THE HALCYON IN CANADA. 241 



to our fire. We were away, and Joe met us on our 

 return with the unwelcome news. We kept open 

 house so far as the fire was concerned ; but our roof 

 was a narrow one at the best, and one or two leaky 

 spots made it still narrower. 



"We shall probably sleep out-of-doors to-night," 

 said my companion, " unless we are a match for this 

 posse of rough teamsters." 



But the men proved to be much more peaceably 

 disposed than the same class at home ; they apolo- 

 gized for intruding, pleading the inclemency of the 

 weather, and were quite willing with our permission 

 to take up with pot-luck about the fire and leave us 

 the shanty. They dried their clothes upon poles and 

 logs, and had their fun and their bantering amid it 

 all. An Irishman among them did about the only 

 growling ; he invited himself into our quarters, and 

 before morning had Joe's blanket about him in ad- 

 dition to his own. 



On Friday we made an excursion to Great Lake 

 Jacques Cartier, paddling and poleing up the river in 

 the rude box-boat. It was a bright, still morning after 

 the rain, and everything had a new, fresh appear- 

 ance. Expectation was ever on tiptoe as each turn 

 in the river opened a new prospect before us. How 

 wild, and shaggy, and silent it was ! What fascinat- 

 ing pools, what tempting stretches of trout-haunted 

 water! Now and then we would catch a glimpse 

 of long black shadows starting away from the boat 

 and shooting through the sunlit depths. But no 



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