MR. o'b. at hard labour. 237 



Mr. O'B. was required to assist in this, but he had 

 disappeared. We made diligent search for him, and 

 at last found him, squatted behind a bush, still enjoying 

 Ids book and pipe. We apologised for interrupting 

 his studies, and informed him that all hands were now 

 required in order to get the wood down to the river's 

 edge as quickly as possible, so as to be able to cross 

 before dark. Mr. O'B. assured us that he had been 

 looking forward with eager impatience for an oppor- 

 tunity of giving his assistance, but got up and 

 followed us with evident reluctance, and impressed 

 upon us that his weak and delicate frame was quite 

 unfit for heavy work. A few of the largest trunks 

 were carried with difficulty by the united strength of 

 our whole party, and we were then detailed into par- 

 ties of two, for the transport of the rest. Milton 

 paired off with O'B., Cheadle with The Assiniboine, 

 and the woman with the boy, for the lesser trees. 

 Mr. O'B. shouldered, with a sigh, the smaller end of 

 the log, his fellow-labourer the other, and they pro- 

 ceeded slowly towards the shore. After the first few 

 steps O'B. began to utter the most awful groans, and 

 cried out, continually, " Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! this is 

 most painful — it's cutting my shoulder in two — 

 not so fast, my lord. Gently, gently. Steady, my lord, 

 steady; I must stop. I'm carrying all the weight 

 myself. I shall drop with exhaustion directly — triste 

 lignum te caducum!' And then, with a loud "Oh!" 

 and no further warning, he let his end of the tree 

 down with a run, jarring his unhappy partner most 

 dreadfully. A repetition of this scene occurred on 



