tell me that the lumber for your 
 house was made with a whip-saw here on the ground?" 
 asked Will. 
 
 " Yes, we made the boards for the floors, and all the 
 rest, except the sheeting, with the whip-saw. But Mr, 
 Beach, who helped me do it, and who understands the 
 work, is not here ; and if he was here I don't suppose 
 
HARVI'.STING THK CHOP. 
 
 169 
 
 all the 
 
 Jut Mr. 
 
 ids the 
 
 luppose 
 
 that I could get him, he will be so busy with his own 
 work." John said. 
 
 " Look here, John ; let us try it ourselves. I believe 
 that I can soon learn to handle one end of the saw. 
 You know we shall want boards more or less all the 
 time. Some men can make money by cutting lumber 
 with this kind of saw. Suppose that we start a two- 
 man saw-mill, John. We will commence with some 
 boards to make you a threshing-floor." 
 
 "All right, Will. We will go to work to-morrow, 
 and got up some «mall-sized logs, and then try our 
 skill and ability at saw-milling. We can use the old 
 saw-pit, which Mr. Beach says is a good one. And the 
 plank will be all the better for lying in the sun to 
 dry for a few weeks," said John. 
 
 Where there is a will there is generally a way, and 
 prompt action is one of the elements of success. John 
 Biishinan was a full believer in these maxims, and he 
 acted on that belief. 
 
 At it the two went next morning. They went to 
 [the pinery and cut a number of logs of suitable size, 
 and hauled them to the saw-pit. Then they com- 
 menced the sawing. Moses insisted on being taken 
 [into the milling enterprise, and they willingly gave 
 Ihim a chance. Will and Mose were a little awkward 
 jat first. It was a little hard for a while, and they got 
 [very tired ; but they stuck to it, and at the end of 
 fibout eight days they had plank enough to make a 
 floor twenty feet square, with a board to put up edge- 
 pvay,s all around it, to keep the grain from flying off 
 jii'l wastinfif. 
 
170 
 
 AMONG THE B'OREST TREES, 
 
 After their task was completed they were congratu- 
 lating each other on their success. Mary listened to 
 them for a while. Then she said : " That agrees with 
 my father's philosophy of success in this world." 
 
 " What was it, Mary ? " asked John. 
 
 "I have often heard him say that difficulties disap- 
 peared before a determined will," replied she. " And, 
 sometimes to encourage the boys, he would tell them 
 that 
 
 ' ' A resolute will is better than skill 
 For turning a mill or climbing a hill, 
 Or facing an ill or paying a bill, 
 Or handling a drill or cnm-sing a rill, 
 Or swallowing a pill or warming a chill, 
 Or opening a till or driving a quill. 
 For where there's a will there's a way ahead still." 
 
 "Bravo, Mary," said Will Briars. "That is well 
 done ; and I don't know which deserves the greatest 
 compliments, your father's poetry or your memory. 
 But I think that I am the one that has a right to feel 
 myself honored by being the subject of seven full 
 lines of poetry. The whole of it, you know, is about 
 a resolute Will. That is me. But 1 am going to try 
 and deserve the name, and then it will be no pre- 
 sumption to claim it." 
 
 The season was passing rapidly away — at least it I 
 seemed so to the busy settlers in the vicinity of Syl- 
 van Lake. 
 
 Mary was kept from idleness and moodiness ini 
 looking after her cows and calves, and fowls, a 
 her beds of onions and lettuce, beets and parsnips, 
 
II AUVKS'l'INd TIIK CltOP. 
 
 J71 
 
 is well 
 
 crreatest 
 lemory. 
 
 It to feel 
 •en full 
 .s about 
 a to trv 
 
 o 
 
 no pre- 
 
 least H I 
 of Syl- 
 
 [ness in! 
 rls, ani| 
 
 and other j^aivlen produco, that tlie ohl-titne hulies 
 mostly liad the care of. Busith's all this out-of-door 
 work, she had to bake and cook, and vva.sh and mend, 
 starch and iron for liersidf and the tlii'ee coarser sam- 
 ples of Iniinanity, who had placed their personal com- 
 fort in her keeping. More than this, she had sonic 
 quilts to make, and the yarn to spin and double and 
 twist for the socks and stockings for the whole of 
 them. 
 
 It was well for Mary now that she had been trained 
 by an industrious, economical mother, who under.stood 
 all about these things, and had thoroiighlj' taught her 
 daujjhter to do the same. 
 
 It was well for John Bushman that his wife was 
 not one of the affected, selfish, useless butterflies of 
 fashion so often met with in modern society — that she 
 was not one of the extravagant, thoughtless, wasteful, 
 peevish, self-seeking, domineering creatures that so 
 often hang like a dead weight upon a husband's ener- 
 gies, and drag him down at last to financial, if not to 
 moral, ruin. John Bushman fully appreciated his wife, 
 as from day to day he noticed how skilfully and cheer- 
 fully she went about her work. He felt that if they 
 missed the road to success, the fault would not be hers. 
 Of such a woman it is said in Proverbs, " Her husband 
 is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the eld- 
 ers of the land." A man's succe.ss in life very largely 
 depends on his wife. But how far John Bushman suc- 
 jceeded will be shown in future chapters. 
 
 William Briars and Moses Moosewood were working 
 [ every day on their lots, and were getting nice begin- 
 12 
 
172 
 
 AMONfi TTTF FOREST TREES. 
 
 nings on them. John commenced his haying — tliat is, 
 he het^an cuttinf; the " Beaver Meadow " grass for liny. 
 By tlie time the wheat began to ripen he liad five or 
 six tons of liay ready to stack. He made a rouvl to 
 the meadow, antl on a temporary jumper lie and Muse 
 hauled the hay, and stacked it beside the stable. 
 
 But perhaps some of my readers may ask, ' What 
 is a b(uaver meadow, any way ? " 
 
 The little amphibious rodent called the beaver is 
 the agent by which the beaver meadows are produccl. 
 He tirst selects a place along some creek, where, by 
 makinir a dam across the stream, the backwater will 
 overflow a section of the land. Here he lays his 
 plan with as much precision as a skilful engineer 
 
 Havinir laid out his work, he commences to build 
 the dam. The form of it is an arc of a circle, vvitli 
 the bow up stream. This he does by collecting wood 
 and leaves and mud. He uses his teeth for an axe 
 to cut the timber. With his paws he puts every- 
 thing in its place. He uses his broad, flat tail for a 
 cart to carry the mud to where he wants it ; and for 
 a trowel to place it in position, and as a mallet to 
 pound it into a solid mass. 
 
 As the dam grows higher the water spreads out over 
 the land, and when it is done sometimes a number of 
 acres are flooded, and looks like a large mill-pond. The 
 little builder puts his dam there to stay, so that no 
 spring floods break it up. In course of time all the 
 timber on the flooded tract dies, and after a lapse of 
 years it all decays, and entirely disappears. When 
 the beaver falls a victim to the trapper and hunter hi^j 
 
 up with 
 This beir: 
 Water, cov 
 the fruit 
 ^^'^■^ put ] 
 
 '^erlia])j i 
 BieadoH-s wer 
 '«" the date ( 
 ''"It arrow-he 
 

 HARVESTING TflE CROP. 
 
 173 
 
 home is left to fall in ruin.s. The dain, for want of 
 repairs, in time gives way, anil tho water runs of!' the 
 riojilt'd land, and leaves it as level as a Hoor. In a 
 few years this is covered with an abundant crop oH 
 tall, wild grass, that does very well as a substitute for 
 ha}'; when it is cut and properly cured. Tiie (!arly set- 
 tlers avail themselves of this spontaneous hay crop 
 until they can raise that which is of a better quality.* 
 This is the kind of hay that John and Mo.se stacked 
 up by the stable, to have it on hand for the stock in 
 winter. 
 
 And there is another operation that must not be 
 overlooked. That is the gathering of wild fruit, and 
 preparing it for winter use. Around John's beaver 
 meadow there grew a large number of wild plum 
 trees. The.se were laden with fruit. Some of them, 
 when ripe, were red, some yellow, and some almost a 
 purple. These plums are by no means a despisable 
 fruit when they are ripe, but they don't ripen till 
 August and September. One way of keeping these 
 plmns was to sink a tight barrel or other vessel into 
 the ground where it would be kept cool. Then fill it 
 up with plums while they were still a little green. 
 This being done, fill the barrel up with clear, cold 
 water, cover it up, and let it stand till winter, when 
 the fruit will come out nearly as fresh as when it 
 was put in. Another method of keeping them was 
 
 'Perhapi it wjuld be as difficult to fix the time when those 
 Imeadows were commenced by the little builders, as it would be to 
 jtell the date of the kitchen middens of Europe, or tlie mounds and 
 Hiut arrow-heads of America; 
 
174 
 
 AMONf} THE KOHEST TIJKES. 
 
 by the oM way of preserving in sugar ; still another 
 was by the drying process. 
 
 But there whs other wild fruit to be got. 
 
 One day, while Will and Mose were out in sef^ich of 
 a swarm of bees that they saw pass over, they caiiic 
 to a large berry patch. It was on a her. dock ridcro 
 that had at some time l)een burnt over. This wa> 
 covered with a variety of berries. There were straw- 
 berries, raspberries — two kinds of thetn — and the larjje 
 blackberries. These the men would go and pick at 
 odd times, and Mary would exert her skill in prepar- 
 ing them for present and future use. By the time the 
 berries were gone they had laid in a good winter's 
 store. 
 
 By this time the wheat began to show its ripeninf; 
 hue, and admonished its o.vner that the harvest wa^ 
 
 coming near. 
 
 One evening, as Mose came in from his work, 
 passing through the field, he found some heads of ripe 
 wheat. Holding up one of them, he said : 
 
 "See here, John ; your wheat will do ^ cut nex!| 
 week. What are you going to do for a cradle to cutj 
 it with?" 
 
 "That is a (piestion that should have been answereJ 
 before this; but. I have been s ) much enyafjed since 1 
 came here that 1 fory-ot all about it. I shall have to 
 try and make some kind of a thin- myself. I haveii| 
 scythe and other irons needed," he answered. 
 
 " Well," s lid Moses, " you know my father inake>j 
 cradles, and 1 know something about it myself. HI 
 you like, I will help you."' 
 
 troot 
 
 ^'asglad 
 "le and 
 
 ^'fiy, and 
 
 " We 1 
 
 John. 
 
 ^^ be neij 
 
 ''e steppt 
 
HARVESTINfJ THE CROP. 
 
 175 
 
 "All r'lLjht," said John. " Wo will try what wc can 
 (lo to-inorrow." 
 
 Next inornini,' they went to the woods and got some 
 (rood white ash timber of the shape they wanted. By 
 njifht tliey had a very good grain cradle ready for use. 
 
 While they were linnting the tiniher for tlie cradle 
 they heard the scjund of a couple of axes at the back 
 end of John's lots. They had not heard of any one 
 bein<' on that line, so they concluchid next morning to 
 i,'o and see who was tliere, and what they v. ere doing. 
 They took the guns and old Rover, and started on a 
 trip of <liscovery. When they came to the place they 
 found three men working on the corner of the lot that 
 butted on John's rear hundred. The one was an 
 elderly man, tlie others were liis sons. They were 
 Dutclnuen. Tliei" name was Crautmaker. They 
 came from Hamburgh Township. They were a 
 strong, hardy-looking lot of men. 
 
 When John and Mose came up to them they were 
 chopping down a large rock-elm tree. The two young 
 men were Canadian born, and were good choppers. 
 The old man was not so good ; but for all that he 
 could handle an axe well enough to do a fair day's 
 work. 
 
 "Goot morning, shentlemens," said the old man. "I 
 vas glail to tind some von in dish packwoods pesides 
 ine and Shon and Shal o. How far you comes dish 
 'lay, and vhere you lives ?" 
 
 "We live just across one concession from here," said 
 John, " My land reaches to the line here, so we are 
 to 'oe neighbors. I am glad to see ycu all," he said, as 
 he stepped up to shake hands with them. 
 
170 
 
 AMOXO THE FOREST TREE? 
 
 The younnj men could talk either Dutch or EuLflish, 
 aud Mose was not a little amused to hear them answer 
 their father in l^utch, when he would (|uestion them 
 in that languas^e, and at the same time carry on a con- 
 versation in Enoflish. 
 
 After they had talked a while about the land, and 
 the prospects of the settlement, the old man broke in 
 upon their conversation with this question to John and 
 Mose : 
 
 "Say, mine vrends, are you gristians ?" 
 
 John was the first to answer. He said, " I am happy 
 and thankful to be able to say that I am an humble 
 follower of the meek and cventle Saviour." 
 
 " I, too," said Mose, with some feeling, " am tryint; 
 to live the life of a Christian." 
 
 " I am very much glad vor that," said the old man. 
 
 " Well," said John, " we have a small religious ser- 
 vice at our place every Sabbath in the forenoon. If 
 you would come over and take part with us we would 
 be very much pleased to have you do so." 
 
 " How can we find your place, Mr. Bushman V asked 
 Jacob, the younger of the old man's sons. 
 
 " You can't miss the way if you follow the open 
 road. It goes right past my place, and mine is the 
 first and only house," John answered. 
 
 " How soon do you expect to move your family in 
 here, Mr. Crautmaker ?" inquired Moses Moosewood. 
 
 " Shust so soon as we can put up one pig house. So 
 that mit the downstairs and the upstairs we can f^ot 
 rooms vor nine beoples — mine frow and myself and 
 our seven shildren," was his answer. 
 
HARVESTINfi THE CROP. 
 
 177 
 
 John Bushman said to the old man, " Mr. Craut- 
 inaker, I have a good yoke of oxen ; if you need 
 them to haul logs for your house, you can have them. 
 I suppose these young men can drive oxen ? " 
 ■ •' Yes,'Vsaid the eldest. We have always been used 
 to oxen as well as hor.«es. We have a pair of oxen at 
 the old home ; but till we get them here we shall be 
 much obliged for a little accommodation in a neigh- 
 borly way." 
 
 "All right. When you want them let me know," 
 said Bushman. 
 
 " When we want them one of us will take your 
 place, and have you come with the oxen," said Jake 
 Crautniaker. 
 
 " Come across to our little meeting next Sunday, at 
 10 a.m.," said John Bushman. 
 
 As the two men went back, by way of the beaver 
 meadow, the dog commenced to bark fiercely, a little 
 ahead of them, as they were pressing their way 
 throutfh a thicket of small cedars. In a minute more 
 they heard a cry, not unlike that of a lamb in dis- 
 tress. Coming nearer, they saw that old Rover had 
 caught a .spotted fawn. He was laying on it, and 
 holding it down. He seemed inclined to play with it, 
 but the deer was struggling to get away. 
 
 "Don't hurt it, Rover," John said, and the dog 
 seemed to understand what was said to him. He 
 would fondle with the young and helpless little thing, 
 and lick it with his soft tongue, and tried, in every 
 ^ ly, to impress upon it the fact that he had no fero- 
 cious or cruel feeling towards it. But not until John 
 
178 
 
 AMONf! THE FORKST TUEKS. 
 
 took it from the dotif and lifted it in liis arms did the 
 little prisoner stop its cries and its efforts to escape. 
 But it seemed to feel that it had found a friend and 
 protector when it nestled down (piietly in the man's 
 arms. That fawn grew very tame, and it became a 
 fine larfje deer, and ran with the cattle in the woods 
 They tied a white ribbon around its neck, so that it 
 could be distinguished from others. More than one 
 wild deer fell a victim to John Bushman's ritle while 
 trying to cultivate the acquaintance of this pet. 
 When they came home Mary was greatly pleased with 
 the pretty fawn. She had never seen anything like 
 it. With its great brown, pleading eyes, with its 
 smooth, spotted skin and tiny little feet and legs, it 
 altogether presented a picture of innocence and beauty 
 that seemed to appeal to the gentle and tender feelings 
 of her sympathetic heart. It soon became so much 
 attached to Mary that it would follow her around like 
 a dcg. For several years Rover and the deer were 
 Mary's escort from place to place, and they became 
 great friends to each other. Rover would have fouc^ht 
 for that deer as long as he could stand. They named 
 the deer Rambler. 
 
 The wheat harvest was now at hand. The crop was 
 excellent, as was all of John's grain that season. 
 
 John changed work with Mose, and got him to help 
 take off the harvest. Cradling heavy wheat among 
 the stumps is no child's play, as any one will say who 
 has ever tried it, but tlu^y were both good cradlers, 
 took turns at it, so that neither of them had to weary 
 himself at it. 
 
 li : 
 
HAIiVESTlNO THE CROP. 
 
 179 
 
 Wlien the wheat was fit to stack, John got Harry 
 Hawthorn to come and stack and thatch it for him. 
 Harry had been working on hi.s lot for the past month, 
 Mary had made his bread and furnished him with 
 butter. Wlien John asked him if he couhi thatch a 
 stack of wheat, his answer was, 
 
 " Sliure and its meself that can do it, Misther Bush- 
 man. Many a great stack of grain I have thatched 
 in Quid Ireland, and they were afther bein' done so 
 nately that niver a dhrop of rain could get intil them 
 at all at all. Though I say it meself, as shouldn't say 
 it, perhaps, no one can do a betther job at thatching 
 than your humble Irish frind can do." 
 
 This glowing language of Harry's was no vain 
 boasting. His work proved that the men who could 
 equal him at building and thatching a stack of grain 
 were few and far between. 
 
 Harry was expecting his wife in this country by 
 the fall, but he had changed his mind about bringing 
 her to the bush before the next spring. He concluded 
 to do some chopping, and put up a small house that 
 season, and not move in until the next spring. 
 
 But Mr. Beach was expecting to move his family on 
 the lot beside John's in the course of two or three 
 weeks. He was busily engaged in building a house ; 
 Moses and Will were helping him some of the time. 
 Things began to look like civilized life. With a set- 
 tler on every lot that joined on Bushman's, he felt that 
 his isolation was a thint; of the past. 
 
 Between helping the incoming settlers to saw their 
 lumber, and make their shingles, and raise their hou:5es, 
 
ISO 
 
 AMONG THE FOPK8T TREES. 
 
 .lohn find Will and Mose were kept on the move all 
 the fall. People were coining in on all sides of them. 
 Not less than ten or twelve families were settling 
 within three miles of John Bushman, besides Will 
 and Mose. John and Mary, heinpjthe first settlers, and 
 having become pretty well established in their new 
 home, had plenty of chances to exercise their hospi- 
 tality towards their prospective neighbors. But they 
 acted on the motto expressed by Mary, the first dav 
 she stood in her backwoods home : " Never to shut 
 the door in the face of hunger or weariness." 
 
 But by this time John's other grain was ready to 
 harvest. This time he went at it alone, as Will and 
 Mose were both away helping a man to put up a 
 house on a lot two miles farther in the woods. 
 
 But John got along with the job of cutting his oats 
 and millet, and he found the latter was about as high 
 as his head, and some of the heads were eight or ten 
 inches long.* By the middle of September he had all 
 his grain nicely harvested and stacked, Harry Haw- 
 thorn again being the artist. 
 
 *This grain .seems to liave [)asse(l out of use in this country. Sixty 
 or seventy years ago it was raised to feetl fowls and pigs mostly. 
 
 u ■ 
 
Chaptbr XIV. 
 
 MARY FINDS A FRIEND. 
 
 "PJROM the latter part of April till the middle of 
 ifi September, Mary had been as completely isolatd 
 from companionship with her sex, as thouofh 
 she had been the only woman in the world. Her con- 
 nection with womankind had been only by memory. 
 The last female face she had looked upon was when, 
 throutrh tears, she looked into the sad face of her mother 
 on the morning that her parents and John's father 
 started for their frontier homes. 
 
 To say that she was not lonesome would not be true. 
 But to say that she was discontented or unhappy would 
 be equally untrue. There are longings, however, that 
 can only be satisfied by association with those of one's 
 own sex and age. Old men enjoy the society of old 
 men, old women like to talk with old women. Young 
 men and youag women are the same. Mary had felt 
 the want of company, but she had made no com- 
 plaint; she solaced herself by the thought that a 
 change, in this respect, could not be very long delayed. 
 But nearly five months had elapsed since she had seen 
 one of her own sex. And John and his companions 
 
182 
 
 AMONG THE FOllEST TREES. 
 
 had freciuently spoken to each other aVjout it. They 
 admired the quiet and uncomplainini^ manner in which 
 Mary had borne the deprivation. They had said 
 nothing about it to her for fear of harrowing up her 
 feelings. 
 
 On the morning of the second Sabbath of Septemher, 
 about nine o'clock, a rap at the door gave notice that 
 some one wanted admittance. Mary was iiearest to 
 and she hastened to open the door. When she did so 
 she found herself face to face with a strange y<mng 
 man. But a few feet behind him stood a young and 
 beautiful woman. 
 
 For a moment Mary stood as if confounded. Tlien, 
 rushing past the man, she threw her arms around the 
 woman's neck and kissed her, over and over, as fonJly 
 as thoufjh she had found a long-lost sister. The 
 strange woman, at first, seemed to be somewhat con- 
 fused. But when Mary got a little calm, she said, 
 " O, I am so glad to see you, I have not seen a woman's 
 face before for five long months. Don't think me 
 rude, for really I was so rejoiced to see you that I 
 hardly knew what I was doing, I could not help it." 
 The strangers came into the house and sat down, being 
 made welcome by John. 
 
 The man then said, " I hope we shall not be intruders. 
 We heard from Mr. Crautmaker that you are in the 
 habit of having religious service here on Sabbath 
 mornings; my wife and I concluded to come across 
 and see if we could join with you. My name is 
 Richard Greenleaf. We are going to settle on the lot 
 that corners with your back hundred. We are, at 
 
MARY FINDS A KIIIKNI). 
 
 183 
 
 'onm 
 
 being 
 
 Iruders, 
 
 in the 
 
 tb))ath 
 
 across 
 
 lame is 
 
 the lot 
 
 lare, at 
 
 present, staying in Mr. Crautniaker's shanty till we 
 can fjet up one of our own." 
 
 " We are pleased, I am sure, to make your acquaint- 
 ance, Mr. and Mrs. Greenleaf," said Jolm. " And as 
 for taking part in our little meeting, as we call it, you 
 are not only welcome to join us, but we shall be very 
 much pleased to have you do so." 
 
 By this time Mr. Crautmaker and his sons came in, 
 and Mr. Woodbine came to join in the exercises. The 
 presence of the Ma.ster was in the midst of the little 
 company in that humVde backwoods dwelling on that 
 autumn Sabbath morning. For the first time in his 
 life, iMoses Moosewood led the meeting. He and all 
 present were refreshed and strengthened. 
 
 After the services were over, Mary said to her new- 
 found friend : 
 
 " You and your husband mu.st take dinner with us 
 to-day. I cannot be put oft' in this matter. I have 
 never seen a woman at my table since my mother left 
 me, and you must stay for dinner." 
 
 "I am willing, if Richard is," said Mrs. Greenleaf. 
 
 Mary stepped across the room to where John and 
 Mr. Greenleaf were, and asked the latter if he would 
 consent to the arrauijement that she and his wife were 
 laakinix. 
 
 " Any arrangement that you make with Martha I 
 will consent to," said he ; " she is to have her way half 
 of the time, and this is one of her days to rule, so you 
 see it will be all right." 
 
 Going back to the woman, Mary said, " You are to 
 stay, and I am so glad that you are, I hope it will 
 
184 
 
 AMONfJ THK FORKST THKKS. 
 
 often be your day to rule when you come hore to 
 niectini;." 
 
 " Ah to rulinfif," said Martlia, " I never heard of anv 
 arrani,'cment until now. I tlon't want to inlu. But 
 I will tell Richard about it .soinetiines, to keep him in 
 mind of what he said to vou." 
 
 Mary soon had the dinner on the table. She never 
 did much cookinij: on the Sabbath. Evervthiii<: that 
 could be done on Saturday was done, so as to avoid, ib 
 far as possible, the necessity for work on the day of 
 rest. 
 
 When the dinner was over, the two women walked 
 out around the place. Mrs. Greenleaf was very much 
 pleased with what she saw. The pretty lake, and its 
 border of evergreens, and the ducks and geese swim- 
 ming on it (and there was quite a tlock of them now), 
 gave the place a homelike aspect not often seen on a 
 new farm. Then the calves and other cattle, and the 
 stacks of oats and wheat were things of interest iu 
 tlie eyes of farmers' daughters, as both of those young 
 women were. 
 
 " I am pleased to find so nice a home and so large a 
 clearing in this back place; I did not expect anythiiii; 
 like this," said Martha. 
 
 " When my husband came here one year ago last 
 April, there was not a tree cut down within seven 
 miles of here, and there were only two houses within 
 twenty udles or more. Now I am told there are ten 
 or twelve houses and shanties on a territory of three 
 miles square," remarked Mrs. Bushman. 
 
 "Did Mr. Bushman come in here alone ?" 
 
MAUV I'INDS A FHIEXl). 
 
 IHo 
 
 Wiilkeil 
 y much 
 
 now), 
 1 on a 
 lau(l the 
 rest in 
 young 
 
 arge a 
 vthlni: 
 
 luo last 
 
 n seven 
 
 within 
 
 are ten 
 
 jf three 
 
 " Yes, he came all alone, and did all this chopping 
 ami i^'ot up this house last year. He fjot the men that 
 oju'IkmI out these two roads to help him raise the 
 house, or he could never have put it up then," answered 
 Mary. 
 
 " Well," said Martha, " we expected to be the first 
 settler except Mr. Crautmaker. This road that goes 
 from here over past our place is p.irtly cut out for 
 twenty miles. We came in on that road and we had 
 left the last house fifteen miles behind us when we 
 Ciiine to our lot, which is just on the other side of* the 
 road from Mr. Crautmaker's." 
 
 " Were you ac(|uainted with that family before you 
 came here ? " asked Mary. 
 
 "(), yes, well acquainted; I was born and brought 
 up within siuht of the farm thev have lived on for ten 
 year.s. They are an honest, industrious and prosperous 
 family. The old people are a little awkward in their 
 mode of expressing themselves, but they are all right 
 at heart," said Martha. 
 
 '' I thought as much by what I have seen of the old 
 man and the boys," said Mary. 
 
 These two women were about the same age, and not 
 unlike in personal appearance. They were a little 
 lielovv the medium size, for that day, but they would 
 be fully up to the average of our times in size. Their 
 personal appearance was as near faultless as the gen- 
 erality of young women can claim to be. Their com- 
 plexion may be described as a mixture of the blonde 
 [and brunette. In Mary the blonde met the brunette a 
 I little more than half way. And in Martha the bru- 
 
 1 , i, 
 
AJ 
 
 ^; 
 
 i^> 
 
 s.nd 
 
 % «>o.% 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 / 
 
 O 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 s ^ iiii^ 
 
 \ «* IIIIIM 
 
 1.6 
 
 1.4 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 /a 
 
 
 A 
 
 /A 
 
 'W 
 
 '/ 
 
 
 ^-^^ 
 
 '% 
 
 .^- 
 

18() 
 
 AMONTi THE KOIIEST I REES. 
 
 nette predominated a little over the blonde. This 
 made a couple of shades of difference in their com- 
 plexion. But this difference was not sufficiently marked 
 to necessitate much divergence, either in the features, 
 or the color of eyes or hair. This complexion was 
 quite often met with in Canadian girls of the last gen- 
 eration. 
 
 Mary's hair was a shade lighter than brown, and a 
 little darker than blonde. Her eyes were of that clear, 
 deep, expressive blue that indicates kindness of heart, 
 without softness, and firmness of character without 
 unreasoning stubbornness. 
 
 Martha's eyes were of a dark br.jwn, almost black. 
 Her hair was the color of her eyes. The hair of both 
 was somewhat inclined to curl, a fact that sometimes 
 gave them some trouble to keep their heads in a pre- 
 sentable condition. 
 
 These two women presented a fair type of the 
 average girl of Upper Canada sixty years ago. A close 
 observer might have said of the two, that they were 
 not likely to fade prematurely for want of .sun- 
 light and exercise, nor to fret themselves into an early 
 grave, or into a peevish, sickly or unhappy old age. 
 
 The acquaintance and friendship of these two women 
 lasted long, and, as the years rolled on and the bur- 
 dens of life increased, and the cares of life multiplied, 
 their attachment for each other seemed to grow 
 stronger. And it may be said, by way of anticipation, 
 that the high moral tone that characterized that neigh- 
 borhood, in after years, was greatly augmented by the 
 influence and example of these two young women, who 
 
MARY FINDS A FRIKND 
 
 187 
 
 were the pioneer white women in a large tract of 
 country.* 
 
 The month of September that year was a dry one. 
 About the middle of the month John said to Will and 
 Mose one morning, " Boys, can you stay and help me 
 to-day ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you want us. But what are you going to 
 do ? " they said in concert. 
 
 " Two things," said he. " I want to make a cart, for 
 
 one thing, and I want to burn off the stubble, for 
 
 another thing. It is dry now, and it will burn well." 
 
 " How are you going to make a cart, and why do 
 
 you want it just now ? " asked Will. 
 
 " I want the cart to go to mill, and we will make it 
 of elm logs, sawed short, for wheels, and an ironwood 
 pole for an axle-tree," was John's answer. 
 
 "All right," said the boys ; " go ahead, and we will 
 follow your directions." 
 
 They took the cross-cut saw, and went to the fallow, 
 to a large water-elm, and from that they cut two sec- 
 tions of six inches, measured lengthwise of the tree. 
 Through the centre of these they made holes large 
 enough for the arms of the axle. Then they fitted the 
 pole and put it in, and made a tongue to it, and fixed 
 a box on it. Now they had what was called, in back- 
 woods parlance, " a pair of trucks." This made a very 
 good substitute for a two-wheeled cart, while it lasted. 
 
 *The writer hail the privilege, years ago, to preach in two different 
 townships, in the houses of the pioneer white women. In both oases 
 success lias attended the labors of the families of those who found 
 room in their shanty for preaching. 
 13 
 
18S 
 
 A MONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 U 
 
 r'l 
 |i 
 
 I' 
 
 The water-elm will not check in the sun, like Jianler 
 wood, and it will not split like the harder and firmer 
 rock elm. 
 
 About eleven o'clock they suspended the work of 
 cart-building, and went to see about burning the 
 stubble. The wind was blowing away from the house 
 and stacks, but they went to work and carricnl up a 
 few pails of water, so as to have it handy in case of 
 
 emergency. 
 
 After dinner they started the fire, thinking that it 
 would take the afternoon to burn the field over. But 
 when they saw the flames jump from place to place 
 before the wind, they became frightened. But now it 
 was too late to stop it. On and on it went, as fast as 
 a man could walk. In ten minutes the whole field 
 looked like a solid mass of smoke and flame. And in 
 ten minutes more the smoke and flame was nearly 
 gone, and the ground was as black as a full-blooded 
 African's face, and danger from the fire was all past, 
 
 " That is quick work, boys," said Mose, as with his 
 foot he commenced to scrape over the ground. 
 
 " Yes," said John, " that is turned black sooner than 
 I expected to see it. But, though it has been a short 
 job, it is decidedly a good one." 
 
 " I say, John," said Will, " why would not this do 
 for fall wheat ? After this burn it will be just as clean 
 as a piece of ground can be. And it can't be exhausted 
 by only one crop." 
 
 " If I can find a bag or two of fall wheat, I will do 
 so, when I go to Mapleton to mill. And I will sow it j 
 on the best part of this ground, and see how it will do. j 
 
MARY FINDS A FRIEND. 
 
 189 
 
 I have heard that if you can get a good burn, the 
 second crop may be as good as the first." 
 
 The next morning John hitched up to his new cart, 
 and started for Mapleton for some flour and wheat for 
 seed. He could not take time then to fi.K a floor and 
 thresh some of his own wheat, .so he concluded to buy 
 some tiour for the time being. 
 
 Will said to him before he started, "You will need 
 to keep that go-gig well greased, or it will make such 
 >\ squealing along the road that you will frighten all 
 the horses out of the fields, and all the sheep out of 
 the pastures, as if a pack of wolves were coming." 
 
 " 0, yes," said John, " I forgot to grease it. Mary, 
 can you let me have some butter or tallow to grease 
 my waggon ? " 
 
 Tho grease was soon provided by Mary, and with a 
 little help from Will and Mose the axles were soon 
 well lubricated. 
 
 Having got everything ready John started for the 
 two days' trip. His oxen walked oflT with the trucks 
 as proudly as though they had a hundred-dollar wag- 
 gon behind them. He reached Mapleton in time to do 
 his business before dark. He got the flour at the only 
 mill in the village. He was also fortunate enouf'h to 
 find a bafj and a half of nice clean fall wheat. He 
 took some oat sheaves along to feed the team. 
 
 The miller made John stay all night with him, say- 
 ing that after coming all that distance he and his 
 oxen deserved to be well taken care of for the night, 
 and so they were. The miller and his genial wife 
 gave John a good supper and a good bed. He was 
 
190 
 
 AMONG THE FORKST TREES. 
 
 much pleased to make the acquaintance of Mr. White- 
 wood, the miller, and his kind-hearted wife. 
 
 Next morning he started home with his flour-bags 
 of flour and three bushels of seed wheat. The load 
 impeded the progress of the oxen, so that it was after 
 sundown when he arrived at Sylvan Lake. 
 
 John had a good deal to tell about the changes that 
 had taken place since they came into the bush ; but 
 the most important thing of all was a letter for Mary 
 and one each for Will and Mose. He found them in 
 Greenbush P. O., where they had been for a month. 
 Mary's letter was from Betsy Bushman. It was a gene- 
 ral family letter, speaking of the aflfairs of both fami- 
 lies. And since neither the writer nor the reader has 
 any right to meddle with other people's private affairs, 
 we will leave the owners of these letters to do as they 
 think best with them. 
 
 John told of new settlers along the line from there 
 to Mapleton. A number of .shanties v\rere built, and 
 others were in course of erection. Three or four good- 
 sized houses were raised, but not yet finished. People 
 were preparing, in considerable numbers, to move in 
 on the following spring. Young men were makinjr a 
 start for themselves. Men with families were making 
 homes for them, and all were hopeful and cheerful. 
 
 Among the single men was a medical doctor, who 
 had concluded to try his fortune in the bush. He was 
 Dr. Ashgrove. John stopped to feed his oxen and eat 
 his own cold dinner just in front of the doctor's: 
 shanty. He found a man of about thirty years of j 
 age, with a sharp, piercing black eye and a determined j 
 
MARY FINDS A FRIEND. 
 
 191 
 
 look. On asking the man how he liked bush life, he 
 answered, 
 
 " I have not been here loner enough yet to get used 
 to it. But I am trying hard to believe that I shall 
 like it after I get my sinews and muscles seasoned to 
 the hard work, and my hands toughened to the axe- 
 handle. Look at them now, stranger," said the doctor, 
 a.s he held out his blistered hands for John to exam- 
 ine. 
 
 " Your hands are very sore, my friend. I think you 
 have not been accustomed to hard work," .said John. 
 
 '• That is so," said the doctor, " I have never done 
 a dozen hard days' work in my life. My father was 
 an English gentleman. He gave me a medical educa- 
 tion. He died at last, after having lost his property 
 in an unfortunate speculation, leaving me to my own 
 resources. I came to this country to seek my fortune. 
 That fortune I have found here in the shape of two 
 hundred acres of good bush land. I don't like the 
 medical profession, and will not practise it, so I am 
 going to be a farmer." 
 
 " Well," said Bushman, "it is a big undertaking for 
 a man who has no practical knowledge of life in a 
 new country, but patience and perseverance will secure 
 the same success to you that it has done to many 
 in this land." 
 
 " What others have done under the same circum- 
 stances I can do. At- any rate, I am going to try."* 
 
 *A Doctor Neely, when the writer was a boy, settled on a lot in 
 Erin Township under circumstances similar to those above de- 
 acrib'ed. He lived there some years, then sold out and left the set- 
 tUnient, 
 
192 
 
 AMONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 The fall wheat that John brought from Mapleton 
 was sown and nicely harrowed in the same week that 
 he got it. The potatoes were dug out, and they proved 
 to be an excellent crop both as to([uantity and (juality. 
 
 They now had more than enough of produce for 
 their next year's supplies. This was considered to be 
 a very good beginning for John and Mary. 
 
 Arrangements were now to be made for next year's 
 operations. John got Will and Mose and Harry Haw- 
 thorn to help him to log off the rest of the twelve 
 acres' chopping, so that it might be ready for the next 
 spring's sowing. Harry was a little anxious to help 
 Bushman for two reasons. He wanted to get a little 
 practice at that kind of work, and he wanted John's 
 help with his oxen to clear off a spot around his 
 shanty, so that it might have a sort of home-like ap- 
 pearance when "Biddy and the children" should come 
 the next spring. Harry was somewhat awkward at 
 first, but being willing to be taught, and quick to 
 learn, he soon got to be a very fair hand at the work. 
 
 It did not take many days to do the job. Then all 
 hands went to help Harry clear off the spot around 
 the shanty, to make it ready for the coming of Harry "s 
 wife and children. 
 
 By this time old Mr. Crautmaker was ready to move 
 his family into their new home. He left the boys to 
 work on the place, and he went to bring in the rest of 
 the family. The month of October was a beautiful 
 month, and the settlers improved it by making pre- 
 paration for the approaching winter. None of them 
 had as yet spent a winter there, and many conjee- 
 
MAllY FINDS A FRIENIX 
 
 193 
 
 tures were indulged in and expressed with regard to 
 wliat winter in the backwoods would be like. 
 
 Among the various kinds of work at this time* of 
 the year was " underbrushing," and every man who 
 intended to stay on his lot through the winter was 
 eno;aged in this work, because it was not possible, 
 when the snow was on the ground, to cut the under- 
 growth and saplings close enough to the ground to 
 make it practicable to harrow in the grain. Whatever 
 was intended to be chopped through the winter must 
 be underbrushed in the fall. 
 
 John Bushman h&d measured off' six acres to be 
 chopped through the winter. This, along with thresh- 
 ing his grain, and doing the many nameless chorea 
 always to be found on a new place, was a prett}' large 
 calculation for one man. Will and Mose were going 
 out to the old settlement for the winter, so that John 
 and Mary expected to be alone. John was generally 
 moderate in his expectations, and cautious and careful 
 in laying his plans, and what he set out to do he, as a 
 rule, accomplished. 
 
 As winter approached, those who were intending to 
 go away made arrangements for doing so. And those 
 who expected to stay tried to make the best prepara- 
 tions they could to meet the rigors of winter among 
 the forest trees. Mr. Beach had got his house ready 
 for use. But, like Harry, he had deferred moving into 
 it until the next spring, having been offered a good 
 winter's work at fair wages elsewhere. Will Briars 
 had not put up a house, as it was settled that he and 
 Betsy could stay with John and Mary until one could 
 be built next spring. 
 
■ f; 
 
 Chaptkr XV. 
 
 WINTER IN THE WOODS. 
 
 !HE month of November came and went without 
 much change in the new settlement. The 
 weather was growing colder. The nights were 
 getting longer, while the days were gradually shrink- 
 
 ing. 
 
 John had prepared his threshing-floor, and made 
 himself a flail to thresh the grain and a " fan " to clean 
 it with. The " fan " was made something on this wise: 
 Some thin, light boards, or pieces of split cedar, were 
 jointed together, then cut into the shape of a horse- 
 shoe, only the two ends were not brought so near 
 together. Then a piece of some light, bendable timber 
 was dressed to the thickness of about half an in^b, 
 and six or seven inches wide. This was bent around 
 the bottom, and nailed securely, leaving what would 
 correspond with the heel of the horse-shoe open, 
 Handles were fastened to the sides of this. The oper- 
 ator put a lot of uncleaned grain on the bottom of the 
 fan. Then taking hold of the handles, he placed the 
 round end of the machine against his waistbands, and 
 commenced to waft the outer end up and down, sone- 
 
 11 1 
 
VVINTEH IN THE WOODS. 
 
 195 
 
 thing as a woman wafts her apron to frighten the 
 chickens out of the garden. It is surprising the 
 amount of grain that an expert at the business could 
 clean up in a day. 
 
 The Hail was made of two sticks. One of these was 
 about the size of an ordinary hoe handle, and was 
 called the staff The other was about three feet long, 
 and somewhat heavier than the staff, and was called 
 the swingel. These were tied together at one end, and 
 the grain was spread on a floor and pounded out of 
 the straw with this implement. 
 
 The great difficulty with this kind of threshing and 
 cleaning was the " white caps." These were simply 
 grains of wheat that broke off from the straw but did 
 not come out of the chaff. And getting out the 
 " white caps " was an important item in grain cleaning 
 before the days of machine threshing. These white 
 caps were generally spread on the floor and threshed 
 over again. But after all, they would often show up 
 in the wheat that the backwoodsmen carried to mill 
 or to market. 
 
 Another one of the necessities of the new settler is 
 a sleigh or sled, for various purposes. Bushman 
 needed an ox-sled, and the question was how could he 
 get one. There was not a sleigh-raaker within forty 
 or fifty miles of him, so far as he knew. The only 
 way that seemed open to him was by doing as bush- 
 men so often have to do, viz., make the article or go 
 without it. A consultation with Will and Mose re- 
 sulted in a decision to go at it and make a sled. They 
 went to the woods and found a white oak tree, with a 
 
m 
 
 190 
 
 AM()N(i THE FUUEST TREES. 
 
 root turned in the shape of the runners. Tliey cut 
 the tree at the; roots, and worked out the runners, so 
 that by sawing them in two lengthwise they had a 
 pair. They did this with the whip-saw. 
 
 John brouglit with him some tools, as every man 
 ought to do who goes to the baclvwoods. As it was in 
 making the cart, so now in making the sled, they suc- 
 ceeded better and sooner than they expected, and 
 produced a very fair sample of a strong wood-shod 
 sled, good enougli for anybody, as Mose remarked 
 when it was done. 
 
 The first of December was here. The ground was 
 covered with snow. Will and Mose were to start, in 
 a day or two, for the old homes. Among them they 
 had threshed out a grist to take to the mill. John 
 was to take the grist and go with them as far as 
 Mapleton. 
 
 But in their hurry and bustle to get things in shape 
 for the movement, they had entirely overlooked one 
 matter of considerable importance, at least one of the 
 group thought so. What was Mary to do while John 
 was gone ? Moses was the first to speak of it, by ask- 
 ing Mary what she would do while John would be 
 away. She answered, " I hardly know ; but I suppose 
 that I and Rover can get along in some way for two 
 days and a night." 
 
 •' I don't think," said John, " that you and Rover 
 are to be put to the test. Not, at all events, if I can 
 help it. I know what it means to be alone in the 
 house, with woods all around you." 
 
 " Look here, John," said Will, " how would it be for 
 
 girl 
 
WINTER IN THE WOODS. 
 
 197 
 
 f cut 
 rs, so 
 lad a 
 
 ' man 
 was in 
 y sue- 
 i, and 
 J -shod 
 narked 
 
 nd wa8 
 tart, in 
 111 they 
 . John 
 i far as 
 
 n shape 
 ced one 
 of the 
 le John 
 by ask- 
 ould be 
 suppose 
 for two 
 
 Rover 
 f I can 
 in the 
 
 Mose and I to go over to Mr. Orautniaker's and see if 
 one of the girls would come and stay with Mary till 
 you come back. It is too bad to go and leave the poor 
 ('irl here all alone." 
 
 " Bad or not, it is not going to be done," said John. 
 " But your proposal is a good one ; go ahead, and come 
 hack as soon as you can, and if the girl will come, 
 brin<,' her along with you." 
 
 They started, and it did not take them long to reach 
 the place, as it was only one concession, or about 
 thrte-quarters of a mile to go. They found the family 
 busily engaged in putting things to rights about the 
 house. They had never seen any of the family except 
 the old man and the two eldest boys. The rest of the 
 family consisted of the old lady and two young wo- 
 men, and two boys, and a girl younger than they were. 
 They were very kindly received at Mr. Crautmaker's. 
 After a little talk on different subjects they told what 
 they were after, and how important it was that they 
 should receive a favorable answer. 
 
 The old man was the first to speak. He said, in 
 his broken way, " I say, vife, ve must acgomodate 
 Meister and Meistres Pushman. Dey vill miakes us 
 goot nibors, and ve must meets them half of de vay. 
 Katriiia must go and stay shust so long as Meistres 
 Pushman tells her to." 
 
 " Dat ish all right, mine old man," said the old lady ; 
 ' ve vill do shust as you say, for you know dees beoples 
 best. Katrina may go and stay till she comes home 
 
 again. 
 
 fit be for I ^^ half an hour two young men and one young 
 
198 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 woman might have been seen going through the 
 woods, in the direction of John Bushman's. The girl 
 was in the neighborhood of twenty years old. She 
 was the picture of blooming health, about medium 
 size, with a fair complexion, and of a vivacious tem- 
 perament, and yet exhibiting a maidenly modesty of 
 deportment that made her, on the whole, a person of 
 more than ordinary attractiveness. It is not to be 
 wondered at if the young men were somewhat 
 interested in their travelling companion that after- 
 noon. When they came to Bushman's, Will told John 
 and Mary that it was his opinion that Moses Moose- 
 wood was hopelessly smitten by the rustic charms of 
 the unassuming Katrina Crautmaker. Whether this 
 were so or not time will tell. Btlt one thing may be 
 said without pretending to read the future, and that 
 is, the dreams that Mose had during the winter were 
 of a strangely mixed character. 
 
 Sometimes, in his dreams, he would fancy that ht 
 was loading bags of grain on the sled, and as fast as 
 he put them out of his arms, by some strange freak 
 every one of them became a Katrina Crautmaker 
 Then again he would fancy that the oxen were before 
 the sled and Katrina and he were on it and going 
 down a steep hill. At other times the sled and oxen 
 would be absent, while he and Katrina would be car- 
 rying bags of grain up a steep hill. And to finish up i 
 with, he would sometimes dream that oxen, sled, bags 
 of grain and Katrina, all in one struggling mass of 
 living helplessness, were thrown over a tremendous| 
 precipice and were all killed and dashed to pieces! 
 
WINTER IN THE WOODS. 
 
 199 
 
 ;h the 
 
 he ^'irl 
 
 I She 
 
 nedium 
 
 IS tem- 
 
 esty of 
 
 jrson of 
 
 )t to be 
 
 iinewhat 
 
 it at'ter- 
 
 3ld John 
 
 s Moose- 
 harms of 
 
 ther this 
 may be 
 and that 
 ter were 
 
 that ht 
 ts fast as 
 icre freak 
 ),utmaker 
 ire before 
 Ind going 
 ind oxen 
 be car- 
 I finish up 
 aed, bags 
 mass of 
 jmendous 
 Ito pieces. 
 
 Yes, Moses Moosewood's dreams were strangely mixed 
 up that winter. Can any one guess the reason of it ? 
 
 Mary and the young girl were mutually drawn to 
 each other. Thoroughly honest natures do attract 
 one another by an instinctive or intuitive knowledge 
 of each other's character. These women were both 
 thoroui^hly honest. They became friends at once. 
 
 During the night some more snow f^U, so that now 
 the sled would slip along nicely. In the morning be- 
 fore they started Mary gave John two of the gold 
 pieces that old Hickory gave her, along with a list of 
 articles to fetch from the store. This was the first 
 time she had sent to the store since she came to the 
 bush.* 
 
 They started about daylight. Will and Mose were 
 (:;oing home after an absence of seven months. They 
 expected to stay away till April or May. Will ex- 
 pected to bring Betsy Briars back with him ; Moses 
 expected to come alone. 
 
 A (Treat change had been wrought in the character 
 and liabits of Moses since the time that he came to see 
 John Bushman about going with him to the bush. 
 Before that he was a wild, reckless, fearless and wicked 
 young man, ready for any kind of mischief that came 
 in his way. But now he was the same cheerful, 
 buoyant young man; but his vivacity and cheerfulness 
 were of a different type. Now he could be happy and 
 
 * The writer can well remember the time when the families who 
 settled in the locality of Ballinafad, in Erin Township, had to go all 
 of twenty-five miles to get to either a mill or a store, or a magistrate 
 or a doctor. 
 
200 
 
 AMONG THE FORKST TREES. 
 
 joyful as the result of having made his peace with 
 God. 
 
 Before they parted, John cautioned Moses against 
 allowing himself to be influenced by old companions 
 and old associations, so as to forget that he no longer 
 belonged to the thoughtless and giddy multitude, who 
 seek only the things of the present life, and give little 
 or no thought to the great beyond. 
 
 When the men got as far as Greenbiish post office 
 they found two letters. One was for Moses Moose- 
 wood, from his mother. The other was from John's 
 father, telling him that, as soon as there would be 
 good sleighing, he and Mrs. Bushman would make 
 them a visit. He was intending to bring the sheep 
 with them, and some other things, one of which would 
 be a barrel of apples. 
 
 Will and Mose left John at the mill at Mapleton, 
 They bid him good-bye, and went on toward their 
 destination. John found the mill so nearly empty 
 that his grist could be ground that night. As on the 
 former occasion, the miller insisted on John stopping 
 over night at his place. In the morning John got his 
 things at the store for Mary, and putting all on the 
 sled he started for home. But before doing this he 
 wrote to his father, and put the letter in the office at 
 Mapleton. In the letter he asked his mother to fetch 
 some dried apples, and cherries, and peaches, if .she| 
 could. He told his father to trade two of the sheep. 
 or sell them, and in their stead to bring along twol 
 sugar kettles, as he intended to try the making of 
 maple sugar in the spring. 
 
WINTKIl IN THE WOODS. 
 
 201 
 
 st office 
 1 Moose- 
 1 John's 
 vould be 
 lid make 
 he sheep 
 ch wouhi 
 
 While John was away, Mary and her new friend 
 (rot along very nicely. They got acquainted, and the 
 friendship here connnenced was designed to last, be- 
 cause it was founded on mutual respect. In their 
 conversation Mary found out that Katrina was en- 
 tirely free from love's entanglements, and that both 
 her heart and hand were disengaged. 
 
 " How did you like the looks of the young men who 
 went away with my husband ? " asked Mary of Ka- 
 trina. 
 
 "I think they are civil, nice young men," was her 
 answei'. Then, after a moment, she said, "I suppo.se 
 they will both be married men when they come back 
 in the spring ?" 
 
 " William Briars will likely be married before he 
 conies back to my husband's sister, but Moses, I think, 
 has no expectations at present in that direction. I am 
 coniident that he is not engaged, and I don't think that 
 he ever paid much attention to any of the girls of his 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " Have you known him long ? " she asked. 
 
 "Yes; ever since we were children. We came from 
 the same neighborhood," said Mary. 
 
 The conversation here dropped, as neither of the two 
 had any reason for continuing it. 
 
 John had taken his ritie with him, a thing that 
 [back woodsmen very frequently do, and some of them 
 [always do, when they go into the bush. 
 
 John 1^ tired walking, so he got on the top of the 
 bags on the sled to ride aways, and rest his limbs, as 
 Ithe snow was a little heavy to walk through. 
 
II 
 
 202 
 
 AMONG THK FOIIKST TREES. 
 
 He had not been long in this position when he saw 
 a drove of deer coming toward him. He spoke to the 
 oxen and stopped them. Then he got his rifle from 
 where he had laid it in safety down at the side of the 
 box. By the time this was done the deer were within 
 some fifty yards of him. To lift the gun and take aim 
 at the foremost and largest of the deer was but the 
 work of a moment. At the crack of the rifle the deer 
 dropped, shot through the heart. The rest of the flock 
 ran away a few rods, and then turned and stood look- 
 ing at the sled and oxen, as though they had never 
 seen anything like it before. 
 
 John looked at them, as they stood in a row facing 
 him. Then he said to himself, " The meat need not be 
 wasted, if I do kill another one." 
 
 So saying, he took aim at the largest deer, and tired, 
 At first he thought he had mis.sed it, by the way it ran 
 off*. But on going to where it had stood, he found 
 large spots of blood on the snow. He followed its 
 track for some thirty or forty rods, and there he found 
 the deer dying. 
 
 He said to himself, " That is not badly done. Two 
 nice deer inside of ten minutes." 
 
 He opened them, and took out the oflTals, and then 
 put them on top of the bags. By the time he got home 
 it was dark. 
 
 He found Mary and Katrina waiting for him, with 
 the supper on the table, all ready. When he drove up 
 to the door they came out. But when thej^^ saw two 
 pairs of pronged horns pointing at them, they ran back 
 into the doorway. 
 
WIXTEH IN THE WOODS. 
 
 203 
 
 e saw 
 to the 
 I from 
 of the 
 within 
 ke aim 
 )ut the 
 he (leer 
 lie flock 
 )d look- 
 d never 
 
 w facing 
 >d not be 
 
 ind tired, 
 
 ay it ran 
 
 e found 
 
 owed its 
 
 he found 
 
 le. 
 
 Two 
 
 I and then 
 1 got home 
 
 nm, witii 
 drove up 
 saw two ' 
 ran hack 
 
 Mary said, " For tlie hindsakc, John, what have you 
 £Tot on that load that looks so frii:;htful ? " 
 
 " Only some venison that came in my way, and I 
 broui^lit it aloncT," was John's answer. 
 
 To put away and care for the oxen, and eat his 
 supper, and dress the deer, kept John busy till bed- 
 time, with all the help that Mary and Rover could 
 mve him. 
 
 n 
 
 The venison was in crood order, the deer being fat, 
 and thoir meat tender. Mr. Crautmaker's and Mr. 
 Greenleaf's families each got a piece of the venison. 
 
 Mary was well pleased with the purchases that John 
 had made for her at the store. 
 
 When he gave her the odd change that was left, 
 John said, " Mary, you never told me the amount of 
 that handful of gold coins that Old Hickory gave you." 
 
 "Did I not, John ? Well, it must be because you 
 never asked me, then. I will t'^ll you now. There 
 were twelve guineas and two half-eagles." 
 
 "That was a good gift for the old man to make to 
 a stransjer," said John. 
 
 " Well," said Mary, '' 1 was not more surprised at the 
 old man's gift, than by the romantic way in which it 
 came about." 
 
 "Mary, I would like you to tell the old man's story 
 to Katrina." 
 
 " I have no objection," said she ; so, commencing at 
 her first meeting the old man, she told all she knew 
 ahout him up to the time that he gave her the gold. 
 
 When Mary ceased speaking, Katrina, with consid- 
 erable earnestness in her manner. Onsked. " Do you 
 14 
 
204 
 
 AMONG 'I HE FOUEST THKES, 
 
 '1 ! 
 
 know his real name ? for, of course, Old Hickory is 
 only a nickname." 
 
 " I never heard any other name for him," she an- 
 swered. 
 
 "You say his wife died in England ? " 
 
 "Yes, so he said. Both wife and child died there." 
 
 " Well," said Katrina, " what I am going to tell you, 
 please don't mention to any one else, but there Is a 
 strange coincidence between your story and a piece of 
 family history that comes near to me and mine. My 
 father has been twice married. His first wife was an 
 English woman. My brother John is her son. She 
 had a brother who lost a wife and little girl, with 
 small-pox, before she and my father were married. 
 That brother went away, and the family lost all traces 
 of him, thirty years ago. Who knows but Old Hickory 
 may be my brother's uncle ? " 
 
 " Since you speak of it, I remember the old man said 
 his wife and child died with small-pox," Mary said. 
 
 " If he is my brother's relative his name would be 
 William Hedge," said Katrina. 
 
 " Well, at all events, the coincidence is a striking 
 one. We will try and find out what his name is. 
 Perhaps Mr. Bushman will be able to tell us when he 
 comes here," Mary said. 
 
 John came in from looking after the cattle in time 
 to hear what Katrina said about the name. 
 
 He said, " It seems to me that I have heard the old 
 man called Mr. Hedge, years ago, when I was a boy." 
 
 " I think the same," said Mary. " It seems like a 
 dream to me that I have heard that name given him. 
 
WINTER IN THE WOODS. 
 
 205 
 
 IS 
 
 lid be 
 
 in time 
 
 the old 
 a boy." 
 ; like a 
 
 But I can't be certain. However, we will let the 
 matter rest until father Bushman comes." 
 
 Next morning John put the oxen to the sled to take 
 Katrina home, as there was no track across since the 
 last sDow. Mary was to go, too. She had not seen 
 any of Katrina's people but the old man and the two 
 young men. * 
 
 They shut everything up, and locked up the house, 
 leaving Rover to watch the place till they came back. 
 
 " What would Rover do, if some one should come 
 while you are away ? " asked Katrina. 
 
 " He would not harm him, if he kept his hands to 
 himself. But it would be a little risky if a stranger 
 should meddle with anything about the place. The 
 old dog knows his place, and he will keep it, and he 
 expects every one else to do the same." 
 
 John put a quarter of a deer on the sled for the 
 two families on the other concession, as Mary intended 
 to call on Martha Greenleaf before coming home. 
 
 Before he started, John brought out the rifle and 
 put it on the side of the box where he had fixed a 
 place for it. Mary said, " Are you going to take the 
 gun along, John ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mary," said he. " This country is too new yet 
 to undertake to carry fresh meat through the woods 
 without something to defend it with." 
 
 '■ Are you afraid of Indians, Mr. Bushman ? " asked 
 Katrina. 
 
 " No, not Indians. But the bears and wolves might 
 take it into their heads to try my venison. They 
 are sharp-scented and saucy. 
 
206 
 
 AMONG TliK FOREST TREKS. 
 
 They started and got along all right, and were at 
 Mr. Crautinaker's })y ten o'clock. Mary was mucli 
 pleased with the old-t'a.shioned hospitality of this plain 
 and honest family. She spent a ])art of the day very 
 pleasantly. 
 
 John's venison was a great treat to thein. In the 
 afternoon John and Mary went to Mr. Greenleafs. 
 He and Martha were very much pleased with the 
 quarter of the deer. They had their little shanty 
 nicely fitted up ; Martha seemed to have " a place for 
 everything and everything in its place." Richard 
 Greenleaf l)ad mn..^ ^ ">. commencement toward choppinff 
 a fallow. lie said to John, " Man, but this is a dif- 
 ferent thing from tending cattle, and driving the old 
 folks to church, and going to mill and to market. This 
 is the hardest work that ever I did." 
 
 "No doubt of that," answered John. " But there is 
 one thing that you and I should not forget — what we 
 are doing now, our fathers had to do. They labored 
 under greater disadvantages than we do. But they 
 succeeded, and we will do the same, if we do our part 
 as manfully as they did theirs." 
 
 " That is so," said Richard ; " ] know my father and 
 mother worked very hard, to make the good home 
 they now liave." 
 
 Martha and Mary made arrangements to spend the 
 Christinas together at John's house, and then the 
 oxen were once more put in motion with their heads 
 turned homewards, and in half an hour John and 
 Mar}" sat comfortably at their own fireside. 
 
CHAPn^ER XVI. 
 
 VISITORS AND CALLERS. 
 
 NE brijjfht and cold inoonlifrht iiijjht in the last 
 ^^_^ week in January, about eight o'clock, John and 
 Mary were sitting by a good tire in the room, 
 that answered to the name of kitchen, dining-room, 
 sitting-room, parlor and drawing-room, or in fact, any 
 kind of room but bedroom. While sitting by a good 
 tire in this very accommodating room, they thought 
 they heard the tinkling of sleigh bells. 
 
 " What is that r said Mary. 
 
 " It sounds like bells. I will go out and see if I 
 can hear anything out of doors," John said. But 
 before he had time to reach it, they heard a sleigh 
 drive up to the door and people talking. The next 
 inument Betsy, closely followed by her mother, walked 
 into the room. 
 
 After kissing Mary and glancing around the room, 
 Bet said, " John, you go out and take care of the horses, 
 and let father come in to the tire. He is nearly frozen 
 by coming to this awful cold country." 
 
 " Why, Betsy, how you talk ; father has not com- 
 plained of the cold," said the mother. 
 
208 
 
 AMON(} THE FOREST TRKKS. 
 
 " No, mother, he don't complain ; you know, he 
 never complains. But I am in a hurry for him to come 
 in and see what a cozy little nest his first-born son 
 has got himself settled down into," said she, looking at 
 John and laughing. 
 
 " Never mind about the nest, Bet. If you find the 
 bird all right. Your turn will come if you only 
 have patience to wait for it," said John, as he went 
 out of the door, just in time to escape the big ball 
 that Bet had made by rolling up her shawl to throw 
 at him. 
 
 " What a wild girl you are, Betsy," said her mother. 
 
 " Never mind, mother. It is so long since I saw him, 
 that I am dying for an old-fashioned frolic with John. 
 I almost wish that we were children again," she 
 answered. 
 
 Mr. Bushman brought a heavy load of things. Be- 
 tween sheep, and sugar-kettles, and apples, ' and pork, 
 and dried fruit, and grass-seed, and a lot of things 
 sent to Mary by her mother, he had as much as his 
 horses could get along with. 
 
 After the team was put away and the sleigh was 
 unloaded, the rest of the evening was spent in telling 
 what had taken place about the old home, and the new 
 one, since they last met. 
 
 John's father was well pleased with what John told 
 him about his crops. He also commended John's 
 course about sowing the fall wheat. That was just 
 the place to sow the Timothy seed that he had brought 
 with him. And the sheep would need a pasture field, 
 and that was the quickest way to get it. 
 
VISITOKS AND CAM-EIIS. 
 
 209 
 
 iW, he 
 )Corae 
 rn son 
 :in<^ at 
 
 nd the 
 u only 
 le went 
 H2 ball 
 ) throw 
 
 mother. 
 taw hira, 
 tb John, 
 lin," «he 
 
 ,gs. 
 
 Be- 
 
 lcI pork, 
 if things 
 Ih as his 
 
 |eio"h waa 
 
 in telling 
 
 the new 
 
 [ohn tokl 
 }cl John's 
 was just 
 brougM 
 Itare fieW. 
 
 " What will you do with your sheep until you get a 
 pasture field for them ?" asked Betsy of her brother. 
 
 He answered, " I will keep them shut up in a pen 
 and feed them on beaver-meadow hay and green 
 leaves or anything that they will eat, until the grass 
 (HOWS in the meadow. Then I will cut grass and feed 
 them. For this first year I nmst do the best I can 
 with them. After that I can have a suitable place for 
 tiiem." 
 
 " Mary, can you card and spin ?" inquired Mrs. Bush- 
 man. 
 
 " Yes. Mother taught me how to do both," she 
 replied. 
 
 " There is a Scotchman settling on the lot opposite 
 to Will Briar's lot, who is a weaver, and he is going 
 to bring his loom with him when he moves in here. 
 We will be able to get weaving done near home," 
 said John. 
 
 " Scotchman, your granny," said Bet. " Have you 
 forgotten already, that you have a sister who can 
 weave ? " 
 
 " 0, dear me. Now I have done it," said John, in a 
 half whining tone. " I have passed by the prospective 
 
 Mrs. B 's, and gone to a Scotch weaver to get some 
 
 cloth made. But let it pass this time, sister dear, and 
 the next will be brought to you." 
 
 " Well, of all things, but you are the provoking 
 tease. I won't touch your nasty old yarn," she said, 
 pretending to be out of temper. Then turning to 
 Mary, she said, " For your sake, Mary, I will do your 
 weaving when everything.is in readiness." 
 
210 
 
 AM()N(i THE FOREST lUEES. 
 
 " No matter for whose sake it is done, so lon^j as it 
 is well done," said John. 
 
 Next morninjL^, wlien Mrs. Bushman and Betsy could 
 look around and see the place they were doUglited 
 with it. The lake and the evergreens that surrounded 
 it, with the white snow everywhere showing itself 
 among the leaves and branches, made a picture of 
 rural beauty not often seen. But when the sun got 
 up, so that its rays struck tin; water at an angle of 
 about forty-five or tifty degrees, the beauty of the 
 scene was greatly increased. The sun-light, as it 
 touched the rippling surface of the water, seemed to 
 plant luminous centres all over, and from those cen- 
 tres there went out, in all directions, what looked 
 like streams of yellow light, and these, falling upon 
 the snow, partly hidden among the evergreen branches, 
 gave it the appearance of lumps of amber, so that the 
 mingling of light and shade, and the mixing of so 
 many different shades of color, gave to the lake a 
 stamp of beauty seldom met with anywhere. After 
 they had been looking at the scene before them, Mrs. 
 Bushman turned to John, and said, " It would be worth 
 a trip from our place to this, if it was only to see that 
 one sight ; it is so charming." 
 
 "I am glad you like it mother," said John. "I 
 often think of the bright world beyond the storms of 
 life, when I look at Sylvan Lake in its gayest dress." 
 
 " John," you have made a good hit by coming to the 
 bush just when you did," said Mr. Bushman next day, 
 looking around the place. 
 
 " I think so, too, father," John answered. 
 
VISITORS AND CALLEKS, 
 
 211 
 
 r as it 
 
 f could 
 ,i<:hte(l 
 juruled 
 ; itself 
 Lure of 
 lUIl got 
 in<j;le of 
 r ut* tlie 
 :,, as it 
 L'lued to 
 ose cen- 
 , looked 
 
 " Yes, there is no doubfc of it. I see that some 
 twelve or Hfteen settlers liave made beginnings along 
 the road this side of Mapleton since we were here last 
 spring'," was the father's answer. 
 
 When they went into the house, Jolin said, "Mother, 
 would you like a ride on an ox-sled?" 
 
 " Well, John, it would not be the first one, for I can 
 remember when we liad to ride on the ox-sled or 
 walk, " she answered. 
 
 " Well, then, for the sake of old a.ssociations, you 
 ought to have such a ride. F propose to take you all 
 on a visit to our only neighbors, Mr.Crautmaker's and 
 Mr. (heenleaf s. We have plenty of prospective neigh- 
 bors, but as yet we have not many real neighbors. 
 What do you all say ? Will you go ? " 
 
 " We might as well get acquainted with the people 
 around here," said Mr. Bushman ; "and I think we had 
 better (fo." 
 
 " All right, then ; that is settled," said John. 
 
 'Will you let me and Rover keep house?" put In 
 Betsy. "I am afraid of those big Dutchmen over 
 there." 
 
 " Now, Bet, none of your nonsense. Do you think 
 that because Will Briars has been soft enough to try 
 and captivate you, therefore no other young man can 
 be where you are without trying to catch you ? " said 
 John. 
 
 " Well, if you are not the mo.st impudent biped 
 that I know of, my name ain't Betsy. But, listen: 
 
 " I know a man who feels so big 
 Because he has a ulever wife 
 
212 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 To cook hia meat and clean his knife, 
 That he is saucy as a \ng. 
 
 But if I had tliat woman's lot 
 rd tell him ])lumply to his face 
 That lie must learn to keep his place, 
 
 Or I would smash the dinner pot. " 
 
 " There, now, you have got my opinion about you," 
 Betsy said, as she waved her hand toward the door, 
 as an intimation that he should get the sled and oxen 
 ready. 
 
 "Well, of all things.. Betsy," said her mother. 
 
 " Mother," said John, " I like it. Mary is so st.'.I 
 can't get any nonsense from her, and you know Bet | 
 and I were always bantering each other. And yet wt 
 never had a quarrel, or anything like it in our lives' I 
 
 "I was only joking," said Betsy. "I want to see 
 Katrina, for I am pretty sure that Mose is more thanj 
 half in love with her already." 
 
 " Katrina is a nice girl," put in Mary. 
 
 All was ready in a short time, and away throu^M 
 the woods they started. As on the former occasioD,] 
 John took his rifle along. They went to Mr. Craiitj 
 maker's first, and spent a pleasant time with thatj 
 family. 
 
 During the conversation, John a.sked his father if hej 
 knew the name of the old man who was called Old} 
 Hickory. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Bushman. "I was a witness totliej 
 deed when he bought the farm where he lives. HiJ 
 name is William Hedge. Why, what made you thinlj 
 of him now ?' he asked. 
 
VISITORS AND CALLKRS. 
 
 213 
 
 bout you," 
 
 the door, 
 
 1 and oxen 
 
 iher. 
 
 i so st',1 
 know Bet 
 
 knd yet we 
 our lives." 
 
 ant to see 
 
 1 more than 
 
 Mr, Crautraaker spoke, and said : " I once had a 
 brother-in-law by that name, my first wife's brother. 
 He lost his wife and only child by small-pox over 
 thirty years ago. He seemed all broken up, and went 
 off no one knew where, and the familv lost all trace 
 of him." 
 
 "VVliat age would this man be, and how long have 
 you known him ?"* 
 
 "About twenty-two years, I think, and he is about 
 seventy years of age, I should say. We have not been 
 much ac([uainted with him, as he always kept out of 
 society," was answered. 
 
 " I have a portrait of mother, and I will let you see 
 if there is any resemblance to the old man in it," said 
 John Crautniaker, who had been a very intense listener 
 to the conversation. 
 
 The portrait was examined by Mr. and Mrs. Bush- 
 man. They both thought that they saw a striking 
 resemblance, making allowance for difference in age 
 and sex. 
 
 "See here," said Mr. Bushman to the young man. 
 "If you will let me take that picture with me, I will 
 show it to the old man, and see if he will recognize it." 
 
 "I will willingly do it if you will give yourself the 
 trouble to go and show it to him, and let me know 
 what he says about it," said he. 
 
 "I will gladly do that, and let you know the result. 
 When William Briars and Moses Moosewood come 
 
 *Iu thiij couvcrsatiou we havci translated the old mau'a broken 
 [words into fair English. 
 
214 
 
 AMONG THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 back in the sprinj^, I will send the picture to you by 
 then),'" Mr. Bushman said. 
 
 After this arrangement was made the visitinuf-partv 
 left,and went across to Richard Greenleafs. Here they 
 were warmly received by Martha, who had often heard 
 Mary speak of them. After spendinj^ a pleasant after- 
 noon with this interesting young couple, the party 
 went home, in time to attend to the chores. 
 
 When they came within sight of the place, they 
 heard Rover barking fiercely. They hurried on to see] 
 what was the matter, for he never barketl like that 
 unless there was some cause for it. 
 
 When they got around to the stable, they saw that! 
 Rover had a man treed on the hen-house, and was 
 barking at him. The man looked frifrhtened when he| 
 saw them come into the yard. 
 
 John called the dog off, and then went up to the 
 man, and asked him what he was doing there. 
 
 "I am here," said the man, "by the order of yourl 
 policeman that, it seems, you left to take care of the! 
 place. I made a mistake. But he would not take any 
 explanations. He has kept me here for four or tivej 
 hours." 
 
 " What did you do ?" inquired John. 
 
 " I will tell you," said the man. " I am on my \nf 
 to a settlement some twenty-five or thirty mik^s fron 
 here. I was told that a new road had been cutthrouglj 
 the country, and it is the shortest and best way tog(| 
 to where I am going. When I came this far I fell 
 hungry, and I thought that I would go in and see if 
 could get something to eat. I went to the house anj 
 
VISITORS AND CALLERS. 
 
 215 
 
 ire. 
 
 ler of your 
 
 1 care 
 
 lot take any] 
 tour or t 
 
 cut tbroug 
 jt way to I 
 far I fel| 
 land see i 
 le house aff 
 
 found no one there. The clog watched me very closely, 
 hilt he did not molest me. I thought that I would 
 look into the stable, and .see what was there. That is 
 where I made the mistake. I had only put my hand 
 on the stable door, when the dog took hold of me, and 
 to get away from him I got upon the hen-pen, where 
 be has kept me till now." 
 
 "Well, my man," said John, " I am sorry that you 
 have been detained by the dog. But 1 can't blame the 
 (log for doing as he did. You can't go on any further 
 tnniirht, so come in and content vourself till morninfj. 
 We will give you your supper, ami bed, and breakfast, 
 as a sort of compromise for your forced detention by 
 the dog." 
 
 All right; I shall be thankful for your kindness," 
 said he, as he walked toward the house, the dog keep- 
 ing close to him. 
 
 Next morning, after breakfast, the strange man 
 started on his journey, as he said, to the next settle- 
 ment, saying that when he came Imck he hoped to be 
 able to make some suitable return for their kindness. 
 When he had gone away, Mary said, " I am not at 
 [all anxious for his return, or for remuneration. I don't 
 'ike the looks of him, and I would not trust him." 
 "I agree with you, Mary," said Mrs. Bu.shman, 
 about that man. I would be afraid to trust him. 
 nd yet I could hardly tell why. He seemed civil 
 nough. But I feel that I would be unsafe if I put 
 onfidonce in him so far as in any way to put myself 
 n his power." 
 'That is a little strange," said John. "That you 
 
216 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 should both have the same opinion about him is what 
 I can't understand, and yet you may be right." 
 
 " I would almost be willing to vouch for it, that they 
 are right," said John's father. 
 
 " On what grounds, father ? " asked John. 
 
 " On the ground that women are seldom, if ever, 
 wrong in the estimate they form of the character of a 
 strange man," he said. 
 
 " Are they better judges than men are on this sub- 
 ject ? " inquired John. 
 
 " Yes, decidedly so ; only in their case it is not judg- 
 ment, but it is instinct, or intuition, that governs their 
 conclusions." 
 
 " I don't think that I understand your meaning, " 
 said John. 
 
 " Probably not. But I will explain. We get all the 
 information we can about a man, and we mentally 
 take his measure. After we have gained all the facts 
 that we can in regard to the man, we base our judg- 
 ment on the ascertained qualities of the man, and form 
 our estimate of him accordingly. But with women 
 the process is entirely different. When a true woman i 
 comes into the presence of a strange man, if she w 
 note the first impression that arises in her mind, and I 
 governs herself by that, she will seldom, if ever, make 
 a mistake in estimating men." 
 
 " Well, I never heard of that before," said he. 
 
 " I suppose not. I don't know that we ever had anyl 
 talk on the subject before. But Mary's remarks abouti 
 that man brought the matter up. One thing I doj 
 know; in my own experience I have, on different! 
 
VISITORS AND CALLERS. 
 
 217 
 
 get all the 
 mentally 
 the facts 
 our judg- 
 ,, and form 
 th women 
 ■ue woman 
 if she will 
 mind, and 
 iver, make 
 
 he. 
 
 er had any 
 arks about 
 
 hing I tlo 
 different 
 
 occasions, been saved from loss through taking your 
 mother's advice about strangers, even when she had no 
 other reason to give for lier fears than simply, ' 1 don't 
 like the looks of him.' And, on the other hand, in 
 some cases where I have acted on my own judgment, 
 and gone against her advice, I have found, in every 
 instance, that her estimate of the person was the 
 correct one." 
 
 "Good for you, father Bushman," said Mary. " That 
 will count one for my side, won't it ? " 
 " I suppose it will," he answered. 
 ' Father," said John, " how do you account for what 
 you say is a fact about women's reading of men's 
 character ? " 
 
 I suppose we may say it arises from the law of 
 compensation that is said to run throughout animated 
 nature. By this law the balance or equilibrium of 
 creation is kept up. Where there may be weakness 
 land inferiority in some respects, there is always a 
 compensating strength and superiority in some other 
 [respect. 
 
 " For instance, those creatures that are easily de- 
 itroyed have the power of rapid increase. So that, 
 ilhough they are individually weak, they are numer- 
 ically strong. On the other hand, the strong and fero- 
 iious animals increase slowly, so that, though they are 
 individually Sorong, they are numerically weak. Com- 
 lare the power of increase of the lion and the tiger 
 ith that of rabbits and rats, and you see where this 
 fompensation comes in. 
 "Take another illustration. You tell about Moses' 
 
218 
 
 AMONG THE FOIU>;sT TREKS 
 
 dog and the porcupine. Now, tlie little porcupine 
 could not run as fast as the dog, nor could it resist his 
 strength. But nature, or rather the God of nature, 
 coTnpen.sated the porcupine by surrounding it with a 
 coat of mail, made up of a thousand barbed arrows, 
 any one of which might kill the dog if it pierced him 
 in a vital part. While the dog was swifter and stringer 
 than the porcupine, he had no such weapon for self- 
 defence as the weaker and slower creature had. 
 
 "Now for the answer to your (juestion. A man 
 relies for self-protection on the force of his will, the 
 clearness of his intellect, and the strength of his arm. 
 But woman was not made to fight, nor to defend 
 herself by acts of prowess. Her strength is found in 
 the correctness of her intuitions, the quickness of her 
 instincts, and the strength of her moral perceptions. 
 With these in their normal condition, she is com- 
 paratively safe. But when these are overpowered 
 she becomes like a ship on a strong sea without a 
 rudder or a pilot, driven before the gale and as likely 
 to be dashed upon the rocks or among the breakers, 
 as to reach the safe and quiet haven." Mr. Bushman 
 spoke truly. 
 
 And Milton does no violence to nature, when he 
 makes Mother Eve trample on her own instinctive 
 feeling, and lay a suicidal hand upon her intuitions , 
 and moral perceptions, by parleying with the devil. 
 before she yielded to temptation. "And that the I 
 woman who parleys with t'^mptation is lost," has been 
 true from the days of Eve, till the year of grace 1888. 
 And I will venture to repeat Mr. Bushman's statement 
 
VISITORS AND rAIJ-ERS. 
 
 219 
 
 and endorse it, that if a woman will be guided by 
 her first impressions in regard to a strange man, she 
 never need to be deceived by that man. 
 
 "Father," said John, "will you show me how to 
 make a sap trough before you start for home ? Sugar- 
 making will soon be here, and I want to have every- 
 thing ready when it commences." 
 
 "Don't you know how to make a sap-trough ?" said 
 the father. 
 
 " No ; I never saw one made. I have seen them 
 after they were done, but I never .saw any of them 
 made." 
 
 "Well, we will go this afternoon, and see what we 
 can do. You have some nice pine trees out behind the 
 lake, that are just the thing to make them of," said 
 Mr. Bushman. 
 
 They made .some thirty troughs that afternoon, and 
 John learned how to do it so well, that by the time 
 the sap began to run he had about two hundred 
 troughs made and put in place at the roots of the trees 
 in what he intended for the "sap-bush." 
 
 The next morning after the sap-troughs were made 
 Mr. Bushman said to John, " What arrangements have 
 you for storing the sap that you get, until you can 
 boil it?" 
 
 " I have no arrangements as yet," said he. 
 
 "Do you know how to make a store-trough ?" 
 
 " No ; I don't think I do. How do they make them ? 
 Could you help me to i 'ake one ?" snid John. 
 
 "Yes. We will go a it riglit away, for you know 
 
 I must start home after one day more." 
 15 
 
'f 
 
 220 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 They went to the pinery and selected a tree of the 
 riofht size, which was about thirty inches across. They 
 felled it, and after takinpj off a few feet of the hutt- 
 end for fear of " shakes," they measured up some 
 thirty feet as the length from end to end. Tliey left 
 about two feet at each end that they did not din; 
 out. The rest of the log they dug out with axes and 
 carpenter's adze, until they had a shell tliat would 
 hold some sixty or seventy pails of sap. They got 
 done at sundown. Mr. Bushman said, " There, John, 
 you have a store-trough good enough for old King 
 George himself, if he were here." 
 
 " Yes, father ; " said John, " I am very much obliged 
 to you for helping me to make it. If I need any more, 
 I think now that I can manage to make tliem myself." 
 
 The time appointed for Mr. Bushman and his wife 
 and daughter to start for home came round, and as 
 punctuality characterized the Bushman family, they 
 started next day for home. 
 
 John jibed Betsy a little, telling her to be sure and 
 come back before the berries were all gone, so that 
 there would be nothing but briars left. She told him 
 to mind his business and they started for home. 
 
o{ thfi 
 They 
 
 p some 
 ley left 
 not dig 
 CCS an<l 
 , would 
 ey c;ot 
 e, John, 
 Id King 
 
 Chapter XVII. 
 
 SUGAR- MAKING. 
 
 j->. 
 
 :l2)K0PLE who never had experience in the work of 
 '1$ making maple sugar can form but a very vague 
 idea of what it really means. The work is so 
 mixed up with what is pleasant and exhilarating that 
 a great deal of it seems, betimes, more like play than 
 work. It is true that some things that have to be 
 done are hard to do. The carrying of the sap by hand, 
 when the snow is deep and covered with crust that 
 will almost bear up a man, and then let him down 
 witli his load of sweet water and perhaps spill it all, is 
 not among the easiest or pleasantest kind of employ- 
 ment. This is not only tiresome, but it also tries one's 
 temper sometimes pretty severely. 
 
 Then there is wood-chopping, which is hard work, 
 
 and working around the fire and in the smoke is by no 
 
 means like play. But after all is said that can be .said 
 
 about the hardships of sugar-making, there is more of 
 
 I pleasure than pain in it, more profit than loss, and 
 
 j more sweet than bitter ; on the side of its advantages 
 
 ffiay be counted first, the saving of expense in buying 
 
 your year's supply of this saccharine necessity in 
 
 I household furnishing. And the feeling of independ- 
 
f 
 
 222 
 
 AMONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ence that a good supply of sugar gives to the house- 
 keeper, who knows that she can't be taken short for 
 sweetness, while she has a lot of cakes of sugar stowed 
 away in some safe place, is among the advantages of 
 the business. 
 
 And the pleasure of making our own supply of any 
 thing seems to enhance its value. And another ad- 
 vantage is in the business itself after it has been 
 started. The expense of starting is something, but it is 
 not like an annual outlay. Once the business is fitted 
 up, it will last foi- years without additional expense. 
 There is no seeding nor feeding to be done in connec- 
 tion with a sap-bush, so that after the work of tapping 
 the trees and boiling the sap is paid for, the rest is 
 clear profits in sugar, molasses and vinegar. 
 
 About the last week in March John tapped his trees. 
 The first run of sap is said to be the sweetest and 
 best for making sugar. For three days and nights 
 the sugar maples in John's sap-bush seemed to have 
 entered into a conspiracy to try and drown him out. 
 The troughs were tilled and emptied, until no room 
 could be found to store any more sap. His kettles, 
 including Mary's dinner-pot and bake-kettle, would 
 hold about fifteen pails and boil. Although he had 
 kept the kettles going for two days and a night, 
 the sap was accumulating on his hands. The store- 
 trough was full and all the sap-troughs were nearly so. 
 "Seventy pails of vsap in the store-trough and notj 
 less than a hundred pails in the sap-troughs," said I 
 John to Mary, when she came to bring him something | 
 to eat. 
 
 . : II 
 
 'ii: 
 „iii 
 
SUOAR-MAKINO. 
 
 223 
 
 house- 
 ort for 
 stowed 
 .ages of 
 
 ' of any 
 ther ad- 
 las been 
 , but it is 
 i is fitted 
 expense. 
 n connec- 
 i tapping 
 [le rest is 
 
 I bis trees, 
 
 etest and 
 
 ,nd nigbts 
 
 to bave 
 
 him out. 
 
 no room 
 
 IS kettles, 
 
 tie, would 
 
 ;h be had 
 
 I a nigbt, 
 
 Tbe store- 
 
 ! nearly so, 
 
 ■h and not 
 
 Ighs," sa 
 
 " I never thoufrht that sugar-making was like this. 
 You must be just about tired out already. Here you 
 have been working for two days and a night without 
 rest or sleep," Mary said. 
 
 " The old adage, you know, says you must ' Make 
 hay while tbe sun shines,' .said John ; " but it may 
 be changed in this case to ' make sugar while the 
 sap runs.' And that is what we are doing. It is hard 
 work while it runs like this, but this run is about over. 
 The wind has got into the north, and there will be 
 no sap running to-morrow ; and I am glad of it, for it 
 will take me all of three days to clear off what is on 
 hand now." 
 
 " When will you ' sugar off,' John? I am all expecta- 
 tion about that," said Mary. 
 
 " Ju.st as soon as I can take one of the large kettles 
 out of the row, without allowing the sap to run to 
 waste," he answered. 
 
 "Do you know how to do it all right?" said Mary, as 
 thouofh she felt a little doubtful. 
 
 " I am not over confident that I shall have complete 
 success at first. I often saw it done when I was a boy; 
 but it is some years since I saw any sugaring-ofF done," 
 was John's answer. 
 
 " Martha Greenleaf wants to see you sugar off some- 
 time before the season is over," said Mary. 
 
 "All right," said John, "she shall have a chance to 
 
 do so. After I get some experience in the business we 
 
 will invite all of our backline neighbours, Greenleafs 
 
 i and Crautmakers, some afternoon, to come over and 
 
 [help sugar off. We will have a sort of backwoods jol- 
 
 I lification. 
 
224 
 
 AMONCJ THE FOREST TIIKES. 
 
 Mary insisted on staying in the bush that nii,'ht with 
 Joliii. Slie had spent part of each day in the cainj), na 
 they had the little shanty that was built for teinporury 
 shelter. And while John was gathering sap and chop- 
 ping wood, she kept up the fire under the kettles. The 
 camp was some fifty rods from the house. Rover nnd 
 Rambler (the deer) had already found the road to 
 the camp. 
 
 That night Mary carried out some blankets and a 
 pillow, and spread them on hemlock brush for John to 
 get some sleep, while she attended to the kettles, 
 Rover was to keep her company. The deer was shut 
 up every night in a place fixed for it in one corner of 
 the sheep pen. 
 
 John gathered up a lot of wood in front of the fire, 
 so that Mary would not need to go into the dark at all. 
 Then he laid down and soon fell asleep. Mary felt a 
 little timid when at first John's heavy breathing told 
 her that he was sleeping. But she consoled herself 
 with the fact that John was near at hand, and was 
 easily awakened in case of danger. 
 
 The stillness of the night was only broken by the 
 gentle whispering of a slight breeze, as it spent its 
 little force among the leafless branches of the trees, 
 and the hissing and splashing of the boiling and foam- 
 ing kettles on the fire. 
 
 Mary watched and worked by turns, as occasion 
 required, until sometime past midnight, and John slept 
 on. She sat down on a block of wood, and leaned 
 against the side of the shanty where she could watch 
 the smoke of the fire ascend among the tree tops in 
 
SUGAII-MAKING. 
 
 225 
 
 nt with 
 imp, ii.>5 
 \|)Oiary 
 1(1 chop- 
 es. The 
 ivei* anil 
 road to 
 
 its anil a 
 
 John to 
 
 kettles. 
 
 was shut 
 
 corner of 
 
 I the fire, 
 ,rk at all. 
 
 |ary felt a 
 \\m^ told 
 ;d herself 
 ., and Nvas 
 
 ill by the 
 
 spent its 
 
 Ithe trees, 
 
 md foam- 
 
 occa:iion 
 John slept 
 
 id leaned 
 luld watcb 
 
 3e tops in 
 
 curlin<' clouds of blue and yellow, as the lijifht of the 
 fires sent streaming arrows after them, painting them 
 in such chani^^eful hues. 
 
 Mary j^'ot a little dozy while sitting here, but 
 presently her eye caught sight of an object that 
 instantly Imni.slied all sleepiness from her. Among 
 the siiadows of a large tree, and in a deep .shade of 
 one of its limbs she .saw what seemed to be two balls 
 of fire shining out of the darkness. They looked to 
 her as if they were the size of tea-saucers. She stood 
 and looked at the strange sight, wondering what it 
 could he. 
 
 " Who-hoo, who-hoo, who-hoo-o-ooo-ah-o-ah-awe," 
 came from between the balls of fire, and a bunch of 
 gray feathers on the limb began to move like a pillow 
 shaking itself to pieces. 
 
 Mary .sprang up, and went to wake up her husband, 
 hut just as she got him partly awake, the sound came 
 again from the bunch of feathers. 
 
 " Who-hoo, who-hoo, who-hoo-o-o-oo-ah-o-ah-awe." 
 
 ' I'll soon tell you who we are, if I can see you, my 
 jolly friend," said John, as he rose to his feet and 
 reached for his gun. 
 
 "Dear me, John, what is it ?" asked Mary. 
 
 "It's only an owl," said he; " see how his eyes are 
 shining in the dark. Keep quiet. Rover." 
 
 " Who-hoo, who-hoo, who — " Just here a bullet 
 from John's rifle went between the eyes of the bird of 
 darkness, and it never again frightened a woman, nor 
 picked up a belated chicken. It dropped to the 
 ground dead. " Go and fetch it, Rover," John said to 
 
226 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 the dog, and the next minute the sharp, bright eyes 
 and the bunch of gray feathers were lying at Mary's 
 feet. 
 
 Now all sleepiness was gone, and for the rest of the 
 night, they all — that is John and Mary, and Rover- 
 kept watch and attended to the fires. 
 
 Ar John had piedicted, before morning the sap 
 stopped running, and a heavy frost set in, which pre- 
 vented any more sap that week. 
 
 By the next night John had all his sap in syrup or 
 into the store trough, so that he intended to sugar off 
 a small batch that evening. He fixed a place separate 
 from the boiling place, where he could swing one of 
 the large kettles by itself, while the others were kept 
 full of sap, and kept boiling all night. Of course 
 Mary was to be present at the sugaring oflT. 
 
 They put in syrup enough to make a nice cake of 
 sugar, and tried that first. John had heard old men 
 say that the quicker you can get the syrup into sugar 
 the better after it begins to boil, and is thoroughly 
 skimm.ed. 
 
 They watched that kettle as few kettles are 
 watched, until the sugar would harden up if it was 
 dropped on snow or put into cold water. When they 
 got it hard enough to suit them they took it from the 
 fire and commenced the cooling process. This con- 
 sisted in stirring it awhile, and then letting it stand 
 awhile, until it was gritty. Then continuous stirring 
 until it was cold enough to take out of the pot was 
 said to improve the color and the grain of the sugar. 
 John's first efiort proved to be a success. The two 
 
SUGAR-MAKING. 
 
 227 
 
 tit eyes 
 Mary's 
 
 t of the 
 Rover— 
 
 the sap 
 licli pre- 
 
 syrup or 
 sugar off 
 ■ separate 
 ng one of 
 ivere kept 
 [)i course 
 
 cake of 
 old men 
 into sugar 
 loroughly 
 
 les are 
 it was 
 Then tliey 
 from the 
 rhis con- 
 stand 
 stirring 
 pot was 
 sugar. 
 The two 
 
 cakes of sugar were of the best quality, and the quan- 
 tity was about double what he expected from the 
 amount of syrup he put into the kettle. 
 
 Next day they sugared off two batches, and boiled 
 all the sap on hand, so that they had everything in 
 shape tor another run of sap. They put away the 
 remaining syrup till Monday, and put things in order 
 for the next day, which was Sundaj'. 
 
 As John came in from doing the chores that Satur- 
 day night, he said to Mary, "For once in my life, at all 
 events, I am tired." 
 
 " No wonder, John," she answered. " You have had 
 a very hard week's work. Between working all day 
 and all night, and going v/ithout sleep, I don't wonder 
 that you are tired." 
 
 " Well, to be sure, Mary," said he, " we have had a 
 hard week, but it has been a paying one. By the time 
 we get all done off we must have over one hundred 
 and fifty pounds of sugar." 
 
 " Yes, and then look at the quality of it. That is a 
 great deal in my estimation ; for with burnt or very 
 dark sugar it is impossible to do good cooking. How 
 mother would praise your sugar if she were here," 
 Mary said. 
 
 "I am glad you think so, Mary," said John, " and I 
 wish your mother was here to praise my sugar, for 
 she can't well praise my work and not speak well of 
 m. And I heard an old man once say, ' Blessed is the 
 man whose mother-in-law speaketh well of him.' And 
 I should feel myself highly complimented to be well 
 spoken of by a woman with a^ much good sense as 
 
228 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 Mrs. Myrtle," said John. " But, Mary, why don't you 
 say our sugar? You did your share of the work, I am 
 sure ; and it' there is any credit to be given, you must 
 come in for a share." 
 
 " Well, you know, what is mine is yours," she said. 
 
 "That is all right enough ; but it works both ways, 
 like spelling the word madam — it amounts to the same 
 thing whichever way you take it. What is mine is 
 yours, as well as the reverse," John said. 
 
 " I am satisfied either way, so long as we have the 
 thing between us," was her answer. 
 
 The Sabbath morninfj came in, brijjht and clear and 
 beautiful, just the kind of a morning to fill the birds 
 with music and brutes with gladness, and the heart of 
 man with feelings of devotion. 
 
 The usual relio-ious services were held, and anions: 
 the few worshippers none were more joyful than John 
 himself. The order of holdinrj their meeting was 
 entirely free from cast-iron rules or mere formality. 
 Some of the men would give out a hymn, and after 
 singing it, some one would lead in prayer. Then a 
 chapter in the Bible would be read by one person 
 sometimes, and in rotation at other times. Then any 
 one who wished to do so might speak a few words by 
 way of commenting on the lesson read, or in relation 
 of religious experience, or by way of exhortation. 
 There was no restraint and no compulsion in those 
 humble Sabbath services in that humble Christian 
 community. And yet, who would say that the want 
 of stateliness or form would be any bar to the spiritu- 
 ality of worship, or to its acceptability to God, or the 
 beneficial effects upon the worshippers. 
 
SUGAR-MAKING. 
 
 •229 
 
 Wlien the services were over, and after a few words 
 of friendly greetin^js, the little congregation dispersed, 
 all of them realizing the truth of the prophetic state- 
 ment, " That they who wait upon the Lord shall renew 
 their strength." 
 
 During the night the wind changed, and the weather 
 became warmer. On Monday morning the sap started 
 to run again. But the flow was not so rapid as the 
 week before. John was able to keep up with the 
 work that week without much trouble. 
 
 At breakfast he told Mary that he would go to the 
 back line and invite the two families to come that 
 afternoon and help to sugar ofi' the rest of the syrup. 
 They all accepted the invitation gladly, as they were 
 not making anything more than some molasses that 
 tirst spring in the bush. 
 
 John and Mary got everything in readiness for the 
 afternoon's treat. Mary got a lot of clean snow to 
 make tafi'y, and John made a number of wooden pad- 
 dles to be used as spoons in eating sugar. Having no 
 sap to boil that day, he did not kindle a fire till after 
 dinner. 
 
 By the time the neighbors came he had the two 
 large kettles over the fire, with a lot of syrup in each, 
 as he had more than he cared to risk in one alone. He 
 had the kettles boiling when the company, led by 
 Mary, came to the camp. 
 
 "Coot tay, Meester Bushman. Dis ish werry kind 
 of you to go vor us to gome and eat up your shoogar. 
 Datlsh a vact." 
 
 "Never mind, Mr. Crautmaker," said Mary. "If 
 
"T 
 
 230 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 we had not wanted you all to come we would not 
 have asked you to do so. We will have one back- 
 woods neighborly gathering around the sugar-pot this 
 afternoon. So let us all feel at liberty to help our- 
 selves, p.nd help each other as much as we can. Sugar 
 is plenty, and more coming, you see;" and pointing to 
 a large tree near by, she said, " If any of you would 
 like a drink of sweet water, there is plenty of it in 
 those troughs around there." 
 
 The company made the time pass as pleasantly and 
 rapidly as any company could be expected to do, until 
 the syrup began to act like to sugar, by foaming up to 
 the top of the kettles. John stood with his stirring- 
 stick in hand in order to keep the sugar from running 
 over. Mary, with a long-handled spoon, was dipping 
 sugar out of the pot and pouring it on snow or in cold 
 water to make taffy for those who wanted to try how 
 much pulling apart their jaws could do when their 
 teeth were fastened together with the sticky stuff. 
 
 " Look here, boys," said John, "just see how this 
 boils up and acts as though it was trying to jump out 
 of the kettles. Can any of you tell me why this is 
 like an angry, scolding woman ?" 
 
 " I don't know," said one and another, until it was 
 evident that the answer was not likely to be given. 
 
 " Well," said John, " I will tell you why they are 
 alike. Because in both cases it is foaming sweetness!' 
 
 " Veil," said Mr. Crautn ker, " vedder it ish voam- 
 ing sweetness or voaming sourness, de boilin' shoogar 
 and de scholdin' vife makes von pig fuss zometime." 
 
 " There now, old man, don't you be tellin' tales out 
 
SUGAR-MAKING. 
 
 231 
 
 lid not 
 ; back- 
 pot this 
 ilp our- 
 Sugar 
 nting to 
 u would 
 of it in 
 
 ,ntly and 
 do, until 
 m^ up to 
 stirring- 
 i running 
 a dipping 
 3r in cold 
 ) try bow 
 ben their 
 stuff, 
 ihow this 
 ump out 
 ,y this is 
 
 of the house," said Mrs. Crautmaker, as she threw a 
 lidit snowball across the fire and hit the old man on 
 
 n 
 
 the nose. 
 
 "There now, shust see that. Shiminy, but ish this 
 not the best proofs in dis world dat vot I said apout 
 de scholdin' vife makes a pig fuss is shust as true as 
 anytinf^s ?" retorted the old man. 
 
 " Well, after all," said Richard Greenleaf, " it takes 
 the old folks to get up the fun." 
 
 " Yes," said John Bushman, " my wife would have 
 to try a half a dozen times before she could hit me on 
 the nose like that." 
 
 " Well, well," said the old lady, " his nose is so big 
 that you can't miss it if you throw in the direction he 
 is in." 
 
 "I gives it up. My vife always has de best of de 
 bargain ven we gits play in' off jokes on one annoder," 
 sai<l the old man. 
 
 By sundown the sugar was all done and in the 
 moulds. The visitors were all gone, and John and 
 Mary wee quietly taking their suppers, after the most 
 sociable day that had ever been spent among their 
 neighbors. 
 
 The night after the sugaring-ofF party John found a 
 pair of lambs in the pen among the sheep. Here was 
 an additional care for him. But, as he said to Mary, 
 it was a profitable care. Nothing about a farm will 
 give larger or quicker returns than sheep when they 
 are properly looked after. 
 
 John's flock doubled itself the first year. To be 
 sure, it took considerable care and attention to keep 
 them in safety from the foxes and wolves. 
 
232 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TRRES. 
 
 Sugar-making was progressing nicely with the Bnsh- 
 mans. At the end of the third week they had over 
 three hundred pounds of good sugar. 
 
 " Now," said John, " we will make a good lot of 
 molasses, and then some vinegar." 
 
 John had bought a barrel for vinegar and a large 
 keg for molasses the last time he was at Mapleton to 
 mill, so that he could put away the year's supply of 
 both. 
 
 The next run of sap supplied the material for the 
 molasses and vinegar. After this was all disposed of 
 the sap ran still. 
 
 John said to Mary, " I can't spend any more time 
 with it. My spring's work is at hand, and between 
 doing that and making preparation to build a barn I 
 have a big lot of work before me for the summer. I 
 think I will go and tell those people on the back line 
 that they may have the bush now if they like to take 
 it. They might make some good sugar yet. The buds 
 are not started enough to spoil the sap for it." 
 
 " That would be a great deal better than lettino; the 
 sap waste," Mary answered. 
 
 "I will go right away and it them know," said he; 
 and he did. 
 
 They were glad to have the chance. They agreed 
 that each family should do half the work and share 
 equally in whatever was made. They made some very 
 good sugar, besides filling a vinegar barrel that the 
 Crautraakers had brought with them to the bush. 
 This is only another instance of the kindly feelings 
 that new country neighbors have for each other. 
 
SUOAI^-MAKINO. 
 
 233 
 
 3 Bush- 
 id over 
 
 I lot of 
 
 a large 
 ileton to 
 apply of 
 
 for the 
 jposed of 
 
 I ore time 
 
 between 
 
 a barn 1 
 
 iner. I 
 
 back line 
 
 to take 
 
 'he buds 
 
 Dtins the 
 
 said he ; 
 
 ;y agreed 
 
 ,nd share 
 
 ome very 
 
 that the 
 
 I he bush, 
 feelings 
 ler. 
 
 One evenincf, as John and Mary were sitting at the 
 supper table, a rap came on the door, and before they 
 had time to go and invite the person in, Moses Moose- 
 wood opened the door and walked in. 
 
 " Home once more," said Mose, as he gave one hand 
 to John and one to Mary, " and I am glad of it, I assure 
 you." 
 
 "We did not expect you just yet, Mose, but we are 
 glad to see you ; for, to tell the truth, we were begin- 
 ning to think the time long for your return," John 
 an.swercd. 
 
 " You did not think it longer than I did myself, for 
 I got as homesick as I could be," said Mose. 
 
 " 1 know what was the matter with you, Mose," put 
 in Mary. " There was no girl out there whose name 
 begins with Katrina." 
 
 "Now, Mary, that is not fair. What do 1 know 
 about your Katrina ? I never spoke a dozen words to 
 her in my life," said Mose. 
 
 "That is no reason why you may not speak a good 
 many words to her in the future. But we will let all 
 that pass now," she said ; " and come now and get some 
 supper." 
 
 ' Without much coaxing I will do that, for I am 
 hungry as I can well be," said Mo-^^e. 
 
 "How are all the folks out on the front?" John 
 inquired. 
 
 "All well and hearty. Your folks are busy prepar- 
 ing for the wedding, which is to come off one week 
 I from to-day." 
 
 " Why did you not wait for it ? " asked Mary. 
 
234 
 
 AMONTJ TJIF FOREST TREES. 
 
 " I would like to be there, ami Will tried hard to 
 keep me. But it will be three weeks yet before they 
 will be ready to move, and I wanted to be here as 
 soon as I could, to get in some grain and prepare for 
 house-building." 
 
Chaptbr XVIII. 
 
 MORE SETTLERS COMING. 
 
 r>- 
 
 '^HE rapidity with which some localities fill up, 
 Vxi after settlement has once begun, is truly aston- 
 ishing to those who are not acquainted with the 
 causes that lead to such results. Among tliese many 
 causes there are four that predominate. 
 
 These are, familv connections, national distinctions 
 religious predilections, and local advantages. 
 
 It is often the case that families settle in the same 
 locality, and give it the family name. For instance, 
 we have known a large settlement named after the 
 Merrit family, and a Kennedy's settlement, and a 
 Minifies settlement, a Fennel's settlement, and almost 
 any number of settlements named after certain families 
 among the early residents of the place. 
 
 Then it is often the case that national distinctions 
 have a good deal to do with giving an impetus to 
 settlement in certain localities. Perhaps no other 
 class are so much inclined to be influenced by this 
 consideration as the Germans are, hence you will 
 tind Dutch settlements here and there all over the 
 country. 
 
 ifi 
 
200 
 
 AMdNT! Till-; FOHEST TUEES. 
 
 The Higlilatid Scotcli are a <^ood deal influencod by 
 this, too, so tliat Scotch .settlements arc not at all an 
 nncommon thing in the country. Other nationalities 
 sometimes have more or less to do in the direction (if 
 settlers in the selection of a location.* 
 
 Religious preferences .sometimes have a good deal to 
 do with .settlement. Roman Catholics would not .settle 
 among Protestants, if they could just as easily .settle 
 amonsf their co-religionists. Nor would Protestants 
 .settle amono: Catholics as readily as among those of 
 the Protestant faith. And there have been instance.s 
 where coercion was used to prevent the one sect from 
 settling among the other. 
 
 It has been .said that, when the town.ship of Wallace 
 was settling, certain Protestants took it upon them- 
 selves to prevent any Catholic from .settling on land 
 in th it township. Some of those guardians of tho 
 Protestant religion were afterwards known in political 
 circles as " Tom ''"evj/itson's Lamhs " — a lot of men who 
 feared nobody, and did not care to be interfered with 
 by anybody. 
 
 And even among Protestants there is a denomina- 
 tional feeling that has its influence, to a greater or le.ss 
 extent. A good staunch Presbyterian would go a few 
 lots farther back, if by so doing he could get beside 
 another good staunch Presbyterian. And so with a 
 
 * The townaliip of Esquesing, where the writer was broii>^lit up. 
 was once divided up into tlie ".Scotch Block," tlie *' Irisli iJlock, 
 and the " Oanadian Block." And rough times there used to l>i' 
 auion^j some of the representatives of these lilocks. IJnt these dif 
 ferencee are dying out tliere. 
 
MORE SETTI.KRS COMINO. 
 
 r.\i 
 
 ncod by 
 it all an 
 onalities 
 sction of 
 
 id (lealto 
 not settle 
 iily settle 
 •otestanls 
 tliose of 
 instances 
 sect from 
 
 :,{ Wallace 
 )on tliem- 
 cT on laml 
 ms of tho 
 in political 
 If men ^^•llO 
 Ifert'd with 
 
 Idenonuna- 
 iter or less 
 Id go a fe\v 
 l(Tet besiile 
 
 Ir5 
 
 I so 
 
 with a 
 
 l,r.)U-Ut "V. 
 hrisb I'l^i^l'' 
 le use.l to !»■ 
 lut these X\\ 
 
 Methodist or an Episcopalian, and more especially so 
 will a Baptist or a Disciple. 
 
 Rut far stronger than any of these is tlie attraction 
 of !i choice locality. Good land, good vvatiT, and a 
 situation that, from its suiroundinos, must, in the 
 nature of things, become in time an imj)ortant 
 a;fricnltural and commercial centre, constitute an 
 attraction that will draw a good cla>s of settlers, and 
 secure a rapid development. Sueli was the condition 
 of thinixs around where Jolm Bushman had chosen his 
 home. 
 
 There were no strong family attractions and no 
 mvat national feelinjj, for the few settlers already 
 there were of different nationalities, and the three 
 families there represented three different sections of 
 the Protestant Church, so that local advantages was 
 the only thing to draw people to the vicinity of Sj'lvfin 
 Lake. But these advantages were of no triflini; char- 
 acter. Riofht at the corners of four of the best town- 
 ships in the Province, and where two lines of road 
 that nmst become leading thoroughfares crossed And 
 onlv a short distance from the crossing of the 
 roads a rapid stream, with high banks, ran across the 
 one road, and on a few rods farther, it made a bend 
 and ran across the other road. Tiiis would furnish 
 three or four first-class mill privileges, within a (piarter 
 of a mile. Not many localities could pre.sent stronger 
 inducements to the intending settlei- than this could. 
 
 But while we are talking of the excellences of the 
 place, three waggons have come into John Bushman's 
 clearing, and are moving toward the house. And, let 
 
28H 
 
 AM()N(J THE KOIIEST THEES, 
 
 US see, one, two. three, and tliree are six, and four uro 
 ten, and two are twelve, and tliree are Hftei-n. There 
 arc lifteen persons, big and little, in and anjund tliuse 
 
 wai;<i[(jns. 
 
 The men are Williani Briars and his fathrr, ainl 
 Harry Hawthorn, and two strangers who are <lriviii;; 
 two of the teams, that are hauling the waggons. The 
 women are, Mrs. Betsy Briars, Mrs. Sarah Beech, ami 
 Mrs, Bi-idijet Hawthorn. Three of the children are 
 claimed by Mrs. Hawthorn, and four of them call Mrs. 
 Beech theii' mother. 
 
 John and Mary were just getting ready for sup})er, 
 wlien they hear<l the noise of the waggons, and went 
 out to see who and what it was. When they t'aiue 
 and found all the.se people, and teams, and waggons in 
 the yard, they were completely taken by surprise, 
 They expected Will and Betsy some time soon, but 
 thi'y had not heard a woni from the other two families 
 since the men went away in the fall. 
 
 " Don't beafther being frightened, Misther Bushman, 
 though our number is purty Inrge, our intentions are 
 (|Uoite paisal)le, and our falins towards you ami 
 
 the missis are of the most kindlv natur', and so thev 
 
 )> 
 are. 
 
 These were the words of Harry, as he came forward 
 to shake hands with John and Mary. 
 
 "No, no, Harry, we are not at all frightened; but 
 are somewhat surprised and very much pleased to see 
 you all," said John. 
 
 By this time the women and children had .scrambled 
 out of the waggons, and were coming forward to 
 where John and Mary were. 
 
MORK SETTr,KRS COMINO. 
 
 2S9 
 
 i)\\y iiro 
 ul thost' 
 
 (Irivin;^ 
 US. Thi' 
 secli, ami 
 drt'ii iW) 
 
 11 Mrs, 
 
 ca 
 
 r supper, 
 and went 
 hey came 
 
 no 
 
 surprise, 
 soon, but 
 () faniiUes 
 
 Bushman, 
 Intions arc 
 you antl 
 id so they 
 
 t'orvvanl 
 
 hened; but 
 Ised to see 
 
 I scrambled 
 )rward to 
 
 " Now, ladies, jest bo aisy a little till f toll Misthcr 
 )Uh1 Mistress Rnshinnn who yez an'," said Harry 
 
 Tlii'ii |)ointiiit^ to Hrid^ct, he said : "'i'his is my own 
 wife, and these are our childer, ' and then turnint; to 
 Mrs. Beech, he said : "This lady, wid the yellow hair- 
 is oui- neis^hhour that is to be, Mrs. Beech, and these 
 are her childer." Then turninijj to Betsy he said : 
 
 This is a lady that I only met a few hours since, and 
 .she has not told me her name yet. You'll nade to be 
 afther t'oindin it out for yourself." 
 
 "iMury," .said John, "you take the women and 
 chihlren into the hon.se, while we see to the hor.se.s." 
 
 Mr. Briars .said to John, " We will tie my horses to 
 the fence, and j^ive them plenty of straw to lie on, and 
 plenty of feed, and they will do for one ni<;ht. Those 
 other horses are to start home to-morrow, and they 
 will need a good night's rest. If you can find a good 
 place for them, do .so." 
 
 " We will do the best we can for the teams," John 
 said. 
 
 The two men were surprised to find such hospitality 
 in the wild woods, and they told John so. 
 
 "Where is Mr. Beech?" John asked one of the men. 
 
 " He is coming on behind with a yoke of oxen and a 
 cart, with a cow tied to the back end of the cart. He 
 don't expect to get farther than Mr. Ashcraft's to- 
 night," was the answer. 
 
 They went into the house, where they found Mary 
 and Mrs. Briars busily engaged in preparing supper 
 for the crowd. John's house had never had so many 
 people in it at one time before, but in the bush people 
 
240 
 
 AMONf! THE KORKST TREKS. 
 
 are not over-t'astidions about little inconveniences. 
 They were crowded, to be sure, but then they will be 
 neighbors, and they should learn to be acconimodatirii^r; 
 and no better place to learn this could l)e found than 
 stayint( in one house for awhile together. 
 
 The night had to be got througli in some way. The 
 new cotneis could not be allowed to go into tlieir 
 shanties that night. There had not been any tire in 
 them during the winter, and they woukl be as cold as 
 the North Pole, is what \Eary said about them. No, 
 they must not think of going out of John Bushiiifin'.s 
 house that night. " But what about the sleeping." 
 
 "I well attend to that," said Mary, ''if you will get 
 some (luilts out of some of the waijfjons. We will 
 make a ' shake-down ' for the men, and send the 
 women and children upstairs. In cases of necessity 
 we nnist do the best that we can." 
 
 Will and Betsy went and brought in a lot of ([uilts 
 and blaidvets out of their watjcrons, and in a little 
 while the arrangements were made for the night. 
 
 " Now," said John, " since the little folks are all 
 comfortably put away for the night, we may indulge 
 in a little friendly chat. Will, where did you fall in 
 with these other people/" 
 
 " Do you remember where two roads come together, 
 about two miles the other side of Mapleton?" asked 
 Will. 
 
 " Yes, I recollect the place," John answered. 
 
 " Well, just as we came to that place, we met the 
 team that has Harry's things coming from the other 
 way. We all drove on to Mapleton, and there we 
 
M()I?E SKTTr.KUS COMINC. 
 
 241 
 
 t'otind ^^r. Bet)cli and his company put up for the night. 
 We were all ):aken by surprise, but we concluded to 
 come the rest of the way together." 
 
 " Mr. Beech, you say, is coming on behind." 
 
 " Yes. He has a heavy load on a two-wheeled cart, 
 and the cow that he is bringing is heavy and goes 
 slowly. I think he said that he had been four days 
 on the road, and last night was the first that he and 
 his family staid at tlie same place since he started." 
 
 "(ruing to the bush is no child's play," said one of 
 the teamsters, whose name was Elmsley. 
 
 " You're right there, neighbor," said the other team- 
 ster, whose nau.e was Ashtop. 
 
 " Have you two gentlemen had experience in bush 
 life i" asked Mr. Briars. 
 
 "I have had some experience in that line. In the 
 township where I live I was the first settler in it," 
 replied Mr. Elmsley. 
 
 "I, too," said Mr. Ashtop, " have had something to 
 lio with life in the woods. I was not the tirst man in 
 my township, but I was the second, and my wife was 
 the first white woman that ever stood in the township. 
 Our first baby was said to be the first white child 
 horn in the township, and we rocked it in a piece of a 
 hollow basswood tree, for a cradle. Yes, my friends, I 
 know something about the life of pioneers. ' 
 
 "And how did you like that sort of life?" inquired 
 John Bushman. 
 
 " Had to like it," was the laconic answer of Mr. 
 Elmsley. 
 
 "That is about the way to put it," said Mr. Ashtop. 
 
242 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 1: I '\ 
 
 "How long since you went into the bush?" inquired 
 Mr. Briars. 
 
 " About twonty-one years," answered Ebiisley. 
 
 "Three and twenty years," said Mr. Ashtop. 
 
 " I suppose you have both made out well ?" said John 
 Bushman. 
 
 " I have done fairlv well," one said. 
 
 " I do not complain," said the other. 
 
 " How far apart do you live ? " asked Will. 
 
 " We have not talked the matter over. We never met 
 before last night, hence we are not much acquainted," 
 said Mr. Elmsley. Then, turning to the other, he said: 
 " What township do you come from ? " 
 
 " The township of Pineridge," said he. 
 
 " I live in the township of Oakvalley. There is one 
 township between us, that i.s Spruceland," said Mr. 
 Elmsley. 
 
 " We will be from twenty -live to thirty miles apart," 
 replied Mr. Ashtop. 
 
 " No doubt," said Mr. Briars, " but vou have seen 
 some strange things, and some very trying things." 
 
 " That is true," said Mr. Ashtop. 
 
 " I move that the company ask one of these gentle- 
 men to relate to us some incident or anecdote in con- 
 nection with the early settlement in their localities." 
 
 " I have no objection to do so," Mr. Ashtop replied. 
 He then spoke to the following effect : 
 
 " The saddest thing that has taken place in my set- 
 tlement was the loss of a lot of children. They went 
 out to look for wildwood flowers in the early summer. 
 There were three children, two girls and one boy. The 
 
MORE SETTLERS COMING. 
 
 243 
 
 one ffirl was about thirteen years old, and the other 
 seven. The boy was nine. They belonojed to two 
 ilitt'erent families. The older one belon;r,'ed to one 
 t'amilv, and the two younger ones to another. Thev 
 went out to the l)ush a little after dinner. The bush 
 was only a short distance from the houses. The chil- 
 dren often did the same thinijj. They had not many 
 ways to amuse themselves, and their mothers allowed 
 them to roam around the fields, and in the mh^c of the 
 bush, always cautioninsf them never to o-o out of sicjht 
 of the fences or the buildings. 
 
 "They did not come in by tea-time, and when in- 
 quiries were maile, no one had seen them since early 
 in the afternoon. Uneasiness now began to be felt on 
 account of them. Then it was said that possibly they 
 might have gone to fetch the cows, whose large bell 
 could Just be heard in the distance. The cows were 
 sent for, but no traces of the children could be seen. 
 
 "Now the little settlement was all alarmed. In all 
 ilirections search was made, but to no purpose. As 
 night was coming on, all the little ones, too small to 
 join in the hunt, were taken to one house, and a couple 
 of old ladies undertook to keep them, while the fathers 
 and mothers w^ent to hunt for the lost ones. All niixht 
 long, with torches and with tallow candles, in old- 
 fashioned tin lanterns, the hunt went on. Over the 
 lulls and valleys ; along the creeks, and among swamps; 
 around the little lakes, and in the marshy places, the 
 hunt was continued. With the blowing of horns, and 
 the tiring of guns, and calling one to another, by a 
 score or more of voices, the hunt went on. 
 
244 
 
 AMONCJ THE FOREST THEES. 
 
 " Perhaps no sadder company of people ever looked 
 into each other's faces than those were who met at the 
 house where tlie children had gone from, at sunrise in 
 the morning, after the all-night's fruitless hunt. But 
 few words were spoken. They (|uietly dispersed to 
 their homes, after agreeing to meet again at one o'clock 
 to renew the hunt. 
 
 " As the word of the lost children spread from hoii.se 
 to house in adjoining neighborhoods, the settlers be- 
 came deeply interested, and every one .seemed to make 
 the case his own. By one o'clock that day men were 
 there from ten or a dozen miles away. And before 
 the week was out men came forty or fifty mile.s to 
 hunt for tbose children. Days and weeks were .spent 
 in the fruitless search. But no trace of the lost chil- 
 dreji was ever seen.* 
 
 " The country to the north and west, for a hundred 
 miles or more, wa^ an unbroken wilderness. Not a 
 white .settler in all that large country at the time." 
 
 The listeners were greatly interested by the relation 
 of this sad incident. When Mr. Ashtop ceased speak- 
 ing, Mr. Briars said, " It is possible that the chililren 
 were carried off by Indians, and taken into the Hud- 
 son Bay country." 
 
 * At Homing's Mills, in the township of Melancthon, ahdut tin- 
 year IS27 or -8, tiirce childi'on, as above stated, wont ont into tlii' 
 woods, and were never fonnd. Men went fifty miles to hel|) to hunt 
 theui. I'lie writer's father, along with others, walked forty miles, 
 and was gone a week, trying to find them. It is probable that they 
 got into the great swamps of Melancthon and Proton, and perished 
 with hanger and fright. 
 
MORK SKTTF.KHS COMING. 
 
 24o 
 
 looketl 
 3t at the 
 .niisc in 
 \t. Bat 
 ersed to 
 e o'clock 
 
 Dui house 
 :,tlei's be- 
 [ to make 
 tiien were 
 ml before 
 ■ miles to 
 vGve spent 
 i lost chil- 
 
 huudreil 
 IS. Not a 
 time." 
 lie relation 
 lecl speak- 
 ,e chiltli'en 
 
 the Hud- 
 
 i,, aliout tlK' 
 
 lout into tlH' 
 
 help to hunt 
 
 forty mile*. 
 
 Lie that tliey 
 
 lunl iievislKHl 
 
 '• At tir.st," replied Mr. Ashtop, " tliis was the con- 
 chi-iioii tliat was generally arrived at. But no Indians 
 hail been around the locality, and they could have no 
 motive for stealinoj the children, if they were in the 
 vicinity. They were on very friendly terms with the 
 whites all throui^h the country. It is so long now, 
 since the occurrence, and nothini; has ever been heard 
 of any of the children, that the idea of Indians having 
 stolen them is about given up." 
 
 "Could it he that they were devoured hy wild 
 licasts r' asked John Bushmar\ 
 
 " Hardly. That ([uestion was pretty thoroughly 
 canvassed at the time. But as not the slightest trace 
 ijf anything could he found, it was generally believed 
 that whatever had befallen the children, they were not 
 lateii up by animals," was Mr. Ashto[)'s answer. 
 
 "Well, Mister," said Will Briars, "what is your 
 opinion now about the children's fate r' 
 
 " My opinion is not very decided," said he ; " but I 
 incline to the belief that the children got into .some 
 of the numerous thick cedar swamps that are in the 
 vicinity, or else they wandered otl" into the almost 
 iiiterininalile swamp that commences not ,r from the 
 place they started from. Here they might get into 
 some ([uagmire, and go down into the yielding quick- 
 sands and disappear from sight forever." 
 
 " What a fate that would be," said Mary, with a 
 shudder. 
 
 "Sad, indeed," .said the narrator. " The families left 
 the vicinity shortly after the loss of their children. 
 And who can wonder that they did." 
 
246 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " But cotild they not <^et out of the quicksand bct'ore 
 they went down ?" inquired Mose.s. 
 
 " If tliey got into one of those miry places tliat are 
 found in some of the swfuups, and if they stood still 
 for a few moments until they began to sink they conld 
 never get out without help. And if they tried to do 
 so every ettbrt that they made to lift one foot out 
 would send the other foot deeper into the yielding 
 sand. So that if they struggled to free themselves the 
 faster they would sink. Strong men have perished in 
 this way." 
 
 Next morning the loads were taken to the shanties 
 and unloaded, and the teamsters started home. Moses 
 Moosewood went to help Harry and Bridget to put 
 things to rights at their place. John and Mary went to 
 assist Mrs. Beech, as Mr. Beech had not got along yet. 
 By noon each family was able to cook their own din- 
 ner at home. 
 
 Mr. Beech came aboat eleven o'clock, and was 
 pleased to find his wife and children already at home 
 in their backwoods residence. He said that the hotel 
 man at Mapleton told him that not less than twenty 
 families had staid overnight at his place in the last 
 two weeks, who were moving into the country to the 
 places prepared the fall before. So, said he, we can't 
 be long in an isolated state for want of neighbors. 
 
 Bridget Hawthorn was the most surprised at her 
 surroundings, of any of them. She had no experience 
 at all with life in the bush. Everything was so 
 difierent from anything she had ever seen. And the 
 children were so restless and full of frolic, that between 
 
MORE SETTLERS COM INT;. 
 
 247 
 
 tliat are 
 00(1 still 
 ley coiiM 
 2(1 to <\o 
 foot out 
 yielding 
 ;elves the 
 irished in 
 
 trying to look cheerful, just to please Harry; getting- 
 everything in order in and around the shanty, and 
 keeping an eye on the little gipsies, as she called thetn, 
 poor Bridget had all that she could attend to for a while. 
 But like other pe<jple, who try t(; do so, she soon 
 liecaine reconciled to her new surroundings. 
 
 Mr. Briars was well satisfied with Will's stdection of 
 a place to settle. He stayed about a week, helping 
 hira at his house, and using his team to harrow in 
 some spring wheat. Then he started for home. It 
 had heen arranjjjed that Mr. Bushman would come and 
 bring a load of stuff for Will and Betsy, as soon as 
 their house was ready to move into, or as .soon as he 
 mit throuijh with the spring seeding. 
 
 After he was gone, things went on in the usual 
 ijuiet and orderly way at Sylvan Lake. 
 
 John got along with his work, and when the hurry 
 was a little over, he went and helped the others with 
 his team. So that, among them, they all got their 
 seeding and planting done in good time. .h)hn had 
 finished his six acres chopping, and was now ready to 
 start at getting out the logs and making the shingles 
 ftjr a barn. When the time for shearing the sheep 
 came, John and Will had ([uite a time in doing that 
 little job. The water in the lake was too cold to 
 wash them in, and the water in Bceca's (.'reek, as 
 they called it, was not deep enough. They sheared 
 them without being washed, and then washed the 
 wool afterwards, and spread it in the sun to dry. 
 
CHAPTKR XIX. 
 
 AND STILL THEY COME. 
 
 *■ ' 4|,cA O not holloa until yon are out of the wooJs," 
 
 (^^^ means, I suppose, keep your months shut 
 
 until the woods are taken out of your way, 
 
 or until you get through it, and come out on the 
 
 other side. 
 
 Well, the people about Sylvan Lake would havo to 
 go a long way to go through the woods that shut them 
 in on the north and west and east. And they were 
 not likely to undertake the task. 
 
 They could find places to bathe in and tu drown 
 their surplus kittens without going to the far-ofl 
 waters of Lake Huron or the Georgian Bay. They 
 could find cool, shady places to rest themselves when 
 wearied, without seeking repose where the Indian 
 dogs chase the chipmunk and squirrel among the 
 shadowy recesses and caverns of the limestone 
 mountain that frowns upon the marshy (juagmires, 
 that breed musquitoes and French luxuries in tiie 
 shape of green-frogs, around Owen Sound. And if 
 they wanted to get a supply of the hunter's or the 
 fisher's productions, they did not need to go on & 
 
AND STI1,I, THEY COMK. 
 
 240 
 
 e wools," 
 iths jshut 
 
 our way, 
 
 Lit Oil the 
 
 d luwt^ to 
 shut them 
 they were 
 
 I to drown 
 Ihe far-off 
 .y. They 
 Ivcs when 
 lie liuUan 
 Imong the 
 1 limestone 
 luagunres, 
 les in the 
 And if 
 's or the 
 go on a 
 
 whoh? week'.s journey to where they could catch the 
 speckled trout in tlie lazy waters of the slu<j,<^i.sh Tees- 
 water creek, or .steal the red-deer and the lahhit from 
 the Indians along tlie sloping banks of the Saugeerr 
 river. 
 
 Those people must acce])t the other alternative. 
 They must wait until the woods di>ap])ear before they 
 holloa — that is, if they do as the proverb advises them. 
 
 But the prospect of an early realization of a thing 
 so desirable was made very much brighter between 
 the first of April and tlie Hrst of September, in the 
 year one thousand eight hundred and something. Set- 
 tlers came pouring in from all directions. During 
 June, July and August, John Bushman and hi.s wife 
 entertained more or less people in their house, not less 
 than four nights in a week on an averafje. 
 
 One morning, after an unusal number had staid 
 overnight, and Mary had almost covered the floor with 
 shake-downs, John said to her, " Are you not getting 
 tired of this thing, Mary ?" 
 
 "Well, John," said she, "you know there are differ- 
 ent ways of looking at a thing Now, if this was a 
 matter of speculation, and a mere question of money, 
 1 should soon be tired of it. But it is not a matter of 
 money — it is a question of duty, arising no le.ss 
 from the claims of humanity than from the teaching 
 and dictates of Cliristianity." 
 
 "lam glad that you take that view of it, Mar>'," 
 said John. "No money could tempt me to see you 
 put about as you are sometimes. But people come 
 here tired and worn out, by long and tedious journeys, 
 
2."iO 
 
 AMONC THE KOIJKST TREKS. 
 
 and niiiny of them women and children. They ask for 
 shelter. They will be content with anything-, only 
 give them shelter. 1 could not ri;fuse them; I would 
 rather take a blaid<et and o'o out and .sleep by the 
 side of the ha}st!iek, than to refuse tliem .shelter." 
 
 " How ;^lad we would have been to find a shelter 
 that ni<>ht that we staid in the woods when we were 
 moving in here. I shall never forget that night," .she 
 said. " 1 knew that mother was very tired, and 1 would 
 have given anything, or done anything if 1 could only 
 have secured for her a good supper an<] a ccjmfortiihle 
 bed. But it could not be got. I then and there made 
 up my mind that hospitality should characterize our 
 home." And, coloring a little, she continued, " If we 
 over have any children I want them to be able to say, 
 when we are gone, that the door of their home was 
 never shut in the face of weariness or hunger." 
 
 John stooped and kissed her, saying, " God blevs 
 you, Mary. You have the heart of a true woman; 
 such a woman is a jew^el in the home of any man." 
 
 Amonii' the new comers was Mr. Angus Woodbine, 
 the Scotchman spoken of in a former chapter. He 
 brought with him a wife and a lot of children. Thev 
 'vent into the shant}' that he built the previous .sea- 
 son, but the team that brought them was taken to 
 John Bushman's for the nitjht, alons: with the man j 
 that owned it. He was an elderly man, and a native, 
 of the Province. He had himself settled in the busli 
 some thirty years back, and had experienced .soiiiej 
 strange vici.s.situdes. 
 
 As they were sitting around a table, on which sat aj 
 
AND STILI, THKY POME. 
 
 251 
 
 ask for 
 v^, only 
 
 1 woulil 
 ) by the 
 ber." 
 a shelter 
 
 we were 
 i<fl\t " she 
 d I woulil 
 ;oul>l only 
 mt'ortable 
 here niailo 
 ;tcri/e our 
 a, " If Nvc 
 ,ble to say, 
 
 home \va» 
 
 ;er." 
 
 God hle^s 
 .e woman; 
 
 ly man. 
 Woodbine, 
 
 lapter. He 
 ren. They 
 evious sea- 
 taken to 
 1 the man 
 ^d a native 
 n the busb 
 :nced some I 
 
 Iwhich sat al 
 
 couple of lighted candies, Moses a.sked tlic stranger for 
 some incidents of backwoods life in the localit}' from 
 which lie came. 
 
 "Well, I have no objection to com|»ly with your 
 rf(iuest, so far as 1 am able," sai<l the man. " Settle- 
 ments did not form as rapidly fortj' or fifty years ago 
 lis they do at the present time. Sometimes it would 
 1k' years l)efore all tlie land in a locality would be 
 taken up ; and sometimes settlers would commence on 
 a lot, and make a little clearing, and then go away ; 
 some for one reason, and some for another. These 
 vacate*! clearings w^ould become berry patches in a 
 few years, and the briars would grow so tall and 
 thick that they would furnish lurking places for 
 various wild animals, and the black beai- was no un- 
 eoiunioii occupant of the prickly recesses. 
 
 " One of these l)erry patches was not far from 
 where I live. There were two neighbor women who 
 u.sed to go there to pick berries. One afternoon they 
 went; one of them had with her two children, one 
 about three years old, and the other a few months. 
 They picked berries till about sundown, then they 
 started to their homes, onl}^ half a mile distant. 
 
 "In going through a small strip of bush that was 
 Itetween the berry patch and the clearing they were 
 attacked by a large black bear. One of the women 
 ih'opped her berries and ran as fast as she could, 
 leaving the other, with her two little ones, to the 
 cruel ferocity of the bear. 
 
 "The mother took both hildren in her arms and 
 Wed to run, but the bear would head her off every 
 17 
 
252 
 
 AMONO THK FOREST TPKES. 
 
 time. At last, as if lie was tired of this, he inado n, 
 dash and took the little hoy out of liis mother's arms, 
 and ran off in tlu; jLjreat swamp, tliat eovered neurly 
 half of a township. 
 
 " The screams of the woman was heard by two iiif^n 
 who were working on the hack end of the farina. 
 They ran as fast as possible to tlie place, htnnrr sure 
 that soinethinf^ terrible was taking place. On coiiiin;.' 
 up to the woman they found her frantic with fri<,'ht 
 and grief. The only thing she could say was, ' 0, the 
 bear has got my child ; the bear has got my child.' 
 
 " They could get no information from lier as to 
 which direction the bear had gone. She seemed to 
 pay no attention to their questions — she seemed to 
 have no other words of utterance but the cry, ' The 
 bear has got ray child.'* 
 
 " The one woman ran screaming across the fields 
 toward her home. Her husband and the husband of 
 the other woman came to her. She told them as well 
 as she could the story of meeting the bear. They ran 
 with all their might to the place. When they came 
 up the other two men were still trying to learn from 
 the poor heart-broken mother which direction the bear 
 had gone. 
 
 " When she saw her husband she ran up to him, and 
 pointed towards the swamp, saying, ' The cruel bear 
 
 *An occurrence of this (lesuri))tioii took place in the townshii) of 
 Greenock, in the county of Bruce, only a few years ago. Two 
 women went out picking harries. A hear attacked them, and 
 took a child and ran off in the swamp, so that this story is not 
 fiction, hut fact. 
 
 l..,J 
 
AXn ST.r-I, THEY COMF. 
 
 253 
 
 umdo a 
 •'s arms, 
 I m.-arly 
 
 two int'i\ 
 1' t'ann^. 
 inng sure 
 n coiuin;: 
 til t'rii;l»t 
 s, ' 0, the 
 chiM.' 
 her as to 
 seeuKMl to 
 seemed to 
 
 cry, 
 
 The 
 
 the tiohU 
 
 uisband of 
 
 ;in as well 
 
 They ran 
 
 ithey came 
 
 learn from 
 
 )n the bear 
 
 [io him, and 
 I cruel bear 
 
 [u townshiv <'f 
 
 1-9 ago. T«o 
 
 ta them, aii*^ 
 
 story is iw^ 
 
 has f,'ot our boy,' and fell faintinj,^ to the ground with 
 her infant in her arms. She soon rallied, and was 
 tenderly taken to her home. For some weeks she 
 trembled on the borders of insanity, and it was feared 
 lu'r reason would take its llight forever. 
 
 "One of th(! men wlio first w^nt to lier said, some 
 inontbs after the sad event, that the woman's cry, 
 The bear has got my boy,' had been ringing in 
 his ears ever since. There was such a burden of real 
 hopeless despair and unutterable anguish, and such 
 ii wail of crushinof, heart-rendin*; woe in that one 
 short sentence, that he hoped he might never hear the 
 like of it again. 
 
 "By ten o'clock next juorning not less than fifty 
 men, with guns, were scouring that swamp in all 
 flirections. But no trace of the bear or its victim 
 could be found. A gloom rested on that community 
 for months after this tragic event." 
 
 Moses thanked the stranger for telling the story; 
 although, as he said, it was one that nervous people 
 would be better not to hear. 
 
 "I can give you another story about the bear in a 
 berry patch that is a complete contrast to that," said 
 the man. 
 
 " Let us hear it, please," said Mary, who was wish- 
 ing for something to change the current of her feel- 
 
 inrr.s. 
 
 "On a new farm, in one of the back townships, 
 
 jthere lived an English family. They had only been 
 
 a short time in this country. There was a large patch 
 
 jof thimble-berries on the rear of the farm. One day 
 
 u 
 
254 
 
 A MONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 tlie woman* and some children went to pick berries, 
 The bushes were loaded with fine ripe and beautiful 
 fruit. 
 
 " After a while the woman heard the bushes rustle 
 as if something was violently shaking them. She 
 thouii^ht that possibly the cattle had j^ot into the field, 
 and that some of them were amono^ the bushes. She 
 went to where she could see what it was that dis- 
 turbed the bushes. 
 
 " Wlien she i^ot there she saw a large black bear eat- 
 ing berries. He was resting on his haunches, and 
 with his fore-])aws he brought the bushes together, 
 and ate the berries off them, as a cow eats the twicrs 
 off trees or shrubs. The woman stood and watched 
 hiuj for a few minutes. The bear once turned his 
 head and looked at her for a moment, and then went 
 on with eating as though h'^ was perfectly satisfied 
 with his surroundings. She said to him, 'Ah, Bruin, 
 you like berries too, it seems, as well as I do; widl, 1 
 will make a bargain with you, Bruio. If you leave 
 me alone, I will leave you alone.' And she went and 
 called the children, and left the bear in f 'ill posses.sion 
 of the field." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Spicewood," said John, "that woman 
 either had an unusual amount of nerve or she was 
 ignorant of the cliaracter of the bear. Which do von 
 think it was ? " 
 
 " Some of both," answered he. " She had a ,i,'ond 
 deal of nerve — or perhaps courage would be the better 
 
 *This was a Mrs. Sewel, who lived in the township of Euphrasia, 
 county of Grey. 
 
AND STILL THEY COME. 
 
 •255 
 
 berries, 
 eautifiil 
 
 ;s rustle 
 in. She 
 the fiel.i, 
 les. She 
 bhat (Up- 
 bear eat- 
 cbes, and 
 togothor, 
 the twi^s 
 1 watchefl 
 urned liis 
 ithen went 
 satisfied 
 Ah, Bruin. 
 o; well, 1 
 yon leave 
 went and 
 ssion 
 
 at woman 
 )r she wa>^ 
 ich do y 
 
 on 
 
 (rood 
 
 lad a 
 
 the bettor 
 
 bf EapUras.a, 
 
 term in this connection. She knew enough about the 
 bear to be cautious about going too near to him, but 
 >he had never heard much of his strength or fero- 
 city." 
 
 The next nionnng Mr. Spicevvood took his leave. 
 He was well ]jleased with the unpretending hospitable 
 way in which he had been entertained by John and 
 Mar\'. They were ecjually pleased with their guest. 
 
 About the middle of tlie forenoon Mrs. Cireenleaf 
 and Ivatrina Crautmaker were coming to John's for 
 a short call. They saw a man who askeil the distance 
 to the next settlement north. They could not tell 
 him anything about it. He said he had got a grant of 
 land to put up a mill, and he was trying to tind his 
 way to it. He came in on the road from the east, and 
 from what he had been told he thought he oui^ht to 
 be somewhere near the place. 
 
 They asked him if he knew the name of any one in 
 the vicinity of his land. He said he had the name of 
 one man. He was the first settler, and his name was 
 John Bushman. 
 
 "0," said they, "we are ac«|uainted with him. We 
 are iKiw going to his place. This is his land on our 
 leit-liand side. You made a mistake about the settle- 
 ment l)eing to the north. It is west. We are only 
 half a mile fiom Mr. Bushman's now." 
 
 " Well," said the man, " my mistake came about in 
 this way. My land is north of this road, and 1 natur- 
 ally supposed that the settlement in whicli it lay 
 would be to the north also." 
 
 When they had gone a little further they came in 
 
256 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 siojht of John's house and Sylvan Lake ; the stranf^er 
 stopped and look(3d around, and asked the women to 
 whom this pretty place belonged. 
 
 They told him that this was Mr. Bushman's. 
 
 " This," said he, " is one ot* the most beautiful spots 
 for a new place that I have yet seen. What a lovely 
 landscape picture might be drawn right from where 
 we stand. That charming little lake, with its border 
 of evergreen trees, the sloping tield with the house 
 standing in the middle of it. Then the tall forest 
 trees in the distance, standing like faithful sentinels tn 
 guard the sacredness of this happy rural home.'" 
 
 The women were amused by his enthusiasm, anl 
 pleased with his earnest manner. He made friends of 
 them at once. 
 
 They all went on together. Mary was busy with 
 her work, John was at work preparing for the hayinff 
 Mose Moosewood was just hitching up John's oxentui 
 go to the woods for a load of shingle bolts, as he hai 
 aixreed to make the shingles to cover the barn that 
 John intended to build. 
 
 The stranger went to John and told him wdmt liti 
 wanted. Ho said : 
 
 "My name is Matthew Millwood. I came t'ronil 
 the township of Creekland. I have secured from 
 Government a mill privilege, and from what I have| 
 been told it can't be very far from here." 
 
 " What number of lot, and in what township is yourj 
 privilege," John inquired. 
 
 " Lot one and concession one in the township ofj 
 Riverbend," said the man. 
 
AND STILL THEY COMEi. 
 
 257 
 
 "My lot is the corner lot of the township of Rock- 
 land," said John, " your property corners on to mine. 
 There are four townships that corner each other 
 there." Then pointing north, he said : " The lot over 
 the line there belongs to Mr. Beech. About the 
 middle of his lands two good-sized creeks form a junc- 
 tion. A little distance from that there is a good water 
 privilege. Then going on a little farther the stream 
 passes over on your lot, about fifty rods from the 
 corner. The river comes around with a bend and 
 describes a quadrant of about twenty acres, or so, 
 and then it goes across into the land belonging to Mr. 
 Hawthorn. Here it comes around with another bend, 
 and cuts off about forty acres from Hawthorn's lot. 
 Then it crosses the boundary again, and comes into 
 my lot forty rods from the south side of it ; making 
 one more turn, it describes another quadrant off ray 
 lot of some eiijht or ten acres, then it runs through 
 the two lots south on an almost straight line. Beyond 
 I have not traced it, so that I can't say about it." 
 
 " I am very much obliged for all this information," 
 said the stranger ; " I think that I understand the lay 
 of the locality now as well as if I had hired a sur- 
 veyor to draw out a map of it for me." 
 
 " Tiiere is no map that can equal actual observa- 
 tion," was John's reply. " You observe that in its 
 windings the creek touches four townships in the dis- 
 tance of a lot and a half, and in that distance there 
 are at the least six or seven good water privileges." 
 
 " What is the names of the other two townships 
 that corner here V asked the stranger. 
 
258 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREKS. 
 
 " The one north of this is Limeridge, and the other 
 is Ash down." 
 
 " Would you have time to go and show me the 
 place, and give me your opinion as to where would be 
 the best place to build a grist and saw mill ? " 
 
 •' Most willingly ; but it is nearing dinner-time, and 
 we will wait until after dinner, and then go," John 
 answered. 
 
 They went into the house, where John introduced 
 Mr. Millwood to Mary and the other women, as a pro- 
 spective neiglibor of more than ordinary importance." 
 
 Mrs, Green leaf asked John if he knew how far off 
 the gentleman's property was. 
 
 " Yes," said he, " it is right here at the cross roads." 
 
 " Richard has often said that lot would not be loiii: 
 vacant, for there is such good water privileges on it," 
 she answered. 
 
 After the dinner was over the two men went to 
 look at the property. Mr. Millwood was delighted 
 with the situation of the place, and the excellent water 
 privilege he found right near the road. " But," .said 
 he, " it is about as near as possible what my partner 
 described it to be." 
 
 " You have a partner, then, it seems ? " said John 
 Bu.shman. •«, 
 
 " Yes, there are two of us. We have four hundred 
 acres here in a block. It is a grant from the Govern- 
 ment. We have bound ourselves to erect, within twu 
 years, a grist and saw mill, and keep them running for 
 ten years." 
 
 " That is a good thing for this section of the coun- 
 
AND STILL THEY COME. 
 
 259 
 
 the other 
 
 w me the 
 
 would be 
 
 •-time, and 
 <To," John 
 
 introduced 
 1, as a pro- 
 portance." 
 10 w far otl' 
 
 Dss roads." 
 lot be long 
 rres on it, 
 
 ;n went to 
 deli^L!;liteil 
 llent water 
 But," said 
 ny partner 
 
 said John 
 
 ir hundred 
 Ihe Govern- 
 Iwithin two 
 
 running for 
 
 the coun- 
 
 try, and, in the long run, it will be a good inve.stment 
 for you," John said. 
 
 " That is what Mr. Root said," he replied. 
 
 " What ! is John Root the partner you speak of ? " 
 asked John, with considerable earnestness. 
 
 " Yes, he is the man. Do you know him ^ " 
 
 " Why, yes : he and his men helped me to build my 
 home." 
 
 " tie is my partner, and more than that, he is my 
 brother-in-law. His wife and mine are sisters." 
 
 " Why, I certainly took you for a Canadian." 
 
 'So I am, but I got my wife in the States, for all 
 that." 
 
 "All this is a pleasant .surprise to me, and I hope 
 you may have grand success in the enterprise," was 
 John's answer. 
 
 When they came to the crcssing of the roads, Mr. 
 ihllwood said that he wanted to go by the way of 
 .Mapleton, and he intended to get as far as Ashcroft's 
 that night. He bade John good-bye, saying that he 
 would hear more from them by the middle of August, 
 as they intended to have the sawmill ready for opera- 
 tion by the next spring. 
 
 When John went to the hou.se, and told the rest of 
 them what he had learned from the stranger, they 
 were as much surprised and pleased as he was. 
 
 And the settlers were all delighted at the prospect 
 of havinir a sfrist and saw mill so soon. 
 
 John and Mary were especially pleased that Mr. 
 Root was one of the men who were to own and run 
 the mills. They decided to defer the building of a 
 
260 
 
 AMONG THE FOIIKST TREES. 
 
 barn till the next summer, and then to build a frame 
 one. Will Briar.s threw up his hat and shouted 
 " Hurrah for Riverbend Mills and the men who build 
 them." 
 
 Moses Moosewood was now a regular visitor to Mr. 
 Crautmaker's. He and Katrina had got to be very 
 friendly, to say the least of it. The old gentleman 
 would say, sometimes : "Dot young Moosewood ish 
 werry sweet on mine Katrina, und I does not be sure 
 certain dot she ish not a leetle sweet on him. But I 
 vas young vonce mineself, and so vas de old vooinan, 
 so I cand say too much apout 'em, don't you see." 
 
 I suppose the young folks would call that straight, 
 good sense, expressed in crooked language. 
 
 That seemed to be the old man's views, at all events, 
 and we are not going to say that he was very far 
 astray. 
 
 The old lady would give him a punch in the rib^s, 
 and say, " Well, well, my old man, you can think 
 straight, if you can't talk straight." 
 
 Will Briars and Betsy were ready to go into their 
 new home, as soon as Mr. Bushman should come with 
 Betsy's things. He was expected in a few days, and 
 until he came the young people were, as a Frenchman 
 would say, on the qui vive. 
 
 John and Mary were kept busy in looking after 
 their stock and other things about the place. 
 

 CHAJr^TKR X:K. 
 
 A NEIGHBORHOOD OF STRANGERS. 
 
 ( )W that the lot at the bend of the river was 
 pi taken up, every lot that in any way touched 
 John Bushman's lot was taken up, and had 
 some one on it, or was to be occupied in a short time. 
 So that John's isolated condition was already a thing 
 of the past. At the east end of his lot, and butting 
 ai,'ainst it, was the Crautmaker family. These were 
 an industrious and well-doing class of people ; a trifle 
 awkward in some things, perhaps, but, on the whole, 
 a vciy safe and respectable acquisition in any settle- 
 ment. On the north of these, and cornering John's 
 lot at its north-east angle, was the Greenleaf's home. 
 Richard Greenleaf and his wife were an intelligent 
 and well-brought-up couple, who had been trained to 
 industry and economy from childhood. They had got 
 married and come right off to the bush on what now 
 would be called their wedding trip. Read if you like 
 between the lines, that few wedding trips last as long 
 or prove as successful as theirs did. Martha Green - 
 leaf was the lirst white woman in her township. 
 Then at the south-east corner of John's lot was a 
 
262 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 family of Gaelic people, by the name of McWithy. 
 They had only been a few days on their lot. They 
 came in from the east, and lived in a tent made of 
 blankets until they got up a shanty. They are a 
 hardy-Iookinf( family, made up of father and mother 
 and a number of children. Some of the children are 
 nearly men and women. They are more accustomed 
 to backwoods life than those who come here directly 
 from the Old Country. They lived a few years in the 
 country before they came to settle here. 
 
 On the lot that is the east hundred acres of the one 
 that Mr. Beech is on, there is a single man, a Nova 
 Scotian, his name Timberline. He is a nice, steady 
 3'ouno; man. But he seems to be very bashful, espe- 
 cially when there are any young women around.* On 
 the whole, however, he is a promising settler. 
 
 Mr. Beech and his family we have already heard 
 about. They are English people, of the industrious 
 and well-doing class. 
 
 Then on the west John has for a neighbor the Irish 
 family, Mr. Hawthorn and Bridget. They are a hard- 
 working couple, and for a real, genuine, free-hearted, 
 unbounded hospitality you can't beat them anywhere: 
 in fact, Harry would take the shoes otf his feet and 
 give them to one who needed them.*|- And Bridgit 
 would take the handkerchief off her head and give it 
 to a bareheaded woman. 
 
 *He inust (lifter very much from his comitrynian, Charles Tapper, 
 who is said to have been a rather fast young man among the women. 
 
 t We have known this to be done in actual life. 'I'here is no doubt | 
 but that Irish hospitality is hard to surpass anywhere. 
 
A NEIGHBORHOOD OF STRANOERS. 
 
 203 
 
 McWithy. 
 lot. They 
 t made of 
 [■hey are a 
 ,nd mother 
 lildren are 
 accustomed 
 jre directly 
 years in the 
 
 i of the one 
 an, a Nova 
 nice, steady 
 isbt'ul, espe- 
 •ound.* On 
 ier. 
 
 ready heard 
 industrious 
 
 )or the Irish 
 are a hard- 
 •ee-hearted, 
 
 1 anywhere; 
 
 lis feet and I 
 
 ^nd Bridget 1 
 and give it 
 
 Jharles Tapper, 
 nig the woiuen. 
 here is uo doubt j 
 
 •e. 
 
 I 
 
 Then, as we have ah'eady learned, the lot that 
 touched tlie north-west anf^le of John's lot was to be 
 occupied by Messrs. Millwood and Root; and at the 
 south-west anf(le is the lot occupied by Mr. Woodbine 
 and family. They are Lowland Sc(;tch, and they are 
 not lunch accustomed to life on a farm, havinr^ been 
 liviiii,' in one of the manufacturinfif towns in Scotland, 
 
 But Mr. Woodbine is, j^erhaps, the best read and 
 most intelliojent man, on general subjects, among the 
 settlers around the four coi'ners. 
 
 On the south side of Bushman's is Will Briars' lot 
 of two hundred acres, running across the concession. 
 
 Now, if we should divide this little community into 
 distinct nationalities, we would find one family of 
 Irish : two of Scotch : one of English : two Cana(iian, 
 of English descent ; two (Janadian, of German d(!scent ; 
 one Nova Scotian ; one American, of German descent ; 
 and one Canadian, of Irish descent. And taking Moses 
 Moose wood into the number, we have one man who is 
 a Canadian, of Scotch descent. Then, if we go one 
 lot north of Mr. Beech, we find a Mr. Baptiste Shele- 
 l)ean, who is a Frenchman, from Lower Canada. 
 
 This is a fair sample of the mixed origin of the 
 race of people who are making this Canada of ours 
 what it is, and in whose hands is the destiny of this 
 Dominion. 
 
 This reminds us of a statement that has been attri- 
 buted to the late John Hilliard Cameron, which is as 
 follows : 
 
 "If you take the cool, shrewd, calculating head of 
 I a canny Scotchman, the stern, unbending will of the 
 
264 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 German, the warm heart and ready wit of an Irish- 
 man, tlie vivacity and activit}- of the Frenchman, and 
 put all of these into the rohii.st, healthy frame of an 
 Englishman, you then have a Canadian." 
 
 Being a Canadian myself, I shall not say anything,' 
 about the correctness of this portraiture, but cvcrv 
 one must draw his own conclusions in regard to it. 
 
 And if we classify them religiously, we will find a 
 diversity equally as great. 
 
 Mr. Beech and Mr. Timberline hold to the Church 
 of England; Bushman, Briars, and Greenleaf hold 
 to the Methodist ; Harry Hawthorn and Shelehean 
 are Jloman Catholics; Crautmaker is a Lutheran; 
 McWithy and Mr. Millwood are of the Baptist faith; 
 while Mr. Woodbine, Moses Moosewood an<l Mr. hoot 
 are Presbyterians. 
 
 This is a great variety for such a small comnumity. 
 And here we have an exhibition of the mixture that 
 enters into the religious life of this country. Whether 
 this is an advantage or not must be determined hy 
 wiser heads than mine. 
 
 Moses Moosewood and Katrina Crautmaker decided 
 to get married at once, as he had got his house ready 
 to occupy, and he had no notion of trj'ing the 
 Bachelor's hall arrangement. The old people gave 
 their consent, and the only difficulty was to tind some 
 one to marry them. There were few clergymen in 
 the country who could marry, as the law then stood. 
 And so far as they could learn there was not a qualified 
 minister within fifty miles of them. 
 
 Their only chance seemed to be to go and find a 
 
A NETOHMoTaTOOD OF STRANf JKRS. 
 
 26') 
 
 an Irish- 
 man, aivl 
 me of an 
 
 anything,' 
 Dut every 
 \ to it. 
 all find a 
 
 le Clinrch 
 ileaf hold 
 SheleV)efin 
 Lutheran : 
 )tist faith; 
 i Mr. Uoot 
 
 omnninity. 
 Iixturo that 
 Whether 
 trmined 1)Y 
 
 leer decided 
 lOUse ready 
 itrvino- the 
 |eople gave 
 find some 
 ii-i^yinen in 
 Ithen stood. 
 a qualified 
 
 land tind a 
 
 mafjdstrate, who could marry under certain condition.s. 
 They resolved to do so. But tlicre wore no horses to 
 ride, and to go with oxen and cart would not be 
 pleasant over the rough roads. So they decided to go 
 on foot. They were to go to Mapleton. 1'hey per- 
 suaded young Mr. Timl)erline, and Katrinas sister 
 Fretzina, to go with them, as they w^ere the only 
 unmarried people in the settlement who could l)e got 
 to go. 
 
 They started off' eaidy one morning in the month of 
 July, and they found about the hottest day's walk 
 diat any of them ever had. But love and perseverance 
 will take people through almost anything. They 
 arrived in good time at tho little hamlet, and went to 
 the only public-house, and put up. On making 
 inquiry, they learned that the only magistrate in the 
 place was away fr,)m home, and would not return 
 until evening. 
 
 There was nothing for it but to wait. When the 
 Squire, as he was called, came home he was sent for. 
 When he came and found what was wanted, and 
 that the contracting parties lived in another district, 
 a serious difficulty presented itself. The power of the 
 magistrate did not extend bey^ond the limits of their 
 own district. 
 
 Here was a dilemma. What could be done to meet 
 
 the emergency? Some one suggests that they wait 
 
 till morning, and then all go back as i'ar as the first 
 
 I house in the district where the young people lived, 
 
 land be married there. 
 
 But Squire Redwood said that he would be quite 
 
 .['111- 
 
20(5 
 
 AMONfi TIIK KOUKST THKKS. 
 
 willin/T to do tliat ; but ho had an ensfacjomont for the 
 forenoon that couM not he put olK lie was very 
 sorry, hut really he could not lielp hinisolf. What 
 could !)(• done? 
 
 After a vvliile a 'lappy tlioiiijlit sti'uck the S(|nir('. 
 
 He said, " Now, look here, it is only one concession 
 to the distriet line. It is early yet; wv. can tuko a 
 lantern and ij^o over the line, and have the matter all 
 settled in a couple of houi's. What say you all V 
 
 They all consented and went, and the S()uire per- 
 formed the ceremony under a large heech tree.* The 
 romance of the thin<j[ seemed to set the whole party 
 in a .spirit of merriment. Even the 8f(uire forgot his 
 official dignity so far that he not only kis.sed the 
 bride, but he also became poetic. He took Mose liy 
 the hand, and congratulate i him in verse in the 
 following manner : 
 
 " ^'()^lllg mail, I think you aro repaid 
 [''or all the time you were delayed, 
 .Siiiee, 'mid tlie shadows of the night, 
 Vou got your wife by candle light ; 
 In year.s to come, whene'ei' you .see 
 The green lea\'e8 on the .smooth lieceh tree, 
 Think of the joyful night, when I 
 Mail-' one f)f two. Now, say '(lood-bye I'" 
 
 And the Squire went laughing to his home. 
 
 The next morning the four young people in good 
 
 * A young couple in the township of Caledon, sent thirty iiiib 
 to a magistrate to oome and marry them. When he got there he 
 found that they were in another distriet. He took them over iuto 
 Erin, and married them under a large elm ti-ee. Another couple | 
 walked from Kincardine to Goderich, thirty miles, to get married. 
 
A NKKilll'.oinioOI) OK STUAN'iiKHS. 
 
 267 
 
 b for the 
 vas very 
 
 I What 
 
 Sijuirc. 
 louct'ssion 
 m take a 
 
 1 natter all 
 1 all ?" 
 (|nire por- 
 ree.* n, 
 bole piutv 
 5 fovo;ot his 
 kissed the 
 k Mose liy 
 rse in tho 
 
 l(H', 
 
 tne. 
 
 ble in gooi 
 
 it thirty milf* 
 
 got there lie 
 
 Iheni over inw 
 
 niother eouple 
 
 get niavr 
 
 ied. 
 
 time .started for tludr liomo. Hut not before tlie people 
 of the handet luid called to congratulate tlio eneri^etic 
 couple, and to pay their liotel bill as a mark of respect 
 to thr pluck and cnisryy that converted the root of a 
 tree into a hymeneal altar. The landlady settled for 
 the entertainment of the bride. 
 
 The party <;ot homo before dark, and met a lot of 
 the n('i;;hbors at Mr. Crautmaker's, who were invited 
 to come to a sort of cond)ination sup])er. After a 
 good supper, <;otten up in the old-fa.«hioned style of 
 that day, the party broke up, and each one went to his 
 home. 
 
 The sly invitation to brin*^ a present implied in the 
 weddint^^-cards of our day had not yet come in vogue. 
 Whether society has <.'ained or lost, bv the introduction 
 of such a custom, it is not for me to say. 
 
 A few days aftei- thr weddiny, Mr. Bushman came 
 with Betsy Briar's outtit for houstikeepino-. Will had 
 evervthinir ready. But tliey had been waiting: until 
 their thino-.s came. 
 
 They were j^lad when their suspense was put to an 
 end hy the appearance of Mr. Bushman with a load of 
 such a variety and such dimensions as would have 
 supplied the material for the. jrossips to work upon 
 lor a week or more, had there been any j^ossips in the 
 locality. But they had not got there yet. New settle- 
 ments always have plenty of hard work. Gossips 
 /lon't like hard work ; therefore gossips don't like new 
 pettlements. And for that reason the Sylvan Lake 
 I "ettlement was destitute of gossips; 
 Hilt. ti ortiitia b*ali ho Mr. Bushmflbn'i* Iqadi. H» hft'i 
 
 IS 
 
2 (is 
 
 AMONT; TlIK FOIiKST TiiKr':s. 
 
 Betsy's t'nrnitiire, and a lot of dried fruit and rjjrocories, 
 siicli as tea, allspice and pepper (both beino- unjjf round), 
 some salcratus and root ginger, a pepper-mill, a hi^ 
 and a little spimiinijj-wheel, a reel and a long-duuidled 
 fryin<j;-pan. Along with other things too numerous to 
 mention, these mad* up the list of Betsy's articles. 
 
 There were some things for John. There were a few 
 yards of home-uiade full-cloth that mother sent, and 
 some indigo for Mary to color her stocking yarn, and 
 somt! flannel for a winter "frock" or "gown," for 
 Mary, sent by Mrs. Myrtle. And, al)Ove all, he brought 
 two long-nosed, lop-eared pigs for John, to start a 
 (lrov(i of porkers, and a supply of bear-feed from. 
 
 When John lifted the two-bushel basket out of tlio 
 waggon, and found the pigs in it, he started to laiij^di. 
 His father asked him what he was laughing at. He 
 answered, " I shall become a man of note in this tor;n- 
 ship : I cut down the first tree, I put up the first 
 shanty, I chopped and cleared the first field, I built 
 the first house, I brought in the first cattle, the first 
 sheep, the first f( ""ds, and now I have the first pigs, 
 And, besides all tti..-., ray wife was the first woman in 
 the township." 
 
 " You will be the oldest inhabitant, in years to 
 come no doubt. But be sure that in all thing's you 
 prove yourself to be deserving of whatever distinction 
 circumstar :es may give you. Try to be the bestj 
 man in the township, as well as the first." 
 
 " My desire is to be a good man, and to do my besl 
 to make this a model township, socially and morally, 
 G,s it is a good one in other respects." 
 
A XElfiHHORHOOn OF STUANCJKRS. 
 
 2u9 
 
 rocevios, 
 (jrronnd), 
 ill, a l)i<; 
 •-luintllcd 
 i\crous to 
 tides, 
 ere a few 
 
 sent, and 
 yarn, and 
 jown," for 
 le bron;j;ht 
 
 to start a 
 
 from. 
 
 out of the 
 ,^X to langb. 
 
 ug at. He 
 ithis to^'n- 
 
 ip the tirst 
 
 leld, I b«i^^ 
 Ae, the fivst 
 3 first pigS' 
 woman 111 
 
 lin yeavs to 
 ihmcfA you 
 It distinction 
 Ibe the iiest 
 
 ,10 my ^'es' 
 ind morally. 
 
 William Briars and Be t.sy moved into their house in 
 a day or two. They found that lit'o in a new conntry 
 was anytliini^ hut chihh'en's play. But like thousands 
 of other couples in this country they resolved to 
 endare present dithculties and (h^privations, in view of 
 prospective comforts tind independence in the connng 
 years. 
 
 On the last day of the eij]fhth month of th(^ year 
 eighteen hundred and a decimal fraction, the tirst 
 white baby, in the township of Rockland, made its 
 appearance at John Bushman's house. From the 
 emphatic manner in which it declared its ritfht to be 
 heard in that house, it became evident, from the first, 
 that it had come to stay. 
 
 A serious question now forced itself on the attention 
 of John and Mary. What were they to d<:> with the 
 self-assertinu little stranijer ? 
 
 They remembered the old nursery song about 
 .lacky and Jenny going through the rye, and finding 
 a " little boy with one black eye." And after talking 
 the matter over, Jenny proposed that the best thing 
 that they could do was to raise the little foundling 
 together as other folks do." The conclusion that 
 John and Mary came to was this : If Jacky and Jenny 
 could bother with a little one-eyed boy, they might 
 ti'v to rai.se a little blue-eyed, two-eyed iiirl. So they 
 said we will do the best we can and keep the little 
 angel visitor. Mary said the only thing that troubled 
 her was that the little thing wcmid not be Hati>lied to 
 I stay alone very long. But it would, perhaps, be calling 
 [tor company in the course of a year or two. 
 
270 
 
 AMONCJ THE FOKEKT TIIKES. 
 
 'Vhv.n .lolin answorod, " Never cross a hridire \intil 
 yoii come to it," is ijfood advice, ai»d " Never meet 
 trouble lialf-way, " is e(|nally nrood. 
 
 " We must leave some (luestioiis to the future, you 
 know, and this is one of them." 
 
 A new bal)y makes more or less of a sensation any- 
 where. But in a back settlement the first baby is a 
 wonderful thin^. Everybody came to see Mrs. Hush- 
 man's baby. 
 
 And .so anxious was evc^ryone to try and be of some 
 use to the bal)y, that Marv sometimes was nearlv at a 
 loss what to do. One would bring a few spriufs of 
 sajxo for colic, another would brinix a handful of .satiVon 
 for j'ellow jaundice. While still arnjther camo with 
 half an armful of blackberry briar root to make an 
 infusion for the diarrhd^a, now called cholera infantum. 
 Old Mr. Crautn)aker came at last with a lot of a ])lfuit 
 called gold-thread, to cure baby of sprew, or yellow- 
 mouth, in case it should take a notion to try its 
 stren<j:th against ihat baby-torturini; disease. 
 
 Fretzina (Jrautmaker was so afi'aid that the new 
 baby would make its escape, and go Vuick among the 
 Indians, r)r somewhere else, that she came to help 
 Mary take care of it for two oi* thi je weeks, until it 
 would become sutliciently tamed down, so that one 
 could manage it. But it was not long before al 
 came right. Things went on as usual, and the " baby 
 became an iniiuential mend)er of the family. 
 
 Moses Moosewood and his young wife moved into 
 their home in the month of October, when the leave:* 
 on the forest trees were turning^ their color, ad 
 
A NEKJHBOltllOOD OF STKANfJKRS. 
 
 271 
 
 (re until 
 /er meet 
 
 ture, you 
 
 i'nm any- 
 baby is a 
 Lrs. Bush- 
 
 )e of some 
 
 \early at a 
 
 - sprii^^ '^^ 
 .lofsartVon 
 
 cauu' vvitli 
 () inal<e an 
 infantum, 
 of a pUnit 
 or yellow- 
 to try its 
 
 it the neNV 
 ivnong the 
 ne to help 
 ks, vintil it 
 o that one 
 before all 
 tbe"l>fihy" 
 
 inixin<:f the difrercnt sliades of f^reen and yellow and 
 brown and i-ed in such charming combinations that 
 the tops of the trees had the appearance of ^reatover- 
 (H'ovvn, beautiful chromos seen at a distance. 
 
 As has ali'eady been stated, the Catfisli lliver ran 
 throuuh their lot. "J'heir house was on the hi'j'hest 
 part of their farm, and stood so that tVom the door 
 was presented a good view down the \alley of the 
 river foi' a mile or more, to wdiere it mad(; a tuin to- 
 ward the east. This valley was not \'e;ry wide, nor 
 the sides very abrn[)t. A gentle slope, of a slightly 
 concave character, gave to the valley the appearance 
 of having been scooped out at some titne for a big 
 waterino' trou<i[h for antediluvian monsters to slake 
 their thirst, and, perhaps, wash the alluvial mud from 
 their gigantic proportions. 
 
 Looking down this valley from the door of the 
 house a view of surpa.ssing beauty was to be seen, 
 and the owners of the house fully enjoyed the scene. 
 They were both well pleased with their new home. 
 ilose had got a nice stack of spring wheat, and a 
 <,'ood-sized field of fall wheat sown. Besides, he had 
 plenty of potatoes, and some other things that he 
 raised that year. On the whole the prospects of 
 .Moses and Katrina were by no means discouraging. 
 
 This fall a number of new settlers came into the 
 neighborhood. Some of them moved their families 
 right in at the first, and found shelter among those 
 already settled until they could put up shanties for 
 themselves. 
 
 Others came and built a house or a shanty, and 
 
 I 
 
272 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 tlien waited till the next .spring before brin<^ino- in 
 their family. And others, like John Bushman and his 
 two friends Will and Mose, came in single, and com- 
 menced to build up a home before they ha<l a help- 
 meet. 
 
 Between all these settlers, in such varied circum- 
 stances, the land was very rapidly taken up. Some- 
 times a man would take up a lot for speculation. He 
 would do a little work on it and then sell out his claiiu 
 to some greater speculator than himself, or to some 
 one that wanted a house, and would rather pay for 
 improvements than make them. 
 
 But the meanest kind of speculation that has ever 
 been seen in this country, or in any other country, 
 was carried on by men of means, who managed, by 
 one dodge or another, to get hold of large tracts of 
 land, and then leave it unoccupied for the toils and 
 struggles of other people to make it valuable.* 
 
 The man who would get fat and rich out of the toil 
 and sweat and sutl'ering of the backwoods settler 
 would be just as honest — a great deal more manly— if 
 he would take his life in one hand and a pistol in the 
 other and go on the road as a highwayman. In that 
 case he would give his victim a little chance to defend 
 his rights, but in the other case he throttles him at a 
 distance, holds him at arm's length while he picks his 
 pockets, and robs his children of their rights. 
 
 *One country mission where the writer travelled, in going to up 
 pointnients, we had to pass every wee'c a block of twelve huiicheJ 
 acres, that had been bought for one dollar and fifty cents per acre. 
 The owner never paid a dollar for benefiting the place, and yet at 
 the time spoken of he held his land at $12 per acre. 
 
A NEI(Jlll5<JRilOOD OF STllANCJKUS. 
 
 27:3 
 
 vj.\\vj: in 
 I and his 
 ,nd coiii- 
 il a hclp- 
 
 [ circuin- 
 I. Some- 
 Lion. He 
 bis claim 
 ' to some 
 r pay for 
 
 b has ever 
 r country, 
 maged, by 
 s tracts of 
 toils and 
 
 le* 
 
 ot* the toil 
 ds settler 
 manly— if 
 stol in the 
 In that 
 to defend 
 him at a 
 e picks his 
 
 We are aware that this is stroni; lan<4ua<;e, but we 
 have seen so much of the effects of this kind of greed 
 that it is hard to speak of it with any degree of 
 patience. 
 
 It was a wise thing for the Provincial Pailiament 
 to authorize the municipalities to place a high tax on 
 these lands, so as to reach the consciences of their 
 owners through their pockets. This is the only direct 
 road to the conscience and judgment of some men. 
 
 But it would have been a wiser thing if the Gov- 
 ernment had passed a hiw that no one should be 
 allowed to hold any more land than he could occupy, 
 or than he needed for his own use, and for his family. 
 Then the making of roads and the building of scliool- 
 houses, and the supporting of schools would nc^t have 
 heen retarded, as has been the case in many localities. 
 
 But it takes the growing experience and accumu- 
 lated wisdom of three or four fjenerations to learn 
 how to manage affairs in a new country, and Ontario 
 is no exception. 
 

 ^ -^h 
 '^J^^ 
 
 chaptkh :x:xi. 
 
 '■<L^_^S>~ 
 
 RIVERBEND MILLS. 
 
 _N the first of October, as the sun was ^oing down, 
 a man in nudillo life knocked at the door of 
 John Bushman's house. John was out doinr; up 
 the chores for the ni^lit. On going to the door Mary 
 met a stranger that she had never seen before. He 
 announced himself as a civil engineer who had been 
 sent to superintend the building of a mill-dam across 
 the Catfish River for Messrs. Root and Millwood, who 
 were to erect mills at the foui corners. Mary invited 
 him to be seated, and she went out and told John that 
 a straniier had come. 
 
 When John came into the house he was a little sur- 
 prised to see a man who had a familiar look, but he 
 could not call to mind where or when he had seen or 
 met him before. The man soon solved the problem by 
 saying, as he reached out his hand, " You have made 
 great changes here since I saw you a little over two 
 years ago." 
 
 John remembered the man, and he turned to Mary, 
 saying, " This is the surveyor you have heard ine 
 speak about, who, with his men, found me here in the 
 woods seven miles from a house." 
 
HlVKIiKKNh MILLS. 
 
 275 
 
 ing down, 
 le door of 
 ; doing up 
 oor Mary 
 fore. He 
 Viad been 
 WW across 
 v^ood, who 
 y invited 
 ohn that 
 
 little sur- 
 )k, but he 
 ,d seen or 
 ■obleni by 
 ave made 
 over two 
 
 to Mary, 
 
 Iieard nie 
 
 Then turninij^ to the man, he said: 'Yon will stop 
 with us to-ni<,dit, so sit down and make yourself at 
 home." 
 
 "Well," said he, "the fact is, I came here by the 
 directions of Mr. Root, and I will gladly accept your 
 invitation for the night." 
 
 "That, then, is settled," .said John. "Now, what 
 have you been doing since I saw you ? " 
 
 "Since I left you here, that day, I and my helpers 
 have outlined a number of townships — enough to 
 make two large counties. Besides this, w'e were pro- 
 speeting for a while on Munitoulin, or Spirit Island; 
 we found plenty of Indians there, but we found very 
 few white people." 
 
 Supper was now ready, and they took that custom- 
 ary meal in a social and friendly way. After all was 
 over and as they sat around the tire, John said to the 
 guest : " Now tell us .some of your experiences in the 
 l)Ush, especially on Spirit Island, for no doubt you 
 have met with some strange adventures since you 
 went back there," John said. 
 
 '■ My experiences have been somewhat varied, but 
 on the whole they have been rather of an exciting 
 kind; others, however, within the range of my 
 acquaintance have had some very thrilling experiences, 
 some of an amusing character, and some were very sad 
 md heartrending in the extreme," was Mr. Rush- 
 I valley's reply. 
 
 'Did you say there are women on the island?" in- 
 I quired Mary. 
 
 "Yes," said he; "and I will tell you a little story 
 
27G 
 
 AMONG THE F(JKI':ST THEJilS. 
 
 ,' \ 
 
 about !i wonuiii and liur baby on one of the ixlanda in 
 the ()eor;L(ian Bay. Her husband was a trader with 
 tlie Indians. On one occasion he took his wife and 
 baby witli hiui to an island called Mindimoina, or Old 
 Woman's Island. 
 
 " The woman had a baby about four months old— 
 a little boy. When she landed on the island the In- 
 dians came around her to look at the ' white papoo.st;. 
 While she was enL;a<.,^ed she laid the baby out of lifi 
 arms on some beddinc;. In a few moments she came 
 to take it up again, but imagine her feelings, if yuu 
 can, when she discovered that there was no baby in 
 sight. There were in the company a lot of white men 
 and anotlier woman, but no one had seen the baby 
 carried ofl"; but it was quite clear that the squaws had 
 stolen it. The men proposed to go in pursuit of the 
 Indians, and take the little one from them, but the 
 trader, who was best acfjuainted with Indian character, 
 told them not to attempt it, for, said he, the Indiaiibj 
 will fight for their own squaws, and we would all get| 
 into trouble. And he said to the mother : ' Don't y( 
 be at all alarmed about your baby, they will l)e back I 
 in a couple of hours with it all right. When they come 
 don't let them know that you had any fears about it, 
 Allow them to think that you trusted them, and yo 
 will make fritnds of them for yourself and bal y tori 
 all time to come.' 
 
 " Well, the time seemed long for that mother. How| 
 could she wait till they would bring back the baby! 
 What if the trader should be mistaken ? What if tlif 
 Indi;.ns >hould go away to the great North-Westl 
 
UIVEUIJKNI) Mir-LS. 
 
 277 
 
 country? She had heard of sucli thini,% and to 
 think tliat her l)eautit'ul white boy sliould take the 
 place of a little Indian boy in some far-oft* wi^^wani 
 was more than the youni;- niotlier could do without 
 tVelin^^s of great sadness. 
 
 "But after about three hours of anxious waiting 
 she saw a procession of squaws and Indian childi'en 
 coming to the camp. As they came near she saw her 
 li;il)y carefully lield in the motherly arms (;f an old 
 Mjuaw. The other Indian women and papooses were 
 ill i;ri'at glee, and were laughing and jabbering like a 
 lit of delighted children. 
 
 "When they came up to the mother, she could not 
 <h anything but laugh at the comical appearance of 
 hi'r baby; the squaws had fixed it up in complete 
 Imiian fashion from head to foot. All kinds of orna- 
 mentation, with the exception of tattooing, had been 
 practised on Mrs. Cherriwood's baljy. In fact, it was 
 ri((i,a^d out like a miniature Indian chief, and the 'belt 
 of peace,' or strip of wampum, adorned its waist. 
 
 "Tilt. Indians nanied the baby after the celebrated 
 Indian chief, Tecumseh — a name that the boy went by 
 until he died in early manhood.* The Indians became 
 very much attached to the boy and his mother to 
 whom they gave the name of Feta oshahoa coqua, 
 which means, ' The good cook under the mountain.' 
 
 "I should have stated that when the squaws 
 brought the baby back to its mother, they brought a 
 j shawl full of presents for the two. Some were made 
 
 *TIie l)oy's family name was Dem})sey. He and his father died 
 I J tars ago. His mother and brother and sister still live. 
 
27H 
 
 AMONO THK FOKEST TUEKS. 
 
 of beads and soino of nriass and wood, in various forms, 
 and all of them intended for use or ornament. 
 
 " At another time this same woman was {,'oin^f on u 
 trading round with lu^r husband. A storm drove them 
 on an island and broke tlieir boat. After the storm 
 was over the men took the remains of the boat and 
 went for assistance, leavini^ the woman and child 
 alone, with one week's provisions, 'i'hey expected to 
 be jTone two or three days, but another storm came on 
 and drov(! them far out of their course, and it was tit- 
 teen days before they could <^et Vjack to the island 
 where tliey left the woman and child. 
 
 " On the ei<^hth day an Indian came to the shanty 
 and aslvcd for something to eat. Mrs. Cherriwood 
 told him that she had nothing to give him — that she 
 had nothing for herself and baby, and she did not 
 know what she would do if her husband did not come 
 home that day. 
 
 "The Indian scanned her features closely for a 
 moment, and then turned and went away saying. 
 ' Umph, umph, white squaw and papoose no starve.' 
 She understood him to mean that she was not so 
 badly off as she pretended to be, and she thought that 
 he had gone away offended, and she felt sorry that she 
 had been misunderstood by him, but in this she wa.s 
 her.self fhistaken. The Indian had understood her, 
 and had fully realized her situation. 
 
 " After the lapse of about three hours the Indian 
 came back, and brought his wife with him. They had j 
 a lot of provisions with them, consisting of corn, and 
 venison, and fish, and potatoes, and some rough-look- 
 
RIVKUHKNI) MII.I-S. 
 
 279 
 
 in<'' maple sugar, to sweeten the Hpiceuwod or henilork 
 tea with. 
 
 "Wlien they came in tlie man said, as he pointed to 
 the liaskets, ' Me told uiii white s(|ua\v and white 
 papoose no starve. Me t'ftch my simaw, me fetch din- 
 ner, supper, bi'eakt'ast ; me fetch everything but vj'ni- 
 iri(jonst'.* We stay with white man's squaw and 
 papo(jse till he come home.' 
 
 "They stayed seven days, and supplied her with 
 food and fuel in ahundancc until the men returned. 
 When Mr. Cherriwood ottered to pay Jumping-fox for 
 his services, he would take no pay, hut he accepted a 
 present. H(^ said, ' White squaw good to Indians; we 
 will he good to her.' " 
 
 When Mr. Rushvalley ended his story, Mary wanted 
 to know how Ion*; Mrs. Cherriwood had lived amoufj 
 the Indians. 
 
 "About eleven or twelve years," he said. 
 
 "And were the Indians always civil to her ^ " Mary 
 imiuired. 
 
 "Yes, invariably so," he answere<l. "In conversa- 
 tion with Mr.s. Cherriwood,! asked her if she had ever 
 heen molested in any way by an Indian. She said 
 that she had never known of a case where a white 
 woman had been insulted l)y an Indian. They were 
 always civil and courteous, according to their ideas of 
 courtesy. ' In fact,' she said, ' I would rather meet 
 half-a-dozen drunken Indians than one drunken white 
 man.' " 
 
 ^\}^i' ■ 
 
 'This ia iaid to be an Indian word that, means fire>water, ot 
 
 I *hiiiiey> 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 
 // 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 s. -<° . "^^ 
 
 
 (A 
 
 /a 
 
 i.O 
 
 I.I 
 
 1.25 
 
 fj^ illM 
 
 ^ ii£ IIIIIM 
 
 1.8 
 
 U Hi 1.6 
 
 A^ 
 
 iV 
 
 '^ 
 
 <> 
 
 
 % 
 
 V 
 
 <^ 
 
c^- 
 
 \ 
 
280 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 John Bushman remarked that, while the Indians 
 showed so much respect for white women, it was a 
 shame and disgrace that so many white men showed 
 so little respect to the Indian women. 
 
 "That is true," said Mr. Rushvalley ; "whatever 
 may be said of the ferocity of the Indian when he is 
 on the war path, in ordinary life there seems to be a 
 manly instinct and nobility of nature about him that 
 raises him above the petty meanness of the man who 
 can offer insulifor injury to lonely women or helpless 
 children." 
 
 " Well," said Mary, " if that is true, it seems a pity 
 that some white men could not have a red skin put on 
 them, and an Indian's heart put into them." 
 
 " That is a fact," said John Bushman. " With all 
 our blowing about the superiority of our white race 
 over the Indian, some of the self-lauding and much 
 praised-up race get down to actions so low and mean 
 that even the red skin of an Indian would blush with 
 shame were he by any chance to be caught in the same 
 acts. And some white men will do things so wicked, 
 that if an Indian should do the same his conscience 
 would torture him by night and by day, until he would 
 confess his wrong, and make all possible restitution." 
 
 "It seems to me that you are severe on the delin- 
 quent whites, Mr. Bushman," said Mr. Rushvalley. 
 
 " So I am," answered John ; " and the reason is, 1 1 
 hate contemptible meanness wherever I see it. Ki 
 men will not be Christians, they ought to be manly, at 
 least." 
 
 "That is so," replied Mr. Rushvalley; "but thei 
 
RIVERBEND MILLS. 
 
 281 
 
 highest type of manhood can only be developed in 
 connection with Christian teachin<T and undor Chris- 
 tian influence." 
 
 " Worldly men can hardly be expected to endorse 
 that sentiment," said John. 
 
 "They do endorse it, though, notwithstanding pre- 
 tendeil scepticism on the subject," said Mr. Rushvalley. 
 "How do you make that out ?" asked John. 
 "In two ways," said Mr. Rush valley. "For, first, if ( 
 anyone professing to be a Christian is in anythingv 
 found to be untrue or dishonest, there is a great out- 1 
 cry raised about it. This goes to show that more is^ 
 expected from the Christian than from worldlings. 
 And no higher tribute can be paid to Christianity than 
 the admission, by worldly men, that Christians are 
 supposed to stand on higher ground, and to be influ- 
 enced by loftier motives than others. And although , 
 there may be now and then a false professor, the com- 
 mon sense of men teaches them that the counterfeit 
 always implies a genuine article, for no one would be 
 such a fool as to counterfeit a sham. 
 
 "And another reason for what I say is found in the 
 fact that whenever a worldly man must find some 
 friend in whom to place implicit confidence, and in 
 whose hands he must commit important trusts, he will, 
 in nine cases out of ten, select a tried and faithful 
 Christian. All this, it seems to me, indicates that true 
 Christianity is at a premium, even among those who 
 profess least respect for Christians." 
 
 The next day after Mr. Rush valley came to River- 
 I bend, he and John went over the Root and Millwood 
 

 
 282 
 
 AMONf; THK FOllEST TREES. 
 
 lots, to see where would be the best place to locate the 
 mills. 
 
 After goinf; over a great part of the land, the sur- 
 veyor said it was one of the best places for a grist and 
 saw mill that he had seen. He located the place for 
 the mill-dam so that the buildings could stand near 
 the line between the townships of Riverbend and 
 Ashdown. 
 
 As they were passing the four corners on their way 
 back to Bushman's, Mr. Rush valley said to John, 
 " There will be a town here some day. 1 have never 
 seen a better site for a town than there is right here, 
 where these four townships join corners. I would not 
 be at all surprised if, before twenty years are past, 
 this would be the centre of a county." 
 
 " More unlikely things have come to pass," John 
 answered. 
 
 " How soon will the work be commenced?" inquired 
 John. 
 
 " Just as soon as Mr. Root can finish a bridije that 
 he is building over a large creek in one of the town- 
 ships that borders on Lake Huron, It may be one 
 week, or it may be two, before he will get here with 
 his men. But when he does come he will make things 
 move with a rush, as he is a thorough American. He 
 will either make or break, every time," replied he. 
 
 •' That is the kind of men to build up a new coun- 
 try," replied John. " Sometimes, though, they help the 
 countr}'^ more than they benefit themselves. But, after 
 all, they are driving the world's machinery and lead- 
 ing the nation's «nterpri««B. They *rn fchp mH« *h»M 
 
RIVERBEND MILLS. 
 
 283 
 
 , the sur- 
 i grist and 
 place for 
 itand near 
 rbend and 
 
 , their way 
 I to John, 
 have never 
 right here, 
 [ would not 
 •s are past, 
 
 pass," John 
 
 I?" inquired 
 
 bridge that 
 ,f the town- 
 nay be one 
 j;t here with 
 Imake things 
 ^erican. He 
 )Ued he. 
 new coun- 
 ley help the 
 But, after 
 ly and lead- 
 
 are driving back the wild beasts and wild savages, 
 and turning the wilderness into cultivated fields and 
 stately homesteads." 
 
 "0, Misther Bushman, an' will yez plase to be 
 afther comin' till our place ?" called out Harry Haw- 
 thorn's hired man, as he came running after the two 
 men. 
 
 " Why, what in the world is the matter, Billy ?" 
 said John, as the man came up to them. "You seem 
 terribly frightened. What has happened at your 
 place?" 
 
 ' Shure, sur, Harry and meself wer' choppin' out in 
 the foller, and the two swate childer was playin' 
 among the brush piles, an' we did not see them. An' 
 would yez belave it, sur, they both got buried beneath 
 a stump, an' so they did. Will yez an' the gintleman 
 come wid me ?" 
 
 "How could the children get under a stump ? Are 
 you not mistaken, Billy ?" said John. 
 
 "No, no; Mr. Bushman, I am not. Shure an' with 
 me own ears I heard the screams of the little darlins 
 whin the stump went on thetn. No ; I only wish 
 that I could be mistaken." 
 
 Bushman and his companion made all possible haste 
 to the place of the accident. 
 
 When they came there a most harrowing sight pre- 
 sented itself to them. There sat Harry, with his chin 
 resting on his knees, completely broken down with 
 his sorrow. Beside him, on the ground, lay his wife, 
 in a paroxysm of grief. Her pitiful moaning was 
 19 
 
284 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 enough to touch the most insensible, and to melt the 
 coldest heart. 
 
 Her only cry was, " Me babes, me babes. Och, me 
 poor innocent babes." 
 
 When John, who could scarcely command himself 
 to speak, asked Harry what had happened, he could 
 only point to the stump and, between his sobs, say, 
 " The little dears are under there." 
 
 William, or Billy as he was usually called, was the 
 only one that could give any information on the 
 matter. With the help of what he said, John soon 
 understood the facts of the case, which were as 
 follows : 
 
 An elm tree, some two feet across, had been turned 
 up by the roots in a recent gale. As is frequently the 
 case with that kind of timber, a large amount of earth 
 clung to the roots, thus making a big hollow under 
 the overhanging roots, some of which still held on to 
 the ground, and formed a sort of canopy or covering. 
 Under this the children were playing, it seems, while 
 their father and his man were chopping up the fallen | 
 tree. 
 
 Harry was cutting the tree off some three feet from| 
 the ground. For want of experience in the matter,, 
 he did not understand the danger that his children 
 were in. When he severed the connection between 
 the stump and the tree, the weight of earth, andl 
 the spring of the unbroken and elastic roots, causedj 
 the stump to rise to an upright position, and 
 up the hole, burying the poor children under al 
 couple of tons of earth and wood. One pitiful! 
 
RIVERBEND MILLS. 
 
 285 
 
 scream was all that was heard of them, then every- 
 thing was still.* 
 
 The alarm was given to all the neighbors, and men 
 turned out to help in getting the bodies of the children 
 out of the place. But it was only after the roots had 
 been cut away and two yoke of oxen hitched to it 
 that the stump could be removed. Then the earth 
 was carefully lifted until the crushed and broken 
 remains of the poor children were found lying close 
 together, with their playthings still clenched in their 
 hands. Strong arms and ready hands tenderly 
 removed the mangled little forms, and laid them on 
 a pile of leaves, hastily scraped together for a couch. 
 
 Around those lifeless children strong men were 
 standing. But every face was wet with tears. Brave 
 hearts were there, but not one heart so hard as to be 
 unmoved by the sad and touching scene that was 
 there witnes.sed. 
 
 Poor Bridget had been led to the house by the 
 sympathizing women. But at times her cries could 
 be heard. Harry still sat upon the ground crushed 
 by the weight of sorrow that had fallen upon his 
 household. When the children were laid on the 
 impromptu bed provided for them, he got up and 
 stood over them, with the great tear drops falling 
 from his manly face upon the pale upturned faces of 
 his two dead babies. At last he broke the silence, 
 saying : 
 
 'Instances of this kind have occurred in different parts of Canada. 
 .\nd even men have sometimes been buried in the same way. So 
 that this is no mere fancy picture, but it represents facts. 
 
?'l 
 
 286 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 i 
 
 
 " Oh me babes, me babes, me poor dear babes ! Was 
 it for this that I brought yez away from the green 
 fields of dear Ould Ireland ? Was it for this that ine- 
 self and your poor mother have wrought so hard, 
 and lived so cheap to try and get a house for yezV 
 
 With slow and solemn steps the little morsels of 
 mangled mortality were carried to the house from 
 which they had so lately come full of life and childish 
 glee. 
 
 Two days after the accident the first funeral pro- 
 cession that was ever seen in the Riverbend settle- 
 ment moved silently from the house of Harry and 
 Bridget Hawthorn to a grave on the banks of Catfish 
 River, near where it crossed over the boundary of 
 Harry's land and went on to John Bushman's. 
 
 A sudden and unexpected death, in any community, 
 brings into view some of the grandest elements of our 
 human brotherhood, as nothing else can do it. Though 
 neither priest nor parson could be had, yet these 
 children were not buried without religious service. 
 Protestant and Catholic forgot their differences as 
 they .stood around this open grave and joined in the 
 service, while Mr. WoodVjine read from John Bush- 
 man's " Book of Discipline " the ritual of the funeral 
 service as it was used by the Methodist Church of 
 that day. The death of the Hawthorn children was 
 an event long remembered in the settlement. 
 
Chapter XXII. 
 
 A BOARDING-HOUSE WANTED. 
 
 'iPWO weeks from the day that Harry Hawthorn's 
 hJ|h children were buried Mr. Root and his men came 
 to Sylvan Lake, or, as the place was now more 
 frequently called, Riverbend. There were ten of them, 
 including the two proprietors. They brought a strong 
 force, for a new country, because the conditions on 
 which they obtained the property enjoined upon them 
 to build on a somewhat extensive scale. So, between 
 carpenters, millwrights and laborers, the number of 
 men brought was not any too large. 
 
 When this addition was made to the population of 
 the place a question of importance presented itself, 
 Where could all these men find board and lodjrino' ? 
 There were not spare beds enough in the whole settle- 
 ment to lodge them. They might be fed ; but where 
 could they sleep ? that was the (juestion. 
 
 Mr. Root and his partner could be accommodated at 
 John Bushman's, two of the others might be crowded in 
 at William Briars'. Beyond this there was not a house 
 in the whole community where boarders could be taken 
 with any prospect of being made moderately com- 
 
288 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 I 
 
 fortable. Here was a difficulty, and how was it to be 
 met ? Tlie nights were too cool to sleep out of doors 
 on the <i;round. 
 
 "Why not build a house at once to live in?" said 
 Bushman to the two proprietors. 
 
 "Could it be done without throwinij us too much 
 behind with the work on the mills ?" inquired Mr 
 Root. 
 
 " Set all hands to work, and get what help you can 
 from the neifrhbors, and you can have a good-sized lo!:^ 
 cabin leady to live in within a week, and among us all 
 we can arrange some way for the men for that length 
 of time." 
 
 " That would be quick work, and I only wi.^h it 
 could be done," .said Millwood. 
 
 " It can be done," said John. " There is no reason 
 why yon may not have a house of your own, on your 
 own lot in one week, if things are properly managed." 
 
 " Well, let us hear your plan," said Root. 
 
 " Set two men to work with the whipsaw, send two 
 more to cut shingle bolts, and put two more to make 
 shingle.s. Let two more cut and haul half a dozen 
 saw-logs for the lumber. Set the rest at clearing a 
 place for the house and cutting the logs and getting 
 everything ready. When everything is done the neigh- 
 bors will come and help to raise it. In the meantime 
 one of yourselves can take a team and go out for nails 
 and glas.s." 
 
 " I think," said Mr. Root to his companion, " that 
 Bushman's plan is feasible. At all events, I believe 
 wo would do well to try it." 
 
A BOARDING-HOUSE WANTED. 
 
 289 
 
 19 it to be 
 ■j of doors 
 
 in ? said 
 
 too much 
 juired Mr. 
 
 Ip you can 
 il-sized lo? 
 nonjT us all 
 ihat length 
 
 ily wish it 
 
 i no reason 
 irn, on vour 
 managed." 
 
 V, send two 
 e to make 
 ilf a dozen 
 clearing a 
 nd getting 
 the neigh- 
 raeantime 
 )ut for nails 
 
 nion, " that 
 ts, I believe 
 
 "All right. It look.s to me like a sensible proposi- 
 tion ; and if we succeed, which I feel confident we 
 shall do, it will help us out of our difficulty," said the 
 other. 
 
 " But if none of our men can handle the whipsaw 
 or make the shingles, what will we do ?" said Mill- 
 wood. 
 
 " In that ca;-»e," said John, " I and William Briars 
 will .saw your lumber, and you can get Moses Moose- 
 wood and one of the Crautmaker boys to make your 
 shingles." 
 
 "That is very kind of you, I am sure," replied Mr. 
 Root, and we will not forget your generous offer, 
 whether we have to accept of it or not. If any of 
 our men can do the work we will set them to do it ; 
 but if they cannot do it, we shall be very much pleased 
 to get the help you kindly suggest." 
 
 Next day work was commenced, and in seven days 
 the house was ready for occupancy. 
 
 After the house was finished, Mr. Root said to John 
 and Mary, as they sat at the supper table, " I do not 
 know where we are going to find a cook. Neither 
 ourselves nor any of our men know anything about 
 cooking." 
 
 " I think," said John, " that I can tell you of one 
 who, if you can get him, would just suit yeu." 
 
 " Who is it, and where does he live ?" a.sked Mr. 
 Root. 
 
 " It is young Mr. Timberline, who lives only one lot 
 from here. I have heard him tell of cooking in a 
 lumber shanty down in Nova Scotia. He has no one 
 
290 
 
 AMON(i THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 
 but himself to look after, and no cattle or horses to 
 care for. So I think it (jiiite likely that he mijijbt be 
 willing to hire out for a while. And if he will do so, 
 I am very sure that he will suit you as a cook," was 
 John's answer. 
 
 " Would you mind goin«( with me to see him T said 
 Mr. Root. 
 
 " Not at all. We can go this evening, as it is good 
 moonlight, and we will tind him in the house," was 
 John's answer. 
 
 They found Mr. Tiniberline at home, and after a 
 short conversation the subject of their visit was intro- 
 duced. At the first the young man hesitated, but 
 after a little urging by John Bushman, he agreed to 
 go and try it for one month, and if everything was 
 satisfactory, then he would stay longer. He was to 
 commence the next day. 
 
 As they were going along, on the way home, Mr. 
 Root said to John, " It seems that you are always 
 equal to the emergency, Bushman, no matter what 
 that may be. Here you have helped us out of another 
 difficulty that we could not see our way through. Do 
 you never find yourself in a fix that you can't get out 
 of?" 
 
 " Sometimes ; but not often, and for two reasons. I 
 never commence a thing until I think that I see my 
 way through it. And I never give up to defeat until 
 I am compelled to <lo so. The result is that I gene- 
 rally succeed in what I undertake to do," was John's 
 reply. 
 
 The work on the mills now was started in earnest. 
 
 ■ 
 
A BOAUDINO-HOUHE WANTED. 
 
 291 
 
 horses to 
 miffbt. be 
 vill do so, 
 ook," was 
 
 Lm ?" said 
 
 it is good 
 ouse," was 
 
 id after a 
 was intro- 
 itated, but 
 agreed to 
 ything was 
 fie was to 
 
 tiome, Mr. 
 are always 
 Eitter what 
 of another 
 ough. Do 
 n't get out 
 
 reasons. 1 
 I see my 
 efeat until 
 at I gene- 
 was John's 
 
 in earnest. 
 
 Some were workinjif at the <lain, while others were 
 getting out timber and framing it for the saw-mill, 
 which was to be built first, so they would be able to 
 cut their own lumber for the grist-mill. 
 
 The saw-mills of that time were very simple in 
 their mechani.sm. Two or three wheels, an upright 
 sav/, fixed in a scjuare frame, that moved up and 
 down with every stroke of the saw, driven by a 
 crank and pitman, along with a carriage for the logs, 
 made up about the sum total of the machinery of an 
 old-time saw-mill. The fast-running circular saws 
 were not known in this country at the time of which 
 we are writing. 
 
 Everything went on smoothly with the work, and 
 the saw-raill was ready for operation by the time the 
 snow came in sufficient quantity to make sleighing. 
 And the work on the grist-mill was in a forward state 
 before the winter set in. 
 
 Everything was going well with the settlement at 
 River bend, and the people were prospering, and as 
 comfortable as people in a new country could be. 
 Everybody was everybody's friend, and nobody was 
 anybody's enemy. The people were all hard at work, 
 to do the best in their power to get an honest living, 
 and to provide themselves with homes of their own. 
 Those of them that were not devoutly pious, were 
 strictly honest, truthful and sober. In fact, so far as 
 character goes, the Riverbend settlement might very 
 properly be called a model community. Up till the 
 time of which we speak nothing had occurred to divide 
 public opinion, or to interfere with the fraternal feel- 
 
292 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 ings of the various families vvhicli composed the neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 But in this respect • nearly all now settlements are 
 more or less alike. If you w',nt to find real, genuine, 
 honest friendship, go among the people in the back- 
 woods. There you may see society in its every-day 
 attire, where there is no starchy stiffness, nor wilted 
 limberness. There are no strained relations between 
 leading families. There are no instances of empty 
 nothingness trj'ing to assume the aspect and act the 
 part of solid something. There the cheek of beauty 
 depends not on the painter's brush for the harmonies 
 of color, and the hard-handed toilers in the forest and 
 fields do not long for official dignity to push them up 
 into the elevated region of real manhood. There 
 things are, as a rule, what they appear to be. There 
 genuine manhood and womanhood are-appreciated for 
 all they are worth, and rascality and fraud are at a 
 wonderful discount. 
 
 But, dear me, where am I wandering to ? I am not 
 writing a satire on frauds and shams, nor an eulogy 
 on truth and honesty ; but simply speaking of the 
 process of developing life and its appliances among the 
 forest trees and in the new settlements. 
 
 Mr. Timberline proved himself to be a good cook 
 and a very passable housekeeper, so that Messrs. Root 
 & Co. were well pleased with their boarding-house 
 venture. In fact, the boarding-house soon became the | 
 most noted place in the settlement in some respects, 
 There were more people in it, and its inmates repre- 
 sented such a great diversity of talent, and such a I 
 
A BOARDING-HOUSE WANTED. 
 
 293 
 
 the neigh- 
 
 ments ate 
 J, genuine, 
 
 the back- 
 
 every-day 
 nor wilted 
 ns between 
 5 of empty 
 md act tlie 
 c of beauty 
 3 havmonies 
 le forest and 
 ish them up 
 ood. There 
 ) be. There 
 )reciated for 
 lud are at a 
 
 ? I am not 
 |)r an eulogy 
 
 pikins o^" ^^^*^ 
 3s amonj? the 
 
 a good cook 
 
 Messrs. Root 
 Lrding-house 
 |n became the 
 
 3me respects. 
 
 [mates repre- 
 and such & 
 
 variety of trades, that the associations of the place 
 became very interesting indeed to a student of 
 character. 
 
 The names of some of the more prominent of the 
 boarders, were, in themselves, a subject of amusement 
 to anyone who heard them for the first time. And 
 some of them were very expressive, and others were 
 siifrirestive. For instance — 
 
 Joseph Chipmaker, was the name of the "boss" 
 carpenter. There is nothing in the name that is 
 either euphonious or musical. But once the name was 
 heard in connection with the man, and in his presence, 
 it cnuld not be easily forgotten. Whenever one who 
 had become familiar with the name and the man it be- 
 longed to, saw a chip in the workshop or on the wood- 
 pile, he at once would think of about one hundred 
 and seventy pounds of masculine humanity ; with a 
 large head covered with brown curly hair ; a broad, 
 good-natured face, a little inclined to ruddiness ; an 
 expansive forehead, that a judge might covet ; a clear, 
 blue eye, with now and then a shade of sternness in it, 
 and a mouth that became the index to eitlier sweet- 
 ness of temper or fixedness of purpose just as it 
 received its expression from the present state of its 
 ownor's mind. 
 
 Another one of the men worthy of notice was Mr. 
 
 Sledgeswinger, the stonemason. His name is a little 
 
 more musical than that of his neighbor, Chipmaker, 
 
 but no more suggestive. He was a larse raw-boned 
 
 j man in middle life. His manner was more pleasing 
 
 than his appearance. His features were coarse and 
 
294 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 m 
 If 
 
 m< 
 
 stiff, his hands were hard and bony. But his heart 
 was softer than either his features or his hands would 
 seem to indicate. On the whole, we are safe in setting 
 it down that Mr. Sledgeswinger was an amiable and 
 kind-hearted man without a tinge of malice or mean- 
 ness in his composition. 
 
 Then there was Jack Pivot, the machinist, who must 
 not be left unnoticed. He was a little red-headed man. 
 He had an eye like an eagle, and he was as smart as a 
 steel trap. He would not weigh over a hundred and 
 thirty pounds. But there was not a man in the 
 company that could jump as far, or run as fast, as 
 Little Jack, as they called him. This little man had 
 one peculiarity. Though he was generally pleasant 
 and good-natured, yet when he was laying out his 
 work he was as explosive as dynamite. Whoever was 
 so thoughtless as to ask Jack any question when he 
 was busy with his drawings, would tind the little 
 fellow as prickly as a chestnut burr in the month of I 
 October, and as ready to fight as a Scotch terrier that 
 has been robbed of his dinner. But on the whole. Little j 
 Jack was not a bad sort of a man to get along with. 
 He was like a great many other men, he wanted to bej 
 left alone at certain times and under some circum-| 
 stances. 
 
 There was also Mr. Dusticoat, the miller, who, in his I 
 way, was an honorable and useful individual. He was 
 of a peculiar build. He might be called a big littlej 
 man, without involving any contradiction. He was! 
 not more than five feet eight inches in perpendicularj 
 altitude. But his greatest diameter was about forty- 
 
A BOARDING-HOUSE WANTED. 
 
 295 
 
 b his heart 
 Einds would 
 e in setting 
 raiable and 
 e or mean- 
 
 t, who must 
 leaded man. 
 ,s smart as a 
 lundred and 
 man in the 
 1 as fast, as 
 tie man had 
 illy pleasant 
 ,ying out his 
 Whoever was 
 ion when he 
 
 d the little 
 ,he month of ' 
 terrier that 
 
 whole, Little | 
 
 along with. 
 
 [wanted to be] 
 
 ^ome circum- 
 
 jr, who, in his 
 
 bal. He was 
 
 a big little 
 
 )n. He was 
 
 )erpendiculM 
 
 about forty- 
 
 four inches, and his ponderosity a little over two 
 hundred pounds avordupois. 
 
 Handling many bags, and lifting many heavy loads 
 had given him great strength of back and arms, ^o 
 that as an elevator of weighty parcels, he was about 
 as good as a two horse-power engine. Talking long 
 and loud with many people, amid the clatter of 
 machinery, had developed a very coarse, heavy, deep 
 voice that, with proper training, might have furnished 
 bass enough for a whole cathedral choir without any 
 help. 
 
 Mr. Dusticoat was a little inclined to braggadocio ; 
 but whenever he became somewhat animated in self- 
 laudation, some of the others would put up the little 
 machinist to take the wind out of his conceit, which 
 would generally take Jack about two minutes and a 
 balf, when the miller would quietly subside into his 
 normal condition, which was by no means a dangerous 
 or disagreeable one. 
 
 One more character is worthy of note among Root 
 &Co.'s employees, that was Mr. Springboard, the saw- 
 yer. He was a tall, slim man, of about thirty years 
 of age. He stood six feet high and weighed about a 
 hundred and fifty pounds. The men nicknamed him 
 Sawgate, because of the manner in which he would 
 
 ive himself up and down when he was walking, 
 which motion was not altogether unlike that of the 
 I slow-up-and-down motion of an old-time upright saw. 
 
 This man was the literary character of the company. 
 1 He made short speeches and quoted poetry. Ho was 
 fond of discussion and argument. He strengthened 
 
296 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 his position by lofi^ical syllogisms, and adorned his dis- 
 couiSG with flowers of rhetoric ; and when he failed to 
 con' i nee an opponent by his logic, or to charm hiin by 
 his ihetoric, he would bury him under a mountain of 
 facts and historical quotations. Mr. Springboard was 
 an interesting element in the little backwoods com- 
 munity of which he formed a part. More of this 
 further on. 
 
 One day when Mr. Root came into his dinner he 
 startled the company a little by asking them if they 
 had heard the news. They all looked at him, and 
 " No " came from half a dozen places at once. 
 
 " The wolves have been at work last night, and this 
 morning Mr. Beech finds one of his cows dead and halt 
 eaten up, and John Bushman finds nine of his sheep 
 killed and partly devoured. For the first time since 
 he got them, they were left out of the pen last nij^ht, 
 and this morning he found them dead in the field." 
 
 "There must have been a great number of theinj 
 to make such destruction, and eat up so much of what 
 they killed," said one of the men. 
 
 " A hungry wolf is something like a hungry snake, I 
 he can swallow nearly his own weight in food when 
 he gets a chance," said Root. 
 
 " A wolf," said Mr. Springboard, " is one of the car- 
 nivora, or flesh-eating animals, and it belongs to tliej 
 genus canis, and is therefore a half-brother to the| 
 dog." 
 
 " I wonder if that is the reason that the old dog atj 
 Bushman's had nothing to say while his half-brother 
 
A BOARDINO-HOUrsE WANTED. 
 
 297 
 
 were destroying his master's sheep," said Mr. Dusti- 
 coat. 
 
 " Mrs. Briars expected to be alone last night, as 
 William went to Mapleton with a grist, and did not 
 know as he would get home. She came towards even- 
 inij and took old Rover home with her for the night. 
 The old dog is in no way to be charged with neglect- 
 ing his duty in the matter," said Mr. Root. 
 
 " It seems more like conspiracy on the part of his 
 master," said Mr. Pivot. " First he sent away the 
 sheep's protector, and then expo.sed them to unneces- 
 sary danger by not shutting them in the pen as has 
 been his custom. But there is no mistake, it is a 
 heavy loss for both Mr. Bushman and Mr. Beech. I 
 thought the wolves had left this part of the country 
 since so many settlers have come in." 
 
 " The wolves are not so easily got out of the way," 
 said Mr. Root ; " they have only been away on the track 
 of the deer. When a place begins to settle up, the deer 
 go further back into the forest, and the wolves follow 
 ihem up. 
 
 " As long as a wolf can get a supply of veni.son and 
 rabbit meat, and other wild game, he will not be so 
 troublesome among the sheep and cattle of the settler-s. 
 He is a natural coward. And i^ is only after hunger 
 has got the better of his fears that he will take the 
 risk of seeking his dinner within hearing of the wood- 
 man's axe or where he can get the smell of gun- 
 powder." 
 
 " The wolf is not only a coward, but he is a sneak," 
 put in Mr. Springboard. " He has not enough honesty 
 
298 
 
 AMONG THE FORKST TREES. 
 
 in his composition to look a game rooster in the ej^e. 
 He always hunts in darkness, and never faces any- 
 thing if he can come behind it. If a man was fjot up 
 on the plan of the wolf he mi;,'ht do for a spy or a 
 detective, but he would never do for a policeman or a 
 soldier. 
 
 " Gerard, the French hunter, says the lion is a coward 
 until either hunger or anger prompts him to be brave. 
 And the Rev. Walter Ingles, a returned missionary, 
 says of the lion in Africa, that if you meet him in the 
 day time just act as if you are hunting for him, and 
 are glad to find him, and he will sneak off like a 
 whipped cur. But both of these men agree that if 
 the lion becomes roused in any way he will f' je any- 
 thing," said Mr. Springboard, 
 
 " Well," said one of the men, " if the lion is a coward, 
 what right has he to be called the king of beasts ?" 
 
 "As to that," answered Mr. Springboard, " lie is only 
 like other animals. He is less cowardly than others, 
 and can claim the crown of royalty on that ground, 
 for no animal is entirely free froui fear. Perhaps the 
 bull-dog comes the nearest to being destitute of that 
 thing called fear, of any animal that we know of." 
 
 " He don't know enough to be afraid," put in Little 
 Jack, " for of all the great variety of dogs, the bull- 
 dog, it seems to me, is the most stupid and senseless of 
 the whole family." 
 
 " The buU-doji is good to hang on when he takes 
 hold of anything," said Mr. Dusticoat. 
 
 "He is like some men in that," said Mr. Root. 
 " There are men who will get hold of an idea, and 
 
 It 
 
A BOARDINC-HOUSE WANTED. 
 
 299 
 
 whether it b« right or wrong they will hold to it. And 
 even though they should suffer for it they, hull-dog 
 like, will stick to it till the end of life." 
 
 " Is it for the hang-on that is in him that the 
 typical Englishman is called John Bull?" inquired 
 Little Jack. 
 
 " The (juestion/' said Mr. Dusticoat, who felt called 
 upon to defend everything English, even to the froth 
 on a mug of beer — 
 
 " I say the question is a persona! insult to every 
 Englishman, and I want Mr. Pivot to take it back at 
 once." 
 
 " Don't make a fool of yourself, Dusty," replied 
 Little Jack. " You know as well as any of us that the 
 term ' John Bull ' has been used for generations past 
 to represent the dogged stubbornness of Englishmen. 
 I think it is something to be proud of instead of a 
 thing to get mad about. I never hear the term used 
 but I wi.sh myself an Englishman. On a hundred 
 battlefields John Bull has shown his right to the 
 title." 
 
 "AH right. Jack. That will do, I am satisfied," said 
 Dusticoat. 
 
1 
 
 Chapter XXI 1 1. 
 
 A BACKWOODS LYCEUM. 
 
 Yj S soon as tilings were got into good shape in the 
 k^iL boarding-house, the men formed themselves 
 into a literary associn>ion for mutual enter- 
 tainment, and to pass away the long winter evenings, 
 
 They adopted rules and regulations, the same as 
 institutions of greater pretensions. 
 
 Among the rules was one which required each man 
 to furnish something for the amusement or edification 
 of the rest. 
 
 Every one was left to his own option as to what his 
 part should be. He might relate something of his 
 personal experiences. He might relate some incidents 
 in the experience of others. He might recite, give a 
 reading, or make a speech. And if he could do none 
 of these, he would be let off by singing a song. If he 
 failed to do any of these he was subjected to a fine of 
 one shilling, which was equal to twelve and a half 
 cents. This was placed in the hands of Mr. Root to 
 be held in trust until the breaking up of the associa- 
 tion, when it was to be disposed of by a majority of 
 the members of the fraternity. 
 
A BACKWOODS LYCEUM. 
 
 301 
 
 The time limit was somewhat elastic. It ranged 
 from two minutes to half-an-hour. An exercise of one 
 hundred and twenty seconds would not i)e called too 
 short ; and one fifteen times as long would not be con- 
 demned for its length. 
 
 Another of the rules was that everything pre- 
 sented should be connected with backwoods life, and 
 should illustrate the condition of things among the 
 pioneer settlers. 
 
 Mr. Millwood, being the most (juiet and thoughtful 
 man in the company, was made President of the 
 association. His duty was to preside over the exercises, 
 and pass his opinion on the efforts of those who took 
 part in the entertainments. 
 
 The names of all the men were put on a paper, and 
 their turn came in the same order in which their 
 names were on the list. 
 
 Whenever one of them was called by the President 
 he was expected to provide something for the next 
 meeting. And if he did not wish to do so he forth- 
 with handed over the fine, and then the next name on 
 the list was called. 
 
 The first name on the roll was " Little Jack," as the 
 men called Mr. Pivot, the machinist. He promptly 
 responded, and stepped to the middle of the floor to 
 commence his remarks. He made a formal bow to the 
 company, then said : 
 
 " Since we are all here working on a mill, I know 
 of no subject that would be more appropriate than a 
 little talk about a primitive backwoods grist-mill. 
 And it is no mere fancy picture that I shall give you. 
 
302 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES, 
 
 ti 
 
 ■;!;'■ 
 
 But I will try to describe a real workintr mill, whero 
 thousands of liushels of wheat have been eonverte<l 
 into bran and Hour. The locality selected for the 
 erection of the mill was on a beautiful stream of clear, 
 cool, spring water. Here the speckled trout had dis- 
 ported themselves without interruption for unnumbered 
 generations, until the .sound of the woodman's axe 
 might have warned them of coming changes, had they 
 intelligence enough to take the warning. This stream 
 ran through a deep glen at the foot of a mountain of 
 considerable height. It was a very rapid running 
 stream. In order to get sufficient ' head ' a dam was 
 built across the stream some forty rods up the creek 
 from where the mill was to stand. From the dam 
 the water was carried in an elevated mill-race tnade 
 of hewed timber, to where it poured on an overshot 
 wheel about twenty feet in diameter. 
 
 " This mill was remarkable for three things, viz., the 
 smallness of the log building, the enormous size of the 
 water-wheel, and the rude simplicity of its machinery. 
 
 " The building was about twenty-four feet square 
 The wheel was placed on the outside of the structure 
 and on the end of a large shaft which passed through 
 the wall into the building. On this same shaft was 
 constructed a wheel nearly as large as the water- 
 wheel. A row of cogs was tixed on the side of this 
 wheel, so as to fit into an upright pinion. In the 
 upper end of the shaft of the pinion was an iron 
 gudgeon. On the end of this was a simple piece of 
 bent iron, on which the weight of the upper mill-stone 
 rested and in the turning of this pinion the motion of 
 
A BACKWOODS LYCEUM. 
 
 303 
 
 the Htone was producefl. This was all the machinery 
 there was, so far as the frrindinj; process was con- 
 cerned. 
 
 " The hoitini:; operation was equally primitive in 
 design and execution. Tiie mill -.stones were a couple 
 ot'rou«]fh, hard Hat rocks found in the vicinity of the 
 mill, and got into shape by much pounding and 
 patient labor. But simple though it was, thousands 
 of bushels of wheat was ground in that little, unpre- 
 tentious, back country mill. And many a loaf of good 
 wholesome bread was made from this tlour by our 
 grandmothers and their daughters, and baked in the 
 old-time bake kettles, as they were partly hidden in 
 heaps of coals that glowed and crackled in the roomy 
 •ecesses of old Dutch fireplaces. In those days of 
 primitive methods and plain habits people were easily 
 satisfied, and the sum total of human comfort was 
 equally as great as in our day of greater preten.sions." 
 And with another bow, Mr. Pivot took his seat. 
 
 " Jack, you have done well. That story is nicely 
 told, and the beauty of it is its truthfulness. I have 
 seen that same mill, or one exactly like it, myself."* 
 
 " Our mill," said Mr. Root, " is to be on a larger 
 scale than that one, and it will cost a fifood deal more. 
 But there will come a time when it, too, will be con- 
 sidered out of date, and have to give place to more 
 extensive structures, and more complicated machinery, 
 for mills, as well as other things, will have to keep 
 pace with the progress of society." 
 
 * Sixty years ago it could be seen in what was called Thompson's 
 Hollow, in Euqueaing. 
 
■I 
 
 304 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 R 
 
 i 
 
 " 1 think," sai(i the President, " that Little Jack has 
 made a good start, and I hope that all who attempt to 
 speak will be as concise, and yet as explicit, as he has 
 been. 
 
 " Mr. Dusticoat's name comes next on the list," con- 
 tinued the President. 
 
 Dusticoat was called for by three or four at once. 
 
 When he came forward, Mr. Dusticoat looked a little 
 Hushed, and seemed somewhat confused. He was not 
 used to speechmaking. But he was willing to do the 
 best he could. He commenced by saying : " I think 
 that I, at one time, worked in the same mill that Mr. 
 Pivot spoke of. At all events, the description that he 
 gave would just suit a mill that I run for a number of 
 y^ars, when I was a young man. I used to see some 
 rather striking things there. I will tell you of some 
 of them. 
 
 " To get to the mill, people had to come down the 
 mountain. To get anything like a reasonable grade 
 the road skirted along the side of the mountain for a 
 long distance. In the winter time, the water issuing 
 from one or two springy places would run over the 
 road and freeze, leaving the track sometimes very 
 slippery. 
 
 " One day as I stood in the mill door I saw a man 
 with a yoke of oxen and a sled coming down the hill. 
 When he came to one of the icy places his oxen began 
 to slip, and soon fell down on the ice. The sled slid 
 around until it got ahead of the oxen, with the tail 
 end down hill, towards the mill. By some means it 
 got loose from the oxen, and came tearing down the 
 
A HACK WOODS LYCKUM. 
 
 305 
 
 iiines very 
 
 hill, wrong end tirst, and never ^^topp(M^ until it butted 
 up against the side of the mill. Meanwhile the owner 
 stood and looked at his retreating property until he 
 saw the bags of wheat safely <lep()sited beside the mill 
 door. 
 
 " He was a little man, by the name of Buck berry, 
 and he was a terrible man to swear. When he came 
 and found that his grist was all right, he said he wa.s 
 sorry he had wasted so much breath and .said so many 
 bad words for nothing. He took a couple of pails of 
 ashes and sprinkled them around the oxen, and then 
 got them ort' the ice. Luckily, nothing was injured."* 
 
 Mr. Du.sticoat continued: "I remember one ilay a 
 number of men came to the mill with new wheat, 
 right after harvest. Some had woodshod sleds, drawn 
 by oxen. One or two had a bag on the back of a 
 horse, others carried their grist on their shoulders. 
 Among these was a man and a bo}', who had come 
 between three and four miles. Each of tliem had a 
 heavy load of wheat ; in fact, the boy was so small that 
 some of the men were surprised by the size of his 
 load. They placed the lad on the scales and found 
 that he weighed just sixty pounds. Then they put 
 hi.s load of wheat on the scales, and found it to be of 
 the .same weight as the boy. The little fellow had 
 carried a load as heavy as him.self all that distance 
 over a very rough and hilly road.-j- 
 
 * This is a real occurrence that happened at Tliompson's mill, in 
 
 Ks(|uesing. 
 
 tThat boy was Malcolm McLaughlan. Me is still living, though 
 lie is an ol<l man now. and he has seen many ciianges since then. 
 
306 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Boys in those days found plenty of exercise in the 
 ordinary affairs of life. They did not need athletic 
 sports to develop bone and muscle. But many of 
 those boys were broken down before they came to be 
 men by overwork and hardships. 
 
 " One day," continued Mr. Dusticoat, " there came to 
 the mill a man with a baof of wheat to grind. He was 
 a large, bony man. with a peculiar expressiion of coun- 
 tenance. He spoke like a man of some degree of 
 culture. He had never been to the mill before, hence 
 more notice was taken of him. He said he lived about 
 four mil')s away, and this was his first bag of wheat 
 threshed from his first crop. This man was living 
 alone in a little shanty built in the middle of a four 
 hundred acre block of land that belonjied to him. He 
 had neither chick nor child. Not a hoof nor feather 
 could be seen about his home. 
 
 " We talked on difierent subjects, and 1 found my 
 customer to be pretty well read on various subjects. 
 He was rather fiuent, and spoke with a slight brogue, 
 just enough to tell what country he came from. After 
 his grist had been in the hopper a few minutes, I took 
 the toll-box and dipped it into tne wheat in order to 
 take the usual toll. 
 
 " In a moment the man had hold of my arm, and in 
 a loud voice he demanded to know what I was going 
 to.do. 
 
 " I explained to him that I was simply taking toll 
 for grinding his grist. 
 
 '" Well,' said he, ' it seems to me that, after carrying 
 it four long miles on my back, it is too bad for me to 
 
A BACKWOODS LYCEUM. 
 
 807 
 
 •cise in the 
 id athletic 
 t many of 
 came to be 
 
 ere came to 
 d. He was 
 on of coun- 
 i degree of 
 ifore, henco 
 
 lived about 
 or of wheat 
 
 was living 
 ,e of a four 
 to him. He 
 
 nor feather 
 
 found my 
 [lis subjects, 
 jght brogue, 
 rom. After 
 lutes, I took 
 lin order to 
 
 |arin, and in 
 was going 
 
 I taking toll 
 
 ber carrying 
 li for me to 
 
 lose part of it for toll. I will not fetch any more 
 wheat to your mill.' 
 
 " It did no good to tell him that everybody had to 
 give toll. He persisted in his resolution, and lived on 
 boiled wheat and roasted potatoes for some years. 
 Then he married and raised a family. He is dead 
 
 now. * 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Springboard, " that was a strange 
 way for a man to live. He must have had something 
 else besic'> boiled wheat and roasted potatoes." 
 
 Mr. Dusticoat replied : " He had salt, and sometimes 
 a little butter or meat, but that was not often. In the 
 spring he would make some maple sugar and molasses. 
 He used hemlock for tea. He worked around a good 
 deal among the neighbors, and after people got to 
 know him they trusted him, and many a pail of milk 
 and other things he carried home to his lonely little 
 shanty. He would not clear off his land like other 
 people. He said the time would come when the tim- 
 ber would be worth more than the land."-f- 
 
 "The next name on the list is Mr. Springboard," 
 said the President. " We will wait for his contribution 
 to our entertainment until our next meeting." 
 
 " Which will be to-morrow evening," put in Little 
 Jack. 
 
 *His uame and location could be given, but that is not necessary 
 to make the truth of the narrative plainer. He never could be per- 
 suaded that tolls and taxes are not robbery. 
 
 tHe lived to see his prediction fulfilled to the letter. He died sud- 
 denly, and left to his family four hund'ed acres of bush within easy 
 distance of two or three rising towns. 
 
308 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 To this all agreed, and the company dispersca tor 
 the night. 
 
 When the evening meal was over next night, the 
 men gathered around the glowing tire that blazed and 
 sparkled on the tiagstone hearth, and sent a yellow 
 light on everything in the house, giving to the men a 
 peculiar shade of color, which had the appearance of 
 a compound of three-parts satfron and one-part car- 
 mine. Seen in that peculiar light they looked like a 
 strong, hardy lot of customers. 
 
 " Now for the talk," said Little Jack. Mr. Spring- 
 board said he was ready to commence if the rest were 
 ready to hear him. 
 
 " My stories will not be very long, nor very inter- 
 esting, perhaps," said Mr. Springboard, " but they will 
 be connected with new country life. They will be 
 about the black bears." 
 
 " All right, then," said the President. " Let us hear 
 something about bruin." 
 
 " I will tell them to you just as I heard them, with- 
 out vouching for their truthfulness ; but 1 believe 
 them to be true myself, and you can please yourselves 
 about it. 
 
 " One day a man was running a saw-mill in a lonely 
 place. There was no one but himself around. He 
 was cutting up some pine logs to till a bill for lumber. 
 The old upright saw was rattling away, and makiii;^ 
 more noise than progress. The thing was becoming 
 monotonous. 
 
 " The man looked out of the end of the mill, and 
 there, coming right towards him, was a large bear, 
 
A BACKWOODS LYCEUM. 
 
 309 
 
 per3i.a tor 
 
 niiiVit, the 
 blazed and 
 t a yellow 
 the men a 
 pearance of 
 le-part cai- 
 ^ked lil'ie a 
 
 Mr. Sprint,'- 
 lie rest were 
 
 • very inter- 
 )ut they will 
 hey will be 
 
 ' Let us hear 
 
 them, with- 
 out 1 believe 
 U yourselves 
 
 walking up the skid-way, where the logs were drawn 
 up into the mill. The man was scared, and climbed 
 up on one of the beams, where he could watch the 
 turn of events in safety. The bear walked into the 
 mill with as much assurance as thousfh the whole 
 thing belonged to him. He jumped on the end of the 
 loiT that was on the carriajje, and sat down on his 
 haunches like a dog to watch the movements of the 
 saw-gate. He seemed to become very much interested 
 in his surroundings. But every stroke of the saw was 
 bringing him nearer to danger, as the carriage was 
 drawn along by the machinery. 
 
 " He seemed to be completely absorbed in contem- 
 plation, until at last the points of the saw-teeth 
 touched him on the end of his nose. He seemed to 
 take that as an insult and a challenije for battle. 
 With a cry of pain and rage he threw his fore-paws 
 around the saw to give it the usual bearish hug. The 
 contest between bear's teeth and saw teeth was a des- 
 perate one for a minute ; but steel was harder than 
 bone. In a short time poor bruin was cut in two, one 
 piece falling on each side of the log. 
 
 II in a lonely 
 
 laround. He 
 
 for lumber. 
 
 and makiiifi; 
 
 las becoming 
 
 bhe mill, and 
 large bear, 
 
 ' While seeking to investigate 
 A saw-mill's work one day, 
 Poor, honest bruin, met his fate 
 In an unseemly way. " 
 
 " This is what the sawyer wrote on a piece of board 
 with charcoal, and nailed it up to one of the posts of 
 the mill. 
 
 " I have another bear story to tell you," said Mr. 
 
810 
 
 AMONG THE PUREST TREES. 
 
 Spring-board, " and, if you don't object, I will tell it 
 now. Two men went out hunting in the beginning 
 of winter, when the first fall of snow covered the 
 ground. They were brothers. When they reached 
 the hunting ground they went but a short distance 
 before they came on the track of a bear. They saw 
 that it was freshly made, and resolved to follow it up 
 and see where the animal had gone. 
 
 " They soon came to where the bear had gone into 
 a thick cedar swamp. Being well acquainted with 
 the locality, they knew that the swamp was not a 
 large one. They arranged that one of them should 
 keep on the track of the bear, while the other would 
 go around the edge of the swamp, and see if he could 
 find where the animal had come out. And if either 
 of them came across the object of their search he was 
 to let the other know by firing his gun or by calling. 
 
 " The man followed the tracks into the swamp. It 
 was difficult, in some places, to get through the thick 
 growth of underwood that intercepted his way. But 
 pushing along the best way he could, he came at 
 length to where the bear had clambered over a fallen 
 tree that lay up some feet from the ground. Mr. Bush, 
 being an active man, placed his hand on the top of the 
 log, and sprang over to the other siile. 
 
 " When he came over he lit right on the top of the 
 bear which was lying flat on its side in the snow. Be- 
 fore he had time to do anything the bear had him in 
 its embrace. His gun was of no use to him now. His 
 only means of defence was a hunter's knife that he 
 carried in his belt. 
 
A BACKWOODS LYCKUM. 
 
 311 
 
 will tell it 
 beginninfT 
 
 covered the 
 ey reached 
 )rt distance 
 They saw 
 'ollow it up 
 
 d ffone into 
 tainted with 
 ) was not a 
 them should 
 other would 
 e it' he could 
 ^nd \i either 
 earch he was 
 • by calling. 
 3 swamp. It 
 crh the thick 
 is way. B^^ 
 he came at 
 over a fallen 
 Mr. Bush, 
 he top of the 
 
 le top of the 
 
 le snow. Be- 
 
 Ir had him in 
 
 lim now. Hi'* 
 
 tnife that he 
 
 "Calling loudly for his brother, he began to plunge 
 the knife into the bear whenever and wherever he 
 could get a chance. The fight was a fearful one. The 
 claws and teeth of the bear were rapidly tearing the 
 tlesh from the man's bones. The long knife in the 
 hands of the courageous hunter was just as rapidly 
 letting the life's blood from the emptying veins of 
 the infuriated brute. 
 
 " When the other man came up neither Bush nor the 
 bear could stand on their feet, but lying side by side 
 on the blood-covered snow they were tiercely, though 
 feebly, carrying on the conflict. The brother put the 
 muzzle of his rifle to the bear's ear and sent the whole 
 charge into its head. This ended the fight. Help was 
 procured and the wounded man was carried to the 
 house of a settler, and medical assistance secured. Here 
 he lay for weeks before he could be taken to his home 
 in the adjoining township.* 
 
 " One more short tale and I am done with bears," 
 said Mr. Springboard. " In the month of March, in a 
 back township, a man was chopping up a fallen hollow 
 tree. All of a sudden his axe went through the thin 
 shell and struck into something that i^&ye a terrific 
 growd. He was startled to hear something crawling 
 (ilong the inside of the log on which he was standing. 
 Presently a large bear came out of the end of the log 
 in a perfect fury, but it was blind. The axe had cut 
 right into its eyes and put them both out. The first 
 thing that the bear touched was a tree. This it em- 
 
 * An incident like this ocoui*i'ec1 sonle yeai's i*,go in the township 
 It U&i'af raxa to «. man named Howe from Erin townshipi 
 
312 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 braced and attacked most ferociously, and tried to 
 tear it to pieces. The man went to the house, got his 
 rifle and ended the bear's sufferings by sending a bul- 
 let tliroujjh its heart." 
 
 " Well done, Mr. Springboard," said the Presidt>nt. 
 " It' all our little entertainments can equal the two 
 last ones, our evenings won't be wasted." 
 
id tried to 
 luse, got his 
 iding a bul- 
 
 e President. 
 m\ the two 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 MORE BOARDING-HOUSE TALES. 
 
 fWO or three evenings after the conversation re- 
 ported in the last chapter, as the men were sit- 
 ting around a good tire, some one proposed that 
 Mr. Rushvalle}', the surveyor, be invited to take the 
 floor to fulHl the conditions of the compact which re- 
 quired each one to take his turn in entertaining the 
 company, as his name stood next on the list. 
 
 Mr. Rushvalley came forward promptly, and said : 
 "I will take up none of your time in needless prelim- 
 inaries, but I will forewarn you that the incidents 
 that I am about to relate, as illustrating some of the 
 trials of pioneer life, are sad and touching in a high 
 degree, and I shall give them as they were told to me 
 by those who weie acquainted with the facts, so that 
 there need be no doubt as to the truthfulness of the 
 narratives. 
 
 " To one of the back townships, some few years after 
 the- city of Hamilton became a village, and before the 
 city of Guelph was ever thought of, there came from 
 the old country three immigrants. There were two 
 brothers and a sister — all of them ere single. The 
 
314 
 
 AMONG THK KoUEST TREKS. 
 
 IF' 
 
 m 
 
 sister was older than her Itrothers, an<l she was their 
 housekeeper. 
 
 "Theyouni^ men secured each of them a hundred 
 acres of good land and started life in the bush. Kvery 
 thing went well with them for some time. They built 
 a shanty on each one's lot ; a part of the time they 
 worked separately, and at other times they worked 
 together. 
 
 " Meanwhile the sister managed both shanties, Koiiii: 
 from the one to the other, as often as she found it 
 necessary, and at any time most convenient for her- 
 self. She had provided herself with a bed in each 
 shanty, so that she could stay at either place as long 
 as she liked. Sometimes she would be a couple of 
 days at one place, and then as long a time at the 
 other. 
 
 " One morning she started to go from one place to 
 the other. By some means she got out of the path 
 that led through a piece of wood from shanty to 
 shanty. The brother to whose place she started did 
 not know she was coming, and the one from tlie place 
 she left did not know that she had failed to reach her 
 destination. Conse(iuently she was not missed until 
 the next morning. She had been in the woods twenty- 
 four liours before her brothers found out that she was 
 lost. 
 
 " The first thing that the young men did was to 
 start in opposite directions among the scattered 
 settlers, to find out if any per-son had seen their lost 
 sister. 
 
 " In going along the only public road in that locality 
 
MORE BOARDING-HOUSE TALES. 
 
 315 
 
 was their 
 
 a Immlvetl 
 ish. Every 
 
 They built 
 
 time they 
 ley worked 
 
 mties, o-oinj; 
 he found it 
 ent for her- 
 bed in each 
 dace as lonj,' 
 a couple of 
 time at the 
 
 one phice to 
 of the path 
 in shanty to 
 started did 
 om the phice 
 to reach her 
 missed until 
 voods twenty- 
 , that she was 
 
 11 did was to 
 the scattered 
 .een their lost 
 
 n that locality 
 
 one of the brothers saw a woman's track in the soft 
 tjfround. From the size and shape of the track, as well 
 as from some particular marks, he knew his sister had 
 been there, and she was going right away from home 
 and into the dense unbroken forest. 
 
 " Now they became very much alarmed. It was 
 evident that the lost one had got bewildered, so that 
 she did not know which way she was going. Neigh- 
 hors were few and far between, but through the ener- 
 getic efforts of the brothers, with the kindly help of 
 others, every house within a radius of ten miles was 
 visited in hopes of gaining some intelligence of the lost 
 "irl, but no tidings of her could be got. Those who know 
 anything about the fraternity of feeling that always 
 exists in new settlements, need not be toltl of the 
 excitement that ran from house to house, as the news 
 was carried by lleet-footed messengers to the people. 
 Every family was made sad, and a cloud seemed to 
 settle over ever}'' home. 
 
 " 'Go and help to lind her, William/ said the young 
 wife of the latest settler to her husband, as the sad 
 intelligence was conveyed to their shanty. 
 
 "'Why, Sarah,' said he, 'how can I go and leave 
 you here all start alone ? Beside that, if I go now I 
 could not come home to-night.' 
 
 " ' Never mind, 1 -am not afraid to stay in such a 
 case. Only think. The poor girl, already two days 
 and two nijihts in the woods alone. I would be a 
 most selfish creature if I should refuse to let you go 
 and help to find her. Old Turk will stay with me. 
 You go and stay till she is found, if it takes a week.' 
 
 21 
 
:j I (J 
 
 AM()N(i THE FOllFST THEKS. 
 
 " We need not say tluit William wont. Nor neod I 
 say that tlu; yuuniij wife .siuii)ly spoke the scjntiinents 
 of all the women in the settlement. ^ 
 
 "Over hills and throu<^di the valleys, among the 
 swamps and aloni:j the creeks, all day the hunt went 
 on, hut no trace of the missinnj woman could he fcjuiid. 
 The track in the mud, when^ she crossed the road, was 
 the only thing that gave an intimation of the direc- 
 tion she had gone. 
 
 "As night was coming on the weary and disheart- 
 ened hunters came in in groups of twos and threes 
 until the shanty from which she had gone sixty hours 
 before was surrounded by forty or tifty men. Disap- 
 pointment and sorrow was visible on every face. For 
 a while tlu; men talked among themselves in under- 
 tones. Then an elderly man addressed the company 
 as follows : 
 
 " ' My friends, this is a sad day for all of us, but we 
 must neither relinquish our efforts nor abandon hope. 
 The lost girl is somewhere, and she must be found. 
 Dead or alive we must find her. Now I have a propo- 
 sition to make, and I w^ant your opinion upon it. 
 
 " ' Some tw^elve or fourteen miles up the river there 
 is a camp of Indians. As my home is in that direc- 
 tion, I propose to start at break of day for tlie camp, 
 and, if possible, I will hring one or more of them here 
 by nine o'clock to-morrow, and see if they cannot 
 help us in the hunt.' 
 
 " The companj'' at once fell in with the arrangement. 
 By the time mentioned the man came, and with him 
 came an elderly Indian, who was called Stooping 
 
MOllK M(»Alll)IN(J-ll()l SK TALKS. 
 
 :U7 
 
 ; arrangeine 
 
 Kai;;le. Tlic track in the iiind was shown to the In- 
 dian. He got down and examined it very closely; 
 then lie rose up, and said to those around: 
 
 "'Three snns since uni was here, l»ut red man will 
 find the white squaw.' 
 
 " He looked carefully around, cxannninnf the size of 
 
 the track and the len,L,^th of the steps that could ]>e 
 
 very plainly seen in the soft unround. Then he started 
 
 slowl)^ to move in the same direction that the track 
 
 seemed to point. Three or four men went with lum ; 
 
 the rest went oft' in otlier directions to join in the 
 
 search. For a mile or more the Indian kept on 
 
 nearly a straif]jht line. Then he took a short turn, 
 
 and went on a short distance, thtm aruther turn. 
 
 Where the white num could see no trace he seemed 
 
 to follow the tj-ack with the instinct of a bloodhound. 
 
 After a while he said, ' White scjuaw much afraid. 
 
 Dark. Um couldn't see to go. Here um lay and sleep,' 
 
 he said, as he pointed to an upturned tree, hy the side 
 
 of which could be seen dim impressions on the leaves, 
 
 as if something had pressed them down. All the 
 
 afternoon the Indian kept the trail. But the track 
 
 liecame very crooked. It frecjuentlj' came around in 
 
 a circle, crossing and recrossing itself. Then short 
 
 turns and acute angles marked its course. Still he 
 
 kept on until they came to where the Indian said 
 
 another night had been spent by the lost one. This 
 
 was under the branches of a newly-fallen tree. Here 
 
 the Indian picked up some thorn-apples that had been 
 
 leff, ; and as he did so he said, ' White squaw been eat 
 
 these. Um much hungry.' 
 
318 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " Not far from this night came upon them. They 
 had with them the means of kindling a tiro. They 
 gathered a lot of dry brush and sticks, and prepared 
 for a night in the woods. They had some food with 
 them, and after partaking of some of that they 
 lay down to sleep, and it was _ not long before they 
 were lost to all earthly cares and anxieties until the 
 Hun was up next morning. 
 
 " They got up and started on th(^ trail again. Tho 
 Indian walked a few steps in advance of the others. 
 Every now and then he would speak to the men. At 
 length he stopped, and said, ' Poor white s(]uaw, no 
 gone long way from here. She much tired, and umch 
 hungry, and much afraid. She no far oti dis place.' 
 
 "They went forward a few hundred yards, and there, 
 with her back against a large tree, they found the 
 poor girl ' dead.' Cold and hunger and fright and 
 exhaustion had been too much for her powers of en- 
 durance. She had apparently been dead for several 
 hours.* 
 
 " Word was immediately sent to those who had 
 remained behind. Preparations were soon made for 
 conveying the body to the home of one of the bro- 
 thers. The next day was the funeral, and a sad and 
 touching one it was." 
 
 " That is a sad narrative," said the President. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," said two or three of the men. 
 
 " I have a shorter one, but I think it is a sadder 
 
 *This incident was related to the v/riter by an old man who was a 
 boy at the time, and who, along with hia father, assisted in the hunt 
 for the lost young woman. 
 
MORE HOARnTNfi-HOrSE TALES. 
 
 319 
 
 in. They 
 r»\ They 
 
 prepared 
 food with 
 ihat they 
 ut'ore th*!y 
 
 until the 
 
 orain 
 
 The 
 the others. 
 i men. At 
 
 squaw, no 
 ., and much 
 iis place.' 
 3, and there, 
 r found the 
 
 fright and 
 »wers of en- 
 for several 
 
 ie who had 
 )n made for 
 of the bro- 
 l a sad and 
 
 dent, 
 men. 
 is a sadder 
 
 mail who was a 
 8ted in tlu- ^uu.t 
 
 one," said Rushvalley. " Will you hear it now, or 
 wait till my turn comes a^ain ?" 
 
 " Oh, let us have it now," chimed in half a dozen at 
 at once. 
 
 " All right. I will make it as short as I can," was 
 his answer. 
 
 " In one of the back townships there lived a man 
 and his wife and two small children. They had been 
 there two or three years. Their nearest neighbors 
 lived half a mile distant, and through the woods. One 
 day, when the man was going out from dinner, his 
 wife said, ' I wish you would take the children out 
 with you, and let them stay with 3^ou till I call for 
 them. I want to go to Mrs. Raspberry's on an errand. 
 I will be back in a couple of hours.' 
 
 " ' All right ; I will take care of them, and mind 
 you don't get lost in going through the bush,' he 
 answered. 
 
 " ' I will be careful not to get off the path,' she said. 
 They little thought that these were to be the last 
 words that would ever pass between them in this 
 world. 
 
 " He went to his work and took the children with 
 him. The afternoon passed away, and tea-time came. 
 But the woman did not call for the children. The 
 man took them to the house, expecting to iind their 
 mother there. But to his surprif^e and disappointment 
 there was nothing to be seen of her about the house. 
 She had not returned. 
 
 '' Full of fearful forebodings, the man took one child 
 in his arms and the other by the hand and started to 
 
320 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 meet his wife. He hastened on until he came to the 
 house that she started to ffo to. But on askiu" 
 for his wife, he was told that she had not been there. 
 He now became <^reatly alarmed. 
 
 " It was quite clear she had missed the way. But in 
 what direction had she gone i* The path by which slie 
 was expected to go passed near the border of a large, 
 thick swamp, through which a very heavy stream ran. 
 Being more than a mile wide, and five or six miles 
 long, this swamp would be a terrible place to be lost 
 in — especially for one who was not in a state of health 
 to bear up under a heavy pressure of anxiety, or to 
 stand a great amount of fatigue, or to endure much 
 very wearisome toil. 
 
 " Mr. Sum^icrside and Mr. Raspberry at once started 
 out to hunt for the lost woman, leaving the cliildien 
 with Mrs. Raspberry. 
 
 " They went among the few neighbors who were 
 within reach. But no one had seen or heard anything 
 of the absent woman. 
 
 " Night came on, and not the slightest trace of her 
 could be f oui d. 
 
 " By torchlight and lantern light the hunt was kept 
 up until morning. But the search v/as a fruitless one. 
 
 "As the news spread out over an ever-wideniiijj 
 circle, the numbers engaged in the hunt steadily 
 increased until all the men on a territory of ten or 
 twelve miles square were scouring the woods in all 
 directions in search of the lost woman. The excite- 
 ment became intense as two days and two nights 
 passed off without a single trace of the missing one. 
 
MORE BOAKDIXG-llorsE I'ALES. 
 
 321 
 
 me to the 
 on asking 
 been there. 
 
 ly. But in 
 J which she 
 ol! a hu-f^e, 
 stream ran. 
 )r six miles 
 ce to be lost 
 bte oi health 
 ixiety, or to 
 ndure much 
 
 , once started 
 the chihlien 
 
 rs who were 
 ard anything 
 
 trace of her 
 
 lunt was kept 
 b fruitless one. 
 ■ver-widenini; 
 hunt steadily 
 ory of ten or 
 woods in all 
 The excite- 
 d two nights 
 uiiasing one. 
 
 " Every man and woman .seenietl to be in a torture 
 about their lost neiglibor. Every woman seemed to 
 be saying to herself, ' I may be the next one to be 
 lost.' Every man seemed to try to realize how he 
 would feel, if it was his wife that was in the swamp, 
 e.Kposed to the bears and wolves, or perhaps to fall 
 into the river and be drowned. No one thouirht of 
 work or business until the fate of the lost wife and 
 inother .should be known. 
 
 " On the third day, in the densest part of the swamp, 
 and some distance from her home, the lifeless body of 
 the poor woman was found leaning against a fallen 
 cedar, with the feet in a pool of water, and a dead 
 infant wrapped in part of her garments and folded in 
 her arms." '■^^ 
 
 " Well, Mr. Rush valley," said the President, " you 
 have told us two very touching stories. And if you 
 should live to tell them to your children's children 
 they will listen to you with as much attention as we 
 have to-night, for such stories never grow out of 
 date." 
 
 " That is so," said Mr. Root, " and it will be well if, 
 in the coming years, the people of this country respect 
 the memory of the toiling, suffering pioneers, and duly 
 appreciate the comfortable homes left to them by 
 those heroic men and women." 
 " I think," said Mr. Ru.shvalley, " that I have talked 
 
 * An incident of this kintl occurretl in the township of Euphrasia, 
 oouiity of (xrey, a number of years ago. The name could be given, 
 but surviving friends might not wish it. .So it is withheld, as in 
 other cases. 
 
322 
 
 AMONG THE F()J{EST TREES. 
 
 lone enoucfh for this time. Let us go to bed, or else 
 let some one else talk for awhile." 
 
 "I am for going to bed," said Dustieoat. 
 " Airreed," said two or three others. 
 " Before we adjourn," said the President, " I want 
 to say that Mr. Chipmaker is the next on tlie roll ; so 
 to-morrow evening, if all be well, we will hear from 
 him." 
 
 Next evening, as the men were sitting around a 
 good blazing fire, Little Jack Pivot called out, " Now 
 for the man that makes the chips." " Hear, hear," 
 said Dustieoat. 
 
 Mr. Chipmaker commenced by saying, " I have no 
 apologies to make, and no excuses to offer. But I wish 
 to say that my talk will be very fragmentary. I 
 shall just relate some incidents that are small in them- 
 selves, but when put together they help to give 
 variety to our entertainments. 
 
 " Not long since, in conversation with an old man, he 
 related to me an incident in his boy life, that may be 
 worth repeating. His mother was a widow. He was 
 the eldest boy. They had to go several miles to a 
 blacksmith. In those days it was necessary, in some 
 cases, to shoe the oxen as well as the horses. One 
 time John was sent to get the oxen shod. He started 
 before daylight. Most of the distance was woods. In 
 the middle of the darkest part of a thick pinery he 
 had to pass a place where a man had been killed by a 
 falling tree. 
 
 " The place was said to be haunted by the ghost of 
 the victim of the accident. John never once thought 
 
MORK BOARDING-HOUSE TALES. 
 
 323 
 
 jd, or else 
 
 b, " I want 
 
 ,1)8 roll ; so 
 
 hear from 
 
 r around a 
 out, "Now 
 [ear, hear," 
 
 " I have no 
 But I wish 
 mentary. I 
 lall in them- 
 elp to give 
 
 I old man, he 
 that may be 
 )W. He was 
 
 miles to a 
 lary, in some 
 horses. One 
 
 He started 
 ,s woods. In 
 ck pinery be 
 n killed by a 
 
 the ghost of 
 ■Dnce thought 
 
 of the haunted locality until he got within a few rods 
 
 of the spot. Then it came into his mind about the 
 
 ofhost. He became very nervous. In fact, he grot into 
 
 a perfect panic. What to do he did not know. To 
 
 turn around and go back he thought would be too 
 
 babyish. And to go forward among the weird 
 
 shadows of the pine trees that the full moon threw 
 
 out in all directions over the snow -covered ground, 
 
 seemed to him very much like walking right into a 
 
 whole regiment of the very ugliest and meanest kind 
 
 of ghosts. Finally he stopped the oxen and scrambled 
 
 up on the back of Old Buck. He said, in telling me 
 
 the incident, if you have never tried it you cannot 
 
 believe how independent a boy can feel when he is on 
 
 the broad back of a good old ox. I snapped my 
 
 fingers at the ghostly shadows, cracked my whip at 
 
 the oxen, and went on, trying to whistle to the tune 
 
 of ' See, the conquering hero comes.' " 
 
 " Very good," said the President. " What is your 
 next story to be T' 
 
 " About another boy that had trouble with a ghost. 
 But not in the same way," said Mr. Chipmaker. 
 
 " In a very new settlement there were two shanties 
 about half a mile apart. Nearly all the distance be- 
 tween them was solid bush. In going from one to the 
 other the path led through a small ravine shaded by 
 a clump of hemlock trees. In the night this was a 
 very dark place. 
 
 " One summer this ' gully ' got the name of being 
 haunted. Difterent people who had occasion to pass 
 that way after night-fall, reported that strange, 
 
824 
 
 AMONG THE FOItEST TllEKS. 
 
 unearthly sounds were to be heard right in the 
 densest of the darkness. And two or three men, who 
 mustered courage to look around, said that they had 
 seen the dim outline ot some large object, but not 
 with sufficient distinctness to say much about its size 
 or color. 
 
 " Now the boy that I am to tell about had heard 
 these reports. In fact, the neighborhood was full of 
 stories about the. haunted gully. 
 
 " On one occasion, Joe, as the lad was called, went 
 for his mother on an errand to the next neiohbor's. 
 And, as a matter of course, he had to pass the haunted 
 gully. But lie expected to return before night. No 
 one had seen or heard anything in the day time. 
 
 " Joe got with another boy, and forgot how fast the 
 sun was jjoing down. The first shades of nifjht came 
 on, and he had not, as yet, done his errand. But now 
 he made all the haste he could. But in spite of all he 
 could do, it was quite dark when he started for home. 
 He walked on with a tirm step, and whistled to keep 
 his courage up, until he got into the darkest part of 
 the gully. He heard a noise. He stopped and listened. 
 He heard a sound that seemed like a compound of 
 snarling dog and crying baby. He looked, and by the 
 root of a large tree he saw a dark object that to him 
 looked as big as a cow. 
 
 " Now, Joe was one of those boys tha* have a good 
 deal of fight in them and who are not good to .scare. 
 The temper of the boy got roused. He hunted round 
 till he found a stone the size of a goose-eirsf. Then 
 he crept as near to the object as he felt safe in doing. 
 
MORE HOARDrNG-HOUSE TALES. 
 
 325 
 
 Then poising the stone and taking the best aim he 
 could he let it lly with all his might. A perfect 
 storm of grunts and squeals told Joe that he had hit 
 the mark. And a large, black hog, that belonged to a 
 man in the settlement, ran off snorting into the woods, 
 it being a great deal more frightened than Joe was. 
 It was said that some of the men who had l)een 
 scared by tha ghost, looked a little sheepish when they 
 learned that the problem of the haunted gully had 
 been solved by a boy." 
 
 " I like stories that come out like that," said Dusti- 
 coat. 
 
 " Nine-tenths of the wonderful stories of ghosts 
 could be as easily unravelled as that, if those who see 
 or hear them could keep cool heads and steady nerves, 
 so as to investigate as determinedly as the boy did,"' 
 said Mr. Root. 
 
 " Joe miii'ht have made a mistake if it had be^n a 
 bear," put in Little Jack. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Chipmaker. " But it was not a 
 bear. It was only an overgrown hog. So Joe made 
 no mistake. It was the other people that made the 
 mistake about the ghost in the haunted gully." 
 
Chapter XXV. 
 
 MORE GLIMPSES OF BUSH LIFE. 
 
 "l^^^^T'HO is to do the talking to-niffht?" asked 
 
 Little Jack. 
 
 " Mr. Greenbush is the next name on the 
 list. But as I forgot to give him notice of the fact at 
 the proper time, I hardly think it would be fair to 
 ask him," said the President. 
 
 "What say you, Mr. Greenbush ?" 
 
 " Well, sir, so far as I am concerned it makes but 
 little difference about the notice. I am not much of a 
 talker, at best. But the little that I have to say can 
 be said one time as well as another," was his reply. 
 
 " Bravo," said Little Jack, " that is the kind of stuff 
 that orators and soldiers are made of. Ready, always 
 ready." 
 
 Mr. Greenbush commenced by saying, " I do not, by 
 any means, intend to make light of religion or religious 
 worship, in relating the following incident, which 
 occurred in one of the back townships : — 
 
 " The Methodists were having a fellowship meeting. 
 As was often the case in these meetings, religious 
 fever ran high, and many of the participants in the 
 
MORE GLIMPSES OF BUSH LIFE. 
 
 327 
 
 IFE. 
 
 ht?" asked 
 
 name on the 
 ►£ the fact at 
 Id be fair to 
 
 it makes but 
 ot much of a 
 e to say can 
 lis reply, 
 kind of stuff 
 eady, always 
 
 I do not, by 
 11 or religious 
 ident, which 
 
 jhip meeting. 
 
 igS, 
 
 pants i 
 
 religious 
 the 
 
 in 
 
 1 
 
 service became somewhat demonstrative in their 
 expressions and actions. 
 
 " After awhile there was a sort of short interval in 
 the speaking. Near the door there sat a tall, sharp- 
 featured, rawboned man with a piercing black eye, 
 and a very prominent nose. He deliberately rose to 
 his feet, commencing to speak as soon as he began to 
 get up, and at the same time he took a large quid of 
 well-chewed tobacco from his mouth, and placing it in 
 his hand started for the stove, which stood in the 
 middle of the room. He spoke with some difficulty 
 until he emptied his hand and his mouth into the fire. 
 Then he said with emphasis, ' Brethering and sisters, I 
 am glad to tell you what has been done for poor 
 unworthy me. When the Lord saved me, there was 
 no patchwork about it, glory be to His holy name. 
 
 " ' I used to lie, and swear and cheat, and get drunk 
 and fight. My, how I would fight. I wouldn't steal, 
 for I thought that was mean. I wouldn't backbite 
 my neighbors, for I thought that was cowardly. But 
 I would do almost anything else that was bad. But 
 the Lord took me in hand. He turned me upside 
 down and inside out. He converted me all through 
 and through. Now, you can take my word and you 
 can trust me. Now, a child can lead me. Now, I do 
 not swear nor get drunk. Yes, bless the Lord, I am 
 converted and I know it.' 
 
 " The man went back to his seat, while ' Amen, bless 
 the Lord,' could be heard in several places. 
 
 " I thought to myself that it was a pity that his 
 mouth was not converted too, so that it would not 
 
828 
 
 AMONC THE FOllKST TREKS. 
 
 hold sucli a pond of tobacco juice for Ids tongue to 
 swim in." 
 
 " No doubt but tlie man was sincere," said tlie 
 President, " but as the lin'ht that sldnes on the patli of 
 (hitv increases, it is likely tlie jiood brother will see 
 the propriety of letting the tobacco go along with the 
 lying, and the swearing, and the whiskey <lriidving, 
 and the fighting. The path of the just shines brighter 
 and brighter unto the ])erfect day." 
 
 " My next story will be about a strange time-pieco, 
 or rather a novel way of keeping account of the days 
 of the week. 
 
 " A Inan went some miles into the woods and com- 
 menced life alone. He put up his shanty and l)egan 
 to clear off' his land. Having no one to talk with, his 
 time passed without much change in the mode of 
 spending it. What he did one day he did the next, 
 so that the exercise of each day was only a repetition 
 of the one that went before it. Beinff his own cook, 
 and having a good supply of provisions on hand, he 
 had but little intercourse with the outside world. He 
 had been some time in the bush. He thought one 
 day that he would go out to the settlement and see 
 how thinijfs were goinrj on in the neighborhood. He 
 thought it was Sunday ; but when he came out to the 
 house of his nearest neisfhbour, he found them at work 
 as on ordinary days. He was surprised at this. He 
 went into the field and asked the man if he and his 
 family did not keep the Sabbath. ' Yes, to be sure 
 we do,' said he, ' but this is Monday.' 
 
 " ' You don't mean that, do you ? ' said the other. 
 
MOIIK (iT.lMl'SKS OF JJUSll LIKE. 
 
 329 
 
 " ' Yes, of course, I mean it. Yesterday was the 
 Sabbatli.' 
 
 "' Well, if I have not made a j^reat mistake, you may 
 cull me a J)utchinan,' said he. ' Here I have been 
 working all day yesterday, sujiposinff that it was Sat- 
 urday. And I have been tloing tlu' same for at least 
 three Sabbaths. J liavc lost track of the week. But 
 it won't be so anv more, I will see to that.' 
 
 " The man went away to a ston; and bon<j;ht seven 
 plates of different sizes. He took them home, and 
 named them for the seven days of the week. The 
 largest one he called Sunday, the next largest he called 
 Monday, and so on down to the smallest one, which he 
 called Saturday. He put them in a pile. He would 
 use one plate each day, and next day he would take 
 another. When he got to the little one he knew that 
 it was Saturday. Then he would take the large one 
 next day, wdiieh he knew was Sunday. In this simj)le 
 way he could always tell the day of the week, and he 
 no more worked on Sunday." 
 
 Mr. Greenbush continued, " If I was going to give a 
 name to my next little story, I should call it, 'A Big 
 Scare in a Berry Patch.' It was like this: A man 
 started one day to go to a neighbor's house some two 
 miles from his home. In going he passed a very hirge 
 patch of black thimbleberries. It was at the time 
 when these were ripe. The bushes were bending under 
 their load of tempting fruit. Mr. Toothsome went into 
 the field to help himself. The bushes were tall and 
 close toorether. Mr. Toothsome had not been there 
 long before lie heard a rustling among the briars. He 
 
330 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 concluded that he was not the only berry-picker in the 
 field. Being curious to know who or what was there, 
 he pushed his way through the thick bushes toward 
 the noise. Presently he found himself face to face 
 with a large black bear. For one or two minutes they 
 eyed each other closely, both being surprised at the 
 unexpected meeting. Then the bear raised himself 
 up on his hind feet and prepared to give his inter- 
 viewer the usual bearish hug. 
 
 " Mr. Toothsome was not just ready to have his 
 bones crushed in so rough a mill as a bear's mouth. 
 He turned and ran with the fleetness of a race-horse. 
 The bear, being unwilling to be cheated out of a 
 wrestle, and not unwilling to try a race, he started in 
 pursuit as fast as his four black footlifters could carry 
 him. Mr. Toothsome headed towards the neighbor's 
 house, to which he had started to go. For a mile or 
 more the race kept on, until the loud barking of a 
 dog told bruin that he was coming dangerously near 
 to where another bear had got into serious trouble 
 through taking too much liberty with the pigs. He 
 seemed to think that life, to him, was worth more 
 than a dinner, and he turned and ran in another direc- 
 tion. Mr. Toothsome got his friend to load his gun 
 and go with him on his homeward trip. In the soft 
 ground they could see the track of the man and the 
 bear. Each of them had covered more than his length 
 at every jump. When asked why he did not climb a 
 tree, he answered, ' The old robber was so close upon 
 me that I had no time to do so.' " 
 
MORE OI.T.MPSKS OF HHSH LIFE. 
 
 381 
 
 " That reminds mo," said the Pre.siilent, " of a young 
 man that was cliased by wolves." 
 
 "Tell us about it," said Mr. Greonbush, " and while 
 you are doin;^ so I will try ami think of some other 
 incident of life in the backwoods." 
 
 " Well," said the President, " it was ctistomarv tlien. 
 as it is now, and I suppose will always be, "or young 
 men sometimes to go courting. Not that tliey went 
 where lawyers talk, and juries get befogged, and judges 
 ({ive doubtful decisions. Young men can learn mis- 
 clii'.'f fast enough without visiting such places. But, 
 in plain English, they went to see the girls. 
 
 " Well, the young man of whom I speak had spent 
 a part of the night with a sweetheart. Some time 
 (lurinrj the ' wee sma Jiouo'S ' that the Scotchmen talk 
 about, he concluded to start for home. 
 
 ' But a question now presented itself to his mind. 
 To go by the road would be about six miles, but to go 
 across lots he was within one and one-half miles of 
 home. Part of the way was clearing, and the rest of 
 the way was thick hemlock woods. But there was 
 a footpath through the bush. The full moon was 
 shining very brightly, and out in the clearing it was 
 almost as light as day. The 3'oung man decided to 
 go the nearest way. 
 
 " When he got to the woods he found it darker 
 than he had expected to find it. In the middle of the 
 woods he had to cross a large beaver-meadow. 
 
 " When he got nearly over that he heard a rustling 
 iu the tall grass. On looking around, he saw four or 
 five wolves within a dozen yards of' where he stood, 
 
 .70 
 
?,n2 
 
 AM()\(i TMK FOHKST 'IFIKKS. 
 
 To take in tlie situation was luit tlio work of a Tnoniont. 
 It was to bu a race for lifo. But liow many clianons 
 to lose in tlic race, A sprain of tlio ankle, a stiiU of 
 tile toe, or a hrusli to strike liini in the eye, would lie 
 a very serious atfaii- in a rice like tliis. Pjut there 
 was no time to speculate as to tlie chance of failure. 
 Prompu action was tlie only thinj^ that eould meet th(> 
 case. 
 
 " He started for the clearinj^'s at a rate of s])ee(i 
 that would tlo credit to a trottinij-horse. The wolves 
 were willing to try tlieir speed and join in the race. 
 They were three or four rods behind at the start, but 
 slowly and steadily they lessened the distance. On and 
 on the young man w^ent, feeling that every bound 
 strengthened hi.s cause, and gave increasing hope of 
 reaching home uneaten by the ferocious pack that 
 thirsted for his blood. 
 
 " Presently he glanced his eye to the right. There 
 he saw a wolf, among the streaks of moonlight, within 
 thirty feet of him. He looked to the left, and there 
 he saw another, about the same distance from him. 
 Now, it was evident that the wolves were closing in 
 around him. He felt that a very short time would 
 decide whether or not he was to become wolf-meat. 
 
 *■ A few rods more and he would be to the fence. 
 But could he get to it and get over it before the 
 brutes would have hold of him? Just then it occurred 
 to him that two large dogs were within call. He 
 called loudly for the dogs, as he ran. They heard him, 
 and responded to his call by coming with all speed to 
 Uie rescue. 
 
MORK (SMMPSKS OF lU'SH MFE. 
 
 a.-^.s 
 
 X moinont. 
 V chancos 
 
 a stn\> nf 
 would lit' 
 lint tluMc 
 of failure. 
 (I meet tin- 
 
 ■e of s])oe(l 
 rh(» wolves 
 n the race, 
 [e start, but 
 ce. On and 
 very hound 
 ing hope of 
 5 pack that 
 
 trht. There 
 ght, within 
 , and there 
 e from him. 
 e closing in 
 time would 
 volf-meat. 
 to the fence, 
 t before tlip 
 n it occurred 
 in call. He 
 sy heard him, 
 all speed to 
 
 " He came to tlio fence at last, and, ])lacing his liand 
 on the top rail, he houndcMl over jiisf, as a wolf was on 
 ciich sido of liiin, and anotlier Ixdiind 1dm, and onlv a 
 
 4' 
 
 fi'W feet from him. 
 
 "The dogs l)arked tlirough ilu; fenc; at tlie wolves, 
 l)Ut tliey wore not willing to go in among them. The 
 wolves gave a howl of disappointment and ran ofl' 
 into the forest; and tlie young man concluded tliat in 
 future, so far as tliat road was concerned, lie woidd 
 act in harmony witli the old saying, that ' 'I'he farthest 
 way round is the surest way home.' " 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. President, for that interesting 
 story. It has given me time to think," said Mr. 
 Groenbu.sh, " and it is a hetter one than I could tell. 
 
 "I will tell now of a woman who killed a wihl-cat 
 with a water-pail. 
 
 "One of the families in a new settlement had a lot 
 of hens that roosted up in the loft of tlie barn. Some- 
 thinix, n-t length, bejjan to steal the hens from their 
 perch at night. For some time this went on, until 
 more than half the flock had disajipeared. No one 
 ever jjot sijxht of the thief. Whether it was owd or 
 hawk, or something else, no one c luld tell. At differ- 
 ent times the owner of the barn had got up in the 
 ninrht and gone out, when he thou<xht that he heard a 
 noise among the chickens; but he could not find any- 
 thing. 
 
 " One day the mistress of the house took a large 
 wooden pail and went to a spring, some little distance 
 from the house, to get some water. She was followed 
 hy a medium-sized dog — a mixture of hull-dog and 
 
 
 1% 
 
334 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 Scotch terrier — a mixture of canine nature tlint is 
 very hard to scare, and not easy to conquer. 
 
 " As the woman was i^oing along .she .saw, lying in 
 the path before her, what she at first took to bu a 
 wolf. But on further inspection she concluded that it 
 was not larue enuuuh for a wolf. But she had but 
 little time to speculate as to what it was that was 
 intercepting her way. 
 
 " The do,' had got his eye on it, and determined to 
 test the fighting qualities of the stranger. In a 
 moment the two were in a life or death struggle. Tlie 
 woman watched them for a moment. She soon saw 
 that with all his pluck and activity, her dog was 
 getting the worst of it. He evidently had got more 
 than his match. She resolved to become a participant 
 in the contest. She had in her hand a heavy wooden 
 pail, with an iron hoop around the bottom of it, such 
 as coopers used to make. With this for a weapon, 
 she went to the rescue of her dog. Swinging the pail 
 above her head, she brought it down with all force 
 upon the head of the wil<l-cat. With the blow she 
 broke in his skull, and left him dead upon the groun<.h 
 The dog was badly scratched up. The cat was a very 
 biii one — enoui^h to whip almost anv doi;. But there 
 was no more hen-stealing after the woman killed the 
 big wild-cat with a water-pail. 
 
 "Now, Mr. President, I think tint I have done my 
 share for to-ni^dlt," .said Greenbush. 
 
 " Who comes next on the list ?" inquired Little Jack. 
 
 " Mr. Hoot comes next, and is the hist one on the 
 roll," said the President. 
 
MOHE (JLIMPSES OF MUSH F.IFK. 
 
 335 
 
 ger. 
 
 re that is 
 
 ', iyi"g >" 
 
 )k to 1)0 a 
 Jed that it 
 le had Vmt 
 s that was 
 
 .erniined to 
 In a 
 
 riie 
 [le soon saw 
 er dog was 
 id got more 
 I participant 
 ;avy wooden 
 ,1 of it, such 
 a weapon, 
 inff the pail 
 th all force 
 le blow she 
 the ground- 
 t was a very 
 But there 
 .n killed the 
 
 bve done my 
 
 1 Little Jack, 
 one on the 
 
 " Mr. Root will he on hand to-morrow night, if all 
 be well." 
 
 Next evening, after the supper table was set away, 
 the men gathered around the tire to listen to what 
 " Boss Root," as tlR\y called him, had to say. 
 
 Mr. Root commenced by savin'j; : 'You all know 
 that I have not always lived in Canada. But I was 
 in Canada at one time when I would have been glad 
 to be out of it ; and when the tiuie came for uie to 
 leave it, I soon made tracks for home. 1 refer now to 
 the tiiue of the war. At the battle of Lundy's Lane 
 I witnessed an exhibition (f pluck that lifted the 
 Canadian militia to a high place in my estimation. 
 
 "I was in a regiment of Auiericans, who were com- 
 manded by Colonel Scott (now General Scott). 
 
 " As we came around a small rise of ground, we 
 came upon a company of (Canadians that seemed to 
 be cut off from the rest of the Canadian forces. They 
 were huddled together as if they were con.sulting 
 what to do. Colonel Scott called to them to surrender. 
 The answer that came from tliem was a .short, em- 
 phatic ' Nflvcr !' Then the colonel asked for an otticer 
 to step forward for a parle5^ 'i'hey said, ' We have no 
 officers left.' 
 
 " ' Where are vour officers ?' inquired Colonel Scott. 
 
 "'They are among the killed, wounded, and mass- 
 ing,' said the men. 
 
 '" Well,' said the colonel, 'you see you are not half 
 as numerous as we are, and you are without officers. 
 Don't you think it would be better to surrender than 
 to be .shot like doffs ?' 
 
330 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 " ' We won't surrender, and we won't be shot like 
 dogs,' they answered. 
 
 "' Wliat are you goin^ to do, then ;*' inquired the 
 colonel* 
 
 "'We are <:oins>' to do what we have been doin<>- — 
 tight tlie Yankees,' was their reply. 
 
 "Colonel Scott turned to some of his orficers to ask 
 for advice. Just then we saw a lot of British red-coats 
 coming in (luick tiuie on our flank. We had enough to 
 do to take care of ourselves then. I don't know what 
 became of the men that had no officers, or whether 
 they did any more fighting or not that day. 
 
 " But the conclusion that we all came to was this, It 
 is going to be hard work to conquer such men as thtse, 
 And we did not contjuer them very much," said Mr, 
 Root, with characteristic honesty. 
 
 " Well, that story is well told, if it is by an Ameri- 
 can," said the President. " But you know the Ameri- 
 cans, as a rule, are brave men, and such can appreciate 
 bravery, even though it be found in an enemy." 
 
 "That is true," said Dusticoat, "there are no braver 
 men in the world than Hinorlismen. And there is no 
 country in the world where bravery is more honored 
 than it is in Hingland." 
 
 " You mean Hingland without the htdtch, don't you 
 Mr. Dusty ?" said Little Jack. 
 
 " Look 'ee here," said Dusticoat, testily, " if 'ee was 
 as big as I am 'ee would get some of the himpudeiice 
 shaken out on 'im. ' 
 
 * A number of yeara ago an old man who had been in the Ameri- 
 can army during the war, and was in the battle of Lundy'a Lana, 
 related this incident to the writer. He was in .Scott'a regiment. 
 
MORK GLIMI'SKS OF UUSH LIFE. 
 
 3137 
 
 )e shot like 
 
 TK|uireil the 
 
 )ecn doing— 
 
 Hcers to ask 
 ;ish red-coats 
 lad enougii to 
 t know what 
 s, or whether 
 
 ay. 
 
 :o was this, It 
 men as thtse. 
 ich," said Mr. 
 
 y an Ameri- 
 )W the Ameri- 
 an appreciate 
 
 nemy." 
 are no braver 
 nd there is no 
 more honored 
 
 iteli, don't you 
 
 ly, " it' 'ee Nva^i 
 le himpudence 
 
 )eeu iu the Auieri 
 of Lundy'9 Lane, 
 jott'a i-egiineut. 
 
 " Never mind, he is more funny than impudent," 
 said the President. " Now for a stoiy from Mr. Root." 
 
 " I will tell of a sad alfair that took place during the 
 war, and in which a man was killed, and his young 
 wife made a widow. 
 
 " A young farmer, who was a Mennonito, and hence 
 a non-combatant, was JivinLT witli his wife on a farm 
 
 CD 
 
 along one of the most public roads in the country. 
 One day he left his home to go and carry a part of a 
 pig to his sister, who lived a dozen miles from his 
 place. He was on a very iine horse, and one that was 
 ([uick and active. 
 
 " He went on all right for a number of nules. Then 
 he was met by a company of Indians. They were of 
 the Canadian Indians, and were under arms under the 
 British. They were only half-civilized, and they made 
 but little difference between friends and foe?, so far 
 as robbery and plunder were concerned. 
 
 " They stopped him and took hold of his horse. 
 Then they tried to take the meat from him. To this 
 he objected, and held on to the article with a deter- 
 mined grasp. The Indians kept him thus for some 
 time. A woman, standing in the door of her liousci 
 saw the whole transaction. 
 
 " Knowing the man, she called to him iu the Ger- 
 man tongue, which he understood, and advised hiin to 
 let them have the meat. 
 
 " But he still refused to do so.* 
 
 * This occurrence took place along the road leailinj{ from Hamil- 
 ton to (Jrimsby, near where Winona Station now ia. The man lived 
 near the place now called Jordan. Hia name was Overholt, His 
 wife was a sister to the writer's fatlier. His daughter is Mrs. Samuel 
 Bricker,,of Port Klgin, Ont. 
 
338 
 
 AMONG THE FOHKST TREES. 
 
 " After a while they seemed to give up. They let go 
 of the horse and stepped back. They talked a little 
 in their own language. He could not understand them. 
 Then the head Indian motioned to the man to go on. 
 He put spurs to his horse and it bounded away with 
 all its might. But he had not gone more than half-a- 
 dozen jumps when eleven bullets brought the retreat- 
 in<; horseman dead to the jrround. 
 
 " The Indians took not only the meat, but the horse 
 also. They went away, and left their victim lying in 
 the road where he had fallen." 
 
 "These Indians were dangerous customers at any- 
 time," said the President; " but in the war-time they 
 paid but little regard to the rights of property or tlie 
 value of life." 
 
 " Is it not a very wrong thing for Christian nations 
 to employ such savages in civilized warfare ?" asked 
 one of the men. 
 
 " It seems like it," said the President. " But we 
 must not forget that there is no Ciiristianity in war. 
 That can originate only in the savage part of man's 
 nature. These Indians being in a state of savagery, 
 war is almost their normal condition. And the 
 difference between killing men on the battle-tield or 
 killing them off the battle-field is so small that the eye 
 of Christianity can't detect it, and the Gospel never 
 describes it." 
 
?liey let gto 
 ed a little 
 tand thein. 
 L to go on. 
 away with 
 han halt'-a- 
 tbe rt'treat- 
 
 CHAJ-Tb:K XXVI. 
 
 it the horse 
 ,iin lying in 
 
 lers at any- 
 ir-tinie they 
 perty or the 
 
 ttian nations 
 are?" asked 
 
 " But Nve 
 nity in war. 
 irt of man's 
 f savagery, 
 And the 
 ttle-tield or 
 that the eye 
 iospel never 
 
 THE MILLS COMPLETED 
 
 N the tir.st day of May the Hr.st gri.st was 
 ground alrthe Riverbend Mills. This was an 
 event of considerable importance in the settle- 
 ment. As a matter of course, there would be some 
 questioning as to whose grist should be ground first. 
 
 By common consent it was decided that the first 
 grinding ought to be done for John Bushman. He 
 was the first man in the settlement. He cleared the 
 first land, built the first hou.se, brought in the first 
 woman, and his was the fir>t baVjy. He brought in 
 the first sheep and cattle and pigs and poultry. 
 
 On the morning of the appointed day John Bush- 
 man brought several bags of good, clean wheat to the 
 mil) Everybody was on the tiptoe of expectation to 
 know how the thing was going to work. Root and 
 Millwood, the owners, were anxious to know whether 
 or not their enterprise was going to be a success. The 
 carpenter was anxious to know if the frame was shaky 
 or not. The millwrijjht wanted to find out if the 
 machinery was going to behave itself in a becoming 
 manner. The people would like to know if the River- 
 
340 
 
 AMC)N(} THE FOHKST TUEES. 
 
 bend Mill was going to give them good flour. Dusti- 
 coat, the miller, was ready and anxious to tost the 
 grinding and bolting (jualities of the new mill. Ho 
 was here and there, and everywhere, as nearly at the 
 same time as it was possible for a short-limbed, short- 
 breathed and heavy-bodied man to be. His only 
 trouble seemed to be one of a national character. 
 
 He said, " If I honly 'ad some good Hinglish boltin' 
 cloth, I've no hexpectation but I could turn hout as 
 good a sample of flour as hanybody would want to 
 see. 
 
 But with what he had on hand he hustled up, and 
 after an hour or two of waiting, the spectators had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the great under-shot water- 
 wheel begin to move, and to hear the clatter of 
 machinery and the hum of the mill-stones, as faster 
 and faster went the wheel and ([uicker and ([uicker 
 whirled the stones. When the broken wheat began 
 to run down the short pipe leading into the bolting 
 chamber, anci then, as the tine white flour began to 
 dust ch rough the bolting cloth into the flour box, the 
 enthusiasm of the crowd grew boisterous, and they 
 swung their hats and hurrahed until the woods were 
 made to echo for a mile around. 
 
 The v/ork done by the new mill was entirely 
 satisfactory to all concerned. They said one to 
 another, as they saw the flour piling up in the box, 
 " No more twenty miles of wearisome travel to get a 
 bag of wheat ground. We have a mill of our own 
 now ; it will seem more like living within the bounds 
 of civilization." Every one was pleased with the way 
 
THE MILLS COMPLETED. 
 
 341 
 
 lur. Diisti- 
 to tost the 
 f mill. Ho 
 Mirly at the 
 nbud, shoit- 
 His (Uily 
 racter. 
 lo-lish boltin' 
 urn iiout as 
 uhl want to 
 
 stled up, and 
 itora had the 
 -shot water- 
 le clatter of 
 les, as faster 
 
 and ( quicker 
 wheat be^^an 
 the bolthig 
 )ur bej^au to 
 
 our box, the 
 us, and they 
 e woods were 
 
 was entirely 
 said one to 
 p in the box, 
 avel to get a 
 1 of our own 
 ,n the bounds 
 with the way 
 
 the mil), under the effective management of Mr. 
 Dusticoat, did its work. 
 
 Tliree years had now passed since John Bushman 
 struck the first blow toward clearing away the forest 
 trees. But, short as the time was, a great deal had 
 been done in the way of settlement. There were but 
 few vacant lots in a radius of five or six miles- 
 Nearly every lot had some sort of a residence on it, 
 owned by an actual or prospective settler. The people 
 were industrious and energetic. The soil was pro- 
 ductive, and their crops were generally good. It is 
 true that the roads were not of much account, 
 excepting the ones opened out by the Government ; 
 but this was looked upon as only a temporary 
 inconvenience. 
 
 Up to this time there had been no religious teacher 
 among the settlers, except themselves. Regularly the 
 Sabbath services had been kept up in John Bushman's 
 house. Bushman and Mr. Woodbine and Moses Moose- 
 wood had mostly been the leaders in the movement. 
 And while these unpretending Christian men had 
 been liumbly trying to encourage others in the right 
 way, they had been steadily growing stronger and 
 better themselves, as is always the case in matters 
 of religious duty. The more they did the more they 
 could do. They became very successful leaders of the 
 people's devotion. 
 
 About a month after the completion of the mills, a 
 Methodist minister made his advent into the settle- 
 ment. He had been told out at Mapleton of the 
 settlement at Riverbend, and he came in on foot to 
 
342 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 make the place a visit. He came to inquire into the 
 religious condition of the people, and preach to them 
 if they wished it. 
 
 His first call was at Mr. Woodbine's. That i^entle- 
 man stronorly advised him to come in and take up an 
 appointment in the place. He went with the Rev. 
 Mr. Goodhope to see John Bushman, and to get his 
 opinion about the preaching appointment. Bu.shman 
 and the minister were drawn to each other at onci'. 
 They were congenial spirits, and from the start they 
 became fast friends. It was arranged for Mr. Good- 
 hope to make his home at Bushman's, and to visit 
 around among the people until the Sabbath, and then 
 preach to them. When the word went through the 
 settlement that there was to be preaching on the 
 Sabbath, it caused quite a flutter, and elicited con- 
 siderable comment as to what kind of a congregation 
 the man would have to start with. 
 
 When Sabbath morning came the people began at 
 an early hour to come from the east and west and 
 north and south. By ten o'clock the house was filled, 
 mostly with women and children, while scores of men 
 stood in the yard outside. It was quite clear that 
 the house was far too small to accommodate the 
 crowd that had gathered to hear the first sermon 
 ever preached in the four townships that at River- 
 bend joined corners. 
 
 After consultation, it was decided to arrange some 
 seats in the grove on the border of Sylvan Lake. 
 This was not hard to do, for Bushman had a lot of 
 planks and square timber near by. Twenty-fiv^> or 
 
THE MILLS COMPLETED. 
 
 343 
 
 3 into the 
 h to thcn\ 
 
 lat i^entle- 
 ,ake up an 
 I the Rev. 
 to get his 
 Bushman 
 ler at once, 
 start they 
 • Mr. Good- 
 md to visit 
 ih, and then 
 through the 
 ling on the 
 elicited con- 
 :on2re£'ation 
 
 )le began at 
 id west and 
 se was tilled, 
 jores of men 
 ,e clear that 
 imodate the 
 first sermon 
 at at River- 
 
 ,rrange some 
 iylvan Lake. 
 had a lot of 
 srenty-fiv'i or 
 
 thirty active, energetic and willing men were only a 
 short time in arranging seats for all the people. An 
 impromptu pulpit was provided by running John's 
 ox-sled near the edge of the lake, where the speaker 
 could face the audience who were sittinjr on the 
 ascending slope of ground that arose from the lake. 
 
 The preacher was visibl}- afiected as he stood before 
 that company of hardy, honest men and women, who 
 had not heard a gospel sermon since they left their 
 homes in the older settlements, and came to the 
 wilderness, to share the hardships and privations of 
 pioneers. 
 
 Mr. Goodhope commenced the service by giving out 
 the hymn which begins with — 
 
 "Jesus the naino high over all 
 111 liell or earth or sky, 
 Angels and men before it fall 
 And devils fear and tiy." 
 
 According to the cust )m of the times, the preacher 
 read the hymn over first. Then he read two lines at 
 a time, and when these were sung he read two lines 
 more, and so on to the end. This method of reading 
 and singing made it sometimes difficult to keep the 
 tune, but it helped the people who had no books to 
 remember the words. But every one got accustomed 
 to it, and perhaps there wen^ not any more break- 
 downs in the singing than thore are now. liut that 
 system would not match in with modern choir 
 performances. 
 
 After singing and prayer the preacher held up 
 before the people a small Bible, and, pointing with 
 
344 
 
 AMONO THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 his finpfer to the lake behind him, said: "The cool, 
 oloar and beautiful water that sparkles and f^listens 
 on the smooth surface of Sylvan Lake is not so pure 
 and so refreshinj^ as is the blessed Gospel that I find 
 in this book. The honey that the busy bee is gather- 
 inir this niorninn: from the June flowers is not so 
 sweet to the taste as the blessed influences of the 
 Gospel is to the hungering and thirsting soul." Then 
 lifting his eyes upward, he said, " The bright sun- 
 beams that dart through the interstices of the leafy 
 canopy spread over us, and falling, like drops of 
 melted gold, on the leafy carpet spread out under our 
 feet, are not so bright as are the rays of truth that 
 beam into the mind and heart of man from the teach- 
 ings of this book." 
 
 "Now," said the preacher, "listen to the text: 
 ' Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
 and I will give you rest.' 
 
 "Listen: When man turned his back upon his God, 
 and sinned his way out of Eden, God wrote one word 
 in flaming characters across the vaulted sky, so that 
 the universe might read, and all might know, that 
 undying love still yearned over His wandering, way- 
 ward child. That jrd was Come ! That word has 
 come floating down the centuries. It has been heard 
 in the crashing of the thunderstorm, and it has been 
 heard in the gentle summer evening breeze. In accents 
 sweeter than a mother's lullaby, it has fallen upon the 
 ear and echoed in the heart of the sailor, as his 
 trembling boat has been tossed like a plaything upon 
 the foamy crest of the billows of the deep. That 
 
TFTE MII-LS f'OMPl.KTKD. 
 
 34') 
 
 word has fallen like a lioavonly benediction u{)on the 
 worn-out and .starvinnf traveller, as ho ]ai<l himself 
 flown to die alone on the i)nrnin<^ sands of an African 
 desert, or gavM! himself up to the cruel teeth (jf the 
 monsters of the iuncrles in India. 
 
 "When God (jave to the world a revelation of His 
 will, the invitation, in some form or other, was placed 
 in every book and on almost every page. And when 
 the last book has been almost finished, lest some one 
 somewhere woidd never hear the invitation, He seemed 
 to recapitulate and focalize all that had been said 
 before, and in one grand invitation, made just as the 
 l)Ook was closed, the all-loving Father calls in this 
 wise : ' The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let 
 liim that is athirst come. And let him that heareth 
 say. Come. And whosoever will, let him come.'" After 
 a powerful and affectionate appeal to all to come to 
 Jesus and find rest, the preacher closed the sermon. 
 Then he gave an opportunity for any one to speak if 
 they wished to do so. Some half-a-dozen spoke ; some 
 of them were clear in their religious experience, others 
 were hopeful and determined to press on to higher 
 states of grace. 
 
 Harry Hawthorn and his wife were among the 
 most earnest listeners that morning. A cloud had 
 \mn^ over their domestic life for some month.s. Their 
 hearts had been strangers to gladness since the day 
 that their two children were crushed to death. 
 
 That morning, as they listened to the invitation to 
 come with their burdens and their sorrow -to come 
 with all their cares and anxieties, — to come with all 
 
340 
 
 AMONG THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 their wants and woes, ami cast all upon Jesus, they 
 responded to the call by simply trustinj^ in His Word, 
 and their weary hearts found rest. 
 
 They went home from that service, hand in hand, 
 with buoyant steps and j^laddeiK'd liearts. h^verythin^r 
 seemed changed. lAUt wc«'e a ditlerent aspect. I'Ik; 
 future, which looked dark and (gloomy before, looked 
 bright and cheerful now. Tht'y felt that now they 
 could face life's trials, and endure its hardships, as 
 they had never done before. And as the years rolled 
 on, there were no more earnest and devoted Christians 
 than Harry and Biddy Hawthorn, in the Sylvan Lake 
 
 congregation. 
 
 One thing was made apparent l)y the events of that 
 Sabbath service. John Bushman's house had become 
 too small to accommodate the settlement for a place 
 of worship, when a general rally was made. Some- 
 thing would have to be done, or the reli<jious interest 
 of the neighl)orhood would not be promoted in pro- 
 portion to its progress in other deparLments. 
 
 Before dismissing the congregation, Mr. Goodhope 
 asked the people whether or no they wanted him to 
 give them regular fortnightly preaching, saying that 
 if they did he could arrange to do so. 
 
 The first one to speak was Harry Hawthorn. He got 
 up, and with tears in his eyes, he said, " Indade we 
 do, sur. Your words this morning have fallen loiko 
 the gintle dews of Heaven upon me heart, and upon 
 me poor wife's heart, and, 1 belave, upon everybody's 
 heart. Yes, sur, we wants yez till come again, and 
 till kape on coming." 
 
THK MII.I.S COMI'I-KIKI). 
 
 ;J47 
 
 lesus, tbey 
 His Wonl, 
 
 ,1 ill han<l, 
 Kverythin^r 
 <pect. Tlu- 
 l"ore, looked 
 t now they 
 ardsliip^, as 
 
 years 
 
 rolled 
 
 d Christians 
 Sylvan Lake 
 
 vents of that 
 > had become 
 for a place 
 atle. Some- 
 ious interest 
 )ted in pro- 
 its. 
 r. Goodhope 
 
 anted him to 
 , saying that 
 
 lorn. He got 
 " Indade we 
 e fallen loike 
 art, and upon 
 11 everybody's 
 ne again, and 
 
 His words, spoken in such carnestnoss, seemed to 
 stir the whole audience. And when Mi-. Millwood 
 asked an expression of sentiment by a show of hands, 
 everybody's hand went up. A more unainmons vote 
 
 was never given. 
 
 A meeting was called for consultation, to be held in 
 the boarding-house at the mill, on 'I'uesday, at one 
 o'clock p.m. 
 
 Mr. Root now arose to his feet, and said to the 
 minister, " I always want a fair understanding at the 
 start. I and others would be pleased to know about 
 what amount you would expect us to pay you for 
 preaching for us once in two weeks ?" 
 
 " In answer to the question," >aid tlie preacher, " I 
 wish to say my terms are these : When I come to visit 
 you, treat me kindly ; when I preach, come to hear 
 me; seek the Lord, and help me what you can finan- 
 cially. I set no priae on my services. Always bear 
 in mind that I seek not to get your money, but I 
 want to help you to save your souls." 
 
 " On those terms," said Mr. Root, " come on, and we 
 will do the best we can for you, while you do what 
 you can for us," To this they all assented, and the 
 matter was settled in that way. 
 
 When Tuesday came, a considerable portion oli the 
 men came together. This was the first pul)lic meeting 
 for business ever held in the place. The meeting was 
 organized by the appointment of John Bushman as 
 chairman, and Mr, Woodbine as secretary. 
 
 After due discussion, it was resolved to put up a 
 moderate-sized building, that would serve the double 
 23 
 
348 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES, 
 
 purpose of school-house and church — since the in- 
 creasinsf number of growing children would make 
 a school-house a necessity in the near future. 
 
 The next question to decide was, "Shall the house 
 be built of 1ol;s, or shall it be a frame?" On this 
 there seemed to be but one opinion. If they were 
 able to do it, let it bo frame by all means. Men never 
 know what they can do till they try. And it is hard 
 to stick a lot of active, energetic men, when they are 
 thrown upon their ingenuity and their n^3ttle. 
 
 After careful inquii-y it was found that a suitable 
 frame building could be put up without any outlay of 
 money, except what would buy the nails and glass, 
 and trimmings for the door. They were to make a 
 bee and cut and haul logs to the mill, and Root and 
 Millwood would saw the lumber. Old Mr. Cr.iut- 
 maker ottered to kiln-dry the board.s. William Briars 
 and Moses Moosewood agreed to make the shingles. 
 Everybody was ready and willing to do liis part. 
 John Bushman was appointed to oversee the whole 
 job. The lime was burned on a big log-heap in 
 Harry Hawthorn's fallow. Everything went on 
 smoothly, so mucli so that by the time the autumn 
 leaves bt'gan to fall the house was ready for use ; and 
 in the years that succeeded each other the benefits 
 of that early effort by the first settlers at Sylvan 
 Lake were fell, and the influence that went from that 
 little humble house of worship is still felt, and many 
 of the children of those pioneers remember with 
 grateful and reverential feelings the little frame 
 building at the four corners where they leceived the 
 
f: 
 
 THE MILLS COMPLETED. 
 
 349 
 
 first lessons in f^ocular learning, and where the first 
 relio^ious impressions were made on their younii" minds. 
 
 When the meeting-house was completed, and regular 
 Sabbath services established, the next question that 
 was brought forward by the leading spirits of the 
 community was in connection with the securini*' of a 
 post-ofl[ice. To go some twenty miles to mail a letter, 
 or to get one, was too much of a burden to be longer 
 borne if a remedy could be secured. A ))etition was 
 circulated asking for a post-ofiice to be established, 
 and that it be called " lliverbend Post-Otlice," and also 
 that it be located at the mills, and Mr. Root to be the 
 postmaster. Three months after the agitation started 
 the post-ofiice was an accomplished fact, and the 
 people felt the benefit of it at once. 
 
 Shortly after the establishment of the pust-otfice 
 there came to the mill one da}' a stranger. He 
 introduced him.self to Messrs. Root and Millwood as 
 intending to settle at Riverbend if suitable encourage- 
 ment was given. His name, he said, was Sylvaniis 
 Yardstick. He contemplated starting a general store 
 at some point in the back country. He hail come to 
 consult with them aliout the matter of locating at 
 Riverbend. He said he could bring in a couple of 
 thousand dollars worth of goods, and have them all 
 paid for when he got them, and still have another 
 thousand of reserve capital behin<l the amount of 
 goods. 
 
 After a little consultation, Mr. Root said, " We will 
 do what we can to help you if we have some guarantee 
 that you are the right sort of a man to help to build 
 
350 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 up a new place. We expect to have a village here 
 some day. We have not got a mean or shabby 
 settler in the neighborhood. Perhaps I am the 
 roughest man among the inhabitants at present, and 
 I want to have no one here worse than I am. How 
 does that meet your views <" " 
 
 " All right," said he, " but I have no written recom- 
 mendations. I could get tliem if I saw fit to try, but 
 I don't intend to try. My face, my manners and my 
 tongue must carry me through this world, or I won't 
 go through it. But if I settle here and do not 
 conduct myself in a respectable and neighborly way, 
 you may put me on a pole some night, and carry me 
 out and dump mo into the mill-pond. Will that do ? " 
 
 " Yes, that will do," was answered. 
 
 "This locality has greatly changed in four years," 
 said the stranfjer. . 
 
 " Were you ever here before ^ " was asked. 
 
 " 1 am not sure. Nearly four years ago I was with 
 some others going to the rear to .survey out some new 
 townships. We must have; passed near by this place, 
 but it was all wilderness then ; but as I came up the 
 road from towards Mapleton it seemed to me that the 
 ground had a familiar look, and I felt that I must 
 have been over it before. Who lives in the lot that 
 corners on this one — the place where the new frame 
 barn is?" in([uired Mr. Yardstick. 
 
 " That is the home of the Hrst settler. His name is 
 John Bushman," was the reply. 
 
 " Bushman, Bushman," said he, as if talking to 
 himself ; " that surely is the name of the young man 
 
THE MTLLS COMPLETED. 
 
 351 
 
 lao'e here 
 r shabby 
 am the 
 esent, and 
 tm. How 
 
 ben recom- 
 to try, but 
 jrs and my 
 or I won't 
 ind do not 
 iborly way, 
 d carry me 
 1 that do ? " 
 
 our years," 
 
 id. 
 
 I was with 
 t some new 
 r this place, 
 
 ame up the 
 me that the 
 
 hat I must 
 
 ihe lot that 
 new frame 
 
 His name is 
 
 talking to 
 young man 
 
 that we found in the woods one day." Then, turning 
 to Mr. Root, he said, " Has this Bushman got a 
 beautiful little lake on his place ^" 
 
 " Yes, and it is surrounded with a fringe of ever- 
 greens. He calls it Sylvan Lake," said Mr. Root. 
 
 " Do you know how it got that name { " 
 
 " Yes, Bushman says the name was given to it by a 
 poetic young man, who came along one day with a 
 surveying party, shortly after he first came to the 
 bush." 
 
 'Well, I am that young man. How is Bushman 
 getting along ? Is he married yet ? " 
 
 " He is doing well in every way. Yes, he has a 
 wife, and she is a good one. They have two line 
 children. Bushman is one of the best men that I 
 have ever met with. He is a good man every way. 
 The moral tone of the neighborhood is largely to be 
 attributed to the intluence of Bushman and his wife." 
 
 " That agrees with what Mr. Rushvalley said on the 
 day that we left him alone in the woods. He said to 
 the rest of us, ' That young man has the stufi' in him 
 to make a first-class man.' And it seems that he has 
 fulfilled the predictioxi." 
 
 Just as the stranger finished the last sentence, 
 Bushman came in to where they were. Mr. Root said 
 to him, " Here is a friend of yours. Look at him and 
 see if you can make out when or where you saw him." 
 
 John looked at the man for a moment with one of 
 his sharp, good-natured looks. Then he said, " I have 
 seen that face before, but where or when I cannot 
 now recall," 
 
I 
 
 352 
 
 AMONG THE FOllEST TREES. 
 
 " Well," said the stranger, " you only saw me for a 
 short time, and under circumstances not the most 
 favorable for making a lasting acquaintance. Do you 
 remember the surveying party that came across you 
 in the woods one day ^ " 
 
 "O, yes; I see it all now. You are the poet who 
 gave Sylvan Lake its name, and made some lines of 
 poetry about it. I am happy to meet you again," 
 said John. 
 
 " My name is Sylvanus Yardstick. I already know 
 your name, Mr. Bushman. I am very much pleased 
 to meet you again, and to find that you are still living 
 at Sylvan Lake," 
 
 " I did not know that you were giving the lake a 
 part of your own name, but now I see you did so. 
 You remember that I told you that day, that if you 
 ever found yourself in this vicinity, there would be a 
 welcome for you at Sylvan Lake. I am happy now 
 to renew that invitation with emphasis, since I have 
 one to help me to make you welcome. I want you to 
 make 'Sylvan Lodge' your homo while you remain 
 amongst us." 
 
 " I am very thankful for your kind otter ; but, in 
 the meantime, I want to talk a little about business. 
 The fact of the matter is this : I am looking for a 
 place to start a general store, and I came here to make 
 inquiries, and to see what I can do in the way of 
 lindini; a lot to build on, and in getting information 
 as to the prospects of success in siieh an enterprise." 
 
 " That is just the thing that is needed here. A 
 well-conducted little store could hardly fail to bo sue- 
 
THE MILLS COMI'LETED. 
 
 353 
 
 cesst'ul. Commence on a small scale, and enlarf:fe the 
 business as the necessities of the place increase ; and, 
 as for a lot to build on, [ will give you a lot at a 
 nominal sum, on one condition, that is, there must be 
 a clause in the title that the place shall never be used 
 as a place to keep, make, or sell whiskey, or other 
 intoxicating liquors." 
 
 " All right, I will agree to that. Rut it is an 
 unusual condition," said he. 
 
 "Yes; we all know that. But the owners of the 
 four corners are determined that the cominfj villajre 
 shall be a sober one. Now, come home with me, and 
 we can talk over the thing to-morrow with some of 
 the neighbors." 
 
 In three months from this the store was in full 
 operation, with every prospect of being successful. 
 And in three months more, by the request of the mill- 
 owners, the post-office was removed to the store. Mr, 
 Yardstick was in ecstasies over his prospects, so much 
 so, that he once more became poetical, and wrote the 
 following, and posted it up in the store : 
 
 TRIBUTE TO JOHN BUSHMAN. 
 
 '* How well I remember the day that we foimd him, 
 Alone ill the forest, with nobody near ; 
 His strong arm was felling the trees all around him, 
 The sound of his axe was refreshing to hoar. 
 
 *• But now, wife and children, and home and contentment, 
 Are his to enjoy as the years pass away ; 
 And at his prosperity none feel resentment. 
 But all wish him happiness every day." 
 
 Bushman demurred. But the poet would have his 
 way. 
 
 ^m 
 
Chaptbr XXVII. 
 
 SOME OLD-TIME CUSTOMS. 
 
 SAY, Will, did you ever attend a logging-bee ?" 
 " No ; I never saw anything of the kind." 
 " Well, 1 never saw one, either. But I have 
 heard mother say that grandfather used to come home 
 from louffinff-bees with an awful black shirt, when 
 she was a girl. The coal-dust was something terrible, 
 and to wash the clothes that had been worn at one of 
 those places was something that tried the strength 
 and patience of the women beyond anything." 
 
 This talk was between James Ballpitcher and 
 William Batter, as they were coming home from a 
 game of lacrosse, between a company of Indians and 
 a club of high-school boys, the Indians having come 
 out a little ahead. 
 
 "Well," said James, "my uncle, Peter Pinetop, is at 
 our house on a visit. He lives in a part of the coun- 
 try whore logging-bees are a common thing. You 
 come across the fields to-night, and we will ask him 
 to srive us full information about them." 
 
 " That would be a good idea," said William. " We 
 younix Canadians are almost in danger of losinof sight 
 
SOME OI,D-TTME CUSTOMS. 
 
 355 
 
 [S. 
 
 iff-bee ?" 
 ind." 
 
 it I have 
 >me home 
 irt, when 
 r terrible, 
 at one of 
 strength 
 
 tier and 
 from a 
 lans and 
 ing come 
 
 top, is at 
 ihe coun- 
 You 
 ask him 
 
 ns- 
 
 We 
 
 m. 
 
 hing sight 
 
 of the customs and manners of our forefathers. 
 Things have so changed that we know but little, 
 practically, of what the pioneers of this country had 
 to do, and how they did their work. There are a 
 number of things tiiat we need to be posted upon, and 
 I am going to get all the information I can. And I 
 know of no better or safer way than to ask the old 
 people to tell us." 
 
 " Yes," replied James ; " we must get the old folks 
 to talk more on these subjects. They will soon be 
 gone, and when it is too late we will wish that we 
 had oftener uot them to tell of the earlier times. I 
 have heard .some of the old people speak of husking- 
 bees, and spinning-bees, that used to be common when 
 they were young. These things are not heard of now, 
 you know. In fact, Will, I believe that many of us 
 young people in this country have a better knowledge 
 of what the Spartans and old Romans did in their 
 day, than we have of what our ancestors did in this 
 land seventy-tive or a hundred years ago. Will you 
 come this evening, and we will begin our efforts to 
 get information on these subjects ?" 
 
 " Yes, James, I will come, for I agree with you that 
 we are not so well informed on matters of everyday 
 I life among our ancestors in this country as we ought 
 I to be. I could tell more about Rome, in the time of 
 [the Ctwsars, than I can tell about my native country 
 at the time that my grandfatiier was a boy," answered 
 I William. 
 
 That evening, as the family were comfortably sitting 
 |iD the "living room " of James' pleasant home, he said 
 
 { 
 
 1 
 
3oG 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 to his uncle Peter, " Will you tell us, uncle, what a 
 loi;'j:in£f-bee is like ? We have never seen such thinfifs, 
 and we would like to hear a little about them."' 
 
 "Well,' said the uncle, "it" you would come out 
 where I live, in the latter end of June or in the 
 month of September, I could show you a log(,dng-bee 
 in all its peculiar aspects. In fact, I could introduce you 
 to one in a way that you could not easily forget it. 
 But I will try and describe to you a large and lively 
 loLjginji-bee." 
 
 " First of all, I want you to imagine a twelve-acre 
 fallow, that was chopped in June of one year, anil 
 burnt over in June or July of the next summer. All 
 the leaves were on the brush, and everything was as 
 dry as tinder, so that the ground and the logs and 
 everything was burnt over as black as a pot. 
 
 "The owner of that fallow concluded to make a 
 rousing bee to get the logs rolled into heaps, so that he 
 can burn them. The first thinn: to do is to select a 
 day. Then he goes around among his neighbors, ask- 
 ing everybody that can handle a handspike to come and 
 help him. Those who have oxen arc invited to bring 
 them. When he has the promise of eight or ten yokes 
 of oxen, and sixty or seventy men, he begins to make 
 his preparations for the bee. His wife instructs him 
 who to ask among the women, to come and help her 
 with the cooking. And sometimes a ' quilting-bee ' 
 will be attached to a logging-bee. In that case a large 
 number of women will be invited to come. 
 
 "Then handspikes must be made. Or sometimes 
 two or three men will club together and make a lot 
 
SOME OLD-TIME CUSTOMS. 
 
 357 
 
 of them and keep them over from one year to another. 
 This saves the trouble of making new ones every time 
 they are needed. Next, provision has to bo made to 
 furnish dinner and tea for all of these men. This 
 involves a ijfood deal of cookinc: and bakinjx before- 
 hand, as well as on the day of the bee. 
 
 " On the day appointed, the men and teams begin 
 to gather about eight o'clock in the morning, and 
 as they come they are shown the way to the fallow. 
 As soon as there are enough men to 'man' a team, 
 they start in at one corner of the field, and, taking a 
 strip about four rods in width, they go to the other 
 end. This is called a 'through.' Sometimes these 
 ' throughs ' are staked off" so that every gang will do 
 an equal amount of work, then there is no chance for 
 dodging, or ' yankying,' as it is sometimes called. 
 
 " Generally by ten o'clock the men and teams are 
 all at work. Four, and sometimes five, men, besides 
 the driver, are following a team. And a busy scene 
 presents itself to the beholder, when the whole of the 
 teams and men are doing their best, as they always 
 do, to get through before the rest. And in this 
 friendly contest a great deal depends on the skill of 
 the driver in planning the log-heaps and handling his 
 team. A wide-awake man, with a smart, wiry pair of 
 cattle, and a good lot of men, will get over a large 
 piece of ground in a day." 
 
 " I should think the coal-dust and ashes would make 
 the men very thirsty," said Will Batter. 
 
 " To provide for this, a man and a boy are appointed 
 to carry water, and sometimes a stronger liquid with 
 
358 
 
 AMONG THK FOREST TREES. 
 
 it, SO that the men do not sulier as much from thirst 
 as one would think. 
 
 " While the men arc at their work in the field, the 
 women are e(|ually busy at the house. Two or three 
 are peelintif potatoes. A coui)le more are making a 
 larjj^e kettle full of pot-pie. Some others are preparing 
 long tables and putting the dishes on them. These 
 dishes have been brought from half-a-dozen or more 
 of the neighboring houses. But luckily their owners 
 are there to take care of them, so that the mixing up 
 of the delf of half the families in the neighborhood 
 causes no confusion or entails no loss. 
 
 " When the hour for dinner comes around, the 
 busy log-rollers throw down their handspikes and 
 start for the house. The owners of the teams look 
 after them by feeding and watering them, so that they 
 may be fit for the afternoon's work. 
 
 " The men have been long enough among the coal 
 dust and ashes to get their clothes and hands and 
 faces pretty well besmutted by their work. They are 
 rather a dark-looking lot for white men. And if the 
 women say anything to them about their black faces, 
 they are pretty certain to have their own faces 
 blackened by some of the men rubbing their hands 
 over them. Then for a few minutes it seems as though 
 a general row between the men and the women was 
 imminent. But everything passes otf in good nature, 
 and nothing takes place that is of a more serious 
 character than the washing of a few faces that had 
 not been in the fallow among the logs. 
 
 " To clean up sixty or seventy smutty faces and 
 
SOME OrJ)-TIME CUSTOMS. 
 
 359 
 
 mixing up 
 
 twice as many smutty hands, is no tritlinf^ matter. A 
 good <leal of water and no small amount of soap is 
 required to do it. And it is necessary to have a 
 number of wash-dishes to supply so many. Wash- 
 tubs, pails, sugar kettles and sap-troughs are called 
 into recpiisition for this service sometimes. 
 
 " The tables are usually spread in the yard. To 
 seat so many men at once would be entirely beyond 
 the capacity of the houses found in the new country. 
 When the men get down to the table, the clatter of 
 dishes, the talking and laughing, and the women ask- 
 ing one and another to have more bread, or meat, 
 tea, or some other thing, keep things rather lively for 
 a while. 
 
 " There is always an hour for ' noon,' when the men 
 are supposed to rest themselves. The older ones do 
 so ; but for the younger ones, the noon-hour is 
 frequently the most tiresome hour of the day. Be- 
 tween running, and jumping, and jdaying ball, the 
 boys manage to keep on the move, while they fancy 
 themselves to be resting. But that is nothing strange. 
 People often work harder at play than they do at 
 anything else. 
 
 ■' The afternoon is spent as the forenoon was, and 
 when supper time comes, the same hands and faces 
 have to be cleaned up again, and the clothes that were 
 black at noon are blacker from a longer contact with 
 coal dust and ashes." 
 
 "Thank you, uncle, for your description of a log- 
 ging bee. I think that I should like to go to one if 
 it were not for the dirt," said James. 
 
360 
 
 AMONG THE FOHKST THEES. 
 
 " I could tell of a great many logf^ing-bees that I 
 have attciidod ; but the one I have de.scribod is a lair 
 sample oF them all, ' replied Mr. Pinetop. 
 
 ' Grandfather, were you ever at a husking-bee when 
 you wure young," said Will Batter to his maternal 
 grandparent one evening, as the family were sittiii;; 
 around the fire, and when James Ballpitchor had 
 called to spend an hour or two. 
 
 " Well, I should think so," replied the old gentle- 
 man. 
 
 " 1 tell you, boys, when 1 was of your age husking- 
 bees were as common as ball-playing is now, and if 
 you will promise not to get mad about it, I will tell 
 you something more in reuard to husking-bees and 
 ball-playing." 
 
 " What is that ? " inquired William. 
 
 "Do you all promise? I mean you youngsters," said 
 the grandfather. 
 
 " Yes, yes, yes," rang out until all the young folks 
 had responded to the old man's question. 
 
 "Well," said he, "the husking-bee was a useful 
 institution. People helped their neighbor, and by 
 their co-operation did in two or three hours what 
 would have taken him days, and perhaps w^eeks, to do 
 alone. 
 
 " And the husking-bee was a pleasant institution. 
 People, while they did the work, could also be 
 sociable. And the young people of the settlement 
 came together, and got better acquainted with each 
 other, and, no doubt, many a wedding was the result 
 of going to the husking-bee. 
 
SOMK ()I,|)-TIMK (U'STOMS. 
 
 Mfil 
 
 "The luisUing-bt'o had no (JeinoralizinjT tendency. 
 All present were invited, and those who W(>nt felt 
 that the ])ersons that they would meet with were 
 people of res])ectal>ility at least. You can't say so 
 much in favor of the match games, now becoming so 
 common." 
 
 "Do you think that it is wrong to play a game of 
 hall?" inquired James Ballpiteher. 
 
 "Not nece.ssarily," replied the old man: "but when! 
 men turn from the usol'ul walks of life, and become/ 
 hall-playeis by j)rofes.sion, they lay them.selves liable/ 
 to the charge of being useless members of society.! 
 Their avocation adds nothing to the wealth of the 
 community, and they place themselves on the list 
 with loafers and gamblers. But ball-playing is 
 not the only innocent amusement that has been 
 switched off on the down-grade track that leads 
 to ruin. Sculling boats, and driving horses, and other 
 harmless and useful things have been turned by bad 
 men into the means of getting money without giving 
 any equivalent for it, which is simply gambling. But 
 I am not lecturing on gambling now, so we will drop 
 that subject/," 
 
 " How were those husking-bees managed?"' inquired 
 a young lady present. 
 
 '• The thing was simple enough," replied the old 
 gentleman. " We will suppose that a farmer has four 
 or five acres of corn to husk. He cuts it, and hauls it 
 to some convenient spot, and puts it into stooks. 
 Then he goes, or sends .someone, through the neighbor- 
 hood and invites all of the young folks, and a good 
 
362 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 many of the older ones, to come on a certain moon- 
 light night, and help him husk his corn. When tlie 
 time comes the company seat themselves >n the grass 
 and in groups among the corn. Then commences one 
 of the most lively times to be seen iii any community. 
 The rattling of the corn, the talking and laughing, 
 and sometimes the singing, of the busy workers, 
 altogether make up such a jumble of the useful and 
 joyful, and the playful and cheerful, and the gleeful, 
 as can be found only among a lot of industrious and 
 good-natured people, where everybody is trying to 
 amuse and please everybody. Jokes, and puns, and 
 snatches of song, and gibes, and repartees, and ears of 
 corn, all seem to be Hying about in such sweet 
 confusion that it is not much to be wondered at it' 
 now and then a voung man got so bewildered that he 
 would kiss the wrong rnv\ when he found an ear of 
 red corn." 
 
 "Excuse me, grandpa," said Will, "but I don't I 
 understand what kissing had to d. 'ith red ears of] 
 corn, or what they had to do with kissing." 
 
 "There was a rule among the young folks," said the 
 old man, " that when an unmarried man found an ear of 
 red corn, he must kis,'-, any unmarried woman that 
 happened to be sitting nearest to him, and if a young 
 woman found one, she nmst be kissed by her nearest 
 unmarried neighbor." 
 
 " Well, I should not think that was a very arbitrary 
 rule," said Tames. 
 
 "The yvung people did not seem to think that it 
 ,7as, or they would not have obeyed it so strictly asiyore 
 
SOME OLD-TIME CUSTOMS. 
 
 363 
 
 ain moon- 
 When the 
 1 the grass 
 mences one 
 lominunity. 
 1 laughing, 
 y workers, 
 : useful and 
 the gleeful, 
 Lstrious and 
 s trying to 
 (1 puns, and 
 . and ears of 
 
 they generally did. But sonietiuics there would be a 
 Httle backwardness, when the wrong young man, or 
 some other fellow's girl, happened to be the nearest 
 neighbor. In such cases the girl would object a 
 little, but not enough to give much trouble in carrying 
 out the rule. 
 
 " After the work was done outside, everybody went 
 to tlie house, where there was a good supper for all. 
 After this had been disposed of the con)pany enjoyed 
 themselves as only honest working-people can do, 
 until they got ready to go home. This was frequently 
 at an early hour a.m.'" 
 " Thank you for what you have said to us about 
 such sweet ■ the husking," said William; "I will know after this 
 ndered at if ■ what is meaji.. when mention is made of this old-time 
 ered that he I institution." 
 
 id an ear of I " Grandma," said Miss Rosebush, " were you ever at 
 a spinning-bee ? " 
 
 This question was put to an old lady who had 
 
 faced the storms of eighty winters, and sweated 
 
 under the suns of as many summers. The old woman 
 
 ks" said thelwas sitting in a corner busily engaged knitting a pair 
 
 nd an ear of lof socks for one of her great-grandchildren. 
 
 Iwoman that! "0, yes, I used to go to spinning-bees when I wa.s 
 
 if a young lyoung like you, but that was more than sixty years 
 
 her nearest lagone, you know; and her eyes seemed to l)rigliten as 
 
 memory called up from the graves of more than three 
 
 rv arbitrary Bscore of years some of the pictures of the past ; and the 
 
 iface of the old pilgrim for a moment appeared to look 
 
 hink that itjjjyounger, as if touched by the same sunbeams that of 
 
 ) strictly asiyore danced upon her girlish head. 
 
 24 
 
 l,ut I don't I 
 ved ears of ' 
 
 i 
 
364 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 "Yes, my dear, 1 remember the spinning-bee. I 
 went to one with your grandpa before we were 
 married, and I remember liow carefully he helped 
 me over the mud-holes, for you know the best of our 
 roads had mud-holes in those day-:, and when we 
 came to a creek that was not bridged over, he put the 
 bottom of his pantaloons into the tops of his long 
 boots, and pickt^d me up and carried me right over as 
 if I had been a child, and me not less than a hundred 
 and forty-five or tifty pounds. The fact is, our 
 courtin' began in earnest at that spinning-bee." 
 
 " Well, grandma, how did they get up a spinning- 
 bee ? Did every one take a wheel, or how ?" inquired 
 Miss Rosebu.sh. 
 
 " Well," said the old woman, " 1 will tell you how it 
 was done in the part of the country that we lived in. 
 When a woman had tlax to spin, and could not do it I 
 all herself, she would make a bee. The way to do 
 this was on this wise : She w^ould put the flax up in 
 half-pound parcels. These she handed round amond 
 her centlemen friends. Whoever took one of these| 
 parcels of flax was to get it spu i, and at an appoints 
 time he was expected tc bring the yarn home. Hej 
 was to bring the spinner with him to an entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 " When a married man took Hax he got his wife to 
 spin it. Young men got their sisters to do it some] 
 times. But they got some other girl to do it oft«'ner 
 just to show, you know, that they thought somethind 
 of other folks' sister, as well as of their own. Somel 
 times a young man had to hunt all over the settleinenj 
 
SOME or.D-TFME CUSTOMS. 
 
 365 
 
 1 
 
 to find a fdrl to spin his varn. Then everybody would 
 laua'h at him. Others could set halt'-a-dozen bundlen 
 of flax spun, if they wanted to. The spinning-bee 
 was a good way for young men to find out how much 
 they were thought of by the girls. 
 
 " There used to be bashful young men when I was 
 young. I don't know how true it is, but I am told 
 that there are no bashful young peoj)le now like there 
 used to be. The basliful young men would sometimes 
 swap sisters in this way : John would get his sister to 
 spin for William, and William would get his sister to 
 spin for John. This plan worked very well." 
 
 " What would we think now if a young man was to 
 be seen going around with a liundle of flax under his 
 arm, hunting for someone to spin it T' in(|uired Miss 
 Rosebush. 
 
 " As to that," replied the old lady, " 1 suppose he 
 > way to <lol would be called a clown, or something worse. But if 
 e flax up ii^l one of your modern dudes had tiptoed his way into a 
 ound among! company of people when I was young, the girls w^ould 
 one of these! have fed him on sweetened bread and water, with a 
 an appointo'll little paregoric in it: then they would have parted 
 \ home, lie! his hair in the middle, and tied a ruffle around his neck, 
 11 entertain-1 and put him to bed, while they sent for his mother to 
 come and take him home." Here the old woman had 
 lot bis wife t(!come to a point where lier knitting must be narrowed 
 do it sonie-itwo stitches at a time. They all knew that then 
 lo it otU'nei'Ifjrandma did not want to be bothered, so the conver- 
 Iht sometliuiasation dropped, 
 own. Somej" 
 he settlenienj 
 
 lor-bee. 
 
 we were 
 he helped 
 ,est of our 
 
 when we 
 be put the 
 )f his long 
 crht over as 
 ^ a hundred 
 ■act is, onr 
 
 bee. 
 
 a spinning- 
 V?" inquired 
 
 11 you how it 
 we lived in. 
 lid not do it 
 
( 
 
 CHARTKK x:kviii. 
 
 TWENTY YEARS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 w. 
 
 'i"pO say that uninterruiDted prosperity had attended 
 -^ the efforts of John Bushman and his fellow- 
 pioneers, would be to go beyond what is strictly 
 true. There had been many drawbacks. Sometimes the 
 crops would be light from the eti'ects of drought. Some- 
 times the sunnner frost would partly ruin some of 
 their prospects. Sometimes the rust w^ould strike the 
 wheat, or the blight and mildew would injure their 
 other grains. Sometimes accidents would happen to 
 their stock. Cattle would get killed by the fall of a 
 tree, or die with some disease. The pigs would go too 
 far into the woods hunting the beechnuts, and thej 
 bears would Hnd them and eat them. And the sheep I 
 would be left out at night, and the wolves woukl 
 destroy them. The hawks and owls would carry otf' 
 the chickens., and the foxes would steal the geese amlj 
 ducks. 
 
 And besides all this, they had to contend with sick- 
 ness in their families, the same as the inhabitants otj 
 older localities, and in the case of sickness among 
 them, they had to be their own doctors. No medicalj 
 
TWENTY VKAIIS OK P1?()(JHKSS. 
 
 867 
 
 L. 
 
 lESS. 
 
 lad attended 
 his I'ellow- 
 ,at is strictly 
 oinetimes the 
 ught. Soiue- 
 uin some of 
 lid strike the 
 injure their 
 il happen to 
 the fall of a 
 would go too 
 uts, and the I 
 .d the sheep 
 olves wouUl 
 tld carry otll 
 [he geese anJI 
 
 id with sick- 
 Inhabitants of 
 Ikness among 
 No medical 
 
 man was within reach, so that the peo]de were obliged 
 to exercise their ingcnuit}- and their judgment, and 
 do the best they could for themselves and for each 
 other.* And it would surprise the people of the 
 present day could they hear some of these old-fash- 
 ioned doctors prescribing' for the sick. For a cathartic, 
 they would give a tea made of butternut bark. If 
 the children were troubled with worms, they would 
 be given the ashes of dried wormwood, mixed with 
 maple syrup. If any one needed an emetic, they 
 would give him lobelia tea. If a child had colic, it 
 was doctored with sage or thyme ten, in which milk 
 and sugar ])layed an impottant part. For a sprain, 
 the application of wormw^ood, steeped in hot vniegar, 
 was the best mode of treament. If baby got the 
 sprew, or other sore mouth, it was cured by using a 
 wash made by steeping gold-thread in water. If a 
 healing and drawing salve was needed, they took 
 hitter-sweet bark, balm of gilead buds, a plant called 
 life-everlasting, and pine turpentine, fried up in 
 mutton tallow. If anybody caught cold, they would 
 sweat him over ;i lot of hendock boughs steeped in 
 hot water. 
 
 For almost every cojnplaint tliat backwoods flesh 
 was lieir to, somebody in the neiohborhood would 
 think of a remedy, and it was wonderful what success 
 attended the use of these simple cures. The absence 
 of all kinds of luxurious living and dissipation mnong 
 the people, taken in connection with their industrious 
 
 * The writer can easily renieinber when there was no doctor nor 
 iii;ij;istratp within tliirty niilcs of his parents' baekwooils hf)nie. 
 
3()8 
 
 A\U>N(i THK FOREST TKEKS. 
 
 and frui^al habits, gave them an inherent power to 
 throw oft' disease that others do not enjoy. The hiw 
 of compensation came in here, ft' these people wero 
 destitute of miidieal assistance, they did not often 
 need such help. 
 
 But other ditHcnltics had to be encountered. The 
 want of a market for their surplus f,a-ain and other 
 produce was a serious drawback to them. 
 
 Imagine a man wlio clears his land, sows his seed, 
 harvests the wheat, threshes it out with a flail, cleans 
 it with a hand-fan, carries it from twenty to fifty 
 miles with an o.\. team, and tlien sells it for less than 
 tifty cents a bushel, and you liave an idea of what 
 many a man has done in the good Province of Ontario. 
 
 Think of a woman who makes hei' butter and, alonj^ 
 with her eggs, carries it on her arm ten or twelve 
 miles to tlie store, and sells the butter for a York six- 
 pence, or si.K and one-fourth cents per pound, and the 
 eggs at the rate of four dozen for a quarter of a 
 doUai', and you will have an idea of what the mothers 
 and grandmothers of some of our aristocratic families 
 have done. Tons of maple sugar, made by these early 
 settlers, have been sold for six cents per pound. And 
 these prices wei'e not paid in money. Store goods, at 
 high prices, was the excliange given tor the produce of 
 the farm, the <lairy, the sugar-bush, and the poultry 
 yard, [f men could get money to pay their taxes, and a 
 small amount for pocket money, they had to be con- 
 tented or take the difference out in fruitless grumbling;. 
 
 They knew that in this struggle circumstances were 
 airainst them, and it take.s a strong arm to control 
 
TWENTY YEARS OV PROGRESS. 
 
 360 
 
 circumstances. They accepted of the inevitable, and 
 bravely wrestled with their toilsome lot. And through 
 all these hardships and discouragements these hardy 
 pioneers worked t^eir way to competence, and some of 
 them to wealth. 
 
 In the space of two years after tlie erection of the 
 mills not less than twelve families came to reside at 
 Riverbend, and each family built a house to live in. 
 There were no tenement houses there to be rented. 
 Then there was the meeting-house, the store, the mills, 
 and a blacksmith's shop — all of these together gave the 
 place (juite the appearance of a village. The land at 
 the four corners was all cleared, but the stumps re- 
 mained to tell the new-comer how thickly timbered 
 the land had been. 
 
 John Bushman's buildings and those of Mr. Beech, 
 as well as Harry Hawthorn's shanty and stable, could 
 all be seen from the corners. These all added their 
 quota to the general appearance of the landscape. And 
 there is a sort of charm around a back-country village 
 that larger towns and cities do not possess. The charm 
 of freshness and the contrast between the neat, new 
 buildings and their surroundings, can only be found 
 among the forest trees or in the stumpy field. Where 
 the houses seem to spring up like the mushroom, and 
 occupy the ground recently covered by trees of the 
 forest, there the effects of the backwoodsmnn's energy 
 and pluck shows itself in the most striking and 
 emphatic manner. The rapi<l development of seme of 
 our back-country towns has been a source of wonder- 
 ment to visitors of all descriptions. Nowhere, perhaps, 
 
370 AM(»N(; 'IHK FOHKST TRKES 
 
 except in the United States, liave villa;:^es and towns 
 and cities had such hurried i^rovvtli. 
 
 The most eccentric {)erson aljout Riverhend was 
 Mr. Sylvanus Yardstick, the merchant-poet. He was 
 subject to gi'cat depressions of s})irit, followed by 
 wonderful ebullition.^ of feelinir. He would sometimes 
 be entirely disheartened, then again he would be as 
 cheerful as a sunbeam and buoyant as the fleecy 
 clouds that lloat upon the cv<'.nin!Lj zephyrs in the 
 month of June. 
 
 Whenever one of his cheerful spells came over him, 
 he would mount his Pegasus, and fly off into the 
 regions of poesy. On such occasions, whatever object 
 had last made an impression on his mind, would give 
 direction to his thoughts and stamp itself upon his 
 verse. 
 
 On one occasion, a couple of bis lady customers, who 
 lived eio-ht or ten mi!es distant, came to the store. 
 One of them had a basket of eggs, and the other had 
 a crock of butter. The women were tired, and Syl- 
 vanus had been very busy all the morning, and he 
 was somewhat jaded and felt a little peevish. When 
 he told the women that, since their last vi>it, buttei' 
 had gone down one cent per pound and eggs two 
 cents per dozen, they were sorely displeased. One of 
 them let her ton-'ue loose on him, and said some very 
 tantalizing words about grinding the face of the poor 
 and growing lich on the hard work of other people. 
 
 When she stopped, Sylvanus started. He had just 
 got to the middle of a ver}^ unsoothing sentence when 
 John Bushman came in at the door. Feeling ashamed 
 
rWENTV VKAI{S OV PROGRESS. 
 
 871 
 
 mfl towns 
 
 :V)en(l was 
 . He was 
 llowed by 
 sometimes 
 3ul(l be as 
 the Heccy 
 yrs in the 
 
 e over him, 
 [f into the 
 :ever o\>)ect 
 would give 
 If upon his 
 
 omevs, who 
 the store. 
 |e other had 
 [d, and Syl- 
 |ng, and he 
 ish. When 
 \->\i, butter 
 1 egi^^'s two 
 d. One of 
 some very 
 )t' the poor 
 r people, 
 e had just 
 Itence when 
 ig ashamed 
 
 of what he had been sayinLr. Sylvanus tnnu>d to 
 Bushman, and said, '" 'JMicsc women have V)een alnisino; 
 me because I can't n'ivc them moie ^or thcii' butter and 
 (>oos than they are woi'tli in the ()Utsi<l(' market." 
 
 "Tut, tut, S3dvanus," said Jolm, "surely you wouM 
 not (|uairel witli good custoi.iers al)Out a few cents." 
 
 Both parties seemed mollified, and tlier<' was no 
 more contention about prices. But after tlie vvonien 
 were gone the poetic spirit came upon Mr. Yardstick, 
 and he got off the following, and posted it up wdiere 
 (n'erybody might see it: — 
 
 " Tlie uoiiiuu tlioy Ciinii; witli their eggs and their l)iittor. 
 And will not 1)0 contenteil until they are sold ; 
 But sometimes they set me all into a flutter, 
 
 When they get out of teni])pr and turn to and scold. 
 
 " I hate to l)e scolded--! don't know \\ lio likes it. 
 [t is worse than a whipping the little ones say; 
 E'en a dog will get angry if anyone strikes it. 
 So T loose my temper and ugly tilings say. 
 
 " But still I am inospering, and trathe gets lietter 
 As peoj)le grow rieher and ablei' to pay : 
 My tongue in tlu! future I will keep in a fettej'. 
 And try to grow pleasanter (svery day." 
 
 It is now live years since John Bushman cut the 
 first tree on his place. During these years many 
 changes have taken place. And we have seen the 
 early settlers overcome one ditliculty after another, so 
 that now the necessaries of life and some of its 
 luxuries are within their reach. 
 
 While it would be pleasant to keep in the company 
 of such a fine lot of people as those are in and about 
 
372 AMuNCi THE FCJUKST TUKES. 
 
 Riverbend, wo must, for want of spaci; to record tht'ir 
 doini^s, leave them to themselves for a number of 3'ears. 
 But we shall make tliem a short visit at a proper time 
 in the future. And in the meantime we will solace 
 ourselves with the hope that their future may be less 
 toilsome than the past has been, and no less successful. 
 CherishiiiL; this hope we bid these peoj)le good-bye for 
 fifteen years, and commend them to the protection and 
 n;uidance of Him "whose eye never slumbers, and 
 whose tender mercies are over all Mis works." 
 
 VISIT To ()IJ)-TIME FIUENDS. 
 
 An old-fashioned staj^e-coach, drawn by four spirited 
 horses, was slowly moving toward the north from the 
 town of Mapleton. It was crowded with passengers. 
 The nmd was very deep, and in places very sticky. 
 This was why the horses were going so slowly. As i,>s 
 often the case in this world of change and contin- 
 gencies, they could not help themselves. 
 
 As the stage started out from the Half-way House, 
 an elderly lady asked the driver the name of the next 
 stopping-place. He answered, " Our next stop will be 
 at the town of Riverbend, ten miles aheail. There we 
 stop for supper and change of horses." 
 
 " What sort of hotel accounnodation can be found 
 there?" inquired a rather dandyish-looking young man, 
 as he pulled out of his side pocket an old English 
 bull's-eye watch, and held it up so tliat everyone 
 could see it 
 
 " The accommodation is all right, if you can do with- 
 out whiskey," said the driver. 
 
TVVKNTV VKAKS OF IMtnfJHKss. 
 
 •syn 
 
 ;(n-(l their 
 r of years, 
 ■opor tim»^ 
 vill solace 
 ay be less 
 iueccsst'iil. 
 3d-bye for 
 ection antl 
 ihers, and 
 
 (ur spiritcil 
 ii from the 
 passengers, 
 ery sticky, 
 vly. As is 
 11(1 contin- 
 
 ay House, 
 if the next 
 |top will be 
 There we 
 
 be fount! 
 I'oung man. 
 lid English 
 
 everyone 
 
 in do with- 
 
 " What ! is there no liquor to be got there .'' " asked 
 the somewhat astonished passenger. 
 
 " Plenty of licpiid or li(pior, ii" that suits you better. 
 But there is no wet groeerie.s — nothing that will make 
 'Inmk conic, only what is kept in the drug-st(ire for 
 liiedicine," was the answer. 
 
 " Well," said the dandy, "it must bi; a ilogged, dull, 
 • lok'ful, domain of dunces." 
 
 " You were never more mi.stakcn in your life, my 
 friend. It is the most go-ahead town in all the country; 
 and a more wide-awakt; and energt'tie lot of people 
 are not to be found anyvvluiri'," said the driver. 
 
 '■ Has there never been any liipior sold there,:'" in- 
 quired one of the passengers. 
 
 " Not legally. There may have been a little .sold 
 slyly, but none openly." 
 
 "That is a singular circumstance, surely," .said the 
 man with the big watch.* 
 
 When the stage came to the town and drew up at 
 one of the temperance hotels, the passengers were 
 politely invited to enter. Two neatly furnished 
 sitting- room.s — one for ladies and one for gentlemen — 
 were nicely warmed and lighted for the comfort of the 
 L-uests, until the rino-ino- of the bell called them to the 
 dining-room. 
 
 When they entered this room some of the passengers 
 expressed their surprise at the ample spread before 
 them. They had not expectetl to see such a display 
 
 * It is said tliat tlio t'ouii(U'r of the village of Parry 8ounil, started 
 it oil Prohibition principles, iiiid up till this time no licen.se to sell 
 iiitoxifaiit.-> lias l)('en ''ranted. 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 V. 
 
 /. 
 
 // 
 
 >« 
 
 ,<'- w^.. 
 
 <p 
 
 A 
 
 
 
 ^- 
 
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 fc 
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 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 Ifi^ IIIIIM 
 
 1^ 1^ 12.2 
 
 ii^ 
 
 2.0 
 
 1.8 
 
 11-25 IIIIII.4 IIIIII.6 
 
 
 V] 
 
 A 
 
 
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I 
 
 L'?- 
 
374 
 
 AMON'.J THE FOREST TREES. 
 
 of table t'nrnishinfTs, and such a variety of wholesome 
 and well cooked food as they now saw ready to satisfy 
 tlioir wants, both of hunger and thirst. 
 
 One of the men who came in on the stajxe was John 
 Brushy, who the reader will remember as one of tho 
 men in Mr, Root's company of road-makers. As he 
 took his seat at the table he said to the landlord. 
 " Great chanjjes have been effected here in twenty 
 years." 
 
 " Yes, that is true no doubt. But I don't know 
 much about what this place was like twenty years ajijo. 
 1 have been here only five years," said the host. 
 
 " I was here twenty years ago. I helped to open out 
 this road, and I helped to raise the first house in the 
 vicinity. We found a plucky young fellow in the 
 woods all alone, and we helped him to build a house 
 on his lot near a pretty little lake. I don't remember 
 his name. I have often thought that I would like to 
 know how he succeeded. He was a brave, determined 
 young man, and deserved success," said Mr. Brushy. 
 
 "He lias .succeeded grandly," said the host. "His 
 name is John Bushman. He has one of the finest 
 farms in the county. And he is one of the best men 
 that I have ever met with." 
 
 " Who owns the mills here ^ " inquires some one. 
 
 " The mills belong to Mes.srs. Root & Millwood," wa^ 
 answered. 
 
 " I wonder," said Mr. Bru.shy, " if that could be the 
 John Root that had the contract of opening out thi? 
 road," 
 
 " The identical John Root that opened out the road," 
 
TWENTY VEAHS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 375 
 
 vholesome 
 
 to 
 
 ! was Jolin 
 one of the 
 rs. As ho 
 e landlord 
 in twenty 
 
 lon't know 
 f years Ou^o. 
 host, 
 to open out 
 3use in the 
 low in the 
 ild a house 
 remember 
 
 uld like to 
 
 determined 
 
 . Brushy. 
 
 lost. " His 
 the finest 
 
 best men 
 
 Ime one. 
 [wood," was 
 
 iould be the 
 ins out this 
 
 it the road," 
 
 answered Mr. Redfern, the host. " He is a» American 
 by birth. But he has been in this country so long 
 that he has become pretty thoroughly Canadianized." 
 
 " And who owns the lots on the other three 
 corners!'" asked Mr. Bru.shy. 
 
 "John Bushman owns the farm where the biu 
 store is on, and the one opposite to it l)elongs to 
 Mr. Beech. The lot on this side belongs to Harry 
 Hawthorn," was the answer. 
 
 " Beech and Hawthorn were the names of two men 
 who worke(l with Root when I was with him. How 
 are they getting along ? " said Brushy. 
 
 " They are both doing well ; but one would hardly 
 believe that Harry is doing the best of the two. He 
 is, however," said the host. 
 
 " Who keeps the large store on the corner^" inquired 
 a white-haired old man, who had also come in on the 
 stage. 
 
 " The store belongs to Mr. Sylvanus Yardstick." 
 
 " Yardstick, Yardstick. Where have I heard that 
 name ? It sounds familiar to me, and yet I fail to 
 remember where or when I knew its owner. Do you 
 know anything about his antecedents f " asked the 
 stranger. 
 
 " Not much, but I have heard him say that his first 
 visit to this place was with a party of surveyors, who 
 passed through here some twenty years ago, and found 
 John Bushman alone in the woods, seven or ei<;ht 
 miles from any house." 
 
 "I have it all now," broke in the stranger. "I was 
 one of the party. The surveyor's name was Rush- 
 
876 
 
 AMONfJ THE KOHEST TltEES. 
 
 Mil 
 '1 
 
 valley. The man we have been speakinijj of was one 
 of tlie company. He was a little eccentric soinetimes. 
 Ho had a turn for poetry, if he ^ot exciterl about 
 anythir)<^. I reniemlter how he looked as he svvunif 
 his arm and reeled off" poetry, when he stood on the 
 border of the pretty little lake, near to which the 
 younof man Bushujan was at work." 
 
 " Ke makes poetry yet, sometimes," replied Mr. 
 Redfern. " He has a lot of his productions posted i-p 
 in and around the store and the post-office ; but, aftei" 
 all, he is a very honest and oood man." 
 
 " And will you tell us where your home is now ^ " 
 asked the landlord of John Brushy. 
 
 " My home is some seventy miles from here, on the 
 shores of Lake Huron. There are but few white 
 people there, but I believe the Government is intend- 
 ing to open up the country by making leading roads, 
 and otherwise encouraging people to settle up that 
 splendid tract of country," he answered. 
 
 We now turn our attention to some of the homes 
 of the first settlers around Riverbend. 
 
 Mr. John Root is a magistrate, and one of three 
 commissioners who riianage the affairs of the town- 
 ship — exercising the power of a civil court and the 
 prerogatives of a municipal council. 
 
 Harrv Hawthorn has a fine home and an interesting 
 family growing up around him ; but there is one 
 spectre that has haunted both him and his wife ever 
 since the loss of their two little ones so long ago. 
 Whenever either of them sees an upturned tree, the 
 sight is too much for them, and it sets them weeping. 
 
f was one 
 sometimes, 
 ted about 
 he swurifj 
 od on the 
 vvliich the 
 
 'plied Mr. 
 posted i.p 
 but, aftei' 
 
 is now ? " 
 
 ere, on the 
 few white 
 is intend- 
 ing roads, 
 e up that 
 
 ;he homes 
 
 of three 
 the town- 
 and the 
 
 nterestinu; 
 
 re is one 
 wife ever 
 lonjj ago. 
 tree, the 
 weeping. 
 
 TWKNTY VKARS OF IMUHiHESS. 
 
 377 
 
 Some wounds arc; hard to heal, and this is of that 
 character. 
 
 Mr. Woodbine is an ohl man now. His family 
 is off Ins hands. He is livint; with his asfed wife 
 in peace and comfort. Their eldest son fills the 
 office of collector of taxes in their town.ship. 
 
 Tile McWithys, by honest industry and strict 
 economy, have made tiiemselves a good home, and are 
 in a fair way to become wealthy. 
 
 Old Mr. Crautmaker has been dead four or five 
 years. The children are all married. The old lady 
 lives on the old place with John, whose wife is a sister 
 to Mrs. Greenleaf. 
 
 Richard Greenleaf has succeeded in makinjj a sfood 
 home for himself and his family. Five children 
 gather around his table and share his affections. 
 Mrs. Greenleaf and Mary Bushman are the two 
 leading spirits in all good works and charities. Many 
 blessings are invoked upon the heads of these unpre- 
 tendinof, self-consecrated women. 
 
 Mr. Timberline. years ago, married Fretzina Craut- 
 maker. They are living in comfort, if not in affluence. 
 Three children help to keep the stillness of the place 
 from making them lonesome. 
 
 Moses and Katrina Moosewood have a fine home. 
 They work hard. They are careful not to allow more 
 than two years to pass without the addition of a new 
 name to the somewhat lengthy family record. 
 
 William and Betsy Briars have on the whole the 
 most convenient arrangements in the settlement. The 
 spring that issues out of the rock has been utilized in 
 
 
378 
 
 AMONfl THK h'OllEST TKEES. 
 
 such an effectual way tliat water is carried from it in 
 pipes into tlie kitclien, and to the waterinfj troujijh.s 
 of the .stables. William is the larj^est stock-raiser in 
 the .settlement, and it is .said that hi.s wife makes and 
 sell.s more butter than any other woman in the four 
 townships. 
 
 As John Bushman was the first one to appear on 
 the scene of our description.s, he shall bo the last one 
 to disappear at the close of our story. 
 
 He and Mary have made many warm and true 
 friends, by their kind hospitality and their neighborly 
 helpfulness. They are loved and honored by every- 
 body, both old and young. Both of them begin to 
 show that life's meridian has been reached. Here and 
 there a white hair could be detected by a close observer, 
 where it seemed to be trying to hide itself among its 
 more youthful associates. But their step is just as 
 elastic and their energies are just as unflagging as ever. 
 
 When the first baby made their home a visit, and 
 let them know that it had come to stay, it will be 
 remembered that Mary told John that she was afraid 
 it would not be satisfied to remain alone. Her con- 
 jecture has been proved to be correct. Not only has 
 the baby found one playmate, but another and another 
 has come along, until no less than seven playmates of 
 different ages can be seen about the Bushman home, or 
 Sylvan Lodge, as it is sometimes called. 
 
 But the log-house has disappeared, and its successor 
 is a nice, tasty brick one. 
 
 The seeds that the old Quaker gave to John the day 
 before he and Mary started for their backwoods home, 
 
 -/• 
 
from it in 
 (f trou^jhs 
 v-raiser in 
 nakus and 
 I the four 
 
 appear on 
 e last one 
 
 and true 
 leighborly 
 by every- 
 i begin to 
 Here and 
 'i observer, 
 among its 
 is just as 
 ig as ever, 
 visit, and 
 it will be 
 iras afraid 
 Her con- 
 only has 
 (1 another 
 y mates of 
 home, or 
 
 successor 
 
 n the day 
 ods home, 
 
 TWENTY YEAKS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 379 
 
 ' 
 
 were all planted an<l carefully tended. The result is 
 a good orchard lor himself, and a large number of trees 
 furnished to hi^ in-i-hbors. 
 
 One day in October Mrs Briars was in John's hou>e, 
 talking- with Mury ; John came and lookeil in at the 
 door, and said, '■ Come here, Bet, I want to show you 
 .something. " 
 
 She came out into the yard to see what it was that 
 he had for her to look at. He pointed to the orchard, 
 where two young girls and two boys were picking up 
 apples under Ihu iree.s 
 
 He said, "Do you remember the day that Mr. 
 Blueberry gave me the apple seeds?" 
 
 "Yes; he told you to plant them and take care of 
 them, and if you did so, by the time you had children 
 big enough to gather fruit, there would be plenty of 
 fruit for them to gatlier,' she said. 
 
 "And that day you came out and found me in a 
 deep study, and asked me what I was dreaming about. 
 Do you remember it ? " 
 
 " Yes, and you said, ' I see a picture. I cannot tell 
 you now what it is like. But if we are both alive in 
 about twenty years, I hope I will be able to show you 
 the reality,'" .she answered. 
 
 "Well," s«dd John, "there is the realization of 
 my dream. Those youngsters gathering fruit. In 
 imagination I saw them then; in reality I .see them 
 now." 
 
 "Well do I remember," .said she, "that morning in 
 April wdien, with your axe on your shoulder, and your 
 little bundle done up in a cotton handkerchief, you 
 25 
 
Tf-rrr 
 
 S30 
 
 AMONG THE FOREST TREKS. 
 
 shook hands with us at lionie and started off alone, to 
 make a liome for yourself in the wilderness. We all 
 stood at the gate and watched you till you pfot over 
 the hill and we could see you no more. We all felt 
 badly. But mother took it hardt-r than the rest of us. 
 She went into the house to hide her tears. 
 
 " When we all went in, father said to her, * We have 
 always tried to teach our bf»3' majdiness and self- 
 reliance. Now we should not complain at his first 
 grand oxhildtion of those qualities that wc have so 
 often extolled in his presence.' 
 
 '" 1 know it,' said mother, ' but it is hard for me to 
 get my feelinj^s to harmonize with our teachings in 
 this respect. I am so much afraid he will get hope- 
 cssly lost in his wanderings among the forest trees.' ' 
 
 r 
 
 J 
 
 -^ •^:^^>§<Cii5^^o^^^^^° 
 
T alone, to 
 J. Wc all 
 [ rroi over 
 /e all felt 
 rest of us. 
 
 * We have 
 
 anil self- 
 
 t his first 
 
 c have so 
 
 :^ •> .r ^-/ 
 
 /-'' 
 
 - rl 
 
 7 f 
 
 
 a. 
 
 
 sj--^^ 
 
 ( 
 
 for me to 
 
 achinjis in 
 
 get hope- 
 
 wt trees.' "