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+Project Gutenberg's The Log House by the Lake, by William H. G. Kingston
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Log House by the Lake
+       A Tale of Canada
+
+Author: William H. G. Kingston
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2007 [EBook #21467]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LOG HOUSE BY THE LAKE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Log House by the Lake, A Tale of Canada, by William H G Kingston.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+A well-to-do English family, with inherited wealth, find that this
+situation is challenged in the law-courts.  They lose the case, and, as
+with Marryat's "Settlers in Canada" in a similar situation, decide to
+emigrate to Canada.  This they do, and have enough money to settle
+there, but not in a grand house: it is only the Log House by the Lake.
+
+There are various adventures with sailing and canoeing on the lake, but
+when the winter comes on, the lake freezes over, and the boys get
+themselves into a dangerous predicament, from which they only just
+escape.
+
+Unlike with the Marryat story, the decision by the court was valid but
+the cousin who won the case was a useless administrator of his fortune,
+and lost it all through bad advice and dishonest acquaintances.
+
+What do the family do about it? Read the book, or listen to it, and find
+out.  It's a short book, only three hours to read, and there's a
+surprise ending for you!
+
+One oddity about the book is that throughout it conversations are merged
+into single paragraphs.  This made it a little hard to get the
+paragraphing correct in our rendition, but we think we have got it
+almost right now.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+THE LOG HOUSE BY THE LAKE, A TALE OF CANADA, BY WILLIAM H G KINGSTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Mr Philip Ashton walked up to the
+door of his residence in Portman-square.  His hand touched the knocker
+irresolutely.  "It must be done," he said to himself.  "May strength be
+given to all of them to bear the blow!"  His hand shook as he rapped.
+The hall door flew open, a servant in handsome livery stood ready to
+take his hat and gloves.  As he entered the drawing-room his wife and
+daughters rose to welcome him, with affection beaming in their eyes, as
+did his three sons, who had just arrived at home from different
+directions.
+
+"Dear papa, you are not well," exclaimed Sophy, his eldest daughter,
+leading him to a seat.
+
+"Philip, what is the matter?" asked his wife, leaning over him.
+
+"Sit down, dears, and I will tell you," he answered, pressing her hand.
+"A severe trial has come upon us, but--"
+
+"Dear Leonard, nothing has happened to him, I pray?" gasped out Mrs
+Ashton.  Leonard was a sailor son, the only one now absent.
+
+"Thank Heaven he is well; I had a letter from him only to-day," answered
+Mr Ashton.  "Many mercies are granted us, and I trust, therefore, that
+you will all submit to be deprived, without murmuring, of the wealth we
+hitherto have thought our own.  Dear ones, the law-suit has been decided
+against us!"
+
+The young Ashtons were silent for some minutes, but presently recovered
+themselves.
+
+"We can all work," exclaimed the three sons, in a breath.
+
+"Our happiness does not consist in this," said Sophy, glancing round the
+room, "We will make the smallest cottage comfortable for you, mamma."
+
+"I am sure we can, and do all the work ourselves," cried Fanny, her next
+sister.
+
+"I can make a pudding, and churn, and could soon learn how to milk a
+cow," said Agnes, the third daughter, laughing.  "I have always wished
+to live in a cottage in the country."
+
+"I've arranged it," said Fanny.  "Agnes shall be cook, I will be
+waiting-maid, Sophy housekeeper, Philip bailiff, Harry gardener, and
+Charley--oh, let me consider--general farm-servant: won't that be
+excellent?"
+
+"But you place your mother and me on the shelf," said Mr Ashton, his
+spirits reviving from seeing the way in which his children bore the
+announcement he had so dreaded making.  "What are we to do?"
+
+"O papa, of course you and mamma are to do nothing.  We are all to work
+for you," exclaimed Harry, a fine youth of fourteen, who looked as if
+there was indeed work in him.
+
+"Of course," added Charley.  "How we ought to thank you, papa, for
+having us taught carpentering, and that we all have such a fancy for
+gardening.  John says, too, that I know almost as much about pigs and
+cows and sheep as he does; and as for Phil, he knows more about
+everything than all of us put together."
+
+Philip--Mr Ashton's eldest son--had not spoken after he had first
+expressed his feelings with his brothers.  His thoughts were elsewhere.
+A bright airy castle he had lately raised, had just been hurled rudely
+to the ground, and he was stunned by the crash.
+
+Mr Ashton retired to rest that night with a mind greatly relieved.  He
+had not doubted the affection of his children, and he was assured that
+it would enable them to bear their reverse of fortune with cheerfulness.
+When he rose in the morning he prayed earnestly for strength to go
+through the work required of him, and that is never denied to those who
+seek it from Him who can alone afford it.  In all the work he received
+able assistance from his son.  Philip had not left a single debt unpaid
+at the University, by which, under his altered circumstances, he might
+ever afterwards have been hampered.  Mr Ashton, having never allowed
+household bills to run on, was comparatively free from debt.
+
+All his affairs arranged, he found himself with an income--arising from
+a settlement on his wife--of two hundred pounds a-year, and about
+fifteen hundred pounds in ready money.  Once more his family being
+assembled, he pointed out to them that though their plans were very
+good, if they were to remain a united family they must look to the
+future, and seek in another country the opportunity of developing their
+energies.
+
+"What do you think of Canada?" he asked.
+
+"A capital country!" cried Charley, who, as the youngest, spoke first.
+"I know all about the sleighing, and the skating, and the ice-boats, and
+the coasting down snow-hills, and the shooting huge deer, and the
+snow-shoeing, and the sailing on the lakes, and the fishing, and the
+sporting of all sorts,--not a country like it, I should say."
+
+"It's a country for hard work, I know," said Harry.  "Nothing I should
+fancy so much as cutting down trees, building log-huts, fencing in
+fields, and ploughing and reaping.  Ever since I read `Laurie Todd' I
+have wished to go there."  Philip and his sisters expressed themselves
+equally ready to emigrate.
+
+No time was lost in making the necessary preparations, after it was
+resolved that they should go to Canada.  It was highly gratifying to
+them to find that several of their servants wished to accompany them.
+Two only, however, could be taken.  Of these Mrs Summers had been the
+nurse of all the younger children, and had lately acted as housekeeper.
+"It would break my heart, marm, if you were to go out to a strange
+country, and I, who am still strong and hearty, not to be with you to
+help you in all your troubles," she said, with tears in her eyes, to
+Mrs Ashton.  "Though you take them like an angel, marm, they are
+troubles."
+
+The other, Peter Puckle by name, had been first stable-boy, then page,
+and lately footman.  He engaged Harry to plead his cause.  "The wages
+and the passage-money shan't stand in the way, Master Harry," he urged.
+"I have not been in the family all these years without laying by
+something, and it's the honour of serving your good father still is all
+I want."
+
+The surface of the broad Atlantic was scarcely ruffled by a breeze as
+the steamer with the Ashton family on board rushed across it.  "Well,
+Sophy, I declare it is worth being ruined for the sake of the fun we
+have on board," exclaimed Charley, to his eldest sister, who was sitting
+reading on deck, at a short distance from the rest of the party.
+
+A gentleman standing by heard the remark, and finding Charley by himself
+directly afterwards, he observed, smiling, "Why, my young friend, you do
+not look as if you were ruined.  I have never met a happier family than
+yours appears to be.  What did you mean by saying that?"
+
+"Well, I do not think that we are ruined really, sir," said Charley,
+artlessly; "still, my papa had many thousand pounds a-year till lately,
+and we lived in a large house in London, and had another in the country,
+and Philip was at Oxford and Harry at Eton, and I was going there; and
+now we are to live in a log-hut in the back woods in Canada, and that
+makes us all so jolly, because it will be such capital fun.  Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"I have had some experience of life in the back woods," answered the
+gentleman.  "It has its advantages and its disadvantages, though I have
+little doubt but that you will find it pleasant."
+
+"What, do you live in Canada, sir?" asked Charley.
+
+"Yes; I have lived there all my life," said the stranger.  "But, my
+young friend, you say that you are ruined, and yet I see that you have
+servants attending on you: how is that?"
+
+"Why, they insisted on coming, and would not leave us," answered
+Charley.
+
+"Would more have accompanied you?" enquired the stranger.  "I am afraid,
+though, that my questions may appear impertinent,"
+
+"If papa would have let them," said Charley.
+
+"That fact speaks volumes in favour both of masters and servants," said
+the stranger to himself.
+
+From that day Charley looked upon the stranger as an especial friend,
+though he could learn little more about him than that his name was
+Norman.  At length the Saint Lawrence was reached, and the Ashton family
+landed safely at Quebec, the chief port of the superb province which the
+gallantry of Wolfe won for England, and which, mainly by the
+perseverance and energy of Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, has become one of
+the brightest jewels in the British crown.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+"We have gained the day, Mrs Ashton!  We have gained the day, girls!"
+exclaimed Mr Ashton, rushing with his hat on into the small
+sitting-room of a red brick house in a dull street of a country town in
+England.  Various exclamations broke from the lips of Mrs and the
+Misses Ashton at this unexpected announcement.  For reasons best known
+to himself, Mr John Ashton had not informed his wife and daughters of
+the law-suit going on between himself and his relative, Mr Philip
+Ashton.  "Guess the amount!" he exclaimed.  That was impossible.  "What
+do you think of six thousand a-year?  Every shilling of it, and under my
+management it will become ten thousand; ay, and more than that,
+probably."  It was some time before the Ashtons could realise the fact
+of this good fortune, as they called it; but as they realised it their
+ideas expanded, their aspirations increased.  Their eldest son, John,
+lately articled to an attorney, must be entered at Oxford; the second,
+apprenticed to a draper, was sent off to Germany to grow whiskers and a
+moustache, lest any of the country gentry should recognise him as having
+measured out ribbons for them from behind the counter; while the
+youngest was taken from the Grammar-school and sent off, much against
+his will, to form aristocratic acquaintances at Eton.  The great
+ambition of the Miss Ashtons was to shine in London society.  Their
+father boasted that money could do everything.  It enabled him to obtain
+a handsome house, equipage, and establishment, and then to commence
+their career in the world of fashion.  There were three Miss Ashtons.
+The two eldest were considered beauties; the youngest, Mary, had been
+absent on a visit, and did not return home till her father was on the
+point of setting off for London.
+
+"Father, I wish to speak to you alone," said Mary, on the evening of her
+arrival.  Mr Ashton led the way to his office at the back of the house.
+He had considerable respect for Mary, though he tried not to show it.
+"Father, I hope that you will not consider I have been wanting in duty
+in having refrained from writing what I now wish to tell you," she
+began.  Mr Ashton looked uncomfortable, but nodded for her to continue,
+which she did.  "While I was with Mrs Musgrave, at Scarborough, a
+gentleman of our name, who happened to be there with some members of his
+family, was introduced to me.  Mrs Musgrave was much pleased with him--
+we saw him frequently--he at length proposed to me, and feeling sure
+that you would approve of him, I accepted him."
+
+"What is his name?" asked Mr Ashton, sharply.
+
+"Philip Ashton;--he is most worthy--most excellent," answered Mary,
+trembling at her father's tone.  "He is all--!"
+
+"He is a beggar!" exclaimed Mr Ashton, vehemently.  "You will have
+nothing more to say to him; you understand me clearly; it is not a
+matter I wish to discuss."  Rising from his seat he led the way out of
+the room.
+
+Two days afterwards Mary received a letter from Philip Ashton, freeing
+her from her engagement to him in consequence of their altered
+circumstances, but couched in terms which more than ever convinced her
+that he was worthy of her best affections.  The family arrived in
+London, and by dint of perseverance, managed to engage in a whirl of
+dissipation, which they called pleasure.  Mary's cheeks grew paler than
+they were wont.  Her sisters said that it was the effect of the London
+season.  John, voting Oxford a bore, came to London, and without much
+difficulty, obtained the character of a fashionable young man about
+town.  It might have been doubted whether Mr Ashton himself derived
+full advantage from his large income.  Few of his guests knew him by
+sight, and he had often to steal off to bed fatigued with his labours as
+director of numerous promising speculations in which he had engaged to
+increase his fortune.  Altogether the Ashton family were very busily
+employed.  Some might say that they were like those who "sow the wind to
+reap the whirlwind."  We gladly quit them to follow the fortunes of
+their emigrant cousins.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Canada is now traversed from one end to the other by railways, with
+numerous ramifications to the north and south, while steam-vessels run
+not only on its main artery--the Saint Lawrence--and the great chain of
+lakes, but also on numerous other rivers and lakes in every direction on
+the lines of the highway to any inhabited district.  Notwithstanding
+this, the romance of travelling through Canada is not altogether done
+away with.  Although several of the chief cities contain very large
+populations, Montreal having 100,000 inhabitants, and Quebec and Toronto
+not many thousands less, and possessing likewise all the advantages
+required by civilised communities, yet a very few miles away from them
+the stranger may find himself in some wild district where he might
+suppose that the foot of man had never trod.  In the summer, steamers on
+water compete with locomotives on land in conveying passengers; and when
+time is not of consequence, the route by water is generally preferred.
+
+A few days only were spent at Quebec by the Ashtons after their arrival,
+before they embarked on board one of those wonderful constructions, an
+American steam-boat, to proceed up the Saint Lawrence to Montreal.  The
+entrance was in the side of the vessel, and on the main deck, which
+appeared lumbered up from one end to the other with casks, chests, and
+packages, a flight of steps led to an upper deck, which had the
+appearance of a long gallery, fitted up as a drawing-room, with sofas,
+easy chairs, and every luxury.  The glazed roof was supported by
+pillars, but no access could be discovered to any spot where helmsman,
+captain, or crew might be posted.  Harry, after many enquiries, found
+that the wheel was on a platform on the roof forward, where the captain
+and pilot stood.  He pronounced the vessel to be constructed on two huge
+arches, having a vast Thames wherry below, with a superstructure of
+picture galleries on a wide platform extending far over her gunwale on
+either side.
+
+Montreal, the head of the ocean navigation, was reached; and then by a
+series of magnificent canals the rapids of the Saint Lawrence were
+avoided; the lake of the Thousand Isles, with their rocky bases and
+tree-covered summits, was passed, as were several larger and thriving
+towns, and Lake Ontario was entered.
+
+At Kingston they embarked on board another steamer, which was far more
+like an ordinary vessel than the one they had just quitted.  Who should
+come on board, just before she left the wharf, but Mr Norman.  A few
+hours afterwards, when Harry and Charley came on deck, they uttered an
+exclamation of surprise as they looked around.  "What, is this called a
+lake, Mr Norman?  Why, where is the land?"
+
+"Out of sight," answered their friend, laughing.  "North, south, east,
+west of us.  It is rather hazy to the north, or you would see the
+pine-fringed shore.  We shall soon again see it, as we have to touch at
+several towns on our way."
+
+Several large vessels were met under all sail, with numerous crews,
+steering for the Saint Lawrence.
+
+"Where can they be going to?" said Harry.
+
+"To Liverpool, perhaps, or to some other English port, laden with wheat
+from the Western States," answered Mr Norman.  "Vessels have sailed all
+the way from Lake Superior to England."
+
+They saw, however, more things to wonder at than can well be recounted.
+Not the least, in the eyes of the boys, was the fine city of Toronto,
+with its numerous public buildings.
+
+"Why, I thought that we were about to enter the backwoods by the time we
+got thus far west, and here we are in the middle of as civilised a city
+as any we have seen," exclaimed Harry, on their return from an excursion
+through Toronto.
+
+"We have many other fine towns still further west," said Mr Norman, who
+had stayed at the same hotel.  "If we go into the States we shall find,
+several hundred miles off, Chicago, which has sprung up as if by the
+wand of the enchanter.  The secret of this rapid increase is its
+peculiar position at the head of a great navigable lake, with a
+background unrivalled in its corn-producing powers.  In the course of
+years we may hope to see cities, towns, and villages, rising at
+intervals on British territory, directly across our vast continent,
+united to those which have already appeared in British Columbia."
+
+Mr Ashton having made all the enquiries in his power as to eligible
+localities, set off with Philip to select a spot for the future abode of
+the family.  He was advised to rent a partially cleared farm, but his
+sons especially entreated that he would purchase a tract of wild ground,
+that they might have the satisfaction of feeling that with their own
+hands they were bringing their own property from a state of nature into
+one of cultivation.  He yielded to their wishes, though, perhaps, the
+plan he was advised to adopt would have more rapidly afforded them a
+return for their outlay, and some of the luxuries of civilisation.  Mr
+Norman casually enquired the direction in which they proposed
+prosecuting their search, and on hearing that it was to the north, he
+remarked that he might possibly meet them.
+
+We need scarcely say that the Ashton family employed their time
+profitably in seeing all that there was to be seen in Toronto, and that
+they made excursions to Hamilton, and to several other towns accessible
+by railway.  Mr Ashton lost no time in searching for the desired
+locality, and he and Philip soon came to the conclusion that it was not
+a thing to be done in a hurry.  Fortunately Mr Norman did meet them,
+and with his assistance they at last found a spot to suit them.  "The
+next thing you will have to do is to _get fixed_" he said, laughing.
+"You will soon find out the meaning of that term, I guess."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note.  "Get fixed" is the American cant term for settled.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+Towards the close of a bright summer day, several wheeled vehicles were
+progressing slowly along a broad but roughish road cut through the
+forest in the northern part of the peninsula of Upper Canada.  In
+colonial phrase, they were all waggons; but some carried luggage only,
+and one of them human beings, with a small amount of personalities, in
+the shape of carpet bags and hat boxes between their feet.  This vehicle
+was a long shallow box, or it might be called a tray on wheels, with
+four seats across, each calculated to hold three persons, and with a box
+for the driver.  The baggage-waggons were of the same build, without the
+seats, and were heavily laden with chests, casks, bales, and bedding,
+with other household furniture.  They must have been stronger than they
+looked, to withstand the violent bumpings and jerks they received as
+they progressed along the chief highway as yet opened up in that part of
+the country.  The nature of the road varied very much, according to the
+character of the land over which it passed: now it was of corduroy--that
+is to say of trees laid across it, the interstices filled up with clay
+or sand.  In a few places in the neighbourhood of saw-mills, planks had
+been placed diagonally across the road, secured to sleepers beneath, and
+over these bits the horses dragged the vehicles at a speed which made
+the travellers wish that the whole road was formed in the same manner.
+This they found was called a plank road.  How the machines could hold
+together, or the limbs of the occupants escape dislocation, seemed
+surprising as they surged over the first-mentioned style of road.  Now
+and then the foundation of the road was of rock; and this though even
+rougher, caused no fear of its letting the carriages sink through.  Here
+and there gravel appeared and allowed of firm footing; but the worst
+parts of all were those undelightful spots called cedar swamps, across
+which neither plank nor corduroy had been thrown, and which caused the
+travellers to doubt considerably whether they and their vehicles would
+get across or sink beneath the treacherous surface.  In such cases,
+however, all hands uniting with ropes and poles, the waggons were
+dragged across.
+
+No one could complain that the road did not go direct for its object; on
+it went, up and down hill, and across bog and stream, with the same
+vanishing point between the dark tall thick growing trees ever a-head.
+Most people would have become very weary of what they had gone through
+and of the prospect before them, but the travellers now proceeding along
+the road were the Ashton family; and Mr Norman had prepared them fully
+for what they were to expect, besides which they were always inclined to
+make light of difficulties of every sort and kind.
+
+Their last day's journey was drawing to a close.  As they mounted to the
+top of a ridge of hills over which the road led, in the distance was
+seen the blue surface of Lake Huron, while below them appeared,
+surrounded by trees, a small piece of water, unnoted on most maps,
+though covering an area as large as all the Cumberland Lakes put
+together.  In the smaller lake were several wooded islands, and there
+were promontories, and bays, and inlets, with hills of some height near
+it, adding to its picturesque beauty.  A wood-crowned height separated
+the smaller from the larger expanse of water, except in one place, where
+a river, or an inlet it might be called, formed a junction, which
+settlers on the shores of the former would not fail to prize.
+
+"There is our future home," said Mr Ashton, pointing to the side of the
+small lake nearest Lake Huron.  "Philip and Peter, with the two men Mr
+Norman sent up, will, I hope, have made some progress by this time, and
+have got a roof ready under which you may creep.  We shall soon be at
+the village, and from thence we must cross the lake in a boat, as the
+road round is impassable, or rather there is no road at all."
+
+Harry, who had a small telescope slung at his back, said that he could
+make out a wide clearing and a shanty in the middle of it.  His parents
+hoped that he was correct, though his younger sisters and brother
+declared that they should be delighted to camp out in the bush for the
+remainder of the summer.  It was growing dusk as the travellers entered
+the village, which consisted of a store, three or four log-huts, and
+half a dozen shanties or sheds, some the abode of man, and some of
+beast, and some shared by both.  The store being covered in with planks,
+and having three stories, was the building of by far the greatest
+pretensions.  One of the shanties was the future hotel of the place, at
+present, however, affording accommodation to neither man nor beast.  The
+landlord stood at the door with his arms akimbo, and the air of a man
+perfectly satisfied with himself and his belongings, as he watched the
+approach of the waggons.  He was active enough when they stopped before
+his abode, hoping that some of the party would become his customers.
+
+"Well, strangers, you look spry after your journey.  Glad to see you.
+We'll become good neighbours, I guess," was his familiar but not surly
+salutation.  Mr Ashton took it in good part.  "Thank you, my friend, we
+have come along very well," he answered.  "Can you tell me, Have my son
+and his servant been here lately?"
+
+"Your two young men were up here not ten minutes ago.  They've gone back
+to the boat, I guess.  They're no great hands at liquoring.  If you
+shout they'll hear you."
+
+"Philip a-hoy!" shouted Harry and Charley, their shrill voices sounding
+clearly through the dark pine forest which shut in the settlement on
+either side, and sweeping over the calm waters of the lake.
+
+"Ay, ay; all right!" was the cheerful reply, and Philip, accompanied by
+Peter, came rushing up in time to help his mother and sisters to unpack
+from their somewhat uncomfortable conveyance.  "It does not do to be
+idle out here, and so, having our fishing gear, we were employing
+ourselves while waiting your arrival in catching some fish for your
+supper," he said, as he helped his mother to the ground.  "Mr Job
+Judson here did not quite approve of our proceeding, as he would rather
+we had spent the time in his bar; however, I have brought him up some of
+the proceeds of our sport to propitiate him, for he is an obliging,
+good-natured fellow, at bottom.  I wish him a better calling."
+
+After all the family had alighted, and their affectionate greetings were
+over, Philip exhibited the fine white fish he had brought for Mr
+Judson, weighing some four or five pounds.
+
+"We have half-a-dozen similar fish for our family supper, so we shall
+not starve," he said, with a tone of satisfaction.  "We have not
+broached a cask of beef or pork since we came here."
+
+"And we shall not, I hope, while a bird or beast remains to be shot, or
+a fish to be caught," cried Harry.
+
+As there was not a hut vacant in which to store the lading of the
+waggons, Philip arranged to take the family across in the boat, with
+their bedding and other necessary articles, and to return at once for
+the remainder.  "I am sure that if D'Arcy knew it he would help, but we
+shall have a full moon up presently, and I would rather get the work
+done now than wait for day, when the heat on the lake will be
+considerable," he observed.
+
+Mr Judson undertook to watch the luggage.  "Not that there's much need
+of that," he remarked, "for the Injuns about here is honest fellows, and
+there isn't a white settler who'd touch as much as a ha'porth of baccy,
+'cept maybe a newly-arrived Irishman, who hasn't learnt the ways of the
+country."
+
+The boat was of good size, calculated for the waters of Lake Huron, and
+fitted with mast and sails, though these were not now used.  The lake
+was smooth as glass, reflecting the bright stars from the clear sky, and
+broken only by the fish which here and there rose to the surface,
+showing their size by the loud sound of the splashes they made.  The
+irregular borders of the lake rose clear and well-defined on every side
+a-head, appearing to be of considerable height, almost mountains, in the
+doubtful light of morning.  Philip, with Harry, and Charley, and Peter,
+with a lad they had hired, pulled, while Mr Ashton steered.  "Row,
+brothers, row," sang out Harry.  "Our home is a-head, and daylight is
+past.  I am glad that the rapids are not near, though, for with our
+well-freighted craft it would be a ticklish job running them, I guess."
+
+The moon soon rose large and clear, a brilliant globe floating in aether
+rather than the pale-coloured disc which it appears in England.  As it
+shot upward in the clear sky it shed a silvery light over the scene,
+which became perfectly fairy-like in its beauty.  "It is well worth
+leaving all the glare and bustle of London for the sake of enjoying such
+a scene as this," said Sophy, and her sisters echoed the sentiment.  "I
+remember just such an one on Como," observed Philip, who had made a tour
+on the Continent during the last long vacation.  "But even if the scene
+we have left equalled this in beauty, I should prize this far more,"
+replied his sister.  "I will tell you why.  I feel that this is our own;
+we are at home here, and may admire it without regret, because we know
+that we may enjoy it over and over again."
+
+"Hillo! what boat is that?" shouted a voice from some distance, and a
+dark object glided from behind a tree-covered islet they were passing,
+and crossed the bright pathway which the moon cast athwart the lake.
+
+"What, D'Arcy! is that you?" shouted Philip, in return.
+
+"It's myself, unless I happen to be changed into another gintleman," was
+the Irish-like reply.
+
+"All right, old fellow, come along.  I want your promised aid," said
+Philip.  "I have some few cargoes of goods to be transported across the
+lake before the moon sets, and you are the very man I was wishing for."
+
+"Why, Philip, are you not asking too much of a gentleman who must be
+almost a stranger to you?" enquired Sophy, in a doubtful tone.
+
+"Not at all; we all help each other out here; I have found out that,"
+answered her brother.  "He is a capital fellow, a gentleman to the
+backbone, and knows that I will do the same for him with equal pleasure.
+We are fortunate in having such a neighbour, and from what he tells me,
+he hopes to have his mother and sisters out when he has got things a
+little square."
+
+D'Arcy's boat was soon alongside.  When he heard who had arrived, he
+volunteered at once to go to the settlement to begin loading his boat,
+that he might assist Philip when he wanted to load his.
+
+"A capital idea, D'Arcy, just like you; do so, old fellow," was all
+Philip said as they parted.
+
+In a short time the boat was alongside a small wooden pier, which
+afforded a convenient landing-place.
+
+"The house is some way up the hill; I will steer you between the
+stumps," said Philip, offering his arm to his mother, while the rest
+followed in their wake.  A few minutes' walk brought them in front of a
+plank edifice of the Swiss cottage style; the defects of which, whatever
+they were, were not visible by moonlight.  There were four doors, and as
+many rather diminutive windows.  "This is but a summer house, remember,"
+said Philip, as they stood before the long low building.  "We had to
+build our house according to our planks; your room is at one end, then
+comes the sitting-room, and then ours, and the girls'.  Remember, five
+days ago the foundations were not commenced.  We don't take long to
+raise a house in this country;--but, enter."
+
+All were delighted, for although the cottage was but a long narrow shed,
+by means of three divisions and a liberal use of canvas and paper,
+Philip and his assistants had formed a neat sitting-room and two
+bedrooms, besides a rougher one for himself and his brothers.  In the
+sitting-room was a table covered with a most attractive looking meal,
+though decked with neither china, glass, nor plate.  A bright lamp
+hanging from the roof lighted up the little room, and gave it much of
+the appearance of a cabin.  "We have only to fancy," said Philip, "that
+we are on board ship without the danger of shipwreck, or being tumbled
+about in a storm, and we may congratulate ourselves on the extent of our
+accommodation.  We have twice as many cubic feet of air for each person
+as the passengers on board an emigrant ship, and can admit as much more
+as we please.  There, make yourselves at home.  Father will now do the
+honours, and Jem is boiling the kettle for tea in the kitchen.  I must
+be off, and hope to be back soon with D'Arcy and your traps."
+
+Away went Philip down to the boat, whence his father with the rest had
+been bringing up her lading.  Who could have recognised in the
+energetic, high-spirited backwoodsman Philip had become, the refined and
+somewhat sedate and stiff young student of a year ago.  By-the-bye, the
+kitchen of which he spoke was a lean-to of birch-bark, under which a
+camp stove had been placed; near it was a shed prepared for the
+reception of the stores, among which Peter proposed to take up his
+abode.  Philip's plan of fitting up the cottage was much admired.  To
+the walls and roof he had first nailed some common canvas, on this he
+had pasted newspapers, which he had again covered with a common
+cheerful-looking paper, such as is used generally for covering walls.
+The table itself consisted of some rough planks nailed to tressels, and
+the bedsteads were formed of rough pine poles with canvas stretched
+across them.  Shelves and pegs round the rooms would enable their
+inmates to keep them as neat as cabins.
+
+The voices of the rest of the party were heard sooner than was expected.
+"We pressed the third boat on the lake into our service and have
+brought everything," said Philip, entering with a slight young man, who,
+in spite of a very rough, much worn costume, looked the gentleman.  "I
+have the pleasure of introducing my friend Mr Lawrence D'Arcy, my
+fellow labourer, who, let me tell you, made every inch of the furniture
+of our mansion in a wondrous brief time.  He had not begun it yesterday
+morning, for he was helping me to paper the walls till nearly noon."
+
+"It is the work of a self-taught artist," said Lawrence D'Arcy.  "But,
+really, there is little to boast of in having put together a few rough
+poles.  The plan is the only thing to merit commendation."
+
+Of course everybody thanked Mr D'Arcy, and he at once felt himself
+perfectly at home.  Never did the finest baronial mansion afford more
+satisfaction to the occupiers than did Philip's quickly-built cottage.
+It stood on a platform on the side of the hill, looking south over the
+lake, and sheltered by the ground above it from the icy blast of the
+north.  There was not space on the platform for a larger building; but a
+little way off was a much wider piece of level ground, and here already
+logs were laid for a log house.
+
+"The cottage was an after-thought," said Philip, showing the plan of the
+log house.  "I knew that we could not get this fitted up in time, and
+planking being abundant and cheap, I bethought me of running up a plank
+cottage which will serve you till you can get into the more substantial
+mansion.  With a stove and additional banking up outside it may be made
+warm enough even for winter."  Never was a family more busy, or one more
+contented and happy.
+
+"Our present abode will make a magnificent dairy when we get into the
+big mansion," cried Agnes, as she saw the walls of the log house quickly
+rising.  "How clean and nice the pans will look arranged round the walls
+and the churn in the middle."
+
+"Your notions are rather too grand, I fear, dear," said her mother.  "We
+have only got one cow, and there will be room here for the milk of
+fifty."
+
+"Ah! but the day will come when we may have fifty.  That beautiful
+meadow by the side of the stream to the right will feed almost that
+number," said Agnes.
+
+"I should be content with four or five, so that we may make our own
+butter and cheese, and have cream and milk in abundance," observed
+Fanny.  "I should like to have time to attend to our garden, and
+poultry, and pigs; and then, remember, we are not to grow into savages,
+so we must have reading, and keep up our music and drawing, and then
+there will be all sorts of household work to attend to."
+
+Sophy sided with Fanny, and Philip put an end to the discussion about
+the dairy, by telling them that he had calculated on using up the planks
+of the cottage for the flooring of part of the new house.
+
+That building got on with wonderful rapidity.  Day after day Mr
+Lawrence D'Arcy came over with his man Terry, a faithful fellow, born on
+his father's estate in Ireland, who had been his servant in the army for
+several years.  Philip had, for the purpose of economising heat and
+saving roofing, resolved to make the house of two stories.  The walls
+were formed of horizontal logs; the upper part of each log was scooped
+out so as to admit the round of the one above it to fit in, and the ends
+were deeply notched for the logs forming the walls at a right angle to
+it.  A height sufficient for the ground floor chambers having been
+gained, notches were cut and the rafters placed across.  Shears were
+erected to raise the higher logs, and shingles, which are thin split
+planks of fir, formed the roof.  The house stood on a platform to raise
+it above the snow; the floor being thus some way from the ground.  A
+verandah ran round the whole building, affording a sheltered walk when
+the inmates might not otherwise be able to get fresh air.
+
+Had not the settlers been so strong handed, the work now accomplished
+could not have been performed before the winter; but it was the fable of
+the bundle of sticks exemplified.  Such a building would not have been
+attempted except for the sake of the ladies, as the settlers would have
+employed all their strength in preparing the ground for cultivation.
+That necessary proceeding was not however neglected, and six acres were
+chopped and burnt off before the snow covered up the brushwood.
+
+"Here we are, fairly settled in our log house," said Mr Ashton, as he
+surveyed the result of his son's architectural skill.  "Let us with
+grateful hearts thank our Heavenly Father who has led us thus far in
+safety."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+There were signs that the winter was about to begin.  Snow-storms had
+appeared from over the hill and swept across the lake.  Ice had formed
+around the edges in shallow pools, but the hot sun had come out and
+completely thawed it.  Often among the pine woods the heat was
+excessive.  Had it not been for the rich growing tints of the trees
+which fringed the lake and covered its islets, it would have been
+difficult to suppose that summer had passed away.  There were the bright
+reds and yellows of the maple, the pale straw-colour of the beech, the
+copper hues of the oaks; and, indeed, Sophy found that she could exhaust
+all the brightest colours of her paint-box, and yet not give sufficient
+variety or brilliancy to portray correctly the gorgeous tints of the
+landscape spread out before the window; nor was there blue to be found
+equal to the blue of the lake, still less of the sky above it.  She was
+glad that she had finished her drawing in time, for a strong north wind
+sprang up, and a sharp frost sent every leaf, pinched off, flying away,
+and the next morning a few only hanging to dead boughs gave a somewhat
+warm tinge to the otherwise dark green and dark brown appearance of the
+lake shore.
+
+"Excellent! it would give my dear people at home some idea of the
+beauties we have out here," exclaimed D'Arcy, who happened to look in
+the day Sophy had finished her sketch.  "I should be so thankful if you
+could make a copy for me; still more so if I might aspire to possess the
+original."
+
+"What could have made Sophy blush so just now?" said Charley to Agnes,
+after D'Arcy had taken his leave.  "There the dear thing stands looking
+at the lake: what a wonder to see her doing nothing."
+
+D'Arcy leaped gaily into his boat, hoisted the main-sail, a large one
+for her size, cast off the painter, and hauling aft the main-sheet as
+she paid-off with the fore-sail, waved an adieu to his friends on shore.
+The lake sparkled brightly as miniature waves curled over its surface;
+faster and faster the boat flew amid them, seeming to delight in her
+freedom.  The breeze freshened; a black cloud came up along the course
+of the river from Lake Huron; it rushed across the sky, followed by
+others, casting a shadow over the lake.  A shriek from Sophy made Philip
+rush out from his workshop, saw in hand, followed by Harry.  The white
+sail of D'Arcy's boat had disappeared, and a dark mass was alone visible
+on the spot where she had been.
+
+"He is a good swimmer, and will have got upon the bottom," cried Philip;
+but his heart misgave him, for the cold wind had made D'Arcy put on his
+thick coat and heavy boots; Harry ran towards their large boat.  The
+sails and oars were on shore.  "No, no,--the canoe!" cried Philip.  An
+Indian hunter, a friend of D'Arcy's, had left his canoe on the beach in
+the morning.  The paddles were in her.  To launch her and step gingerly
+in was the work of an instant; and fast as Philip and Harry could ply
+their paddles, the light canoe flew across the lake.
+
+The rest of the family were soon on the shore; Mr Ashton, who saw the
+danger to which his sons were exposed in their eagerness to save their
+friend, watching their progress with the greatest anxiety.  He
+unfortunately did not understand the management of a boat as did his
+sons; nor did Peter, or he would have gone after them.  The canoe tossed
+up and down, apparently scarcely able to buffet with even the small
+waves, to the lashing of which she was exposed.  Still Philip and Harry
+bravely pursued their course, their eyes straining a-head, and utterly
+regardless of the danger they themselves were running.
+
+"Phil, can you see him?" cried Harry.  "I think I do.  Yes, surely,
+there's something moving on the boat's keel."
+
+"Yes, I hope so: he's lying his length along it; he could not sit up,"
+answered Philip.  "How bitterly cold the wind blows out here."
+
+"Yes, he will be almost frozen, poor fellow; he will lose his boat,
+too," said Harry.  "Shall we carry him on to his place, or back to our
+own?"
+
+"Certainly, to ours.  In his own hut he has no one to look after him
+properly; while with us he will have no lack of nurses," remarked
+Philip.  "Paddle away, Harry; he sees us."
+
+"Hurrah, D'Arcy!" cried Harry, "we are coming to you, old fellow."  A
+hand was seen to wave in return to Harry's cheer.  "All right--all
+right!" cried Harry, delighted, "he is there and alive!"
+
+D'Arcy had managed to get one of his boots off, but he had great
+difficulty in clinging to the keel.  He did not cry out to his friends
+to make haste, for he knew that they were doing their utmost to reach
+him.  They encouraged him, however, to hold on; for they judged, by the
+chilly blast which swept across the lake, that he must be numbed and
+fainting.  At length they got alongside the boat; and now the greatest
+caution was necessary, lest, in taking him in, the canoe should be
+capsized.  The boat likewise, on being touched, might roll up, and with
+her mast stave in the fragile side of the canoe.  It seemed almost
+impossible to accomplish their object without upsetting themselves.
+Those who know what a birch-bark canoe is like will best understand the
+difficulty.
+
+"Take me in by the head," said D'Arcy; "I'll crawl in."
+
+They accordingly paddled round to the stern of the boat, to which Philip
+made the bow of the canoe fast, and he was then able to reach over
+sufficiently to take hold of D'Arcy's hands, and to drag him on till he
+could place one foot on each gunwale of the canoe, and then, by drawing
+himself back, he took the weight off the bow and gradually drew his
+friend on board.  D'Arcy's knees, however, very nearly went through the
+thin bottom.  He asked them to continue on to his clearing, that he
+might get off again and try to save his boat; but Philip would not hear
+of it.
+
+"No, no," he answered, "she will drift on shore not far off, and we
+shall easily be able to find her; and you will catch your death of cold
+if you are not looked after immediately."
+
+"But poor Terry will go out of his mind if he supposes that I am lost,"
+argued D'Arcy.
+
+"We will try to let him know," said Philip.  "Besides, at our place, if
+we go on, they will not know whether we are all lost, or you are saved."
+
+This settled the question.  "There, lie down at the bottom, and we will
+cover you up with our jackets," said Philip.  "Give way, Harry."
+
+To paddle back in the teeth of the freezing wind was no easy work, and
+more than once Philip wished that, for his friend's sake, he had gone on
+to his clearing; still, he guessed rightly, that every means to prevent
+injurious effects would be got ready.  Manfully they paddled on, but the
+spray from the small but quick-coming waves dashed in their faces, and
+the slightest cessation of exertion allowed the light canoe to be blown
+back again like a feather before the breeze.  Nobly they persevered.
+Once under the lee of the land, they knew that their progress would be
+more rapid.  At last they caught sight of their own landing-place.
+Philip gave a flourish with his paddle, and pointed to the bottom of the
+canoe.  The communication was understood, and a door, with blankets,
+were ready to carry D'Arcy up to the house.  He begged, however, to be
+allowed to walk up, declaring that he was well able to do so, though he
+did not object to having a couple of blankets thrown over his shoulders.
+He found, however, that he had miscalculated his strength, and without
+help he could scarcely move.  The next morning the effects of the
+wetting and exposure were more conspicuous, and all the skill of Nurse
+Summers was required to bring him round.  For several days he was kept
+in bed, and even when he was able to get up, the Ashtons would not let
+him leave them.  "You are utterly unfit for work, my dear fellow," said
+Philip.  "You will get well here much faster than sitting over the fire
+in your own shanty, and leave Terry more at liberty to go on with your
+house.  He is contented enough now he knows we have you in safe
+keeping."
+
+It was wonderful with what equanimity Mr D'Arcy consented to remain the
+guest of the Ashtons.  He was not idle, for he read while the ladies
+worked, taught Charley to net, and took Philip's place as his
+schoolmaster in the evening, and imparted a large stock of
+backwoodsman's lore to all the family.  Philip and Harry had, directly
+they returned after rescuing him, set off in their big boat, and arrived
+at his clearing in time to prevent poor Terry from going out of his
+mind, which he was nearly doing at seeing his master's boat drift by,
+and believing he was lost.  They found him wringing his hands, and
+uttering a truly Irish lament as he contemplated the boat which had
+driven on shore a short distance from the cottage shanty.  So occupied
+had he been in watching the upset boat that he had not observed their
+approach.
+
+"Och! sad's the day; and I'll never more be after seeing him again, the
+dear young masther, barrin' it's his corpse is sent up by the cruel
+waves on the shore, and I'll be left all alone in this desart counthry
+to bury him, the last hope of the D'Arcys, instead of in the tomb of his
+ancestors in ould Ireland.  And what'll the poor misthress be doing when
+she hears the news? sorrow a bit could my hand write the words; I
+couldn't do it even if I had the 'art, nor my tongue tell it, I'd sooner
+cut it out of my mouth; and sweet Misthress Katharine and Misthress
+Lily, they'll cry their pretty eyes out, they will."  Again he set up a
+long, melancholy howl, not unlike that of a dog baying at the moon.  The
+sound of the Ashtons' boat touching the shore made him look up, with an
+expression of hope in his countenance, as if he expected to see his
+master, but it suddenly changed to one of still greater sorrow when he
+discovered that he was not of the party.
+
+Philip, eager to soothe his anxiety, shouted out, as he stepped on
+shore, "Come up, Terry, we have him all safe on shore, only rather wet
+and cold."
+
+"Is it the thruth ye are spaking, Masther Philip?  Arrah, an' I'm shure
+it is," cried Terry, rushing towards him with frantic gestures of
+delight.  "Just say that word again, he's safe, an' blessins on yer
+honest face, for I'm shure ye could not desave a poor gossoon like
+myself."  Philip repeated his assertion, and was not a little astonished
+to find himself seized in Terry's arms, and hugged till the breath was
+nearly out of his body.  The honest fellow's feelings then gave way in a
+burst of tears, which flowed while he apologised for the liberty he
+became conscious he had taken.
+
+D'Arcy's stay with his friends was prolonged over several days, and it
+was not till he was perfectly recovered that they would allow him to go
+back to his clearing.  He found several subjects to ponder on when he
+got there.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+The south wind blew softly, the air was pure and balmy, the sun shone
+brightly, and the waters of the lake vied with the sky in the clearness
+of its azure tints.  The birds too were warbling forth a happy song;
+not, however, with the full swelling chorus of spring, but yet
+sufficiently to give cheerfulness to the otherwise silent woods.  It is
+a calumny on the feathered tribes of Canada to assert that they have no
+song; the blackbird can sing when he is inclined, as sweetly as his
+brother in England, and the Canadian robin's notes are as full of glee
+as those of his smaller namesake in the old country.
+
+"By turning our eyes from the bare maples, beeches, and oaks, towards
+the pine trees, we might fancy that summer had come back again," said
+Philip; "the Indian summer at all events.  Should to-morrow be like
+this, I propose knocking up D'Arcy.  It's some days since we heard of
+him, and he will be feeling that we got tired of him with his visit
+here, poor fellow."
+
+"Oh! don't let him think that," exclaimed Sophy, earnestly.
+
+"No, that I will not," said Philip.  "Who'll go?  A little recreation
+will do some of us good, and we'll work all the better when we come
+back."
+
+Something kept Sophy from volunteering to be of the party, but her
+younger sisters jumped at the proposal.
+
+"I know that you are carefulness itself, Philip," said Mrs Ashton; "but
+I entreat you to have but very little sail set."
+
+"Indeed, mother, I will carry only what is absolutely necessary,"
+answered Philip.  "We need be in no hurry--if the breeze holds, we shall
+have a soldier's wind, fair each way."
+
+The breeze did not hold, and towards evening a thick fog came on.
+During the night a curious crackling sound was heard, and when daylight
+returned, the whole lake appeared frozen over.  The entire household was
+soon on foot and braving the keen frosty air, to observe the change
+which a few short hours had wrought.  There must have been a perfect
+calm when the ice took, for the entire surface of the lake was smooth as
+a polished mirror and of the same hue; while the surrounding trees and
+every shrub and blade of grass to be seen was covered with a coating of
+the purest white.  Suddenly the sun rose above the wooded hill to the
+east, and the whole side of the lake on which its beams were cast, began
+to sparkle and flash as if covered with gems of the purest water.  A
+light breeze waved the branches to and fro, and now they flashed and
+shone with increased brilliancy, fresh colours bursting into sight till
+not a gem was unrepresented in this gorgeous display of "nature's
+jewel-box," as Harry called it.
+
+"Well, Fanny," he exclaimed, "you need not regret being unable to go to
+court, for I am very certain that all the duchesses, and countesses, and
+lady mayoresses to boot, couldn't make such a display as that."
+
+As the warmth of the sun increased, the trees began to drip, and the
+lovely spectacle vanished by noon.
+
+"We need not regret it, for beautiful as it was, I believe that we may
+see many more to surpass it before the return of spring," said Mr
+Ashton.  "Ah! little do our pitying friends at home guess the ample
+amends which nature makes to us for what we have lost.  I prize the
+blessings we enjoyed in England; but, after all, we have only exchanged
+them for others which our beneficent Maker has bestowed on us of equal
+value."
+
+The ice, though bearing in some places, could not be trusted, and of
+course the expedition to D'Arcy's clearing was given up for the present;
+but in the evening, when work was over, skates were unpacked, cleared of
+rust, and fitted to shoes.  All hands set to work with increased vigour
+to fell the trees, that they might be burnt off before the snow should
+make the operation more difficult.  "Another night like the last, and I
+verily believe we might skate across the lake," cried Harry, rubbing his
+hands to restore the circulation of which the cold had deprived them.
+
+"Look out for frost-bites, my boys," said Mr Ashton; "Mr Norman
+charged me above all things to see that you kept your hands and feet
+warm."
+
+The ladies of the family were busily employed in lining the boys' caps,
+and fixing flaps for their ears, and in making mittens and comforters.
+One point they had not discovered, and had to learn by experience, the
+uselessness of English boots and shoes, however thick, for the bush in
+winter, and that nothing can surpass, and scarcely any foot-gear equal,
+a light shoe or slipper, with a very thick ribbed worsted sock over it,
+put into an india-rubber golosh, which is kept on by a high spring
+gaiter.  [See Note 1.] There was no longer any doubt about the ice
+bearing, and so, having worked hard all the morning, Philip, Harry, and
+Charley set off with skates on feet, the two latter in high glee at the
+thought of going so great a distance over the ice.  They had been
+practising for the last three days in a shallow bay near the house, and
+had no misgivings as to holding out.  Philip would rather have gone
+alone, or at all events, with Harry only; but Charley begged go hard to
+be allowed to accompany them that he did not like to refuse him.  They
+expected not to be more than three hours away at the utmost.  The skates
+were fixed firmly on the feet.  Philip wisely tried his by making two or
+three outside edge circles and figures of eight.  "Are you ready, boys?
+Follow your leader, and away we go."  Away they went.  Right leg--left
+leg--resting for fifteen seconds or so on each--their bodies now
+slightly inclined to one side, now to the other, like ships making short
+tacks.  It was exhilarating exercise.  Their spirits rose to the highest
+pitch as they glided on--they shouted and laughed with glee--Charley
+managed to keep up, but what was sport to his brothers, was rather hard
+work to him; still he would not beg them to slacken their speed, but
+kept on bravely till his legs began to ache.  They had heard Philip say
+that they were not likely to have many such days during the winter for
+skating; for though there would be no want of ice, it would be soon so
+covered with snow, that it would be impossible to get over it.  They
+might easily, to be sure, sweep a space in the ice clear of snow, but
+that would be very tame work compared to flying over miles of ice as
+they were now doing.  Charley, therefore, would not, if he could help
+it, ask his brothers to stop.  At last he found himself falling behind.
+With his utmost exertions he could not keep up with them.  While he was
+thinking whether he should call out, his foot struck something (it was
+the thick part of a branch which had been floating when the lake froze),
+and down he came.
+
+"O, Harry, Harry!" he cried out.  Harry heard him, and circling round,
+skated back to his assistance.  Philip had gone some way, when not
+hearing his brothers' voices, he swept round on a half circle to ask
+them why they had become so suddenly dull.  What was his dismay to find
+that they were not near him.  Both were stretched their length, as it
+seemed, on the ice, at a considerable distance.  As he turned he was
+conscious of a cracking noise, which seemed to pass from one end of the
+lake to the other.  Still he must reach his brothers, or attempt to do
+so, even should the ice be giving way every stroke he made.
+
+"Oh, the ice is giving way! the ice is giving way!" cried Charley; but
+though the cracking sound increased, Philip did not perceive any other
+sign of this being the case.
+
+"What is the matter with you, Harry?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, I went to help Charley, and tumbled over the same log which
+capsized him," was the answer.  "He says that the ice is giving way, and
+certainly the water does look terribly near to it."  Such, indeed, was
+the case.  Philip, from having kept his eyes fixed on the land-marks
+about D'Arcy's clearing, had not observed this so much as Harry now did,
+with his nose close down to it.  Wisely keeping at a little distance, he
+advised them to crawl away from the spot where they had fallen, and
+then, a little apart from each other, to get on their feet and proceed.
+Once more they were on their course, but Philip made them keep one on
+each side of him, going at a less speed than before.  It was nervous
+work, though, for the cracking noise increased in loudness till it
+rivalled that of thunder--seeming to pass under their very feet.  Speed
+and lightness of tread was everything.  For himself Philip had no fear.
+He dreaded only lest Charley should again fall, and so did his best to
+keep up his spirits, and to banish the nervousness from which he saw
+that he was suffering.  As they neared the shore the noises ceased and
+their spirits rose, though they were not sorry to see D'Arcy standing on
+the beach to receive them.
+
+His greeting was cordial.  "I have been watching you for some time, and
+did I own a pair of skates I should have come out to meet you," he said.
+"When you all stopped, I began to form a sleigh to push off to your
+assistance, in case any one of you should have been hurt, when I
+observed that you were all on the move again.  Instead, therefore, of
+going on with it, I sent in Terry to cook some dinner, which you will be
+wanting after your long fly."
+
+The dinner was the usual bush fare--pork and potatoes (forming an Irish
+stew), fish, caught before the frost began, and a dumpling, which
+probably had been thought of only when the guests were first descried in
+the distance.  The young men did ample justice to the feast, and perhaps
+spent a longer time over it than they intended.  They had plenty to say,
+about their own experiences especially; and when the young Ashtons
+compared notes with D'Arcy, they had reason to consider their own trials
+far less than his.  He had been left alone to fight the battle of life,
+or rather with a mother and sister depending on him.  After a once fine
+property which he had nominally inherited had been sold in the Irish
+Incumbered Estates Court, he had found himself with the merest pittance
+on which to support them.  With a small sum he had embarked for Canada,
+and was now forming a home for those he loved so well.  There were
+numbers of men in similar positions, of whom he knew in the
+neighbourhood and in different parts of the province--not all, however,
+doing equally well--some were successful, and they were the sober,
+industrious, and judicious; others were in a bad way, mostly for the
+best of reasons, because they were idle, and had taken to drinking--not
+hard drinking, perhaps.
+
+"That is not necessary to ruin a fellow," said D'Arcy.  "I know several
+of the description I speak of,--gentlemen of birth and education.  There
+is one especially, who, probably, begins the day after breakfast by
+smoking a pipe or two, then takes axe or spade in hand, and coming in to
+an early dinner feels his solitude, and that he must have a talk with
+somebody.  Instead of continuing his work, he mounts his cob, after
+taking a glass or two of rum or whiskey grog--the more out of spirits he
+feels the stiffer it is--and rides off to knock up some neighbour,
+perhaps his equal, or perhaps utterly unfit to be his companion, as far
+as social intercourse is concerned.  On the way he looks in at the
+store-house; he has an account, and takes a glass or two more, desiring
+that it may be put down to him.  Of course he never recollects how many
+glasses he has had, nor how his account is swelling.  He finds his
+friend, brings him in (probably not unwillingly) from his work, and the
+two spend the rest of the day together.  He may find his way home at
+night, or he may take a shake-down, and, rising with a splitting
+headache, find himself utterly unable to do anything.  He is going to
+the bad very rapidly.  His friends in England send him out money
+occasionally, under the belief that it is spent on the farm, but it all
+goes to pay off the storekeeper's account.  Had it not been for this
+assistance he would have knocked up long ago.  As it is, I expect that
+he has already mortgaged his farm, for a small amount, may be; but it's
+a beginning--a second will follow--it is so easy an operation, and the
+end cannot be far off.  Now poor Jack Mason will go back to England, his
+friends helping him, and abuse Canada, and say that it is a country
+totally unfit for a gentleman to live in--that hardy, rough fellows may
+subsist, but that no one can do more--no one can make a fortune."
+
+"A man must have energy, talent, and perseverance to succeed here, as
+well as at home," said Philip.  "The difference is, that in England,
+possessing them, he may not succeed; here, possessing them, he must
+succeed.  To commence the life of a backwoodsman, he must have health
+and strength, with the other qualifications you have mentioned.  Once
+having got a footing in the country, he must watch the openings which
+are sure to present themselves: the man of talent will take advantage of
+them, and rise to wealth; the man without talent will go on slowly
+improving his condition, and will be happy and respected.  What more can
+a man desire?"
+
+"I agree with you, Phil; at the same time that I intend to look out for
+the openings, and walk in if I can," answered D'Arcy.  "When my
+guardians decided that I was to emigrate, or rather that they could do
+nothing for me at home, they liberally gave me the choice of Australia,
+New Zealand, the Cape, or British North America.  I have an idea they
+cared very little where I went, so that I went away and gave them no
+further trouble.  I had been dining the day before, in Dublin, at the
+mess of the --- Regiment, which had just returned from Canada, and they
+were all high in its praise;--such pleasant quarters, such gaiety, such
+sleighing, shooting, fishing, boating.  Several declared that they would
+sell out and settle there.  Naturally I chose Canada, without weighing
+its advantages with those of the other provinces; and though I found the
+reality of a settler's life very different to the fancy picture I had
+drawn, having made up my mind to go through with it, whatever it might
+prove, I stuck to it, and have great reason to be thankful that I did
+so.  Still, I fancy that people can make fortunes in Australia much
+faster than one can here."
+
+"May be so; but fortune is not the only thing desirable," said Philip.
+"All settlers do not make fortunes in Australia,--we hear only of the
+successful ones; and then I cannot help thinking, that our Canadian
+climate, with its wonderful changes, our varied scenery, our
+institutions, and our society,--I don't mean in such an out-of-the-way
+place as this, but such as are found at Toronto and elsewhere,--are
+items which may be placed to the credit of this Province, and give it a
+superiority over every other.  I have often fancied that there must be
+something monotonous and depressing in Australian bush-life; the very
+uniformity of the seasons and of the face of the country must produce
+this effect.  However, old fellow, here we are: and whether the land be
+a good, bad, or indifferent land compared with others, you and I have
+made up our minds to make the best of it.  But it is time that we were
+off; we had not intended remaining so long."
+
+Philip and his brothers started up.  "You must have coffee before you
+go; it is a home manufacture, and so are all the ingredients."  Terry
+poured it out of a veritable big coffeepot--hot, with plenty of sugar
+and milk.  It was pronounced excellent.  "See, Harry, you and Charley
+may supply your family with first-rate coffee," said D'Arcy.  "We shall
+have a thaw before the winter sets in; dig up all the dandelion roots
+you can find; dry them in the sun or in your oven for keeping; roast
+them before use; and cut them up and grind them as you would
+coffee-berries.  This is the result.  By-the-bye, Phil," he added, "you
+told me that you had not caught any fish lately.  It is just possible
+that a change may be pleasant; and if you don't mind carrying a couple
+each of you, will you present them to your mother with my best
+compliments?  I have got them slung ready for you, so that you have only
+to throw them over your shoulders as you are starting."  He did not
+consider that even a few pounds weight makes a considerable difference
+to a skater.  Philip, however, did not like to refuse his kind offer,
+knowing that it gave him pleasure to send the fish, and would give those
+at home pleasure to receive them.  Terry accordingly was directed to
+bring out the fish, which were hard frozen, and were slung with ropes of
+grass, and packed with pads of grass to keep them off the back.
+
+D'Arcy assured them that the cracking sound they had heard was no sign
+of danger, but, on the contrary, showed that the ice had taken in every
+part.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  An Indian mocassin over two pairs of thick socks is good in a
+hard frost, but gets wet through with the slightest moisture.  The most
+important objects are to allow no pressure on any part of the foot or
+ankle, to keep the feet warm and protected from fallen branches or any
+other hard substance rising above the snow.  In thawing weather high
+waterproof boots worn over two pairs of thick socks or stockings.  The
+object of having the outer sock ribbed is to allow the evaporation from
+the skin to have space between the outer sock and the boot; the foot and
+inner sock will thus remain perfectly dry.  The author has walked long
+distances with this sort of foot-gear with the greatest comfort.
+Perfect freedom for the foot and toes is, it must be repeated, most
+essential.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+As the hut was close to the lake the skates were buckled on in the
+warmth, and together the whole party issued forth, D'Arcy promising to
+come across the next day in a sleigh he had built.
+
+During the brief period they had spent in the hut the wind had changed,
+and with it the weather.  Thick clouds floated overhead low down,
+lightish in colour though dense; the air was sensibly warmer.  Philip
+looking at his younger brother said, "Charley, I have a great mind to
+leave you behind; it will be harder work than coming."  But Charley
+considered that his manliness was disparaged, and insisted on starting.
+"Well, we may reach home before the snow falls," said Philip, shaking
+D'Arcy's hand, and adding, "We shall all be glad to see you."
+
+Away they went; but not two minutes had passed before snow-flakes began
+to fall, a few only settling on their faces.  They were the forerunners
+of others; thicker and thicker they fell; now they rushed down
+hurriedly, covering the surface of the lake with a white sheet.  Did the
+brothers hear D'Arcy's voice joined with Terry's shouting to them to
+come back?  They had, however, got so far on their way that, even had
+they been certain of the fact, they would not have liked to do so.  On
+they at all events went.  Philip kept his eyes fixed on his own hill,
+but the outline soon became very dim.  Thicker and thicker fell the
+snow; still they were in their proper course, Philip thought.
+
+"Can you make out the hill, Harry?" he asked.
+
+"No, Phil; cannot you?" answered Harry: "what's to be done?"
+
+"Push on, of course; the snow may stop falling, and we may see our way
+again," said Philip.
+
+The snow, however, did not stop falling, but rather came down thicker
+and faster.  Charley held out bravely, working on his way through the
+snow.  Skating was far greater labour than before.  This should not have
+been: hard snow would have easily been pushed aside; a part of this
+melted as it fell.  Philip did not express his fears to his brothers,
+though he became very anxious.  "What can we do?" he kept saying to
+himself.  "We must keep on; we may hit our home or some parts of the
+shore which we know, and from which we may reach it either walking over
+land, or by coasting along on skates."  His greatest fear was
+approaching the commencement of the channel or river which communicated
+with Lake Huron, where, as the stream was rapid, the ice probably was
+not formed, and their destruction would be nearly inevitable.  The
+dangerous point was to the right of their course; he therefore naturally
+inclined to the left.  "I wish we were there," said Charley at length,
+in a doleful tone.  On they went; the pace became slower and slower; the
+youngest brother kept very close to Philip.  "Really I think we might do
+better without our skates," observed Charley; but Philip judged rightly
+that skates would still avail them most.  They went on--on--on.  Harry
+declared that they ought to have reached home long before this.  Philip
+thought so likewise, but did not express his fears; it was important to
+keep up his brothers' spirits.  Had there been a strong wind he might
+have continued to keep on a straight course; but there was not a breath,
+and the snow came down from all directions, as Harry observed, "just as
+if a flock of geese were being plucked overhead."  The flakes were
+almost as big as feathers.  In vain Philip looked out for a break in the
+thick woolly veil.  Brave Charley kept up manfully; his legs were
+getting very tired, though.  He said nothing; but he could not help
+uttering low sighs as he worked on, and wishing that he had a pair of
+wings to lift up his body.  No one could speak except about their hopes
+or fears.
+
+At last Charley felt that his knees were failing under him.  "O, Phil, I
+must stop," he cried out.
+
+Philip took him by the hand and cheered him up.  "Hold out a little
+longer, dear Charley; we must be near the shore," he exclaimed.  Charley
+said he would try, and supported on each hand by his brothers went on.
+He was again nearly giving in, when Philip cried out, "Land a-head!--
+land a-head!  High land with tall trees close down to the lake.  It must
+be near home."
+
+They pushed on vigorously.  In less than a minute they ran up against a
+rock; the tall trees changed into low bushes, and the high land into a
+clump of trees in the middle of a small island.  Bitter was their
+disappointment.  A moment's consideration made Philip and Harry certain
+that it was an island they had visited at the southern end of the lake,
+and three or four miles distant both from their own and D'Arcy's
+clearings.  On examining the bark of the trees, and the direction in
+which they bent, they were convinced that they had been making a circle,
+as they had landed exactly on the opposite side to that which they might
+have expected.  From the time they had been moving on, they had probably
+made more than one circle; if they started off again, how could they
+expect to steer a straighter course.  It was evidently growing darker,
+and night would soon come on.
+
+The responsibility resting on Philip's shoulders was very great; not
+that he felt very uneasy about his brothers and himself, but he was sure
+that the dear ones at home would be anxious about them.  Had he been
+alone he would have made another attempt to reach home; but Charley
+could not go further, and Harry would very likely knock up.  He
+determined to remain on the island during the night, unless the weather
+should clear up and they should be able to see their way across to the
+main shore.  No time, however, was to be lost to prepare for the night
+before daylight should altogether depart.  Philip was too good a
+backwoodsman to have left home without his axe and match-box.
+
+"D'Arcy little thought how useful his fish would prove to us," said
+Philip, as he looked about for the best spot on which to put up a shed.
+"We shall not starve; for that we should be thankful."
+
+"And look here, we may have a plentiful dessert," cried Charley, coming
+up with his hands full of brilliant scarlet berries of a long oval form.
+"See, I know that these are good to eat; Sophy was preserving some of
+them two days ago, and said so."  The berries were the high bush
+cranberries which grow on a shrub about the height of the guelder rose.
+Charley had soon collected many more than he and his brothers could
+possibly eat, especially as they had no sugar to eat them with.
+
+"Come, Charley, as you are able to move about, set to work and collect
+wood, for we shall have to keep up a blazing fire all night," said
+Philip, as he began to chop away at some small trees to form the posts
+of his proposed shed.  Harry meantime was getting lighter poles and
+branches to form a roof.  The spot selected by Philip for the hut was in
+a sheltered nook under some thickly matted cedars which would greatly
+protect it from the snow.  The materials were soon brought together; and
+so expert had the brothers become in all handiwork, that they quickly
+made it habitable.  The roof they covered with birch-bark, picked up
+under the trees from which it fell, as also the lower part of the sides,
+banking them up with snow.  Boughs of spruce-fir formed no contemptible
+couches.  In a very short time they had built a tolerably comfortable
+hut.  Their fire was the next thing to be attended to.  There was plenty
+of drift-wood just above the ice, and dead boughs sufficient to keep up
+a blazing fire all night: it was soon lighted.  Two of the fish were
+held before it till they melted sufficiently to allow of being cleaned;
+Philip then having cut some forked sticks, forced them into the ground
+not yet frozen far down, and with a slender rod spitted the fish, which
+he placed on the forked sticks before the fire.  "I wish that we could
+boil them Indian fashion," said Harry: "I saw an old squaw perform the
+operation the other day, and yet she had only a wooden bucket.  She got
+a heap of stones heated, and then putting some cold water into her
+bucket she dropped in her fish and began filling up the bucket with the
+hot stones; the water bubbled and hissed, and the fish were soon
+cooked."
+
+Their own fish did not take long roasting.  They were pronounced
+excellent, especially seasoned with the cranberries.
+
+"I say, this is no bad fun after all," exclaimed Charley, who soon
+recovered from his fatigue.  "If it wasn't for those at home I wouldn't
+have missed it on any account."
+
+"I begin to hope that they will not be breaking their hearts about us,"
+said Harry; "they must have seen the snow-storm coming on, and will
+think that we remained with D'Arcy."
+
+Philip hoped the same, and enjoyed the adventure nearly as much as his
+brothers.  Supper over and the fire made up, he told them both to lie
+down while he kept up the fire and watched for any change in the
+weather.  Still the snow continued to fall--not a break in the dense
+mass of clouds overhead appeared.  Philip sat with his feet close to the
+fire, and his back resting against the side of the hut.  It was
+necessary to be very watchful, to prevent the flames catching the
+branches on which his brothers lay.  He had partially closed the
+entrance with boughs, but an aperture was required to let out the smoke,
+and he also had frequently to go out and get more fuel, and to watch for
+the snow ceasing.  Harry and Charley quickly fell asleep.  Philip felt
+very much inclined to do the same; he tried all sorts of expedients to
+keep awake.  The hut was not high enough or large enough to enable him
+to walk about.  He would have gone out, but the fire absolutely required
+his attendance; he did get up, and stood on one leg, then on the other,
+till he got tired, so he sat himself down again and raked and stirred
+the fire as before.  There was no want of warmth in the hut.  At last
+his hand stopped, and all was silent; if he was not asleep he was very
+nearly so.  Suddenly he was aware that there was something moving in or
+near the hut.  He looked up, and just at the entrance he saw a huge
+brown monster, his eyes looking curiously in, while with its paws it had
+abstracted one of the fish which had been hung up to the doorpost to
+keep cool.  The stick which Philip had used as a poker was in a flame,
+so, springing up, he dashed it into the face of the intruder--a big
+bear--grasping his axe ready for action should the bear retaliate.
+Bruin gave a loud and angry growl at the unexpected attack, dropping his
+booty and preparing for action.  The noise awoke Harry and Charley, who
+sprang to their feet.  "Dash burning sticks in the fellow's face, while
+I tackle him with my axe," cried Philip.  It was fortunate that he was
+not alone.  He gave one cut at Bruin's paws, but the next instant the
+monster would have seized the axe and hugged Philip, had not Harry
+dashed a stick into his eyes, the pain of which made him spring on one
+side and tumble over on his back.  Charley followed up the attack with
+another fire-brand, and Philip with his axe dealt him a blow on the side
+of his head which almost stunned him.  Another such blow would have
+finished the career of Bruin, but as Philip was lifting his weapon Harry
+cried out, "O dear, dear, the hut is on fire!"  Philip, on this, for a
+moment turned his head, and the bear rolling round got up on his feet,
+and scrambled away over the snow as fast as he could move.  Philip,
+instead of pursuing him, had to attend to the burning hut; and, what was
+of still greater importance, to rescue the fish, which would have been
+not only cooked, but over-cooked before they were wanted.  Charley had,
+however, thoughtfully seized them, so that Philip and Harry could attend
+to the hut.  In vain did they pull out the part which was already
+blazing, the wood of the larger portion was so dry that it also caught
+fire, and it was soon evident that they had no chance of saving their
+mansion.  "What a misfortune," cried Harry.  "I will not say that,"
+observed Philip.  "If the bear had not awoke me we might have been burnt
+ourselves; besides, it has just struck me, that this blaze, which is
+larger than we should have ventured to kindle, may be seen by those at
+home, or by D'Arcy, and it will give them assurance of our safety.
+However, let us set to work to repair damages while the flame lasts, for
+if we once get chilled, it will not be so easy to warm up again."
+
+The fire afforded light enough to enable the three brothers to cut down
+a fresh supply of poles and boughs, and well accustomed to the sort of
+work, they soon again had a hut raised of sufficient size to afford them
+all shelter.  The younger brothers were, however, not inclined to sleep,
+and they intreated Philip to rest, which he promised to do if they would
+undertake to keep awake.  At present there seemed no chance of their
+getting away.  As soon as Philip had lain down, Harry and Charley armed
+themselves with long burning sticks with which to receive the bear
+should he return, taking care to hang their fish up inside, out of his
+way.  He was, however, not likely to come back again, after the warm
+reception he had received.
+
+"I thought bears always shut themselves up in winter, and lived by
+sucking their paws," observed Charley.  "As to sucking their paws, I
+don't know," said Harry; "but I fancy that the brown bear of this part
+of the world shuts himself up for the greater part of the winter, and
+only occasionally comes out on a mild day to forage for food.  I
+conclude that our friend had his nest somewhere near and was disturbed
+by the fire, and his olfactories excited by the smell of the broiled
+fish.  I wish that we had caught him, we might have taken home something
+worth having."
+
+"Do you think that he has left the island?" asked Charley.  "Couldn't we
+hunt him up?"
+
+"Without consulting Philip! and I should not like to awake him," said
+Harry.  "But, I will tell you what, we will make some spears in the mean
+time, and harden their points in the fire, and if we can find him we'll
+take him, dead or alive."
+
+There were some tough young saplings growing just outside of sufficient
+length for the proposed object; three of these were quickly cut, and
+being pointed were hardened in the fire, and then again scraped, till
+they became rather formidable weapons.
+
+"Don't you think Phil has slept long enough?" said Charley, who was
+anxious to make trial of his spear.  "I am afraid Master Bruin will be
+sneaking off, and leaving us to whistle for him."
+
+"Very uncivil not to stop and be killed," said Harry; "but we need be in
+no hurry; if he didn't go off at first he is safe enough somewhere near
+here, depend on it."
+
+The snow continued to fall, but it could not have fallen so thickly as
+at first, or it would have covered the ground with a thicker coat than
+it appeared to have done.  Daylight dawned at last, and Philip woke up.
+He was amused by the preparations for a combat made by his brothers, for
+he did not believe that the bear would be found.  Before going out all
+three knelt down and offered up their prayers and thanksgiving for the
+protection afforded them.  Under no circumstances did they ever omit
+that duty.  Philip then advised that they should take some breakfast,
+that they might be ready for any emergency.  Another fish was
+accordingly cooked, of which Charley, in spite of his eagerness, was
+ready enough to partake.  He was hoping all the time that Bruin would
+smell the savoury morsel, and would be tempted to return.  Probably,
+however, he had already had quite enough of their company and mode of
+proceeding to wish again to encounter them.
+
+It snowed still, but not the dry, hard snow of the previous evening, and
+Philip felt more than ever anxious on account of the warmth of the
+weather.  Before the sun could have quite risen, rain came, mixed with
+the snow, and gradually there was more rain and less snow, till the rain
+came down so fast that they were glad to get into their hut for shelter.
+They well knew that nothing so rapidly causes ice to become rotten as
+does rain.  They might be prisoners, therefore, till it had sufficiently
+melted to allow of a boat being pushed through it.  "But it cannot be
+rotten yet," said Harry.  "Let us look out for the shore, and, if we can
+see it, push across to the nearest point; never mind the rain."
+
+"Agreed."
+
+They crept out of their hut, and worked their way to the shore of the
+little island.  The land round them across the water was very faint;
+still, as they fancied that they could distinguish their own home, and
+D'Arcy's clearing, and the settlement, they determined to try to reach
+one or the other.  The settlement was the nearest, and if they reached
+that they might easily find their way home.  There was a nominal road,
+though scarcely passable, except when covered with snow in winter.  They
+were debating whether it would be better to attempt to skate or to walk
+across the ice.
+
+"We can but pull our skates off if we do not make good progress," said
+Philip; so they were sitting down to put them on when Charley exclaimed
+that he must have a look for the bear; if he was there he would find him
+out.  Off he ran with his spear.  He had not been absent half a minute
+when he came running back, crying out, "Here he is, sure enough, in
+among the roots of an old tree under the bank.  Come, Phil; come, Harry,
+come; we shall have him, sure enough, for he does not seem inclined to
+move.  I suspect the tap you gave him, Phil, with your axe, hurt him
+more than we fancied."
+
+The latter remarks were uttered as the three brothers, with their spears
+ready for action, hurried towards the spot Charley had indicated.
+There, indeed, was a brown heap, from out of which a set of sharp teeth
+and a pair of twinkling eyes appeared.  "There, what do you think of
+that?" asked Charley.  The bear lay in a sort of root-formed cavern,
+under the bank.  Some snow had drifted into it, which had been protected
+from the rain; on the snow were wide stains of blood.  His wound would
+certainly make the bear more savage, and might not have much weakened
+him.  Still, forgetting the risk they were running, they all three made
+a rush at him with their spears.  He attempted to get up, seizing
+Charley's spear from his grasp, and biting furiously at it, but Philip's
+and Harry's pinned him to the bank.  Still his strength was great, and
+it was not till Philip was able to get a blow at his head with his axe
+that his struggles ceased.
+
+"Hurrah, hurrah! now we may live here for a week, like Robinson Crusoe,"
+shouted Charley, highly delighted with their success.
+
+"And leave those at home to believe that we are lost," said Philip.
+
+"No, no, I don't mean that; only if we were obliged to stop we might
+contrive to be very jolly," said Charley.
+
+They had no little trouble in dragging the bear up the bank, and it then
+became a question what they should do with him.  They could not carry
+him away, that was very certain.  Cutting him up was not a pleasant
+operation, yet they could not hang him up whole.
+
+"We will secure his tongue, and we must come back for him as soon as we
+can," said Phil.
+
+They had been so busy that they had not observed that the rain had
+ceased, and that instead of it a thick fog had sprung up again,
+completely obscuring the shores.  It was so warm that there could be no
+doubt that the ice must be rapidly melting.  Had this happened at the
+end of winter it would not have signified, as it would have required
+many days then to weaken the ice materially.  Still, if it had not been
+for the fog they could have pushed across without fear at once.
+
+"Why did we come without a compass?" cried Philip, not for the first
+time.  "Remember, you fellows, never to leave home without one.  You do
+not know when you may require it in this country."  After sitting down
+on the bank for some time, Philip started up, exclaiming, "They will be
+breaking their hearts with anxiety about us.  I must go.  You two have
+plenty of food, and if you will promise me that you will not stir from
+the island till a boat comes for you, or till the weather clears and the
+ice hardens thoroughly, I will go across to the settlement and send on
+home overland.  I know that I can hit it, as there is a breeze blowing,
+and I took the bearings before the rain came on."  Harry and Charley
+were very unwilling to let their brother go, but at length, when he had
+persuaded them that there was no danger to himself, they agreed to obey
+his wishes.
+
+Having disencumbered himself of his axe and an overcoat, as well as of
+the remainder of D'Arcy's fish, which he left for his brothers, Philip
+buckled on his skates, and taking one of the spears in his hand, away he
+glided; his brothers, standing on the shore, watched him--his figure
+growing less and less distinct, till he disappeared in the thick mist
+which hung over the lake.  "I wish that we had not let him go," cried
+Charley.  "Suppose any accident should happen to him, how dreadful.
+Couldn't we call him back?  He would hear us if we shouted."
+
+"No, that would annoy him, as we have no reason for calling him back.
+We must let him go," said Harry.  "Well, at all events, we can pray for
+him," exclaimed Charley, in a tone which showed that the thought was
+consolatory.  They did so immediately, and felt far greater confidence
+than before.  For themselves, they had no cause to fear.  They had food
+enough for a month or more, should the frost return, and they had the
+means of building a hut, in which they could be perfectly sheltered from
+the weather.  They had abundance of fuel, and the bear's skin would keep
+them warm at night.  There were the cranberries, and probably some other
+berries, and they knew of several roots which they thought they should
+find.  "Really, we are very well off," said Charley, after they had
+reviewed their resources.  "I don't think there is another part of the
+world where, in a little island like this, we could find such ample
+means of support.  I shouldn't mind spending a month here at all."
+
+"Ah! but we could not expect always to find a bear in such a place as
+this; and as for the fish, we brought them with us," said Harry, by way
+of argument.
+
+"But I daresay, if we were to hunt about, we should find some racoons;
+and if the ice melted we should catch plenty of fish--or we might make a
+hole in the ice and fish through it," argued Charley.  "By the by, I
+have got some hooks and a line in my pocket; I vote we try."
+
+No sooner was the proposal made than executed; two fishing lines were
+fitted--with their spears a hole was made in the easily yielding ice--
+the bear furnished bait.  Scarcely was a line in than a tug was felt,
+and a small fish was hauled up.  They did not know the name, but as its
+appearance was prepossessing, they had no doubt that it was fit for
+food.  Another and another followed; they were delighted with their
+sport, and even Harry felt that he should be sorry to have to go away.
+"If we had but some bread and some tea, with a pot to boil it in, we
+should do capitally," he observed.
+
+"We may dig dandelion roots for coffee, we can boil water with hot
+stones in a wooden jug, which we can make, and there are roots which
+will serve us for bread," said Charley.  "If we could but get a few
+heads of Indian corn, we might thrive just as we are."
+
+"We might live, certainly," said Harry; "but I doubt if we could do
+more."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+We must follow Philip in his perilous adventure.  He felt more doubtful
+as to the strength of the ice than he had expressed; but should it break
+beneath him, he relied on his long pole to extricate himself.  He looked
+back every now and then, and he appeared to be taking a straight course;
+he felt the breeze also always on his left cheek.  This inspirited him,
+though he could not see the shore.  The snow was yielding enough, though
+rather clogging about his heels; the fog, however, grew thicker than
+ever; it was evidently the fog caused by a warm thaw.  He had seen many
+such in England.  He pushed on boldly--faster than he had gone with his
+brothers--he was lightly clad and carried no weight.  Did he hear sounds
+coming from the shore--sleigh-bells--or sheep-bells--men's voices also?
+If so, he was probably near the settlement.  He was trying to pierce the
+mist, when suddenly he felt his feet sinking from under him, and before
+he could spring back, he was sent gliding down a slab of ice, and
+plunged in the water.  For several yards before him there was nothing
+but water.  Holding his pole he swam on.  He reached the edge of the
+ice: it broke as he clutched it.  It is a difficult operation to get out
+of water on to a slab of ice.  He found it so.  If he got one end of the
+pole on the ice the other slipped off.  He saw the danger of exhausting
+his strength by useless struggles.  He had heard voices.  He might make
+himself heard, so he shouted--"Help! help! the ice has broken in--help!"
+
+It was a sad fate which seemed about to overwhelm him.  Life had many
+charms in spite of the one disappointment, which had, rather given a
+gravity to his manner than in any way embittered his existence.  He had
+hoped to do something in the world--his duty, at all events.  He had
+many too depending on him.  How would they bear his loss?  He looked
+upward.  A thick veil hung over his head.  Below was the dark water--on
+every side the wide expanse of treacherous ice and snow.  His limbs were
+getting chilled; still he would struggle on while consciousness was
+allowed him.  Had the hole been smaller into which he had fallen, he
+might have got his pole across it.  It was, however, of much assistance,
+as holding on to it, he could rest without breaking the edge of the ice.
+He was certain that he heard sleigh-bells.  He shouted louder than
+before.  The bells ceased.  He instantly shouted again.  A voice
+replied, "We'll be with you directly, friend."  His heart leaped within
+him.  The voices sounded louder.  He discerned objects dimly moving over
+the ice, here and there.  They must be looking for him.  He shouted
+again.  They resolved themselves into the forms of two men.  They
+approached him.  One had a rope in his hand.  "Lay hold of this, we'll
+soon have you out," said the man.  Philip passed the rope round his
+pole, and then grasped it tightly.  With care he was dragged out.  The
+other person stood at a distance.  "We must not put more weight than we
+can help on this treacherous stuff," he said.  "Why, I do believe that
+you are young Ashton."
+
+"The same: and you Mr Norman," cried Philip.  "I am indeed thankful for
+your timely aid."
+
+"Which my man rendered, and not I; and which he would have rendered to a
+drowning dog, so don't say anything about that," replied Mr Norman.
+"But we must not stop talking here.  The sooner we are on _terra firma_,
+and you in a warm bed, the better."
+
+Philip found, on reaching the shore, that he was fully half a mile north
+of the settlement.  Mr Norman, who was on his way to pay his family a
+visit, was passing in his sleigh at the moment.  "I hoped that the snow
+would remain long enough to enable me to get up to you, for your road
+scarcely allows of a wheeled conveyance," he observed, as they drove
+rapidly back to the settlement, Philip sitting covered up with furs at
+the bottom of the sleigh.  A warm bed was, however, not a luxury to be
+found at the settlement; indeed, Philip assured his friend, that if he
+could obtain a change of clothes, he would much rather set off at once
+to rescue his brothers.  "Not till you are more fit to go than at
+present," said Mr Norman.  "My friend Job Judson, at the hotel, will
+help us; and while you are drying outwardly, and warming inwardly, we
+will get a boat or canoe of some sort to shove over across the ice to
+bring away the youngsters.  They are happy enough in the meantime,
+depend on that; I have had many such an adventure in my younger days,
+greatly to my enjoyment."
+
+In a few minutes Philip was sitting wrapped up in a sheet and blanket
+before the almost red-hot stove of the log-hut, y-clept an hotel, while
+Mr Job Judson was administering a stiffer tumbler of rum-and-water than
+Philip had ever before tasted, probably, though it appeared to him no
+stronger than weak negus.  Believing this to be the case he did not
+decline a second, the effect of which was to throw him into a glow and
+to send him fast asleep.  Meantime his clothes, hung up round the stove,
+were drying rapidly; and when the landlord at last aroused him to put
+them on, he found that they were, as he said, as warm as a toast; indeed
+they were, he had reason to suspect, rather overdone.  He found Mr
+Norman with a large dug-out canoe on runners, with a couple of poles,
+one on each side, and two men who had volunteered to accompany him.
+
+"I'd go myself, but I guess I'd rather over-ballast your craft," said
+Job Judson, turning round his rotund figure, such as was not often seen
+in the bush.  Philip thanked him, and agreed that no more persons were
+required for the expedition.
+
+Mr Norman insisted on going.  "Do not be afraid of my being tired," he
+remarked; "I have always lived in so hardy a way that nothing tires me."
+
+Philip was not aware that more than three hours had passed since he
+reached the settlement.  The fog was still as thick as ever.  The two
+men dragged on the canoe; Mr Norman pushed astern, and placing a
+compass down on the seat before him, observed, "It is necessary to take
+our departure very carefully, or we shall find it more difficult to hit
+the island than you did on leaving it to reach the shore.  I do not
+suppose that there is a person in the settlement can give us the
+bearings of the island from this."
+
+"No; but the map of the Geological Survey will," said the gentleman who
+kept the store in the settlement.  In another instant he brought out a
+large map, where the island was clearly laid down.  "All right, thank
+you," said Mr Norman: "away we go."  The two men laid hold of the
+fore-end of the poles; Philip and Mr Norman behind.  The ice was far
+from secure; it did not crack nor bend, but it evidently rested on the
+water, and such ice generally gives way without any warning or sound.
+The party, however, pushed dauntlessly on, steadily, but not so fast as
+Philip would have liked.  He thought, indeed, at last, that they must
+have passed the island; but Mr Norman was too good a navigator for
+that--it rose up suddenly before them.
+
+Philip shouted, "Harry--Charley--all right, boys--hurrah!" but there was
+no answer.  Again he cried out; no one replied.  "They are hiding to try
+to frighten me, Mr Norman," he said, laughing,--"the rogues."  The
+party landed and looked about.  "O very well, they cannot be here, and
+so we'll go away," he cried out, thinking that would make them appear;
+it had no such effect.  Philip began to grow anxious: they would
+certainly not carry their joke so far.  He went round the island,
+sometimes on the ice and sometimes on shore.  As he was hurrying on,
+what was his dismay to see a large hole in the ice: his poor young
+brothers had met the fate which he had so narrowly escaped.  He saw
+exactly how it had happened; one had gone through, and the other in
+trying to help him out had fallen in likewise.  There had been a
+struggle, as there were prints of feet and knees in the snow round it;
+some the water had washed over.
+
+His exclamations of grief brought his companions to the spot.  "Not so
+certain that anything dreadful has occurred," said Mr Norman.  "You
+told me you had killed a bear: now Bruin has been deprived of his hinder
+legs, which make the best hams; and his four paws, which turn into good
+soup; and I don't think that they would have walked off by themselves.
+Come, let us examine your hut.  Ah! the skin too has disappeared."
+
+"Yes, and I see that the remainder of the fish which D'Arcy gave us are
+not here," said Philip, somewhat relieved.  "But perhaps the island has
+been visited by some trapper, who would naturally carry off the most
+valuable parts of the bear."
+
+"Ah! but look here: if the island has been visited by a trapper, he came
+with a vehicle on runners from the direction of your clearing, and
+returned to the same place.  There are the marks clear enough still; an
+Indian would have told us exactly how things occurred."
+
+"I wish that we had had one," said Philip, in whom fatigue had produced
+low spirits.  "The visitor, whoever he was, not finding them, may have
+carried off the bear's flesh and returned without them."
+
+"I think that I can convince you that my conjectures are correct," said
+Mr Norman, after looking about for some time longer.  "You killed the
+bear with long stakes: I can find none; they would naturally have
+carried them off as trophies.  They had skates; none are to be seen, the
+foot-prints are those of shoes."
+
+"How came the hole?" asked Philip.
+
+"They made it themselves to fish through.  See here are some scales
+which Tom Smith has just brought me, and which his sharp eye detected
+near the hole: the fish was evidently thrown down there on being
+unhooked.  Come, I doubt if any Indian would read marks more clearly
+than I have done, though probably he would explain matters in a far more
+pompous style.  The fact is, my experience of bush-life and Indian life
+has been very considerable, as you will understand if you like some day
+to listen to some of my adventures.  But there is nothing to keep us
+longer here."
+
+Philip was happier, but not thoroughly satisfied.  The party set out on
+their return.
+
+"This ice would not have borne us many hours hence; be ready for a leap
+into the canoe," said Mr Norman.  They reached the settlement, however,
+in safety.  The inhabitants were divided in opinion as to whether the
+young Ashtons were lost or not; Philip was eager to reach home to settle
+the point.  Mr Norman had sent for wheels for his vehicle, as the snow
+had melted too much to allow of runners.  It was soon mounted, and away
+they rattled, bumped and thumped, Mr Norman singing--
+
+  "`You and I, Billy, have often heard how folks are ruined and undone,
+  By overturns in carriages, by fires and thieves in London.'
+
+"You see, my young friend, we must look out for haps and mishaps in the
+country as well as in town, on shore as well as at sea.  Ignorant of
+religion as seamen are, they have a right feeling of a superintending
+Providence, which makes them feel as secure in the midst of the raging
+storm as they would driving about in the crowded city.  The true
+believer in Christ is ready to die at any moment.  This it is makes weak
+women courageous, while strong men show themselves to be cowards when
+instant death threatens them."
+
+Philip thought to himself, "How did I behave and feel when I was in the
+water this morning?--how when I found the hole in the ice, and thought
+that my brothers had fallen through?"  The journey to the clearing,
+which across the ice would not have occupied twenty minutes, and not an
+hour by land had the snow been hard, took up more than two hours, with
+the risk of an overturn or break-down every yard, and such jolting as
+only well-knit limbs would endure.
+
+At last the log-house appeared before them.  "A very creditable edifice;
+really, Mr Philip, you were born a backwoodsman," exclaimed Mr Norman.
+"I learned carpentering, and the principal rules for house-building,
+while my hands and eyes have been kept in exercise from my childhood,"
+was the answer.  "That is the preparation required for all settlers in
+the bush, and which so large a number want and fail of success in
+consequence--or at all events waste precious years in gaining at a heavy
+cost the knowledge with which they ought to begin.  I commenced the
+world without a sixpence, and have worked my way up to wealth and
+independence by the proper use of my hands and head.  A settler, to
+rise, must have both.  We welcome hands in the province.  The possessor
+of a head benefits himself chiefly--not that we could get on without
+heads either."
+
+As they drove up to the door, D'Arcy was the first person to meet them.
+Philip's heart sunk within him in spite of what Mr Norman had been
+saying.  He hoped to have seen his brothers.  "Where are the lads?" he
+exclaimed, eagerly.  "All right, come in.  I will take your horse round,
+Mr Norman," said D'Arcy; and as the door opened, the boys' voices were
+heard from their room.  The rest of the family quickly came to the
+entrance to welcome them; and D'Arcy, coming back, explained what had
+occurred.  He had seen the blaze of their burning hut, but not
+suspecting the cause, had gone across the lake with his canoe on
+runners, to ascertain if they had got home safe, not sorry for a good
+excuse for his visit.  His appearance naturally caused great dismay and
+anxiety.  He, however, afforded his friends some comfort, by assuring
+them that he believed the missing ones would be found on the island,
+towards which, supplied with a compass, he immediately set out,
+accompanied by Peter, and carrying provisions, cordials, and blankets.
+His satisfaction was considerable when laughing voices proceeded from
+the direction of the island, and he found the young gentlemen amusing
+themselves greatly by fishing for tommicods.  Taking the best parts of
+the bear, he hurried back with his rescued friends to prevent Philip,
+should he arrive first, from setting off to meet them.
+
+Philip's long delay had again caused his family great anxiety.  A happy
+party, with grateful hearts, assembled round Mr Ashton's supper-table
+that evening--a table framed by his own hands, while most of the
+luxuries were supplied by the industry of those sitting round it.  In
+another year there would not be an article of food on it which had not
+been produced on the farm, or procured from the lake, or surrounding
+woods.  Not the least happy was Lawrence D'Arcy; and perhaps a glance at
+Miss Ashton's countenance might have told the reason why.
+
+"Well, Mr Norman, I am glad at length to see you here; and I can assure
+you, that your prognostications as to my liking the country, have been
+more than fulfilled," said Mr Ashton.  "I have never for an instant
+regretted coming out here; and I believe that I am happier, and that my
+wife and children are so, than we should have been had we lived on the
+life we had been proposing for ourselves in London, when I found myself
+deprived of the property which I thought my own."
+
+"God's merciful Providence overruled your plan for your own and your
+children's good," said Mr Norman.  "I know nothing practically of large
+cities, and little enough of towns; but from what I have read, I suspect
+that the temptations to evil in them are great, and the advantages
+comparatively small, when the chief object of man's life is considered.
+No life can more conduce to virtue and a healthful state of body and
+mind than that which the industrious settler in the country leads out
+here.  He has hard work and rough living, may be; but what is that,
+whether he be gentle or simple, compared to what he would have had to
+endure, had he without fortune remained idle at home?  That is the
+question all settlers must ask themselves over and over again, whenever
+they get out of sorts with the Province."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+"It is the fashion to say in England, so I hear, that Canada is not the
+country in which people can make fortunes," said the sheriff; for such
+was the office Mr Norman held in his county.  "I grant that it is not
+the country in which fortunes will come of themselves; but, putting the
+lower province out of the question, I should like to know how the owners
+of the nice estates and pretty villas scattered so thickly throughout
+the upper province became possessed of them.  How has Toronto sprung up
+into a first-rate city?  How have Hamilton, London, and twenty other
+towns risen in a few years into importance?  How is it that thousands of
+comfortable farms are found in all directions?  Look at our canals--at
+the thousands of vessels which navigate our lakes and rivers; at our
+saw-mills, and grist-mills, and manufactories of all sorts; at the tens
+of thousands of acres of corn land; at our pastures; at our oxen and
+kine; at our flocks of sheep; at our horses; at our public and private
+buildings; at our churches; our colleges; our schools; our hospitals;
+our prisons; at all the conveniences of a highly civilised community
+which we possess, and then let me ask to whom do all these things
+belong?  To the inhabitants of the province.  Who are they?  Men mostly
+who began life in it; some few whose fathers lived in it; but very few
+indeed whose grandfathers were born here.  Of these, the capital of the
+greater number, when they began this career, might have been counted by
+shillings;--did I say shillings?  I would rather say strong hearts and
+hands, without coin at all; some few might have reckoned by pounds,
+fewer by hundreds, and very few indeed, if any, by thousands.  Then how
+did they become possessed of all this wealth?  Why they made all this
+wealth, they created all these advantages, by their labour, their
+intelligence, and perseverance.  They are theirs--to enjoy--to benefit
+by.  It is said in England, `We do not find rich Canadians come back and
+settle at home, as so many Australians do.'  Granted; Canada, I say, is
+essentially the country to reside in.  People who have made fortunes
+here do not go away, for the best of reasons; because here they have all
+the requirements of civilisation, all the advantages which the
+Australians go to England to obtain.  I say too that numbers do make
+very handsome fortunes--though I grant, as I before observed, that
+fortunes don't come of themselves; but, which is better, no one who is
+persevering, industrious, and intelligent, fails to become independent,
+and to start his children well in the world.  I don't want to disparage
+other provinces, but I say that we Canadians can and do make fortunes;
+and what is more, we have the means of enjoying them thoroughly, without
+going to other lands to do so."
+
+The sheriff had got on a subject on which he always grew eager, though
+he was at length obliged to pause for want of breath.  "Take myself, for
+example," he continued; "I rose, if you like, from the bottom of the
+tree; and I know fifty--I may say a hundred men, who have got up as I
+have done--my brother-sheriff of the next county among them.  My father
+came over from England.  He was a baker by trade; but though he knew how
+to make loaves, he did not know how to read.  He came to the
+neighbourhood of Kingston first, and worked as a journeyman.  When he
+had saved a little money he set up for himself; then he got a share in a
+flour-mill, and bought a little land;--then a little more; and then the
+flour-mill became his; and lastly, he sold the whole at a considerable
+profit, and moving westward, pitched his tent at Pentanquishine, on Lake
+Huron.  He invested largely in land; and troops being stationed there
+during the war with the States, and it becoming a naval station, he
+realised a considerable profit.  Though uneducated himself, he was
+desirous of giving his sons a good education; so he sent us all to the
+best school in the province--I might say the only one--kept by the
+Reverend Dr Strachan, now Bishop of Toronto, in that big city, then
+known as "Muddy Little York."  The excellent doctor, of whom we all
+stood in reverential awe, had the art of imparting knowledge; and I
+believe I, with others, benefited much by it.  Of my two elder brothers
+I will say nothing, except that they tyrannised over me and another
+brother younger than I was.  He and I were fast friends, and made common
+cause against them.  As Pentanquishine could not supply us with clothing
+fit to appear in at Toronto, our father directed us to get it at that
+place, and entrusted our elder brother with money to pay for it.  He got
+clothing certainly, and paid the tailor, but it was for himself and not
+for us, and we were allowed to go on wearing our shabby clothes.  I
+protested vehemently against this iniquitous proceeding, but Arthur, my
+younger brother, who was of a more gentle nature, yielded quietly and
+said nothing.
+
+"There was to be a public examination, at which all the big-wigs in the
+place were to attend; and I told my brother that if he would not order
+us both proper suits of clothes I would run away to our father and
+complain.  He laughed at me, not believing that I would make the
+attempt.  I was as good as my word, for pretending I was ill one
+evening, I got leave to go up early to bed.  Instead of going to sleep I
+watched my opportunity, slipped out of the house with all the money
+Arthur and I could collect, or rather save, in my pocket, and running on
+all night, before morning I was far away towards Lake Simcoe.  You see,
+boys brought up in the bush, as I was, have no fear of being out alone,
+and can find their way in any direction they have a mind to follow.
+Besides which, it was a beaten cart track I followed, mostly in the line
+the railway now takes.  Great changes since then!  I might have been
+caught even then, for I was pursued for some distance; but I was
+overtaken by an old acquaintance--a carter, or rather a packer or
+carrier--Jack Johnson by name, to whom I narrated what had occurred.  My
+elder brother had on some occasion offended him, and this made him,
+probably, more ready to take my part, and to render me assistance.
+`Jump into the waggon, lad, and hide thee away, and if any one comes
+after thee I'll show him that Jack Johnson's waggon is just as much his
+castle as any man's house is, and if he pries therein he must take the
+consequences.'  What those consequences would be he did not say, but he
+flourished his heavy whip with a ferocity which made it probable that
+the head of anybody who interfered would be broken.  With this consoling
+reflection I fell asleep, for I was very tired after my long run during
+all the night.  I knew, also, that Jack would be as good as his word, so
+I had no fears to keep me awake.
+
+"We jogged on all day, stopping only to bait and water the cattle.  Now
+and then I awoke and looked out; it was the same scene--forest on either
+side, with now and then a small lake, or pond, or creek.  Jack was at
+his horses' heads, whistling away, as if he had nothing in the world to
+care for.  He hadn't either.  He had been a workhouse-boy in the old
+country, and would have ended his days as a labourer, and now he was
+laying by a good bit of money every trip, and expected to be able to buy
+a comfortable farm before long.  So he did, and has brought up a
+numerous family, all well-to-do in the world, and lives himself as
+comfortably as any man with four or five hundred a-year would, I guess,
+in England.  At night we stopped at a log-hut, the only inn on the road,
+and Jack brought me some food and told me to be quiet, and that we would
+be off early in the morning.
+
+"The second day passed much as did the first, except that I had lost all
+fear of being overtaken.  The confession is somewhat humbling, but the
+truth is, I was not considered worth sending after.  `Let the chiel
+gang,--wie sae little brains in his head he's sure to fall on his feet,'
+observed the doctor, when informed of my flight--so I was told.  In the
+evening of the second day we reached Holland's Landing, at the south end
+of Lake Simcoe.  Settlers had begun to take up the land on either side
+of the lake: they were chiefly naval and military officers, forced into
+idleness at the end of the war, without any previous training for the
+life they were to lead, or knowledge of what would be required of them
+as settlers.  The naval men did the best, and many of them succeeded, as
+did a few of the military men, but the greater number, after a few
+years' trial, I might say months, left in disgust, or ruined.  Many
+never came even to occupy their grants.  Jack's business was to supply
+these gentlemen with goods, which most of them came to fetch at
+Holland's Landing.
+
+"As he was going no further, I had now to consider how I was to perform
+the rest of my journey West.  While standing in the bar of the store
+with Jack, who should come in but a trapper, known to him, Jean Baptiste
+by name, to make some purchases.  `Whither bound, friend Baptiste?'
+asked Jack.  I could make out clearly enough the meaning of his reply,
+but I cannot repeat the extraordinary mixture of Canadian, French,
+English, and Ojibbeway, in which it was couched.  He intimated that he
+was going a few days' journey west, over ground where there was then an
+abundance of beaver, martin, mink, and other fur-bearing animals, which
+are rare enough now.  Jean Baptiste showed his Indian origin by his
+long, Jewish-like countenance, dark eyes, and raven black hair.  He was
+dressed in skins, the hair being inside, in spite of the heat, his
+leggings and waistcoat ornamented with bead-work and gaily-dyed
+porcupine quills, and mingled with coloured fibres and worsted.
+
+"I slept in Jack's cart, and just at daybreak Baptiste came and roused
+me up.  I thanked Jack heartily for his kindness, and with a stout stick
+in my hand, with which he presented me, set off to follow my
+strange-looking guide towards his camp.  Here, under a lean-to of
+birch-bark, I found Mrs Baptiste, an Indian squaw, who, if not a solace
+to him in his hours of trial, took a great deal of trouble off his
+shoulders, for she worked for him from morning till night like a slave,
+with small thanks.  In the way he treated his wife he was no better than
+an Indian.  She had her hand-sleigh already packed, and as soon as we
+appeared she harnessed herself into it and began dragging it off without
+saying a word.  Talk of the romance of Indian life, there is none of it
+of an elevated nature.  All the stuff novelists have written is sheer
+downright nonsense.  It is simple brutality from beginning to end.  I
+speak of the natives I have met with before they became Christians.
+Baptiste, on the strength of his being a French-Canadian, on his
+father's side, called himself a Christian, but he was as ignorant of
+religion as was his squaw; and here let me remind you, whenever you
+write to your friends in England, tell them that there is a grand
+opening for missionary labours among the wide-scattered Indian tribes
+still existing on this continent.  Something is being done, but much
+more may be done; and not only is there work to be done among Indians,
+but among the out-settlers, and especially among the lumberers on the
+Ottawa.  Never mind whether they are Romanists or not.  They never hear
+the Gospel of free grace preached from one end of the year to the other.
+I believe that a missionary going among them would find abundant fruit
+as the result of his labours.
+
+"To return to Baptiste.  He had set his traps in the forest along the
+route we were to take, and so we had to push our way through it, sleigh
+and all, he scarcely condescending to help his squaw when it stuck
+between the stumps of the trees, she also looking with supreme contempt
+on me when I attempted to help her; indeed she, I fancy, considered me
+rather officious than otherwise.  I travelled on for several days with
+this unattractive couple, and yet I believe that they were really fond
+of each other.  They were hospitable in their way also, for their pot
+was always well supplied with meat, and they gave me as much as I could
+eat.  It was not of the choicest land, I must confess, for every
+creature the trapper caught went into it, with a mixture of herbs and
+roots, among which garlic predominated.
+
+"At last Baptiste told me that he had come to the end of his journey,
+and that I must find the rest of the way by myself.  `I will try, of
+course, but it strikes me that I shall not succeed,' was my answer.  `If
+I had a gun and powder and shot, or even your traps, I would get on fast
+enough as soon as I could find my way into the blazed road, but out here
+the thing is impossible.  If you will not come along with me I must go
+back with you.'
+
+"He signified that he would be glad enough to have my company, but that
+he had promised Jack to see me on my way, and that his honour was
+concerned in doing so.  He could not go on himself, but he would find
+some Indians who would guide me if I could pay them.  I had three
+dollars in my pocket, I told him.  He said half that sum would content
+them if I would pay it them.  He soon found the trail of some Indians
+whom he knew to be his friends--we came up with them.  The bargain was
+struck with two of them to see me safe all the way, and Baptiste told me
+that they were highly delighted though they took care not to show it.
+They were accompanied by their squaws; indeed, an Englishman of fortune
+would as soon think of travelling without his valet as an Indian without
+his squaw to perform every menial occupation he may require.  There was
+nothing romantic in the appearance of my friends; one wore an old
+shooting-coat, which he had trimmed with coloured worsted, while the
+other had fastened a blue checked shirt over his other garments by way
+of ornament; the rest of their costume being more in the old Indian
+fashion of leather and fur.  They were dirty in the extreme, and not
+over good looking; but they had honest countenances, and I had no fear
+of their not treating me fairly.  One of them went before me to clear
+the way, the other followed at my heels to pick me up should I stumble,
+and the squaws brought up the rear, all in single file.  The squaws had
+to build the wigwams--or, rather, lean-tos--when we camped, to collect
+sticks for the fire, to cook the food, and to bring water from the
+nearest stream or pond; their masters condescended to catch the game.
+They were not such expert trappers as Baptiste, but then they ate
+creatures which he would have rejected--nothing that could be masticated
+came amiss to them.  I should have fared badly, but the second day, just
+after we had camped, we came suddenly upon two bears with two young
+cubs.  They were as much surprised at seeing us as we were at
+encountering them.  One of the Indians who had a fowling piece fired,
+and hit Mr Bruin in the brain, whereon Mrs Bruin trotted off with one
+of the cubs; while the other Indian with his bow shot the cub which had
+remained with his father.
+
+"I was eager to exhibit my prowess, so followed the retreating bears,
+hoping to kill the cub with my stick.  Fortunately they took the way
+near the camp, when the squaws, seeing me, ran out and caught hold of
+me, telling me that as surely as I had killed the cub the mother would
+have turned round and torn me to pieces.  Though I still wished to go,
+they held me tight till the bears were out of sight.  I believe fully
+that they saved my life, and certainly it was pleasanter supping on a
+bear than making a supper for one.
+
+"At last we reached Pentanquishine, and so thankful was I to get there
+that I gave the honest Indians two dollars instead of one and a-half.  I
+fear that they spent the greater part, if not the whole of the sum, at
+the grog shop before they left the settlement.
+
+"`What! who are you, you little ragamuffin?' exclaimed my father when he
+saw me, for by that time so torn had become my garments by the thorny
+shrubs, that they literally were in shreds.  `You are no child of mine;
+get out with you, you little ill-conditioned cub.'  I ought not to have
+been surprised at this greeting, though it was not pleasant to my
+feelings.
+
+"I had considerable difficulty in persuading him who I was, and of the
+truth of my statement as to the cause of my leaving.  At last he did
+believe me, and declared that he would break Dick's head and stop his
+allowance for the following half.  Dick, when he came home for the
+holidays, made me beg him off, not the getting his head broke, for that
+he laughed at, but the having his allowance stopped, which he guessed
+might be done.
+
+"When I went back at the commencement of the next half, the Doctor took
+no notice of what had occurred, and from having been the most ragged, I
+became one of the best dressed boys in the school.  This was not always
+to last.  My elder brothers went home to begin life, leaving me and
+Arthur.  We were very glad when they went, for they bullied us terribly.
+A year passed, and then came a letter with a black seal, and we heard
+that our father was dead.  Dick, who had come of age, inherited his
+property, and it seemed had the power of doing with us just what he
+liked.  It arose thus: our poor father had been seized with the desire
+of having his eldest son a gentleman of fortune, and thinking that by
+leaving him all his property he could do so, he beggared the rest of us.
+Dick wrote us word that we must earn our own living, but that he would
+be a brother to us, and to show his affection he apprenticed me to a
+chair-maker, and my slight, delicate young brother Arthur to a
+blacksmith.
+
+"Mine was not a bad trade, for furniture was in great demand.  `If that
+is to be my calling I will go at it,' said I to myself.  I did so, and
+soon could turn a chair very neatly out of hand.  Arthur could make no
+hand at the blacksmith work--his arm had not strength to wield a hammer;
+I went to his master and asked him to let him off.  `No, I never does
+anything without an equivalent,' was his answer; `but I'll tell you
+what, youngster, I happen to want some chairs for my woman and children
+to sit on; now, if you'll make them for me, slick off hand, your brother
+shall go free, I guess.'  The bargain was struck.  I was anxious to get
+poor Arthur free, for every day was killing him with labour for which he
+was so unfit.  I set to work at once, and each moment that I could spare
+from my proper duties to my master I employed in making the chairs.  I
+was determined that he should not say that they were not good chairs--
+strong and handsome.  The blacksmith was highly pleased with them, and
+instantly freed my brother and made me a present of a couple of dollars.
+With this sum and a little more I had made by working out of hours, I
+set Arthur to trade on his own account, to keep him till my term was
+out, which was to be very shortly.  From the day I had left school I had
+not neglected my studies, and I used to read all the books I could lay
+hands on during every spare moment.  Life is short enough as it is, and
+people make it still shorter by idling away their time.  I knew that I
+had plenty of work to do, and I found out early that to get it done I
+must not lose a moment.  I consequently not only kept up the knowledge I
+obtained at school, but got a fair amount besides.
+
+"We worked on for three years, I making chairs and Arthur selling them,
+saving money, but not very fast.  I had no fancy to go on chair-making
+all my days, and I wished for a more active life.
+
+"I had paid a visit to Holland's Landing a few months before this, and I
+found that my friend, Jack Johnson, was still driving a thriving trade
+with the settlement along the shores of the lake; but he had not a good
+head for business, and I saw that a great deal more might be made of it
+than he made.  A steamer was building to run on the lake.  She was to
+commence running in a few days.  I applied for the office of purser, or
+steward--call it which you will.  I obtained it, at a low salary,
+stipulating that I should be allowed to trade, to a certain extent, on
+my own account.  That was all I wanted.  My plans were at once formed.
+Jack was to purchase and bring up the articles from Toronto, and Arthur
+and I to go round to the farms, as far as we could reach, and to obtain
+orders, large or small.  All were fish which came into our net, from an
+ounce of tobacco to the furniture of a house or the machinery for a saw
+mill, provided we could get security; it would have been folly to trade
+without that, especially with some of our customers.
+
+"We paid considerable sums to the steamer for freight, and, pleasing the
+owners, were able, with their aid, to increase our credit and our
+business.  It is extraordinary how reckless some of those we dealt with
+were in giving orders for goods and in mortgaging their property as
+security, without a prospect, as far as we could judge, of their being
+able to pay us without allowing the mortgage to be foreclosed.  That you
+may not think ill of me on that account, I may say that we thus had an
+opportunity of being of considerable service to many of these
+improvident gentlemen.  Our trade throve, and I soon found that it would
+be convenient to establish a store at the principal place at which the
+steamer called.  Arthur took charge of it, and the flourishing condition
+of the concern showed that we were right in our expectations.
+
+"Our capital increased.  We were compelled to foreclose some mortgages;
+and as we did not wish to keep the farms of which we thus became
+possessed, we sold them at more or less profit.  We were in the way of
+hearing when land was to be sold at a cheap rate, either improved or
+unimproved, and by purchasing such land and re-selling to newly-arrived
+settlers, who became good customers, we profited considerably.  We got
+the best of everything, and our desire was to supply those who bought of
+us with what we knew they would most require, and which would give them
+satisfaction.
+
+"As soon as I had established a business I left the steam-boat and went
+to live on shore, at the store, having first taken to wife the daughter
+of my old master.  A very good wife she has made me, and I should like,
+some day, to bring her over to see you, Mrs Ashton; but you mustn't
+expect to see a fine lady, such are not the good wives of this province.
+For many years she was a hardworking housewife, when helps were beings
+not to be procured for love or money.  The station of life which I then
+occupied was different to what I now fill, but my good wife has had no
+ambition to change her style of dress or living with our change of
+circumstances, from the feeling that she might appear out of place.  In
+fact, my dear madam, you will understand that she is not vulgar, and is
+essentially free from all vulgar ambition.  Here I must bring the sketch
+of my early life to a conclusion, remarking that what my brother and I
+did, hundreds of others have done in this province, and thousands more
+will do if they will practise self-control, labour industriously in
+whatever station they are placed, and be ready to step into any opening
+which may present itself, always doing their duty, and praying for
+strength and guidance above."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+Although the Canadian winter impedes agricultural operations, there is
+plenty of work to be done both out-of-doors and in-doors, especially on
+a newly-cleared farm.  Chopping down the trees goes on, and if the
+brushwood has been collected before the snow falls, the huge trunks can
+be dragged together and piled in heaps to be burnt off.  It may seem a
+sad waste of good timber, but it is the least expensive way of getting
+rid of what cumbers the ground; besides which, the ashes very much
+assist to fertilise it.  The Ashtons, however, found that they could
+dispose of theirs at the newly-erected saw-mills, if they could get the
+logs there.  Not a tree could be moved, however, by any force they could
+command, till the snow fell and hardened.  The logs then were dragged
+down over it on to the ice, where they were easily formed into a raft
+and floated across the lake to the mills at breaking up of the ice in
+spring.
+
+The first fall of snow had entirely disappeared, and the lake had become
+free of ice, to be covered again, however, by a far thicker coat than
+before, and equally smooth.  Harry and Charley were eager to have an
+ice-boat, and they persuaded Philip, in spite of his many avocations, to
+assist them in making one.  The great point was to have good runners.
+These should have been made of iron, but as that was not to be procured,
+they got some hard wood of sufficient length, which being slightly
+curved up at the ends, served admirably.  The boat had, therefore, what
+Harry called two keels.  This was the most important part;--the boat was
+simply a long box with seats across it.  The rudder, which was an oar
+fixed in the stern, had a sharp iron blade which would dig into the ice.
+The craft was rigged as a schooner, and had a very creditable
+appearance.  A long pole with an iron head helped to steer her and to
+put her about.
+
+With eager haste she was launched on the glass-like expanse.  "Let us
+stand across to D'Arcy and astonish him," cried Harry.  "We can carry
+him the invitation to spend Christmas-day with us."  There were no
+dissentient voices.  Philip took the helm, Harry managed the head-sails,
+Charley the main.  The wind was on the quarter.  The sails could not be
+hoisted till they were ready to start, as the ice offering no
+resistance, she would either have blown over, or run away before the
+wind.  Philip was not quite so sanguine of success as his brothers.  The
+word was given--Harry shoved round the head of the strange-looking
+craft, and far enough off to allow the rudder full play.  The sails were
+hoisted--the sheets hauled aft--a fresh breeze filled them, and to the
+delight of her architects, away she shot in splendid style.  She
+answered her helm admirably.  It seemed but a few minutes before
+D'Arcy's clearing hove in sight.  Philip fired off his gun to draw his
+friend's attention to them, and they had only time to haul down their
+sails before, with the impetus the craft had attained, she glided up to
+the landing-place, and sent them all tumbling forward, as she made a
+bold attempt to run up the bank, only prevented by Harry with his
+iron-shod pole.
+
+D'Arcy required no great pressing to embark with them.  They all looked,
+they declared, like veritable Arctic voyagers, with their fur caps,
+flaps over their ears, and bearskin and buffalo-skin coats, kept in by
+sashes or belts.  The settlement was first to be visited.  Such a craft
+as theirs had never been seen there, and created no little interest;
+though on Lake Ontario, before Toronto, ice-boats of a more elegant
+construction are constantly used when the ice will allow of it before
+the snow falls.
+
+The store was visited, and commissions, the list of which filled two
+columns of Philip's note-book, were executed, and then, with a
+considerable addition to their lading, they once more got under way.
+They had now to beat back; but the boat lay closer to the wind than if
+she had been in water, and though she made some lee-way, they beat back
+in a wonderfully short space of time.  They were so delighted with their
+sail that they could scarcely keep out of their boat.  The whole circuit
+of the lake was visited, and they talked of taking her into Lake Huron,
+when, perhaps fortunately, down came such a fall of snow as to make
+rapid progress over the ice impossible, and they once again returned to
+their more serious occupations.
+
+The snow became every day harder, till a crust formed on the top of it,
+which made walking over it where it was not beaten down, both difficult
+and painful.  Some Indians had encamped in the neighbourhood for the
+purpose of trading with the pale faces, and obtaining food and clothing.
+Two of them at this juncture came with some slight oblong frames,
+between three and four feet in length, with net-work filling up the
+inner portion.  What they could be, none of the younger members of the
+family could guess, till the Indians fastened one to each of their feet
+and began to move along over the snow on the lake.  "Snow-shoes!
+snow-shoes!" cried Charley; and forthwith a bargain was struck for
+several pair.  The squaws brought some the next day of a lighter
+construction for the ladies of the family, and a new source of amusement
+was found enabling them also to take the exercise so necessary for
+health.  Bravely Sophy and her sisters faced the cold, bitter and biting
+as it was, and with their brothers made their first attempt to walk in
+snow-shoes on the lake.
+
+They were all thus engaged, laughing and shouting and enjoying the
+amusement, when an object was seen in the distance approaching them, and
+the silvery cheerful sound of sleigh-bells floated up to them through
+the calm air.  "Bravo--excellent!--that is what I like to see.  We
+should hear nothing of sick headaches in Canada, if all the young ladies
+would put their pretty little feet on to snow-shoes, and step over the
+country as you are doing, or rather will be doing before long, for you
+are on the ice just now," cried Mr Norman from a handsome sleigh which
+drove up to them.  The horses' harness, surmounted by a belfry, as Harry
+called the frame to which the bells were suspended, was covered with
+bright-coloured braiding, and rich skins filled the sleigh itself and
+hung over the back.  From among them a lady's head was seen.  "Allow me
+to introduce my wife," continued Mr Norman.  "She has just told me that
+she has already fallen in love with you all; but do not let us bring you
+in--we will wait for you at the house."
+
+Sophy, however, soon began to find that she had had snow-shoeing enough
+for one day, and the rest of the party discovered, when they took the
+shoes off, that their insteps ached more than they had ever before done.
+Still they were all ready to try again the next day.  Mrs Norman
+proved to be exactly the sort of person her husband had described her;
+though homely, she was entirely free from vulgarity, and as she had
+lived all her life in Canada, she possessed and was glad to impart a
+large amount of information most valuable to Mrs Ashton and Sophy.  She
+promised to remain a week with them, to give them instruction in
+numerous departments of domestic management of which they were ignorant.
+"It's a pleasure, ma'am, to tell you these things," she remarked to
+Mrs Ashton; "you take them in so kindly, and don't seem to fancy that
+your own ways are better, and that you know more than the person
+teaching you, as some people do."
+
+The winter passed by pleasantly and usefully.  There were some days when
+even the most hardy of the party had no inclination to go out; this was
+when there was a strong northerly wind and an intense frost, and the
+finer particles of snow were carried through the air and struck the face
+like so many Liliputian arrows discharged by an army from that far-famed
+land of Liliput.  There was, however, abundance of work to be done in
+the house, and plenty of hard exercise in sawing up logs for the stove
+fires.  These, while the severer frost lasted, were never allowed to go
+out, and no one had reason to complain of the want of warmth inside the
+house; indeed, the walls were so thick, that they retained the heat in
+the way an ordinary brick or plank building could not have done.  Old
+and young declared, that in spite of cold and snow, they had never spent
+a happier or pleasanter winter.  Probably the happiness of the elders
+arose from seeing their children contented and well employed around
+them.  There was one absent--Leonard, the midshipman.  They almost
+wished that he would give up the sea, and come and live with them.  Mr
+Ashton had not even suggested that he should do so, though his necessary
+allowance took away a large portion of the slender income on which the
+family had mainly to depend.  His parents were amply rewarded by hearing
+of the high character he was gaining for himself.  D'Arcy was a frequent
+visitor; he would have been more frequent, but duty kept him labouring
+at home.  Occasionally Philip went over to help him in return for the
+assistance he gave them.  The winter passed away so rapidly that they
+could scarcely believe that spring had really come.  The snow melted,
+the green grass appeared, the leaves burst forth, the flowers bloomed
+and gave their fragrance to the air, the birds warbled forth their notes
+of joy, and all nature seemed alive and busy.  If time passed quickly
+during the months of winter, it flew by still more rapidly now when
+there was so much to do that every moment of the twenty-four hours was
+fully occupied, a very small portion only being devoted to sleep; but
+then, as Harry declared, they all slept very fast, so that they really
+got as much as they required.  They were all up at dawn of day, and but
+a short time was allowed for meals till they assembled round the
+supper-table by the light of their home-made candles, the most social
+and pleasant meal in the day, when the hard work was over and any light
+indoor occupation could be engaged in.  Even then there was no light or
+frivolous conversation; constant steady work had sobered their minds,
+and they had no taste for what was not real and earnest.  Generally Mr
+Ashton or Philip read some interesting book, the subject of which was
+afterwards talked over, while comments were generally made as they
+proceeded.
+
+It is not necessary to describe the various occupations in which the
+family were engaged.  One of the most amusing and not the least
+important, was the sugar-making from the neighbouring sugar-bush or
+maple grove, before the snow had disappeared from the ground.  They were
+surprised at the large amount of sap which even a single tree gave
+forth.  This being collected in wooden troughs placed under the spouts
+formed in the trunk, was next transferred to a huge cauldron, where it
+was boiled, and then turned out to cool and crystallise.  They were in
+this way able to obtain an ample supply of sugar for their tea or
+coffee, for preserving fruits, and for their puddings during the year.
+The demand for it became considerable, when, as the summer advanced, all
+sorts of wild fruits were found in the woods, and strawberries and
+raspberries in prodigious quantities.
+
+The Canadian spring soon merges into full-blown summer.  The boat had
+been for some time launched, and Philip acting as captain, with Sophy
+and their mother as passengers, and Harry as crew, started in her to pay
+their visit of welcome to D'Arcy's mother and sisters, who had just
+arrived at his clearing.  The Ashtons were very much pleased with them.
+They were just what they expected D'Arcy's relatives would be.  Sophy
+had not been to the clearing for some time; D'Arcy invited her to
+accompany him over it.  On one side stood a cottage almost completed.
+D'Arcy produced a plan.  "That is what it will look like when it is
+finished," he observed.  "For whom is this?" asked Sophy.  "For my
+mother and sisters," was the answer.  "Then who is to inhabit your
+house?" asked Sophy, though the moment she had uttered the words she
+wished that she had kept silence.  "I shall be very miserable, if you
+are not its mistress," said D'Arcy.
+
+They were the first couple married in the new church at the settlement,
+mainly built by Mr Ashton's exertions.  He had hitherto, from his first
+arrival, conducted a service at his own house, open to all who would
+attend.
+
+Mr Norman wrote to Mr Ashton to say that he would pay him a visit.  "I
+have come on business," he said after the usual greetings were over.  "I
+am a patriot, and I am anxious for the improvement of the country.  Your
+sons are excellent young men, with talent and sense.  The education of
+the two younger is not complete, and Philip might improve his
+agricultural knowledge with advantage to himself as well as to the
+province.  On these grounds I beg to invite them to take up their
+residence at my house at Toronto, while they take advantage of the very
+liberal means of instruction which that city affords.  There are some
+important lectures on agriculture which are about to commence.  Charley
+should go to Upper Canada College, and Harry to the University; and, my
+dear sir, as I have no young people depending on me, you must allow me
+to defray all expenses."
+
+Mr Ashton could not decline so generous an offer.  It is possible that
+Harry and Charley were slightly disappointed at having to go to school
+again, but Philip was most thankful for the advantage offered him.
+D'Arcy undertook to assist Mr Ashton in his labours on the farm during
+Philip's absence.  The three brothers started together.  Their life in
+Toronto was very different to what it had been in the bush--round hats,
+frock-coats, and Wellington boots, superseded wideawakes,
+shooting-jackets, and hobnailed shoes or mocassins; and their hammers,
+saws, and axes, were exchanged for books, while social meetings of
+various sorts occupied many of the evenings when there were no lectures
+to attend.  Harry and Charley now and then sighed for the woods and
+their lake, but as they took long walks every day, their health in no
+way suffered by the change;--indeed, they could not help confessing,
+that however pleasant it might be to carpenter, and dig, and look after
+their horses and cows, and to sail and row on the lake, they had brains
+which might be employed to some better purpose, if those brains were
+properly cultivated; so they stuck manfully to their studies and made a
+progress which surprised even themselves.  "I believe that it is the
+fine clear weather of this climate which helps us," observed Harry; "I
+know that I feel twice as bright as I used to do in England."
+
+Philip found ample occupation in a variety of ways, and said that he
+felt as if his old college days had come back, as he sat in the study
+his kind friend had given him, surrounded by his books and papers.  Duty
+had made him turn backwoodsman; his inclination would certainly have led
+him in a different course of life.  He in time formed many agreeable
+acquaintances, both among the families residing in the city and the
+single men.
+
+"By-the-bye, Ashton," said one of his acquaintances, with whom he was
+walking home from a lecture, "I met last night, at Mrs Stewart's, a
+lady of your name, a very pretty and agreeable girl, though rather grave
+perhaps.  She has only just arrived with a family of the name of Mason,
+who have come out to settle.  There are a number of young Masons, and
+she was spoken of as the governess, but from the way she was treated she
+is rather a companion friend of Mrs Mason's, I should think."
+
+"I know of no relation of ours likely to come out here," said Philip, at
+the same time a very curious sensation circling round his heart.  "Did
+you hear her Christian name?"
+
+"No; they only called her Miss Ashton," said his friend.  "She sang, and
+very sweetly."
+
+"What is she like?" asked Philip.
+
+His friend began to suspect that he was interested in the stranger, and
+he replied, "I told you that she is pretty, with clear eyes, a fine
+forehead, and regular features, and rather short than tall, I should
+say.  A good figure, certainly, and a bright complexion; no, not
+always,--it brightened up, I remember, when she was speaking; and her
+hair, that was not light,--was it black or brown?--yes, I am certain, a
+rich brown.  There, I have given you the fair stranger's portrait to the
+best of my power."
+
+"Very extraordinary.  Where do the Masons live?" asked Philip.
+
+"I will ask Mrs Stewart, and get you introduced to them," said his
+friend.  "You will not find them where there are balls or common
+gaieties going on, I suspect."
+
+"That makes it still more probable," thought Philip.  He made very few
+notes that evening of the lecture he had attended.
+
+There was to be a private missionary meeting at Mrs Stewart's house,
+and Philip and his brother received an invitation.  There were many of
+his Toronto acquaintances in the room, the rest were strangers.  He
+looked round the different rooms in vain for Mary Ashton, for she it
+was, once his affianced wife, whom he expected to meet.  Two young
+ladies answered somewhat the description his friend had given him, still
+he did not like to ask if a Miss Ashton was present, lest his hopes
+should be rudely dashed to the ground.  The speakers had not arrived,
+and people were moving about from room to room.  He tried to compose his
+feelings by talking to his acquaintance on the subject of the mission
+about to be advocated.  While he was talking Harry came to him, and,
+touching his elbow, said, "Phil, I have just been introduced to a very
+nice person, who, curious enough, has our name.  I do not know if she
+knew mine, but I saw her afterwards watching me round the room, and I
+want you to find out who she can be.  She may be a cousin of the
+fiftieth degree, perhaps, and I should like to find some relations out
+here."
+
+Philip did not stop to hear more, but hurrying into the room his brother
+mentioned, he satisfied himself that Mary Ashton was really there.  She
+discovered him.  He advanced, and saw by the pleased expression of her
+countenance that he might venture to take a seat by her side.
+Explanation quickly followed.  He told her how he had come out to
+Canada, and how successful he and his family had been in establishing a
+home for themselves in the wilderness.
+
+"I have a very different tale to tell," she said with a sigh, and her
+countenance grew sad.  "My home is broken up.  The wealth my poor father
+so suddenly acquired has been dissipated and lost.  Without the
+necessary experience for business, or, perhaps, I should say wanting the
+calculating craft of the successful speculator, he suffered himself to
+be involved in transactions of an extensive nature, which he was led to
+believe would double his wealth.  They proved to be the fraudulent
+schemes of sharpers, planned for their own profit and my father's ruin.
+It was in vain that he was warned of their designs--he was infatuated,
+and would listen to no counsel but that of his treacherous betrayers,
+who plunged him deeper and deeper into obligations and liabilities,
+which, in the end, engulphed the whole of his large fortune.  He had
+even to fly the country to escape a prison, and is at this moment in
+hiding from his creditors until his affairs can be arranged.  Everything
+had to be given up.  My mother's small portion is barely sufficient to
+maintain her and my sisters; my brothers, ill-prepared for the lot that
+is before them, are abroad in the world, making their way as they best
+can; as for myself, not choosing to add to my mother's burdens, I have
+accepted the post in Mrs Mason's family which I now occupy.  She is an
+old and well-tried friend, who has known me from my infancy, and both
+she and her children regard me as one of themselves.  They urged me to
+accompany them in their removal to Canada, and cast in my lot with
+theirs.  What better could I do?  Of my own family, not one advised my
+remaining in England.  I accepted my dear friend's offer--and thus it
+has come to pass that we meet once more."
+
+Whether Philip and Mary Ashton understood all the interesting addresses
+given on that occasion may be doubted.
+
+"I say, Harry," cried Charley, some days after this, "I am so glad that
+Phil is going to be married.  That Mary is a nice girl, and she will
+make some amends for Sophy having gone away.  Not that she is likely to
+be up to her--I should like to see the girl who could be."
+
+A short time after the family were reunited at Ashton Clearing, to which
+Philip had brought his wife, Charley acknowledged that if not superior
+she was fully equal to Sophy.  Harry had made up his mind that no
+employment was superior to that of a settler; and, anxious to resume it,
+he studied very hard while at college, and took a most creditable
+degree.  The farm had now grown into a very pretty little estate, to
+which the name of Ashton was universally given.  Cottages had been
+erected on the property, and had been eagerly taken by new comers.  Saw
+and grist-mills had been built in the neighbourhood, and many other
+houses and cottages.  Harry had, with his father's assistance, purchased
+a good-sized farm near Ashton, and had secured another for Charley, so
+that they might be near their father to render him the assistance he
+required.
+
+His family had long known what had been Philip's secret wish.  They now
+unanimously assured him that he might properly follow it, and entreated
+him to do so.  It was to enter the ministry.  A church was required at
+Ashton--the funds were forthcoming--before it was completed Philip was
+ordained and became its minister.  Few rejoiced as much as his devoted
+wife at seeing his talents employed in the noblest cause in which a
+human being can engage.
+
+There was one cloud in Mary Ashton's otherwise serene life--not one of
+her family wrote to her, and she could hear nothing about them.  Mr and
+Mrs Ashton had their hearts gladdened with a visit from their sailor
+son Leonard, now a lieutenant, his ship having come to Quebec.  From him
+Philip first heard of the fate of any of the John Ashtons.  "I was
+surprised," said Leonard, "to hear among a batch of lads just joined,
+the name of Thomas Ashton.  He was not a prepossessing youth, but as he
+had evidently had a better education than the generality of those who
+enter the service, he had a fair prospect of doing well if he behaved
+properly.  He did not though, and was constantly in scrapes, drunk, and
+disorderly.  He was under confinement for such offences, when he caught
+the fever in the West Indies.  The surgeon came one day and said that he
+was very ill and wished to see me.  I of course went to the lad, who
+then told me that he knew who I was--that he was the son of John Ashton
+who got our property.  It was dreadful to hear him speak of his father
+who had cheated us he declared, and cheated all his family, and every
+body else.  He seemed to consider that he had a claim on me in
+consequence of our relationship.  I did all I could for him by procuring
+him better attendance than he would otherwise have had, and by shifting
+him into comfortable quarters where he would get the benefit of pure
+air.  He soon began to mend, and then I took the liberty of reading him
+some serious lectures as to his past conduct and scandalous mode of
+life.  He took my reproof in good part; and you will be pleased to hear
+that when he was at length restored to health, he became quite a new
+man--scrupulously faithful in discharge of his duty, sober to
+abstinence, and cheerfully obedient to orders.  He has had a narrow
+escape from death, and is, I trust, thankful to God that he was not cut
+off suddenly in his mad career.  He is grateful to me for the service I
+rendered him--says, indeed, that I saved his life; I shall take
+advantage of that feeling to keep him right, if I can.  I have trusted
+him with some responsibility during my absence, and if, on my return, I
+find he has done well, that will afford me a pretext for helping him
+forward, which it would give me real pleasure to do."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Philip had little doubt but that his father and he had been deprived of
+their property by unfair means, though he never even breathed such an
+idea to his wife.  He is, however, able to assure her, with all
+sincerity, that he does not regret its loss, and that he is convinced
+that his father is happier with his children collected around him and
+all actively employed, than he would have been had he retained his
+wealth and lived on in the world of fashion.
+
+Two of Mary's brothers found their way almost in rags to Ashton, having
+in vain endeavoured to find employment in England.  They expressed
+themselves ready to work, and Harry and Charley afforded them some
+practical lessons, which enabled them to begin with advantage.  At first
+they complained that their limbs ached terribly; but in a short time
+they had to confess that food honestly gained by hard labour, was far
+pleasanter than the bread of idleness.  They persevered, and in the
+course of a few years were able to purchase land for themselves.  They
+are now hard at work clearing it, and bid fair to become useful members
+of society.
+
+Philip Ashton's sons will, undoubtedly, secure an independence; and
+will, probably, from their known integrity and energy, be employed in
+some of the more important offices of the State.  Indeed, they all look
+back with pleasure to the day when they took up their abode in "The Log
+House by the Lake."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Log House by the Lake, by 
+William H. G. Kingston
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