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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8607.txt b/8607.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c57dbcc --- /dev/null +++ b/8607.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4960 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Forest, by Catherine Parr Traill + +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: In the Forest + +Author: Catherine Parr Traill + +Posting Date: April 10, 2013 [EBook #8607] +Release Date: August, 2005 +First Posted: July 28, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE FOREST *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, John R. Bilderback, Charles +Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions. + + + + + + + +Editorial note: +This book is essentially identical to LADY MARY AND HER NURSE, +by Mrs. Traill, Project Gutenberg EBook #6479, but the two come +from different sources. + + + + + +IN THE FOREST + +or, PICTURES OF LIFE AND SCENERY IN THE WOODS OF CANADA + +A TALE BY MRS. TRAILL + +WITH 19 ILLUSTRATIONS + +1881 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A NARROW ESCAPE] + +CHAPTER I +The Flying Squirrel--Its Food--Story of a Wolf--Indian Village--Wild +Rice + +CHAPTER II +Sleighing--Sleigh Robes--Fur Caps--Otter Skins--Old Snow-Storm--Otter +Hunting--Otter Slides--Indian Names--Remarks on Wild Animals and their +Habits + +CHAPTER III +PART I--Lady Mary reads to Mrs. Frazer the First Part of the History +of the Squirrel Family + +PART II--Which tells how the Gray Squirrels fared while they remained on +Pine Island--How they behaved to their poor Relations, the Chipmunks--And +what happens to them in the Forest + +PART III--How the Squirrels got to the Mill at the Rapids--And what +happened to the Velvet-paw + +CHAPTER IV +Squirrels--The Chipmunks--Docility of a Pet One--Roguery of a Yankee +Pedlar--Return of the Musical Chipmunk to his Master's Bosom--Sagacity +of a Black Squirrel + +CHAPTER V +Indian Baskets--Thread Plants--Maple Sugar Tree--Indian Ornamental +Works--Racoons + +CHAPTER VI. +Canadian Birds--Snow Sparrow--Robin Redbreast--Canadian Flowers--American +Porcupine + +CHAPTER VII. +Indian Bag--Indian Embroidery--Beaver's Tail--Beaver Architecture--Habits +of the Beaver--Beaver Tools--Beaver Meadows + +CHAPTER VIII. +Indian Boy and his Pets--Tame Beaver at Home--Kitten, Wildfire--Pet +Racoon and the Spaniel Puppies--Canadian Flora + +CHAPTER IX. +Nurse tells Lady Mary about a Little Boy who was eaten by a Bear in +the Province of New Brunswick--Of a Baby who was carried away but taken +alive--A Walk in the Garden--Humming Birds--Canadian Balsams + +CHAPTER X. +Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, most frequently seen in northern +Climates--Called Merry Dancers--Rose Tints--Tintlike Appearance--Lady +Mary frightened + +CHAPTER XI. +Strawberries--Canadian Wild Fruits--Wild Raspberries--The Hunter and +the Lost Child--Cranberries--Cranberry Marshes--Nuts + +CHAPTER XII. +Garter snakes--Rattle-snakes--Anecdote of a Little Boy--Fisherman +and Snake--Snake Charmers--Spiders--Land Tortoise + +CHAPTER XIII. +Ellen and her Pet Fawns--Docility of Fan--Jack's Droll Tricks-- +Affectionate Wolf--Fall Flowers--Departure of Lady Mary--The End. + + + +List of Illustrations. + +LADY MARY AND THE NOSEGAY +A NARROW ESCAPE +THE FLYING SQUIRREL +ADVENTURE WITH A WOLF +INDIAN WIGWAMS +THE OTTERS +DOLLY'S SLEIGH RIDE +LADY MARY READING HER PICTURE BOOK +THE GRAY SQUIRREL AND THE CHIPMUNKS +THE PET SQUIRREL +NIMBLE RECOVERING HIS SISTER +WATCHING THE BIRDS +THE PRESENT FROM FATHER +BEAVERS MAKING A DAM +"CAUGHT AT LAST" +THE AURORA BOREALIS +THE LOST CHILD AND THE BEARS +A BOY HERO +THE INDIAN HUNTER + + + + +IN THE FOREST. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FLYING SQUIRREL--ITS FOOD--STORY OF A WOLF--INDIAN VILLAGE--WILD RICE. + + +"Nurse, what is the name of that pretty creature you have in +your hand? What bright eyes it has! What a soft tail--just like a gray +feather! Is it a little beaver?" asked the Governor's little daughter, +as her nurse came into the room where her young charge, whom we shall +call Lady Mary, was playing with her doll. + +Carefully sheltered against her breast, its velvet nose just peeping +from beneath her muslin neckerchief, the nurse held a small gray-furred +animal, of the most delicate form and colour. + +"No, my lady," she replied, "this is not a young beaver; a beaver is +a much larger animal. A beaver's tail is not covered with fur; it is +scaly, broad, and flat; it looks something like black leather, not +very unlike that of my seal-skin slippers. The Indians eat beavers' +tails at their great feasts, and think they make an excellent dish." + +"If they are black, and look like leather shoes, I am very sure I should +not like to eat them; so, if you please, Mrs. Frazer, do not let me +have any beavers' tails cooked for my dinner," said the little lady, +in a very decided tone. + +"Indeed, my lady," replied her nurse, smiling, "it would not be an +easy thing to obtain, if you wished to taste one, for beavers are not +brought to our market. It is only the Indians and hunters who know +how to trap them, and beavers are not so plentiful as they used to +be." + +Mrs. Frazer would have told Lady Mary a great deal about the way +in which the trappers take the beavers, but the little girl interrupted +her by saying, "Please, nurse, will you tell me the name of your pretty +pet? Ah, sweet thing, what bright eyes you have!" she added, caressing +the soft little head which was just seen from beneath the folds of +the muslin handkerchief to which it timidly nestled, casting furtive +glances at the admiring child, while the panting of its breast told +the mortal terror that shook its frame whenever the little girl's hand +was advanced to coax its soft back. + +[Illustration: THE FLYING SQUIRREL] + +"It is a flying squirrel, Lady Mary," replied her nurse; "one of my +brothers caught it a month ago, when he was chopping in the forest. +He thought it might amuse your ladyship, and so he tamed it and sent +it to me in a basket filled with moss, with some acorns, and +hickory-nuts, and beech-mast for him to eat on his journey, for the +little fellow has travelled a long way: he came from the beech-woods +near the town of Coburg, in the Upper Province." + +"And where is Coburg, nurse? Is it a large city like Montreal or +Quebec?" + +"No, my lady; it is a large town on the shores of the great Lake +Ontario." + +"And are there many woods near it?" + +"Yes; but not so many as there used to be many years ago. The forest +is almost all cleared, and there are fields of wheat and Indian corn, +and nice farms and pretty houses, where a few years back the lofty +forest grew dark and thick." + +"Nurse, you said there were acorns, and hickory-nuts, and beech-mast +in the basket. I have seen acorns at home in dear England and +Scotland, and I have eaten the hickory-nuts here; but what is +beech-mast? Is it in granaries for winter stores; and wild ducks +and wild pigeons come from the far north at the season when the +beech-mast fall, to eat them; for God teaches these, His creatures, +to know the times and the seasons when His bounteous hand is open to +give them food from His boundless store. A great many other birds and +beasts also feed upon the beech-mast." + +"It was very good of your brother to send me this pretty creature, +nurse," said the little lady; "I will ask Papa to give him some +money." + +"There is no need of that, Lady Mary. My brother is not in want; he +has a farm in the Upper Province, and is very well off." + +"I am glad he is well off," said Lady Mary; "indeed, I do not see so +many beggars here as in England." + +"People need not beg in Canada, if they are well and strong and can +work; a poor man can soon earn enough money to keep himself and his +little ones." + +"Nurse, will you be so kind as to ask Campbell to get a pretty cage +for my squirrel? I will let him live close to my dormice, who will be +pleasant company for him, and I will feed him every day myself with +nuts and sugar, and sweet cake and white bread. Now do not tremble and +look so frightened, as though I were going to hurt you; and pray, Mr +Squirrel, do not bite. Oh! nurse, nurse, the wicked, spiteful creature +has bitten my finger! See, see, it has made it bleed! Naughty thing! +I will not love you if you bite. Pray, nurse, bind up my finger, or it +will soil my frock." + +Great was the pity bestowed upon the wound by Lady Mary's kind attendant, +till the little girl, tired of hearing so much said about the bitten +finger, gravely desired her maid to go in search of the cage and catch +the truant, which had effected its escape, and was clinging to the +curtains of the bed. The cage was procured--a large wooden cage, with +an outer and an inner chamber, a bar for the little fellow to swing +himself on, a drawer for his food, and a little dish for his water. +The sleeping-room was furnished by the nurse with soft wool, and a +fine store of nuts was put in the drawer; all his wants were well +supplied, and Lady Mary watched the catching of the little animal with +much interest. Great was the activity displayed by the runaway squirrel, +and still greater the astonishment evinced by the Governor's little +daughter at the flying leaps made by the squirrel in its attempts to elude +the grasp of its pursuers. "It flies! I am sure it must have wings. Look, +look, nurse! it is here, now it is on the wall, now on the curtains! +It must have wings; but it has no feathers!" + +"It has, no wings, dear lady, but it has a fine ridge of fur that covers +a strong sinew or muscle between the fore and hinder legs; and it is +by the help of this muscle that it is able to spring so far and so +fast; and its claws are so sharp, that it can cling to a wall or any +flat surface. The black and red squirrels, and the common gray, can +jump very far and run up the bark of the trees very fast, but not so +fast as the flying squirrel." + +At last Lady Mary's maid, with the help of one of the housemaids, +succeeded in catching the squirrel and securing him within his cage. But +though Lady Mary tried all her words of endearment to coax the little +creature to eat some of the good things that had been provided so +liberally for his entertainment, he remained sullen and motionless at the +bottom of the cage. A captive is no less a captive in a cage with gilded +bars and with dainties to eat, than if rusted iron shut him in, and kept +him from enjoying his freedom. It is for dear liberty that he pines and is +sad, even in the midst of plenty! + +"Dear nurse, why does my little squirrel tremble and look so unhappy? +Tell me if he wants anything to eat that we have not given him. Why +does he not lie down and sleep on the nice soft bed you have made for +him in his little chamber? See, he has not tasted the nice sweet cake +and sugar that I gave him." + +"He is not used to such dainties, Lady Mary. In the forest he feeds +upon hickory-nuts, and butternuts, and acorns, and beech-mast, and +the buds of the spruce, fir and pine kernels, and many other seeds +and nuts and berries that we could not get for him; he loves grain +too, and Indian corn. He sleeps on green moss and leaves, and fine +fibres of grass and roots, and drinks heaven's blessed dew, as it lies +bright and pure upon the herbs of the field." + +"Dear little squirrel! pretty creature! I know now what makes you sad. +You long to be abroad among your own green woods, and sleeping on the +soft green moss, which is far prettier than this ugly cotton wool. +But you shall stay with me, my sweet one, till the cold winter is past +and gone, and the spring flowers have come again; and then, my pretty +squirrel, I will take you out of your dull cage, and we will go to +St. Helen's green island, and I will let you go free; but I will put +a scarlet collar about your neck before I let you go, that if any one +finds you, they may know that you are my squirrel. Were you ever in +the green forest, nurse? I hear papa talk about the 'Bush' and the +'Backwoods;' it must be very pleasant in the summer to live among the +green trees. Were you ever there?" + +"Yes, dear lady; I did live in the woods when I was a child. I was born in +a little log-shanty, far, far away up the country, near a beautiful lake +called Rice Lake, among woods, and valleys, and hills covered with +flowers, and groves of pine, and white and black oaks." + +"Stop, nurse, and tell me why they are called black and white; are the +flowers black and white?" + +"No, my lady; it is because the wood of the one is darker than the +other, and the leaves of the black oak are dark and shining, while +those of the white oak are brighter and lighter. The black oak is a +beautiful tree. When I was a young girl, I used to like to climb the +sides of the steep valleys, and look down upon the tops of the oaks +that grew beneath, and to watch the wind lifting the boughs all glittering +in the moonlight; they looked like a sea of ruffled green water. It +is very solemn, Lady Mary, to be in the woods by night, and to hear +no sound but the cry of the great wood-owl, or the voice of the +whip-poor-will, calling to his fellow from the tamarack swamp, or, +may be, the timid bleating of a fawn that has lost its mother, or the +howl of a wolf." + +"Nurse, I should be so afraid; I am sure I should cry if I heard the +wicked wolves howling in the dark woods by night. Did you ever know any +one who was eaten by a wolf?" + +"No, my lady; the Canadian wolf is a great coward. I have heard the +hunters say that they never attack any one unless there is a great +flock together and the man is alone and unarmed. My uncle used to go +out a great deal hunting, sometimes by torchlight, and sometimes on +the lake, in a canoe with the Indians; and he shot and trapped a great +many wolves and foxes and racoons. He has a great many heads of wild +animals nailed up on the stoup in front of his log-house." + +"Please tell me what a stoup is, nurse?" + +"A verandah, my lady, is the same thing, only the old Dutch settlers +gave it the name of a stoup, and the stoup is heavier and broader, +and not quite so nicely made as a verandah. One day my uncle was crossing +the lake on the ice; it was a cold winter afternoon, he was in a hurry +to take some food to his brothers, who were drawing pine-logs in the +bush. He had, besides a bag of meal and flour, a new axe on his shoulder. +He heard steps as of a dog trotting after him; he turned his head, +and there he saw, close at his heels, a big, hungry-looking gray wolf; +he stopped and faced about, and the big beast stopped and showed his +white sharp teeth. My uncle did not feel afraid, but looked steadily +at the wolf, as much as to say, 'Follow me if you dare,' and walked +on. When my uncle stopped, the wolf stopped; when he went on, the beast +also went on." + +"I would have run away," said Lady Mary. + +"If my uncle had let the wolf see that he was afraid of him, he would +have grown bolder, and have run after him and seized him. All animals +are afraid of brave men, but not of cowards. When the beast came too +near, my uncle faced him and showed the bright axe, and the wolf then +shrank back a few paces. When my uncle got near the shore, he heard +a long wild cry, as if from twenty wolves at once. It might have been +the echoes from the islands that increased the sound; but it was very +frightful and made his blood chill, for he knew that without his rifle +he should stand a poor chance against a large pack of hungry wolves. +Just then a gun went off; he heard the wolf give a terrible yell, he +felt the whizzing of a bullet pass him, and turning about, saw the +wolf lying dead on the ice. A loud shout from the cedars in front told +him from whom the shot came; it was my father, who had been on the +look-out on the lake shore, and he had fired at and hit the wolf when +he saw that he could do so without hurting his brother." + +"Nurse, it would have been a sad thing if the gun had shot your uncle." + +"It would; but my father was one of the best shots in the district, +and could hit a white spot on the bark of a tree with a precision that +was perfectly wonderful. It was an old Indian from Buckhorn Lake who +taught him to shoot deer by torchlight and to trap beavers." + +"Well, I am glad that horrid wolf was killed, for wolves eat sheep +and lambs; and I daresay they would devour my little squirrel if they +could get him. Nurse, please to tell me again the name of the lake +near which you were born." + +"It is called Rice Lake, my lady. It is a fine piece of water, more +than twenty miles long, and from three to five miles broad. It has +pretty wooded islands, and several rivers or streams empty themselves +into it. The Otonabee River is a fine broad stream, which flows through +the forest a long way. Many years ago, there were no clearings on the +banks, and no houses, only Indian tents or wigwams; but now there are +a great many houses and farms." + +"What are wigwams?" + +"A sort of light tent, made with poles stuck into the ground in a circle, +fastened together at the top, and covered on the outside with skins +of wild animals, or with birch bark. The Indians light a fire of sticks +and logs on the ground, in the middle of the wigwam, and lie or sit +all round it; the smoke goes up to the top and escapes. Or sometimes, +in the warm summer weather, they kindle their fire without, and their +squaws, or wives, attend to it; while they go hunting in the forest, +or, mounted on swift horses, pursue the trail of their enemies. In +the winter, they bank up the wigwam with snow, and make it very warm." + +[Illustration: INDIAN WIGWAMS] + +"I think it must be a very ugly sort of house, and I am glad I do not +live in an Indian wigwam," said the little lady. + +"The Indians are a very simple folk, my lady, and do not need fine +houses like this in which your papa lives. They do not know the names +or uses of half the fine things that are in the houses of the white +people. They are happy and contented without them. It is not the richest +that are happiest, Lady Mary, and the Lord careth for the poor and +the lowly. There is a village on the shores of Rice Lake where the +Indians live. It is not very pretty. The houses are all built of logs, +and some of them have gardens and orchards. They have a neat church, +and they have a good minister, who takes great pains to teach them +the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The poor Indians were Pagans until +within the last few years." "What are Pagans, nurse?" + +"People, Lady Mary, who do not believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, +our blessed Saviour." + +"Nurse, is there real rice growing in the Rice Lake? I heard my governess +say that rice grew only in warm countries. Now, your lake must be +very cold if your uncle walked across the ice." + +"This rice, my lady, is not real rice. I heard a gentleman tell my +father that it was, properly speaking, a species of oats [Footnote: +Zizania, or water oats]--water oats, he called it; but the common name +for it is wild rice. This wild rice grows in vast beds in the lake +in patches of many acres. It will grow in water from eight to ten or +twelve feet deep; the grassy leaves float upon the water like long +narrow green ribbons. In the month of August, the stem that is to bear +the flower and the grain rises straight up above the surface, and light +delicate blossoms come out of a pale straw colour and lilac. They are +very pretty, and wave in the wind with a rustling noise. In the month +of October, when the rice is ripe, the leaves torn yellow, and the +rice-heads grow heavy and droop; then the squaws--as the Indian women +are called--go out in their birch-bark canoes, holding in one hand +a stick, in the other a short curved paddle with a sharp edge. With +this they bend down the rice across the stick and strike off the heads, +which fall into the canoe, as they push it along through the rice-beds. +In this way they collect a great many bushels in the course of the +day. The wild rice is not the least like the rice which your ladyship +has eaten; it is thin, and covered with a light chaffy husk. The colour +of the grain itself is a brownish-green, or olive, smooth, shining, +and brittle. After separating the outward chaff, the squaws put by +a large portion of the clean rice in its natural state for sale; for +this they get from a dollar and a half to two dollars a bushel. Some +they parch, either in large pots, or on mats made of the inner bark +of cedar or bass wood, beneath which they light a slow fire, and plant +around it a temporary hedge of green boughs closely set, to prevent +the heat from escaping; they also drive stakes into the ground, over +which they stretch the matting at a certain height above the fire. +On this they spread the green rice, stirring it about with wooden paddles +till it is properly parched; this is known by its bursting and showing +the white grain of the flour. When quite cool it is stowed away in +troughs, scooped out of butter-nut wood, or else sewed up in sheets +of birch bark or bass-mats, or in coarsely-made birch-bark baskets." + +"And is the rice good to eat, nurse?" + +"Some people like it as well as the white rice of Carolina; but it does +not look so well. It is a great blessing to the poor Indians, who boil it +in their soups, or eat it with maple molasses. And they eat it when +parched without any other cooking, when they are on a long journey in the +woods, or on the lakes. I have often eaten nice puddings made of it with +milk. The deer feed upon the green rice. They swim into the water and eat +the green leaves and tops. The Indians go out at night to shoot the deer +on the water; they listen for them, and shoot them in the dark. The wild +ducks and water-fowls come down in great flocks to fatten on the ripe rice +in the fall of the year; also large flocks of rice buntings and red wings, +which make their roosts among the low willows, flags, and lilies, close to +the shallows of the lake." + +"It seems very useful to birds as well as to men and beasts," said little +Lady Mary. + +"Yes, my lady, and to fishes also, I make no doubt; for the good God +has cast it so abundantly abroad on the waters, that I daresay they +also have their share. When the rice is fully ripe, the sun shining +on it gives it a golden hue, just like a field of ripened grain. +Surrounded by the deep-blue waters, it looks very pretty." + +"I am very much obliged to you nurse, for telling me so much about +the Indian rice, and I will ask mamma to let me have some one day for +my dinner, that I may know how it tastes." + +Just then Lady Mary's governess came to bid her nurse dress her for +a sleigh-ride, and so for the present we shall leave her; but we will +tell our little readers something more in another chapter about Lady +Mary and her flying squirrel. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SLEIGHING--SLEIGH ROBES--FUR CAPS--OTTER SKINS--OLD SNOW-STORM--OTTER +HUNTING--OTTER SLIDES--INDIAN NAMES--REMARKS ON WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR +HABITS + + +Nurse, we have had a very nice sleigh-drive. I like sleighing very +much over the white snow. The trees look so pretty, as if they were +covered with white flowers, and the ground sparkled just like mamma's +diamonds." + +"It is pleasant, Lady Mary, to ride through the woods on a bright sunshiny +day, after a fresh fall of snow. The young evergreens, hemlocks, balsams, +and spruce-trees, are loaded with great masses of the new-fallen snow; +while the slender saplings of the beech, birch, and basswood (the lime or +linden) are bent down to the very ground, making bowers so bright and +beautiful, you would be delighted to see them. Sometimes, as you drive +along, great masses of the snow come showering down upon you; but it is so +light and dry, that it shakes off without wetting you. It is pleasant to +be wrapped up in warm blankets, or buffalo robes, at the bottom of a +lumber-sleigh, and to travel through the forest by moonlight; the merry +bells echoing through the silent woods, and the stars just peeping down +through the frosted trees, which sparkle like diamonds in the moonbeams." + +"Nurse, I should like to take a drive through the forest in winter. +It is so nice to hear the sleigh-bells. We used sometimes to go out +in the snow in Scotland, but we were in the carriage, and had no bells." + +"No, Lady Mary; the snow seldom lies long enough in the old country +to make it worth while to have sleighs there; but in Russia and Sweden, +and other cold Northern countries, they use sleighs with bells." + +Lady Mary ran to the little bookcase where she had a collection of +children's books, and very soon found a picture of Laplanders and Russians +wrapped in furs. + +"How long will the winter last, nurse?" said the child, after she had +tired herself with looking at the prints, "a long, long time--a great +many weeks?--a great many months?" + +"Yes, my lady; five or six months." + +"Oh, that is nice--nearly half a year of white snow, and sleigh-drives +every day, and bells ringing all the time! I tried to make out a tune, +but they only seemed to say, 'Up-hill, up-hill! down-hill, down-hill!' +all the way. Nurse, please tell me what are sleigh-robes made of?" + +"Some sleigh-robes, Lady Mary, are made of bear-skins, lined with red +or blue flannel; some are of wolf-skins, lined with bright scarlet +cloth; and some of racoon, the commonest are buffalo-skins; I have +seen some of deer-skins, but these last are not so good, as the hair +comes off, and they are not so warm as the skins of the furred or +woolly-coated animals" + +"I sometimes see long tails hanging down over the backs of the sleigh and +cutters--they look very pretty, like the end of mamma's boa." + +"The wolf and racoon skin robes are generally made up with the tails, and +sometimes the heads of the animals are also left. I noticed the head of a +wolf, with its sharp ears, and long white teeth, looking very fierce, at +the back of a cutter, the other day." + +"Nurse, that must have looked very droll. Do you know I saw a gentleman +the other day, walking with papa, who had a fox-skin cap on his head, and +the fox's nose was just peeping over his shoulder, and the tail hung down +his back, and I saw its bright black eyes looking so cunning I thought it +must be alive, and that it had curled itself round his head; but the +gentleman took it off, and showed me that the eyes were glass." + +"Some hunters, Lady Mary, make caps of otter, mink, or badger skins, and +ornament them with the tails, heads, and claws." + +"I have seen a picture of the otter, nurse; it is a pretty, soft-looking +thing, with a round head and black eyes. Where do otters live?" + +"The Canadian otters, Lady Mary, live in holes in the banks of sedgy, +shallow lakes, mill-ponds, and sheltered creeks. The Indian hunters +find their haunts by tracking their steps in the snow; for an Indian +or Canadian hunter knows the track made by any bird or beast, from +the deep broad print of the bear, to the tiny one of the little +shrewmouse, which is the smallest four-footed beast in this or any other +country. + +"Indians catch the otter, and many other wild animals, in a sort of +trap, which they call a 'deadfall.' Wolves are often so trapped, and +then shot. The Indians catch the otter for the sake of its dark shining +fur, which is used by the hatters and furriers Old Jacob Snow-storm, +an old Indian who lived on the banks of the Rice Lake, used to catch +otters; and I have often listened to him, and laughed at his stories." + +"Do, please, nurse, tell me what old Jacob Snow-storm told you about +the otters; I like to hear stories about wild beasts. But what a droll +surname Snow-storm is!" + +"Yes, Lady Mary; Indians have very odd names; they are called after +all sorts of strange things. They do not name the children, as we do, +soon after they are born, but wait for some remarkable circumstance, +some dream or accident. Some call them after the first strange animal +or bird that appears to the new-born. Old Snow-storm most likely owed +his name to a heavy fall of snow when he was a baby. I knew a chief +named Musk-rat, and a pretty Indian girl who was named +'Badau'-bun'--_Light of the Morning._" + +"And what is the Indian name for Old Snow-storm?" + +"'Be-che-go-ke-poor,' my lady." + +Lady Mary said it was a funny sounding name, and not at all like +Snow-storm, which she liked a great deal better; and she was much amused +while her nurse repeated to her some names of squaws and papooses (Indian +women and children); such as Long Thrush, Little Fox, Running Stream, +Snowbird, Red Cloud, Young Eagle, Big Bush, and many others. + +"Now, nurse, will you tell me some more about Jacob Snow-storm and +the otters?" + +"Well, Lady Mary, the old man had a cap of otter-skin, of which he +was very proud, and only wore on great days. One day as he was playing +with it, he said:--'Otter funny fellow; he like play too, sometimes. +Indian go hunting up Ottawa, that great big river, you know. Go one +moonlight night; lie down under bushes in snow; see lot of little fellow +and big fellow at play. Run up and down bank; bank all ice. Sit down +top of bank; good slide there. Down he go splash into water; out again. +Funny fellow those!' And then the old hunter threw hack his head, and +laughed, till you could have seen all his white teeth, he opened his +mouth so wide." + +[Illustration: The Otters] + +Lady Mary was very much amused at the comical way in which the old +Indian talked. + +"Can otters swim, nurse?" + +"Yes, Lady Mary, the good God who has created all things well, has +given to this animal webbed feet, which enable it to swim, and it can +also dive down in the deep water, where it finds fish and mussels, +and perhaps the roots of some water-plants to eat. It makes very little +motion or disturbance in the water when it goes down in search of its +prey. Its coat is thick, and formed of two kinds of hair; the outer +hair is long, silky, and shining; the under part is short, fine, and +warm. The water cannot penetrate to wet them,--the oily nature of the +fur throws off the moisture. They dig large holes with their claws, +which are short, but very strong. They line their nests with dry grass, +and rushes, and roots gnawed fine, and do not pass the winter in sleep, +as the dormice, flying squirrels, racoons, and bears do. They are very +innocent and playful, both when young, and even after they grow old. +The lumberers often tame them, and they become so docile that they +will come at a call or whistle. Like all wild animals, they are most +lively at night, when they come out to feed and play." + +"Dear little things! I should like to have a tame otter to play with, +and run after me; but do you think he would eat my squirrel? You know +cats will eat squirrels--so mamma says." + +"Cats belong to a very different class of animals; they are beasts +of prey, formed to spring and bound, and tear with their teeth and +claws. The otter is also a beast of prey, but its prey is found in +the still waters, and not on the land; it can neither climb nor leap. +So I do not think he would hurt your squirrel, if you had one." + +"See, nurse, my dear little squirrel is still where I left him, clinging +to the wires of the cage, his bright eyes looking like two black beads." + +"As soon as it grows dark he will begin to be more lively, and perhaps +he will eat something, but not while we look at him--he is too shy +for that." "Nurse, how can they see to eat in the dark?" + +"The good God, Lady Mary, has so formed their eyes that they can see +best by night. I will read you, Lady Mary, a few verses from Psalm +civ.:-- + +"'Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth +his going down. + +"'20. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beast +of the forest do creep forth. "'21. The young lions roar after their +prey, and seek their meat from God. + +"'22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them +down in their dens. + +"'23. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour, until the evening. + +"'24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made +them all: the earth is full of thy riches.' + +"Thus you see, my dear lady, that our heavenly Father taketh care of +all his creatures, and provideth for them both by day and by night." + +"I remember, nurse, that my dormice used to lie quite still, nestled +among the moss and wool in their little dark chamber in the cage, all +day long; but when it was night they used to come out and frisk about, +and run along the wires, and play all sorts of tricks, chasing one +another round and round, and they were not afraid of me, but would +let me look at them while they ate a nut, or a hit of sugar; and the +dear little things would drink out of their little white saucer, and +wash their faces and tails--it was so pretty to see them!" + +"Did you notice, Lady Mary, how the dormice held their food?" + +"Yes; they sat up, and held it in their fore-paws, which looked just +like tiny hands." + +"There are many animals whose fore-feet resemble hands, and these, +generally, convey their food to their mouths--among these are the squirrel +and dormice. They are good climbers and diggers. You see, my dear young +lady, how the merciful Creator has given to all his creatures, however +lowly, the best means of supplying their wants, whether of food or +shelter." + +"Indeed, nurse. I have learned a great deal about squirrels, Canadian +rice, otters, and Indians; but, if you please, I must now have a little +play with my doll. Good-bye, Mrs. Frazer; pray take care of my dear +little squirrel, and mind that he does not fly away." And Lady Mary +was soon busily engaged in drawing her wax doll about the nursery in +a little sleigh lined with red squirrel fur robes, and talking to her +as all children like to talk to their dolls, whether they be rich or +poor--the children of peasants, or governors' daughters. + +[Illustration: Dolly's Sleigh-Ride] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +LADY MARY READS TO MRS. FRAZER THE FIRST PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE +SQUIRREL FAMILY. + + +One day Lady Mary came to her nurse, and putting her arms about her +neck, whispered to her,--"Mrs. Frazer, my dear good governess has given +me something--it is in my hand," and she slily held her hand behind +her--"will you guess what it is?" + +"Is it a book, my lady?" + +"Yes, yes, it is a book, a pretty book; and see, here are pictures +of squirrels in it. Mrs. Frazer, if you like, I will sit down on this +cushion by you and read some of my new book. It does not seem very +hard." + +Then Mrs. Frazer took out her work-basket and sat down to sew, and Lady +Mary began to read the little story, which, I hope, may entertain my +little readers as much as it did the Governor's daughter. + + * * * * * + +PART I + + +THE HISTORY OF A SQUIRREL FAMILY. + +[Illustration: LADY MARY READING HER PICTURE-BOOK.] + +It must be a pleasant thing to be a squirrel, and live a life of freedom +in the boundless forests; to leap and bound among the branches of the +tall trees, to gambol in the deep shade of the cool glossy leaves, +through the long warm summer day; to gather the fresh nuts and berries; +to drink the pure dews of heaven, all bright and sparkling from the +opening flowers; to sleep on soft beds of moss and thistle-down in +some hollow branch rocked by the wind as in a cradle. Yet, though this +was the happy life led by a family of pretty gray squirrels that had +their dwelling in the hoary branch of an old oak-tree that grew on +one of the rocky islands in a beautiful lake in Upper Canada, called +_Stony Lake_ (because it was full of rocky islands), these little +creatures were far from being contented, and were always wishing for a +change. Indeed, they had been very happy, till one day when a great black +squirrel swam to the island and paid them a visit. He was a very fine +handsome fellow, nearly twice as large as any of the gray squirrels; he +had a tail that flourished over his back, when he set it up, like a great +black feather; his claws were sharp and strong, and his eyes very round +and bright; he had upright ears, and long, sharp teeth, of which he +made good use. The old gray squirrels called him cousin, and invited +him to dinner. They very civilly set before him some acorns and beechnuts; +but he proved a hungry visitor, and ate as much as would have fed the +whole family for a week. After the gray squirrels had cleared away +the shells and scraps, they asked their greedy guest where he came +from, when Blackie told them he was a great traveller, and had seen +many wonderful things; that he had once lived on a forked pine at the +head of the Waterfall, but being tired of a dull life, he had gone +out on his travels to see the world; that he had been down the lake, +and along the river shore, where there were great places cut out in +the thick forest, called clearings, where some very tall creatures +lived, who were called men and women, with young ones called children; +that though they were not so pretty as squirrels--for they had no fur +on them, and were obliged to make clothes to cover them and keep them +warm--they were very useful, and sowed corn and planted fruit-trees +and roots for squirrels to eat, and even built large grain stores to +keep it safe and dry for them. + +This seemed very strange, and the simple little gray squirrels were very +much pleased, and said they should like very much to go down the lakes +too, and see these wonderful things. + +The black squirrel then told them that there were many things to be seen +in these clearings; that there were large beasts, called oxen, and cows, +and sheep, and pigs; and these creatures had houses built for them to live +in; and all the men and women seemed to employ themselves about, was +feeding and taking care of them. + +Now this cunning fellow never told his simple cousins that the oxen had to +bear a heavy wooden yoke and chain, and were made to work very hard; nor +that the cows were fed that they might give milk to the children; nor that +the pigs were fatted to make pork; nor that the sheep had their warm +fleeces cut off every year that the settlers might have the wool to spin +and weave. Blackie did not say that the men carried guns, and the dogs +were fierce, and would hunt poor squirrels from tree to tree, frightening +them almost to death with their loud, angry barking; that cats haunted the +barns and houses; and, in short, that there were dangers as well as +pleasures to be met with in these clearings; and that the barns were built +to shelter the grain for men, and not for the benefit of squirrels. + +The black squirrel proved rather a troublesome guest, for he stayed +several days, and ate so heartily, that the old gray squirrels were +obliged to hint that he had better go back to the clearings, where there +was so much food, for that their store was nearly done. + +When Blackie found that all the nice nuts were eaten, and that even +pine-kernels and beech-nuts were becoming scarce, he went away, saying +that he should soon come again. + +The old gray squirrels were glad when they saw the tip of Blackie's tail +disappear, as he whisked down the trunk of the old oak; but their young +ones were very sorry that he was gone, for they liked very much to listen +to all his wonderful stories, which they thought were true; and they told +their father and mother how they wished they would leave the dull island +and the old tree, and go down the lakes, and see the wonderful things that +their black cousin had described. + +But the old ones shook their heads, and said they feared +there was more fiction than truth in the tales they had heard, and +that if they were wise they would stay where they were. "What do you +want more, my dear children," said their mother, "than you enjoy here? +Have you not this grand old oak for a palace to live in; its leaves +and branches spreading like a canopy over your heads, to shelter you +from the hot sun by day and the dews by night? Are there not moss, +dried grass, and roots beneath, to make a soft bed for you to lie upon? +and do not the boughs drop down a plentiful store of brown ripe acorns? +That silver lake, studded with islands of all shapes and sizes, produces +cool clear water for you to drink and bathe yourselves in. Look at +those flowers that droop their blossoms down to its glassy surface, +and the white lilies that rest upon its bosom,--will you see anything +fairer or better if you leave this place? Stay at home and be contented." + +"If I hear any more grumbling," said their father, "I shall pinch your +ears and tails." So the little squirrels said no more, but I am sorry +to say they did not pay much heed to their wise old mother's counsels; +for whenever they were alone, all their talk was how to run away, and +go abroad to see the world, as their black cousin had called the new +settlement down the lakes. It never came into the heads of the silly +creatures that those wonderful stories they had been told originated +in an artful scheme of the greedy black squirrel, to induce them to +leave their warm pleasant house in the oak, that he and his children +might come and live in it, and get the hoards of grain, and nuts, and +acorns, that their father and mother had been laying up for winter +stores. + +Moreover, the wily black squirrel had privately told them that their +father and mother intended to turn them out of the nest very soon, and +make provision for a new family. This indeed was really the case; for as +soon as young animals can provide for themselves, their parents turn them +off, and care no more for them. Very different, indeed, is this from our +parents; for they love and cherish us as long as they live, and afford us +a home and shelter as long as we need it. + +Every hour these little gray squirrels grew more and more impatient +to leave the lonely little rocky island, though it was a pretty spot, +and the place of their birth; but they were now eager to go abroad +and seek their fortunes. + +"Let us keep our own counsel," said Nimble-foot to his sisters Velvet-paw +and Silver-nose, "or we may chance to get our tails pulled; but be +all ready for a start by early dawn to-morrow." + +Velvet-paw and Silver-nose said they would be up before sunrise, as +they should have a long voyage down the lake, and agreed to rest on +Pine Island near the opening of Clear Lake. "And then take to the shore +and travel through the woods, where, no doubt, we shall have a pleasant +time," said Nimble-foot, who was the most hopeful of the party. + +The sun was scarcely yet risen over the fringe of dark pines that skirted +the shores of the lake, and a soft creamy mist hung on the surface +of the still waters, which were unruffled by the slightest breeze. +The little gray squirrels awoke, and looked sleepily out from the leafy +screen that shaded their mossy nest. The early notes of the wood-thrush +and song-sparrow, with the tender warbling of the tiny wren, sounded +sweetly in the still, dewy morning air; while from a cedar swamp was +heard the trill of the green frogs, which the squirrels thought very +pretty music. As the sun rose above the tops of the trees, the mist +rolled off in light fleecy clouds, and soon was lost in the blue sky, +or lay in large bright drops on the cool grass and shining leaves. +Then all the birds awoke, and the insects shook their gauzy wings which +had been folded all the night in the flower-cups, and the flowers began +to lift their heads, and the leaves to expand to catch the golden light. +There was a murmur on the water as it played among the sedges, and +lifted the broad floating leaves of the white water-lilies, with their +carved ivory cups; and the great green, brown, and blue dragon-flies +rose with a whirring sound, and darted to and fro among the water-flowers. + +It is a glorious sight to see the sun rise at any time, for then we +can look upon him without having our eyes dazzled with the brightness +of his beams; and though there were no men and women and little children, +in the lonely waters and woods, to lift up their hands and voices in +prayer and praise to God, who makes the sun to rise each day, yet no +doubt the great Creator is pleased to see his creatures rejoice in +the blessings of light and heat. + +Lightly running down the rugged bark of the old oak-tree, the little +squirrels bade farewell to their island home--to the rocks, mosses, +ferns, and flowers that had sheltered them, among which they had so +often chased each other in merry gambols. They thought little of all +this, when they launched themselves on the silver bosom of the cool +lake. + +"How easy it is to swim in this clear water!" said Silver-nose to her +sister Velvet-paw. "We shall not be long in reaching yonder island, and +there, no doubt, we shall get a good breakfast." + +So the little swimmers proceeded on their voyage, furrowing the calm +waters as they glided noiselessly along; their soft gray heads and +ears and round black eyes only being seen, and the bright streaks caused +by the motion of their tails, which lay flat on the surface, looking +like silver threads gently floating on the stream. + +Not being much used to the fatigue of swimming, the little squirrels +were soon tired, and if it had not been for a friendly bit of stick +that happened to float near her, poor Velvet-paw would have been drowned; +however, she got up on the stick, and, setting up her fine broad tail, +went merrily on, and soon passed Nimble-foot and Silver-nose. The current +drew the stick towards the Pine Island that lay at the entrance of +Clear Lake, and Velvet-paw leaped ashore, and sat down on a mossy stone +to dry her fur, and watch for her brother and sister: they, too, found +a large piece of birch-bark which the winds had blown into the water, +and as a little breeze had sprung up to waft them along, they were +not very long before they landed on the island. They were all very +glad when they met again, after the perils and fatigues of the voyage. +The first thing to be done was to look for something to eat, for their +early rising had made them very hungry. They found abundance of pine-cones +strewn on the ground, but, alas for our little squirrels! very few +kernels in them; for the crossbills and chiccadees had been at work +for many weeks on the trees; and also many families of their poor +relations, the chitmunks or ground squirrels, had not been idle, as +our little voyagers could easily guess by the chips and empty cones +round their holes. So, weary as they were, they were obliged to run +up the tall pine and hemlock trees, to search among the cones that +grew on their very top branches. While our squirrels were busy with +the few kernels they chanced to find, they were started from their +repast by the screams of a large slate-coloured hawk, and Velvet-paw +very narrowly escaped being pounced upon and carried off in its +sharp-hooked talons. Silver-nose at the same time was nearly frightened +to death by the keen round eyes of a cunning racoon, which had come +within a few feet of the mossy branch of an old cedar, where she sat +picking the seeds out of a dry head of a blue flag-flower she had found +on the shore. Silvy, at this sight, gave a spring that left her many +yards beyond her sharp-sighted enemy. + +A lively note of joy was uttered by Nimble-foot, for, perched at his ease +on a top branch of the hemlock-tree, he had seen the bound made by +Silver-nose. + +"Well jumped, Silvy," said he; "Mister Coon must be a smart fellow +to equal that. But look sharp, or you will get your neck wrung yet; +I see we must keep a good look-out in this strange country." + +"I begin to wish we were safe back again in our old one," whined Silvy, +who was much frightened by the danger she had just escaped. + +"Pooh, pooh, child; don't be a coward," said Nimble, laughing. + +"Cousin Blackie never told us there were hawks and coons on this island," +said Vehret-paw. + +"My dear, he thought we were too brave to be afraid of hawks and coons," +said Nimble. "For my part, I think it is a fine thing to go out a little +into the world. We should never see anything better than the sky, and +the water, and the old oak-tree on that little island." + +"Ay, but I think it is safer to see than to be seen," said Silvy, +"for hawks and eagles have strong beaks, and racoons sharp claws and +hungry-looking teeth; and it is not very pleasant, Nimble, to be +obliged to look out for such wicked creatures." + +"Oh, true indeed," said Nimble; "if it had not been for that famous +jump you made, Silvy, and, Velvet, your two admirers, the hawk and +racoon, would soon have hid all your beauties from the world, and put +a stop to your travels." + +"It is very well for brother Nimble to make light of our dangers," +whispered Velvet-paw, "but let us see how he will jump if a big eagle +were to pounce down to carry him off." + +"Yes, yes," said Silvy; "it is easy to brag before one is in danger." + +The squirrels thought they would now go and look for some +partridge-berries, of which they were very fond, for the pine-kernels +were but dry husky food after all. + +There were plenty of the pretty white star-shaped blossoms, growing +all over the ground under the pine-trees, but the bright scarlet +twin-berries were not yet ripe. In winter the partridges eat this fruit +from under the snow; and it furnishes food for many little animals +as well as birds. The leaves are small, of a dark green, and the white +flowers have a very fine fragrant scent. Though the runaways found +none of these berries fit to eat, they saw some ripe strawberries among +the bushes; and, having satisfied their hunger, began to grow very +merry, and whisked here and there and everywhere, peeping into this +hole and under that stone. Sometimes they had a good game of play, +chasing one another up and down the trees, chattering and squeaking +as gray squirrels only can chatter and squeak, when they are gambolling +about in the wild woods of Canada. + +Indeed, they made such a noise, that the great ugly black snakes lifted up +their heads, and stared at them with their wicked spiteful-looking eyes, +and the little ducklings swimming among the water-lilies gathered round +their mother, and a red-winged blackbird perched on a dead tree gave alarm +to the rest of the flock by calling out, _Geck_, _geck_, _geck_, as +loudly as he could. In the midst of their frolics, Nimble skipped into a +hollow log--but was glad to run out again; for a porcupine covered with +sharp spines was there, and was so angry at being disturbed, that he stuck +one of his spines into poor Nimble-foot's soft velvet nose, and there it +could have remained if Silvy had not seized it with her teeth and pulled +it out. Nimble-foot squeaked sadly, and would not play any longer, but +rolled himself up and went to sleep in a red-headed woodpecker's old nest; +while Silvy and Velvet-paw frisked about in the moonlight, and when tired +of play got up into an old oak which had a large hollow place in the crown +of it, and fell asleep, fancying, no doubt, that they were on the rocky +island in Stony Lake; and so we will bid them good night, and wish them +pleasant dreams. + + * * * * * + +Lady Mary had read a long while, and was now tired; so she kissed her +nurse, and said, "Now, Mrs. Frazer, I will play with my doll, and feed my +squirrel and my dormice." + +The dormice were two soft, brown creatures, almost as pretty and as +innocent as the squirrel, and a great deal tamer; and they were called +Jeannette and Jeannot, and would come when they were called by their +names, and take a bit of cake or a lump of sugar out of the fingers of +their little mistress. Lady Mary had two canaries, Dick and Pet; and she +loved her dormice and birds, and her new pet, the flying squirrel, very +much, and never let them want for food, or water, or any nice thing she +could get for them. She liked the history of the gray squirrels very much, +and was quite eager to get her book the next afternoon, to read the second +part of the adventures and wanderings of the family. + + + * * * * * + +PART II. + + +WHICH TELLS HOW THE GRAY SQUIRRELS GET ON WHILE THEY REMAINED ON PIKE +ISLAND--HOW THEY BEHAVED TO THEIR POOR RELATIONS, THE CHITMUNKS--AND WHAT +HAPPENED TO THEM IN THE FOREST. + + +It was noon when the little squirrels awoke, and, of course, they were +quite ready for their breakfast; but there was no good, kind old mother +to provide for their wants, and to bring nuts, acorns, roots, or fruit +for them; they must now get up, go forth, and seek food for themselves. +When Velvet-paw and Silver-nose went to call Nimble-foot, they were +surprised to find his nest empty; but after searching a long while, +they found him sitting on the root of an up-turned tree, looking at +a family of little chitmunks busily picking over the pine-cones on +the ground; but as soon as one of the poor little fellows, with great +labour, had dug out a kernel, and was preparing to eat it, down leaped +Nimble-foot and carried off the prize; and if one of the little chitmunks +ventured to say a word, he very uncivilly gave him a scratch, or bit +his ears, calling him a mean, shabby fellow. + +Now the chitmunks were really very pretty. They were, to be sure, not +more than half the size of the gray squirrels, and their fur was short, +without the soft, thick glossy look upon it of the gray squirrels'. +They were of a lively, tawny yellow-brown colour, with long black and +white stripes down their backs; their tails were not so long nor so +thickly furred; and instead of living in the trees, they made their +nests in logs and windfalls, and had their granaries and winter houses +too underground, where they made warm nests of dried moss and grass +and thistledown; to these they had several entrances, so that they +had always a chance of refuge if danger were nigh. Like the dormice, +flying squirrels, and ground hogs, they slept soundly during the cold +weather, only awakening when the warm spring sun had melted the snow. +[Footnote: It is not quite certain that the chitmunk is a true squirrel, +and he is sometimes called a striped rat. This pretty animal seems, +indeed, to form a link between the rat and squirrel.] + +The vain little gray squirrels thought themselves much better than +these little chitmunks, whom they treated with very little politeness, +laughing at them for living in holes in the ground, instead of upon +lofty trees, as they did; they even called them low-bred fellows, and +wondered why they did not imitate their high-breeding and behaviour. + +The chitmunks took very little notice of their rudeness, but merely +said that, if being high-bred made people rude, they would rather remain +humble as they were. + +"As we are the head of all the squirrel families," said Silver-nose, +"we shall do you the honour of breakfasting with you to-day." + +"We breakfasted hours ago, while you lazy fellows were fast asleep," +replied an old chitmunk, poking his little nose out of a hole in the +ground. + +"Then we shall dine with you; so make haste and get something good +for us," said Nimble-foot. "I have no doubt you have plenty of butter +and hickory-nuts laid up in your holes." + +The old chitmunk told him he might come and get them, if he could. + +At this the gray squirrels skipped down from the branches, and began +to run hither and thither, and to scratch among the moss and leaves, +to find the entrance to the chitmunks' grain stores. They peeped under +the old twisted roots of the pines and cedars, into every chink and +cranny, but no sign of a granary was to be seen. + +[Illustration: THE GRAY SQUIRREL AND THE CHITMUNKS.] + +Then the chitmunks said, "My dear friends, this is a bad season to +visit us; we are very poor just now, finding it difficult to get a +few dry pine-kernels and berries; but if you will come and see us after +harvest, we shall have a store of nuts and acorns." + +"Pretty fellows you are!" replied Nimble, "to put us off with promises, +when we are so hungry; we might starve between this and harvest." + +"If you leave this island, and go down the lake, you will come to a +mill, where the red squirrels live, and where you will have fine times," +said one of the chitmunks. + +"Which is the nearest way to the mill?" asked Velvet-paw. + +"Swim to the shore, and keep the Indian path, and you will soon see +it." + +But while the gray squirrels were looking out for the path, the cunning +chitmunks whisked away into their holes, and left the inquirers in the +lurch, who could not tell what had become of them; for though they did +find a round hole that they thought might be one of their burrows, it was +so narrow that they could only poke in their noses, but could get no +further--the gray squirrels being much fatter and bigger than the slim +little chitmunks. + +"After all," said Silvy, who was the best of the three, "perhaps, if +we had been civil, the chitmunks would have treated us better." + +"Well," said Nimble, "if they had been good fellows, they would have +invited us, as our mother did Cousin Blackie, and have set before us +the best they had. I could find it in my heart to dig them out of their +holes and give them a good bite." This was all brag on Nimble's part, +who was not near so brave as he wished Silvy and Velvet-paw to suppose +he was. + +After spending some time in hunting for acorns they made up their minds to +leave the island, and as it was not very far to the mainland, they decided +on swimming thither. + +"Indeed," said Silver-nose, "I am tired of this dull place; we are +not better off here than we were in the little island in Stony Lake, +where our good old mother took care we should have plenty to eat, and +we had a nice warm nest to shelter us." + +"Ah, well, it is of no use grumbling now; if we were to go back, we +should only get a scolding, and perhaps be chased off the island," +said Nimble. "Now let us have a race, and see which of us will get +to shore first;" and he leaped over Velvet-paw's head, and was soon +swimming merrily for the shore. He was soon followed by his companions, +and in half an hour they were all safely landed. Instead of going into +the thick forest, they agreed to take the path by the margin of the +lake, for there they had a better chance of getting nuts and fruit; +but though it was the merry month of June, and there were plenty of +pretty flowers in bloom, the berries were hardly ripe, and our little +vagrants fared but badly. Besides being hungry, they were sadly afraid +of the eagles and fish-hawks that kept hovering over the water; and +when they went further into the forest to avoid them, they saw a great +white wood-owl, noiselessly flying out from among the close cedar swamps, +that seemed just ready to pounce down upon them. The gray squirrels +did not like the look of the owl's great round shining eyes, as they +peered at them, under the tufts of silky white feathers, which almost +hid his hooked bill, and their hearts sunk within them when they heard +his hollow cry, _"Ho, ho, ho, ho!" "Waugh, ho!"_ dismally sounding +in their ears. + +It was well that Velvet-paw was as swift afoot as she was soft, for one of +these great owls had very nearly caught her, while she was eating a +filbert that she had found in a cleft branch, where a nuthatch had fixed +it, while she pecked a hole in the shell. Some bird of prey had scared +away the poor nuthatch, and Velvet-paw no doubt thought she was in luck +when she found the prize; but it would have been a dear nut to her, if +Nimble, who was a sharp-sighted fellow, had not seen the owl, and cried, +_"Chit, chit, chit, chit!"_ to warn her of her danger. _"Chit, chit, chit, +chit!"_ cried Velvet-paw, and away she flew to the very top of a tall +pine-tree, springing from one tree-top to another, till she was soon out +of the old owl's reach. + +"What shall we do for supper to-night?" said Silver-nose, looking very +pitifully at Nimble-foot, whom they looked upon as the head of the +family. + +"We shall not want for a good supper and breakfast too, or +I am very much mistaken. Do you see that red squirrel yonder, climbing +the hemlock-tree? Well, my dears, he has a fine store of good things +in that beech-tree. I watched him run down with a nut in his teeth. +Let us wait patiently, and we shall see him come again for another; +and as soon as he has done his meal, we will go and take ours." + +The red squirrel ran to and fro several times, each time carrying off +a nut to his nest in the hemlock; after a while, he came no more. As +soon as he was out of sight, Nimble led the way and found the hoard. +The beech was quite hollow in the heart; and they went down through +a hole in the branch, and found a store of hazel-nuts, with acorns, +hickory-nuts, butter-nuts, and beech-mast, all packed quite close +and dry. They soon made a great hole in the red squirrel's store of +provisions, and were just choosing some nuts to carry off with them, when +they were disturbed by a scratching against the bark of the tree. Nimble, +who was always the first to take care of himself, gave the alarm, and +he and Velvet-paw, being nearest to the hole, got off safely; but poor +Silvy had the ill luck to sneeze, and before she had time to hide herself, +the angry red squirrel sprang upon her, and gave her such a terrible +cuffing and scratching, that Silvy cried out for mercy. As to Nimble-foot +and Velvet-paw, they paid no heed to her cries for help; they ran away, +and left her to bear the blame of all their misdeeds as well as her +own. Thieves are always cowards, and are sure to forsake one another +when danger is nigh. + +The angry red squirrel pushed poor Silvy out of her granary, and she was +glad to crawl away and hide herself in a hole at the root of a +neighbouring tree, where she lay in great pain and terror, licking her +wounds and crying to think how cruel it was of her brother and sister to +leave her to the mercy of the red squirrel. It was surely very cowardly of +Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw to forsake her in such a time of need; nor was +this the only danger that befell poor Silvy. One morning, when she put her +nose out of the hole to look about her before venturing out, she saw +seated on a branch, close beside the tree she was under, a racoon, staring +full at her with his sharp cunning black eyes. She was very much afraid of +him, for she thought he looked very hungry; but as she knew that racoons +are very fond of nuts and fruit, she said to herself, "Perhaps if I show +him where the red squirrel's granary in the beech-tree is, he will not +kill me." Then she said very softly to him, "Good Mister Coon, if you want +a very nice breakfast, and will promise to do me no hurt, I will tell you +where to find plenty of nuts." + +The coon eyed her with a sly grin, and said, "If I can get anything more +to my taste than a pretty gray squirrel, I will take it, my dear, and not +lay a paw upon your soft back." "Ah, but you must promise not to touch me, +if I come out and show you where to find the nuts," said Silvy. + +"Upon the word and honour of a coon!" replied the racoon, laying one +black paw upon his breast; "but if you do not come out of your hole, +I shall soon come and dig you out, so you had best be quick; and if +you trust me, you shall come to no hurt." + +Then Silvy thought it wisest to seem to trust the racoon's word, and +she came out of her hole, and went a few paces to point out the tree +where her enemy the red squirrel's store of nuts was; but as soon as +she saw Mister Coon disappear in the hollow of the tree, she bade him +good-bye, and whisked up a tall tree, where she knew the racoon could +not reach her; and having now quite recovered her strength, she was +able to leap from branch to branch, and even from one tree to another, +whenever they grew close and the boughs touched, as they often do in +the grand old woods in Canada, and so she was soon far, far away from +the artful coon, who waited a long time, hoping to carry off poor Silvy +for his dinner. + +Silvy contrived to pick up a living by digging for roots and eating such +fruits as she could find; but one day she came to a grassy cleared spot, +where she saw a strange-looking tent, made with poles stuck into the +ground and meeting at the top, from which came a bluish cloud that spread +among the trees; and as Silvy was very curious, she came nearer, and at +last, hearing no sound, ran up one of the poles and peeped in, to see what +was within side, thinking it might be one of the fine stores of grain that +people built for the squirrels, as her cousin Blackie had made her +believe. The poles were covered with sheets of birch-bark and skins of +deer and wolves, and there was a fire of sticks burning in the middle, +round which some large creatures were sitting on a bear's skin, eating +something that smelt very nice. They had long black hair and black eyes +and very white teeth. Silvy felt alarmed at first; but thinking they must +be the people who were kind to squirrels, she ventured to slip through a +slit in the bark, and ran down into the wigwam, hoping to get something to +eat; but in a minute the Indians jumped up, and before she had time to +make her escape, she was seized by a young squaw, and popped into a birch +box, and the lid shut down upon her; so poor Silvy was caught in a trap, +and all for believing the artful black squirrel's tales. + + +Silver-nose remembered her mother's warning now when it was too late; +she tried to get out of her prison, but in vain; the sides of the box +were too strong, and there was not so much as a single crack for a +peep-hole. After she had been shut up some time, the lid was raised +a little, and a dark hand put in some bright, shining hard grains for +her to eat. This was Indian corn, and it was excellent food; but Silvy +was a long, long time before she would eat any of this sweet corn, +she was so vexed at being caught and shut up in prison; besides, she +was very much afraid that the Indians were going to eat her. After +some days, she began to get used to her captive state; the little squaw +used to feed her, and one day took her out of the box and put her into +a nice light cage, where there was soft green moss to be on, a little +bark dish with clear water, and abundance of food. The cage was hung +up on the bough of a tree near the wigwam, to swing to and fro as the +wind waved the tree. Here Silvy could see the birds flying to and fro, +and listen to their cheerful songs. The Indian women and children had +always a kind look or a word to say to her; and her little mistress +was so kind to her, that Silvy could not help loving her. She was very +grateful for her care; for when she was sick and sulky, the little +squaw gave her bits of maple-sugar and parched rice out of her hand. +At last Silvy grew tame, and would suffer herself to be taken out of +her house to sit on her mistress's shoulder or in her lap; and though +she sometimes ran away and hid herself, out of fun, she would not have +gone far from the tent of the good Indians on any account. Sometimes +she saw the red squirrels running about in the forest, but they never +came very near her; but she used to watch all day long for her brother +Nimble-foot, or sister Velvet-paw, but they were now far away from +her, and no doubt thought that she had been killed by the red squirrel, +or eaten up by a fox or racoon. + +[Illustration: THE PET SQUIRREL] + + * * * * * + +"Nurse, I am so glad pretty Silvy was not killed, and that the good +Indians took care of her." "It is time now, my dear, for you to put down +your book," said Mrs. Frazer, "and to-morrow we will read some more." + + * * * * * + +PART III. + + +HOW THE SQUIRRELS GOT TO THE MILL AT THE RAPIDS--AND WHAT HAPPENED +TO VELVET-PAW. + + +Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw were so frightened by the sight of the red +squirrel, that they ran down the tree without once looking back to +see what had become of poor Silver-nose; indeed, the cowards, instead +of waiting for their poor sister, fled through the forest as if an +army of red squirrels were behind them. At last they reached the banks +of the lake, and jumping into the water, swam down the current till +they came to a place called the "Narrow," where the wide lake poured +its waters through a deep rocky channel, not more than a hundred yards +wide; here the waters became so rough and rapid, that our little swimmers +thought it wisest to go on shore. They scrambled up the steep rocky +bank, and found themselves on a wide open space, quite free from trees, +which they knew must be one of the great clearings the traveller squirrel +had spoken of. There was a very high building on the water's edge that +they thought must be the mill that the chitmunks had told them they +would come to; and they were in good spirits, as they now expected +to find plenty of good things laid up for them to eat, so they went +in by the door of the mill. + +"Dear me, what a dust there is!" said Nimble, looking about him; "I think +it must be snowing." + +"Snow does not fall in hot weather," said Velvet; "besides, this white +powder is very sweet and nice;" and she began to lick some of the flour +that lay in the cracks of the floor. + +"I have found some nice seeds here," said Nimble, running to the top +of a sack that stood with the mouth untied; "these are better than +pine-kernels, and not so hard. We must have come to one of the great +grain-stores that our cousin told us of. Well, I am sure the people +are very kind to have laid up so many good things for us squirrels." + +When they had eaten as much as they liked, they began to ran about +to see what was in the mill. Presently, a man came in, and they saw +him take one of the sacks of wheat, and pour it into a large upright +box, and in a few minutes there was a great noise--a sort of buzzing, +whirring, rumbling, dashing, and splashing--and away ran Velvet-paw +in a terrible fright, and scrambled up some beams and rafters to the +top of the wall, where she sat watching what was going on, trembling +all over; but finding that no harm happened to her, took courage, and +after a time ceased to be afraid. She saw Nimble perched on a cross-beam +looking down very intently at something; so she came out of her corner +and ran to him, and asked what he was looking at. + +"There is a great black thing here," said he, "I cannot tell what to +make of him at all; it turns round and round, and dashes the water +about, making a fine splash." (This was the water-wheel.) + +"It looks very ugly indeed," said Velvet-paw, "and makes my head giddy +to look at it; let us go away. I want to find out what these two big +stones are doing," said she; "they keep rubbing against one another, +and making a great noise." + +"There is nothing so wonderful in two big stones, my dear," said Nimble; +"I have seen plenty bigger than these in Stony Lake." + +"But they did not move about as these do; and only look here at the +white stuff that is running down all the time into this great box. +Well, we shall not want for food for the rest of our lives; I wish +poor Silvy were with us to share in our good luck." + +They saw a great many other strange things in the mill, and they thought +that the miller was a very funny-looking creature; but as they fancied +that he was grinding the wheat into flour for them, they were not much +afraid of him; they were more troubled at the sight of a black dog, +which spied them, out as they sat on the beams of the mill, and ran +about in a great rage, harking at them in a frightful way, and never +left off till the miller went out of the mill, when he went away with +his master, and did not return till the next day; but whenever he saw +the gray squirrels, this little dog, whose name was "Pinch," was sure +to set up his ears and tail, and snap and bark, showing all his sharp +white teeth in a very savage manner. + +Not far from the mill was another building: this was the house the +miller lived in; and close by the house was a barn, a stable, a cow-shed, +and a sheep-pen, and there was a garden full of fruit and flowers, +and an orchard of apple-trees close by. + +One day Velvet-paw ran up one of the apple-trees and began to eat an +apple; it looked very good, for it had a bright red cheek, but it was +hard and sour, not being ripe. "I do not like these big, sour berries," +said she, making wry faces as she tried to get the bad taste out of +her mouth by wiping her tongue on her fore-paw. Nimble had found some +ripe currants; so he only laughed at poor Velvet for the trouble she +was in. + +These little gray squirrels now led a merry life; they found plenty to eat +and drink, and would not have had a care in the world, if it had not been +for the noisy little dog Pinch, who let them have no quiet, barking and +baying at them whenever he saw them; and also for the watchful eyes of a +great tomcat, who was always prowling about the mill, or creeping round +the orchard and outhouses; so that with all their good food they were not +quite free from causes of fear, and no doubt sometimes wished themselves +safe back on the little rocky island, in their nest in the old oak-tree. + +Time passed away--the wheat and the oats were now ripe and fit for the +scythe, for in Canada the settlers mow wheat with an instrument called a +"cradle scythe." The beautiful Indian corn was in bloom, and its long pale +green silken threads were waving in the summer breeze. The blue jays were +busy in the fields of wheat; so were the red-winged blackbirds, and the +sparrows, and many other birds, great and small; field-mice in dozens were +cutting the straw with their sharp teeth, and carrying off the grain to +their nests; and as to the squirrels and chitmunks, there were scores of +them--black, red, and gray--filling their cheeks with the grain, and +laying it out on the rail fences and on the top of the stumps to dry, +before they carried it away to their storehouses. And many a battle the +red and the black squirrels had, and sometimes the gray joined with the +red, to beat the black ones off the ground. + +Nimble-foot and his sister kept out of these quarrels as much as they +could; but once they got a severe beating from the red squirrels for not +helping them to drive off the saucy black ones, which would carry away the +little heaps of wheat, as soon as they were dry. + +"We do not mean to trouble ourselves with laying up winter stores," said +Nimble one day to his red cousins; "don't you see Peter, the miller's man, +has got a great waggon and horses, and is carting wheat into the barn for +us?" + +The red squirrel opened his round eyes very wide at this speech. "Why, +Cousin Nimble," he said, "you are not so foolish as to think the miller +is harvesting that grain for your use. No, no, my friend; if you want +any, you must work as we do, or run the chance of starving in the winter." + +Then Nimble told him what their cousin Blackie had said. "You were +wise fellows to believe such nonsense!" said the red squirrel. "These +mills and barns are all stored for the use of the miller and his family; +and what is more, my friend, I can tell you that men are no great friends +to us poor squirrels, and will kill us when they get the chance, and +begrudge us the grain we help ourselves to." + +"Well, that is very stingy," said Velvet-paw; "I am sure there is enough +for men and squirrels too. However, I suppose all must live, so we +will let them have what we leave; I shall help myself after they have +stored it up in yonder barn." + +"You had better do as we do, and make hay while the sun shines," said +the red squirrel. + +"I would rather play in the sunshine, and eat what I want here," said +idle Velvet-paw, setting up her fine tail like a feather over her back, +as she ate an ear of corn. + +"You are a foolish, idle thing, and will come to no good," said the +red squirrel. "I wonder where you were brought up?" + +I am very sorry to relate that Velvet-paw did not come to a good end, +for she did not take the advice of her red cousin, to lay up provisions +during the harvest; but instead of that, she ate all day long, and +grew fat and lazy; and after the fields were all cleared, she went +to the mill one day, when the mill was grinding, and seeing a quantity +of wheat in the feeder of the mill, she ran up a beam and jumped down, +thinking to make a good dinner from the grain she saw; but it kept +sliding down and sliding down so fast, that she could not get one grain, +so at last she began to be frightened, and tried to get up again, but, +alas! this was not possible. She cried out to Nimble to help her; and +while he ran to look for a stick for her to raise herself up by, the +mill-wheel kept on turning, and the great stones went round faster +and faster, till poor Velvet-paw was crushed to death between them. +Nimble was now left all alone, and sad enough he was, you may suppose. + +"Ah," said he, "idleness is the ruin of gray squirrels, as well as +men, so I will go away from this place, and try and earn an honest +living in the forest. I wish I had not believed all the fine tales +my cousin the black squirrel told me." + +Then Nimble went away from the clearing, and once more resolved to +seek his fortune in the woods. He knew there were plenty of butter-nuts, +acorns, hickory-nuts, and beech-nuts, to be found, besides many sorts +of berries; and he very diligently set to work to lay up stores against +the coming winter. + +As it was now getting cold at night, Nimble-foot thought it would be +wise to make himself a warm house; so he found out a tall hemlock-pine +that was very thick and bushy at the top; there was a forked branch +in the tree, with a hollow just fit for his nest. He carried twigs +of birch and beech, and over these he laid dry green moss, which he +collected on the north side of the cedar trees, and some long gray +moss that he found on the swamp maples, and then he stripped the silky +threads from the milk-weeds, and the bark of the cedar and birch-trees. +These he gnawed fine, and soon made a soft bed; he wove and twisted +the sticks, and roots, and mosses together, till the walls of his house +were quite thick, and he made a sort of thatch over the top with dry +leaves and long moss, with a round hole to creep in and out of. + +Making this warm house took him many days' labour; but many strokes +will fell great oaks, so at last Nimble-foot's work came to an end, +and he had the comfort of a charming house to shelter him from the +cold season. He laid up a good store of nuts, acorns, and roots: some +he put in a hollow branch of the hemlock-tree close to his nest; some +he hid in a stump, and another store he laid under the roots of a mossy +cedar. When all this was done, he began to feel very lonely, and often +wished, no doubt, that he had had his sisters Silvy and Velvet-paw +with him, to share his nice warm house; but of Silvy he knew nothing, +and poor Velvet-paw was dead. + +One fine moonlight night, as Nimble was frisking about on the bough of a +birch-tree, not very far from his house in the hemlock, he saw a canoe +land on the shore of the lake, and some Indians with an axe cut down some +bushes, and having cleared a small piece of ground, begin to sharpen the +ends of some long poles. These they stuck into the ground close together +in a circle; and having stripped some sheets of birch-bark from the birch +trees close by, they thatched the sides of the hut, and made a fire of +sticks inside. They had a dead deer in the canoe, and there were several +hares and black squirrels, the sight of which rather alarmed Nimble; for +he thought if they killed one sort of squirrel, they might another, and he +was very much scared at one of the Indians firing off a gun close by him. +The noise made him fall down to the ground, and it was a good thing that +it was dark among the leaves and grass where the trunk of the tree threw +its long shadow, so that the Indian did not see him, or perhaps he might +have loaded the gun again, and shot our little friend, and made soup of +him for his supper. + +Nimble ran swiftly up a pine-tree, and was soon out of danger. While he +was watching some of the Indian children at play, he saw a girl come out +of the hut with a gray squirrel in her arms; it did not seem at all afraid +of her, but nestled to her shoulder, and even ate out of her hand; and +what was Nimble's surprise to see that this tame gray squirrel was none +other than his own pretty sister Silver-nose, whom he had left in the +hollow tree when they both ran away from the red squirrel. You may suppose +the sight of his lost companion was a joyful one; he waited for a long, +long time, till the fire went out, and all the Indians were fast asleep, +and little Silvy came out to play in the moonlight, and frisk about on the +dewy grass as she used to do. Then Nimble when he saw her, ran down the +tree, and came to her and rubbed his nose against her, and licked her soft +fur, and told her who he was, and how sorry he was for having left her in +so cowardly a manner, to be beaten by the red squirrel. + +[Illustration: NIMBLE RECOVERING HIS SISTER.] + +The good little Silvy told Nimble not to fret about what was past, and +then she asked him for her sister Velvet-paw. Nimble had a long sorrowful +tale to tell about the death of poor Velvet; and Silvy was much grieved. +Then in her turn she told Nimble all her adventures, and how she had been +caught by the Indian girl, and kept, and fed, and tamed, and had passed +her time very happily, if it had not been for thinking about her dear lost +companions. "But now," she said, "my dear brother, we will never part +again; you shall be quite welcome to share my cage, and my nice stores +of Indian corn, rice, and nuts, which my kind mistress gives me." + +"I would not be shut up in a cage, not even for one day," said Nimble, +"for all the nice fruit and grain in Canada. I am a free squirrel, and +love my liberty. I would not exchange a life of freedom in these fine old +woods, for all the dainties in the world. So, Silvy, if you prefer a life +of idleness and ease to living with me in the forest, I must say good-bye +to you." + +"But there is nothing to hurt us, my dear Nimble--no racoons, no foxes, +nor hawks, nor owls, nor weasels; if I see any hungry-looking birds or +beasts, I have a safe place to run to, and never need be hungry!" + +"I would not lead a life like that, for the world," said Nimble. "I should +die of dulness; if there is danger in a life of freedom, there is pleasure +too, which you cannot enjoy, shut up in, a wooden cage, and fed at the +will of a master or mistress.--Well, I shall be shot if the Indians awake +and see me; so I shall be off." + +Silvy looked very sorrowful; she did not like to part from her newly-found +brother, but she was unwilling to forego all the comforts and luxuries her +life of captivity afforded her. + +"You will not tell the Indians where I live, I hope, Silvy, for they would +think it a fine thing to hunt me with their dogs, or shoot me down with +their bows and arrows." + +At these words Silvy was overcome with grief, so jumping off from the log +on which she was standing, she said, "Nimble, I will go with you and share +all your perils, and we will never part again." She then ran into the +wigwam; and going softly to the little squaw, who was asleep, licked her +hands and face, as if she would say, "Good-bye, my good kind friend; I +shall not forget all your love for me, though I am going away from you for +ever." + +Silvy then followed Nimble into the forest, and they soon reached his nice +comfortable nest in the tall hemlock-tree. + + * * * * * + +"Nurse, I am glad Silvy went away with Nimble; are not you? Poor Nimble +must have been so lonely without her; and then you know it must have +seemed so hard to him if Silvy had preferred staying with the Indians to +living with him." + +"Those who have been used to a life of ease do not willingly give it up, +my dear lady. Thus you see love for her old companion was stronger even +than love of self. But I think you must have tired yourself with reading +so long to me." + +"Indeed, nurse, I must read a little more, for I want you to hear how +Silvy and Nimble amused themselves in the hemlock-tree." + +Then Lady Mary continued reading as follows:-- + +Silvy was greatly pleased with her new home, which was as soft and as warm +as clean dry moss, hay, and fibres of roots could make it. The squirrels +built a sort of pent or outer roof of twigs, dry leaves, and roots of +withered grass, which was pitched so high that it threw off the rain and +kept the inner house very dry. They worked at this very diligently, and +also laid up a store of nuts and berries. They knew that they must not +only provide plenty of food for the winter, but also for the spring +months, when they could get little to eat beside the buds and bark of some +sort of trees, and the chance seeds that might still remain in the +pine-cones. + +Thus the autumn months passed away very quickly and cheerfully with the +squirrels while preparing for the coming winter. Half the cold season was +spent, too, in sleep; but on mild, sunny days the little squirrels, roused +by the bright light of the sunbeams on the white and glittering snow, +would shake themselves, rub their black eyes, and after licking themselves +clean from dust, would whisk out of their house, and indulge in merry +gambols up and down the trunks of the trees, skipping from bough to bough, +and frolicking over the hard, crisp snow, which scarcely showed on its +surface the delicate print of their tiny feet and the sweep of their fine +light feathery tails. Sometimes they met with some little shrewmice +running on the snow. These very tiny things are so small, they hardly look +bigger than a large black beetle. They lived on the seeds of the tall +weeds, which they might be seen climbing and clinging to, yet were hardly +heavy enough to weigh down the heads of the dry stalks. It is pretty to +see the footprints of these small shrewmice on the surface of the fresh +fallen snow in the deep forest glades. They are not dormant during the +winter, like many of the mouse tribe, for they are up and abroad at all +seasons; for however stormy and severe the weather may be, they do not +seem to heed its inclemency. Surely, children, there is One who cares for +the small tender things of earth, and shelters them from the rude blasts. + +Nimble-foot and Silver-nose often saw their cousins, the black squirrels, +playing in the sunshine, chasing each other merrily up and down the trees +or over the brush-heaps; their jetty coats and long feathery tails forming +a striking contrast with the whiteness of the snow. Sometimes they saw a +few red squirrels too, but there was generally war between them and the +black ones. + +In these lonely forests everything seems still and silent during the long +wintry season, as if death had spread a white pall over the earth and +hushed every living thing into silence. Few sounds are heard through the +winter days to break the deathlike silence that reigns around, excepting +the sudden rending and cracking of the trees in the frosty air, the fall +of a decayed branch, the tapping of a solitary woodpecker--two or three +small species of which still remain after all the summer-birds are +flown--and the gentle, weak chirp of the little tree-creeper, as it runs +up and down the hemlocks and pines, searching the crevices of the bark for +insects. Yet in all this seeming death lies hidden the life of myriads of +insects, the huge beast of the forest asleep in his lair, with many of the +smaller quadrupeds and forest-birds, that, hushed in lonely places, shall +awake to life and activity as soon as the sun-beams once more dissolve the +snow, unbind the frozen streams, and loosen the bands which held them in +repose. + +At last the spring, the glad, joyous spring, returned. The leaf-buds, +wrapped within their gummy and downy cases, began to unfold; the dark +green pines, spruce, and balsams began to shoot out fresh spiny leaves, +like tassels, from the ends of every bough, giving out the most refreshing +fragrance; the crimson buds of the young hazels and the scarlet blossoms +of the soft maple enlivened the edges of the streams; the bright coral +bark of the dogwood seemed as if freshly varnished, so brightly it glowed +in the morning sunshine; the scream of the blue jay, the song of the robin +and woodthrush, the merry note of the chiccadee and plaintive cry of the +pheobe, with loud hammering strokes of the great red-headed woodpecker, +mingled with the rush of the unbound forest streams, gurgling and +murmuring as their water flowed over their stones, and the sighing of the +breeze playing in the tree tops, made pleasant and ceaseless music. And +then, as time passed on, the trees unfolded all their bright green +leaves--the buds and forest flowers opened; and many a bright bell our +little squirrels looked down upon, from their leafy home, that the eye +of man had never seen. + +It was pleasant for our little squirrels, just after sunset, in the still +summer evenings, when the small silver stars came stealing out one by one +in the blue sky, to play among the cool dewy leaves of the grand old oaks +and maples; to watch the fitful flash of the fireflies, as they glanced +here and there, flitting through the deep gloom of the forest boughs, now +lost to sight, as they closed their wings, now flashing out like tiny +tapers, borne aloft by unseen hands in the darkness. Where that little +creek runs singing over its mossy bed, and the cedar-boughs bend down so +thick and close that only a gleam of the bright water can be seen, even in +the sunlight, there the fireflies crowd, and the damp foliage is all alive +with their dazzling light. + +In this sweet, still hour, just at the dewfall, the rush of whirring wings +may be heard from the islands, or in the forest, bordering on the water's +edge; and out of hollow logs and hoary trunks of trees come forth the +speckled night-hawks, cutting the air with their thin, sharp, wide wings +and open beak, ready to intrap the unwary moth or musquito that float so +joyously upon the evening air. One after another, sweeping in wider +circles, come forth these birds of prey, till the whole air seems alive +with them; darting hither and thither, and uttering wild, shrill screams, +as they rise higher and higher in the upper air, till some are almost lost +to sight. Sometimes one of them will descend with a sudden swoop to the +lower regions of the air, just above the highest treetops, with a hollow, +booming sound, as if some one were blowing in an empty vessel. + +At this hour, too, the bats would quit their homes in hollow trees and old +rocky banks, and flit noiselessly abroad over the surface of the quiet, +star-lit lake: and now also would begin the shrill, trilling note of the +green-frog, and the deep, hoarse bass of the bull-frog, which ceases only +at intervals, through the long, warm summer night. You might fancy a droll +sort of dialogue was being carried on among them. At first a great fellow, +the patriarch of the swamp, will put up his head, which looks very much +like a small pair of bellows, with yellow leather sides, and say, in a +harsh, guttural tone, "Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed." After a moment's +pause, two or three will rise and reply, "No, I won't; no, I won't; no, I +won't." Then the old fellow, with a growl, replies, "Get out, get out, get +out." And forthwith, with a rush, and a splash, and a dash, they raise a +chorus of whirring, grating, growling, grunting, whistling sounds, which +make you stop up your ears. When all this hubbub has lasted some minutes, +there is a pop and a splash, and down go all the heads under the weeds and +mud; and after another pause, up comes the aged father of the frogs, and +begins again with the old story, "Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed," and so +on. During the heat of the day the bull-frogs are silent; but as the day +declines and the air becomes cooler, they recommence their noisy chorus. + +I suppose these sounds, though not very pleasant to the ears of men, may +not be so disagreeable to those of wild animals. I daresay neither Nimble +nor Silvy were in the least annoyed by the hoarse note of the bull-frog, +but gambolled as merrily among the boughs and fresh dewy leaves as if they +were listening to sweet music or the songs of the birds. + +The summer passed away very happily; but towards the close of the warm +season the squirrels, Nimble and Silvy, resolved to make a journey to the +rocky island on Stony Lake, to see the old squirrels, their father and +mother. So they started at sunrise one fine pleasant day, and travelled +along; till one cool evening, just as the moon was beginning to rise above +the pine-trees, they arrived at the little rocky islet where they first +saw the light. But when they eagerly ran up the trunk of the old oak tree, +expecting to have seen their old father and mother, they were surprised +and terrified by seeing a wood-owl in the nest. + +As soon as she espied our little squirrels she shook her feathers and set +up her ears--for she was a long-eared owl--and said,-- + +"What do you want here?--ho, ho, ho, ho!" + +"Indeed, Mrs. Owl," said Nimble, "we come hither to see our parents, whom +we left here a year ago. Can you tell us where we shall find them?" + +The owl peered out of her ruff of silken feathers, and, after wiping her +sharp bill on her breast, said,-- + +"Your cousin, the black squirrel, beat your father and mother out of their +nest a long time ago, and took possession of the tree and all that was in +it; and they brought up a large family of little ones, all of which I +pounced upon one after another, and ate. Indeed, the oaks here belong to +my family; so, finding these impudent intruders would not quit the +premises, I made short work of the matter, and took the law into my own +hands." + +"Did you kill them?" asked Silvy, in a trembling voice. + +"Of course I did; and very nice, tender meat they were," replied the +horrid old owl, beginning to scramble out of the nest, and eyeing the +squirrels at the same time with a wicked look. + +"But you did not eat our parents too?" asked the trembling squirrels. + +"Yes, I did. They were very tough, to be sure; but I am not very +particular." + +The gray squirrels, though full of grief and vain regret, were obliged to +take care of themselves. There was, indeed, no time to be lost; so +made a hasty retreat. They crept under the roots of an old tree, where +they lay till the morning. They were not much concerned for the death of +the treacherous black squirrel who had told so many stories, got +possession of their old nest, and caused the death of their parents; but +they said, "We will go home again to our dear old hemlock-tree, and never +leave it more." So these dear little squirrels returned to their forest +home, and may be living there yet. + + * * * * * + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "how do you like the story?" + +Mrs. Frazer said it was a very pretty one. + +"Perhaps my dear little pet is one of Nimble or Silvy's children. You +know, nurse, they might have gone on their travels too, when they were old +enough, and then your brother may have chopped down the tree, and found +them in the forest." + +"But your squirrel, Lady Mary, is a flying squirrel, and these were only +common gray ones, which belong to a different species. Besides, my dear, +this history is but a fable." + +"I suppose, nurse," said the child, looking up in her nurse's face, +"squirrels do not really talk." + +"No, my dear; they have not the use of speech as we have. But in all ages +people have written little tales called fables, in which they make birds +and beasts speak as if they were men and women, it being an easy method of +conveying instruction." + +"My book is only a fable, then, nurse? I wish it had been true: but it is +very pretty." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SQUIRRELS--THE CHITMUNKS--DOCILITY OF A PET ONE--ROGUERY OF A YANKEE +PEDLAR--RETURN OF THE MUSICAL CHITMUNK TO HIS MASTER'S BOSOM--SAGACITY OF +A BLACK SQUIRREL. + + +"Mrs. Frazer, are you very busy just now?" asked Lady Mary, coming up to +the table where her nurse was ironing some lace. + +"No, my dear, not very busy, only preparing these lace edgings for your +frocks. Do you want me to do anything for you?" + +"I only want to tell you that my governess has promised to paint my dear +squirrel's picture, as soon as it is tame and will let me hold it in my +lap, without flying away. I saw a picture of a flying squirrel to-day, but +it was very ugly--not at all like mine; it was long and flat, and its legs +looked like sticks, and it was stretched out, just like one of those +muskrat skins that you pointed out to me in a fur store. Mamma said it was +drawn so, to show it while it was in the act of flying; but it is not +pretty--it does not show its beautiful tail, nor its bright eyes, nor soft +silky fur. I heard a lady tell mamma about a nest full of dear, tiny +little flying squirrels, that her brother once found in a tree in the +forest; he tamed them, and they lived very happily together, and would +feed from his hand. They slept in the cold weather like dormice; in the +daytime they lay very still, but would come out, and gambol and frisk +about at night. But somebody left the cage open, and they all ran away +except one; and that he found in his bed, where it had run for shelter, +with its little nose under his pillow. He caught the little fellow, and it +lived with him till the spring, when it grew restless, and one day got +away, and went off to the woods." + +"These little creatures are impatient of confinement, and will gnaw +through the woodwork of the cage to get free, especially in the spring of +the year. Doubtless, my dear, they pine for the liberty which they used to +enjoy before they were captured by man." + +"Nurse, I will not let my little pet be unhappy. As soon as the warm days +come again, and my governess has taken his picture, I will let him go +free. Are there many squirrels in this part of Canada?" + +"Not so many as in Upper Canada, Lady Mary. They abound more in some years +than in others. I have seen the beech and oak woods swarming with black +squirrels. My brothers have brought in two or three dozen in one day. The +Indians used to tell us that want of food, or very severe weather setting +in in the north, drive these little animals from their haunts. The +Indians, who observe these things more than we do, can generally tell what +sort of winter it will be, from the number of wild animals in the fall." + +"What do you mean by the fall, nurse?" + +"The autumn in Canada, my lady, is called so from the fall of the leaves. +I remember one year was remarkable for the great number of black, gray, +and flying squirrels; the little striped chitmunk was also plentiful, and +so were weasels and foxes. They came into the barns and granaries, and +into the houses, and destroyed great quantities of grain; besides gnawing +clothes that were laid out to dry; this they did to line their nests with. +Next year there were very few to be seen." + +"What became of them, nurse?" + +"Some, no doubt, fell a prey to their enemies, the cats, foxes, and +weasels, which were also very numerous that year; and the rest, perhaps, +went back to their own country again." + +"I should like to see a great number of these pretty creatures travelling +together," said Lady Mary. + +"All wild animals, my dear, are more active by night than by day, and +probably make their long journeys during that season. The eyes of many +animals and birds are so formed, that they see best in the dim twilight, +as cats, and owls, and others. Our heavenly Father has fitted all his +creatures for the state in which he has placed them." + +"Can squirrels swim like otters and beavers, nurse? If they come to a lake +or river, can they cross it?" + +"I think they can, Lady Mary; for though these creatures are not formed, +like the otter, or beaver, or muskrat, to get their living in the water, +they are able to swim when necessity requires them to do so. I heard a +lady say that she was crossing a lake, between one of the islands and the +shore, in a canoe, with a baby on her lap. She noticed a movement on the +surface of the water. At first she thought it might be a water-snake, but +the servant lad who was paddling the canoe said it was a red squirrel and +he tried to strike it with the paddle; but the little squirrel leaped out +of the water to the blade of the paddle, and sprang on the head of the +baby, as it lay on her lap; from whence it jumped to her shoulder, and +before she had recovered from her surprise, was in the water again, +swimming straight for the shore, where it was soon safe in the dark pine +woods." + +This feat of the squirrel delighted Lady Mary, who expressed her joy at +the bravery of the little creature. Besides, she said she had heard that +gray squirrels, when they wished to go to a distance in search of food, +would all meet together, and collect pieces of bark to serve them for +boats, and would set up their broad tails like sails, to catch the wind, +and in this way cross large sheets of water. + +"I do not think this can be true," observed Mrs. Frazer; "for the squirrel, +when swimming, uses his tail as an oar or rudder to help the motion, the +tail lying flat on the surface of the water; nor do these creatures need a +boat, for God, who made them, has given them the power of swimming at +their need." + +"Nurse, you said something about a ground squirrel, and called it a +chitmunk. If you please, will you tell me something about it, and why it +is called by such a curious name?" + +"I believe it is the Indian name for this sort of squirrel, my dear. The +chitmunk is not so large as the black, red, and gray squirrels. It is +marked along the back with black and white stripes; the rest of its fur is +a yellowish tawny colour. It is a very playful, lively, cleanly animal, +somewhat resembling the dormouse in its habits. It burrows underground. +Its nest is made with great care, with many galleries which open at the +surface, so that when attacked by an enemy, it can run from one to another +for security. For the squirrel has many enemies; all the weasel tribe, +cats, and even dogs attack them. Cats kill great numbers. The farmer shows +them as little mercy as he does rats and mice, as they are very +destructive, and carry off vast quantities of grain, which they store in +hollow trees for use. Not contenting themselves with one granary, they +have several in case one should fail, or perhaps become injured by +accidental causes. Thus do these simple little creatures teach us a lesson +of providential care for future events." + +"How wise of these little chitmunks to think of such precautions!" said +Lady Mary. + +"Nay, my dear child, it is God's wisdom, not theirs. These creatures work +according to his will; and so they always do what is fittest and best for +their own comfort and safety. Man is the only one of God's creatures who +disobeys him." + +These words made Lady Mary look grave, till her nurse began to talk to her +again about the chitmunk. + +"It is very easily tamed, and becomes very fond of its master. It will +obey his voice, come at a call or a whistle, sit up and beg, take a nut or +an acorn out of his hand, run up a stick, nestle in his bosom, and become +quite familiar. My uncle had a tame chitmunk that was much attached to +him; it lived in his pocket or bosom; it was his companion by day and by +night. When he was out in the forest lumbering, or on the lake fishing, or +in the fields at work, it was always with him. At meals it sat by the side +of his plate, eating what he gave it; but he did not give it meat, as he +thought that might injure its health. One day he and his pet were in the +steam-boat, going to Toronto. He had been showing off the little +chitmunk's tricks to the ladies and gentlemen on board the boat, and +several persons offered him money if he would sell it; but my uncle was +fond of the little thing, and would not part with it. However, just before +he left the boat, he missed his pet; for a cunning Yankee pedlar on board +had stolen it. My uncle knew that his little friend would not desert its +old master; so he went on deck where the passengers were assembled, and +whistled a popular tune familiar to the chitmunk. The little fellow, on +hearing it, whisked out of the pedlar's pocket, and running swiftly along +a railing against which he was standing, soon sought refuge his master's +bosom." + +Lady Mary clapped her hands with joy, and said, "I am so glad, nurse, that +the chitmunk ran back to his old friend. I wish it had bitten that Yankee +pedlar's fingers." + +"When angry these creatures will bite very sharply, set up their tails, +and run to and fro, and make a chattering sound with their teeth. The red +squirrel is very fearless for its size, and will sometimes turn round and +face you, set up its tail, and scold. But they will, when busy eating the +seeds of the sunflower or thistle, of which they are very fond, suffer you +to stand and watch them without attempting to run away. When near their +granaries, or the tree where their nest is, they are unwilling to leave +it, running to and fro, and uttering their angry notes; but if a dog is +near they make for a tree, and as soon as they are out of his reach, turn +round to chatter and scold, as long as he remains in sight. When hard +pressed, the black and flying squirrels will take prodigious leaps, +springing from bough to bough, and from tree to tree. In this manner they +baffle the hunters, and travel a great distance over the tops of the +trees. Once I saw my uncle and brothers chasing a large black squirrel. He +kept out of reach of the dogs, as well as out of sight of the men, +bypassing round and round the tree as he went up, so that they could never +get a fair shot at him. At last, they got so provoked that they took their +axes, and set to work to chop down the tree. It was a large pine tree, and +took them some time. Just as the tree was ready to fall, and was wavering +to and fro, the squirrel, that had kept on the topmost bough, sprang +nimbly to the next tree, and then to another, and by the time the great +pine had reached the ground, the squirrel was far away in his nest among +his little ones, safe from hunters, guns, and dogs." + +"The black squirrel must have wondered, I think, nurse, why so many men +and dogs tried to kill such a little creature as he was. Do the black +squirrels sleep in the winter as well as the flying squirrels and +chitmunks?" + +"No, Lady Mary; I have often seen them on bright days chasing each other +over logs and brush-heaps, and running gaily up the pine trees. They are +easily seen from the contrast which their jetty black coats make with the +sparkling white snow. These creatures feed a good deal on the kernels of +the pines and hemlocks; they also eat the buds of some trees. They lay up +great stores of nuts and grain for winter use. The flying squirrels sleep +much, and in the cold season lie heaped upon each other, for the sake of +warmth. As many as seven or eight may be found in one nest asleep. They +sometimes awaken, if there come a succession of warm days, as in the +January thaw; for I must tell you that in this country we generally have +rain and mild weather for a few days in the beginning of January, when the +snow nearly disappears from the ground. About the 12th, the weather sets +in again steadily cold; when the little animals retire once more to sleep +in their winter cradles, which they rarely leave till the hard weather is +over." + +"I suppose, nurse, when they awake, they are glad to eat some of the food +they have laid up in their granaries?" + +"Yes, my dear, it is for this they gather their hoards in mild weather; +which also supports them in the spring months, and possibly even during +the summer, till grain and fruit are ripe. I was walking in the harvest +field one day, where my brothers were cradling wheat. As I passed along +the fence, I noticed a great many little heaps of wheat lying here and +there on the rails, also upon the tops of the stumps in the field. I +wondered at first who could have placed them there, but presently noticed +a number of red squirrels running very swiftly along the fence, and +perceived that they emptied their mouths of a quantity of the new wheat, +which they had been diligently employed in collecting from the ears that +lay scattered over the ground. These little gleaners did not seem to be at +all alarmed at my presence, but went to and fro as busy as bees. On taking +some of the grains into my hand, I noticed that the germ or eye of the +kernels was bitten clean out." + +"What was that for, nurse? can you tell me?" + +"My dear young lady, I did not know at first, till, upon showing it to my +father, he told me that the squirrels destroyed the germ of the grain, +such as wheat or Indian corn, that they stored up for winter use, that it +might not sprout when buried in the ground or in a hollow tree." + +"This is very strange, nurse," said the little girl. "But I suppose," she +added, after a moment's thought, "it was God who taught the squirrels to +do so. But why would biting out the eye prevent the grain from growing?" + +"Because the eye or bud contains the life of the plant; from it springs +the green blade, and the stem that bears the ear, and the root that +strikes down to the earth. The flowery part, which swells and becomes soft +and jelly-like, serves to nourish the young plant till the tender fibres +of the roots are able to draw moisture from the ground." + +Lady Mary asked if all seeds had an eye or germ. + +Her nurse replied that all had, though some were so minute that they +looked no bigger than dust, or a grain of sand; yet each was perfect in +its kind, and contained the plant that would, when sown in the earth, +bring forth roots, leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits in due season. + +"How glad I should have been to see the little squirrels gleaning the +wheat, and laying it in the little heaps on the rail fence. Why did they +not carry it at once to their nests?" + +"They laid it out in the sun and wind to dry; for if it had been stored +away while damp, it would have moulded, and have been spoiled. The +squirrels were busy all that day; when I went to see them again, the grain +was gone. I saw several red squirrels running up and down a large pine +tree, which had been broken by the wind at the top; and there, no doubt, +they had laid up stores. These squirrels did not follow each other in a +straight line, but ran round and round in a spiral direction, so that they +never hindered each other, nor came in each other's way two were always +going up, while the other two were going down. They seem to work in +families; for the young ones, though old enough to get their own living, +usually inhabit the same nest, and help to store up the grain for winter +use. They all separate again in spring. The little chitmunk does not live +in trees, but burrows in the ground, or makes its nest in some large +hollow log. It is very pretty to see the little chitmunks, on a warm +spring day, running about and chasing each other among the moss and +leaves; they are not bigger than mice, but look bright and lively. The fur +of all the squirrel tribe is used in trimming, but the gray is the best +and most valuable. It has often been remarked by the Indians, and others, +that the red and black squirrels never live in the same place; for the +red, though the smallest, beat away the black ones. The flesh of the black +squirrel is very good to eat; the Indians also eat the red." + +Lady Mary was very glad to hear all these things, and quite forgot to play +with her doll. "Please, Mrs. Frazer," said the little lady, "tell me now +about beavers and muskrats." But Mrs. Frazer was obliged to go out on +business; she promised, however, to tell Lady Mary all she knew about +these animals another day. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +INDIAN BASKETS--THREAD PLANTS--MAPLE SUGAR-TREE--INDIAN ORNAMENTAL WORKS +--RACOONS. + + +It was some time before Lady Mary's nurse could tell her any more stories. +She received a letter from her sister-in-law, informing her that her +brother was dangerously ill, confined to what was feared would prove his +deathbed, and that he earnestly desired to see her before he died. The +Governor's lady, who was very kind and good to all her household, readily +consented to let Mrs. Frazer go to her sick relation. + +Lady Mary parted from her dear nurse, whom she loved very tenderly, with +much regret. Mrs. Frazer told her that it might be a fortnight before she +could return, as her brother lived on the shores of one of the small +lakes, near the head waters of the Otonabee river, a great way off; but +she promised to return as soon as she could, and, to console her young +mistress for her absence, promised to bring her some Indian toys from the +backwoods. + +The month of March passed away pleasantly, for Lady Mary enjoyed many +delightful sleigh-drives with her papa and mamma, who took every +opportunity to instruct and amuse her. On entering her nursery one day, +after enjoying a long drive in the country, great was her joy to find her +good nurse sitting quietly at work by the store. She was dressed in deep +mourning, and looked much thinner and paler than when she had last seen +her. + +The kind little girl knew, when she saw her nurse's black dress, that her +brother must be dead; and with the thoughtfulness of a true lady, remained +very quiet, and did not annoy her with questions about trifling matters: +she spoke low and gently to her, and tried to comfort her when she saw +large tears falling on the work which she held in her hand, and kindly +said, "Mrs. Frazer, you had better lie down and rest yourself, for you +must be tired after your long, long journey." + +The next day Mrs. Frazer seemed to be much better; and she showed Lady +Mary an Indian basket made of birch-bark, very richly wrought with +coloured porcupine-quills, and which had two lids. + +Lady Mary admired the splendid colours, and strange patterns on the +basket. + +"It is for you, my dear," said her nurse; "open it, and see what is in +it." Lady Mary lifted one of the lids, and took out another small basket, +of a different shape and pattern. It had a top, which was sewn down with +coarse-looking thread, which her nurse told her was nothing but the sinews +of the deer, dried and beaten fine, and drawn out like thread. Then, +taking an end of it in her hand, she made Lady Mary observe that these +coarse threads could be separated into a great number of finer ones, +sufficiently delicate to pass through the eye of a fine needle, or to +string tiny beads. + +"The Indians, my lady, sew with the sinews of the wild animals they kill. +These sinews are much stronger and tougher than thread, and therefore are +well adapted to sew together such things as moccasins, leggings, and +garments made of the skins of wild animals. The finer threads are used for +sewing the beads and quill ornaments on moccasins, sheaths, and pouches, +besides other things that I cannot now think of. + +"Oh yes, I must tell you one thing more they make with these sinews. How +do you think the Indian women carry their infants when they go on a long +journey? They tie them to a board, and wrap them up in strong bandages of +linen or cotton, which they sew firmly together with their stoutest +thread, and then they suspend the odd-looking burden to their backs. By +this contrivance, they lessen the weight of the child considerably, and +are able to walk many miles without showing signs of fatigue. It is also +much more pleasant and healthy for the child than to be uncomfortably +cramped up in its mother's arms, and shifted about from side to side, as +first one arm aches, and then the other. + +"The Indian women sew some things with the roots of the tamarack, or +larch; such as coarse birch-baskets, hark canoes, and the covering of +their wigwams. They call this 'wah-tap' [Footnote: Asclepia parvilfora.] +(wood-thread), and they prepare it by pulling off the outer rind and +steeping it in water. It is the larger fibres which have the appearance of +small cordage when coiled up and fit for use. This 'wah-tap' is very +valuable to these poor Indians. There is also another plant, called Indian +hemp, which is a small shrubby kind of milk-weed, that grows on gravelly +islands. It bears white flowers, and the branches are long and slender; +under the bark there is a fine silky thread covering the wood; this is +tough, and can be twisted and spun into cloth. It is very white and fine, +and does not easily break. There are other plants of the same family, with +pods full of fine shining silk; but these are too brittle to spin into +thread. This last kind, Lady Mary, which is called Milk-weed flytrap, I +will show you in summer." [Footnote: Asclepia Syrica.] + +But while Mrs. Frazer was talking about these plants, the little lady was +examining the contents of the small birch-box. "If you please, nurse, will +you tell me what these dark shining seeds are?" + +"These seeds, my dear, are Indian rice; an old squaw, Mrs. Peter Noggan, +gave me this as a present for 'Governor's daughter;'" and Mrs. Frazer +imitated the soft, whining tone of the Indian, which made Lady Mary laugh. + +"The box is called a 'mowkowk.' There is another just like it, only there +is a white bird--a snow bird, I suppose it is intended for--worked on the +lid." The lid of this box was fastened down with a narrow slip of deer +skin, Lady Mary cut the fastening, and raised the lid--"Nurse, it is only +yellow sand, how droll, to send me a box of sand!" + +"It is not sand, taste it, Lady Mary." + +"It is sweet--it is sugar! Ah! now I know what it is that this kind old +squaw has sent me, it is maple-sugar, and is very nice I will go and show +it to mamma." + +"Wait a little, Lady Mary, let us see what there is in the basket besides +the rice and the maple sugar." + +"What a lovely thing this is, dear nurse! what can it be?" + +"It is a sheath for your scissors, my dear, it is made of doe skin, +embroidered with white beads, and coloured quills split fine, and sewn +with deer sinew thread Look at these curious bracelets." + +Lady Mary examined the bracelets, and said she thought they were wrought +with beads, but Mrs. Frazer told her that what she took for beads were +porcupine quills, cut out very finely, and strung in a pattern. They were +not only neatly but tastefully made, the pattern, though a Grecian scroll, +having been carefully imitated by some Indian squaw. + +"This embroidered knife sheath is large enough for a hunting knife," said +Lady Mary, "a '_couteau de chasse_,'--is it not?" + +"This sheath was worked by the wife of Isaac Iron, an educated chief of +the Mud Lake Indians, she gave it to me because I had been kind to her in +sickness." + +"I will give it to my dear papa," said Lady Mary, "for I never go out +hunting, and do not wish to carry a large knife by my side;" and she laid +the sheath away, after having admired its gay colours, and particularly +the figure of a little animal worked in black and white quills. + +"This is a present for your doll; it is a doll's mat, woven by a little +girl, aged seven years, Rachel Muskrat; and here is a little canoe of red +cedar, made by a little Indian boy." + +"What a darling little boat! and there is a fish carved on the paddles." +This device greatly pleased Lady Mary, who said she would send Rachel a +wax doll, and little Moses a knife or some other useful article, when Mrs. +Frazer went again to the Lakes; but when her nurse took out of the other +end of the basket a birch-bark cradle, made for her doll, worked very +richly, she clapped her hands for joy, saying, "Ah, nurse, you should not +have brought me so many pretty things at once, for I am too happy!" + +The remaining contents of the basket consisted of seeds and berries, and a +small cake of maple-sugar, which Mrs. Frazer had made for the young lady. +This was very different in appearance from the Indian sugar; it was bright +and sparkling, like sugar-candy, and tasted sweeter. The other sugar was +dry, and slightly bitter: Mrs. Frazer told Lady Mary that this peculiar +taste was caused by the birch-bark vessels, which the Indians used for +catching the sap, as it flowed from the maple-trees. + +"I wonder who taught the Indians how to make maple-sugar?" asked the +child. + +"I do not know," replied the nurse. "I have heard that they knew how to +make this sugar when the discoverers of the country found them. [Footnote: +However this may be, the French settlers claim the merit of converting the +sap into sugar.] It may be that they found it out by accident. The +sugar-maple when wounded in March or April, yields a great deal of sweet +liquor. Some Indians may have supplied themselves with this juice, when +pressed for want of water; for it flows so freely in warm days in spring, +that several pints can be obtained from one tree in the course of the day. +By boiling this juice, it becomes very sweet; and at last when all the +thin watery part has gone off in steam, it becomes thick, like honey; by +boiling it still longer, it turns to sugar, when cold. So you see, my +dear, that the Indians may have found it out by boiling some sap, instead +of water, and letting it remain on the fire till it grew thick." + +"Are there many kinds of maple-trees, that sugar can be made from, nurse?" +asked the little girl. + +"Yes, [Footnote: All the maple tribe are of a saccharine nature. Sugar has +been made in England from the sap of the sycamore.] my lady; but I the +sugar-maple yields the best sap for the purpose; that of the birch-tree, I +have heard, can be made into sugar; but it would require a larger +quantity; weak wine, or vinegar, is made by the settlers of birch-sap, +which is very pleasant tasted. The people who live in the backwoods, and +make maple-sugar, always make a keg of vinegar at the sugaring off." + +"That must be very useful; but if the sap is sweet, how can it be made +into such sour stuff as vinegar?" + +Then nurse tried to make Lady Mary understand that the heat of the sun, or +of a warm room, would make the liquor ferment, unless it had been boiled a +long time, so as to become very sweet, and somewhat thick. The first +fermentation, she told her, would give only a winy taste; but if it +continued to ferment a great deal, it turned sour, and became vinegar. + +"How very useful the maple-tree is, nurse! I wish there were maples in the +garden, and I would make sugar, molasses, wine, and vinegar; and what else +would I do with my maple-tree?" + +Mrs. Frazer said,--"The wood makes excellent fuel; but is also used in +making bedsteads, chests of drawers, and many other things. There is a +very pretty wood for furniture, called 'bird's-eye maple;' the drawers in +my bedroom that you think so pretty are made of it; but it is a disease in +the tree that causes it to have these little marks all through the wood. +In autumn, this tree improves the forest landscape, for the bright scarlet +leaves of the maple give a beautiful look to the woods. The red maple +(_Acer rubrus_), another species, is very bright when the leaves are +changing, but it gives no sugar." + +"Then I will not let it grow in my garden, nurse!" + +"It is good for other purposes, my dear. The settlers use the bark +dyeing wool; and a jet black ink can be made from it, by boiling down the +bark with a bit of copperas, in an iron vessel; so you see it is useful. +The bright red flowers of this tree look very pretty in the spring; it +grows best by the water-side, and some call it 'the swamp-maple.'" + +This was all Mrs. Frazer could tell Lady Mary about the maple-trees. Many +little girls, as young as the Governor's daughter, would have thought it +very dull to listen to what her nurse had to say about plants and trees; +but Lady Mary would put aside her dolls and toys, to stand beside her to +ask questions, and listen to her answers; the more she heard the more she +desired to hear, about these things. "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, +are two things that are never satisfied," saith the wise king Solomon. + +Lady Mary was delighted with the contents of her Indian basket, and spent +the rest of her play-hours in looking at the various articles it +contained, and asking her nurse questions about the materials of which +they were made. Some of the bark-boxes were lined with paper, but the +doll's cradle was not, and Lady Mary perceived that the inside of it was +very rough, caused by the hard ends of the quills with which it was +ornamented. At first she could not think how the squaws worked with the +quills, as they could not possibly thread them through the eye of a +needle; but her nurse told her that when they want to work any pattern in +birch-bark, they trace it with some sharp-pointed instrument, such as a +nail, or bodkin, or even a sharp thorn, with which they pierce holes close +together round the edge of the leaf, or blade, or bird they have drawn out +on the birch-bark; into these holes they insert one end of the quill, the +other end is then drawn through the opposite hole, pulled tight, bent a +little, and cut off on the inside. This any one of my young readers may +see, if they examine the Indian baskets or toys, made of birch-bark. "I +have seen the squaws in their wigwams at work on these things, sitting +cross-legged on their mats,--some had the quilla in a little bark dish on +their laps, while others held them in their mouths--not a very safe nor +delicate way; but Indians are not very nice in some of their habits," said +Mrs. Frazer. "The prettiest sort of Indian work is done in coloured +moose-hair, with which, formed into a sort of rich embroidery, they +ornament the moccasins, hunting-knife, sheaths, and birch-bark baskets and +toys." + +"Nurse, if you please, will you tell me what this little animal is +designed to represent?" said Lady Mary, pointing to the figure of the +racoon worked in quills on the sheath of the hunting-knife. + +"It is intended for a racoon, my lady," replied her nurse. + +"Is the racoon a pretty-creature like my squirrel?" + +"It is much larger than your squirrel; its fur is not nearly so soft or so +fine; the colour being black and gray, or dun; the tail barred across, and +bushy,--you have seen many sleigh-robes made of racoon-skins, with the +tails looking like tassels at the back of the sleighs." + +"Oh yes, and a funny, cunning-looking face peeping out too!" + +"The face of this little animal is sharp, and the eyes black and keen, +like a fox; the feet bare, like the soles of our feet, only black and +leathery; their claws are very sharp; they can climb trees very fast. +During the winter the racoons sleep in hollow trees, and cling together +for the sake of keeping each other warm. The choppers find as many as +seven or eight in one nest, fast asleep. Most probably the young family +remain with the old ones until spring, when they separate. The racoon in +its habits is said to resemble the bear; like the bear, it lives chiefly +on vegetables, especially Indian corn, but I do not think that it lays by +any store for winter. They sometimes awake if there come a few warm days, +but soon retire again to their warm, cozy nests." + +"Racoons will eat eggs; and fowls are often taken by them,--perhaps this +is in the winter, when they wake up and are pressed by hunger." + +Her nurse said that one of her friends had a racoon which he kept in a +wooden cage, but he was obliged to have a chain and collar to keep him +from getting away, as he used to gnaw the bars asunder; and had slily +stolen away and killed some ducks, and was almost as mischievous as a fox, +but was very lively and amusing in his way. + +Lady Mary now left her good nurse, and took her basket, with all its +Indian treasures, to show to her mamma, with whom we leave her for the +present. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CANADIAN BIRDS--SNOW SPARROW--ROBIN REDBREAST--CANADIAN FLOWERS--AMERICAN +PORCUPINE. + + +"Spring is coming, nurse--spring is coming at last!" exclaimed the +Governor's little daughter, joyfully. "The snow is going away at last! I +am tired of the white snow; it makes my eyes ache. I want to see the brown +earth, and the grass, and the green moss, and the pretty flowers again." + +"It will be some days before this deep covering of snow is gone. The +streets are still slippery with ice, which it will take some time, my +lady, to soften." + +"But, nurse, the sun shines, and there are little streams of water running +along the streets in every direction. See, the snow is gone from under the +bushes and trees in the garden. I saw some dear little birds flying about, +and I watched them perching on the dry stalks of the tall, rough weeds, +and they appeared to be picking seeds out of the husks. Can you tell me +what birds they were?" + +"I saw the flock of birds you mean, Lady Mary. They are the common +snow-sparrows [Footnote: Fringilla nivalia.]--almost our earliest +visitants, for they may be seen in April, mingled with the brown +song-sparrow, [Footnote: Fringilla malodia.] flitting about the garden +fences, or picking the stalks of the tall mullein and amaranths, to find +the seeds that have not been shaken out by the autumn winds; and possibly +they also find insects cradled in the husks of the old seed-vessels. These +snow-sparrows are very hardy; and though some migrate to the States in the +beginning of winter, a few stay in the Upper Province, and others come +back to us before the snow is all gone." + +"They are very pretty, neat-looking birds, nurse; dark slate colour, with +white breasts." + +"When I was a little girl I used to call them my Quaker-birds, they +looked so neat and prim. In the summer you may find their nests in the +brush-heaps near the edge of the forest. They sing a soft, low song." + +"Nurse, I heard a bird singing yesterday when I was in the garden; a +little, plain, brown bird, nurse." + +"It was a song-sparrow, Lady Mary. This cheerful little bird comes with +the snow-birds, often before the robin." + +"Oh, nurse, the robin! I wish you would show me a darling robin redbreast. +I did not know they lived in Canada." + +"The bird that we call the robin in this country, my dear, is not like the +little redbreast you have seen at home. Our robin is twice as large. +Though in shape resembling the European robin, I believe it is really a +kind of thrush. [Footnote: Turdus migratoria.] It migrates in the fall, +and returns to us early in the spring." + +"What is migrating, nurse? Is it the same as emigrating?" + +"Yes, Lady Mary; for when a person leaves his native country, and goes to +live in another country, he is said to emigrate. This is the reason why +the English, Scotch, and Irish families who come to live in Canada are +called emigrants." + +"What colour are the Canadian robins, nurse?" + +"The head is blackish; the back, lead colour; and the breast is pale +orange--not so bright a red, however, as the real robin." + +"Have you ever seen their nests, nurse?" + +"Yes, my dear, many of them. It is not a pretty nest. It is large, and +coarsely put together, of old dried grass, roots, and dead leaves, +plastered inside with clay, mixed with bits of straw, so as to form a sort +of mortar. You know, Lady Mary, that the blackbird and thrush build nests, +and plaster them in this way?" + +The little lady nodded her head in assent. + +"Nurse, I once saw a robin's nest when I was in England. It was in the +side of a mossy ditch, with primroses growing close beside it. It was made +of green moss, and lined with white wool and hair. It was a pretty nest, +with nice eggs in it; much better than your Canadian robin's nest." + +[Illustration: WATCHING THE BIRDS] + +"Our robins build in upturned roots, in the corners of rail fences, and in +the young pear-trees and apple-trees in the orchard. The eggs are a +greenish-blue. The robin sings a full, clear song; indeed, he is our best +songster. We have so few singing-birds that we prize those that do sing +very much." + +"Does the Canadian robin come into the house in winter, and pick up the +crumbs, as the dear little redbreasts do at home?" + +"No, Lady Mary; they are able to find plenty of food abroad when they +return to us, but they hop about the houses and gardens pretty freely. In +the fall, before they go away, they may be seen in great numbers, running +about the old pastures, picking up worms and seeds." + +"Do people see the birds flying away together, nurse?" + +"Not often, my dear; for most birds congregate together in small flocks, +and depart unnoticed. Many go away at night, when we are sleeping; and +some fly very high on cloudy days, so that they are not distinctly seen +against the dull, gray sky. The water-birds--such as geese, swans, and +ducks--take their flight in large bodies. They are heard making a +continual noise in the air; and may be seen grouped in long lines, or in +the form of the letter V lying on its side (>), the point generally +directed southward or westward, the strongest and oldest birds acting as +leaders. When tired, these aquatic generals fall backward into the main +body, and are replaced by others." + +Lady Mary was much surprised at the order and sagacity displayed by +wild-fowl in their flight; and Mrs. Frazer told her that some other time +she would tell her some more facts respecting their migration to other +countries. + +"Nurse, will you tell me something about birds' nests, and what they make +them of?" + +"Birds that live chiefly in the depths of the forest, or in solitary +places, far away from the haunts of men, build their nests of ruder +materials, and with less care in the manner of putting them together. +Dried grass, roots, and a little moss, seem to be the materials they make +use of. It has been noticed by many persons, my dear, that those birds +that live near towns and villages and cleared farms, soon learn to make +better sorts of nests, and to weave into them soft and comfortable things, +such--as silk, wool, cotton, and hair." + +"That is very strange, nurse." + +"It is so, Lady Mary; but the same thing may also be seen among human +beings. The savage nations are contented with rude dwellings made of +sticks and cane, covered with skins' of beasts, bark, or reeds; but when +they once unite together in a more social state, and live in villages and +towns, a desire for improvement takes place. The tent of skins or the rude +shanty is exchanged for a hut of better shape; and this in time gives +place to houses and furniture of more useful and ornamental kinds." + +"Nurse, I heard mamma say that the Britons who lived in England were once +savages, and lived in caves, huts, and thick woods; that they dressed in +skins, and painted their bodies like the Indians." + +"When you read the history of England, you will see that such was +the case," said Mrs. Frazer. + +"Nurse, perhaps the little birds like to see the flowers, and the +sunshine, and the blue sky, and men's houses. I will make my garden very +pretty this spring, and plant some nice flowers, to please the dear little +birds." + +Many persons would have thought such remarks very foolish in our little +lady. But Mrs. Frazer, who was a good and wise woman, did not laugh at the +little girl; for she thought it was a lovely thing to see her wish to give +happiness to the least of God's creatures, for it was imitating his own +goodness and mercy, which delight in the enjoyment of the things which he +has called into existence. + +"Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me which flowers will be first in +bloom?" + +"The very first is a plant that comes up without leaves." + +"Nurse, that is the Christmas-rose. [Footnote: Winter Aconite] I have seen +it in the old country." + +"No, Lady Mary; it is the colt's-foot. [Footnote: Tussilago Fartara] It is +a common-looking, coarse, yellow-blossomed flower: it is the first that +blooms after the snow. Then comes the pretty snow flower, or hepatica. Its +pretty tufts of white, pink, or blue starry flowers may be seen on the +open clearing, or beneath the shade of the half cleared woods or upturned +roots and sunny banks. Like the English daisy, it grows everywhere, and +the sight of its bright starry blossoms delights every eye. The next +flower that comes in is the dog's tooth violet." [Footnote: Erythronium] + +"What a droll name!" exclaimed Lady Mary, laughing. + +"I suppose it is called so from the sharpness of the flower leaves +(petals), my lady, but it is a beautiful yellow lily. The leaves are also +pretty, they are veined or clouded with milky white or dusky purple. The +plant has a bulbous root, and in the month of April sends up its single, +nodding, yellow spotted flowers. They grow in large beds, where the ground +is black, moist, and rich, near creeks on the edge of the forest." + +"Do you know any other pretty flowers, nurse?" + +"Yes, my lady, there are a great many that bloom in April and May. white +violets, and blue and yellow of many kinds. And then there is the spring +beauty, [Footnote: Claytonia] a delicate little flower, with pink striped +bells, and the everlasting flower, [Footnote: Graphalium] and saxifrage, +and the white and dark red lily, that the Yankees call 'white and red +death.' [Footnote: Trillium or Wake Robin] These have three green leaves +about the middle of the stalk, and the flower is composed of three pure +white or deep red leaves--petals my father used to call them: for my +father, Lady Mary, was a botanist, and knew the names of all the flowers, +and I learned them from him. The most curious is the moccasin flower. The +early one is bright golden yellow, and has a bag or sack which is +curiously spotted with ruby red, and its petals are twisted like horns. +There is a hard, thick piece that lies down just above the sack or +moccasin part; and if you lift this up, you see a pair of round, dark +spots like eyes, and the Indians say it is like the face of a hound, with +the nose and black eyes plain to be seen. Two of the shorter, curled, +brown petals look like flapped ears, one on each side of the face. There +is a more beautiful sort, purple and white, which blooms in August. The +plant is taller, and bears large, lovely flowers." + +"And has it a funny face and ears too, nurse?" + +"Yes, my dear, but the face is more like an ape's: it is even more +distinct than in the yellow moccasin. When my brother and I were children, +we used to fold back the petals, and call them baby flowers: the sack, we +thought, looked like a baby's white frock." + +Lady Mary was much amused at this notion. + +"There are a great number of very beautiful and also very curious flowers +growing in the forest," said Mrs. Frazer. "Some of them are used in +medicine, and some by the Indians for dyes, with which they stain the +baskets and porcupine quills. One of our earliest flowers is called the +blood-root. [Footnote: Sanguivaria.] It comes up a delicate, white-folded +bud, within a vine-shaped leaf, which is veined on the under side with +orange yellow. If the stem or the root of this plant be broken, a scarlet +juice drops out very fast. It is with this the squaws dye red and orange +colours." + +"I am glad to hear this, nurse. Now I can tell my dear mamma what the +baskets and quills are dyed with." + +"The flower is very pretty, like a white crocus, only not so large. You +saw some crocuses in the conservatory the other day, I think, my dear +lady." + +"Oh yes; yellow ones, and purple too, in a funny china thing, with holes +in its back, and the flowers came up through the holes. The gardener said +it was a porcupine. + +"Please, nurse, tell me of what colours real porcupine quills are?" + +"They are white and grayish-brown." + +Then Lady Mary brought a print and showed it to her nurse, saying,-- + +"Nurse, is the porcupine like this picture?" + +"The American porcupine, my dear, is not so large as this species: its +spines are smaller and weaker. It resembles the common hedgehog more +nearly. It is an innocent animal, feeding mostly on roots and small +fruits. It burrows in dry, stony hillocks, and passes the cold weather in +sleep. It goes abroad chiefly during the night. The spines of the Canadian +porcupine are much weaker than those of the African species. The Indians +trap these creatures, and eat their flesh. They bake them in their skins +in native ovens--holes made in the earth, lined with stones, which they +make very hot, covering them over with embers." [Footnote: There is a +plant of the lily tribe, upon whose roots the porcupine feeds, as well as +on wild bulbs and berries, and the bark of the black spruce and larch. It +will also eat apples and Indian corn.] + +Mrs. Frazer had told Lady Mary all she knew about the porcupine, when +Campbell, the footman, came to say that her papa wanted to see her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +INDIAN BAG--INDIAN EMBROIDERY--BEAVER'S TAIL--BEAVER ARCHITECTURE-- +OF THE BEAVER--BEAVER TOOLS--BEAVER MEADOWS. + + +When Lady Mary went down to her father, he presented her with a beautiful +Indian bag, which he had brought from Lake Huron, in the Upper Province. +It was of fine doeskin, very nicely wrought with dyed moose-hair, and the +pattern was Very pretty; the border was of scarlet feathers on one side, +and blue on the other, which formed a rich silken fringe at each edge. +This was a present from the wife of a chief on Manitoulin Island. Lady +Mary was much delighted with her present, and admired this new-fashioned +work in moose-hair very much. The feathers, Mrs. Frazer told her, were +from the summer red-bird or war-bird, and the blue-bird, both of which +Lady Mary said she had seen. The Indians use these feathers as ornaments +for their heads and shoulders on grand occasions. + +[Illustration: THE PRESENT FROM FATHER] + +Lady Mary recollected hearing her mamma speak of Indians who wore mantles +and dresses of gay feathers. They were chiefs of the Sandwich Islands she +believed, who had these superb habits. + +"You might tell me something about these Indians, nurse," said little +Mary. + +"I might occupy whole days in describing their singular customs, my dear," +replied Mrs. Frazer, "and I fear you would forget one half of what I told +you. But there are numerous interesting books in reference to them, which +you will read as you grow older. You would be much amused at the +appearance of an Indian chief, when dressed out in the feathers we have +been speaking of, his face covered with red paint, his robe flowing loose +and free, and his calumet, or pipe, gaily decked with ribbons. The Indians +are great orators, being distinguished by their graceful gestures, their +animated air, and their vigorous and expressive style. They are tall well +made, and athletic, their complexion of a reddish copper colour, their +hair long, coarse, and jet black. Their senses are remarkably acute, and +they can see and hear with extraordinary distinctness. They will follow up +the track of a man or animal through the dense woods and across the vast +plains by trifling signs, which no European can detect. Their temperament +is cold and unimpassioned, they are capable of enduring extreme hunger and +thirst, and seem almost insensible to pain. Under certain circumstances +they are generous and hospitable, but when once roused, their vengeance is +not easily satisfied. They will pursue a real or supposed foe with a +hatred which never tires, and gratify their lust of cruelty by exposing +him, when captured, to the most horrible torments. They support themselves +by fishing and on the spoils of the chase; and though a few tribes have +become partially civilized, and devoted themselves to the peaceful +pursuits of husbandry, the majority retire further and further into the +dense forests of the west as the white man continues his advance, and +wander, like their forefathers, about the lonely shores of the great +lakes, and on the banks of the vast rolling rivers." + +"Thank you, nurse; I will not forget what you have told me. And now, have +you anything more to say about birds and flowers? I can never weary of +hearing about such interesting objects." + +"I promised to tell you about the beavers, my lady," replied Mrs. Frazer. + +"Oh yes, about the beavers that make the dams and the nice houses, and cut +down whole trees. I am glad you can tell me something about those curious +creatures; for mamma bought me a pretty picture, which I will show you, if +you please," said the little girl. "But what is this odd-looking, black +thing here? Is it a dried fish? It must be a black bass. Yes, nurse, I am +sure it is." + +The nurse smiled, and said: "It is not a fish at all, my dear; it is a +dried beaver's tail. I brought it from the back lakes when I was at home, +that you might see it. See, my lady, how curiously the beaver's tail is +covered with scales; it looks like some sort of black leather, stamped in +a diaper pattern. Before it is dried it is very heavy, weighing three or +four pounds. I have heard my brothers and some of the Indian trappers say, +that the animal makes use of its tail to beat the sides of the dams and +smooth the mud and clay, as a plasterer uses a trowel. Some people think +otherwise, but it seems well suited from its shape and weight for the +purpose, and, indeed, as the walls they raise seem to have been smoothed +by some implement, I see no reason to disbelieve the story." + +"And what do the beavers make dams with, nurse?" + +"With small trees cut into pieces, and drawn in close to each other; and +then the beavers fill the spaces between with sods, and stones, and clay, +and all sorts of things, that they gather together and work up into a +solid wall. The walls are made broad at the bottom, and are several feet +in thickness, to make them strong enough to keep the water from washing +through them. The beavers assemble together in the fall, about the months +of October and November, to build their houses and repair their dams. They +prefer running water, as it is less likely to freeze. They work in large +parties, sometimes fifty or a hundred together, and do a great deal in a +short time. They work during the night." + +"Of what use is the dam, nurse?" + +"The dam is for the purpose of securing a constant supply of water, +without which they could not live. When they have enclosed the +beaver-pond, they separate into family parties of eleven or twelve, +perhaps more, sometimes less, and construct dwellings, which are raised +against the inner walls of the dam. These little huts have two chambers, +one in which they sleep, which is warm and soft and dry, lined with roots +and sedges and dry grass, and any odds and ends that serve their purpose. +The feeding place is below; in this is stored the wood or the bark on +which they feed. The entrance to this is under water, and hidden from +sight; but it is there that the cunning hunter sets his trap to catch the +unsuspecting beavers. + +"A beaver's house is large enough to allow two men a comfortable +sleeping-room, and it is kept very clean. It is built of sticks, stones, +and mud, and is well plastered outside and in. The trowel the beaver uses +in plastering is his tail; this is considered a great delicacy at the +table. Their beds are made of chips, split as fine as the brush of an +Indian broom, these are disposed in one corner, and kept dry and sweet and +clean. It is the bark of the green wood that is used by the beavers for +food; after the stick is peeled, they float it out at a distance from the +house. Many good housewives might learn a lesson of neatness and order +from the humble beaver. + +[Illustration: BEAVERS MAKING A DAM] + +"In large lakes and rivers the beavers make no dams, they have water +enough without putting themselves to that trouble; but in small creeks +they dam up, and make a better stop-water than is done by the millers. The +spot where they build their dams is the most labour-saving place in the +valley, and where the work will stand best. When the dam is finished, not +a drop of water escapes; their work is always well done." + +"Nurse, do not beavers, and otters, and musk rats feel cold while living +in the water; and do they not get wet?" + +"No, my dear; they do not feel cold, and cannot get wet, for the thick +coating of hair and down keeps them warm, and these animals, like ducks +and geese, and all kinds of water-fowls, are supplied with a bag of oil, +with which they dress their coats, and that throws off the moisture; for +you know, Lady Mary, that oil and water will not mix. All creatures that +live in the water are provided with oily fur, or smooth scales, that no +water can penetrate; and water-birds, such as ducks and geese, have a +little bag of oil, with which they dress their feathers." + +"Are there any beavers in England, nurse?" asked Lady Mary. + +"No, my lady, not now; but I remember my father told me that this animal +once existed in numbers in different countries of Europe; he said they +were still to be found in Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, and even in +France. [Footnote: The remains of beaver dams in Wales prove that this +interesting animal was once a native of Great Britain.] The beaver abounds +mostly in North America, and in its cold portions; in solitudes that no +foot of man but the wild Indian has ever penetrated--in lonely streams and +inland lakes--these harmless creatures are found fulfilling God's purpose, +and doing injury to none. + +"I think if there had been any beavers in the land of Israel in Solomon's +time, that the wise king who spake of ants, spiders, grasshoppers, and +conies, [Footnote: The rock rabbits of Judea.] would have named the +beavers also, as patterns of gentleness, cleanliness, and industry. They +work together in bands, and live in families, and never fight or disagree. +They have no chief or leader; they seem to have neither king nor ruler; +yet they work in perfect love and harmony. How pleasant it would be, Lady +Mary, if all Christian people would love each other as these poor beavers +seem to do." + +"Nurse, how can beavers cut down trees; they have neither axes nor saws?" + +"Here, Lady Mary, are the axes and saws with which God has provided these +little creatures;" and Mrs. Frazer showed Lady Mary two long curved tusks, +of a reddish-brown colour, which she told her were the tools used by the +beavers to cut and gnaw the trees; she said she had seen trees as thick as +a man's leg that had been felled by these simple tools. + +Lady Mary was much surprised that such small animals could cut through +anything so thick. + +"In nature," replied her nurse, "we often see great things done by very +small means. Patience and perseverance work well. The poplar, birch, and +some other trees, on which beavers feed, and which they also use in making +their dams, are softer and more easily cut than oak, elm, or birch would +be; these trees are found growing near the water, and in such places as +the beavers build in. The settler owes to the industrious habits of this +animal those large open tracts of land called beaver meadows, covered with +long, thick, rank grass, which he cuts down and uses as hay. These beaver +meadows have the appearance of dried-up lakes. The soil is black and +spongy; for you may put a stick down to the depth of many feet. It is only +in the months of July, August, and September, that they are dry. Bushes of +black alder, with a few poplars and twining shrubs, are scattered over the +beaver meadows, some of which have high stony banks, and little islands of +trees. On these are many pretty wild-flowers; among others, I found +growing on the dry banks some real hare-bells, both blue and white." + +"Ah, dear nurse, hare-bells! did you find real hare-bells, such as grow on +the bonny Highland hills among the heather? I wish papa would let me go to +the Upper Province to see the beaver meadows, and gather the dear +blue-bells." + +"My father, Lady Mary, wept when I brought him a handful of these flowers; +for he said it reminded him of his Highland home. I have found these +pretty bells growing on the wild hills about Rice Lake, near the water, as +well as near the beaver meadows." + +"Do the beavers sleep in the winter time, nurse?" + +"They do not lie torpid, as racoons do, though they may sleep a good deal; +but as they lay up a great store of provisions for the winter, of course +they must awake sometimes to eat it." + +Lady Mary thought so too. + +"In the spring, when the long warm days return, they quit their winter +retreat, and separate in pairs, living in holes in the banks of lakes and +rivers, and do not unite again till the approach of the cold calls them +together to prepare for winter, as I told you." + +"Who calls them all to build their winter houses?" asked the child. + +"The providence of God, usually called instinct, that guides these +animals; doubtless it is the law of nature given to them by God. + +"There is a great resemblance in the habits of the musk-rat and the +beaver. They all live in the water; all separate in the spring, and meet +again in the fall to build and work together; and, having helped each +other in these things, they retire to a private dwelling, each family to +its own. The otter does not make a dam, like the beaver, and I am not sure +that, like the beaver, it works in companies: it lives on fish and roots; +the musk-rat on shell-fish and roots; and the beaver on vegetable food +mostly. Musk-rats and beavers are used for food, but the flesh of the +otter is too fishy to be eaten." + +"Nurse, can people eat musk-rats?" asked Lady Mary, with surprise. + +"Yes, my lady, in the spring months the hunters and Indians reckon them +good food. I have eaten them myself, but I did not like them, they were +too fat. Musk-rats build a little house of rushes, and plaster it, they +have two chambers, and do not lie torpid, they build in shallow, rushy +places in lakes but in spring they quit their winter houses and are often +found in holes among the roots of trees. They live on mussels and shell +fish. The fur is used in making caps, and hats, and fur gloves." + +"Nurse, did you ever see a tame beaver?" + +"Yes, my dear, I knew a squaw who had a tame beaver, which she used to +take out in her canoe with her, and it sat in her lap, or on her shoulder, +and was very playful." Just then the dinner bell rang, and as dinner at +Government House waits for no one, Lady Mary was obliged to defer hearing +more about beavers until another time. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +INDIAN BOY AND HIS PETS--TAME BEAVER AT HOME--KITTEN, WILDFIRE--PET RACOON +AND THE SPANIEL PUPPIES--CANADIAN FLORA. + + +"Nurse, you have told me a great many nice stories; now I can tell you one, +if you would like to hear it;" and the Governor's little daughter fixed +her bright eyes, beaming with intelligence, on the face of her nurse, who +smiled, and said she should like very much to hear the story. + +"You must guess what it is to be about, nurse." + +"I am afraid I shall not guess right. Is it 'Little Red Riding Hood,' or +'Old Mother Hubbard,' or 'Jack the Giant-killer?'" + +"Oh, nurse, to guess such silly stories!" said the little girl, stopping +her ears. "Those are too silly for me even to tell baby! My story is a +nice story about a darling tame beaver. Major Pickford took me on his knee +and told me the story last night." + +Mrs. Frazer begged Lady Mary's pardon for making such foolish guesses, and +declared she should like very much to hear Major Pickford's story of the +tame beaver. + +"Well, nurse, you must know there was once a gentleman who lived in the +bush, on the banks of a small lake, somewhere in Canada, a long, long way +from Montreal. He lived all alone in a little log-house, and spent his +time in fishing and trapping and hunting; and he was very dull, for he had +no wife, and no little child like me to talk to. The only people whom he +used to see were some French lumberers; and now and then the Indians would +come in their canoes and fish on his lake, and make their wigwams on the +lake-shore, and hunt deer in the wood. The gentleman was very fond of the +Indians, and used to pass a great deal of his time with them, and talk to +them in their own language. + +"Well, nurse, one day he found a poor little Indian boy who had been lost +in the woods, and was half starved, sick, and weak; and the kind gentleman +took him home to his house, and fed and nursed him till he got quite +strong again. Was not that good, nurse?" + +"It was quite right, my lady. People should always be kind to the sick and +weak, and especially to a poor Indian stranger. I like the story very +much, and shall be glad to hear more about the Indian boy." + +"Nurse, there is not a great deal more about the Indian boy; for when the +Indian party to which he belonged returned from hunting, he went away to +his own home; but I forgot to tell you that the gentleman had often said +how much he should like to have a young beaver to make a pet of. He was +very fond of pets; he had a dear little squirrel, just like mine, nurse, a +flying squirrel, which he had made so tame that it slept in his bosom and +lived in his pocket, where he kept nuts and acorns and apples for it to +eat; and he had a racoon too, nurse--only think, a real racoon! and Major +Pickford told me something so droll about the racoon, only I want first to +go on with the story about the beaver." + +"One day, as the gentleman was sitting by the fire reading, he heard a +slight noise, and when he looked up was quite surprised to see an Indian +boy in a blanket coat, with his dark eyes fixed upon his face, while +his long black hair hung down on his shoulders. He looked quite wild, and +did not say a word, but only opened his blanket coat, and showed a +brown-furred animal asleep on his breast. What do you think it was, +nurse?" + +"A young beaver, my lady." + +"Yes, nurse, it was a little beaver. The good Indian boy had caught it and +tamed it on purpose to bring it to his white friend, who had been so good +to him. + +"I cannot tell you all the amusing things the Indian boy said about the +beaver, though the Major told them to me; but I cannot talk like an +Indian, you know, Mrs. Frazer. After the boy went away, the gentleman set +to work and made a little log-house for his beaver to live in, and set it +in a corner of the shanty, and he hollowed a large sugar trough for its +water, that it might have water to wash in, and cut down some young +willows and poplars and birch trees for it to eat. And the little beaver +grew very fond of its new master, it would fondle him just like a little +squirrel, put its soft head on his knee, and climb up on his lap. He +taught it to eat bread, sweet cake, and biscuit, and even roast and boiled +meat, and it would drink milk too. + +"Well, nurse, the little beaver lived very happily with this kind +gentleman till the next fall, and then it began to get very restless and +active, as if it were tired of doing nothing. One day its master heard of +the arrival of a friend some miles off so he left the beaver to take care +of itself, and went away, but he did not forget to give it some green +wood, and plenty of water to drink and play in. He stayed several days, +for he was very glad to meet with a friend in that lonely place, but when +he came back, he could not open his door, and was obliged to get in at the +window. What do you think the beaver had done? It had built a dam against +the side of the trough, and a wall across the door, and it had dug up the +hearth and the floor, and carried the earth and the stones to help to make +its dam, and puddled it with water, and made such work. The house was in +perfect confusion, with mud, chips bark, and stone, and oh, nurse, worse +than all that, it had gnawed through the legs of the table and chairs, and +they were lying on the floor in such a state; and it cost the poor +gentleman so much trouble to put things to rights again, and make more +chairs and another table! and when I laughed at the pranks of that wicked +beaver--for I could not help laughing--the Major pinched my ear, and +called me a mischievous puss." + +Mrs. Frazer was very much entertained with the story, and she told Lady +Mary that she had heard of tame beavers doing such things before; for in +the season of the year when beavers congregate together to repair their +works and build their winter houses, those that are in confinement become +restless and unquiet, and show the instinct that moves these animals to +provide their winter retreats, and lay up their stores of food. + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "I did not think that beavers and racoons could +be taught to eat sweet cake, and bread, and meat." + +"Many animals learn to eat very different food to what they are accustomed +to live upon in a wild state. The wild cat lives on raw flesh; while the +domestic cat, you know, my dear, will eat cooked meat, and even salt meat, +with bread and milk and many other things. I knew a person who had a black +kitten called 'Wildfire,' which would sip whisky toddy out of his glass, +and seemed to like it as well as milk or water, only it made him too wild +and frisky." + +"Nurse, the racoon that the gentleman had would drink sweet whisky punch; +but my governess said it was not right to give it to him; and Major +Pickford laughed, and declared the racoon must have looked very funny +when he was tipsy. Was not the Major naughty to say so?" + +Mrs. Frazer said it was not quite proper. + +"The racoon, Lady Mary, in its natural state, has all the wildness and +cunning of the fox and weasel. He will eat flesh, poultry, and sucking +pigs, and is also very destructive to Indian corn. These creatures abound +in the Western States, and are killed in great numbers for their skins. +The Indian hunters eat the flesh, and say it is very tender and good; but +it is not used for food in Canada. The racoon belongs to the same class of +animals as the bear, which it resembles in some points, though; being +small, it is not so dangerous either to man or the larger animals. + +"And now, my dear, let me show you some pretty wild-flowers a little girl +brought me this morning for you, as she heard that you loved flowers. +There are yellow-mocassins, or ladies'-slippers, the same that I told you +of a little while ago; and white lilies, crane-bills, and these pretty +lilac geraniums; here are scarlet cups, and blue lupines--they are all in +bloom now--and many others. If we were on the Rice Lake Plains, my lady, +we could gather all these, and many, many more. In the months of June and +July those plains are like a garden, and their roses scent the air." + +"Nurse, I will ask my dear papa to take me to the Rice Lake Plains," said +the little girl, as she gazed with delight on the lovely Canadian flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NURSE TELLS LADY MARY ABOUT A LITTLE BOY WHO WAS EATEN BY A BEAR IN THE +PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK--OF A BABY THAT WAS CARRIED AWAY, BUT TAKEN +ALIVE--A WALK IN THE GARDEN--HUMMING-BIRDS--CANADIAN BALSAMS. + + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "did you ever hear of any one having been eaten +by a wolf or bear?" + +"I have heard of such things happening, my dear, in this country; but only +in lonely, unsettled parts, near swamps and deep woods." + +"Did you ever hear of any little boy or girl having been carried off by a +wolf or bear?" asked the child. + +"No, my lady, not in Canada, though similar accidents may have happened +there; but when I was a young girl I heard of such tragedies at New +Brunswick--one of the British provinces lying to the east of this, and a +cold and rather barren country, but containing many minerals, such as +coal, limestone, and marble, besides vast forests of pine, and small lakes +and rivers. It resembles Lower Canada in many respects; but it is not so +pleasant as the province of Upper Canada, neither is it so productive. + +"Thirty years ago it was not so well cleared or cultivated as it is now, +and the woods were full of wild beasts that dwelt among the swamps and +wild rocky valleys. Bears, and wolves, and catamounts abounded, with foxes +of several kinds, and many of the fine-furred and smaller species of +animals, which were much sought for on account of their skins. Well, my +dear, near the little village where my aunt and uncle were living, there +were great tracts of unbroken swamps and forests, which of course +sheltered many wild animals. A sad accident happened a few days before we +arrived, which caused much sorrow and no little fright in the place. + +"An old man went out into the woods one morning with his little grandson +to look for the oxen, which had strayed from the clearing. They had not +gone many yards from the enclosure when they heard a crackling and +rustling among the underwood and dry timber that strewed the ground. The +old man, thinking it was caused by the cattle they were looking for, bade +the little boy go forward and drive them on the track; but in a few +he heard a fearful cry from the child, and hurrying forward through the +tangled brushwood, saw the poor little boy in the deadly grasp of a huge +black bear, which was making off at a fast trot with his prey. + +"The old man was unarmed, and too feeble to pursue the dreadful beast. He +could only wring his hands and rend his gray hairs in grief and terror; +but his lamentations could not restore the child to life. A band of +hunters and lumberers, armed with rifles and knives, turned out to beat +the woods, and were not long in tracking the savage animal to his retreat +in a neighbouring cedar swamp. A few fragments of the child's dress were +all that remained of him; but the villagers had the satisfaction of +killing the great she-bear with, her two half-grown cubs. The magistrates +of the district gave them a large sum for shooting these creatures, and +the skins were sold, and the money given to the parents of the little boy; +but no money could console them for the loss of their beloved child. + +"The flesh of the bear is eaten both by Indians and hunters; it is like +coarse beef. The hams are cured and dried, and by many thought to be a +great dainty." + +"Mrs. Frazer, I would not eat a bit of the ham made from a wicked, cruel +bear, that eats little children," said Lady Mary. "I wonder the hunters +were not afraid to go into the swamps where such savage beasts lived. Are +there as many bears and wolves now in those places?" + +"No, my lady; great changes have taken place since that time. As the +country becomes more thickly settled, the woods disappear. The axe and the +fire destroy the haunts that sheltered these wild beasts, and they retreat +further back, where the deer and other creatures on which they principally +feed abound." + +"Do the hunters follow them?" + +"There is no place, however difficult or perilous, where the hunter will +not venture in search of game." + +"And do they pursue the graceful deer? They are so pretty, with their +branching antlers and slender limbs, that I should have thought no man +could be so cruel as to slay them." + +"But their flesh is very savoury, and the Indian, when tired of bear's +meat, is glad of a dish of fresh venison. So with his gun--if he has +one--or with his bow and arrow, he lies in wait among the foliage and +brushwood of the forest, or behind the rocks on the bank of some swift +torrent, and when the unsuspecting stag makes his appearance on the +opposite crag, he takes a careful aim, lets fly his rapid arrow, and +seldom fails to kill his victim; which, dropping into the stream below, +is borne by the current within his reach." + +"They are brave men, those hunters," said Lady Mary; "but I fear they are +very cruel. I wish they would only kill the furious bears. That was a sad +story you told me just now, nurse, about the poor little boy. Have you +heard of any other sufferers; or do people sometimes escape from these +monsters?" + +"I also heard of a little child," continued nurse, "not more than two +years old, who was with her mother in the harvest-field, who had spread a +shawl on the ground near a tall tree, and laid the child upon it to sleep +or play, when a bear came out of the wood and carried her off, leaping the +fence with her in his arms. But the mother ran screaming after the +beast, and the reapers pursued so closely with their pitch-forks and +reaping-hooks, that Bruin, who was only a half-grown bear, being hard +pressed, made for a tree; and as it was not easy to climb with a babe in +his arms, he quietly laid the little one down at the foot of the tree, and +soon was among the thick branches out of the reach of the enemy. I daresay +baby must have wondered what rough nurse had taken her up; but she was +unhurt, and is alive now." + +"I am so glad, nurse, the dear baby was not hugged to death by that horrid +black bear; and I hope he was killed." + +"I daresay, my lady, he was shot by some of the men; for they seldom +worked near the forest without having a gun with them, in case of seeing +deer, or pigeons, or partridges." + +"I should not like to live in that country, Mrs. Frazer; for a bear, a +wolf, or a catamount might eat me." + +"I never heard of a governor's daughter being eaten by a bear," said Mrs. +Frazer, laughing, as she noticed the earnest expression on the face of her +little charge. She then continued her account of the ursine family. + +"The bear retires in cold weather, and sleeps till warmer seasons awaken +him. He does not lay up any store of winter provisions, because he seldom +rouses himself during the time of his long sleep; and in the spring he +finds food, both vegetable and animal, for he can eat anything when +hungry, like the hog. He often robs the wild bees of their honey, and his +hide, being so very thick, seems insensible to the stings of the angry +bees. Bruin will sometimes find odd places for his winter bed, for a +farmer, who was taking a stack of wheat into his barn to be threshed in +the winter time, once found a large black bear comfortably asleep in the +middle of the sheaves." + +"How could the bear have got into the stack of wheat, nurse?" + +"The claws of this animal are so strong, and he makes so much use of his +paws, which are almost like hands, that he must have pulled the sheaves +out and so made an entrance for himself. His skin and flesh amply repaid +the farmer for any injury the grain had received. I remember seeing the +bear brought home in triumph on the top of the load of wheat. Bears often +do great mischief by eating the Indian corn when it is ripening; for +besides what they devour, they spoil a vast deal by trampling the plants +down with their clumsy feet. They will, when hard pressed by hunger, come +close to the farmer's house and rob the pig-sty of its tenants. Many years +ago, before the forest was cleared away in the neighbourhood of what is +now a large town, but in those days consisted of only a few poor +log-houses, a settler was much annoyed by the frequent visits of a bear to +his hog-pen. At last he resolved to get a neighbour who was a very expert +hunter to come with his rifle and watch with him. The pen where the +fatling hogs were was close to the log house, it had a long, low, shingled +roof, and was carefully fastened up, so that no bear could find entrance. +Well, the farmer's son and the hunter had watched for two nights, and no +bear came, on the third they were both tired, and lay down to sleep upon +the floor of the kitchen, when the farmer's son was awakened by a sound as +of some one tearing and stripping the shingles from the pen. He looked +out, it was moonlight, and there he saw the dark shadow of some tall +figure on the ground, and spied the great black bear standing on its +hinder legs, and pulling the shingles off as fast as it could lay its big +black paws upon them. The hogs were in a great fright, screaming and +grunting with terror. The young man stepped back into the house, roused up +the hunter, who took aim from the doorway, and shot the bear dead. The +head of the huge beast was nailed up as a trophy, and the meat was dried +or salted for winter use, and great were the rejoicings of the settlers, +who had suffered so much from Bruin's thefts of corn and pork." + +"I am glad the hunter killed him, nurse, for he might, have eaten up some +of the little children, when they were playing about in the fields." + +"Sometimes," continued Mrs. Frazer, "the bears used to visit the sugar +bush, when the settlers were making maple sugar, and overturn the sap +troughs and drink the sweet liquid. I daresay they would have been glad of +a taste of the sugar too, if they could have got at it. The bear is not so +often met with now as it used to be many years ago. The fur of the bear +used to be worn as muffs and tippets, but is now little used for that +purpose, being thought to be too coarse and heavy; but it is still made +into caps for soldiers, and used for sleigh-robes." + +This was all Mrs. Frazer chose to recollect about bears, for she was +unwilling to dwell long on any gloomy subject, which she knew was not good +for young minds: so she took her charge into the garden to look at the +flower-beds, and watch the birds and butterflies; and soon the child was +gaily running from flower to flower, watching with childish interest the +insects flitting to and fro. At last she stopped, and holding up her +finger to warn Mrs. Frazer not to come too near, stood gazing in wonder +and admiration on a fluttering object that was hovering over the +full-blown honey-suckles on a trellis near the greenhouse. Mrs. Frazer +approached her with due caution. + +"Nurse," whispered the child, "look at that curious moth with a long bill +like a bird; see its beautiful shining colours. It has a red necklace, +like mamma's rubies. Oh, what a curious creature! It must be a moth or a +butterfly. What is it?" + +"It is neither a moth nor a butterfly, my dear. It is a humming-bird." + +[Illustration: CAUGHT AT LAST] + +"Oh, nurse, a humming-bird--a real humming-bird!--pretty creature! But it +is gone. Oh, nurse, it darts through the air as swift as an arrow! What +was it doing--looking at the honey-suckles? I daresay it thought them very +pretty; or was it smelling them? They are very sweet." + +"My dear child, he might be doing so; I don't know. Perhaps the good God +has given to these creatures the same senses for enjoying sweet scents and +bright colours as we have; yet it was not for the perfume, but the honey, +that this little bird came to visit the open flowers. The long slender +bill, which the humming-bird inserts into the tubes of the flowers, is his +instrument for extracting the honey. Look at the pretty creature's ruby +throat, and green and gold feathers." + +"How does it make that whirring noise, nurse, just like the humming of a +top?" asked the child. + +"The little bird produces the sound, from which he derives his name, by +beating the air with his wings. This rapid motion is necessary to sustain +his position in the air while sucking the flowers. + +"I remember, Lady Mary, first seeing humming-birds when I was about your +age, while walking in the garden. It was a bright September morning, and +the rail-fences and every dry twig of the brushwood were filled with the +webs of the field-spider. Some, like thick white muslin, lay upon the +grass; while others were suspended from trees like forest lace-work, on +the threads of which the dewdrops hung like strings of shining pearls; and +hovering round the flowers were several ruby-throated humming-birds, the +whirring of whose wings as they beat the air sounded like the humming of a +spinning-wheel. And I thought, as I gazed upon them, and the beautiful +lace webs that hung among the bushes, that they must have been the work of +these curious creatures, which had made them to catch flies, and had +strung the bright dewdrops thereon to entice them--so little did I know of +the nature of these birds. But my father told me a great deal about them, +and read me some very pretty things about humming-birds; and one day, Lady +Mary, I will show you a stuffed one a friend gave me, with its tiny nest +and eggs not bigger than peas." + +Lady Mary was much delighted at the idea of seeing the little nest and +eggs, and Mrs. Frazer said, "There is a wild-flower that is known to the +Canadians by the name of the Humming-flower, on account of the fondness +which those birds evince for it. This plant grows on the moist banks of +creeks It is very beautiful, of a bright orange-scarlet colour. The stalks +and stem of the plant are almost transparent. Some call it Speckled +Jewels, for the bright blossoms are spotted with dark purple; and some, +Touch-me-not." + +"That is a droll name, nurse," said Lady Mary. "Does it prick one's finger +like a thistle?" + +"No, my lady; but when the seed-pods are nearly ripe, if you touch them +they spring open and curl into little rings, and the seed drops out." + +"Nurse, when you see any of these curious flowers, will you show them to +me?" + +Mrs. Frazer said they would soon be in bloom, and promised Lady Mary to +bring her some, and to show her the singular manner in which the pods +burst. "But, my lady," said she, "the gardener will show you the same +thing in the greenhouse. As soon as the seed-pods of the balsams in the +pots begin to harden they will spring and curl, if touched, and drop the +seeds like the wild plant; for they belong to the same family. But it is +time for your ladyship to go in." + +When Lady Mary returned to the schoolroom, her governess read to her some +interesting accounts of the habits of the humming-bird. + +"'This lively little feathered gem--for in its hues it unites the +brightness of the emerald, the richness of the ruby, and the lustre of the +topaz--includes in its wide range more than one hundred species. It is the +smallest, and at the same time the most brilliant, of all the American +birds. Its headquarters may be said to be among the glowing flowers and +luxurious fruits of the torrid zone and the tropics. But one species, the +ruby-throated, is widely diffused, and is a summer visitor all over North +America, even within the arctic circle, where, for a brief space of time, +it revels in the ardent heat of the short-lived summer of the north. Like +the cuckoo, it follows the summer wherever it flies. + +"'The ruby-throated humming-bird [Footnote: Trochilus Rubus] is the only +species that is known in Canada. With us it builds and breeds, and then +returns to summer skies and warmer airs. The length of the humming-bird is +only three inches and a half, and four and a quarter in extent from one +tip of the wing to the other When on the wing the bird has the form of a +cross, the wings forming no curve, though the tail is depressed during the +time that it is poised in the act of sucking the honey of the flower. The +tongue is long and slender; the bill long and straight; the legs are very +short, so that the feet are hardly visible when on the wing. They are +seldom seen walking, but rest on the slender sprigs when tired. The flight +is so rapid that it seems without effort. The humming sound is produced by +the wing, in the act of keeping itself balanced while feeding in this +position. They resemble the hawk-moth, which also keeps up a constant +vibratory motion with its wings. This little creature is of a temper as +fierce and fiery as its plumes, often attacking birds of treble its size; +but it seems very little disturbed by the near approach of the human +species, often entering open windows, and hovering around the flowers in +the flower-stand; it has even been known to approach the vase on the +table, and insert its bill among the flowers, quite fearless of those +persons who sat in the room. Sometimes these beautiful creatures have +suffered themselves to be captured by the hand. + +"'The nest of the ruby throated humming-bird is usually built on a mossy +branch. At first sight it looks like a tuft of gray lichens, but when +closely examined shows both care and skill in its construction, the outer +wall being of fine bluish lichens cemented together, and the interior +lined with the silken threads of the milk weed, the velvety down of the +tall mullein, or the brown hair like filaments of the fern. These, or +similar soft materials, form the bed of the tiny young ones. The eggs are +white, two in number, and about the size of a pea, but oblong in shape. +The parents hatch their eggs in about ten days and in a week the little +ones are able to fly, though the old birds continue to supply them with +honey for some time longer. The Mexican Indians give the name of Sunbeam +to the humming-bird, either in reference to its bright plumage or its love +of sunshine. + +"'The young of the humming-bird does not attain its gay plumage till the +second year. The male displays the finer colours--the ruby necklace being +confined to the old male bird. The green and coppery lustre of the +feathers is also finer in the male bird.'" + +Lady Mary was much pleased with what she had heard about the humming-bird, +and she liked the name of Sunbeam for this lovely creature. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AURORA BOREALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS, MOST FREQUENTLY SEEN IN NORTHERN +CLIMATES--CALLED MERRY DANCERS--ROSE TINTS--TINT-LIKE APPEARANCE--LADY +MARY FRIGHTENED. + + +One evening, just as Mrs. Frazer was preparing to undress Lady Mary, Miss +Campbell, her governess, came into the nursery, and taking the little girl +by the hand, led her to the window, and bade her look out on the sky +towards the north, where a low dark arch, surmounted by an irregular +border, like a silver fringe, was visible. For some moments Lady Mary +stood silently regarding this singular appearance; at length she said, "It +is a rainbow, Miss Campbell; but where is the sun that you told me shone +into the drops of rain to make the pretty colours?" + +"It is not a rainbow, my dear; the sun has been long set." + +"Can the moon make rainbows at night?" asked the little girl. + +[Illustration: THE AURORA BOREALIS] + +"The moon does sometimes, but very rarely, make what is called a _lunar_ +rainbow. Luna was the ancient name for the moon. But the arch you now see +is caused neither by the light of the sun nor of the moon, but is known by +the name of Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. The word Aurora means +morning or dawn; and Borealis, northern. You know, my dear, what is meant +by the word dawn; it is the light that is seen in the sky before the sun +rises." + +Lady Mary replied, "Yes, Miss Campbell, I have often seen the sun rise, +and once very early too, when I was ill, and could not sleep, for nurse +lifted me in her arms out of bed, and took me to the window. The sky was +all over of a bright golden colour, with streaks of rosy red; and nurse +said, 'It is dawn; the sun will soon be up.' And I saw the beautiful sun +rise from behind the trees and hills. He came up so gloriously, larger +than when we see him in the middle of the sky, and I could look at him +without hurting my eyes." + +"Sunrise is indeed a glorious sight, my dear; but He who made the sun is +more glorious still. Do you remember what we read yesterday in the +Psalms?-- + +"Verse 1 The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament + showeth His handywork. + 2 One day telleth another and one night certifieth another. + 3 There is neither speech nor language, but their voices are heard + among them. + 5 In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun which cometh forth + as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant + to run his course. + +"The Northern Lights, Lady Mary, are frequently visible in Canada, but are +most brilliant in the colder regions near the North Pole, where they serve +to give light during the dark season to those dismal countries from which +the sun is so many months absent. The light of the Aurora Borealis is so +soft and beautiful, that any object can be distinctly seen; though in +those cold countries there are few human beings to be benefited by this +beautiful provision of Nature." + +"The wild beasts and birds must be glad of the pretty lights," said the +child thoughtfully; for Lady Mary's young heart always rejoiced when she +thought that God's gifts could be shared by the beasts of the field and +the fowls of the air, as well as by mankind. + +"Look now, my dear," said Miss Campbell, directing the attention of her +pupil to the horizon; "what a change has taken place whilst we have been +speaking! See, the arch is sending up long shafts of light; now they +divide, and shift from side to side, gliding along among the darker +portions of vapour like moving pillars." + +"Ah, there, there they go!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands with +delight. "See, nurse, how the pretty lights chase each other and dance +about! Up they go, higher and higher! How pretty they look! But now they +are gone! They are fading away. I am so sorry," said the child, +despondingly, for a sudden cessation had taken place in the motions of the +heavens. + +"We will go in for a little time, my dear," said her governess, "and then +look out again. Great changes take place sometimes in these aerial +phenomena in a few minutes." + +"I suppose," said Lady Mary, "these lights are the same that the peasants +of Northern England and Ireland call the Merry Dancers?" + +"Yes, they are the same, and they fancy that they are seen when war and +troubles are about to break out. But this idea is a very ignorant one, for +were that the case, some of the cold countries of the world, where the sky +is illumined night after night by the Aurora Borealis, would be one +continual scene of misery. I have seen in this country a succession of +these lights for four or five successive nights. This phenomenon owes its +origin to _electricity_, which is a very wonderful agent in nature, and +exists in various bodies, perhaps in all created things. It is this that +shoots across the sky in the form of lightning, and causes the thunder to +be heard, circulates in the air we breathe, occasions whirlwinds, +waterspouts, earthquakes, and volcanoes, and makes one substance attract +another. + +"Look at this piece of amber. If I rub it on the table, it will become +warm to the touch. Now I will take a bit of thread and hold near it. See, +the thread moves towards the amber and clings to it. Sealing-wax and many +other substances when heated have this property. Some bodies give out +flashes and sparks by being rubbed. If you stroke a black cat briskly in +the dark, you will see faint flashes of light come from her fur, and on +very cold nights in the winter season, flannels that are worn next the +skin crackle and give sparks when taken off and shaken." + +These things astonished Lady Mary. She tried the experiment with the amber +and thread, and was much amused by seeing the thread attracted; and she +wanted to see the sparks from the cat's back, only there happened, +unfortunately, to be no black cat or kitten in Government House. Mrs. +Frazer, however, promised to procure a beautiful black kitten for her, +that she might enjoy the singular sight of the electric sparks from its +coat; and Lady Mary wished winter were come, that she might see the sparks +from her flannel petticoat and hear the sounds. + +"Let us now go and look out again at the sky," said Miss Campbell; and +Lady Mary skipped joyfully through the French window to the balcony, but +ran back, and flinging her arms about her nurse, cried out, in accents of +alarm, "Nurse, nurse, the sky is all closing together! Oh, Miss Campbell, +what shall we do?" + +"There is no cause for fear, my dear child; do not be frightened. There is +nothing to harm us." + +Indeed, during the short time they had been absent, a great and remarkable +change had taken place in the appearance of the sky. The electric fluid +had diffused itself over the face of the whole heavens; the pale +colour of the streamers had changed to bright rose, pale violet, and +greenish-yellow. At the zenith, or that part more immediately overhead, a +vast ring of deep indigo was presented to the eye, from this swept down, +as it were a flowing curtain of rosy light which wavered and moved +incessantly, as if agitated by a gentle breeze, though a perfect stillness +reigned through the air. The child's young heart was awed by this sublime +spectacle, it seemed to her as if it were indeed the throne of the great +Creator of the world that she was gazing upon, and she veiled her face in +her nurse's arms and trembled exceedingly, even as the children of Israel +when the fire of Mount Sinai was revealed, and they feared to behold the +glory of the Most High God. After a while, Lady Mary, encouraged by the +cheerful voices of her governess and nurse, ventured to look up to watch +the silver stars shining dimly as from beneath a veil, and she whispered +to herself the words that her governess had before repeated to her "The +heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his +handywork." + +After a little while, Mrs. Frazer thought it better to put Lady Mary to +bed, as she had been up much longer than usual, and Miss Campbell was +afraid lest the excitement should make her ill, but the child did not soon +fall asleep, for her thoughts were full of the strange and glorious things +she had seen that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +STRAWBERRIES--CANADIAN WILD FRUITS--WILD RASPBERRIES--THE HUNTER AND THE +LOST CHILD--CRANBERRIES--CRANBERRY MARSHES--NUTS. + + +One day Lady Mary's nurse brought her a small Indian basket, filled with +ripe red strawberries. + +"Nurse, where did you get these nice strawberries?" said the little girl, +peeping beneath the fresh leaves with which they were covered. + +"I bought them from a little Indian squaw in the street; she had brought +them from a wooded meadow some miles off, my lady. They are very fine; +see, they are as large as those that the gardener sent in yesterday from +the forcing-house; and these wild ones have grown without any pains having +been bestowed upon them." + +"I did not think, nurse, that wild strawberries could have been so fine as +these; may I taste them?" + +Mrs. Frazer said she might. "These are not so large, so red, or so sweet +as some that I have gathered when I lived at home with my father," said +the nurse. "I have seen acres and acres of strawberries, as large as the +early scarlet that are sold so high in the market, on the Rice Lake +plains. When the farmers have ploughed a fallow on the Rice Lake plains, +the following summer it will be covered with a crop of the finest +strawberries. I have gathered pailsful day after day, these, however, have +been partly cultivated by the plough breaking up the sod, but they seem as +if sown by the hand of Nature. These fruits and many sorts of flowers +appear on the new soil that were never seen there before. After a fallow +has been chopped, logged, and burned, if it be left for a few years, +trees, shrubs, and plants, will cover it, unlike those that grew there +before." + +"That is curious," said the child, "Does God sow the seeds in the new +ground?" + +"My lady, no doubt they come from Him, for He openeth His hand, and +filleth all things living with plenteousness. My father, who thought a +great deal on these subjects, said that the seeds of many plants may fall +upon the earth, and yet none of them take root till the soil be favourable +for their growth. It may be that these seeds had lain for years, preserved +in the earth till the forest was cleared away, and the sun, air, and rain +caused them to spring up, or the earth may still bring forth the herb of +the field, after its kind, as in the day of the creation, but whether it +be so or not, we must bless the Lord for His goodness and for the +blessings that He giveth us at all times." + +"Are there many sorts of wild fruits fit to eat, nurse, in this country? +Please, will you tell me all that you know about them?" + +"There are so many, Lady Mary, that I am afraid I shall weary you before I +have told you half of them." + +"Nurse, I shall not be tired, for I like to hear about fruits and flowers +very much; and my dear mamma likes you to tell me all you know about the +plants, trees, birds, and beasts of Canada." + +"Besides many sorts of strawberries, there are wild currants, both black +and red, and many kinds of wild gooseberries," said Mrs. Frazer. "Some +grow on wastes by the roadside, in dry soil, others in swamps; but most +gooseberries are covered with thorns, which grow not only on the wood, but +on the berries themselves." + +"I would not eat those disagreeable, thorny gooseberries; they would prick +my tongue," said the little girl. + +"They cannot be eaten without first being scalded. The settlers' wives +contrive to make good pies and preserves with them, by first scalding the +fruit and then rubbing it between coarse linen cloths. I have heard these +tarts called thornberry pies, which, I think, was a good name for them. +When emigrants first come to Canada and clear the backwoods, they have +little time to make nice fruit-gardens for themselves, and they are glad +to gather the wild berries that grow in the woods and swamps to make tarts +and preserves, so that they do not even despise the thorny gooseberries or +the wild black currants. Some swamp gooseberries, however, are quite +smooth, of a dark red colour, but small, and they are very nice when ripe. +The blossoms of the wild currants are very beautiful, of a pale yellowish +green, and hang down in long graceful branches, the fruit is harsh but +makes wholesome preserves. But there are thorny currants as well as thorny +gooseberries, these have long, weak, trailing branches, the berries are +small, covered with stiff bristles, and of a pale red colour. They are not +wholesome, I have seen people made very ill by eating them, I have heard +even of their dying in consequence of having done so." + +"I am sure, nurse, I will not eat those wild currants," said Lady Mary, "I +am glad you have told me about their being poisonous." + +"This sort is not often met with, my dear, and these berries, though they +are not good for man, doubtless give nourishment to some of the wild +creatures that seek their food from God, and we have enough dainties and +to spare without them. + +"The red raspberry is one of the most common and the most useful to us of +the wild fruits. It grows in abundance all over the country--by the +roadside, in the half opened woods, on upturned roots, or in old neglected +clearings, there is no place so wild but it will grow, wherever its roots +can find a crevice. With maple sugar, the farmers' wives never need lack a +tart nor a dish of fruit and cream The poor Irish emigrants' children go +out and gather pailsful, which they carry to the towns and villages to +sell. The birds, too, live upon the fruit, and flying away with it to +distant places, help to sow the seed. A great many small animals eat the +ripe raspberry, for even the racoon and great black bear come in for their +share. + +"The black bears! O nurse! O Mrs. Frazer!" exclaimed Lady Mary, in great +astonishment. "What! do bears eat raspberries?" + +"Yes, indeed, my lady, they do. Bears are fond of all ripe fruits. The +bear resembles the hog in all it's tastes very closely; both in their wild +state will eat flesh, grain, fruit, and roots." + +"There is a story about a beat and an Indian hunter, which will show how +bears ear berries. It is from the Journal or Peter Jacobs, The Indian +missionary:-- + +"At sunrise, next morning," he says, "we tried to land, but the water was +so full of shoals, we could not without wading a great distance." + +"The beach before us was of bright sand, and the sun was about, when I saw +an object moving on the shore: it appeared to be a man, and seemed to be +making signals of distress. We were all weary and hungry, but thinking it +was a fellow-creature in distress, we pulled towards him. Judge of our +surprise when the stranger proved to be an enormous bear!" + + "He was seated on his hams, and what we thought his signals, were his +raising himself on his hind legs to pull down the berries from a high +bush, and with his paws full, sitting down again to eat them at his +leisure. + +"'Thus he continued daintily enjoying his ripe fruit in the posture some +lapdogs are taught to assume while eating. On we pulled, and forgot our +hunger and weariness the bear still continued breakfasting. + +"'We got as close on shore as the shoals would permit, and John (one of +the Indians), taking my double barrelled gun, leaped into the water, gun +in hand, and gained the beach. Some dead brushwood hid the bear from +John's sight, but from the canoe we could see both John and the bear. + +"'The bear now discovered us, and advanced towards us, and John, not +seeing him for the bush, ran along the beach towards him. The weariness +from pulling all night, and having eaten no food, made me lose my presence +of mind, for I now remembered that the gun was only loaded with duck shot, +and you might as well meet a bear with a gun loaded with pease. + +"'John was in danger, and we strained at our paddles to get to his +assistance, but as the bear was a very large one, and as we had no other +firearms we should have been but poor helps to John in the hug of a +wounded bear. The bear was at the other side of the brush heap, John heard +the dry branches cracking, and he dodged into a hollow under a bush. The +bear passed, and was coursing along the sand but as he passed by where +John lay, bang went the gun. The bear was struck. + +"'We saw him leap through the smoke to the very spot where we had last +seen John. We held our breath; but instead of the cry of agony we expected +to hear from John, bang went the gun again--John is not yet caught. Our +canoe rushed through the water--we might yet be in time; but my paddle +fell from my hand with joy, as I saw John pop his head above the bush, and +with a shout point to the side of the log on which he stood, 'There he +lies, dead enough.' We were thankful indeed to our Great Preserver.' + +"Though fruit and vegetables seem to be the natural food of the bear, they +also devour flesh, and even fish--a fact of which the good Indian +missionary assures us, and which I shall tell you, Lady Mary, in his own +words:-- + +"'A few evenings after we left the _Rock_, while the men were before me +'tracking' (towing the canoe), by pulling her along by a rope from the +shore, I observed behind a rock in the river what I took to be a black +fox. I stole upon it as quietly as possible, hoping to get a shot; but the +animal saw me, and waded to the shore. It turned out to be a young bear +fishing. The bear is a great fisherman. His mode of fishing is very +curious. He wades into a current, and seating himself upright on his hams, +lets the water come about up to his shoulders; he patiently waits until +the little fishes come along and rub themselves against his sides; he +seizes them instantly, gives them a nip, and with his left paw tosses them +over his shoulder to the shore. His left paw is always the one used for +tossing ashore the produce of his fishing. Feeling is the sense of which +Bruin makes use here, not sight. + +"'The Indians of that part say that the bear catches sturgeon when +spawning in the shoal-water, but the only fish that I know of their +catching is the sucker. Of these, in the months of April and May, the bear +makes his daily breakfast and supper, devouring about thirty or forty at a +meal. As soon as he has caught a sufficient number, he wades ashore and +regales himself on the best morsels, which are the thick of the neck, +behind the gills. The Indians often shoot him when thus engaged.' + +"There is a small red berry in the woods that is known by the name of the +bear-berry, [Footnote: _Arbutus uva ursi_--"Kinnikinnick" is the Indian +name.] of which they say the young bears are particularly fond." + +"I should be afraid of going to gather raspberries, nurse, for fear of the +bears coming to eat them too." + +"The hunters know that the bears are partial to this fruit, and often seek +them in large thickets where they grow. A young gentleman, Lady Mary, once +went out shooting game, in the province of New Brunswick, in the month of +July, when the weather was warm, and there were plenty of wild berries +ripe. He had been out for many hours, and at last found himself on the +banks of a creek. But the bridge he had been used to cross was gone, +having been swept away by heavy rains in the spring. Passing on a little +higher up, he saw an old clearing full of bushes, and knowing that wild +animals were often to be met with in such spots, he determined to cross +over and try his luck for a bear, a racoon, or a young fawn. Not far from +the spot he saw a large fallen swamp elm-tree, which made a capital +bridge. Just as he was preparing to cross, he heard the sound of footsteps +on the dry crackling sticks, and saw a movement among the raspberry +bushes. His finger was on the lock of his rifle in an instant, for he +thought it must be a bear or a deer; but just as he was about to fire, he +saw a small, thin, brown hand, all red and stained from the juice of the +ripe berries, reaching down a branch of the fruit. His very heart leaped +within him with fright, for in another moment he would have shot the poor +little child that, with wan, wasted face, was looking at him from between +the raspberry bushes. It was a little girl, about as old as you are, Lady +Mary. She was without hat or shoes, and her clothes were all in tatters. +Her hands and neck were quite brown and sun-burned. She seemed frightened +at first, and would have hid herself, had not the stranger called out +gently to her to stay, and not to be afraid, and then he hurried over the +log bridge, and asked her who she was, and where she lived. And she said +'she did not live anywhere, for she was lost.' She could not tell how many +days, but she thought she had been seven nights out in the woods. She had +been sent to take some dinner to her father, who was at work in the +forest, but had missed the path, and gone on a cattle track, and did not +find her mistake until it was too late, when she became frightened, and +tried to get back, but only lost herself deeper in the woods. The first +night she wrapped her frock about her head, and lay down beneath the +shelter of a great upturned root. She had eaten but little of the food she +had in the basket that day, for it lasted her nearly two. After it was +gone she chewed some leaves, till she came to the raspberry clearing, and +got berries of several kinds, and plenty of water to drink from the creek. +One night, she said, she was awakened by a heavy tramping near her, and +looking up in the moonlight, saw two great black beasts, which she thought +were her father's oxen, and so she sat up and called, 'Buck,' +'Bright,'--for these were their names, but they had no bells, and looked +like two great shaggy black dogs. They stood on their hind legs upright +and looked at her, but went away. These animals were bears, but the child +did not know that, and she said she felt no fear, for she said her prayers +every night before she lay down to sleep, and she knew that God would take +care of her, both sleeping and waking." + +"And did the hunter take her home? asked Lady Mary, who was much +interested in the story. + +"Yes, my dear, he did. Finding that the poor little girl was very weak, +the young man took her on his back. Fortunately he happened to have a +little wine in a flask, and a bit of dry biscuit in his knapsack, and this +greatly revived the little creature. Sometimes she ran by his side, while +holding by his coat, talking to her new friend, seemingly quite happy and +cheerful, bidding him not be afraid even if they had to pass another night +in the wood; but just as the sun was setting, they came out of the dark +forest into an open clearing. + +"It was not the child's home, but a farm belonging to a miller who knew her +father, and had been in search of her for several days; and he and his +wife were very glad when they saw the lost child, and gladly showed her +preserver the way. They rejoiced very much when the poor wanderer was +restored safe and well to her sorrowing parents." + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "I am so glad the good hunter found the little +girl. I must tell my own dear mamma that nice story. How sorry my mamma +and papa would be to lose me in the woods!" + +The nurse smiled, and said, "My dear lady, there is no fear of such an +accident happening to you. You are not exposed to the same trials and +dangers as the children of poor emigrants; therefore you must be very +grateful to God, and do all you can to serve and please Him; and when you +are able, be kind and good to those who are not so well off as you are." + +[Illustration: THE LOST CHILD AND THE BEARS] + +"Are there any other wild fruits, nurse, besides raspberries and +strawberries, and currants and goose berries?' + +"Yes, my dear lady, a great many more. We will begin with wild plums these +we often preserve, and when the trees are planted in gardens, and taken +care of, the fruit is very good to eat. The wild cherries are not very +nice, but the bark of the black cherry is good for agues and low fevers. +The choke cherry is very beautiful to look at, but hurts the throat, +closing it up if many are eaten, and making it quite sore. The huckle +berry is a sweet, dark blue berry, that grows on a very delicate low +shrub, the blossoms are very pretty, pale pink or greenish white bells the +fruit is very wholesome, it grows on light dry ground, on those parts of +the country that are called plains in Canada. The settlers' children go +out in parties, and gather great quantities, either to eat or dry for +winter use. These berries are a great blessing to every one, besides +forming abundant food for the broods of young quails and partridges, +squirrels, too, of every kind eat them. There are blackberries also, Lady +Mary, and some people call them thimble berries." + +"I have heard mamma talk about blackberries." + +"The Canadian blackberries are not so sweet, I am told, my lady, as those +at home, though they are very rich and nice tasted, neither do they grow +so high. Then there are high bush cranberries, and low bush cranberries. +The first grow on a tall bush, and the fruit has a fine appearance, +hanging in large bunches of light scarlet among the dark green leaves; but +they are very, very sour, and take a great deal of sugar to sweeten them. +The low-bush cranberries grow on a slender, trailing plant; the blossom is +very pretty, and the fruit about the size of a common gooseberry, of a +dark purplish red, very smooth and shining; the seeds are minute, and lie +in the white pulp within the skin: this berry is not nice till it is +cooked with sugar. There is a large cranberry marsh somewhere at the back +of Kingston, where vast quantities grow. I heard a young gentleman, say +that he passed over this tract when he was hunting, while the snow was on +the ground, and that the red juice of the dropped berries dyed the snow +crimson beneath his feet. The Indians go every year to a small lake called +Buckhorn Lake, many miles up the river Otonabee, in the Upper Province, to +gather cranberries; which they sell to the settlers in the towns and +villages, or trade away for pork, flour, and clothes. The cranberries, +when spread out on a dry floor, will keep fresh and good for a long time. +Great quantities of cranberries are brought to England from Russia, +Norway, and Lapland, in barrels, or large earthen jars, filled with spring +water; but the fruit thus roughly preserved must be drained, and washed +many times, and stirred with sugar, before it can be put into tarts, or it +would be salt and bitter. I will boil some cranberries with sugar, that +you may taste them; for they are very wholesome." + +Lady Mary said she should like to have some in her own garden. + +"The cranberry requires a particular kind of soil, not usually found in +gardens, my dear lady, for as the cranberry marshes are often covered with +water in the spring, I suppose they need a damp, cool soil, near lakes or +rivers, perhaps sand, too, may be good for them. But we can plant some +berries, and water them well, in a light soil they may grow, and bear +fruit, but I am not sure that they will do so. Besides these fruits, there +are many others, that are little used by man, but are of great service as +food to the birds and small animals. There are many kinds of nuts, +too--filberts, with rough prickly husks, walnuts, butternuts, and hickory +nuts, these last are large trees, the nuts of which are very nice to eat, +and the wood very fine for cabinet work, and for fire wood, the bark is +used for dyeing. Now, my dear, I think you must be quite tired with +hearing so much about Canadian fruits." + +Lady Mary said she was glad to learn that there were so many good things +in Canada, for she heard a lady say to her mamma that it was an ugly +country, with nothing good or pretty in it. + +"There is something good and pretty to be found everywhere, my dear child, +if people will but open their eyes to see it, and their hearts to enjoy +the good things that God has so mercifully spread abroad for all his +creatures to enjoy. But Canada is really a fine country, and is fast +becoming a great one." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +GARTER SNAKES--RATTLE-SNAKES--ANECDOTE OF A LITTLE BOY--FISHERMAN AND +SNAKE--SNAKE CHARMERS--SPIDERS--LAND-TORTOISE + + +"Nurse, I have been so terrified. I was walking in the meadow, and a great +snake--so big, I am sure"--and Lady Mary held out her arms as wide as she +could--"came out of a tuft of grass. His tongue was like a scarlet thread, +and had two sharp points; and, do you know, he raised his wicked head, and +hissed at me. I was so frightened that I ran away. I think, Mrs. Frazer, it +must have been a rattle-snake. Only feel now how my heart beats"--and the +little girl took her nurse's hand, and laid it on her heart. + +"What colour was it, my dear?" asked her nurse. + +"It was green and black, chequered all over; and it was very large, and +opened its mouth very wide, and showed its red tongue. It would have +killed me, if it had bitten me, would it not, nurse?" + +"It would not have harmed you, my lady; or even if it had bitten you, it +would not have killed you. The chequered green snake of Canada is not +poisonous. It was more afraid of you than you were of it I make no +doubt." + +"Do you think it was a rattle snake, nurse?" + +"No, my dear, there are no snakes of that kind in Lower Canada, and very +few below Toronto. The winters are too cold for them. But there are plenty +in the western part of the Province, where the summers are warmer, and the +winters milder. The rattle snake is a dangerous reptile, and its bite +causes death, unless the wound be burned or cut out. The Indians apply +different sorts of herbs to the wound. They have several plants, known by +the names of rattle snake root, rattle snake weed, and snake root. It is a +good thing that the rattlesnake gives warning of its approach before it +strikes the traveller with its deadly fangs. Some people think that the +rattle is a sign of fear, and that it would not wound people if it were +not afraid they were coming near to hurt it. I will tell you a story Lady +Mary, about a brave little boy. He went out nutting one day with another +boy about his own age, and while they were in the grove gathering nuts a +large black snake, that was in a low tree, dropped down and suddenly +coiled itself round the throat of his companion. The child's screams were +dreadful, his eyes were starting from his head with pain and terror. The +other, regardless of the danger, opened a clasp knife that he had in his +pocket, and seizing the snake near the head, cut it apart, and so saved +his friend's life, who was well-nigh strangled by the tight folds of the +reptile, which was one of a very venomous species, the bite of which +generally proves fatal." + +"What a brave little fellow!" said Lady Mary. "You do not think it was +cruel, nurse, to kill the snake?" she added, looking up in Mrs. Frazer's +face. + +"No, Lady Mary, for he did it to save a fellow-creature from a painful +death; and we are taught by God's Word that the soul of man is precious in +the sight of his Creator. We should be cruel were we wantonly to inflict +pain upon the least of God's creatures, but to kill them in self-defence, +or for necessary food, is not cruel for when God made Adam, He gave him +dominion, or power, over the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the +air, and every creeping thing. It was an act of great courage and humanity +in the little boy, who perilled his own life to save that of his helpless +comrade, especially as he was not naturally a child of much courage, and +was very much afraid of snakes but love for his friend entirely overcame +all thoughts of his own personal danger. [Footnote: A fact related to me +by a gentleman from the State of Vermont, as an instance of impulsive +feeling overcoming natural timidity.] + +"The large garter snake which you saw, my dear lady, is comparatively +harmless. It lives on toads and frogs, and robs the nests of young birds, +and also pilfers the eggs. Its long forked tongue enables it to catch +insects of different kinds, it will even eat fish, and for that purpose +frequents the water as well as the black snake. + +[Illustration: A BOY HERO] + +"I heard a gentleman once relate a circumstance to my father that +surprised me a good deal. He was fishing one day in a river near his own +house, but, being tired, he seated himself on a log or fallen tree, where +his basket of fish also stood; when a large garter-snake came up the log, +and took a small fish out of his basket, which it speedily swallowed. The +gentleman, seeing the snake so bold as not to mind his presence, took a +small rock-bass by the tail, and half in joke held it towards it, when, to +his great surprise, the snake glided towards him, took the fish out of his +hand, and sliding away with its prize to a hole beneath the log, began by +slow degrees to swallow it, stretching its mouth and the skin of its neck +to a very great extent; till, after a long while, it was fairly gorged, +and then it slid down its hole, leaving its head and neck only to be +seen." + +"I should have been so frightened, nurse, if I had been the gentleman, +when the snake came to take the fish," said Lady Mary. + +"The gentleman was well aware of the nature of the reptile, and knew that +it would not bite him. I have read of snakes of the most poisonous kinds +being tamed and taught all manner of tricks. There are in India and Egypt +people that are called snake-charmers, who contrive to extract the fangs +containing the venom from the Cobra da capella, or hooded snake; which +then become quite harmless. These snakes are very fond of music, and will +come out of the leather bag or basket that their master carries them in, +and will dance or run up his arms, twining about his neck, and even +entering his mouth! They do not tell people that the poison-teeth have +been extracted, so that it is thought to be the music that keeps the snake +from biting. The snake has a power of charming birds and small animals, by +fixing its eye steadily upon them, when the little creatures become +paralyzed with fear, either standing quite still, or coming nearer and +nearer to their cruel enemy, till they are within his reach. The cat has +the same power, and can by this art draw birds from the tops of trees +within her reach. These little creatures seem unable to resist the +temptation of approaching her, and, even when driven away, will return +from a distance to the same spot, seeking, instead of shunning, the danger +which is certain to prove fatal to them in the end. Some writers assert +that all wild animals have this power in the eye, especially those of the +cat tribe, as the lion and tiger, leopard and panther. Before they spring +upon their prey, the eye is always steadily fixed, the back lowered, the +neck stretched out, and the tail waved from side to side; if the eye is +averted, they lose the animal, and do not make the spring." + +"Are there any other kinds of snakes in Canada, nurse," asked Lady Mary, +"besides the garter-snake?" + +"Yes, my lady, several; the black snake, which is the most deadly, next to +the rattle-snake is sometimes called the puff-adder, as it inflates the +skin of the head and neck when angry. The copper-bellied snake is also +poisonous. There is a small snake of a deep grass-green colour sometimes +seen in the fields and open copse-woods. I do not think it is dangerous; I +never heard of its biting any one. The stare-worm is also harmless. I am +not sure whether the black snakes that live in the water are the same as +the puff or black adder. It is a great blessing, my dear, that these +deadly snakes are so rare, and do so little harm to man. Indeed I believe +they would never harm him, were they let alone; but if trodden upon, they +cannot know that it was by accident, and so put forth the weapons that God +has armed them with in self-defence. The Indians in the north-west, I have +been told, eat snakes, after cutting off their heads. The cat also eats +snakes, leaving the head; she will also catch and eat frogs--a thing I +have witnessed myself, and know to be true. [Footnote: I once saw a +half-grown kitten eat a live green frog which she first brought into the +parlour, playing with it as with a mouse.] One day a snake fixed itself on +a little girl's arm, and wound itself around it. The mother of the child +was too much terrified to tear the deadly creature off, but filled the air +with cries. Just then a cat came out of the house, and quick as lightning +sprang upon the snake, and fastened on its neck; which, caused the reptile +to uncoil its folds, and it fell to the earth in the grasp of the cat. +Thus the child's life was saved, and the snake killed. Thus you see, my +dear, that God provided a preserver for this little one when no help was +nigh. Perhaps the child cried to Him for aid, and He heard her and saved +her by means of the cat." + +Lady Mary was much interested in all that Mrs. Frazer had told her. She +remembered having heard some one say that the snake would swallow her own +young ones, and she asked her nurse if it was true, and if they laid eggs. + +"The snake will swallow her young ones," said Mrs. Frazer. "I have seen +the garter-snake open her mouth and let the little ones run into it when +danger was nigh. The snake also lays eggs: I have been and handled them +often. They are not covered with a hard, brittle shell, like that of a +hen, but with a sort of whitish skin, like leather: they are about the +size of a blackbird's egg, long in shape; some are rounder and larger. +They are laid in some warm place, where the heat of the sun and earth +hatches them. But though the mother does not brood over them, as a hen +does over her eggs, she seems to take great care of her little ones, and +defends them from their many enemies by hiding them out of sight in the +singular manner I have just told you. This love of offspring, my dear +child, has been wisely given to all mothers, from the human mother down to +the very lowest of the insect tribe. The fiercest beast of prey loves its +young, and provides food and shelter for them; forgetting its savage +nature to play with and caress them. Even the spider, which is a +disagreeable insect, fierce and unloving to its fellows, displays the +tenderest care for its brood, providing a safe retreat for them in the +fine silken cradle she spins to envelop the eggs, which she leaves in some +warm spot, where she secures them from danger: some glue a leaf down, and +overlap it, to insure it from being agitated by the winds, or discovered +by birds. There is a curious spider, commonly known as the nursing spider, +which carries her sack of eggs with her wherever she goes; and when the +young ones come out, they cluster on her back, and so travel with her; +when a little older, they attach themselves to the old one by threads, and +run after her in a train." + +Lady Mary laughed, and said she should like to see the funny little +spiders all tied to their mother, trotting along behind her. + +"If you go into the meadow, my dear," said Mrs. Frazer, "you will see on +the larger stones some pretty shining little cases, quite round, looking +like gray satin." + +"Nurse, I know what they are," said Lady Mary. "Last year I was playing in +the green meadow, and I found a piece of granite with several of these +satin cases. I called them silk pies, for they looked like tiny mince +pies. I tried to pick one off, but it stuck so hard that I could not, so I +asked the gardener to lend me his knife; and when I raised the crust it +had a little rim under the top, and I slipped the knife in, and what do +you think I saw? The pie was full of tiny black shining spiders; and they +ran out, such a number of them,--more than I could count, they ran so +fast. I was sorry I opened the crust, for it was a cold, cold day, and the +little spiders must have been frozen, out of their warm air-tight house." + +"They are able to bear a great deal of cold, Lady Mary--all insects can; +and even when frozen hard, so that they will break if any one tries to +bend them, yet when spring comes again to warm them, they revive, and are +as full of life as ever. Caterpillars thus frozen will become butterflies +in due time. Spiders, and many other creatures, lie torpid during the +winter, and then revive in the same way as dormice, bears, and marmots +do." + +"Nurse, please will you tell me something about tortoises and porcupines?" +said Lady Mary. + +"I cannot tell you a great deal about the tortoise, my dear," replied her +nurse. "I have seen them sometimes on the shores of the lakes, and once or +twice I have met with the small land-tortoise, in the woods on the banks +of the Otonabee river. The shell that covers these reptiles is black and +yellow, divided into squares--those which I saw were about the size of my +two hands. They are very harmless creatures, living chiefly on roots and +bitter herbs: perhaps they eat insects as well. They lie buried in the +sand during the long winters, in a torpid state: they lay a number of +eggs, about the size of a blackbird's, the shell of which is tough and +soft, like a snake's egg. The old tortoise buries these in the loose sand +near the water's edge, and leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the +sun. The little tortoise, when it comes out of the shell, is about as big +as a large spider--it is a funny-looking thing. I have heard some of the +Indians say that they dive into the water, and swim, as soon as they are +hatched; but this I am not sure of. I saw one about the size of a +crown-piece that was caught in a hole in the sand: it was very lively, and +ran along the table, making a rattling noise with its hard shell as it +moved. An old one that one of my brothers brought in he put under a large +heavy box, meaning to feed and keep it; but in the morning it was gone: it +had lifted the edge of the box and was away, nor could he find out how it +had contrived to make its escape from the room. This is all that I know +about the Canadian land-tortoise." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +ELLEN AND HER PET FAWNS--DOCILITY OF FAN--JACK'S DROLL TRICKS-- +AFFECTIONATE WOLF--FALL FLOWERS--DEPARTURE OF LADY MARY--THE END + + +One day Lady Mary came to seek her nurse in great haste, and describe to +her a fine deer that had been sent as a present to her father by one of +his Canadian friends. She said the great antlers were to be put up over +the library door. + +"Papa called me down to see the poor dead deer, nurse; and I was very +sorry it had been killed: it was such a fine creature. Major Pickford +laughed when I said so; but he promised to get me a live fawn. Nurse, what +is a fawn?" + +"It is a young deer, my lady." + +"Nurse, please can you tell me anything about fawns? Are they pretty +creatures, and can they be tamed; or are they fierce, wild little things?" + +"They are very gentle animals; and, if taken young, can be brought up by +sucking the finger like a young calf or a pet lamb. They are playful and +lively, and will follow the person who feeds them, like a dog. They are +very pretty, of a pale dun or red colour, with small white spots on the +back like large hailstones; the eyes are large, and soft, and black, with +a very meek expression in them; the hoofs are black and sharp: they are +clean and delicate in their habits, and easy and graceful in their +movements. + +"I remember," continued Mrs. Frazer, "to have heard of a sad accident +which was caused by a fawn." + +"Oh, what was it, nurse? Do tell me, for I don't see how such a timid +pretty creature could hurt any one." + +"A party of Indians were rowing in a canoe on one of the great American +rivers. As they passed a thick clump of trees, a young fawn suddenly +sprang out, and, frightened by their cries, leaped into the water. For +some days the rain had been heavy; the river was therefore running with a +wild, impetuous current; and the fawn was carried along by the rushing +tide at a tremendous rate. The Indians, determined to capture it, paddled +down the stream with eager haste, and in their excitement forgot that they +were in the neighbourhood of a great rapid, or cataract; dangerous at all +times, but especially so after long-continued rains. On, on, they went! +Suddenly the fawn disappeared, and looking behind them, the startled +Indians found themselves on the very brink of the rapid! Two of their +countrymen, standing on a rock overhanging the foaming waters, saw their +peril, and by shouts and gestures warned them of it. With vigorous efforts +they turned the prow of their canoe, and endeavoured to cross the river. +They plied their paddles with all the desperation of men who knew that +nothing could save them but their own exertions, that none on earth could +help them. But the current proved too strong. It carried them over the +fall, and dashed their bark broadside against a projecting rock. A moment, +and all was over! Not one of them was ever seen again!" + +"Oh, what a sad story!" cried Lady Mary; "and all those men were killed +through one poor little fawn! Still, nurse, it was not the fawn's fault; +it was the result of their own impatience and folly. Did you ever see a +tame fawn, nurse?" + +"I have seen many, my dear, and I can tell you of one that was the pet and +companion of a little girl whom I knew several years ago. A hunter had +shot a poor doe, which was very wrong, and contrary to the Indian hunting +law; for the native hunter will not, unless pressed by hunger, kill the +deer in the spring of the year, when the fawns are young. The Indian +wanted to find the little one after he had shot the dam, so he sounded a +decoy whistle, to imitate the call of the doe; and the harmless thing +answered it with a bleat, thinking no doubt it was its mother calling to +it. This betrayed its hiding-place, and it was taken unhurt by the hunter, +who took it home, and gave it to my little friend Ellen to feed and take +care of." + +[Illustration: THE INDIAN HUNTER] + +"Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me what sort of trees hemlocks are? +Hemlocks in England are poisonous weeds." + +"These are not weeds, but large forest trees--a species of pine. I will +show you some the next time we go out for a drive--they are very handsome +trees." + +"And what are creeks, nurse?" + +"Creeks are small streams, such as in Scotland would be termed 'burns,' +and in England 'rivulets'" + +"Now, nurse, you may go on about the dear little fawn, I want you to tell +me all you know about it." + +"Little Ellen took the poor timid thing, and laid it in an old Indian +basket near the hearth, and put some wool in it, and covered it with an +old cloak to keep it warm, and she tended it very carefully, letting it +suck her fingers dipped in warm milk, as she had seen the dairy maid do in +weaning young calves in a few days it began to grow strong and lively, and +would jump out of its basket, and run bleating after its foster mother if +it missed her from the room, it would wait at the door watching for her +return. + +"When it was older, it used to run on the grass plot in the garden but if +it heard its little mistress's step or voice in the parlour, it would +bound through the open window to her side, and her call of 'Fan, Fan, +Fan,' would bring it home from the fields near the edge of the forest. But +poor Fan got killed by a careless boy throwing some fire wood down upon +it, as it lay asleep in the wood-shed. Ellen's grief was very great, but +all she could do was to bury it in the garden near the river-side, and +plant lilac bushes round its little green-sodded grave." + +"I am so sorry, nurse, that this good little girl lost her pretty pet." + +"Some time after the death of 'Fan,' Ellen had another fawn given to her. +She called this one Jack,--it was older, larger, and stronger, but was +more mischievous and frolicsome than her first pet. It would lie in front +of the fire on the hearth, like a dog, and rub its soft velvet nose +against the hand that patted it very affectionately, but gave a good deal +of trouble in the house. It would eat the carrots, potatoes, and cabbages, +while the cook was preparing them for dinner; and when the housemaid had +laid the cloth for dinner, Jack would go round the table and eat up the +bread she had laid to each plate, to the great delight of the children, +who thought it good fun to see him do so. + +"Ellen put a red leather collar about Jack's neck, and some months after +this he swam across the rapid river, and went off to the wild woods, and +was shot by some hunters, a great many miles away from his old home, being +known by his fine red collar. After the sad end of her two favourites, +Ellen would have no more fawns brought in for her to tame." + +Lady Mary was much interested in the account of the little girl and her +pets "Is this all you know about fawns, nurse?" + +"I once went to call on a clergyman's wife who lived in a small log-house +near a new village. The youngest child, a fat baby of two years old, was +lying on the rug before a large log-fire, fast asleep; its little head was +pillowed on the back of a tame half-grown fawn that lay stretched on its +side, enjoying the warmth of the fire, as tame and familiar as a spaniel +dog. This fawn had been brought up with the children, and they were very +fond of it, and would share their bread and milk with it at meal times; +but it got into disgrace by gnawing the bark of the young orchard-trees, +and cropping the bushes in the garden; besides, it had a trick of opening +the cupboard, and eating the bread, and drinking any milk it could find. +So the master of the house gave it away to a baker who lived in the +village; but it did not forget its old friends, and used to watch for the +children going to school, and as soon as it caught sight of them, it would +trot after them, poking its nose into the basket to get a share of their +dinner, and very often managed to get it all!" + +"And what became of this nice fellow, nurse?" + +"Unfortunately, my lady, it was chased by some dogs, and ran away to the +woods near the town, and never came back again. Dogs will always hunt tame +fawns when they can get near them; so it seems a pity to domesticate them +only to be killed in so cruel a way. The forest is the best home for these +pretty creatures, though even there they have many enemies besides the +hunter. The bear, the wolf, and the wolverine kill them. Their only means +of defence lies in their fleetness of foot. The stag will defend himself +with his strong horns; but the doe and her little fawn have no such +weapons to guard themselves when attacked by beasts of prey. The Wolf is +one of the greatest enemies they have." + +"I hate wolves," said Lady Mary; "wolves can never be tamed, nurse." + +"I have heard and read of wolves being tamed, and becoming very fond of +their masters. A gentleman in Canada once brought up a wolf puppy, which +became so fond of him that when he left it, to go home to England, it +refused to eat, and died of grief at his absence! Kindness will tame even +fierce beasts, who soon learn to love the hand that feeds them. Bears and +foxes have often been kept tame in this country, and eagles and owls; but +I think they cannot be so happy shut up, away from their natural +companions and habits, as if they were free to go and come at their own +will." + +"I should not like to be shut up, nurse, far away from my own dear home," +said the little girl, thoughtfully. "I think, sometimes, I ought not to +keep my dear squirrel in a cage--shall I let him go?" "My dear, he has now +been so used to the cage, and to have all his daily wants supplied, that I +am sure he would suffer from cold and hunger at this season of the year if +he were left to provide for himself; and if he remained here the cats and +weasels might kill him." + +"I will keep him safe from harm, then, till the warm weather comes again; +and then, nurse, we will take him to the mountain, and let him go, if he +likes to be free, among the trees and bushes." + +It was now the middle of October; the rainy season that usually comes in +the end of September and beginning of October in Canada was over. The +soft, hazy season, called Indian summer, was come again; the few forest +leaves that yet lingered were ready to fall--bright and beautiful they +still looked, but Lady Mary missed the flowers. + +"I do not love the fall--I see no flowers now, except those in the +greenhouse. The cold, cold winter, will soon be here again," she added +sadly. + +"Last year, dear lady, you said you loved the white snow, and the +sleighing, and the merry bells, and wished that winter would last all the +year round. + +"Ah, yes, nurse; but I did not know how many pretty birds and flowers I +should see in the spring and the summer; and now they are all gone, and I +shall see them no more for a long time." + +"There are still a few flowers. Lady Mary, to be found; look at these." + +"Ah, dear nurse, where did you get them? How lovely they are!" + +"Your little French maid picked them for you, on the side of the mountain. +Rosette loves the wild-flowers of her native land." + +"Nurse, do you know the names of these pretty starry flowers on this +little branch, that look so light and pretty?" + +"These are asters; a word, your governess told me the other day, meaning +star-like. Some people call these flowers Michaelmas daisies. These lovely +lilac asters grow in light, dry ground; they are among the prettiest of +our fall flowers. These with the small white starry flowers crowded, upon +the stalks, with the crimson and gold in the middle, are dwarf asters." + +"I like these white ones, nurse; the little branches look so loaded with +blossoms; see, they are quite bowed down with the weight of all these +flowers." + +"These small shrubby asters grow on dry gravelly banks of lakes and +rivers." + +"But here are some large dark purple ones." + +"These are also asters. They are to be found on dry wastes, in stony, +barren fields, and by the corners of rail-fences; they form large +spreading bushes, and look very lovely, covered with their large dark +purple flowers. There is no waste so wild, my lady, but the hand of the +Most High can plant it with some blossom, and make the waste and desert +place flourish like a garden. Here are others, still brighter and larger, +with yellow disks, and sky-blue flowers. These grow by still waters, near +mill-dams and swampy places. Though they are larger and gayer, I do not +think they will please you so well as the small ones that I first showed +you; they do not fade so fast, and that is one good quality they have." + +They are more like the China asters in the garden, nurse, only more +upright and stiff, but here is another sweet blue flower--can you tell me +its name? + +"No my dear, you must ask your governess." + +Lady Mary carried the nosegay to Miss Campbell, who told her the blue +flower was called the Fringed Gentian, and that the gentians and asters +bloomed the latest of all the autumn flowers in Canada. Among these wild +flowers, she also showed her the large dark blue bell flowered gentian, +which was in deed the last flower of the year. + +"Are there no more flowers in bloom now, nurse?" asked the child, as she +watched Mrs. Frazer arranging them for her in a flower glass. + +"I do not know of any now in bloom but the Golden Rods and the latest of +the Everlastings. Rosette shall go out and try to get some of them for +you. The French children make little mats and garlands of them to ornament +their houses, and to hang on the little crosses above the graves of their +friends, because they do not fade away like other flowers." + +Next day, Rosette, the little nursery maid, brought Lady Mary an Indian +basket full of Sweet scented Everlastings. This flower had a fragrant +smell, the leaves were less downy than some of the earlier sorts but were +covered with a resinous gum that caused it to stick to the fingers, it +looked quite silky, from the thistle down, which, falling upon the leaves, +was gummed down to the surface. + +"The country folks," said Mrs. Frazer, "call this plant Neglected +Everlasting, because it grows on dry wastes by road-sides, among thistles +and fire-weed; but I love it for its sweetness; it is like a true +friend--it never changes. See, my dear, how shining its straw-coloured +blossoms and buds are, just like satin flowers." + +"Nurse, it shall be my own flower," said the little girl; "and I will make +a pretty garland of it, to hang over my own dear mamma's picture. Rosette +says she will show me how to tie the flowers together; she has made me a +pretty wreath for my doll's straw-hat, and she means to make her a mat and +a carpet too." + +The little maid promised to bring her young lady some wreaths of the +festoon pine--a low creeping plant, with dry, green, chaffy leaves, that +grows in the barren pine woods, of which the Canadians make Christmas +garlands; and also some of the winter berries, and spice berries, which +look so gay in the fall and early spring, with berries of brightest +scarlet, and shining dark-green leaves, that trail over the ground on the +gravelly hills and plains. + +Nurse Frazer brought Lady Mary some sweetmeats, flavoured with an extract +of the spicy winter-green, from the confectioner's shop; the Canadians +being very fond of the flavour of this plant. The Indians chew the leaves, +and eat the ripe mealy berries, which have something of the taste of the +bay-laurel leaves. The Indian men smoke the leaves as tobacco. + +One day, while Mrs. Frazer was at work in the nursery, her little charge +came to her in a great state of agitation--her cheeks were flashed, and +her eyes were dancing with joy. She threw herself into her arms, and said, +"Oh, dear nurse, I am going home to dear old England and Scotland. Papa +and mamma are going away from Government House, and I am to return to the +old country with them. I am so glad--are not you?" + +But the tears gathered in Mrs. Frazer's eyes, and fell fast upon the work +she held in her hand. Lady Mary looked surprised, when she saw how her +kind nurse was weeping. + +"Nurse, you are to go too; mamma says so. Now you need not cry, for you +are not going to leave ma." + +"I cannot go with you, my dearest child," whispered her weeping attendant, +"much as I love you; for I have a dear son of my own. I have but him, and +it would break my heart to part from him;" and she softly put aside the +bright curls from Lady Mary's fair forehead, and tenderly kissed her. +"This child is all I have in the world to love me, and when his father, my +own kind husband, died, he vowed to take care of me, and cherish me in my +old age, and I promised that I would never leave him; so I cannot go away +from Canada with you, my lady, though I dearly love you." + +"Then, Mrs. Frazer, I shall be sorry to leave Canada; for when I go home, +I shall have no one to talk to me about beavers, and squirrels, and +Indians, and flowers, and birds." + +"Indeed, my lady, you will not want for amusement there, for England and +Scotland are finer places than Canada. Your good governess and your new +nurse will be able to tell you many things that will delight you; and you +will not quite forget your poor old nurse, I am sure, when you think about +the time you have spent in this country." + +"Ah, dear good old nurse, I will not forget you," said Lady Mary, +springing into her nurse's lap and fondly caressing her, while big bright +tears fell from her eyes. + +There was so much to do, and so much to think about, before the Governor's +departure, that Lady Mary had no time to hear any more stories, nor to ask +any more questions about the natural history of Canada; though, doubtless, +there were many other curious things that Mrs. Frazer could have related, +for she was a person of good education, who had seen and noticed as well +as read a great deal. She had not always been a poor woman, but had once +been a respectable farmer's wife, though her husband's death had reduced +her to a state of servitude; and she had earned money enough while in the +Governor's service to educate her son, and this was how she came to be +Lady Mary's nurse. + +Lady Mary did not forget to have all her Indian curiosities packed up with +some dried plants and flower seeds collected by her governess; but she +left the cage with her flying squirrel to Mrs. Frazer, to take care of +till the following spring, when she told her to take it to the mountain, +or St. Helen's Island, and let it go free, that it might be a happy +squirrel once more, and bound away among the green trees in the Canadian +woods. + +When Mrs. Frazer was called in to take leave of the Governor and his lady, +after receiving a handsome salary for her care and attendance on their +little daughter, the Governor gave her a sealed parchment, which, when she +opened, was found to contain a Government deed for a fine lot of land, in +a fertile township in Upper Canada. + +It was with many tears and blessings that Mrs. Frazer took leave of the +good Governor's family; and, above all, of her beloved charge, Lady Mary. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The Indians, though so stolid and impassive in their general demeanour, +are easily moved to laughter, having a quick perception of fun and +drollery, and sometimes show themselves capable of much humour, and even +of wit. + +The following passage I extract from a Hamilton paper, Canada West which +will, I think, prove amusing to my readers-- + +At a missionary meeting in Hamilton which took place a short time since, +John Sunday, a native preacher, was particularly happy in addressing his +audience on the objects of the meeting, and towards the close astonished +all present by the ingenuity and power of his appeal to their liberality. +His closing words are too good to be lost. I give them as they were spoken +by him-- + +"There is a gentleman who, I suppose, is now in this house. He is a very +fine gentleman, but a very modest one He does not like to show himself at +these meetings. I do not know how long it is since I have seen him, he +comes out so little. I am very much afraid that he sleeps a great deal of +his time when he ought to be out doing good. His name is GOLD--Mr. Gold, +are you here to-night or are you sleeping in your iron chest? Come out, Mr +Gold. Come out and help us to do this great work--to preach the gospel to +every creature Ah, Mr. Gold, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to sleep +so much in your iron chest. Look at your white brother, Mr. Silver. He does +a great deal of good while you are sleeping. Come out Mr. Gold, Look too +at your little brown brother, Mr. Copper. He is everywhere. Your poor +little brown brother is running about doing all he can to help us. Why +don't you come out, Mr. Gold? Well, if you won't show yourself send us your +_shirt_--that is a _bank note_! + +"This is all I have to say." + +Whether the witty appeal of the Indian had the effect of bringing forth Mr +Gold from his hiding place is not said, but we hope it moved some of the +wealthy among his hearers to contribute a few sovereigns or gold dollars +to the missionary work of converting the poor Indians in the far west +regions of Canada. + + * * * * * + +LIST OF INDIAN WORDS. + +A-da-min, The strawberry + +Ah meek, The beaver + +Ajidamo The red squirrel + +Be-dau bun Dawn of the morning + +Chee-ma in in Birch canoe. + +Chee-to-waik The plover + +Dah hinda, The bull frog + +Gitche Manito, Giver of life + The Great Spirit + +Ish koo-dah, Fire. + +Kah ga-gee The raven. + +Kaw No. + +Kaw win No, no indeed. + +Keen-o-beek, Serpent. + +Mad wa-oska, Sound of waves. + Murmur of the waves + +Mun a gah Blue-berry + +Misko-deed Spring beauty + +Nee-chee Friend. + +Nap a nee Flour + +Nee me no-che shah Sweetheart + +Omee mee The wild pigeon. + +Opee chee The robin. + +O-waas sa The blue-bird + +Peta wan ooka The light of the morning + +Shaw Shaw The swallow + +Spook Spirit + +Ty yah! An exclamation of surprise + +Waa wassa The whip-poor will. + +Wah ho-no-mm A cry of lamentation. + +Many of the Indian names have been retained in Canada for various rivers +and townships and are very expressive of the peculiar qualities and +features of the country. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Forest, by Catherine Parr Traill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE FOREST *** + +***** This file should be named 8607.txt or 8607.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/6/0/8607/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, John R. Bilderback, Charles +Franks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: In The Forest + +Author: Catherine Parr Traill + +Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8607] +[This file was first posted on July 28, 2003] + +Edition: 10a + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE FOREST *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, John R. Bilderback, Charles Franks, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from +images generously made available by the Canadian Institute for Historical +Microreproductions. + +Editorial note: +This book is essentially identical to LADY MARY AND HER NURSE, +by Mrs. Traill, Project Gutenberg EBook #6479, etext04/ldmrn10.xxx, +but the two come from different sources. + + + + + +IN THE FOREST + +or, PICTURES OF LIFE AND SCENERY IN THE WOODS OF CANADA + +A TALE BY MRS. TRAILL + +WITH 19 ILLUSTRATIONS + +1881 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: A NARROW ESCAPE] + +CHAPTER I +The Flying Squirrel--Its Food--Story of a Wolf--Indian Village--Wild +Rice + +CHAPTER II +Sleighing--Sleigh Robes--Fur Caps--Otter Skins--Old Snow-Storm--Otter +Hunting--Otter Slides--Indian Names--Remarks on Wild Animals and their +Habits + +CHAPTER III +PART I--Lady Mary reads to Mrs. Frazer the First Part of the History +of the Squirrel Family + +PART II--Which tells how the Gray Squirrels fared while they remained on +Pine Island--How they behaved to their poor Relations, the Chipmunks--And +what happens to them in the Forest + +PART III--How the Squirrels got to the Mill at the Rapids--And what +happened to the Velvet-paw + +CHAPTER IV +Squirrels--The Chipmunks--Docility of a Pet One--Roguery of a Yankee +Pedlar--Return of the Musical Chipmunk to his Master's Bosom--Sagacity +of a Black Squirrel + +CHAPTER V +Indian Baskets--Thread Plants--Maple Sugar Tree--Indian Ornamental +Works--Racoons + +CHAPTER VI. +Canadian Birds--Snow Sparrow--Robin Redbreast--Canadian Flowers--American +Porcupine + +CHAPTER VII. +Indian Bag--Indian Embroidery--Beaver's Tail--Beaver Architecture--Habits +of the Beaver--Beaver Tools--Beaver Meadows + +CHAPTER VIII. +Indian Boy and his Pets--Tame Beaver at Home--Kitten, Wildfire--Pet +Racoon and the Spaniel Puppies--Canadian Flora + +CHAPTER IX. +Nurse tells Lady Mary about a Little Boy who was eaten by a Bear in +the Province of New Brunswick--Of a Baby who was carried away but taken +alive--A Walk in the Garden--Humming Birds--Canadian Balsams + +CHAPTER X. +Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, most frequently seen in northern +Climates--Called Merry Dancers--Rose Tints--Tintlike Appearance--Lady +Mary frightened + +CHAPTER XI. +Strawberries--Canadian Wild Fruits--Wild Raspberries--The Hunter and +the Lost Child--Cranberries--Cranberry Marshes--Nuts + +CHAPTER XII. +Garter snakes--Rattle-snakes--Anecdote of a Little Boy--Fisherman +and Snake--Snake Charmers--Spiders--Land Tortoise + +CHAPTER XIII. +Ellen and her Pet Fawns--Docility of Fan--Jack's Droll Tricks-- +Affectionate Wolf--Fall Flowers--Departure of Lady Mary--The End. + +List of Illustrations. + +LADY MARY AND THE NOSEGAY +A NARROW ESCAPE +THE FLYING SQUIRREL +ADVENTURE WITH A WOLF +INDIAN WIGWAMS +THE OTTERS +DOLLY'S SLEIGH RIDE +LADY MARY READING HER PICTURE BOOK +THE GRAY SQUIRREL AND THE CHIPMUNKS +THE PET SQUIRREL +NIMBLE RECOVERING HIS SISTER +WATCHING THE BIRDS +THE PRESENT FROM FATHER +BEAVERS MAKING A DAM +"CAUGHT AT LAST" +THE AURORA BOREALIS +THE LOST CHILD AND THE BEARS +A BOY HERO +THE INDIAN HUNTER + + + + +IN THE FOREST. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE FLYING SQUIRREL--ITS FOOD--STORY OF A WOLF--INDIAN VILLAGE--WILD RICE. + +"Nurse, what is the name of that pretty creature you have in +your hand? What bright eyes it has! What a soft tail--just like a gray +feather! Is it a little beaver?" asked the Governor's little daughter, +as her nurse came into the room where her young charge, whom we shall +call Lady Mary, was playing with her doll. + +Carefully sheltered against her breast, its velvet nose just peeping +from beneath her muslin neckerchief, the nurse held a small gray-furred +animal, of the most delicate form and colour. + +"No, my lady," she replied, "this is not a young beaver; a beaver is +a much larger animal. A beaver's tail is not covered with fur; it is +scaly, broad, and flat; it looks something like black leather, not +very unlike that of my seal-skin slippers. The Indians eat beavers' +tails at their great feasts, and think they make an excellent dish." + +"If they are black, and look like leather shoes, I am very sure I should +not like to eat them; so, if you please, Mrs. Frazer, do not let me +have any beavers' tails cooked for my dinner," said the little lady, +in a very decided tone. + +"Indeed, my lady," replied her nurse, smiling, "it would not be an +easy thing to obtain, if you wished to taste one, for beavers are not +brought to our market. It is only the Indians and hunters who know +how to trap them, and beavers are not so plentiful as they used to +be." + +Mrs. Frazer would have told Lady Mary a great deal about the way +in which the trappers take the beavers, but the little girl interrupted +her by saying, "Please, nurse, will you tell me the name of your pretty +pet? Ah, sweet thing, what bright eyes you have!" she added, caressing +the soft little head which was just seen from beneath the folds of +the muslin handkerchief to which it timidly nestled, casting furtive +glances at the admiring child, while the panting of its breast told +the mortal terror that shook its frame whenever the little girl's hand +was advanced to coax its soft back. + +[Illustration: THE FLYING SQUIRREL] + +"It is a flying squirrel, Lady Mary," replied her nurse; "one of my +brothers caught it a month ago, when he was chopping in the forest. +He thought it might amuse your ladyship, and so he tamed it and sent +it to me in a basket filled with moss, with some acorns, and +hickory-nuts, and beech-mast for him to eat on his journey, for the +little fellow has travelled a long way: he came from the beech-woods +near the town of Coburg, in the Upper Province." + +"And where is Coburg, nurse? Is it a large city like Montreal or +Quebec?" + +"No, my lady; it is a large town on the shores of the great Lake +Ontario." + +"And are there many woods near it?" + +"Yes; but not so many as there used to be many years ago. The forest +is almost all cleared, and there are fields of wheat and Indian corn, +and nice farms and pretty houses, where a few years back the lofty +forest grew dark and thick." + +"Nurse, you said there were acorns, and hickory-nuts, and beech-mast +in the basket. I have seen acorns at home in dear England and +Scotland, and I have eaten the hickory-nuts here; but what is +beech-mast? Is it in granaries for winter stores; and wild ducks +and wild pigeons come from the far north at the season when the +beech-mast fall, to eat them; for God teaches these, His creatures, +to know the times and the seasons when His bounteous hand is open to +give them food from His boundless store. A great many other birds and +beasts also feed upon the beech-mast." + +"It was very good of your brother to send me this pretty creature, +nurse," said the little lady; "I will ask Papa to give him some +money." + +"There is no need of that, Lady Mary. My brother is not in want; he +has a farm in the Upper Province, and is very well off." + +"I am glad he is well off," said Lady Mary; "indeed, I do not see so +many beggars here as in England." + +"People need not beg in Canada, if they are well and strong and can +work; a poor man can soon earn enough money to keep himself and his +little ones." + +"Nurse, will you be so kind as to ask Campbell to get a pretty cage +for my squirrel? I will let him live close to my dormice, who will be +pleasant company for him, and I will feed him every day myself with +nuts and sugar, and sweet cake and white bread. Now do not tremble and +look so frightened, as though I were going to hurt you; and pray, Mr +Squirrel, do not bite. Oh! nurse, nurse, the wicked, spiteful creature +has bitten my finger! See, see, it has made it bleed! Naughty thing! +I will not love you if you bite. Pray, nurse, bind up my finger, or it +will soil my frock." + +Great was the pity bestowed upon the wound by Lady Mary's kind attendant, +till the little girl, tired of hearing so much said about the bitten +finger, gravely desired her maid to go in search of the cage and catch +the truant, which had effected its escape, and was clinging to the +curtains of the bed. The cage was procured--a large wooden cage, with +an outer and an inner chamber, a bar for the little fellow to swing +himself on, a drawer for his food, and a little dish for his water. +The sleeping-room was furnished by the nurse with soft wool, and a +fine store of nuts was put in the drawer; all his wants were well +supplied, and Lady Mary watched the catching of the little animal with +much interest. Great was the activity displayed by the runaway squirrel, +and still greater the astonishment evinced by the Governor's little +daughter at the flying leaps made by the squirrel in its attempts to elude +the grasp of its pursuers. "It flies! I am sure it must have wings. Look, +look, nurse! it is here, now it is on the wall, now on the curtains! +It must have wings; but it has no feathers!" + +"It has, no wings, dear lady, but it has a fine ridge of fur that covers +a strong sinew or muscle between the fore and hinder legs; and it is +by the help of this muscle that it is able to spring so far and so +fast; and its claws are so sharp, that it can cling to a wall or any +flat surface. The black and red squirrels, and the common gray, can +jump very far and run up the bark of the trees very fast, but not so +fast as the flying squirrel." + +At last Lady Mary's maid, with the help of one of the housemaids, +succeeded in catching the squirrel and securing him within his cage. But +though Lady Mary tried all her words of endearment to coax the little +creature to eat some of the good things that had been provided so +liberally for his entertainment, he remained sullen and motionless at the +bottom of the cage. A captive is no less a captive in a cage with gilded +bars and with dainties to eat, than if rusted iron shut him in, and kept +him from enjoying his freedom. It is for dear liberty that he pines and is +sad, even in the midst of plenty! + +"Dear nurse, why does my little squirrel tremble and look so unhappy? +Tell me if he wants anything to eat that we have not given him. Why +does he not lie down and sleep on the nice soft bed you have made for +him in his little chamber? See, he has not tasted the nice sweet cake +and sugar that I gave him." + +"He is not used to such dainties, Lady Mary. In the forest he feeds +upon hickory-nuts, and butternuts, and acorns, and beech-mast, and +the buds of the spruce, fir and pine kernels, and many other seeds +and nuts and berries that we could not get for him; he loves grain +too, and Indian corn. He sleeps on green moss and leaves, and fine +fibres of grass and roots, and drinks heaven's blessed dew, as it lies +bright and pure upon the herbs of the field." + +"Dear little squirrel! pretty creature! I know now what makes you sad. +You long to be abroad among your own green woods, and sleeping on the +soft green moss, which is far prettier than this ugly cotton wool. +But you shall stay with me, my sweet one, till the cold winter is past +and gone, and the spring flowers have come again; and then, my pretty +squirrel, I will take you out of your dull cage, and we will go to +St. Helen's green island, and I will let you go free; but I will put +a scarlet collar about your neck before I let you go, that if any one +finds you, they may know that you are my squirrel. Were you ever in +the green forest, nurse? I hear papa talk about the 'Bush' and the +'Backwoods;' it must be very pleasant in the summer to live among the +green trees. Were you ever there?" + +"Yes, dear lady; I did live in the woods when I was a child. I was born in +a little log-shanty, far, far away up the country, near a beautiful lake +called Rice Lake, among woods, and valleys, and hills covered with +flowers, and groves of pine, and white and black oaks." + +"Stop, nurse, and tell me why they are called black and white; are the +flowers black and white?" + +"No, my lady; it is because the wood of the one is darker than the +other, and the leaves of the black oak are dark and shining, while +those of the white oak are brighter and lighter. The black oak is a +beautiful tree. When I was a young girl, I used to like to climb the +sides of the steep valleys, and look down upon the tops of the oaks +that grew beneath, and to watch the wind lifting the boughs all glittering +in the moonlight; they looked like a sea of ruffled green water. It +is very solemn, Lady Mary, to be in the woods by night, and to hear +no sound but the cry of the great wood-owl, or the voice of the +whip-poor-will, calling to his fellow from the tamarack swamp, or, +may be, the timid bleating of a fawn that has lost its mother, or the +howl of a wolf." + +"Nurse, I should he so afraid; I am sure I should cry if I heard the +wicked wolves howling in the dark woods by night. Did you ever know any +one who was eaten by a wolf?" + +"No, my lady; the Canadian wolf is a great coward. I have heard the +hunters say that they never attack any one unless there is a great +flock together and the man is alone and unarmed. My uncle used to go +out a great deal hunting, sometimes by torchlight, and sometimes on +the lake, in a canoe with the Indians; and he shot and trapped a great +many wolves and foxes and racoons. He has a great many heads of wild +animals nailed up on the stoup in front of his log-house." + +"Please tell me what a stoup is, nurse?" + +"A verandah, my lady, is the same thing, only the old Dutch settlers +gave it the name of a stoup, and the stoup is heavier and broader, +and not quite so nicely made as a verandah. One day my uncle was crossing +the lake on the ice; it was a cold winter afternoon, he was in a hurry +to take some food to his brothers, who were drawing pine-logs in the +bush. He had, besides a bag of meal and flour, a new axe on his shoulder. +He heard steps as of a dog trotting after him; he turned his head, +and there he saw, close at his heels, a big, hungry-looking gray wolf; +he stopped and faced about, and the big beast stopped and showed his +white sharp teeth. My uncle did not feel afraid, but looked steadily +at the wolf, as much as to say, 'Follow me if you dare,' and walked +on. When my uncle stopped, the wolf stopped; when he went on, the beast +also went on." + +"I would have run away," said Lady Mary. + +"If my uncle had let the wolf see that he was afraid of him, he would +have grown bolder, and have run after him and seized him. All animals +are afraid of brave men, but not of cowards. When the beast came too +near, my uncle faced him and showed the bright axe, and the wolf then +shrank back a few paces. When my uncle got near the shore, he heard +a long wild cry, as if from twenty wolves at once. It might have been +the echoes from the islands that increased the sound; but it was very +frightful and made his blood chill, for he knew that without his rifle +he should stand a poor chance against a large pack of hungry wolves. +Just then a gun went off; he heard the wolf give a terrible yell, he +felt the whizzing of a bullet pass him, and turning about, saw the +wolf lying dead on the ice. A loud shout from the cedars in front told +him from whom the shot came; it was my father, who had been on the +look-out on the lake shore, and he had fired at and hit the wolf when +he saw that he could do so without hurting his brother." + +"Nurse, it would have been a sad thing if the gun had shot your uncle." + +"It would; but my father was one of the best shots in the district, +and could hit a white spot on the bark of a tree with a precision that +was perfectly wonderful. It was an old Indian from Buckhorn Lake who +taught him to shoot deer by torchlight and to trap beavers." + +"Well, I am glad that horrid wolf was killed, for wolves eat sheep +and lambs; and I daresay they would devour my little squirrel if they +could get him. Nurse, please to tell me again the name of the lake +near which you were born." + +"It is called Rice Lake, my lady. It is a fine piece of water, more +than twenty miles long, and from three to five miles broad. It has +pretty wooded islands, and several rivers or streams empty themselves +into it. The Otonabee River is a fine broad stream, which flows through +the forest a long way. Many years ago, there were no clearings on the +banks, and no houses, only Indian tents or wigwams; but now there are +a great many houses and farms." + +"What are wigwams?" + +"A sort of light tent, made with poles stuck into the ground in a circle, +fastened together at the top, and covered on the outside with skins +of wild animals, or with birch bark. The Indians light a fire of sticks +and logs on the ground, in the middle of the wigwam, and lie or sit +all round it; the smoke goes up to the top and escapes. Or sometimes, +in the warm summer weather, they kindle their fire without, and their +squaws, or wives, attend to it; while they go hunting in the forest, +or, mounted on swift horses, pursue the trail of their enemies. In +the winter, they bank up the wigwam with snow, and make it very warm." + +[Illustration: INDIAN WIGWAMS] + +"I think it must he a very ugly sort of house, and I am glad I do not +live in an Indian wigwam," said the little lady. + +"The Indians are a very simple folk, my lady, and do not need fine +houses like this in which your papa lives. They do not know the names +or uses of half the fine things that are in the houses of the white +people. They are happy and contented without them. It is not the richest +that are happiest, Lady Mary, and the Lord careth for the poor and +the lowly. There is a village on the shores of Rice Lake where the +Indians live. It is not very pretty. The houses are all built of logs, +and some of them have gardens and orchards. They have a neat church, +and they have a good minister, who takes great pains to teach them +the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The poor Indians were Pagans until +within the last few years." "What are Pagans, nurse?" + +"People, Lady Mary, who do not believe in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, +our blessed Saviour." + +"Nurse, is there real rice growing in the Rice Lake? I heard my governess +say that rice grew only in warm countries. Now, your lake must be +very cold if your uncle walked across the ice." + +"This rice, my lady, is not real rice. I heard a gentleman tell my +father that it was, properly speaking, a species of oats [Footnote: +Zizania, or water oats]--water oats, he called it; but the common name +for it is wild rice. This wild rice grows in vast beds in the lake +in patches of many acres. It will grow in water from eight to ten or +twelve feet deep; the grassy leaves float upon the water like long +narrow green ribbons. In the month of August, the stem that is to bear +the flower and the grain rises straight up above the surface, and light +delicate blossoms come out of a pale straw colour and lilac. They are +very pretty, and wave in the wind with a rustling noise. In the month +of October, when the rice is ripe, the leaves torn yellow, and the +rice-heads grow heavy and droop; then the squaws--as the Indian women +are called--go out in their birch-bark canoes, holding in one hand +a stick, in the other a short curved paddle with a sharp edge. With +this they bend down the rice across the stick and strike off the heads, +which fall into the canoe, as they push it along through the rice-beds. +In this way they collect a great many bushels in the course of the +day. The wild rice is not the least like the rice which your ladyship +has eaten; it is thin, and covered with a light chaffy husk. The colour +of the grain itself is a brownish-green, or olive, smooth, shining, +and brittle. After separating the outward chaff, the squaws put by +a large portion of the clean rice in its natural state for sale; for +this they get from a dollar and a half to two dollars a bushel. Some +they parch, either in large pots, or on mats made of the inner bark +of cedar or bass wood, beneath which they light a slow fire, and plant +around it a temporary hedge of green boughs closely set, to prevent +the heat from escaping; they also drive stakes into the ground, over +which they stretch the matting at a certain height above the fire. +On this they spread the green rice, stirring it about with wooden paddles +till it is properly parched; this is known by its bursting and showing +the white grain of the flour. When quite cool it is stowed away in +troughs, scooped out of butter-nut wood, or else sewed up in sheets +of birch bark or bass-mats, or in coarsely-made birch-bark baskets." + +"And is the rice good to eat, nurse?" + +"Some people like it as well as the white rice of Carolina; but it does +not look so well. It is a great blessing to the poor Indians, who boil it +in their soups, or eat it with maple molasses. And they eat it when +parched without any other cooking, when they are on a long journey in the +woods, or on the lakes. I have often eaten nice puddings made of it with +milk. The deer feed upon the green rice. They swim into the water and eat +the green leaves and tops. The Indians go out at night to shoot the deer +on the water; they listen for them, and shoot them in the dark. The wild +ducks and water-fowls come down in great flocks to fatten on the ripe rice +in the fall of the year; also large flocks of rice buntings and red wings, +which make their roosts among the low willows, flags, and lilies, close to +the shallows of the lake." + +"It seems very useful to birds as well as to men and beasts," said little +Lady Mary. + +"Yes, my lady, and to fishes also, I make no doubt; for the good God +has cast it so abundantly abroad on the waters, that I daresay they +also have their share. When the rice is fully ripe, the sun shining +on it gives it a golden hue, just like a field of ripened grain. +Surrounded by the deep-blue waters, it looks very pretty." + +"I am very much obliged to you nurse, for telling me so much about +the Indian rice, and I will ask mamma to let me have some one day for +my dinner, that I may know how it tastes." + +Just then Lady Mary's governess came to bid her nurse dress her for +a sleigh-ride, and so for the present we shall leave her; but we will +tell our little readers something more in another chapter about Lady +Mary and her flying squirrel. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +SLEIGHING--SLEIGH ROBES--FUR CAPS--OTTER SKINS--OLD SNOW-STORM--OTTER +HUNTING--OTTER SLIDES--INDIAN NAMES--REMARKS ON WILD ANIMALS AND THEIR +HABITS + +Nurse, we have had a very nice sleigh-drive. I like sleighing very +much over the white snow. The trees look so pretty, as if they were +covered with white flowers, and the ground sparkled just like mamma's +diamonds." + +"It is pleasant, Lady Mary, to ride through the woods on a bright sunshiny +day, after a fresh fall of snow. The young evergreens, hemlocks, balsams, +and spruce-trees, are loaded with great masses of the new-fallen snow; +while the slender saplings of the beech, birch, and basswood (the lime or +linden) are bent down to the very ground, making bowers so bright and +beautiful, you would be delighted to see them. Sometimes, as you drive +along, great masses of the snow come showering down upon you; but it is so +light and dry, that it shakes off without wetting you. It is pleasant to +be wrapped up in warm blankets, or buffalo robes, at the bottom of a +lumber-sleigh, and to travel through the forest by moonlight; the merry +bells echoing through the silent woods, and the stars just peeping down +through the frosted trees, which sparkle like diamonds in the moonbeams." + +"Nurse, I should like to take a drive through the forest in winter. +It is so nice to hear the sleigh-bells. We used sometimes to go out +in the snow in Scotland, but we were in the carriage, and had no bells." + +"No, Lady Mary; the snow seldom lies long enough in the old country +to make it worth while to have sleighs there; but in Russia and Sweden, +and other cold Northern countries, they use sleighs with bells." + +Lady Mary ran to the little bookcase where she had a collection of +children's books, and very soon found a picture of Laplanders and Russians +wrapped in furs. + +"How long will the winter last, nurse?" said the child, after she had +tired herself with looking at the prints, "a long, long time--a great +many weeks?--a great many months?" + +"Yes, my lady; five or six months." + +"Oh, that is nice--nearly half a year of white snow, and sleigh-drives +every day, and bells ringing all the time! I tried to make out a tune, +but they only seemed to say, 'Up-hill, up-hill! down-hill, down-hill!' +all the way. Nurse, please tell me what are sleigh-robes made of?" + +"Some sleigh-robes, Lady Mary, are made of bear-skins, lined with red +or blue flannel; some are of wolf-skins, lined with bright scarlet +cloth; and some of racoon, the commonest are buffalo-skins; I have +seen some of deer-skins, but these last are not so good, as the hair +comes off, and they are not so warm as the skins of the furred or +woolly-coated animals" + +"I sometimes see long tails hanging down over the backs of the sleigh and +cutters--they look very pretty, like the end of mamma's boa." + +"The wolf and racoon skin robes are generally made up with the tails, and +sometimes the heads of the animals are also left. I noticed the head of a +wolf, with its sharp ears, and long white teeth, looking very fierce, at +the back of a cutter, the other day." + +"Nurse, that must have looked very droll. Do you know I saw a gentleman +the other day, walking with papa, who had a fox-skin cap on his head, and +the fox's nose was just peeping over his shoulder, and the tail hung down +his back, and I saw its bright black eyes looking so cunning I thought it +must be alive, and that it had curled itself round his head; but the +gentleman took it off, and showed me that the eyes were glass." + +"Some hunters, Lady Mary, make caps of otter, mink, or badger skins, and +ornament them with the tails, heads, and claws." + +"I have seen a picture of the otter, nurse; it is a pretty, soft-looking +thing, with a round head and black eyes. Where do otters live?" + +"The Canadian otters, Lady Mary, live in holes in the banks of sedgy, +shallow lakes, mill-ponds, and sheltered creeks. The Indian hunters +find their haunts by tracking their steps in the snow; for an Indian +or Canadian hunter knows the track made by any bird or beast, from +the deep broad print of the bear, to the tiny one of the little +shrewmouse, which is the smallest four-footed beast in this or any other +country. + +"Indians catch the otter, and many other wild animals, in a sort of +trap, which they call a 'deadfall.' Wolves are often so trapped, and +then shot. The Indians catch the otter for the sake of its dark shining +fur, which is used by the hatters and furriers Old Jacob Snow-storm, +an old Indian who lived on the banks of the Rice Lake, used to catch +otters; and I have often listened to him, and laughed at his stories." + +"Do, please, nurse, tell me what old Jacob Snow-storm told you about +the otters; I like to hear stories about wild beasts. But what a droll +surname Snow-storm is!" + +"Yes, Lady Mary; Indians have very odd names; they are called after +all sorts of strange things. They do not name the children, as we do, +soon after they are born, but wait for some remarkable circumstance, +some dream or accident. Some call them after the first strange animal +or bird that appears to the new-born. Old Snow-storm most likely owed +his name to a heavy fall of snow when he was a baby. I knew a chief +named Musk-rat, and a pretty Indian girl who was named 'Badau'-bun'-- +_Light of the Morning._" + +"And what is the Indian name for Old Snow-storm?" + +"'Be-che-go-ke-poor,' my lady." + +Lady Mary said it was a funny sounding name, and not at all like +Snow-storm, which she liked a great deal better; and she was much amused +while her nurse repeated to her some names of squaws and papooses (Indian +women and children); such as Long Thrush, Little Fox, Running Stream, +Snowbird, Red Cloud, Young Eagle, Big Bush, and many others. + +"Now, nurse, will you tell me some more about Jacob Snow-storm and +the otters?" + +"Well, Lady Mary, the old man had a cap of otter-skin, of which he +was very proud, and only wore on great days. One day as he was playing +with it, he said:--'Otter funny fellow; he like play too, sometimes. +Indian go hunting up Ottawa, that great big river, you know. Go one +moonlight night; lie down under bushes in snow; see lot of little fellow +and big fellow at play. Run up and down bank; bank all ice. Sit down +top of bank; good slide there. Down he go splash into water; out again. +Funny fellow those!' And then the old hunter threw hack his head, and +laughed, till you could have seen all his white teeth, he opened his +mouth so wide." + +[Illustration: The Otters] + +Lady Mary was very much amused at the comical way in which the old +Indian talked. + +"Can otters swim, nurse?" + +"Yes, Lady Mary, the good God who has created all things well, has +given to this animal webbed feet, which enable it to swim, and it can +also dive down in the deep water, where it finds fish and mussels, +and perhaps the roots of some water-plants to eat. It makes very little +motion or disturbance in the water when it goes down in search of its +prey. Its coat is thick, and formed of two kinds of hair; the outer +hair is long, silky, and shining; the under part is short, fine, and +warm. The water cannot penetrate to wet them,--the oily nature of the +fur throws off the moisture. They dig large holes with their claws, +which are short, but very strong. They line their nests with dry grass, +and rushes, and roots gnawed fine, and do not pass the winter in sleep, +as the dormice, flying squirrels, racoons, and bears do. They are very +innocent and playful, both when young, and even after they grow old. +The lumberers often tame them, and they become so docile that they +will come at a call or whistle. Like all wild animals, they are most +lively at night, when they come out to feed and play." + +"Dear little things! I should like to have a tame otter to play with, +and run after me; but do you think he would eat my squirrel? You know +cats will eat squirrels--so mamma says." + +"Cats belong to a very different class of animals; they are beasts +of prey, formed to spring and bound, and tear with their teeth and +claws. The otter is also a beast of prey, but its prey is found in +the still waters, and not on the land; it can neither climb nor leap. +So I do not think he would hurt your squirrel, if you had one." + +"See, nurse, my dear little squirrel is still where I left him, clinging +to the wires of the cage, his bright eyes looking like two black beads." + +"As soon as it grows dark he will begin to be more lively, and perhaps +he will eat something, but not while we look at him--he is too shy +for that." "Nurse, how can they see to eat in the dark?" + +"The good God, Lady Mary, has so formed their eyes that they can see +best by night. I will read you, Lady Mary, a few verses from Psalm +civ.:-- + +"'Verse 19. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth +his going down. + +"'20. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beast +of the forest do creep forth. "'21. The young lions roar after their +prey, and seek their meat from God. + +"'22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them +down in their dens. + +"'23. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour, until the evening. + +"'24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made +them all: the earth is full of thy riches.' + +"Thus you see, my dear lady, that our heavenly Father taketh care of +all his creatures, and provideth for them both by day and by night." + +"I remember, nurse, that my dormice used to lie quite still, nestled +among the moss and wool in their little dark chamber in the cage, all +day long; but when it was night they used to come out and frisk about, +and run along the wires, and play all sorts of tricks, chasing one +another round and round, and they were not afraid of me, but would +let me look at them while they ate a nut, or a hit of sugar; and the +dear little things would drink out of their little white saucer, and +wash their faces and tails--it was so pretty to see them!" + +"Did you notice, Lady Mary, how the dormice held their food?" + +"Yes; they sat up, and held it in their fore-paws, which looked just +like tiny hands." + +"There are many animals whose fore-feet resemble hands, and these, +generally, convey their food to their mouths--among these are the squirrel +and dormice. They are good climbers and diggers. You see, my dear young +lady, how the merciful Creator has given to all his creatures, however +lowly, the best means of supplying their wants, whether of food or +shelter." + +"Indeed, nurse. I have learned a great deal about squirrels, Canadian +rice, otters, and Indians; but, if you please, I must now have a little +play with my doll. Good-bye, Mrs. Frazer; pray take care of my dear +little squirrel, and mind that he does not fly away." And Lady Mary +was soon busily engaged in drawing her wax doll about the nursery in +a little sleigh lined with red squirrel fur robes, and talking to her +as all children like to talk to their dolls, whether they be rich or +poor--the children of peasants, or governors' daughters. + +[Illustration: Dolly's Sleigh-Ride] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +LADY MARY READS TO MRS. FRAZER THE FIRST PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE +SQUIRREL FAMILY. + +One day Lady Mary came to her nurse, and putting her arms about her +neck, whispered to her,--"Mrs. Frazer, my dear good governess has given +me something--it is in my hand," and she slily held her hand behind +her--"will you guess what it is?" + +"Is it a book, my lady?" + +"Yes, yes, it is a book, a pretty book; and see, here are pictures +of squirrels in it. Mrs. Frazer, if you like, I will sit down on this +cushion by you and read some of my new book. It does not seem very +hard." + +Then Mrs. Frazer took out her work-basket and sat down to sew, and Lady +Mary began to read the little story, which, I hope, may entertain my +little readers as much as it did the Governor's daughter. + + * * * * * + +PART I + + +THE HISTORY OF A SQUIRREL FAMILY. + +[Illustration: LADY MARY READING HER PICTURE-BOOK.] + +It must be a pleasant thing to be a squirrel, and live a life of freedom +in the boundless forests; to leap and bound among the branches of the +tall trees, to gambol in the deep shade of the cool glossy leaves, +through the long warm summer day; to gather the fresh nuts and berries; +to drink the pure dews of heaven, all bright and sparkling from the +opening flowers; to sleep on soft beds of moss and thistle-down in +some hollow branch rocked by the wind as in a cradle. Yet, though this +was the happy life led by a family of pretty gray squirrels that had +their dwelling in the hoary branch of an old oak-tree that grew on +one of the rocky islands in a beautiful lake in Upper Canada, called +_Stony Lake_ (because it was full of rocky islands), these little +creatures were far from being contented, and were always wishing for a +change. Indeed, they had been very happy, till one day when a great black +squirrel swam to the island and paid them a visit. He was a very fine +handsome fellow, nearly twice as large as any of the gray squirrels; he +had a tail that flourished over his back, when he set it up, like a great +black feather; his claws were sharp and strong, and his eyes very round +and bright; he had upright ears, and long, sharp teeth, of which he +made good use. The old gray squirrels called him cousin, and invited +him to dinner. They very civilly set before him some acorns and beechnuts; +but he proved a hungry visitor, and ate as much as would have fed the +whole family for a week. After the gray squirrels had cleared away +the shells and scraps, they asked their greedy guest where he came +from, when Blackie told them he was a great traveller, and had seen +many wonderful things; that he had once lived on a forked pine at the +head of the Waterfall, but being tired of a dull life, he had gone +out on his travels to see the world; that he had been down the lake, +and along the river shore, where there were great places cut out in +the thick forest, called clearings, where some very tall creatures +lived, who were called men and women, with young ones called children; +that though they were not so pretty as squirrels--for they had no fur +on them, and were obliged to make clothes to cover them and keep them +warm--they were very useful, and sowed corn and planted fruit-trees +and roots for squirrels to eat, and even built large grain stores to +keep it safe and dry for them. + +This seemed very strange, and the simple little gray squirrels were very +much pleased, and said they should like very much to go down the lakes +too, and see these wonderful things. + +The black squirrel then told them that there were many things to be seen +in these clearings; that there were large beasts, called oxen, and cows, +and sheep, and pigs; and these creatures had houses built for them to live +in; and all the men and women seemed to employ themselves about, was +feeding and taking care of them. + +Now this cunning fellow never told his simple cousins that the oxen had to +bear a heavy wooden yoke and chain, and were made to work very hard; nor +that the cows were fed that they might give milk to the children; nor that +the pigs were fatted to make pork; nor that the sheep had their warm +fleeces cut off every year that the settlers might have the wool to spin +and weave. Blackie did not say that the men carried guns, and the dogs +were fierce, and would hunt poor squirrels from tree to tree, frightening +them almost to death with their loud, angry barking; that cats haunted the +barns and houses; and, in short, that there were dangers as well as +pleasures to be met with in these clearings; and that the barns were built +to shelter the grain for men, and not for the benefit of squirrels. + +The black squirrel proved rather a troublesome guest, for he stayed +several days, and ate so heartily, that the old gray squirrels were +obliged to hint that he had better go back to the clearings, where there +was so much food, for that their store was nearly done. + +When Blackie found that all the nice nuts were eaten, and that even pine- +kernels and beech-nuts were becoming scarce, he went away, saying that he +should soon come again. + +The old gray squirrels were glad when they saw the tip of Blackie's tail +disappear, as he whisked down the trunk of the old oak; but their young +ones were very sorry that he was gone, for they liked very much to listen +to all his wonderful stories, which they thought were true; and they told +their father and mother how they wished they would leave the dull island +and the old tree, and go down the lakes, and see the wonderful things that +their black cousin had described. + +But the old ones shook their heads, and said they feared +there was more fiction than truth in the tales they had heard, and +that if they were wise they would stay where they were. "What do you +want more, my dear children," said their mother, "than you enjoy here? +Have you not this grand old oak for a palace to live in; its leaves +and branches spreading like a canopy over your heads, to shelter you +from the hot sun by day and the dews by night? Are there not moss, +dried grass, and roots beneath, to make a soft bed for you to lie upon? +and do not the boughs drop down a plentiful store of brown ripe acorns? +That silver lake, studded with islands of all shapes and sizes, produces +cool clear water for you to drink and bathe yourselves in. Look at +those flowers that droop their blossoms down to its glassy surface, +and the white lilies that rest upon its bosom,--will you see anything +fairer or better if you leave this place? Stay at home and be contented." + +"If I hear any more grumbling," said their father, "I shall pinch your +ears and tails." So the little squirrels said no more, but I am sorry +to say they did not pay much heed to their wise old mother's counsels; +for whenever they were alone, all their talk was how to run away, and +go abroad to see the world, as their black cousin had called the new +settlement down the lakes. It never came into the heads of the silly +creatures that those wonderful stories they had been told originated +in an artful scheme of the greedy black squirrel, to induce them to +leave their warm pleasant house in the oak, that he and his children +might come and live in it, and get the hoards of grain, and nuts, and +acorns, that their father and mother had been laying up for winter +stores. + +Moreover, the wily black squirrel had privately told them that their +father and mother intended to turn them out of the nest very soon, and +make provision for a new family. This indeed was really the case; for as +soon as young animals can provide for themselves, their parents turn them +off, and care no more for them. Very different, indeed, is this from our +parents; for they love and cherish us as long as they live, and afford us +a home and shelter as long as we need it. + +Every hour these little gray squirrels grew more and more impatient +to leave the lonely little rocky island, though it was a pretty spot, +and the place of their birth; but they were now eager to go abroad +and seek their fortunes. + +"Let us keep our own counsel," said Nimble-foot to his sisters Velvet-paw +and Silver-nose, "or we may chance to get our tails pulled; but be +all ready for a start by early dawn to-morrow." + +Velvet-paw and Silver-nose said they would be up before sunrise, as +they should have a long voyage down the lake, and agreed to rest on +Pine Island near the opening of Clear Lake. "And then take to the shore +and travel through the woods, where, no doubt, we shall have a pleasant +time," said Nimble-foot, who was the most hopeful of the party. + +The sun was scarcely yet risen over the fringe of dark pines that skirted +the shores of the lake, and a soft creamy mist hung on the surface +of the still waters, which were unruffled by the slightest breeze. +The little gray squirrels awoke, and looked sleepily out from the leafy +screen that shaded their mossy nest. The early notes of the wood-thrush +and song-sparrow, with the tender warbling of the tiny wren, sounded +sweetly in the still, dewy morning air; while from a cedar swamp was +heard the trill of the green frogs, which the squirrels thought very +pretty music. As the sun rose above the tops of the trees, the mist +rolled off in light fleecy clouds, and soon was lost in the blue sky, +or lay in large bright drops on the cool grass and shining leaves. +Then all the birds awoke, and the insects shook their gauzy wings which +had been folded all the night in the flower-cups, and the flowers began +to lift their heads, and the leaves to expand to catch the golden light. +There was a murmur on the water as it played among the sedges, and +lifted the broad floating leaves of the white water-lilies, with their +carved ivory cups; and the great green, brown, and blue dragon-flies +rose with a whirring sound, and darted to and fro among the water-flowers. + +It is a glorious sight to see the sun rise at any time, for then we +can look upon him without having our eyes dazzled with the brightness +of his beams; and though there were no men and women and little children, +in the lonely waters and woods, to lift up their hands and voices in +prayer and praise to God, who makes the sun to rise each day, yet no +doubt the great Creator is pleased to see his creatures rejoice in +the blessings of light and heat. + +Lightly running down the rugged bark of the old oak-tree, the little +squirrels bade farewell to their island home--to the rocks, mosses, +ferns, and flowers that had sheltered them, among which they had so +often chased each other in merry gambols. They thought little of all +this, when they launched themselves on the silver bosom of the cool +lake. + +"How easy it is to swim in this clear water!" said Silver-nose to her +sister Velvet-paw. "We shall not be long in reaching yonder island, and +there, no doubt, we shall get a good breakfast." + +So the little swimmers proceeded on their voyage, furrowing the calm +waters as they glided noiselessly along; their soft gray heads and +ears and round black eyes only being seen, and the bright streaks caused +by the motion of their tails, which lay flat on the surface, looking +like silver threads gently floating on the stream. + +Not being much used to the fatigue of swimming, the little squirrels +were soon tired, and if it had not been for a friendly bit of stick +that happened to float near her, poor Velvet-paw would have been drowned; +however, she got up on the stick, and, setting up her fine broad tail, +went merrily on, and soon passed Nimble-foot and Silver-nose. The current +drew the stick towards the Pine Island that lay at the entrance of +Clear Lake, and Velvet-paw leaped ashore, and sat down on a mossy stone +to dry her fur, and watch for her brother and sister: they, too, found +a large piece of birch-bark which the winds had blown into the water, +and as a little breeze had sprung up to waft them along, they were +not very long before they landed on the island. They were all very +glad when they met again, after the perils and fatigues of the voyage. +The first thing to be done was to look for something to eat, for their +early rising had made them very hungry. They found abundance of pine-cones +strewn on the ground, but, alas for our little squirrels! very few +kernels in them; for the crossbills and chiccadees had been at work +for many weeks on the trees; and also many families of their poor +relations, the chitmunks or ground squirrels, had not been idle, as +our little voyagers could easily guess by the chips and empty cones +round their holes. So, weary as they were, they were obliged to run +up the tall pine and hemlock trees, to search among the cones that +grew on their very top branches. While our squirrels were busy with +the few kernels they chanced to find, they were started from their +repast by the screams of a large slate-coloured hawk, and Velvet-paw +very narrowly escaped being pounced upon and carried off in its +sharp-hooked talons. Silver-nose at the same time was nearly frightened +to death by the keen round eyes of a cunning racoon, which had come +within a few feet of the mossy branch of an old cedar, where she sat +picking the seeds out of a dry head of a blue flag-flower she had found +on the shore. Silvy, at this sight, gave a spring that left her many +yards beyond her sharp-sighted enemy. + +A lively note of joy was uttered by Nimble-foot, for, perched at his ease +on a top branch of the hemlock-tree, he had seen the bound made by +Silver-nose. + +"Well jumped, Silvy," said he; "Mister Coon must be a smart fellow +to equal that. But look sharp, or you will get your neck wrung yet; +I see we must keep a good look-out in this strange country." + +"I begin to wish we were safe back again in our old one," whined Silvy, +who was much frightened by the danger she had just escaped. + +"Pooh, pooh, child; don't be a coward," said Nimble, laughing. + +"Cousin Blackie never told us there were hawks and coons on this island," +said Vehret-paw. + +"My dear, he thought we were too brave to be afraid of hawks and coons," +said Nimble. "For my part, I think it is a fine thing to go out a little +into the world. We should never see anything better than the sky, and +the water, and the old oak-tree on that little island." + +"Ay, but I think it is safer to see than to be seen," said Silvy, +"for hawks and eagles have strong beaks, and racoons sharp claws and +hungry-looking teeth; and it is not very pleasant, Nimble, to be +obliged to look out for such wicked creatures." + +"Oh, true indeed," said Nimble; "if it had not been for that famous +jump you made, Silvy, and, Velvet, your two admirers, the hawk and +racoon, would soon have hid all your beauties from the world, and put +a stop to your travels." + +"It is very well for brother Nimble to make light of our dangers," +whispered Velvet-paw, "but let us see how he will jump if a big eagle +were to pounce down to carry him off." + +"Yes, yes," said Silvy; "it is easy to brag before one is in danger." + +The squirrels thought they would now go and look for some +partridge-berries, of which they were very fond, for the pine-kernels +were but dry husky food after all. + +There were plenty of the pretty white star-shaped blossoms, growing +all over the ground under the pine-trees, but the bright scarlet +twin-berries were not yet ripe. In winter the partridges eat this fruit +from under the snow; and it furnishes food for many little animals +as well as birds. The leaves are small, of a dark green, and the white +flowers have a very fine fragrant scent. Though the runaways found +none of these berries fit to eat, they saw some ripe strawberries among +the bushes; and, having satisfied their hunger, began to grow very +merry, and whisked here and there and everywhere, peeping into this +hole and under that stone. Sometimes they had a good game of play, +chasing one another up and down the trees, chattering and squeaking +as gray squirrels only can chatter and squeak, when they are gambolling +about in the wild woods of Canada. + +Indeed, they made such a noise, that the great ugly black snakes lifted up +their heads, and stared at them with their wicked spiteful-looking eyes, +and the little ducklings swimming among the water-lilies gathered round +their mother, and a red-winged blackbird perched on a dead tree gave alarm +to the rest of the flock by calling out, _Geck_, _geck_, _geck_, as +loudly as he could. In the midst of their frolics, Nimble skipped into a +hollow log--but was glad to run out again; for a porcupine covered with +sharp spines was there, and was so angry at being disturbed, that he stuck +one of his spines into poor Nimble-foot's soft velvet nose, and there it +could have remained if Silvy had not seized it with her teeth and pulled +it out. Nimble-foot squeaked sadly, and would not play any longer, but +rolled himself up and went to sleep in a red-headed woodpecker's old nest; +while Silvy and Velvet-paw frisked about in the moonlight, and when tired +of play got up into an old oak which had a large hollow place in the crown +of it, and fell asleep, fancying, no doubt, that they were on the rocky +island in Stony Lake; and so we will bid them good night, and wish them +pleasant dreams. + + * * * * * + +Lady Mary had read a long while, and was now tired; so she kissed her +nurse, and said, "Now, Mrs. Frazer, I will play with my doll, and feed my +squirrel and my dormice." + +The dormice were two soft, brown creatures, almost as pretty and as +innocent as the squirrel, and a great deal tamer; and they were called +Jeannette and Jeannot, and would come when they were called by their +names, and take a bit of cake or a lump of sugar out of the fingers of +their little mistress. Lady Mary had two canaries, Dick and Pet; and she +loved her dormice and birds, and her new pet, the flying squirrel, very +much, and never let them want for food, or water, or any nice thing she +could get for them. She liked the history of the gray squirrels very much, +and was quite eager to get her book the next afternoon, to read the second +part of the adventures and wanderings of the family. + + + * * * * * + +PART II. + + +WHICH TELLS HOW THE GRAY SQUIRRELS GET ON WHILE THEY REMAINED ON PIKE +ISLAND--HOW THEY BEHAVED TO THEIR POOR RELATIONS, THE CHITMUNKS--AND WHAT +HAPPENED TO THEM IN THE FOREST. + + +It was noon when the little squirrels awoke, and, of course, they were +quite ready for their breakfast; but there was no good, kind old mother +to provide for their wants, and to bring nuts, acorns, roots, or fruit +for them; they must now get up, go forth, and seek food for themselves. +When Velvet-paw and Silver-nose went to call Nimble-foot, they were +surprised to find his nest empty; but after searching a long while, +they found him sitting on the root of an up-turned tree, looking at +a family of little chitmunks busily picking over the pine-cones on +the ground; but as soon as one of the poor little fellows, with great +labour, had dug out a kernel, and was preparing to eat it, down leaped +Nimble-foot and carried off the prize; and if one of the little chitmunks +ventured to say a word, he very uncivilly gave him a scratch, or bit +his ears, calling him a mean, shabby fellow. + +Now the chitmunks were really very pretty. They were, to be sure, not +more than half the size of the gray squirrels, and their fur was short, +without the soft, thick glossy look upon it of the gray squirrels'. +They were of a lively, tawny yellow-brown colour, with long black and +white stripes down their backs; their tails were not so long nor so +thickly furred; and instead of living in the trees, they made their +nests in logs and windfalls, and had their granaries and winter houses +too underground, where they made warm nests of dried moss and grass +and thistledown; to these they had several entrances, so that they +had always a chance of refuge if danger were nigh. Like the dormice, +flying squirrels, and ground hogs, they slept soundly during the cold +weather, only awakening when the warm spring sun had melted the snow. +[Footnote: It is not quite certain that the chitmunk is a true squirrel, +and he is sometimes called a striped rat. This pretty animal seems, +indeed, to form a link between the rat and squirrel.] + +The vain little gray squirrels thought themselves much better than +these little chitmunks, whom they treated with very little politeness, +laughing at them for living in holes in the ground, instead of upon +lofty trees, as they did; they even called them low-bred fellows, and +wondered why they did not imitate their high-breeding and behaviour. + +The chitmunks took very little notice of their rudeness, but merely +said that, if being high-bred made people rude, they would rather remain +humble as they were. + +"As we are the head of all the squirrel families," said Silver-nose, +"we shall do you the honour of breakfasting with you to-day." + +"We breakfasted hours ago, while you lazy fellows were fast asleep," +replied an old chitmunk, poking his little nose out of a hole in the +ground. + +"Then we shall dine with you; so make haste and get something good +for us," said Nimble-foot. "I have no doubt you have plenty of butter +and hickory-nuts laid up in your holes." + +The old chitmunk told him he might come and get them, if he could. + +At this the gray squirrels skipped down from the branches, and began +to run hither and thither, and to scratch among the moss and leaves, +to find the entrance to the chitmunks' grain stores. They peeped under +the old twisted roots of the pines and cedars, into every chink and +cranny, but no sign of a granary was to be seen. + +[Illustration: THE GRAY SQUIRREL AND THE CHITMUNKS.] + +Then the chitmunks said, "My dear friends, this is a bad season to +visit us; we are very poor just now, finding it difficult to get a +few dry pine-kernels and berries; but if you will come and see us after +harvest, we shall have a store of nuts and acorns." + +"Pretty fellows you are!" replied Nimble, "to put us off with promises, +when we are so hungry; we might starve between this and harvest." + +"If you leave this island, and go down the lake, you will come to a +mill, where the red squirrels live, and where you will have fine times," +said one of the chitmunks. + +"Which is the nearest way to the mill?" asked Velvet-paw. + +"Swim to the shore, and keep the Indian path, and you will soon see +it." + +But while the gray squirrels were looking out for the path, the cunning +chitmunks whisked away into their holes, and left the inquirers in the +lurch, who could not tell what had become of them; for though they did +find a round hole that they thought might be one of their burrows, it was +so narrow that they could only poke in their noses, but could get no +further--the gray squirrels being much fatter and bigger than the slim +little chitmunks. + +"After all," said Silvy, who was the best of the three, "perhaps, if +we had been civil, the chitmunks would have treated us better." + +"Well," said Nimble, "if they had been good fellows, they would have +invited us, as our mother did Cousin Blackie, and have set before us +the best they had. I could find it in my heart to dig them out of their +holes and give them a good bite." This was all brag on Nimble's part, +who was not near so brave as he wished Silvy and Velvet-paw to suppose +he was. + +After spending some time in hunting for acorns they made up their minds to +leave the island, and as it was not very far to the mainland, they decided +on swimming thither. + +"Indeed," said Silver-nose, "I am tired of this dull place; we are +not better off here than we were in the little island in Stony Lake, +where our good old mother took care we should have plenty to eat, and +we had a nice warm nest to shelter us." + +"Ah, well, it is of no use grumbling now; if we were to go back, we +should only get a scolding, and perhaps be chased off the island," +said Nimble. "Now let us have a race, and see which of us will get +to shore first;" and he leaped over Velvet-paw's head, and was soon +swimming merrily for the shore. He was soon followed by his companions, +and in half an hour they were all safely landed. Instead of going into +the thick forest, they agreed to take the path by the margin of the +lake, for there they had a better chance of getting nuts and fruit; +but though it was the merry month of June, and there were plenty of +pretty flowers in bloom, the berries were hardly ripe, and our little +vagrants fared but badly. Besides being hungry, they were sadly afraid +of the eagles and fish-hawks that kept hovering over the water; and +when they went further into the forest to avoid them, they saw a great +white wood-owl, noiselessly flying out from among the close cedar swamps, +that seemed just ready to pounce down upon them. The gray squirrels +did not like the look of the owl's great round shining eyes, as they +peered at them, under the tufts of silky white feathers, which almost +hid his hooked bill, and their hearts sunk within them when they heard +his hollow cry, _"Ho, ho, ho, ho!" "Waugh, ho!"_ dismally sounding +in their ears. + +It was well that Velvet-paw was as swift afoot as she was soft, for one of +these great owls had very nearly caught her, while she was eating a +filbert that she had found in a cleft branch, where a nuthatch had fixed +it, while she pecked a hole in the shell. Some bird of prey had scared +away the poor nuthatch, and Velvet-paw no doubt thought she was in luck +when she found the prize; but it would have been a dear nut to her, if +Nimble, who was a sharp-sighted fellow, had not seen the owl, and cried, +_"Chit, chit, chit, chit!"_ to warn her of her danger. _"Chit, chit, chit, +chit!"_ cried Velvet-paw, and away she flew to the very top of a tall +pine-tree, springing from one tree-top to another, till she was soon out +of the old owl's reach. + +"What shall we do for supper to-night?" said Silver-nose, looking very +pitifully at Nimble-foot, whom they looked upon as the head of the +family. + +"We shall not want for a good supper and breakfast too, or +I am very much mistaken. Do you see that red squirrel yonder, climbing +the hemlock-tree? Well, my dears, he has a fine store of good things +in that beech-tree. I watched him run down with a nut in his teeth. +Let us wait patiently, and we shall see him come again for another; +and as soon as he has done his meal, we will go and take ours." + +The red squirrel ran to and fro several times, each time carrying off +a nut to his nest in the hemlock; after a while, he came no more. As +soon as he was out of sight, Nimble led the way and found the hoard. +The beech was quite hollow in the heart; and they went down through +a hole in the branch, and found a store of hazel-nuts, with acorns, +hickory-nuts, butter-nuts, and beech-mast, all packed quite close +and dry. They soon made a great hole in the red squirrel's store of +provisions, and were just choosing some nuts to carry off with them, when +they were disturbed by a scratching against the bark of the tree. Nimble, +who was always the first to take care of himself, gave the alarm, and +he and Velvet-paw, being nearest to the hole, got off safely; but poor +Silvy had the ill luck to sneeze, and before she had time to hide herself, +the angry red squirrel sprang upon her, and gave her such a terrible +cuffing and scratching, that Silvy cried out for mercy. As to Nimble-foot +and Velvet-paw, they paid no heed to her cries for help; they ran away, +and left her to bear the blame of all their misdeeds as well as her +own. Thieves are always cowards, and are sure to forsake one another +when danger is nigh. + +The angry red squirrel pushed poor Silvy out of her granary, and she was +glad to crawl away and hide herself in a hole at the root of a +neighbouring tree, where she lay in great pain and terror, licking her +wounds and crying to think how cruel it was of her brother and sister to +leave her to the mercy of the red squirrel. It was surely very cowardly of +Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw to forsake her in such a time of need; nor was +this the only danger that befell poor Silvy. One morning, when she put her +nose out of the hole to look about her before venturing out, she saw +seated on a branch, close beside the tree she was under, a racoon, staring +full at her with his sharp cunning black eyes. She was very much afraid of +him, for she thought he looked very hungry; but as she knew that racoons +are very fond of nuts and fruit, she said to herself, "Perhaps if I show +him where the red squirrel's granary in the beech-tree is, he will not +kill me." Then she said very softly to him, "Good Mister Coon, if you want +a very nice breakfast, and will promise to do me no hurt, I will tell you +where to find plenty of nuts." + +The coon eyed her with a sly grin, and said, "If I can get anything more +to my taste than a pretty gray squirrel, I will take it, my dear, and not +lay a paw upon your soft back." "Ah, but you must promise not to touch me, +if I come out and show you where to find the nuts," said Silvy. + +"Upon the word and honour of a coon!" replied the racoon, laying one +black paw upon his breast; "but if you do not come out of your hole, +I shall soon come and dig you out, so you had best be quick; and if +you trust me, you shall come to no hurt." + +Then Silvy thought it wisest to seem to trust the racoon's word, and +she came out of her hole, and went a few paces to point out the tree +where her enemy the red squirrel's store of nuts was; but as soon as +she saw Mister Coon disappear in the hollow of the tree, she bade him +good-bye, and whisked up a tall tree, where she knew the racoon could +not reach her; and having now quite recovered her strength, she was +able to leap from branch to branch, and even from one tree to another, +whenever they grew close and the boughs touched, as they often do in +the grand old woods in Canada, and so she was soon far, far away from +the artful coon, who waited a long time, hoping to carry off poor Silvy +for his dinner. + +Silvy contrived to pick up a living by digging for roots and eating such +fruits as she could find; but one day she came to a grassy cleared spot, +where she saw a strange-looking tent, made with poles stuck into the +ground and meeting at the top, from which came a bluish cloud that spread +among the trees; and as Silvy was very curious, she came nearer, and at +last, hearing no sound, ran up one of the poles and peeped in, to see what +was within side, thinking it might be one of the fine stores of grain that +people built for the squirrels, as her cousin Blackie had made her +believe. The poles were covered with sheets of birch-bark and skins of +deer and wolves, and there was a fire of sticks burning in the middle, +round which some large creatures were sitting on a bear's skin, eating +something that smelt very nice. They had long black hair and black eyes +and very white teeth. Silvy felt alarmed at first; but thinking they must +be the people who were kind to squirrels, she ventured to slip through a +slit in the bark, and ran down into the wigwam, hoping to get something to +eat; but in a minute the Indians jumped up, and before she had time to +make her escape, she was seized by a young squaw, and popped into a birch +box, and the lid shut down upon her; so poor Silvy was caught in a trap, +and all for believing the artful black squirrel's tales. + + +Silver-nose remembered her mother's warning now when it was too late; +she tried to get out of her prison, but in vain; the sides of the box +were too strong, and there was not so much as a single crack for a +peep-hole. After she had been shut up some time, the lid was raised +a little, and a dark hand put in some bright, shining hard grains for +her to eat. This was Indian corn, and it was excellent food; but Silvy +was a long, long time before she would eat any of this sweet corn, +she was so vexed at being caught and shut up in prison; besides, she +was very much afraid that the Indians were going to eat her. After +some days, she began to get used to her captive state; the little squaw +used to feed her, and one day took her out of the box and put her into +a nice light cage, where there was soft green moss to be on, a little +bark dish with clear water, and abundance of food. The cage was hung +up on the bough of a tree near the wigwam, to swing to and fro as the +wind waved the tree. Here Silvy could see the birds flying to and fro, +and listen to their cheerful songs. The Indian women and children had +always a kind look or a word to say to her; and her little mistress +was so kind to her, that Silvy could not help loving her. She was very +grateful for her care; for when she was sick and sulky, the little +squaw gave her bits of maple-sugar and parched rice out of her hand. +At last Silvy grew tame, and would suffer herself to be taken out of +her house to sit on her mistress's shoulder or in her lap; and though +she sometimes ran away and hid herself, out of fun, she would not have +gone far from the tent of the good Indians on any account. Sometimes +she saw the red squirrels running about in the forest, but they never +came very near her; but she used to watch all day long for her brother +Nimble-foot, or sister Velvet-paw, but they were now far away from +her, and no doubt thought that she had been killed by the red squirrel, +or eaten up by a fox or racoon. + +[Illustration: THE PET SQUIRREL] + + * * * * * + +"Nurse, I am so glad pretty Silvy was not killed, and that the good +Indians took care of her." "It is time now, my dear, for you to put down +your book," said Mrs. Frazer, "and to-morrow we will read some more." + + * * * * * + +PART III. + + +HOW THE SQUIRRELS GOT TO THE MILL AT THE RAPIDS--AND WHAT HAPPENED +TO VELVET-PAW. + + +Nimble-foot and Velvet-paw were so frightened by the sight of the red +squirrel, that they ran down the tree without once looking back to +see what had become of poor Silver-nose; indeed, the cowards, instead +of waiting for their poor sister, fled through the forest as if an +army of red squirrels were behind them. At last they reached the banks +of the lake, and jumping into the water, swam down the current till +they came to a place called the "Narrow," where the wide lake poured +its waters through a deep rocky channel, not more than a hundred yards +wide; here the waters became so rough and rapid, that our little swimmers +thought it wisest to go on shore. They scrambled up the steep rocky +bank, and found themselves on a wide open space, quite free from trees, +which they knew must be one of the great clearings the traveller squirrel +had spoken of. There was a very high building on the water's edge that +they thought must be the mill that the chitmunks had told them they +would come to; and they were in good spirits, as they now expected +to find plenty of good things laid up for them to eat, so they went +in by the door of the mill. + +"Dear me, what a dust there is!" said Nimble, looking about him; "I think +it must be snowing." + +"Snow does not fall in hot weather," said Velvet; "besides, this white +powder is very sweet and nice;" and she began to lick some of the flour +that lay in the cracks of the floor. + +"I have found some nice seeds here," said Nimble, running to the top +of a sack that stood with the mouth untied; "these are better than +pine-kernels, and not so hard. We must have come to one of the great +grain-stores that our cousin told us of. Well, I am sure the people +are very kind to have laid up so many good things for us squirrels." + +When they had eaten as much as they liked, they began to ran about +to see what was in the mill. Presently, a man came in, and they saw +him take one of the sacks of wheat, and pour it into a large upright +box, and in a few minutes there was a great noise--a sort of buzzing, +whirring, rumbling, dashing, and splashing--and away ran Velvet-paw +in a terrible fright, and scrambled up some beams and rafters to the +top of the wall, where she sat watching what was going on, trembling +all over; but finding that no harm happened to her, took courage, and +after a time ceased to be afraid. She saw Nimble perched on a cross-beam +looking down very intently at something; so she came out of her corner +and ran to him, and asked what he was looking at. + +"There is a great black thing here," said he, "I cannot tell what to +make of him at all; it turns round and round, and dashes the water +about, making a fine splash." (This was the water-wheel.) + +"It looks very ugly indeed," said Velvet-paw, "and makes my head giddy +to look at it; let us go away. I want to find out what these two big +stones are doing," said she; "they keep rubbing against one another, +and making a great noise." + +"There is nothing so wonderful in two big stones, my dear," said Nimble; +"I have seen plenty bigger than these in Stony Lake." + +"But they did not move about as these do; and only look here at the +white stuff that is running down all the time into this great box. +Well, we shall not want for food for the rest of our lives; I wish +poor Silvy were with us to share in our good luck." + +They saw a great many other strange things in the mill, and they thought +that the miller was a very funny-looking creature; but as they fancied +that he was grinding the wheat into flour for them, they were not much +afraid of him; they were more troubled at the sight of a black dog, +which spied them, out as they sat on the beams of the mill, and ran +about in a great rage, harking at them in a frightful way, and never +left off till the miller went out of the mill, when he went away with +his master, and did not return till the next day; but whenever he saw +the gray squirrels, this little dog, whose name was "Pinch," was sure +to set up his ears and tail, and snap and bark, showing all his sharp +white teeth in a very savage manner. + +Not far from the mill was another building: this was the house the +miller lived in; and close by the house was a barn, a stable, a cow-shed, +and a sheep-pen, and there was a garden full of fruit and flowers, +and an orchard of apple-trees close by. + +One day Velvet-paw ran up one of the apple-trees and began to eat an +apple; it looked very good, for it had a bright red cheek, but it was +hard and sour, not being ripe. "I do not like these big, sour berries," +said she, making wry faces as she tried to get the bad taste out of +her mouth by wiping her tongue on her fore-paw. Nimble had found some +ripe currants; so he only laughed at poor Velvet for the trouble she +was in. + +These little gray squirrels now led a merry life; they found plenty to eat +and drink, and would not have had a care in the world, if it had not been +for the noisy little dog Pinch, who let them have no quiet, barking and +baying at them whenever he saw them; and also for the watchful eyes of a +great tomcat, who was always prowling about the mill, or creeping round +the orchard and outhouses; so that with all their good food they were not +quite free from causes of fear, and no doubt sometimes wished themselves +safe back on the little rocky island, in their nest in the old oak-tree. + +Time passed away--the wheat and the oats were now ripe and fit for the +scythe, for in Canada the settlers mow wheat with an instrument called a +"cradle scythe." The beautiful Indian corn was in bloom, and its long pale +green silken threads were waving in the summer breeze. The blue jays were +busy in the fields of wheat; so were the red-winged blackbirds, and the +sparrows, and many other birds, great and small; field-mice in dozens were +cutting the straw with their sharp teeth, and carrying off the grain to +their nests; and as to the squirrels and chitmunks, there were scores of +them--black, red, and gray--filling their cheeks with the grain, and +laying it out on the rail fences and on the top of the stumps to dry, +before they carried it away to their storehouses. And many a battle the +red and the black squirrels had, and sometimes the gray joined with the +red, to beat the black ones off the ground. + +Nimble-foot and his sister kept out of these quarrels as much as they +could; but once they got a severe beating from the red squirrels for not +helping them to drive off the saucy black ones, which would carry away the +little heaps of wheat, as soon as they were dry. + +"We do not mean to trouble ourselves with laying up winter stores," said +Nimble one day to his red cousins; "don't you see Peter, the miller's man, +has got a great waggon and horses, and is carting wheat into the barn for +us?" + +The red squirrel opened his round eyes very wide at this speech. "Why, +Cousin Nimble," he said, "you are not so foolish as to think the miller +is harvesting that grain for your use. No, no, my friend; if you want +any, you must work as we do, or run the chance of starving in the winter." + +Then Nimble told him what their cousin Blackie had said. "You were +wise fellows to believe such nonsense!" said the red squirrel. "These +mills and barns are all stored for the use of the miller and his family; +and what is more, my friend, I can tell you that men are no great friends +to us poor squirrels, and will kill us when they get the chance, and +begrudge us the grain we help ourselves to." + +"Well, that is very stingy," said Velvet-paw; "I am sure there is enough +for men and squirrels too. However, I suppose all must live, so we +will let them have what we leave; I shall help myself after they have +stored it up in yonder barn." + +"You had better do as we do, and make hay while the sun shines," said +the red squirrel. + +"I would rather play in the sunshine, and eat what I want here," said +idle Velvet-paw, setting up her fine tail like a feather over her back, +as she ate an ear of corn. + +"You are a foolish, idle thing, and will come to no good," said the +red squirrel. "I wonder where you were brought up?" + +I am very sorry to relate that Velvet-paw did not come to a good end, +for she did not take the advice of her red cousin, to lay up provisions +during the harvest; but instead of that, she ate all day long, and +grew fat and lazy; and after the fields were all cleared, she went +to the mill one day, when the mill was grinding, and seeing a quantity +of wheat in the feeder of the mill, she ran up a beam and jumped down, +thinking to make a good dinner from the grain she saw; but it kept +sliding down and sliding down so fast, that she could not get one grain, +so at last she began to be frightened, and tried to get up again, but, +alas! this was not possible. She cried out to Nimble to help her; and +while he ran to look for a stick for her to raise herself up by, the +mill-wheel kept on turning, and the great stones went round faster +and faster, till poor Velvet-paw was crushed to death between them. +Nimble was now left all alone, and sad enough he was, you may suppose. + +"Ah," said he, "idleness is the ruin of gray squirrels, as well as +men, so I will go away from this place, and try and earn an honest +living in the forest. I wish I had not believed all the fine tales +my cousin the black squirrel told me." + +Then Nimble went away from the clearing, and once more resolved to +seek his fortune in the woods. He knew there were plenty of butter-nuts, +acorns, hickory-nuts, and beech-nuts, to be found, besides many sorts +of berries; and he very diligently set to work to lay up stores against +the coming winter. + +As it was now getting cold at night, Nimble-foot thought it would be +wise to make himself a warm house; so he found out a tall hemlock-pine +that was very thick and bushy at the top; there was a forked branch +in the tree, with a hollow just fit for his nest. He carried twigs +of birch and beech, and over these he laid dry green moss, which he +collected on the north side of the cedar trees, and some long gray +moss that he found on the swamp maples, and then he stripped the silky +threads from the milk-weeds, and the bark of the cedar and birch-trees. +These he gnawed fine, and soon made a soft bed; he wove and twisted +the sticks, and roots, and mosses together, till the walls of his house +were quite thick, and he made a sort of thatch over the top with dry +leaves and long moss, with a round hole to creep in and out of. + +Making this warm house took him many days' labour; but many strokes +will fell great oaks, so at last Nimble-foot's work came to an end, +and he had the comfort of a charming house to shelter him from the +cold season. He laid up a good store of nuts, acorns, and roots: some +he put in a hollow branch of the hemlock-tree close to his nest; some +he hid in a stump, and another store he laid under the roots of a mossy +cedar. When all this was done, he began to feel very lonely, and often +wished, no doubt, that he had had his sisters Silvy and Velvet-paw +with him, to share his nice warm house; but of Silvy he knew nothing, +and poor Velvet-paw was dead. + +One fine moonlight night, as Nimble was frisking about on the bough of a +birch-tree, not very far from his house in the hemlock, he saw a canoe +land on the shore of the lake, and some Indians with an axe cut down some +bushes, and having cleared a small piece of ground, begin to sharpen the +ends of some long poles. These they stuck into the ground close together +in a circle; and having stripped some sheets of birch-bark from the birch +trees close by, they thatched the sides of the hut, and made a fire of +sticks inside. They had a dead deer in the canoe, and there were several +hares and black squirrels, the sight of which rather alarmed Nimble; for +he thought if they killed one sort of squirrel, they might another, and he +was very much scared at one of the Indians firing off a gun close by him. +The noise made him fall down to the ground, and it was a good thing that +it was dark among the leaves and grass where the trunk of the tree threw +its long shadow, so that the Indian did not see him, or perhaps he might +have loaded the gun again, and shot our little friend, and made soup of +him for his supper. + +Nimble ran swiftly up a pine-tree, and was soon out of danger. While he +was watching some of the Indian children at play, he saw a girl come out +of the hut with a gray squirrel in her arms; it did not seem at all afraid +of her, but nestled to her shoulder, and even ate out of her hand; and +what was Nimble's surprise to see that this tame gray squirrel was none +other than his own pretty sister Silver-nose, whom he had left in the +hollow tree when they both ran away from the red squirrel. You may suppose +the sight of his lost companion was a joyful one; he waited for a long, +long time, till the fire went out, and all the Indians were fast asleep, +and little Silvy came out to play in the moonlight, and frisk about on the +dewy grass as she used to do. Then Nimble when he saw her, ran down the +tree, and came to her and rubbed his nose against her, and licked her soft +fur, and told her who he was, and how sorry he was for having left her in +so cowardly a manner, to be beaten by the red squirrel. + +[Illustration: NIMBLE RECOVERING HIS SISTER.] + +The good little Silvy told Nimble not to fret about what was past, and +then she asked him for her sister Velvet-paw. Nimble had a long sorrowful +tale to tell about the death of poor Velvet; and Silvy was much grieved. +Then in her turn she told Nimble all her adventures, and how she had been +caught by the Indian girl, and kept, and fed, and tamed, and had passed +her time very happily, if it had not been for thinking about her dear lost +companions. "But now," she said, "my dear brother, we will never part +again; you shall be quite welcome to share my cage, and my nice stores +of Indian corn, rice, and nuts, which my kind mistress gives me." + +"I would not he shut up in a cage, not even for one day," said Nimble, +"for all the nice fruit and grain in Canada. I am a free squirrel, and +love my liberty. I would not exchange a life of freedom in these fine old +woods, for all the dainties in the world. So, Silvy, if you prefer a life +of idleness and ease to living with me in the forest, I must say good-bye +to you." + +"But there is nothing to hurt us, my dear Nimble--no racoons, no foxes, +nor hawks, nor owls, nor weasels; if I see any hungry-looking birds or +beasts, I have a safe place to run to, and never need be hungry!" + +"I would not lead a life like that, for the world," said Nimble. "I should +die of dulness; if there is danger in a life of freedom, there is pleasure +too, which you cannot enjoy, shut up in, a wooden cage, and fed at the +will of a master or mistress.--Well, I shall be shot if the Indians awake +and see me; so I shall be off." + +Silvy looked very sorrowful; she did not like to part from her newly-found +brother, but she was unwilling to forego all the comforts and luxuries her +life of captivity afforded her. + +"You will not tell the Indians where I live, I hope, Silvy, for they would +think it a fine thing to hunt me with their dogs, or shoot me down with +their bows and arrows." + +At these words Silvy was overcome with grief, so jumping off from the log +on which she was standing, she said, "Nimble, I will go with you and share +all your perils, and we will never part again." She then ran into the +wigwam; and going softly to the little squaw, who was asleep, licked her +hands and face, as if she would say, "Good-bye, my good kind friend; I +shall not forget all your love for me, though I am going away from you for +ever." + +Silvy then followed Nimble into the forest, and they soon reached his nice +comfortable nest in the tall hemlock-tree. + + * * * * * + +"Nurse, I am glad Silvy went away with Nimble; are not you? Poor Nimble +must have been so lonely without her; and then you know it must have +seemed so hard to him if Silvy had preferred staying with the Indians to +living with him." + +"Those who have been used to a life of ease do not willingly give it up, +my dear lady. Thus you see love for her old companion was stronger even +than love of self. But I think you must have tired yourself with reading +so long to me." + +"Indeed, nurse, I must read a little more, for I want you to hear how +Silvy and Nimble amused themselves in the hemlock-tree." + +Then Lady Mary continued reading as follows:-- + +Silvy was greatly pleased with her new home, which was as soft and as warm +as clean dry moss, hay, and fibres of roots could make it. The squirrels +built a sort of pent or outer roof of twigs, dry leaves, and roots of +withered grass, which was pitched so high that it threw off the rain and +kept the inner house very dry. They worked at this very diligently, and +also laid up a store of nuts and berries. They knew that they must not +only provide plenty of food for the winter, but also for the spring +months, when they could get little to eat beside the buds and bark of some +sort of trees, and the chance seeds that might still remain in the +pine-cones. + +Thus the autumn months passed away very quickly and cheerfully with the +squirrels while preparing for the coming winter. Half the cold season was +spent, too, in sleep; but on mild, sunny days the little squirrels, roused +by the bright light of the sunbeams on the white and glittering snow, +would shake themselves, rub their black eyes, and after licking themselves +clean from dust, would whisk out of their house, and indulge in merry +gambols up and down the trunks of the trees, skipping from bough to bough, +and frolicking over the hard, crisp snow, which scarcely showed on its +surface the delicate print of their tiny feet and the sweep of their fine +light feathery tails. Sometimes they met with some little shrewmice +running on the snow. These very tiny things are so small, they hardly look +bigger than a large black beetle. They lived on the seeds of the tall +weeds, which they might be seen climbing and clinging to, yet were hardly +heavy enough to weigh down the heads of the dry stalks. It is pretty to +see the footprints of these small shrewmice on the surface of the fresh +fallen snow in the deep forest glades. They are not dormant during the +winter, like many of the mouse tribe, for they are up and abroad at all +seasons; for however stormy and severe the weather may be, they do not +seem to heed its inclemency. Surely, children, there is One who cares for +the small tender things of earth, and shelters them from the rude blasts. + +Nimble-foot and Silver-nose often saw their cousins, the black squirrels, +playing in the sunshine, chasing each other merrily up and down the trees +or over the brush-heaps; their jetty coats and long feathery tails forming +a striking contrast with the whiteness of the snow. Sometimes they saw a +few red squirrels too, but there was generally war between them and the +black ones. + +In these lonely forests everything seems still and silent during the long +wintry season, as if death had spread a white pall over the earth and +hushed every living thing into silence. Few sounds are heard through the +winter days to break the deathlike silence that reigns around, excepting +the sudden rending and cracking of the trees in the frosty air, the fall +of a decayed branch, the tapping of a solitary woodpecker--two or three +small species of which still remain after all the summer-birds are flown-- +and the gentle, weak chirp of the little tree-creeper, as it runs up and +down the hemlocks and pines, searching the crevices of the bark for +insects. Yet in all this seeming death lies hidden the life of myriads of +insects, the huge beast of the forest asleep in his lair, with many of the +smaller quadrupeds and forest-birds, that, hushed in lonely places, shall +awake to life and activity as soon as the sun-beams once more dissolve the +snow, unbind the frozen streams, and loosen the bands which held them in +repose. + +At last the spring, the glad, joyous spring, returned. The leaf-buds, +wrapped within their gummy and downy cases, began to unfold; the dark +green pines, spruce, and balsams began to shoot out fresh spiny leaves, +like tassels, from the ends of every bough, giving out the most refreshing +fragrance; the crimson buds of the young hazels and the scarlet blossoms +of the soft maple enlivened the edges of the streams; the bright coral +bark of the dogwood seemed as if freshly varnished, so brightly it glowed +in the morning sunshine; the scream of the blue jay, the song of the robin +and woodthrush, the merry note of the chiccadee and plaintive cry of the +pheobe, with loud hammering strokes of the great red-headed woodpecker, +mingled with the rush of the unbound forest streams, gurgling and +murmuring as their water flowed over their stones, and the sighing of the +breeze playing in the tree tops, made pleasant and ceaseless music. And +then, as time passed on, the trees unfolded all their bright green leaves +--the buds and forest flowers opened; and many a bright bell our little +squirrels looked down upon, from their leafy home, that the eye of man had +never seen. + +It was pleasant for our little squirrels, just after sunset, in the still +summer evenings, when the small silver stars came stealing out one by one +in the blue sky, to play among the cool dewy leaves of the grand old oaks +and maples; to watch the fitful flash of the fireflies, as they glanced +here and there, flitting through the deep gloom of the forest boughs, now +lost to sight, as they closed their wings, now flashing out like tiny +tapers, borne aloft by unseen hands in the darkness. Where that little +creek runs singing over its mossy bed, and the cedar-boughs bend down so +thick and close that only a gleam of the bright water can be seen, even in +the sunlight, there the fireflies crowd, and the damp foliage is all alive +with their dazzling light. + +In this sweet, still hour, just at the dewfall, the rush of whirring wings +may he heard from the islands, or in the forest, bordering on the water's +edge; and out of hollow logs and hoary trunks of trees come forth the +speckled night-hawks, cutting the air with their thin, sharp, wide wings +and open beak, ready to intrap the unwary moth or musquito that float so +joyously upon the evening air. One after another, sweeping in wider +circles, come forth these birds of prey, till the whole air seems alive +with them; darting hither and thither, and uttering wild, shrill screams, +as they rise higher and higher in the upper air, till some are almost lost +to sight. Sometimes one of them will descend with a sudden swoop to the +lower regions of the air, just above the highest treetops, with a hollow, +booming sound, as if some one were blowing in an empty vessel. + +At this hour, too, the bats would quit their homes in hollow trees and old +rocky banks, and flit noiselessly abroad over the surface of the quiet, +star-lit lake: and now also would begin the shrill, trilling note of the +green-frog, and the deep, hoarse bass of the bull-frog, which ceases only +at intervals, through the long, warm summer night. You might fancy a droll +sort of dialogue was being carried on among them. At first a great fellow, +the patriarch of the swamp, will put up his head, which looks very much +like a small pair of bellows, with yellow leather sides, and say, in a +harsh, guttural tone, "Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed." After a moment's +pause, two or three will rise and reply, "No, I won't; no, I won't; no, I +won't." Then the old fellow, with a growl, replies, "Get out, get out, get +out." And forthwith, with a rush, and a splash, and a dash, they raise a +chorus of whirring, grating, growling, grunting, whistling sounds, which +make you stop up your ears. When all this hubbub has lasted some minutes, +there is a pop and a splash, and down go all the heads under the weeds and +mud; and after another pause, up comes the aged father of the frogs, and +begins again with the old story, "Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed," and so +on. During the heat of the day the bull-frogs are silent; but as the day +declines and the air becomes cooler, they recommence their noisy chorus. + +I suppose these sounds, though not very pleasant to the ears of men, may +not be so disagreeable to those of wild animals. I daresay neither Nimble +nor Silvy were in the least annoyed by the hoarse note of the bull-frog, +but gambolled as merrily among the boughs and fresh dewy leaves as if they +were listening to sweet music or the songs of the birds. + +The summer passed away very happily; but towards the close of the warm +season the squirrels, Nimble and Silvy, resolved to make a journey to the +rocky island on Stony Lake, to see the old squirrels, their father and +mother. So they started at sunrise one fine pleasant day, and travelled +along; till one cool evening, just as the moon was beginning to rise above +the pine-trees, they arrived at the little rocky islet where they first +saw the light. But when they eagerly ran up the trunk of the old oak tree, +expecting to have seen their old father and mother, they were surprised +and terrified by seeing a wood-owl in the nest. + +As soon as she espied our little squirrels she shook her feathers and set +up her ears--for she was a long-eared owl--and said,-- + +"What do you want here?--ho, ho, ho, ho!" + +"Indeed, Mrs. Owl," said Nimble, "we come hither to see our parents, whom +we left here a year ago. Can you tell us where we shall find them?" + +The owl peered out of her ruff of silken feathers, and, after wiping her +sharp bill on her breast, said,-- + +"Your cousin, the black squirrel, beat your father and mother out of their +nest a long time ago, and took possession of the tree and all that was in +it; and they brought up a large family of little ones, all of which I +pounced upon one after another, and ate. Indeed, the oaks here belong to +my family; so, finding these impudent intruders would not quit the +premises, I made short work of the matter, and took the law into my own +hands." + +"Did you kill them?" asked Silvy, in a trembling voice. + +"Of course I did; and very nice, tender meat they were," replied the +horrid old owl, beginning to scramble out of the nest, and eyeing the +squirrels at the same time with a wicked look. + +"But you did not eat our parents too?" asked the trembling squirrels. + +"Yes, I did. They were very tough, to be sure; but I am not very +particular." + +The gray squirrels, though full of grief and vain regret, were obliged to +take care of themselves. There was, indeed, no time to be lost; so +made a hasty retreat. They crept under the roots of an old tree, where +they lay till the morning. They were not much concerned for the death of +the treacherous black squirrel who had told so many stories, got +possession of their old nest, and caused the death of their parents; but +they said, "We will go home again to our dear old hemlock-tree, and never +leave it more." So these dear little squirrels returned to their forest +home, and may be living there yet. + + * * * * * + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "how do you like the story?" + +Mrs. Frazer said it was a very pretty one. + +"Perhaps my dear little pet is one of Nimble or Silvy's children. You +know, nurse, they might have gone on their travels too, when they were old +enough, and then your brother may have chopped down the tree, and found +them in the forest." + +"But your squirrel, Lady Mary, is a flying squirrel, and these were only +common gray ones, which belong to a different species. Besides, my dear, +this history is but a fable." + +"I suppose, nurse," said the child, looking up in her nurse's face, +"squirrels do not really talk." + +"No, my dear; they have not the use of speech as we have. But in all ages +people have written little tales called fables, in which they make birds +and beasts speak as if they were men and women, it being an easy method of +conveying instruction." + +"My book is only a fable, then, nurse? I wish it had been true: but it is +very pretty." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +SQUIRRELS--THE CHITMUNKS--DOCILITY OF A PET ONE--ROGUERY OF A YANKEE +PEDLAR--RETURN OF THE MUSICAL CHITMUNK TO HIS MASTER'S BOSOM--SAGACITY OF +A BLACK SQUIRREL. + +"Mrs. Frazer, are you very busy just now?" asked Lady Mary, coming up to +the table where her nurse was ironing some lace. + +"No, my dear, not very busy, only preparing these lace edgings for your +frocks. Do you want me to do anything for you?" + +"I only want to tell you that my governess has promised to paint my dear +squirrel's picture, as soon as it is tame and will let me hold it in my +lap, without flying away. I saw a picture of a flying squirrel to-day, but +it was very ugly--not at all like mine; it was long and flat, and its legs +looked like sticks, and it was stretched out, just like one of those +muskrat skins that you pointed out to me in a fur store. Mamma said it was +drawn so, to show it while it was in the act of flying; but it is not +pretty--it does not show its beautiful tail, nor its bright eyes, nor soft +silky fur. I heard a lady tell mamma about a nest full of dear, tiny +little flying squirrels, that her brother once found in a tree in the +forest; he tamed them, and they lived very happily together, and would +feed from his hand. They slept in the cold weather like dormice; in the +daytime they lay very still, but would come out, and gambol and frisk +about at night. But somebody left the cage open, and they all ran away +except one; and that he found in his bed, where it had run for shelter, +with its little nose under his pillow. He caught the little fellow, and it +lived with him till the spring, when it grew restless, and one day got +away, and went off to the woods." + +"These little creatures are impatient of confinement, and will gnaw +through the woodwork of the cage to get free, especially in the spring of +the year. Doubtless, my dear, they pine for the liberty which they used to +enjoy before they were captured by man." + +"Nurse, I will not let my little pet be unhappy. As soon as the warm days +come again, and my governess has taken his picture, I will let him go +free. Are there many squirrels in this part of Canada?" + +"Not so many as in Upper Canada, Lady Mary. They abound more in some years +than in others. I have seen the beech and oak woods swarming with black +squirrels. My brothers have brought in two or three dozen in one day. The +Indians used to tell us that want of food, or very severe weather setting +in in the north, drive these little animals from their haunts. The +Indians, who observe these things more than we do, can generally tell what +sort of winter it will be, from the number of wild animals in the fall." + +"What do you mean by the fall, nurse?" + +"The autumn in Canada, my lady, is called so from the fall of the leaves. +I remember one year was remarkable for the great number of black, gray, +and flying squirrels; the little striped chitmunk was also plentiful, and +so were weasels and foxes. They came into the barns and granaries, and +into the houses, and destroyed great quantities of grain; besides gnawing +clothes that were laid out to dry; this they did to line their nests with. +Next year there were very few to be seen." + +"What became of them, nurse?" + +"Some, no doubt, fell a prey to their enemies, the cats, foxes, and +weasels, which were also very numerous that year; and the rest, perhaps, +went back to their own country again." + +"I should like to see a great number of these pretty creatures travelling +together," said Lady Mary. + +"All wild animals, my dear, are more active by night than by day, and +probably make their long journeys during that season. The eyes of many +animals and birds are so formed, that they see best in the dim twilight, +as cats, and owls, and others. Our heavenly Father has fitted all his +creatures for the state in which he has placed them." + +"Can squirrels swim like otters and beavers, nurse? If they come to a lake +or river, can they cross it?" + +"I think they can, Lady Mary; for though these creatures are not formed, +like the otter, or beaver, or muskrat, to get their living in the water, +they are able to swim when necessity requires them to do so. I heard a +lady say that she was crossing a lake, between one of the islands and the +shore, in a canoe, with a baby on her lap. She noticed a movement on the +surface of the water. At first she thought it might be a water-snake, but +the servant lad who was paddling the canoe said it was a red squirrel and +he tried to strike it with the paddle; but the little squirrel leaped out +of the water to the blade of the paddle, and sprang on the head of the +baby, as it lay on her lap; from whence it jumped to her shoulder, and +before she had recovered from her surprise, was in the water again, +swimming straight for the shore, where it was soon safe in the dark pine +woods." + +This feat of the squirrel delighted Lady Mary, who expressed her joy at +the bravery of the little creature. Besides, she said she had heard that +gray squirrels, when they wished to go to a distance in search of food, +would all meet together, and collect pieces of bark to serve them for +boats, and would set up their broad tails like sails, to catch the wind, +and in this way cross large sheets of water. + +"I do not think this can be true," observed Mrs. Frazer; "for the squirrel, +when swimming, uses his tail as an oar or rudder to help the motion, the +tail lying flat on the surface of the water; nor do these creatures need a +boat, for God, who made them, has given them the power of swimming at +their need." + +"Nurse, you said something about a ground squirrel, and called it a +chitmunk. If you please, will you tell me something about it, and why it +is called by such a curious name?" + +"I believe it is the Indian name for this sort of squirrel, my dear. The +chitmunk is not so large as the black, red, and gray squirrels. It is +marked along the back with black and white stripes; the rest of its fur is +a yellowish tawny colour. It is a very playful, lively, cleanly animal, +somewhat resembling the dormouse in its habits. It burrows underground. +Its nest is made with great care, with many galleries which open at the +surface, so that when attacked by an enemy, it can run from one to another +for security. For the squirrel has many enemies; all the weasel tribe, +cats, and even dogs attack them. Cats kill great numbers. The farmer shows +them as little mercy as he does rats and mice, as they are very +destructive, and carry off vast quantities of grain, which they store in +hollow trees for use. Not contenting themselves with one granary, they +have several in case one should fail, or perhaps become injured by +accidental causes. Thus do these simple little creatures teach us a lesson +of providential care for future events." + +"How wise of these little chitmunks to think of such precautions!" said +Lady Mary. + +"Nay, my dear child, it is God's wisdom, not theirs. These creatures work +according to his will; and so they always do what is fittest and best for +their own comfort and safety. Man is the only one of God's creatures who +disobeys him." + +These words made Lady Mary look grave, till her nurse began to talk to her +again about the chitmunk. + +"It is very easily tamed, and becomes very fond of its master. It will +obey his voice, come at a call or a whistle, sit up and beg, take a nut or +an acorn out of his hand, run up a stick, nestle in his bosom, and become +quite familiar. My uncle had a tame chitmunk that was much attached to +him; it lived in his pocket or bosom; it was his companion by day and by +night. When he was out in the forest lumbering, or on the lake fishing, or +in the fields at work, it was always with him. At meals it sat by the side +of his plate, eating what he gave it; but he did not give it meat, as he +thought that might injure its health. One day he and his pet were in the +steam-boat, going to Toronto. He had been showing off the little +chitmunk's tricks to the ladies and gentlemen on board the boat, and +several persons offered him money if he would sell it; but my uncle was +fond of the little thing, and would not part with it. However, just before +he left the boat, he missed his pet; for a cunning Yankee pedlar on board +had stolen it. My uncle knew that his little friend would not desert its +old master; so he went on deck where the passengers were assembled, and +whistled a popular tune familiar to the chitmunk. The little fellow, on +hearing it, whisked out of the pedlar's pocket, and running swiftly along +a railing against which he was standing, soon sought refuge his master's +bosom." + +Lady Mary clapped her hands with joy, and said, "I am so glad, nurse, that +the chitmunk ran back to his old friend. I wish it had bitten that Yankee +pedlar's fingers." + +"When angry these creatures will bite very sharply, set up their tails, +and run to and fro, and make a chattering sound with their teeth. The red +squirrel is very fearless for its size, and will sometimes turn round and +face you, set up its tail, and scold. But they will, when busy eating the +seeds of the sunflower or thistle, of which they are very fond, suffer you +to stand and watch them without attempting to run away. When near their +granaries, or the tree where their nest is, they are unwilling to leave +it, running to and fro, and uttering their angry notes; but if a dog is +near they make for a tree, and as soon as they are out of his reach, turn +round to chatter and scold, as long as he remains in sight. When hard +pressed, the black and flying squirrels will take prodigious leaps, +springing from bough to bough, and from tree to tree. In this manner they +baffle the hunters, and travel a great distance over the tops of the +trees. Once I saw my uncle and brothers chasing a large black squirrel. He +kept out of reach of the dogs, as well as out of sight of the men, +bypassing round and round the tree as he went up, so that they could never +get a fair shot at him. At last, they got so provoked that they took their +axes, and set to work to chop down the tree. It was a large pine tree, and +took them some time. Just as the tree was ready to fall, and was wavering +to and fro, the squirrel, that had kept on the topmost bough, sprang +nimbly to the next tree, and then to another, and by the time the great +pine had reached the ground, the squirrel was far away in his nest among +his little ones, safe from hunters, guns, and dogs." + +"The black squirrel must have wondered, I think, nurse, why so many men +and dogs tried to kill such a little creature as he was. Do the black +squirrels sleep in the winter as well as the flying squirrels and +chitmunks?" + +"No, Lady Mary; I have often seen them on bright days chasing each other +over logs and brush-heaps, and running gaily up the pine trees. They are +easily seen from the contrast which their jetty black coats make with the +sparkling white snow. These creatures feed a good deal on the kernels of +the pines and hemlocks; they also eat the buds of some trees. They lay up +great stores of nuts and grain for winter use. The flying squirrels sleep +much, and in the cold season lie heaped upon each other, for the sake of +warmth. As many as seven or eight may be found in one nest asleep. They +sometimes awaken, if there come a succession of warm days, as in the +January thaw; for I must tell you that in this country we generally have +rain and mild weather for a few days in the beginning of January, when the +snow nearly disappears from the ground. About the 12th, the weather sets +in again steadily cold; when the little animals retire once more to sleep +in their winter cradles, which they rarely leave till the hard weather is +over." + +"I suppose, nurse, when they awake, they are glad to eat some of the food +they have laid up in their granaries?" + +"Yes, my dear, it is for this they gather their hoards in mild weather; +which also supports them in the spring months, and possibly even during +the summer, till grain and fruit are ripe. I was walking in the harvest +field one day, where my brothers were cradling wheat. As I passed along +the fence, I noticed a great many little heaps of wheat lying here and +there on the rails, also upon the tops of the stumps in the field. I +wondered at first who could have placed them there, but presently noticed +a number of red squirrels running very swiftly along the fence, and +perceived that they emptied their mouths of a quantity of the new wheat, +which they had been diligently employed in collecting from the ears that +lay scattered over the ground. These little gleaners did not seem to be at +all alarmed at my presence, but went to and fro as busy as bees. On taking +some of the grains into my hand, I noticed that the germ or eye of the +kernels was bitten clean out." + +"What was that for, nurse? can you tell me?" + +"My dear young lady, I did not know at first, till, upon showing it to my +father, he told me that the squirrels destroyed the germ of the grain, +such as wheat or Indian corn, that they stored up for winter use, that it +might not sprout when buried in the ground or in a hollow tree." + +"This is very strange, nurse," said the little girl. "But I suppose," she +added, after a moment's thought, "it was God who taught the squirrels to +do so. But why would biting out the eye prevent the grain from growing?" + +"Because the eye or bud contains the life of the plant; from it springs +the green blade, and the stem that bears the ear, and the root that +strikes down to the earth. The flowery part, which swells and becomes soft +and jelly-like, serves to nourish the young plant till the tender fibres +of the roots are able to draw moisture from the ground." + +Lady Mary asked if all seeds had an eye or germ. + +Her nurse replied that all had, though some were so minute that they +looked no bigger than dust, or a grain of sand; yet each was perfect in +its kind, and contained the plant that would, when sown in the earth, +bring forth roots, leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits in due season. + +"How glad I should have been to see the little squirrels gleaning the +wheat, and laying it in the little heaps on the rail fence. Why did they +not carry it at once to their nests?" + +"They laid it out in the sun and wind to dry; for if it had been stored +away while damp, it would have moulded, and have been spoiled. The +squirrels were busy all that day; when I went to see them again, the grain +was gone. I saw several red squirrels running up and down a large pine +tree, which had been broken by the wind at the top; and there, no doubt, +they had laid up stores. These squirrels did not follow each other in a +straight line, but ran round and round in a spiral direction, so that they +never hindered each other, nor came in each other's way two were always +going up, while the other two were going down. They seem to work in +families; for the young ones, though old enough to get their own living, +usually inhabit the same nest, and help to store up the grain for winter +use. They all separate again in spring. The little chitmunk does not live +in trees, but burrows in the ground, or makes its nest in some large +hollow log. It is very pretty to see the little chitmunks, on a warm +spring day, running about and chasing each other among the moss and +leaves; they are not bigger than mice, but look bright and lively. The fur +of all the squirrel tribe is used in trimming, but the gray is the best +and most valuable. It has often been remarked by the Indians, and others, +that the red and black squirrels never live in the same place; for the +red, though the smallest, beat away the black ones. The flesh of the black +squirrel is very good to eat; the Indians also eat the red." + +Lady Mary was very glad to hear all these things, and quite forgot to play +with her doll. "Please, Mrs. Frazer," said the little lady, "tell me now +about beavers and muskrats." But Mrs. Frazer was obliged to go out on +business; she promised, however, to tell Lady Mary all she knew about +these animals another day. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +INDIAN BASKETS--THREAD PLANTS--MAPLE SUGAR-TREE--INDIAN ORNAMENTAL WORKS +--RACOONS. + +It was some time before Lady Mary's nurse could tell her any more stories. +She received a letter from her sister-in-law, informing her that her +brother was dangerously ill, confined to what was feared would prove his +deathbed, and that he earnestly desired to see her before he died. The +Governor's lady, who was very kind and good to all her household, readily +consented to let Mrs. Frazer go to her sick relation. + +Lady Mary parted from her dear nurse, whom she loved very tenderly, with +much regret. Mrs. Frazer told her that it might be a fortnight before she +could return, as her brother lived on the shores of one of the small +lakes, near the head waters of the Otonabee river, a great way off; but +she promised to return as soon as she could, and, to console her young +mistress for her absence, promised to bring her some Indian toys from the +backwoods. + +The month of March passed away pleasantly, for Lady Mary enjoyed many +delightful sleigh-drives with her papa and mamma, who took every +opportunity to instruct and amuse her. On entering her nursery one day, +after enjoying a long drive in the country, great was her joy to find her +good nurse sitting quietly at work by the store. She was dressed in deep +mourning, and looked much thinner and paler than when she had last seen +her. + +The kind little girl knew, when she saw her nurse's black dress, that her +brother must be dead; and with the thoughtfulness of a true lady, remained +very quiet, and did not annoy her with questions about trifling matters: +she spoke low and gently to her, and tried to comfort her when she saw +large tears falling on the work which she held in her hand, and kindly +said, "Mrs. Frazer, you had better lie down and rest yourself, for you +must be tired after your long, long journey." + +The next day Mrs. Frazer seemed to be much better; and she showed Lady +Mary an Indian basket made of birch-bark, very richly wrought with +coloured porcupine-quills, and which had two lids. + +Lady Mary admired the splendid colours, and strange patterns on the +basket. + +"It is for you, my dear," said her nurse; "open it, and see what is in +it." Lady Mary lifted one of the lids, and took out another small basket, +of a different shape and pattern. It had a top, which was sewn down with +coarse-looking thread, which her nurse told her was nothing but the sinews +of the deer, dried and beaten fine, and drawn out like thread. Then, +taking an end of it in her hand, she made Lady Mary observe that these +coarse threads could be separated into a great number of finer ones, +sufficiently delicate to pass through the eye of a fine needle, or to +string tiny beads. + +"The Indians, my lady, sew with the sinews of the wild animals they kill. +These sinews are much stronger and tougher than thread, and therefore are +well adapted to sew together such things as moccasins, leggings, and +garments made of the skins of wild animals. The finer threads are used for +sewing the beads and quill ornaments on moccasins, sheaths, and pouches, +besides other things that I cannot now think of. + +"Oh yes, I must tell you one thing more they make with these sinews. How +do you think the Indian women carry their infants when they go on a long +journey? They tie them to a board, and wrap them up in strong bandages of +linen or cotton, which they sew firmly together with their stoutest +thread, and then they suspend the odd-looking burden to their backs. By +this contrivance, they lessen the weight of the child considerably, and +are able to walk many miles without showing signs of fatigue. It is also +much more pleasant and healthy for the child than to be uncomfortably +cramped up in its mother's arms, and shifted about from side to side, as +first one arm aches, and then the other. + +"The Indian women sew some things with the roots of the tamarack, or +larch; such as coarse birch-baskets, hark canoes, and the covering of +their wigwams. They call this 'wah-tap' [Footnote: Asclepia parvilfora.] +(wood-thread), and they prepare it by pulling off the outer rind and +steeping it in water. It is the larger fibres which have the appearance of +small cordage when coiled up and fit for use. This 'wah-tap' is very +valuable to these poor Indians. There is also another plant, called Indian +hemp, which is a small shrubby kind of milk-weed, that grows on gravelly +islands. It bears white flowers, and the branches are long and slender; +under the bark there is a fine silky thread covering the wood; this is +tough, and can be twisted and spun into cloth. It is very white and fine, +and does not easily break. There are other plants of the same family, with +pods full of fine shining silk; but these are too brittle to spin into +thread. This last kind, Lady Mary, which is called Milk-weed flytrap, I +will show you in summer." [Footnote: Asclepia Syrica.] + +But while Mrs. Frazer was talking about these plants, the little lady was +examining the contents of the small birch-box. "If you please, nurse, will +you tell me what these dark shining seeds are?" + +"These seeds, my dear, are Indian rice; an old squaw, Mrs. Peter Noggan, +gave me this as a present for 'Governor's daughter;'" and Mrs. Frazer +imitated the soft, whining tone of the Indian, which made Lady Mary laugh. + +"The box is called a 'mowkowk.' There is another just like it, only there +is a white bird--a snow bird, I suppose it is intended for--worked on the +lid." The lid of this box was fastened down with a narrow slip of deer +skin, Lady Mary cut the fastening, and raised the lid--"Nurse, it is only +yellow sand, how droll, to send me a box of sand!" + +"It is not sand, taste it, Lady Mary." + +"It is sweet--it is sugar! Ah! now I know what it is that this kind old +squaw has sent me, it is maple-sugar, and is very nice I will go and show +it to mamma." + +"Wait a little, Lady Mary, let us see what there is in the basket besides +the rice and the maple sugar." + +"What a lovely thing this is, dear nurse! what can it be?" + +"It is a sheath for your scissors, my dear, it is made of doe skin, +embroidered with white beads, and coloured quills split fine, and sewn +with deer sinew thread Look at these curious bracelets." + +Lady Mary examined the bracelets, and said she thought they were wrought +with beads, but Mrs. Frazer told her that what she took for beads were +porcupine quills, cut out very finely, and strung in a pattern. They were +not only neatly but tastefully made, the pattern, though a Grecian scroll, +having been carefully imitated by some Indian squaw. + +"This embroidered knife sheath is large enough for a hunting knife," said +Lady Mary, "a '_couteau de chasse_,'--is it not?" + +"This sheath was worked by the wife of Isaac Iron, an educated chief of +the Mud Lake Indians, she gave it to me because I had been kind to her in +sickness." + +"I will give it to my dear papa," said Lady Mary, "for I never go out +hunting, and do not wish to carry a large knife by my side;" and she laid +the sheath away, after having admired its gay colours, and particularly +the figure of a little animal worked in black and white quills. + +"This is a present for your doll; it is a doll's mat, woven by a little +girl, aged seven years, Rachel Muskrat; and here is a little canoe of red +cedar, made by a little Indian boy." + +"What a darling little boat! and there is a fish carved on the paddles." +This device greatly pleased Lady Mary, who said she would send Rachel a +wax doll, and little Moses a knife or some other useful article, when Mrs. +Frazer went again to the Lakes; but when her nurse took out of the other +end of the basket a birch-bark cradle, made for her doll, worked very +richly, she clapped her hands for joy, saying, "Ah, nurse, you should not +have brought me so many pretty things at once, for I am too happy!" + +The remaining contents of the basket consisted of seeds and berries, and a +small cake of maple-sugar, which Mrs. Frazer had made for the young lady. +This was very different in appearance from the Indian sugar; it was bright +and sparkling, like sugar-candy, and tasted sweeter. The other sugar was +dry, and slightly bitter: Mrs. Frazer told Lady Mary that this peculiar +taste was caused by the birch-bark vessels, which the Indians used for +catching the sap, as it flowed from the maple-trees. + +"I wonder who taught the Indians how to make maple-sugar?" asked the +child. + +"I do not know," replied the nurse. "I have heard that they knew how to +make this sugar when the discoverers of the country found them. [Footnote: +However this may be, the French settlers claim the merit of converting the +sap into sugar.] It may he that they found it out by accident. The +sugar-maple when wounded in March or April, yields a great deal of sweet +liquor. Some Indians may have supplied themselves with this juice, when +pressed for want of water; for it flows so freely in warm days in spring, +that several pints can be obtained from one tree in the course of the day. +By boiling this juice, it becomes very sweet; and at last when all the +thin watery part has gone off in steam, it becomes thick, like honey; by +boiling it still longer, it turns to sugar, when cold. So you see, my +dear, that the Indians may have found it out by boiling some sap, instead +of water, and letting it remain on the fire till it grew thick." + +"Are there many kinds of maple-trees, that sugar can be made from, nurse?" +asked the little girl. + +"Yes, [Footnote: All the maple tribe are of a saccharine nature. Sugar has +been made in England from the sap of the sycamore.] my lady; but I the +sugar-maple yields the best sap for the purpose; that of the birch-tree, I +have heard, can be made into sugar; but it would require a larger +quantity; weak wine, or vinegar, is made by the settlers of birch-sap, +which is very pleasant tasted. The people who live in the backwoods, and +make maple-sugar, always make a keg of vinegar at the sugaring off." + +"That must be very useful; but if the sap is sweet, how can it he made +into such sour stuff as vinegar?" + +Then nurse tried to make Lady Mary understand that the heat of the sun, or +of a warm room, would make the liquor ferment, unless it had been boiled a +long time, so as to become very sweet, and somewhat thick. The first +fermentation, she told her, would give only a winy taste; but if it +continued to ferment a great deal, it turned sour, and became vinegar. + +"How very useful the maple-tree is, nurse! I wish there were maples in the +garden, and I would make sugar, molasses, wine, and vinegar; and what else +would I do with my maple-tree?" + +Mrs. Frazer said,--"The wood makes excellent fuel; but is also used in +making bedsteads, chests of drawers, and many other things. There is a +very pretty wood for furniture, called 'bird's-eye maple;' the drawers in +my bedroom that you think so pretty are made of it; but it is a disease in +the tree that causes it to have these little marks all through the wood. +In autumn, this tree improves the forest landscape, for the bright scarlet +leaves of the maple give a beautiful look to the woods. The red maple +(_Acer rubrus_), another species, is very bright when the leaves are +changing, but it gives no sugar." + +"Then I will not let it grow in my garden, nurse!" + +"It is good for other purposes, my dear. The settlers use the bark +dyeing wool; and a jet black ink can be made from it, by boiling down the +bark with a bit of copperas, in an iron vessel; so you see it is useful. +The bright red flowers of this tree look very pretty in the spring; it +grows best by the water-side, and some call it 'the swamp-maple.'" + +This was all Mrs. Frazer could tell Lady Mary about the maple-trees. Many +little girls, as young as the Governor's daughter, would have thought it +very dull to listen to what her nurse had to say about plants and trees; +but Lady Mary would put aside her dolls and toys, to stand beside her to +ask questions, and listen to her answers; the more she heard the more she +desired to hear, about these things. "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, +are two things that are never satisfied," saith the wise king Solomon. + +Lady Mary was delighted with the contents of her Indian basket, and spent +the rest of her play-hours in looking at the various articles it +contained, and asking her nurse questions about the materials of which +they were made. Some of the bark-boxes were lined with paper, but the +doll's cradle was not, and Lady Mary perceived that the inside of it was +very rough, caused by the hard ends of the quills with which it was +ornamented. At first she could not think how the squaws worked with the +quills, as they could not possibly thread them through the eye of a +needle; but her nurse told her that when they want to work any pattern in +birch-bark, they trace it with some sharp-pointed instrument, such as a +nail, or bodkin, or even a sharp thorn, with which they pierce holes close +together round the edge of the leaf, or blade, or bird they have drawn out +on the birch-bark; into these holes they insert one end of the quill, the +other end is then drawn through the opposite hole, pulled tight, bent a +little, and cut off on the inside. This any one of my young readers may +see, if they examine the Indian baskets or toys, made of birch-bark. "I +have seen the squaws in their wigwams at work on these things, sitting +cross-legged on their mats,--some had the quilla in a little bark dish on +their laps, while others held them in their mouths--not a very safe nor +delicate way; but Indians are not very nice in some of their habits," said +Mrs. Frazer. "The prettiest sort of Indian work is done in coloured +moose-hair, with which, formed into a sort of rich embroidery, they +ornament the moccasins, hunting-knife, sheaths, and birch-bark baskets and +toys." + +"Nurse, if you please, will you tell me what this little animal is +designed to represent?" said Lady Mary, pointing to the figure of the +racoon worked in quills on the sheath of the hunting-knife. + +"It is intended for a racoon, my lady," replied her nurse. + +"Is the racoon a pretty-creature like my squirrel?" + +"It is much larger than your squirrel; its fur is not nearly so soft or so +fine; the colour being black and gray, or dun; the tail barred across, and +bushy,--you have seen many sleigh-robes made of racoon-skins, with the +tails looking like tassels at the back of the sleighs." + +"Oh yes, and a funny, cunning-looking face peeping out too!" + +"The face of this little animal is sharp, and the eyes black and keen, +like a fox; the feet bare, like the soles of our feet, only black and +leathery; their claws are very sharp; they can climb trees very fast. +During the winter the racoons sleep in hollow trees, and cling together +for the sake of keeping each other warm. The choppers find as many as +seven or eight in one nest, fast asleep. Most probably the young family +remain with the old ones until spring, when they separate. The racoon in +its habits is said to resemble the bear; like the bear, it lives chiefly +on vegetables, especially Indian corn, but I do not think that it lays by +any store for winter. They sometimes awake if there come a few warm days, +but soon retire again to their warm, cozy nests." + +"Racoons will eat eggs; and fowls are often taken by them,--perhaps this +is in the winter, when they wake up and are pressed by hunger." + +Her nurse said that one of her friends had a racoon which he kept in a +wooden cage, but he was obliged to have a chain and collar to keep him +from getting away, as he used to gnaw the bars asunder; and had slily +stolen away and killed some ducks, and was almost as mischievous as a fox, +but was very lively and amusing in his way. + +Lady Mary now left her good nurse, and took her basket, with all its +Indian treasures, to show to her mamma, with whom we leave her for the +present. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +CANADIAN BIRDS--SNOW SPARROW--ROBIN REDBREAST--CANADIAN FLOWERS--AMERICAN +PORCUPINE. + +"Spring is coming, nurse--spring is coming at last!" exclaimed the +Governor's little daughter, joyfully. "The snow is going away at last! I +am tired of the white snow; it makes my eyes ache. I want to see the brown +earth, and the grass, and the green moss, and the pretty flowers again." + +"It will be some days before this deep covering of snow is gone. The +streets are still slippery with ice, which it will take some time, my +lady, to soften." + +"But, nurse, the sun shines, and there are little streams of water running +along the streets in every direction. See, the snow is gone from under the +bushes and trees in the garden. I saw some dear little birds flying about, +and I watched them perching on the dry stalks of the tall, rough weeds, +and they appeared to be picking seeds out of the husks. Can you tell me +what birds they were?" + +"I saw the flock of birds you mean, Lady Mary. They are the common +snow-sparrows [Footnote: Fringilla nivalia.]--almost our earliest +visitants, for they may be seen in April, mingled with the brown +song-sparrow, [Footnote: Fringilla malodia.] flitting about the garden +fences, or picking the stalks of the tall mullein and amaranths, to find +the seeds that have not been shaken out by the autumn winds; and possibly +they also find insects cradled in the husks of the old seed-vessels. These +snow-sparrows are very hardy; and though some migrate to the States in the +beginning of winter, a few stay in the Upper Province, and others come +back to us before the snow is all gone." + +"They are very pretty, neat-looking birds, nurse; dark slate colour, with +white breasts." + +"When I was a little girl I used to call them my Quaker-birds, they +looked so neat and prim. In the summer you may find their nests in the +brush-heaps near the edge of the forest. They sing a soft, low song." + +"Nurse, I heard a bird singing yesterday when I was in the garden; a +little, plain, brown bird, nurse." + +"It was a song-sparrow, Lady Mary. This cheerful little bird comes with +the snow-birds, often before the robin." + +"Oh, nurse, the robin! I wish you would show me a darling robin redbreast. +I did not know they lived in Canada." + +"The bird that we call the robin in this country, my dear, is not like the +little redbreast you have seen at home. Our robin is twice as large. +Though in shape resembling the European robin, I believe it is really a +kind of thrush. [Footnote: Turdus migratoria.] It migrates in the fall, +and returns to us early in the spring." + +"What is migrating, nurse? Is it the same as emigrating?" + +"Yes, Lady Mary; for when a person leaves his native country, and goes to +live in another country, he is said to emigrate. This is the reason why +the English, Scotch, and Irish families who come to live in Canada are +called emigrants." + +"What colour are the Canadian robins, nurse?" + +"The head is blackish; the back, lead colour; and the breast is pale +orange--not so bright a red, however, as the real robin." + +"Have you ever seen their nests, nurse?" + +"Yes, my dear, many of them. It is not a pretty nest. It is large, and +coarsely put together, of old dried grass, roots, and dead leaves, +plastered inside with clay, mixed with bits of straw, so as to form a sort +of mortar. You know, Lady Mary, that the blackbird and thrush build nests, +and plaster them in this way?" + +The little lady nodded her head in assent. + +"Nurse, I once saw a robin's nest when I was in England. It was in the +side of a mossy ditch, with primroses growing close beside it. It was made +of green moss, and lined with white wool and hair. It was a pretty nest, +with nice eggs in it; much better than your Canadian robin's nest." + +[Illustration: WATCHING THE BIRDS] + +"Our robins build in upturned roots, in the corners of rail fences, and in +the young pear-trees and apple-trees in the orchard. The eggs are a +greenish-blue. The robin sings a full, clear song; indeed, he is our best +songster. We have so few singing-birds that we prize those that do sing +very much." + +"Does the Canadian robin come into the house in winter, and pick up the +crumbs, as the dear little redbreasts do at home?" + +"No, Lady Mary; they are able to find plenty of food abroad when they +return to us, but they hop about the houses and gardens pretty freely. In +the fall, before they go away, they may be seen in great numbers, running +about the old pastures, picking up worms and seeds." + +"Do people see the birds flying away together, nurse?" + +"Not often, my dear; for most birds congregate together in small flocks, +and depart unnoticed. Many go away at night, when we are sleeping; and +some fly very high on cloudy days, so that they are not distinctly seen +against the dull, gray sky. The water-birds--such as geese, swans, and +ducks--take their flight in large bodies. They are heard making a +continual noise in the air; and may be seen grouped in long lines, or in +the form of the letter V lying on its side (>), the point generally +directed southward or westward, the strongest and oldest birds acting as +leaders. When tired, these aquatic generals fall backward into the main +body, and are replaced by others." + +Lady Mary was much surprised at the order and sagacity displayed by +wild-fowl in their flight; and Mrs. Frazer told her that some other time +she would tell her some more facts respecting their migration to other +countries. + +"Nurse, will you tell me something about birds' nests, and what they make +them of?" + +"Birds that live chiefly in the depths of the forest, or in solitary +places, far away from the haunts of men, build their nests of ruder +materials, and with less care in the manner of putting them together. +Dried grass, roots, and a little moss, seem to be the materials they make +use of. It has been noticed by many persons, my dear, that those birds +that live near towns and villages and cleared farms, soon learn to make +better sorts of nests, and to weave into them soft and comfortable things, +such--as silk, wool, cotton, and hair." + +"That is very strange, nurse." + +"It is so, Lady Mary; but the same thing may also be seen among human +beings. The savage nations are contented with rude dwellings made of +sticks and cane, covered with skins' of beasts, bark, or reeds; but when +they once unite together in a more social state, and live in villages and +towns, a desire for improvement takes place. The tent of skins or the rude +shanty is exchanged for a hut of better shape; and this in time gives +place to houses and furniture of more useful and ornamental kinds." + +"Nurse, I heard mamma say that the Britons who lived in England were once +savages, and lived in caves, huts, and thick woods; that they dressed in +skins, and painted their bodies like the Indians." + +"When you read the history of England, you will see that such was +the case," said Mrs. Frazer. + +"Nurse, perhaps the little birds like to see the flowers, and the +sunshine, and the blue sky, and men's houses. I will make my garden very +pretty this spring, and plant some nice flowers, to please the dear little +birds." + +Many persons would have thought such remarks very foolish in our little +lady. But Mrs. Frazer, who was a good and wise woman, did not laugh at the +little girl; for she thought it was a lovely thing to see her wish to give +happiness to the least of God's creatures, for it was imitating his own +goodness and mercy, which delight in the enjoyment of the things which he +has called into existence. + +"Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me which flowers will be first in +bloom?" + +"The very first is a plant that comes up without leaves." + +"Nurse, that is the Christmas-rose. [Footnote: Winter Aconite] I have seen +it in the old country." + +"No, Lady Mary; it is the colt's-foot. [Footnote: Tussilago Fartara] It is +a common-looking, coarse, yellow-blossomed flower: it is the first that +blooms after the snow. Then comes the pretty snow flower, or hepatica. Its +pretty tufts of white, pink, or blue starry flowers may be seen on the +open clearing, or beneath the shade of the half cleared woods or upturned +roots and sunny banks. Like the English daisy, it grows everywhere, and +the sight of its bright starry blossoms delights every eye. The next +flower that comes in is the dog's tooth violet." [Footnote: Erythronium] + +"What a droll name!" exclaimed Lady Mary, laughing. + +"I suppose it is called so from the sharpness of the flower leaves +(petals), my lady, but it is a beautiful yellow lily. The leaves are also +pretty, they are veined or clouded with milky white or dusky purple. The +plant has a bulbous root, and in the month of April sends up its single, +nodding, yellow spotted flowers. They grow in large beds, where the ground +is black, moist, and rich, near creeks on the edge of the forest." + +"Do you know any other pretty flowers, nurse?" + +"Yes, my lady, there are a great many that bloom in April and May. white +violets, and blue and yellow of many kinds. And then there is the spring +beauty, [Footnote: Claytonia] a delicate little flower, with pink striped +bells, and the everlasting flower, [Footnote: Graphalium] and saxifrage, +and the white and dark red lily, that the Yankees call 'white and red +death.' [Footnote: Trillium or Wake Robin] These have three green leaves +about the middle of the stalk, and the flower is composed of three pure +white or deep red leaves--petals my father used to call them: for my +father, Lady Mary, was a botanist, and knew the names of all the flowers, +and I learned them from him. The most curious is the moccasin flower. The +early one is bright golden yellow, and has a bag or sack which is +curiously spotted with ruby red, and its petals are twisted like horns. +There is a hard, thick piece that lies down just above the sack or +moccasin part; and if you lift this up, you see a pair of round, dark +spots like eyes, and the Indians say it is like the face of a hound, with +the nose and black eyes plain to be seen. Two of the shorter, curled, +brown petals look like flapped ears, one on each side of the face. There +is a more beautiful sort, purple and white, which blooms in August. The +plant is taller, and bears large, lovely flowers." + +"And has it a funny face and ears too, nurse?" + +"Yes, my dear, but the face is more like an ape's: it is even more +distinct than in the yellow moccasin. When my brother and I were children, +we used to fold back the petals, and call them baby flowers: the sack, we +thought, looked like a baby's white frock." + +Lady Mary was much amused at this notion. + +"There are a great number of very beautiful and also very curious flowers +growing in the forest," said Mrs. Frazer. "Some of them are used in +medicine, and some by the Indians for dyes, with which they stain the +baskets and porcupine quills. One of our earliest flowers is called the +blood-root. [Footnote: Sanguivaria.] It comes up a delicate, white-folded +bud, within a vine-shaped leaf, which is veined on the under side with +orange yellow. If the stem or the root of this plant be broken, a scarlet +juice drops out very fast. It is with this the squaws dye red and orange +colours." + +"I am glad to hear this, nurse. Now I can tell my dear mamma what the +baskets and quills are dyed with." + +"The flower is very pretty, like a white crocus, only not so large. You +saw some crocuses in the conservatory the other day, I think, my dear +lady." + +"Oh yes; yellow ones, and purple too, in a funny china thing, with holes +in its back, and the flowers came up through the holes. The gardener said +it was a porcupine. + +"Please, nurse, tell me of what colours real porcupine quills are?" + +"They are white and grayish-brown." + +Then Lady Mary brought a print and showed it to her nurse, saying,-- + +"Nurse, is the porcupine like this picture?" + +"The American porcupine, my dear, is not so large as this species: its +spines are smaller and weaker. It resembles the common hedgehog more +nearly. It is an innocent animal, feeding mostly on roots and small +fruits. It burrows in dry, stony hillocks, and passes the cold weather in +sleep. It goes abroad chiefly during the night. The spines of the Canadian +porcupine are much weaker than those of the African species. The Indians +trap these creatures, and eat their flesh. They bake them in their skins +in native ovens--holes made in the earth, lined with stones, which they +make very hot, covering them over with embers." [Footnote: There is a +plant of the lily tribe, upon whose roots the porcupine feeds, as well as +on wild bulbs and berries, and the bark of the black spruce and larch. It +will also eat apples and Indian corn.] + +Mrs. Frazer had told Lady Mary all she knew about the porcupine, when +Campbell, the footman, came to say that her papa wanted to see her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +INDIAN BAG--INDIAN EMBROIDERY--BEAVER'S TAIL--BEAVER ARCHITECTURE-- +OF THE BEAVER--BEAVER TOOLS--BEAVER MEADOWS. + +When Lady Mary went down to her father, he presented her with a beautiful +Indian bag, which he had brought from Lake Huron, in the Upper Province. +It was of fine doeskin, very nicely wrought with dyed moose-hair, and the +pattern was Very pretty; the border was of scarlet feathers on one side, +and blue on the other, which formed a rich silken fringe at each edge. +This was a present from the wife of a chief on Manitoulin Island. Lady +Mary was much delighted with her present, and admired this new-fashioned +work in moose-hair very much. The feathers, Mrs. Frazer told her, were +from the summer red-bird or war-bird, and the blue-bird, both of which +Lady Mary said she had seen. The Indians use these feathers as ornaments +for their heads and shoulders on grand occasions. + +[Illustration: THE PRESENT FROM FATHER] + +Lady Mary recollected hearing her mamma speak of Indians who wore mantles +and dresses of gay feathers. They were chiefs of the Sandwich Islands she +believed, who had these superb habits. + +"You might tell me something about these Indians, nurse," said little +Mary. + +"I might occupy whole days in describing their singular customs, my dear," +replied Mrs. Frazer, "and I fear you would forget one half of what I told +you. But there are numerous interesting books in reference to them, which +you will read as you grow older. You would be much amused at the +appearance of an Indian chief, when dressed out in the feathers we have +been speaking of, his face covered with red paint, his robe flowing loose +and free, and his calumet, or pipe, gaily decked with ribbons. The Indians +are great orators, being distinguished by their graceful gestures, their +animated air, and their vigorous and expressive style. They are tall well +made, and athletic, their complexion of a reddish copper colour, their +hair long, coarse, and jet black. Their senses are remarkably acute, and +they can see and hear with extraordinary distinctness. They will follow up +the track of a man or animal through the dense woods and across the vast +plains by trifling signs, which no European can detect. Their temperament +is cold and unimpassioned, they are capable of enduring extreme hunger and +thirst, and seem almost insensible to pain. Under certain circumstances +they are generous and hospitable, but when once roused, their vengeance is +not easily satisfied. They will pursue a real or supposed foe with a +hatred which never tires, and gratify their lust of cruelty by exposing +him, when captured, to the most horrible torments. They support themselves +by fishing and on the spoils of the chase; and though a few tribes have +become partially civilized, and devoted themselves to the peaceful +pursuits of husbandry, the majority retire further and further into the +dense forests of the west as the white man continues his advance, and +wander, like their forefathers, about the lonely shores of the great +lakes, and on the banks of the vast rolling rivers." + +"Thank you, nurse; I will not forget what you have told me. And now, have +you anything more to say about birds and flowers? I can never weary of +hearing about such interesting objects." + +"I promised to tell you about the beavers, my lady," replied Mrs. Frazer. + +"Oh yes, about the beavers that make the dams and the nice houses, and cut +down whole trees. I am glad you can tell me something about those curious +creatures; for mamma bought me a pretty picture, which I will show you, if +you please," said the little girl. "But what is this odd-looking, black +thing here? Is it a dried fish? It must be a black bass. Yes, nurse, I am +sure it is." + +The nurse smiled, and said: "It is not a fish at all, my dear; it is a +dried beaver's tail. I brought it from the back lakes when I was at home, +that you might see it. See, my lady, how curiously the beaver's tail is +covered with scales; it looks like some sort of black leather, stamped in +a diaper pattern. Before it is dried it is very heavy, weighing three or +four pounds. I have heard my brothers and some of the Indian trappers say, +that the animal makes use of its tail to beat the sides of the dams and +smooth the mud and clay, as a plasterer uses a trowel. Some people think +otherwise, but it seems well suited from its shape and weight for the +purpose, and, indeed, as the walls they raise seem to have been smoothed +by some implement, I see no reason to disbelieve the story." + +"And what do the beavers make dams with, nurse?" + +"With small trees cut into pieces, and drawn in close to each other; and +then the beavers fill the spaces between with sods, and stones, and clay, +and all sorts of things, that they gather together and work up into a +solid wall. The walls are made broad at the bottom, and are several feet +in thickness, to make them strong enough to keep the water from washing +through them. The beavers assemble together in the fall, about the months +of October and November, to build their houses and repair their dams. They +prefer running water, as it is less likely to freeze. They work in large +parties, sometimes fifty or a hundred together, and do a great deal in a +short time. They work during the night." + +"Of what use is the dam, nurse?" + +"The dam is for the purpose of securing a constant supply of water, +without which they could not live. When they have enclosed the +beaver-pond, they separate into family parties of eleven or twelve, +perhaps more, sometimes less, and construct dwellings, which are raised +against the inner walls of the dam. These little huts have two chambers, +one in which they sleep, which is warm and soft and dry, lined with roots +and sedges and dry grass, and any odds and ends that serve their purpose. +The feeding place is below; in this is stored the wood or the bark on +which they feed. The entrance to this is under water, and hidden from +sight; but it is there that the cunning hunter sets his trap to catch the +unsuspecting beavers. + +"A beaver's house is large enough to allow two men a comfortable +sleeping-room, and it is kept very clean. It is built of sticks, stones, +and mud, and is well plastered outside and in. The trowel the beaver uses +in plastering is his tail; this is considered a great delicacy at the +table. Their beds are made of chips, split as fine as the brush of an +Indian broom, these are disposed in one corner, and kept dry and sweet and +clean. It is the bark of the green wood that is used by the beavers for +food; after the stick is peeled, they float it out at a distance from the +house. Many good housewives might learn a lesson of neatness and order +from the humble beaver. + +[Illustration: BEAVERS MAKING A DAM] + +"In large lakes and rivers the beavers make no dams, they have water +enough without putting themselves to that trouble; but in small creeks +they dam up, and make a better stop-water than is done by the millers. The +spot where they build their dams is the most labour-saving place in the +valley, and where the work will stand best. When the dam is finished, not +a drop of water escapes; their work is always well done." + +"Nurse, do not beavers, and otters, and musk rats feel cold while living +in the water; and do they not get wet?" + +"No, my dear; they do not feel cold, and cannot get wet, for the thick +coating of hair and down keeps them warm, and these animals, like ducks +and geese, and all kinds of water-fowls, are supplied with a bag of oil, +with which they dress their coats, and that throws off the moisture; for +you know, Lady Mary, that oil and water will not mix. All creatures that +live in the water are provided with oily fur, or smooth scales, that no +water can penetrate; and water-birds, such as ducks and geese, have a +little bag of oil, with which they dress their feathers." + +"Are there any beavers in England, nurse?" asked Lady Mary. + +"No, my lady, not now; but I remember my father told me that this animal +once existed in numbers in different countries of Europe; he said they +were still to be found in Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, and even in +France. [Footnote: The remains of beaver dams in Wales prove that this +interesting animal was once a native of Great Britain.] The beaver abounds +mostly in North America, and in its cold portions; in solitudes that no +foot of man but the wild Indian has ever penetrated--in lonely streams and +inland lakes--these harmless creatures are found fulfilling God's purpose, +and doing injury to none. + +"I think if there had been any beavers in the land of Israel in Solomon's +time, that the wise king who spake of ants, spiders, grasshoppers, and +conies, [Footnote: The rock rabbits of Judea.] would have named the +beavers also, as patterns of gentleness, cleanliness, and industry. They +work together in bands, and live in families, and never fight or disagree. +They have no chief or leader; they seem to have neither king nor ruler; +yet they work in perfect love and harmony. How pleasant it would be, Lady +Mary, if all Christian people would love each other as these poor beavers +seem to do." + +"Nurse, how can beavers cut down trees; they have neither axes nor saws?" + +"Here, Lady Mary, are the axes and saws with which God has provided these +little creatures;" and Mrs. Frazer showed Lady Mary two long curved tusks, +of a reddish-brown colour, which she told her were the tools used by the +beavers to cut and gnaw the trees; she said she had seen trees as thick as +a man's leg that had been felled by these simple tools. + +Lady Mary was much surprised that such small animals could cut through +anything so thick. + +"In nature," replied her nurse, "we often see great things done by very +small means. Patience and perseverance work well. The poplar, birch, and +some other trees, on which beavers feed, and which they also use in making +their dams, are softer and more easily cut than oak, elm, or birch would +be; these trees are found growing near the water, and in such places as +the beavers build in. The settler owes to the industrious habits of this +animal those large open tracts of land called beaver meadows, covered with +long, thick, rank grass, which he cuts down and uses as hay. These beaver +meadows have the appearance of dried-up lakes. The soil is black and +spongy; for you may put a stick down to the depth of many feet. It is only +in the months of July, August, and September, that they are dry. Bushes of +black alder, with a few poplars and twining shrubs, are scattered over the +beaver meadows, some of which have high stony banks, and little islands of +trees. On these are many pretty wild-flowers; among others, I found +growing on the dry banks some real hare-bells, both blue and white." + +"Ah, dear nurse, hare-bells! did you find real hare-bells, such as grow on +the bonny Highland hills among the heather? I wish papa would let me go to +the Upper Province to see the beaver meadows, and gather the dear +blue-bells." + +"My father, Lady Mary, wept when I brought him a handful of these flowers; +for he said it reminded him of his Highland home. I have found these +pretty bells growing on the wild hills about Rice Lake, near the water, as +well as near the beaver meadows." + +"Do the beavers sleep in the winter time, nurse?" + +"They do not lie torpid, as racoons do, though they may sleep a good deal; +but as they lay up a great store of provisions for the winter, of course +they must awake sometimes to eat it." + +Lady Mary thought so too. + +"In the spring, when the long warm days return, they quit their winter +retreat, and separate in pairs, living in holes in the banks of lakes and +rivers, and do not unite again till the approach of the cold calls them +together to prepare for winter, as I told you." + +"Who calls them all to build their winter houses?" asked the child. + +"The providence of God, usually called instinct, that guides these +animals; doubtless it is the law of nature given to them by God. + +"There is a great resemblance in the habits of the musk-rat and the +beaver. They all live in the water; all separate in the spring, and meet +again in the fall to build and work together; and, having helped each +other in these things, they retire to a private dwelling, each family to +its own. The otter does not make a dam, like the beaver, and I am not sure +that, like the beaver, it works in companies: it lives on fish and roots; +the musk-rat on shell-fish and roots; and the beaver on vegetable food +mostly. Musk-rats and beavers are used for food, but the flesh of the +otter is too fishy to be eaten." + +"Nurse, can people eat musk-rats?" asked Lady Mary, with surprise. + +"Yes, my lady, in the spring months the hunters and Indians reckon them +good food. I have eaten them myself, but I did not like them, they were +too fat. Musk-rats build a little house of rushes, and plaster it, they +have two chambers, and do not lie torpid, they build in shallow, rushy +places in lakes but in spring they quit their winter houses and are often +found in holes among the roots of trees. They live on mussels and shell +fish. The fur is used in making caps, and hats, and fur gloves." + +"Nurse, did you ever see a tame beaver?" + +"Yes, my dear, I knew a squaw who had a tame beaver, which she used to +take out in her canoe with her, and it sat in her lap, or on her shoulder, +and was very playful." Just then the dinner bell rang, and as dinner at +Government House waits for no one, Lady Mary was obliged to defer hearing +more about beavers until another time. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +INDIAN BOY AND HIS PETS--TAME BEAVER AT HOME--KITTEN, WILDFIRE--PET RACOON +AND THE SPANIEL PUPPIES--CANADIAN FLORA. + +"Nurse, you have told me a great many nice stories; now I can tell you one, +if you would like to hear it;" and the Governor's little daughter fixed +her bright eyes, beaming with intelligence, on the face of her nurse, who +smiled, and said she should like very much to hear the story. + +"You must guess what it is to be about, nurse." + +"I am afraid I shall not guess right. Is it 'Little Red Riding Hood,' or +'Old Mother Hubbard,' or 'Jack the Giant-killer?'" + +"Oh, nurse, to guess such silly stories!" said the little girl, stopping +her ears. "Those are too silly for me even to tell baby! My story is a +nice story about a darling tame beaver. Major Pickford took me on his knee +and told me the story last night." + +Mrs. Frazer begged Lady Mary's pardon for making such foolish guesses, and +declared she should like very much to hear Major Pickford's story of the +tame beaver. + +"Well, nurse, you must know there was once a gentleman who lived in the +bush, on the banks of a small lake, somewhere in Canada, a long, long way +from Montreal. He lived all alone in a little log-house, and spent his +time in fishing and trapping and hunting; and he was very dull, for he had +no wife, and no little child like me to talk to. The only people whom he +used to see were some French lumberers; and now and then the Indians would +come in their canoes and fish on his lake, and make their wigwams on the +lake-shore, and hunt deer in the wood. The gentleman was very fond of the +Indians, and used to pass a great deal of his time with them, and talk to +them in their own language. + +"Well, nurse, one day he found a poor little Indian boy who had been lost +in the woods, and was half starved, sick, and weak; and the kind gentleman +took him home to his house, and fed and nursed him till he got quite +strong again. Was not that good, nurse?" + +"It was quite right, my lady. People should always be kind to the sick and +weak, and especially to a poor Indian stranger. I like the story very +much, and shall be glad to hear more about the Indian boy." + +"Nurse, there is not a great deal more about the Indian boy; for when the +Indian party to which he belonged returned from hunting, he went away to +his own home; but I forgot to tell you that the gentleman had often said +how much he should like to have a young beaver to make a pet of. He was +very fond of pets; he had a dear little squirrel, just like mine, nurse, a +flying squirrel, which he had made so tame that it slept in his bosom and +lived in his pocket, where he kept nuts and acorns and apples for it to +eat; and he had a racoon too, nurse--only think, a real racoon! and Major +Pickford told me something so droll about the racoon, only I want first to +go on with the story about the beaver." + +"One day, as the gentleman was sitting by the fire reading, he heard a +slight noise, and when he looked up was quite surprised to see an Indian +boy in a blanket coat, with his dark eyes fixed upon his face, while +his long black hair hung down on his shoulders. He looked quite wild, and +did not say a word, but only opened his blanket coat, and showed a +brown-furred animal asleep on his breast. What do you think it was, +nurse?" + +"A young beaver, my lady." + +"Yes, nurse, it was a little beaver. The good Indian boy had caught it and +tamed it on purpose to bring it to his white friend, who had been so good +to him. + +"I cannot tell you all the amusing things the Indian boy said about the +beaver, though the Major told them to me; but I cannot talk like an +Indian, you know, Mrs. Frazer. After the boy went away, the gentleman set +to work and made a little log-house for his beaver to live in, and set it +in a corner of the shanty, and he hollowed a large sugar trough for its +water, that it might have water to wash in, and cut down some young +willows and poplars and birch trees for it to eat. And the little beaver +grew very fond of its new master, it would fondle him just like a little +squirrel, put its soft head on his knee, and climb up on his lap. He +taught it to eat bread, sweet cake, and biscuit, and even roast and boiled +meat, and it would drink milk too. + +"Well, nurse, the little beaver lived very happily with this kind +gentleman till the next fall, and then it began to get very restless and +active, as if it were tired of doing nothing. One day its master heard of +the arrival of a friend some miles off so he left the beaver to take care +of itself, and went away, but he did not forget to give it some green +wood, and plenty of water to drink and play in. He stayed several days, +for he was very glad to meet with a friend in that lonely place, but when +he came back, he could not open his door, and was obliged to get in at the +window. What do you think the beaver had done? It had built a dam against +the side of the trough, and a wall across the door, and it had dug up the +hearth and the floor, and carried the earth and the stones to help to make +its dam, and puddled it with water, and made such work. The house was in +perfect confusion, with mud, chips bark, and stone, and oh, nurse, worse +than all that, it had gnawed through the legs of the table and chairs, and +they were lying on the floor in such a state; and it cost the poor +gentleman so much trouble to put things to rights again, and make more +chairs and another table! and when I laughed at the pranks of that wicked +beaver--for I could not help laughing--the Major pinched my ear, and +called me a mischievous puss." + +Mrs. Frazer was very much entertained with the story, and she told Lady +Mary that she had heard of tame beavers doing such things before; for in +the season of the year when beavers congregate together to repair their +works and build their winter houses, those that are in confinement become +restless and unquiet, and show the instinct that moves these animals to +provide their winter retreats, and lay up their stores of food. + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "I did not think that beavers and racoons could +be taught to eat sweet cake, and bread, and meat." + +"Many animals learn to eat very different food to what they are accustomed +to live upon in a wild state. The wild cat lives on raw flesh; while the +domestic cat, you know, my dear, will eat cooked meat, and even salt meat, +with bread and milk and many other things. I knew a person who had a black +kitten called 'Wildfire,' which would sip whisky toddy out of his glass, +and seemed to like it as well as milk or water, only it made him too wild +and frisky." + +"Nurse, the racoon that the gentleman had would drink sweet whisky punch; +but my governess said it was not right to give it to him; and Major +Pickford laughed, and declared the racoon must have looked very funny +when he was tipsy. Was not the Major naughty to say so?" + +Mrs. Frazer said it was not quite proper. + +"The racoon, Lady Mary, in its natural state, has all the wildness and +cunning of the fox and weasel. He will eat flesh, poultry, and sucking +pigs, and is also very destructive to Indian corn. These creatures abound +in the Western States, and are killed in great numbers for their skins. +The Indian hunters eat the flesh, and say it is very tender and good; but +it is not used for food in Canada. The racoon belongs to the same class of +animals as the bear, which it resembles in some points, though; being +small, it is not so dangerous either to man or the larger animals. + +"And now, my dear, let me show you some pretty wild-flowers a little girl +brought me this morning for you, as she heard that you loved flowers. +There are yellow-mocassins, or ladies'-slippers, the same that I told you +of a little while ago; and white lilies, crane-bills, and these pretty +lilac geraniums; here are scarlet cups, and blue lupines--they are all in +bloom now--and many others. If we were on the Rice Lake Plains, my lady, +we could gather all these, and many, many more. In the months of June and +July those plains are like a garden, and their roses scent the air." + +"Nurse, I will ask my dear papa to take me to the Rice Lake Plains," said +the little girl, as she gazed with delight on the lovely Canadian flowers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +NURSE TELLS LADY MARY ABOUT A LITTLE BOY WHO WAS EATEN BY A BEAR IN THE +PROVINCE OF NEW BRUNSWICK--OF A BABY THAT WAS CARRIED AWAY, BUT TAKEN +ALIVE--A WALK IN THE GARDEN--HUMMING-BIRDS--CANADIAN BALSAMS. + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "did you ever hear of any one having been eaten +by a wolf or bear?" + +"I have heard of such things happening, my dear, in this country; but only +in lonely, unsettled parts, near swamps and deep woods." + +"Did you ever hear of any little boy or girl having been carried off by a +wolf or bear?" asked the child. + +"No, my lady, not in Canada, though similar accidents may have happened +there; but when I was a young girl I heard of such tragedies at New +Brunswick--one of the British provinces lying to the east of this, and a +cold and rather barren country, but containing many minerals, such as +coal, limestone, and marble, besides vast forests of pine, and small lakes +and rivers. It resembles Lower Canada in many respects; but it is not so +pleasant as the province of Upper Canada, neither is it so productive. + +"Thirty years ago it was not so well cleared or cultivated as it is now, +and the woods were full of wild beasts that dwelt among the swamps and +wild rocky valleys. Bears, and wolves, and catamounts abounded, with foxes +of several kinds, and many of the fine-furred and smaller species of +animals, which were much sought for on account of their skins. Well, my +dear, near the little village where my aunt and uncle were living, there +were great tracts of unbroken swamps and forests, which of course +sheltered many wild animals. A sad accident happened a few days before we +arrived, which caused much sorrow and no little fright in the place. + +"An old man went out into the woods one morning with his little grandson +to look for the oxen, which had strayed from the clearing. They had not +gone many yards from the enclosure when they heard a crackling and +rustling among the underwood and dry timber that strewed the ground. The +old man, thinking it was caused by the cattle they were looking for, bade +the little boy go forward and drive them on the track; but in a few +he heard a fearful cry from the child, and hurrying forward through the +tangled brushwood, saw the poor little boy in the deadly grasp of a huge +black bear, which was making off at a fast trot with his prey. + +"The old man was unarmed, and too feeble to pursue the dreadful beast. He +could only wring his hands and rend his gray hairs in grief and terror; +but his lamentations could not restore the child to life. A band of +hunters and lumberers, armed with rifles and knives, turned out to beat +the woods, and were not long in tracking the savage animal to his retreat +in a neighbouring cedar swamp. A few fragments of the child's dress were +all that remained of him; but the villagers had the satisfaction of +killing the great she-bear with, her two half-grown cubs. The magistrates +of the district gave them a large sum for shooting these creatures, and +the skins were sold, and the money given to the parents of the little boy; +but no money could console them for the loss of their beloved child. + +"The flesh of the bear is eaten both by Indians and hunters; it is like +coarse beef. The hams are cured and dried, and by many thought to be a +great dainty." + +"Mrs. Frazer, I would not eat a bit of the ham made from a wicked, cruel +bear, that eats little children," said Lady Mary. "I wonder the hunters +were not afraid to go into the swamps where such savage beasts lived. Are +there as many bears and wolves now in those places?" + +"No, my lady; great changes have taken place since that time. As the +country becomes more thickly settled, the woods disappear. The axe and the +fire destroy the haunts that sheltered these wild beasts, and they retreat +further back, where the deer and other creatures on which they principally +feed abound." + +"Do the hunters follow them?" + +"There is no place, however difficult or perilous, where the hunter will +not venture in search of game." + +"And do they pursue the graceful deer? They are so pretty, with their +branching antlers and slender limbs, that I should have thought no man +could be so cruel as to slay them." + +"But their flesh is very savoury, and the Indian, when tired of bear's +meat, is glad of a dish of fresh venison. So with his gun--if he has one-- +or with his bow and arrow, he lies in wait among the foliage and brushwood +of the forest, or behind the rocks on the bank of some swift torrent, and +when the unsuspecting stag makes his appearance on the opposite crag, he +takes a careful aim, lets fly his rapid arrow, and seldom fails to kill +his victim; which, dropping into the stream below, is borne by the current +within his reach." + +"They are brave men, those hunters," said Lady Mary; "but I fear they are +very cruel. I wish they would only kill the furious bears. That was a sad +story you told me just now, nurse, about the poor little boy. Have you +heard of any other sufferers; or do people sometimes escape from these +monsters?" + +"I also heard of a little child," continued nurse, "not more than two +years old, who was with her mother in the harvest-field, who had spread a +shawl on the ground near a tall tree, and laid the child upon it to sleep +or play, when a bear came out of the wood and carried her off, leaping the +fence with her in his arms. But the mother ran screaming after the +beast, and the reapers pursued so closely with their pitch-forks and +reaping-hooks, that Bruin, who was only a half-grown bear, being hard +pressed, made for a tree; and as it was not easy to climb with a babe in +his arms, he quietly laid the little one down at the foot of the tree, and +soon was among the thick branches out of the reach of the enemy. I daresay +baby must have wondered what rough nurse had taken her up; but she was +unhurt, and is alive now." + +"I am so glad, nurse, the dear baby was not hugged to death by that horrid +black bear; and I hope he was killed." + +"I daresay, my lady, he was shot by some of the men; for they seldom +worked near the forest without having a gun with them, in case of seeing +deer, or pigeons, or partridges." + +"I should not like to live in that country, Mrs. Frazer; for a bear, a +wolf, or a catamount might eat me." + +"I never heard of a governor's daughter being eaten by a bear," said Mrs. +Frazer, laughing, as she noticed the earnest expression on the face of her +little charge. She then continued her account of the ursine family. + +"The bear retires in cold weather, and sleeps till warmer seasons awaken +him. He does not lay up any store of winter provisions, because he seldom +rouses himself during the time of his long sleep; and in the spring he +finds food, both vegetable and animal, for he can eat anything when +hungry, like the hog. He often robs the wild bees of their honey, and his +hide, being so very thick, seems insensible to the stings of the angry +bees. Bruin will sometimes find odd places for his winter bed, for a +farmer, who was taking a stack of wheat into his barn to be threshed in +the winter time, once found a large black bear comfortably asleep in the +middle of the sheaves." + +"How could the bear have got into the stack of wheat, nurse?" + +"The claws of this animal are so strong, and he makes so much use of his +paws, which are almost like hands, that he must have pulled the sheaves +out and so made an entrance for himself. His skin and flesh amply repaid +the farmer for any injury the grain had received. I remember seeing the +bear brought home in triumph on the top of the load of wheat. Bears often +do great mischief by eating the Indian corn when it is ripening; for +besides what they devour, they spoil a vast deal by trampling the plants +down with their clumsy feet. They will, when hard pressed by hunger, come +close to the farmer's house and rob the pig-sty of its tenants. Many years +ago, before the forest was cleared away in the neighbourhood of what is +now a large town, but in those days consisted of only a few poor +log-houses, a settler was much annoyed by the frequent visits of a bear to +his hog-pen. At last he resolved to get a neighbour who was a very expert +hunter to come with his rifle and watch with him. The pen where the +fatling hogs were was close to the log house, it had a long, low, shingled +roof, and was carefully fastened up, so that no bear could find entrance. +Well, the farmer's son and the hunter had watched for two nights, and no +bear came, on the third they were both tired, and lay down to sleep upon +the floor of the kitchen, when the farmer's son was awakened by a sound as +of some one tearing and stripping the shingles from the pen. He looked +out, it was moonlight, and there he saw the dark shadow of some tall +figure on the ground, and spied the great black bear standing on its +hinder legs, and pulling the shingles off as fast as it could lay its big +black paws upon them. The hogs were in a great fright, screaming and +grunting with terror. The young man stepped back into the house, roused up +the hunter, who took aim from the doorway, and shot the bear dead. The +head of the huge beast was nailed up as a trophy, and the meat was dried +or salted for winter use, and great were the rejoicings of the settlers, +who had suffered so much from Bruin's thefts of corn and pork." + +"I am glad the hunter killed him, nurse, for he might, have eaten up some +of the little children, when they were playing about in the fields." + +"Sometimes," continued Mrs. Frazer, "the bears used to visit the sugar +bush, when the settlers were making maple sugar, and overturn the sap +troughs and drink the sweet liquid. I daresay they would have been glad of +a taste of the sugar too, if they could have got at it. The bear is not so +often met with now as it used to be many years ago. The fur of the bear +used to be worn as muffs and tippets, but is now little used for that +purpose, being thought to be too coarse and heavy; but it is still made +into caps for soldiers, and used for sleigh-robes." + +This was all Mrs. Frazer chose to recollect about bears, for she was +unwilling to dwell long on any gloomy subject, which she knew was not good +for young minds: so she took her charge into the garden to look at the +flower-beds, and watch the birds and butterflies; and soon the child was +gaily running from flower to flower, watching with childish interest the +insects flitting to and fro. At last she stopped, and holding up her +finger to warn Mrs. Frazer not to come too near, stood gazing in wonder +and admiration on a fluttering object that was hovering over the +full-blown honey-suckles on a trellis near the greenhouse. Mrs. Frazer +approached her with due caution. + +"Nurse," whispered the child, "look at that curious moth with a long bill +like a bird; see its beautiful shining colours. It has a red necklace, +like mamma's rubies. Oh, what a curious creature! It must be a moth or a +butterfly. What is it?" + +"It is neither a moth nor a butterfly, my dear. It is a humming-bird." + +[Illustration: CAUGHT AT LAST] + +"Oh, nurse, a humming-bird--a real humming-bird!--pretty creature! But it +is gone. Oh, nurse, it darts through the air as swift as an arrow! What +was it doing--looking at the honey-suckles? I daresay it thought them very +pretty; or was it smelling them? They are very sweet." + +"My dear child, he might be doing so; I don't know. Perhaps the good God +has given to these creatures the same senses for enjoying sweet scents and +bright colours as we have; yet it was not for the perfume, but the honey, +that this little bird came to visit the open flowers. The long slender +bill, which the humming-bird inserts into the tubes of the flowers, is his +instrument for extracting the honey. Look at the pretty creature's ruby +throat, and green and gold feathers." + +"How does it make that whirring noise, nurse, just like the humming of a +top?" asked the child. + +"The little bird produces the sound, from which he derives his name, by +beating the air with his wings. This rapid motion is necessary to sustain +his position in the air while sucking the flowers. + +"I remember, Lady Mary, first seeing humming-birds when I was about your +age, while walking in the garden. It was a bright September morning, and +the rail-fences and every dry twig of the brushwood were filled with the +webs of the field-spider. Some, like thick white muslin, lay upon the +grass; while others were suspended from trees like forest lace-work, on +the threads of which the dewdrops hung like strings of shining pearls; and +hovering round the flowers were several ruby-throated humming-birds, the +whirring of whose wings as they beat the air sounded like the humming of a +spinning-wheel. And I thought, as I gazed upon them, and the beautiful +lace webs that hung among the bushes, that they must have been the work of +these curious creatures, which had made them to catch flies, and had +strung the bright dewdrops thereon to entice them--so little did I know of +the nature of these birds. But my father told me a great deal about them, +and read me some very pretty things about humming-birds; and one day, Lady +Mary, I will show you a stuffed one a friend gave me, with its tiny nest +and eggs not bigger than peas." + +Lady Mary was much delighted at the idea of seeing the little nest and +eggs, and Mrs. Frazer said, "There is a wild-flower that is known to the +Canadians by the name of the Humming-flower, on account of the fondness +which those birds evince for it. This plant grows on the moist banks of +creeks It is very beautiful, of a bright orange-scarlet colour. The stalks +and stem of the plant are almost transparent. Some call it Speckled +Jewels, for the bright blossoms are spotted with dark purple; and some, +Touch-me-not." + +"That is a droll name, nurse," said Lady Mary. "Does it prick one's finger +like a thistle?" + +"No, my lady; but when the seed-pods are nearly ripe, if you touch them +they spring open and curl into little rings, and the seed drops out." + +"Nurse, when you see any of these curious flowers, will you show them to +me?" + +Mrs. Frazer said they would soon be in bloom, and promised Lady Mary to +bring her some, and to show her the singular manner in which the pods +burst. "But, my lady," said she, "the gardener will show you the same +thing in the greenhouse. As soon as the seed-pods of the balsams in the +pots begin to harden they will spring and curl, if touched, and drop the +seeds like the wild plant; for they belong to the same family. But it is +time for your ladyship to go in." + +When Lady Mary returned to the schoolroom, her governess read to her some +interesting accounts of the habits of the humming-bird. + +"'This lively little feathered gem--for in its hues it unites the +brightness of the emerald, the richness of the ruby, and the lustre of the +topaz--includes in its wide range more than one hundred species. It is the +smallest, and at the same time the most brilliant, of all the American +birds. Its headquarters may be said to be among the glowing flowers and +luxurious fruits of the torrid zone and the tropics. But one species, the +ruby-throated, is widely diffused, and is a summer visitor all over North +America, even within the arctic circle, where, for a brief space of time, +it revels in the ardent heat of the short-lived summer of the north. Like +the cuckoo, it follows the summer wherever it flies. + +"'The ruby-throated humming-bird [Footnote: Trochilus Rubus] is the only +species that is known in Canada. With us it builds and breeds, and then +returns to summer skies and warmer airs. The length of the humming-bird is +only three inches and a half, and four and a quarter in extent from one +tip of the wing to the other When on the wing the bird has the form of a +cross, the wings forming no curve, though the tail is depressed during the +time that it is poised in the act of sucking the honey of the flower. The +tongue is long and slender; the bill long and straight; the legs are very +short, so that the feet are hardly visible when on the wing. They are +seldom seen walking, but rest on the slender sprigs when tired. The flight +is so rapid that it seems without effort. The humming sound is produced by +the wing, in the act of keeping itself balanced while feeding in this +position. They resemble the hawk-moth, which also keeps up a constant +vibratory motion with its wings. This little creature is of a temper as +fierce and fiery as its plumes, often attacking birds of treble its size; +but it seems very little disturbed by the near approach of the human +species, often entering open windows, and hovering around the flowers in +the flower-stand; it has even been known to approach the vase on the +table, and insert its bill among the flowers, quite fearless of those +persons who sat in the room. Sometimes these beautiful creatures have +suffered themselves to be captured by the hand. + +"'The nest of the ruby throated humming-bird is usually built on a mossy +branch. At first sight it looks like a tuft of gray lichens, but when +closely examined shows both care and skill in its construction, the outer +wall being of fine bluish lichens cemented together, and the interior +lined with the silken threads of the milk weed, the velvety down of the +tall mullein, or the brown hair like filaments of the fern. These, or +similar soft materials, form the bed of the tiny young ones. The eggs are +white, two in number, and about the size of a pea, but oblong in shape. +The parents hatch their eggs in about ten days and in a week the little +ones are able to fly, though the old birds continue to supply them with +honey for some time longer. The Mexican Indians give the name of Sunbeam +to the humming-bird, either in reference to its bright plumage or its love +of sunshine. + +"'The young of the humming-bird does not attain its gay plumage till the +second year. The male displays the finer colours--the ruby necklace being +confined to the old male bird. The green and coppery lustre of the +feathers is also finer in the male bird.'" + +Lady Mary was much pleased with what she had heard about the humming-bird, +and she liked the name of Sunbeam for this lovely creature. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +AURORA BOREALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS, MOST FREQUENTLY SEEN IN NORTHERN +CLIMATES--CALLED MERRY DANCERS--ROSE TINTS--TINT-LIKE APPEARANCE--LADY +MARY FRIGHTENED. + +One evening, just as Mrs. Frazer was preparing to undress Lady Mary, Miss +Campbell, her governess, came into the nursery, and taking the little girl +by the hand, led her to the window, and bade her look out on the sky +towards the north, where a low dark arch, surmounted by an irregular +border, like a silver fringe, was visible. For some moments Lady Mary +stood silently regarding this singular appearance; at length she said, "It +is a rainbow, Miss Campbell; but where is the sun that you told me shone +into the drops of rain to make the pretty colours?" + +"It is not a rainbow, my dear; the sun has been long set." + +"Can the moon make rainbows at night?" asked the little girl. + +[Illustration: THE AURORA BOREALIS] + +"The moon does sometimes, but very rarely, make what is called a _lunar_ +rainbow. Luna was the ancient name for the moon. But the arch you now see +is caused neither by the light of the sun nor of the moon, but is known by +the name of Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. The word Aurora means +morning or dawn; and Borealis, northern. You know, my dear, what is meant +by the word dawn; it is the light that is seen in the sky before the sun +rises." + +Lady Mary replied, "Yes, Miss Campbell, I have often seen the sun rise, +and once very early too, when I was ill, and could not sleep, for nurse +lifted me in her arms out of bed, and took me to the window. The sky was +all over of a bright golden colour, with streaks of rosy red; and nurse +said, 'It is dawn; the sun will soon be up.' And I saw the beautiful sun +rise from behind the trees and hills. He came up so gloriously, larger +than when we see him in the middle of the sky, and I could look at him +without hurting my eyes." + +"Sunrise is indeed a glorious sight, my dear; but He who made the sun is +more glorious still. Do you remember what we read yesterday in the +Psalms?-- + +"Verse 1 The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament + showeth His handywork. + 2 One day telleth another and one night certifieth another. + 3 There is neither speech nor language, but their voices are heard + among them. + 5 In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun which cometh forth + as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant + to run his course. + +"The Northern Lights, Lady Mary, are frequently visible in Canada, but are +most brilliant in the colder regions near the North Pole, where they serve +to give light during the dark season to those dismal countries from which +the sun is so many months absent. The light of the Aurora Borealis is so +soft and beautiful, that any object can be distinctly seen; though in +those cold countries there are few human beings to be benefited by this +beautiful provision of Nature." + +"The wild beasts and birds must be glad of the pretty lights," said the +child thoughtfully; for Lady Mary's young heart always rejoiced when she +thought that God's gifts could be shared by the beasts of the field and +the fowls of the air, as well as by mankind. + +"Look now, my dear," said Miss Campbell, directing the attention of her +pupil to the horizon; "what a change has taken place whilst we have been +speaking! See, the arch is sending up long shafts of light; now they +divide, and shift from side to side, gliding along among the darker +portions of vapour like moving pillars." + +"Ah, there, there they go!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands with +delight. "See, nurse, how the pretty lights chase each other and dance +about! Up they go, higher and higher! How pretty they look! But now they +are gone! They are fading away. I am so sorry," said the child, +despondingly, for a sudden cessation had taken place in the motions of the +heavens. + +"We will go in for a little time, my dear," said her governess, "and then +look out again. Great changes take place sometimes in these aerial +phenomena in a few minutes." + +"I suppose," said Lady Mary, "these lights are the same that the peasants +of Northern England and Ireland call the Merry Dancers?" + +"Yes, they are the same, and they fancy that they are seen when war and +troubles are about to break out. But this idea is a very ignorant one, for +were that the case, some of the cold countries of the world, where the sky +is illumined night after night by the Aurora Borealis, would be one +continual scene of misery. I have seen in this country a succession of +these lights for four or five successive nights. This phenomenon owes its +origin to _electricity_, which is a very wonderful agent in nature, and +exists in various bodies, perhaps in all created things. It is this that +shoots across the sky in the form of lightning, and causes the thunder to +be heard, circulates in the air we breathe, occasions whirlwinds, +waterspouts, earthquakes, and volcanoes, and makes one substance attract +another. + +"Look at this piece of amber. If I rub it on the table, it will become +warm to the touch. Now I will take a bit of thread and hold near it. See, +the thread moves towards the amber and clings to it. Sealing-wax and many +other substances when heated have this property. Some bodies give out +flashes and sparks by being rubbed. If you stroke a black cat briskly in +the dark, you will see faint flashes of light come from her fur, and on +very cold nights in the winter season, flannels that are worn next the +skin crackle and give sparks when taken off and shaken." + +These things astonished Lady Mary. She tried the experiment with the amber +and thread, and was much amused by seeing the thread attracted; and she +wanted to see the sparks from the cat's back, only there happened, +unfortunately, to be no black cat or kitten in Government House. Mrs. +Frazer, however, promised to procure a beautiful black kitten for her, +that she might enjoy the singular sight of the electric sparks from its +coat; and Lady Mary wished winter were come, that she might see the sparks +from her flannel petticoat and hear the sounds. + +"Let us now go and look out again at the sky," said Miss Campbell; and +Lady Mary skipped joyfully through the French window to the balcony, but +ran back, and flinging her arms about her nurse, cried out, in accents of +alarm, "Nurse, nurse, the sky is all closing together! Oh, Miss Campbell, +what shall we do?" + +"There is no cause for fear, my dear child; do not be frightened. There is +nothing to harm us." + +Indeed, during the short time they had been absent, a great and remarkable +change had taken place in the appearance of the sky. The electric fluid +had diffused itself over the face of the whole heavens; the pale +colour of the streamers had changed to bright rose, pale violet, and +greenish-yellow. At the zenith, or that part more immediately overhead, a +vast ring of deep indigo was presented to the eye, from this swept down, +as it were a flowing curtain of rosy light which wavered and moved +incessantly, as if agitated by a gentle breeze, though a perfect stillness +reigned through the air. The child's young heart was awed by this sublime +spectacle, it seemed to her as if it were indeed the throne of the great +Creator of the world that she was gazing upon, and she veiled her face in +her nurse's arms and trembled exceedingly, even as the children of Israel +when the fire of Mount Sinai was revealed, and they feared to behold the +glory of the Most High God. After a while, Lady Mary, encouraged by the +cheerful voices of her governess and nurse, ventured to look up to watch +the silver stars shining dimly as from beneath a veil, and she whispered +to herself the words that her governess had before repeated to her "The +heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his +handywork." + +After a little while, Mrs. Frazer thought it better to put Lady Mary to +bed, as she had been up much longer than usual, and Miss Campbell was +afraid lest the excitement should make her ill, but the child did not soon +fall asleep, for her thoughts were full of the strange and glorious things +she had seen that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +STRAWBERRIES--CANADIAN WILD FRUITS--WILD RASPBERRIES--THE HUNTER AND THE +LOST CHILD--CRANBERRIES--CRANBERRY MARSHES--NUTS. + +One day Lady Mary's nurse brought her a small Indian basket, filled with +ripe red strawberries. + +"Nurse, where did you get these nice strawberries?" said the little girl, +peeping beneath the fresh leaves with which they were covered. + +"I bought them from a little Indian squaw in the street; she had brought +them from a wooded meadow some miles off, my lady. They are very fine; +see, they are as large as those that the gardener sent in yesterday from +the forcing-house; and these wild ones have grown without any pains having +been bestowed upon them." + +"I did not think, nurse, that wild strawberries could have been so fine as +these; may I taste them?" + +Mrs. Frazer said she might. "These are not so large, so red, or so sweet +as some that I have gathered when I lived at home with my father," said +the nurse. "I have seen acres and acres of strawberries, as large as the +early scarlet that are sold so high in the market, on the Rice Lake +plains. When the farmers have ploughed a fallow on the Rice Lake plains, +the following summer it will be covered with a crop of the finest +strawberries. I have gathered pailsful day after day, these, however, have +been partly cultivated by the plough breaking up the sod, but they seem as +if sown by the hand of Nature. These fruits and many sorts of flowers +appear on the new soil that were never seen there before. After a fallow +has been chopped, logged, and burned, if it be left for a few years, +trees, shrubs, and plants, will cover it, unlike those that grew there +before." + +"That is curious," said the child, "Does God sow the seeds in the new +ground?" + +"My lady, no doubt they come from Him, for He openeth His hand, and +filleth all things living with plenteousness. My father, who thought a +great deal on these subjects, said that the seeds of many plants may fall +upon the earth, and yet none of them take root till the soil be favourable +for their growth. It may be that these seeds had lain for years, preserved +in the earth till the forest was cleared away, and the sun, air, and rain +caused them to spring up, or the earth may still bring forth the herb of +the field, after its kind, as in the day of the creation, but whether it +be so or not, we must bless the Lord for His goodness and for the +blessings that He giveth us at all times." + +"Are there many sorts of wild fruits fit to eat, nurse, in this country? +Please, will you tell me all that you know about them?" + +"There are so many, Lady Mary, that I am afraid I shall weary you before I +have told you half of them." + +"Nurse, I shall not be tired, for I like to hear about fruits and flowers +very much; and my dear mamma likes you to tell me all you know about the +plants, trees, birds, and beasts of Canada." + +"Besides many sorts of strawberries, there are wild currants, both black +and red, and many kinds of wild gooseberries," said Mrs. Frazer. "Some +grow on wastes by the roadside, in dry soil, others in swamps; but most +gooseberries are covered with thorns, which grow not only on the wood, but +on the berries themselves." + +"I would not eat those disagreeable, thorny gooseberries; they would prick +my tongue," said the little girl. + +"They cannot be eaten without first being scalded. The settlers' wives +contrive to make good pies and preserves with them, by first scalding the +fruit and then rubbing it between coarse linen cloths. I have heard these +tarts called thornberry pies, which, I think, was a good name for them. +When emigrants first come to Canada and clear the backwoods, they have +little time to make nice fruit-gardens for themselves, and they are glad +to gather the wild berries that grow in the woods and swamps to make tarts +and preserves, so that they do not even despise the thorny gooseberries or +the wild black currants. Some swamp gooseberries, however, are quite +smooth, of a dark red colour, but small, and they are very nice when ripe. +The blossoms of the wild currants are very beautiful, of a pale yellowish +green, and hang down in long graceful branches, the fruit is harsh but +makes wholesome preserves. But there are thorny currants as well as thorny +gooseberries, these have long, weak, trailing branches, the berries are +small, covered with stiff bristles, and of a pale red colour. They are not +wholesome, I have seen people made very ill by eating them, I have heard +even of their dying in consequence of having done so." + +"I am sure, nurse, I will not eat those wild currants," said Lady Mary, "I +am glad you have told me about their being poisonous." + +"This sort is not often met with, my dear, and these berries, though they +are not good for man, doubtless give nourishment to some of the wild +creatures that seek their food from God, and we have enough dainties and +to spare without them. + +"The red raspberry is one of the most common and the most useful to us of +the wild fruits. It grows in abundance all over the country--by the +roadside, in the half opened woods, on upturned roots, or in old neglected +clearings, there is no place so wild but it will grow, wherever its roots +can find a crevice. With maple sugar, the farmers' wives never need lack a +tart nor a dish of fruit and cream The poor Irish emigrants' children go +out and gather pailsful, which they carry to the towns and villages to +sell. The birds, too, live upon the fruit, and flying away with it to +distant places, help to sow the seed. A great many small animals eat the +ripe raspberry, for even the racoon and great black bear come in for their +share. + +"The black bears! O nurse! O Mrs. Frazer!" exclaimed Lady Mary, in great +astonishment. "What! do bears eat raspberries?" + +"Yes, indeed, my lady, they do. Bears are fond of all ripe fruits. The +bear resembles the hog in all it's tastes very closely; both in their wild +state will eat flesh, grain, fruit, and roots." + +"There is a story about a beat and an Indian hunter, which will show how +bears ear berries. It is from the Journal or Peter Jacobs, The Indian +missionary:-- + +"At sunrise, next morning," he says, "we tried to land, but the water was +so full of shoals, we could not without wading a great distance." + +"The beach before us was of bright sand, and the sun was about, when I saw +an object moving on the shore: it appeared to be a man, and seemed to be +making signals of distress. We were all weary and hungry, but thinking it +was a fellow-creature in distress, we pulled towards him. Judge of our +surprise when the stranger proved to be an enormous bear!" + + "He was seated on his hams, and what we thought his signals, were his +raising himself on his hind legs to pull down the berries from a high +bush, and with his paws full, sitting down again to eat them at his +leisure. + +"'Thus he continued daintily enjoying his ripe fruit in the posture some +lapdogs are taught to assume while eating. On we pulled, and forgot our +hunger and weariness the bear still continued breakfasting. + +"'We got as close on shore as the shoals would permit, and John (one of +the Indians), taking my double barrelled gun, leaped into the water, gun +in hand, and gained the beach. Some dead brushwood hid the bear from +John's sight, but from the canoe we could see both John and the bear. + +"'The bear now discovered us, and advanced towards us, and John, not +seeing him for the bush, ran along the beach towards him. The weariness +from pulling all night, and having eaten no food, made me lose my presence +of mind, for I now remembered that the gun was only loaded with duck shot, +and you might as well meet a bear with a gun loaded with pease. + +"'John was in danger, and we strained at our paddles to get to his +assistance, but as the bear was a very large one, and as we had no other +firearms we should have been but poor helps to John in the hug of a +wounded bear. The bear was at the other side of the brush heap, John heard +the dry branches cracking, and he dodged into a hollow under a bush. The +bear passed, and was coursing along the sand but as he passed by where +John lay, bang went the gun. The bear was struck. + +"'We saw him leap through the smoke to the very spot where we had last +seen John. We held our breath; but instead of the cry of agony we expected +to hear from John, bang went the gun again--John is not yet caught. Our +canoe rushed through the water--we might yet be in time; but my paddle +fell from my hand with joy, as I saw John pop his head above the bush, and +with a shout point to the side of the log on which he stood, 'There he +lies, dead enough.' We were thankful indeed to our Great Preserver.' + +"Though fruit and vegetables seem to be the natural food of the bear, they +also devour flesh, and even fish--a fact of which the good Indian +missionary assures us, and which I shall tell you, Lady Mary, in his own +words:-- + +"'A few evenings after we left the _Rock_, while the men were before me +'tracking' (towing the canoe), by pulling her along by a rope from the +shore, I observed behind a rock in the river what I took to be a black +fox. I stole upon it as quietly as possible, hoping to get a shot; but the +animal saw me, and waded to the shore. It turned out to be a young bear +fishing. The bear is a great fisherman. His mode of fishing is very +curious. He wades into a current, and seating himself upright on his hams, +lets the water come about up to his shoulders; he patiently waits until +the little fishes come along and rub themselves against his sides; he +seizes them instantly, gives them a nip, and with his left paw tosses them +over his shoulder to the shore. His left paw is always the one used for +tossing ashore the produce of his fishing. Feeling is the sense of which +Bruin makes use here, not sight. + +"'The Indians of that part say that the bear catches sturgeon when +spawning in the shoal-water, but the only fish that I know of their +catching is the sucker. Of these, in the months of April and May, the bear +makes his daily breakfast and supper, devouring about thirty or forty at a +meal. As soon as he has caught a sufficient number, he wades ashore and +regales himself on the best morsels, which are the thick of the neck, +behind the gills. The Indians often shoot him when thus engaged.' + +"There is a small red berry in the woods that is known by the name of the +bear-berry, [Footnote: _Arbutus uva ursi_--"Kinnikinnick" is the Indian +name.] of which they say the young bears are particularly fond." + +"I should be afraid of going to gather raspberries, nurse, for fear of the +bears coming to eat them too." + +"The hunters know that the bears are partial to this fruit, and often seek +them in large thickets where they grow. A young gentleman, Lady Mary, once +went out shooting game, in the province of New Brunswick, in the month of +July, when the weather was warm, and there were plenty of wild berries +ripe. He had been out for many hours, and at last found himself on the +banks of a creek. But the bridge he had been used to cross was gone, +having been swept away by heavy rains in the spring. Passing on a little +higher up, he saw an old clearing full of bushes, and knowing that wild +animals were often to be met with in such spots, he determined to cross +over and try his luck for a bear, a racoon, or a young fawn. Not far from +the spot he saw a large fallen swamp elm-tree, which made a capital +bridge. Just as he was preparing to cross, he heard the sound of footsteps +on the dry crackling sticks, and saw a movement among the raspberry +bushes. His finger was on the lock of his rifle in an instant, for he +thought it must be a bear or a deer; but just as he was about to fire, he +saw a small, thin, brown hand, all red and stained from the juice of the +ripe berries, reaching down a branch of the fruit. His very heart leaped +within him with fright, for in another moment he would have shot the poor +little child that, with wan, wasted face, was looking at him from between +the raspberry bushes. It was a little girl, about as old as you are, Lady +Mary. She was without hat or shoes, and her clothes were all in tatters. +Her hands and neck were quite brown and sun-burned. She seemed frightened +at first, and would have hid herself, had not the stranger called out +gently to her to stay, and not to be afraid, and then he hurried over the +log bridge, and asked her who she was, and where she lived. And she said +'she did not live anywhere, for she was lost.' She could not tell how many +days, but she thought she had been seven nights out in the woods. She had +been sent to take some dinner to her father, who was at work in the +forest, but had missed the path, and gone on a cattle track, and did not +find her mistake until it was too late, when she became frightened, and +tried to get back, but only lost herself deeper in the woods. The first +night she wrapped her frock about her head, and lay down beneath the +shelter of a great upturned root. She had eaten but little of the food she +had in the basket that day, for it lasted her nearly two. After it was +gone she chewed some leaves, till she came to the raspberry clearing, and +got berries of several kinds, and plenty of water to drink from the creek. +One night, she said, she was awakened by a heavy tramping near her, and +looking up in the moonlight, saw two great black beasts, which she thought +were her father's oxen, and so she sat up and called, 'Buck,' 'Bright,'-- +for these were their names, but they had no bells, and looked like two +great shaggy black dogs. They stood on their hind legs upright and looked +at her, but went away. These animals were bears, but the child did not +know that, and she said she felt no fear, for she said her prayers every +night before she lay down to sleep, and she knew that God would take care +of her, both sleeping and waking." + +"And did the hunter take her home? asked Lady Mary, who was much +interested in the story. + +"Yes, my dear, he did. Finding that the poor little girl was very weak, +the young man took her on his back. Fortunately he happened to have a +little wine in a flask, and a bit of dry biscuit in his knapsack, and this +greatly revived the little creature. Sometimes she ran by his side, while +holding by his coat, talking to her new friend, seemingly quite happy and +cheerful, bidding him not he afraid even if they had to pass another night +in the wood; but just as the sun was setting, they came out of the dark +forest into an open clearing. + +"It was not the child's home, but a farm belonging to a miller who knew her +father, and had been in search of her for several days; and he and his +wife were very glad when they saw the lost child, and gladly showed her +preserver the way. They rejoiced very much when the poor wanderer was +restored safe and well to her sorrowing parents." + +"Nurse," said Lady Mary, "I am so glad the good hunter found the little +girl. I must tell my own dear mamma that nice story. How sorry my mamma +and papa would be to lose me in the woods!" + +The nurse smiled, and said, "My dear lady, there is no fear of such an +accident happening to you. You are not exposed to the same trials and +dangers as the children of poor emigrants; therefore you must be very +grateful to God, and do all you can to serve and please Him; and when you +are able, be kind and good to those who are not so well off as you are." + +[Illustration: THE LOST CHILD AND THE BEARS] + +"Are there any other wild fruits, nurse, besides raspberries and +strawberries, and currants and goose berries?' + +"Yes, my dear lady, a great many more. We will begin with wild plums these +we often preserve, and when the trees are planted in gardens, and taken +care of, the fruit is very good to eat. The wild cherries are not very +nice, but the bark of the black cherry is good for agues and low fevers. +The choke cherry is very beautiful to look at, but hurts the throat, +closing it up if many are eaten, and making it quite sore. The huckle +berry is a sweet, dark blue berry, that grows on a very delicate low +shrub, the blossoms are very pretty, pale pink or greenish white bells the +fruit is very wholesome, it grows on light dry ground, on those parts of +the country that are called plains in Canada. The settlers' children go +out in parties, and gather great quantities, either to eat or dry for +winter use. These berries are a great blessing to every one, besides +forming abundant food for the broods of young quails and partridges, +squirrels, too, of every kind eat them. There are blackberries also, Lady +Mary, and some people call them thimble berries." + +"I have heard mamma talk about blackberries." + +"The Canadian blackberries are not so sweet, I am told, my lady, as those +at home, though they are very rich and nice tasted, neither do they grow +so high. Then there are high bush cranberries, and low bush cranberries. +The first grow on a tall bush, and the fruit has a fine appearance, +hanging in large bunches of light scarlet among the dark green leaves; but +they are very, very sour, and take a great deal of sugar to sweeten them. +The low-bush cranberries grow on a slender, trailing plant; the blossom is +very pretty, and the fruit about the size of a common gooseberry, of a +dark purplish red, very smooth and shining; the seeds are minute, and lie +in the white pulp within the skin: this berry is not nice till it is +cooked with sugar. There is a large cranberry marsh somewhere at the back +of Kingston, where vast quantities grow. I heard a young gentleman, say +that he passed over this tract when he was hunting, while the snow was on +the ground, and that the red juice of the dropped berries dyed the snow +crimson beneath his feet. The Indians go every year to a small lake called +Buckhorn Lake, many miles up the river Otonabee, in the Upper Province, to +gather cranberries; which they sell to the settlers in the towns and +villages, or trade away for pork, flour, and clothes. The cranberries, +when spread out on a dry floor, will keep fresh and good for a long time. +Great quantities of cranberries are brought to England from Russia, +Norway, and Lapland, in barrels, or large earthen jars, filled with spring +water; but the fruit thus roughly preserved must be drained, and washed +many times, and stirred with sugar, before it can be put into tarts, or it +would be salt and bitter. I will boil some cranberries with sugar, that +you may taste them; for they are very wholesome." + +Lady Mary said she should like to have some in her own garden. + +"The cranberry requires a particular kind of soil, not usually found in +gardens, my dear lady, for as the cranberry marshes are often covered with +water in the spring, I suppose they need a damp, cool soil, near lakes or +rivers, perhaps sand, too, may be good for them. But we can plant some +berries, and water them well, in a light soil they may grow, and bear +fruit, but I am not sure that they will do so. Besides these fruits, there +are many others, that are little used by man, but are of great service as +food to the birds and small animals. There are many kinds of nuts, too-- +filberts, with rough prickly husks, walnuts, butternuts, and hickory nuts, +these last are large trees, the nuts of which are very nice to eat, and +the wood very fine for cabinet work, and for fire wood, the bark is used +for dyeing. Now, my dear, I think you must be quite tired with hearing so +much about Canadian fruits." + +Lady Mary said she was glad to learn that there were so many good things +in Canada, for she heard a lady say to her mamma that it was an ugly +country, with nothing good or pretty in it. + +"There is something good and pretty to be found everywhere, my dear child, +if people will but open their eyes to see it, and their hearts to enjoy +the good things that God has so mercifully spread abroad for all his +creatures to enjoy. But Canada is really a fine country, and is fast +becoming a great one." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +GARTER SNAKES--RATTLE-SNAKES--ANECDOTE OF A LITTLE BOY--FISHERMAN AND +SNAKE--SNAKE CHARMERS--SPIDERS--LAND-TORTOISE + +"Nurse, I have been so terrified. I was walking in the meadow, and a great +snake--so big, I am sure"--and Lady Mary held out her arms as wide as she +could--"came out of a tuft of grass. His tongue was like a scarlet thread, +and had two sharp points; and, do you know, he raised his wicked head, and +hissed at me. I was so frightened that I ran away. I think, Mrs. Frazer, it +must have been a rattle-snake. Only feel now how my heart beats"--and the +little girl took her nurse's hand, and laid it on her heart. + +"What colour was it, my dear?" asked her nurse. + +"It was green and black, chequered all over; and it was very large, and +opened its mouth very wide, and showed its red tongue. It would have +killed me, if it had bitten me, would it not, nurse?" + +"It would not have harmed you, my lady; or even if it had bitten you, it +would not have killed you. The chequered green snake of Canada is not +poisonous. It was more afraid of you than you were of it I make no +doubt." + +"Do you think it was a rattle snake, nurse?" + +"No, my dear, there are no snakes of that kind in Lower Canada, and very +few below Toronto. The winters are too cold for them. But there are plenty +in the western part of the Province, where the summers are warmer, and the +winters milder. The rattle snake is a dangerous reptile, and its bite +causes death, unless the wound be burned or cut out. The Indians apply +different sorts of herbs to the wound. They have several plants, known by +the names of rattle snake root, rattle snake weed, and snake root. It is a +good thing that the rattlesnake gives warning of its approach before it +strikes the traveller with its deadly fangs. Some people think that the +rattle is a sign of fear, and that it would not wound people if it were +not afraid they were coming near to hurt it. I will tell you a story Lady +Mary, about a brave little boy. He went out nutting one day with another +boy about his own age, and while they were in the grove gathering nuts a +large black snake, that was in a low tree, dropped down and suddenly +coiled itself round the throat of his companion. The child's screams were +dreadful, his eyes were starting from his head with pain and terror. The +other, regardless of the danger, opened a clasp knife that he had in his +pocket, and seizing the snake near the head, cut it apart, and so saved +his friend's life, who was well-nigh strangled by the tight folds of the +reptile, which was one of a very venomous species, the bite of which +generally proves fatal." + +"What a brave little fellow!" said Lady Mary. "You do not think it was +cruel, nurse, to kill the snake?" she added, looking up in Mrs. Frazer's +face. + +"No, Lady Mary, for he did it to save a fellow-creature from a painful +death; and we are taught by God's Word that the soul of man is precious in +the sight of his Creator. We should be cruel were we wantonly to inflict +pain upon the least of God's creatures, but to kill them in self-defence, +or for necessary food, is not cruel for when God made Adam, He gave him +dominion, or power, over the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the +air, and every creeping thing. It was an act of great courage and humanity +in the little boy, who perilled his own life to save that of his helpless +comrade, especially as he was not naturally a child of much courage, and +was very much afraid of snakes but love for his friend entirely overcame +all thoughts of his own personal danger. [Footnote: A fact related to me +by a gentleman from the State of Vermont, as an instance of impulsive +feeling overcoming natural timidity.] + +"The large garter snake which you saw, my dear lady, is comparatively +harmless. It lives on toads and frogs, and robs the nests of young birds, +and also pilfers the eggs. Its long forked tongue enables it to catch +insects of different kinds, it will even eat fish, and for that purpose +frequents the water as well as the black snake. + +[Illustration: A BOY HERO] + +"I heard a gentleman once relate a circumstance to my father that +surprised me a good deal. He was fishing one day in a river near his own +house, but, being tired, he seated himself on a log or fallen tree, where +his basket of fish also stood; when a large garter-snake came up the log, +and took a small fish out of his basket, which it speedily swallowed. The +gentleman, seeing the snake so bold as not to mind his presence, took a +small rock-bass by the tail, and half in joke held it towards it, when, to +his great surprise, the snake glided towards him, took the fish out of his +hand, and sliding away with its prize to a hole beneath the log, began by +slow degrees to swallow it, stretching its mouth and the skin of its neck +to a very great extent; till, after a long while, it was fairly gorged, +and then it slid down its hole, leaving its head and neck only to be +seen." + +"I should have been so frightened, nurse, if I had been the gentleman, +when the snake came to take the fish," said Lady Mary. + +"The gentleman was well aware of the nature of the reptile, and knew that +it would not bite him. I have read of snakes of the most poisonous kinds +being tamed and taught all manner of tricks. There are in India and Egypt +people that are called snake-charmers, who contrive to extract the fangs +containing the venom from the Cobra da capella, or hooded snake; which +then become quite harmless. These snakes are very fond of music, and will +come out of the leather bag or basket that their master carries them in, +and will dance or run up his arms, twining about his neck, and even +entering his mouth! They do not tell people that the poison-teeth have +been extracted, so that it is thought to be the music that keeps the snake +from biting. The snake has a power of charming birds and small animals, by +fixing its eye steadily upon them, when the little creatures become +paralyzed with fear, either standing quite still, or coming nearer and +nearer to their cruel enemy, till they are within his reach. The cat has +the same power, and can by this art draw birds from the tops of trees +within her reach. These little creatures seem unable to resist the +temptation of approaching her, and, even when driven away, will return +from a distance to the same spot, seeking, instead of shunning, the danger +which is certain to prove fatal to them in the end. Some writers assert +that all wild animals have this power in the eye, especially those of the +cat tribe, as the lion and tiger, leopard and panther. Before they spring +upon their prey, the eye is always steadily fixed, the back lowered, the +neck stretched out, and the tail waved from side to side; if the eye is +averted, they lose the animal, and do not make the spring." + +"Are there any other kinds of snakes in Canada, nurse," asked Lady Mary, +"besides the garter-snake?" + +"Yes, my lady, several; the black snake, which is the most deadly, next to +the rattle-snake is sometimes called the puff-adder, as it inflates the +skin of the head and neck when angry. The copper-bellied snake is also +poisonous. There is a small snake of a deep grass-green colour sometimes +seen in the fields and open copse-woods. I do not think it is dangerous; I +never heard of its biting any one. The stare-worm is also harmless. I am +not sure whether the black snakes that live in the water are the same as +the puff or black adder. It is a great blessing, my dear, that these +deadly snakes are so rare, and do so little harm to man. Indeed I believe +they would never harm him, were they let alone; but if trodden upon, they +cannot know that it was by accident, and so put forth the weapons that God +has armed them with in self-defence. The Indians in the north-west, I have +been told, eat snakes, after cutting off their heads. The cat also eats +snakes, leaving the head; she will also catch and eat frogs--a thing I +have witnessed myself, and know to be true. [Footnote: I once saw a +half-grown kitten eat a live green frog which she first brought into the +parlour, playing with it as with a mouse.] One day a snake fixed itself on +a little girl's arm, and wound itself around it. The mother of the child +was too much terrified to tear the deadly creature off, but filled the air +with cries. Just then a cat came out of the house, and quick as lightning +sprang upon the snake, and fastened on its neck; which, caused the reptile +to uncoil its folds, and it fell to the earth in the grasp of the cat. +Thus the child's life was saved, and the snake killed. Thus you see, my +dear, that God provided a preserver for this little one when no help was +nigh. Perhaps the child cried to Him for aid, and He heard her and saved +her by means of the cat." + +Lady Mary was much interested in all that Mrs. Frazer had told her. She +remembered having heard some one say that the snake would swallow her own +young ones, and she asked her nurse if it was true, and if they laid eggs. + +"The snake will swallow her young ones," said Mrs. Frazer. "I have seen +the garter-snake open her mouth and let the little ones run into it when +danger was nigh. The snake also lays eggs: I have been and handled them +often. They are not covered with a hard, brittle shell, like that of a +hen, but with a sort of whitish skin, like leather: they are about the +size of a blackbird's egg, long in shape; some are rounder and larger. +They are laid in some warm place, where the heat of the sun and earth +hatches them. But though the mother does not brood over them, as a hen +does over her eggs, she seems to take great care of her little ones, and +defends them from their many enemies by hiding them out of sight in the +singular manner I have just told you. This love of offspring, my dear +child, has been wisely given to all mothers, from the human mother down to +the very lowest of the insect tribe. The fiercest beast of prey loves its +young, and provides food and shelter for them; forgetting its savage +nature to play with and caress them. Even the spider, which is a +disagreeable insect, fierce and unloving to its fellows, displays the +tenderest care for its brood, providing a safe retreat for them in the +fine silken cradle she spins to envelop the eggs, which she leaves in some +warm spot, where she secures them from danger: some glue a leaf down, and +overlap it, to insure it from being agitated by the winds, or discovered +by birds. There is a curious spider, commonly known as the nursing spider, +which carries her sack of eggs with her wherever she goes; and when the +young ones come out, they cluster on her back, and so travel with her; +when a little older, they attach themselves to the old one by threads, and +run after her in a train." + +Lady Mary laughed, and said she should like to see the funny little +spiders all tied to their mother, trotting along behind her. + +"If you go into the meadow, my dear," said Mrs. Frazer, "you will see on +the larger stones some pretty shining little cases, quite round, looking +like gray satin." + +"Nurse, I know what they are," said Lady Mary. "Last year I was playing in +the green meadow, and I found a piece of granite with several of these +satin cases. I called them silk pies, for they looked like tiny mince +pies. I tried to pick one off, but it stuck so hard that I could not, so I +asked the gardener to lend me his knife; and when I raised the crust it +had a little rim under the top, and I slipped the knife in, and what do +you think I saw? The pie was full of tiny black shining spiders; and they +ran out, such a number of them,--more than I could count, they ran so +fast. I was sorry I opened the crust, for it was a cold, cold day, and the +little spiders must have been frozen, out of their warm air-tight house." + +"They are able to bear a great deal of cold, Lady Mary--all insects can; +and even when frozen hard, so that they will break if any one tries to +bend them, yet when spring comes again to warm them, they revive, and are +as full of life as ever. Caterpillars thus frozen will become butterflies +in due time. Spiders, and many other creatures, lie torpid during the +winter, and then revive in the same way as dormice, bears, and marmots +do." + +"Nurse, please will you tell me something about tortoises and porcupines?" +said Lady Mary. + +"I cannot tell you a great deal about the tortoise, my dear," replied her +nurse. "I have seen them sometimes on the shores of the lakes, and once or +twice I have met with the small land-tortoise, in the woods on the banks +of the Otonabee river. The shell that covers these reptiles is black and +yellow, divided into squares--those which I saw were about the size of my +two hands. They are very harmless creatures, living chiefly on roots and +bitter herbs: perhaps they eat insects as well. They lie buried in the +sand during the long winters, in a torpid state: they lay a number of +eggs, about the size of a blackbird's, the shell of which is tough and +soft, like a snake's egg. The old tortoise buries these in the loose sand +near the water's edge, and leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the +sun. The little tortoise, when it comes out of the shell, is about as big +as a large spider--it is a funny-looking thing. I have heard some of the +Indians say that they dive into the water, and swim, as soon as they are +hatched; but this I am not sure of. I saw one about the size of a +crown-piece that was caught in a hole in the sand: it was very lively, and +ran along the table, making a rattling noise with its hard shell as it +moved. An old one that one of my brothers brought in he put under a large +heavy box, meaning to feed and keep it; but in the morning it was gone: it +had lifted the edge of the box and was away, nor could he find out how it +had contrived to make its escape from the room. This is all that I know +about the Canadian land-tortoise." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +ELLEN AND HER PET FAWNS--DOCILITY OF FAN--JACK'S DROLL TRICKS-- +AFFECTIONATE WOLF--FALL FLOWERS--DEPARTURE OF LADY MARY--THE END + +One day Lady Mary came to seek her nurse in great haste, and describe to +her a fine deer that had been sent as a present to her father by one of +his Canadian friends. She said the great antlers were to be put up over +the library door. + +"Papa called me down to see the poor dead deer, nurse; and I was very +sorry it had been killed: it was such a fine creature. Major Pickford +laughed when I said so; but he promised to get me a live fawn. Nurse, what +is a fawn?" + +"It is a young deer, my lady." + +"Nurse, please can you tell me anything about fawns? Are they pretty +creatures, and can they be tamed; or are they fierce, wild little things?" + +"They are very gentle animals; and, if taken young, can be brought up by +sucking the finger like a young calf or a pet lamb. They are playful and +lively, and will follow the person who feeds them, like a dog. They are +very pretty, of a pale dun or red colour, with small white spots on the +back like large hailstones; the eyes are large, and soft, and black, with +a very meek expression in them; the hoofs are black and sharp: they are +clean and delicate in their habits, and easy and graceful in their +movements. + +"I remember," continued Mrs. Frazer, "to have heard of a sad accident +which was caused by a fawn." + +"Oh, what was it, nurse? Do tell me, for I don't see how such a timid +pretty creature could hurt any one." + +"A party of Indians were rowing in a canoe on one of the great American +rivers. As they passed a thick clump of trees, a young fawn suddenly +sprang out, and, frightened by their cries, leaped into the water. For +some days the rain had been heavy; the river was therefore running with a +wild, impetuous current; and the fawn was carried along by the rushing +tide at a tremendous rate. The Indians, determined to capture it, paddled +down the stream with eager haste, and in their excitement forgot that they +were in the neighbourhood of a great rapid, or cataract; dangerous at all +times, but especially so after long-continued rains. On, on, they went! +Suddenly the fawn disappeared, and looking behind them, the startled +Indians found themselves on the very brink of the rapid! Two of their +countrymen, standing on a rock overhanging the foaming waters, saw their +peril, and by shouts and gestures warned them of it. With vigorous efforts +they turned the prow of their canoe, and endeavoured to cross the river. +They plied their paddles with all the desperation of men who knew that +nothing could save them but their own exertions, that none on earth could +help them. But the current proved too strong. It carried them over the +fall, and dashed their bark broadside against a projecting rock. A moment, +and all was over! Not one of them was ever seen again!" + +"Oh, what a sad story!" cried Lady Mary; "and all those men were killed +through one poor little fawn! Still, nurse, it was not the fawn's fault; +it was the result of their own impatience and folly. Did you ever see a +tame fawn, nurse?" + +"I have seen many, my dear, and I can tell you of one that was the pet and +companion of a little girl whom I knew several years ago. A hunter had +shot a poor doe, which was very wrong, and contrary to the Indian hunting +law; for the native hunter will not, unless pressed by hunger, kill the +deer in the spring of the year, when the fawns are young. The Indian +wanted to find the little one after he had shot the dam, so he sounded a +decoy whistle, to imitate the call of the doe; and the harmless thing +answered it with a bleat, thinking no doubt it was its mother calling to +it. This betrayed its hiding-place, and it was taken unhurt by the hunter, +who took it home, and gave it to my little friend Ellen to feed and take +care of." + +[Illustration: THE INDIAN HUNTER] + +"Please, Mrs. Frazer, will you tell me what sort of trees hemlocks are? +Hemlocks in England are poisonous weeds." + +"These are not weeds, but large forest trees--a species of pine. I will +show you some the next time we go out for a drive--they are very handsome +trees." + +"And what are creeks, nurse?" + +"Creeks are small streams, such as in Scotland would be termed 'burns,' +and in England 'rivulets'" + +"Now, nurse, you may go on about the dear little fawn, I want you to tell +me all you know about it." + +"Little Ellen took the poor timid thing, and laid it in an old Indian +basket near the hearth, and put some wool in it, and covered it with an +old cloak to keep it warm, and she tended it very carefully, letting it +suck her fingers dipped in warm milk, as she had seen the dairy maid do in +weaning young calves in a few days it began to grow strong and lively, and +would jump out of its basket, and run bleating after its foster mother if +it missed her from the room, it would wait at the door watching for her +return. + +"When it was older, it used to run on the grass plot in the garden but if +it heard its little mistress's step or voice in the parlour, it would +bound through the open window to her side, and her call of 'Fan, Fan, +Fan,' would bring it home from the fields near the edge of the forest. But +poor Fan got killed by a careless boy throwing some fire wood down upon +it, as it lay asleep in the wood-shed. Ellen's grief was very great, but +all she could do was to bury it in the garden near the river-side, and +plant lilac bushes round its little green-sodded grave." + +"I am so sorry, nurse, that this good little girl lost her pretty pet." + +"Some time after the death of 'Fan,' Ellen had another fawn given to her. +She called this one Jack,--it was older, larger, and stronger, but was +more mischievous and frolicsome than her first pet. It would lie in front +of the fire on the hearth, like a dog, and rub its soft velvet nose +against the hand that patted it very affectionately, but gave a good deal +of trouble in the house. It would eat the carrots, potatoes, and cabbages, +while the cook was preparing them for dinner; and when the housemaid had +laid the cloth for dinner, Jack would go round the table and eat up the +bread she had laid to each plate, to the great delight of the children, +who thought it good fun to see him do so. + +"Ellen put a red leather collar about Jack's neck, and some months after +this he swam across the rapid river, and went off to the wild woods, and +was shot by some hunters, a great many miles away from his old home, being +known by his fine red collar. After the sad end of her two favourites, +Ellen would have no more fawns brought in for her to tame." + +Lady Mary was much interested in the account of the little girl and her +pets "Is this all you know about fawns, nurse?" + +"I once went to call on a clergyman's wife who lived in a small log-house +near a new village. The youngest child, a fat baby of two years old, was +lying on the rug before a large log-fire, fast asleep; its little head was +pillowed on the back of a tame half-grown fawn that lay stretched on its +side, enjoying the warmth of the fire, as tame and familiar as a spaniel +dog. This fawn had been brought up with the children, and they were very +fond of it, and would share their bread and milk with it at meal times; +but it got into disgrace by gnawing the bark of the young orchard-trees, +and cropping the bushes in the garden; besides, it had a trick of opening +the cupboard, and eating the bread, and drinking any milk it could find. +So the master of the house gave it away to a baker who lived in the +village; but it did not forget its old friends, and used to watch for the +children going to school, and as soon as it caught sight of them, it would +trot after them, poking its nose into the basket to get a share of their +dinner, and very often managed to get it all!" + +"And what became of this nice fellow, nurse?" + +"Unfortunately, my lady, it was chased by some dogs, and ran away to the +woods near the town, and never came back again. Dogs will always hunt tame +fawns when they can get near them; so it seems a pity to domesticate them +only to be killed in so cruel a way. The forest is the best home for these +pretty creatures, though even there they have many enemies besides the +hunter. The bear, the wolf, and the wolverine kill them. Their only means +of defence lies in their fleetness of foot. The stag will defend himself +with his strong horns; but the doe and her little fawn have no such +weapons to guard themselves when attacked by beasts of prey. The Wolf is +one of the greatest enemies they have." + +"I hate wolves," said Lady Mary; "wolves can never be tamed, nurse." + +"I have heard and read of wolves being tamed, and becoming very fond of +their masters. A gentleman in Canada once brought up a wolf puppy, which +became so fond of him that when he left it, to go home to England, it +refused to eat, and died of grief at his absence! Kindness will tame even +fierce beasts, who soon learn to love the hand that feeds them. Bears and +foxes have often been kept tame in this country, and eagles and owls; but +I think they cannot be so happy shut up, away from their natural +companions and habits, as if they were free to go and come at their own +will." + +"I should not like to be shut up, nurse, far away from my own dear home," +said the little girl, thoughtfully. "I think, sometimes, I ought not to +keep my dear squirrel in a cage--shall I let him go?" "My dear, he has now +been so used to the cage, and to have all his daily wants supplied, that I +am sure he would suffer from cold and hunger at this season of the year if +he were left to provide for himself; and if he remained here the cats and +weasels might kill him." + +"I will keep him safe from harm, then, till the warm weather comes again; +and then, nurse, we will take him to the mountain, and let him go, if he +likes to be free, among the trees and bushes." + +It was now the middle of October; the rainy season that usually comes in +the end of September and beginning of October in Canada was over. The +soft, hazy season, called Indian summer, was come again; the few forest +leaves that yet lingered were ready to fall--bright and beautiful they +still looked, but Lady Mary missed the flowers. + +"I do not love the fall--I see no flowers now, except those in the +greenhouse. The cold, cold winter, will soon be here again," she added +sadly. + +"Last year, dear lady, you said you loved the white snow, and the +sleighing, and the merry bells, and wished that winter would last all the +year round. + +"Ah, yes, nurse; but I did not know how many pretty birds and flowers I +should see in the spring and the summer; and now they are all gone, and I +shall see them no more for a long time." + +"There are still a few flowers. Lady Mary, to be found; look at these." + +"Ah, dear nurse, where did you get them? How lovely they are!" + +"Your little French maid picked them for you, on the side of the mountain. +Rosette loves the wild-flowers of her native land." + +"Nurse, do you know the names of these pretty starry flowers on this +little branch, that look so light and pretty?" + +"These are asters; a word, your governess told me the other day, meaning +star-like. Some people call these flowers Michaelmas daisies. These lovely +lilac asters grow in light, dry ground; they are among the prettiest of +our fall flowers. These with the small white starry flowers crowded, upon +the stalks, with the crimson and gold in the middle, are dwarf asters." + +"I like these white ones, nurse; the little branches look so loaded with +blossoms; see, they are quite bowed down with the weight of all these +flowers." + +"These small shrubby asters grow on dry gravelly banks of lakes and +rivers." + +"But here are some large dark purple ones." + +"These are also asters. They are to be found on dry wastes, in stony, +barren fields, and by the corners of rail-fences; they form large +spreading bushes, and look very lovely, covered with their large dark +purple flowers. There is no waste so wild, my lady, but the hand of the +Most High can plant it with some blossom, and make the waste and desert +place flourish like a garden. Here are others, still brighter and larger, +with yellow disks, and sky-blue flowers. These grow by still waters, near +mill-dams and swampy places. Though they are larger and gayer, I do not +think they will please you so well as the small ones that I first showed +you; they do not fade so fast, and that is one good quality they have." + +They are more like the China asters in the garden, nurse, only more +upright and stiff, but here is another sweet blue flower--can you tell me +its name? + +"No my dear, you must ask your governess." + +Lady Mary carried the nosegay to Miss Campbell, who told her the blue +flower was called the Fringed Gentian, and that the gentians and asters +bloomed the latest of all the autumn flowers in Canada. Among these wild +flowers, she also showed her the large dark blue bell flowered gentian, +which was in deed the last flower of the year. + +"Are there no more flowers in bloom now, nurse?" asked the child, as she +watched Mrs. Frazer arranging them for her in a flower glass. + +"I do not know of any now in bloom but the Golden Rods and the latest of +the Everlastings. Rosette shall go out and try to get some of them for +you. The French children make little mats and garlands of them to ornament +their houses, and to hang on the little crosses above the graves of their +friends, because they do not fade away like other flowers." + +Next day, Rosette, the little nursery maid, brought Lady Mary an Indian +basket full of Sweet scented Everlastings. This flower had a fragrant +smell, the leaves were less downy than some of the earlier sorts but were +covered with a resinous gum that caused it to stick to the fingers, it +looked quite silky, from the thistle down, which, falling upon the leaves, +was gummed down to the surface. + +"The country folks," said Mrs. Frazer, "call this plant Neglected +Everlasting, because it grows on dry wastes by road-sides, among thistles +and fire-weed; but I love it for its sweetness; it is like a true friend +--it never changes. See, my dear, how shining its straw-coloured blossoms +and buds are, just like satin flowers." + +"Nurse, it shall be my own flower," said the little girl; "and I will make +a pretty garland of it, to hang over my own dear mamma's picture. Rosette +says she will show me how to tie the flowers together; she has made me a +pretty wreath for my doll's straw-hat, and she means to make her a mat and +a carpet too." + +The little maid promised to bring her young lady some wreaths of the +festoon pine--a low creeping plant, with dry, green, chaffy leaves, that +grows in the barren pine woods, of which the Canadians make Christmas +garlands; and also some of the winter berries, and spice berries, which +look so gay in the fall and early spring, with berries of brightest +scarlet, and shining dark-green leaves, that trail over the ground on the +gravelly hills and plains. + +Nurse Frazer brought Lady Mary some sweetmeats, flavoured with an extract +of the spicy winter-green, from the confectioner's shop; the Canadians +being very fond of the flavour of this plant. The Indians chew the leaves, +and eat the ripe mealy berries, which have something of the taste of the +bay-laurel leaves. The Indian men smoke the leaves as tobacco. + +One day, while Mrs. Frazer was at work in the nursery, her little charge +came to her in a great state of agitation--her cheeks were flashed, and +her eyes were dancing with joy. She threw herself into her arms, and said, +"Oh, dear nurse, I am going home to dear old England and Scotland. Papa +and mamma are going away from Government House, and I am to return to the +old country with them. I am so glad--are not you?" + +But the tears gathered in Mrs. Frazer's eyes, and fell fast upon the work +she held in her hand. Lady Mary looked surprised, when she saw how her +kind nurse was weeping. + +"Nurse, you are to go too; mamma says so. Now you need not cry, for you +are not going to leave ma" + +"I cannot go with you, my dearest child," whispered her weeping attendant, +"much as I love you; for I have a dear son of my own. I have but him, and +it would break my heart to part from him;" and she softly put aside the +bright curls from Lady Mary's fair forehead, and tenderly kissed her. +"This child is all I have in the world to love me, and when his father, my +own kind husband, died, he vowed to take care of me, and cherish me in my +old age, and I promised that I would never leave him; so I cannot go away +from Canada with you, my lady, though I dearly love you." + +"Then, Mrs. Frazer, I shall be sorry to leave Canada; for when I go home, +I shall have no one to talk to me about beavers, and squirrels, and +Indians, and flowers, and birds." + +"Indeed, my lady, you will not want for amusement there, for England and +Scotland are finer places than Canada. Your good governess and your new +nurse will be able to tell you many things that will delight you; and you +will not quite forget your poor old nurse, I am sure, when you think about +the time you have spent in this country." + +"Ah, dear good old nurse, I will not forget you," said Lady Mary, +springing into her nurse's lap and fondly caressing her, while big bright +tears fell from her eyes. + +There was so much to do, and so much to think about, before the Governor's +departure, that Lady Mary had no time to hear any more stories, nor to ask +any more questions about the natural history of Canada; though, doubtless, +there were many other curious things that Mrs. Frazer could have related, +for she was a person of good education, who had seen and noticed as well +as read a great deal. She had not always been a poor woman, but had once +been a respectable farmer's wife, though her husband's death had reduced +her to a state of servitude; and she had earned money enough while in the +Governor's service to educate her son, and this was how she came to be +Lady Mary's nurse. + +Lady Mary did not forget to have all her Indian curiosities packed up with +some dried plants and flower seeds collected by her governess; but she +left the cage with her flying squirrel to Mrs. Frazer, to take care of +till the following spring, when she told her to take it to the mountain, +or St. Helen's Island, and let it go free, that it might he a happy +squirrel once more, and bound away among the green trees in the Canadian +woods. + +When Mrs. Frazer was called in to take leave of the Governor and his lady, +after receiving a handsome salary for her care and attendance on their +little daughter, the Governor gave her a sealed parchment, which, when she +opened, was found to contain a Government deed for a fine lot of land, in +a fertile township in Upper Canada. + +It was with many tears and blessings that Mrs. Frazer took leave of the +good Governor's family; and, above all, of her beloved charge, Lady Mary. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +The Indians, though so stolid and impassive in their general demeanour, +are easily moved to laughter, having a quick perception of fun and +drollery, and sometimes show themselves capable of much humour, and even +of wit. + +The following passage I extract from a Hamilton paper, Canada West which +will, I think, prove amusing to my readers-- + +At a missionary meeting in Hamilton which took place a short time since, +John Sunday, a native preacher, was particularly happy in addressing his +audience on the objects of the meeting, and towards the close astonished +all present by the ingenuity and power of his appeal to their liberality. +His closing words are too good to be lost. I give them as they were spoken +by him-- + +"There is a gentleman who, I suppose, is now in this house. He is a very +fine gentleman, but a very modest one He does not like to show himself at +these meetings. I do not know how long it is since I have seen him, he +comes out so little. I am very much afraid that he sleeps a great deal of +his time when he ought to be out doing good. His name is GOLD--Mr. Gold, +are you here to-night or are you sleeping in your iron chest? Come out, Mr +Gold. Come out and help us to do this great work--to preach the gospel to +every creature Ah, Mr. Gold, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to sleep +so much in your iron chest. Look at your white brother, Mr. Silver. He does +a great deal of good while you are sleeping. Come out Mr. Gold, Look too +at your little brown brother, Mr. Copper. He is everywhere. Your poor +little brown brother is running about doing all he can to help us. Why +don't you come out, Mr. Gold? Well, if you won't show yourself send us your +_shirt_--that is a _bank note_! + +"This is all I have to say." + +Whether the witty appeal of the Indian had the effect of bringing forth Mr +Gold from his hiding place is not said, but we hope it moved some of the +wealthy among his hearers to contribute a few sovereigns or gold dollars +to the missionary work of converting the poor Indians in the far west +regions of Canada. + + * * * * * + +LIST OF INDIAN WORDS. + +A-da-min, The strawberry + +Ah meek, The beaver + +Ajidamo The red squirrel + +Be-dau bun Dawn of the morning + +Chee-ma in in Birch canoe. + +Chee-to-waik The plover + +Dah hinda, The bull frog + +Gitche Manito, Giver of life + The Great Spirit + +Ish koo-dah, Fire. + +Kah ga-gee The raven. + +Kaw No. + +Kaw win No, no indeed. + +Keen-o-beek, Serpent. + +Mad wa-oska, Sound of waves. + Murmur of the waves + +Mun a gah Blue-berry + +Misko-deed Spring beauty + +Nee-chee Friend. + +Nap a nee Flour + +Nee me no-che shah Sweetheart + +Omee mee The wild pigeon. + +Opee chee The robin. + +O-waas sa The blue-bird + +Peta wan ooka The light of the morning + +Shaw Shaw The swallow + +Spook Spirit + +Ty yah! An exclamation of surprise + +Waa wassa The whip-poor will. + +Wah ho-no-mm A cry of lamentation. + +Many of the Indian names have been retained in Canada for various rivers +and townships and are very expressive of the peculiar qualities and +features of the country. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, IN THE FOREST *** + +This file should be named ldmrn10a.txt or ldmrn10a.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ldmrn11a.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ldmrn10b.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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