288 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



' Just see if those bullets fit your gun, Captain.' 

 ' Yes, John,' he says, ' and suppose they do, what 

 of that ? ' ' Why, Captain,' says I, ' those are 

 your bullets, and I picked them up. Now what 

 do you say about my dream ? ' Well, he would 

 not believe me until I showed him the marks in 

 the snow, and he found that the bullets fitted his 

 rifle exactly, and then he had to. Lord, sir, I 

 have heard him tell that story scores of times, and 

 he would get quite angry when people would not 

 believe it." 



So we talked and yarned till I grew sleepy and 

 dozed off, somewhat against my will, for the nights 

 are too lovely to waste in sleep. Nothing can 

 exceed the beauty of these northern nights, a 

 beauty so calm, grand, majestic, almost awful in 

 its majesty, that there exists not a man, I believe, 

 on the face of this earth with a spirit so dulled, 

 or a mind so harassed, that he could withstand 

 its peace-giving power. By day his troubles may 

 be too heavy for him, but the night is more potent 

 than any drug, than any excitement, to steep the 

 soul in forgetfulness. You cannot " bind the 

 sweet influence of the Pleiades," nor resist the 

 soothing touch of mother Nature, when she reveals 

 herself in the calm watches of the night, and her 



