The Land of the Winanishe 



to argue the matter out, with the by- 

 stander as the judge. Proposition first : 

 There is one God, for rich and poor, for 

 Protestant and Catholic alike. Accepted 

 without objection. Second: It is the duty 

 of all to worship him. Therefore the bag 

 fell off because the driver had not assisted 

 at mass. Here the advocate demurred. 

 " If you neglected the mass it was of your 

 own free will, and the responsibility abides 

 with you."- "Nay," responded the carter, 

 " I am poor ; I must have bread for my 

 wife and children. God grants this lib- 

 erty to the poor, and the responsibility 

 recoils upon the rich who offer to hire 

 me, and who can afford to wait." And so 

 the debate waged till the steep bank of 

 the river Metabetchouan brought it to a 

 close. The rope ferry took us across, and 

 a few miles more brought us to a belated 

 dinner at St. Jerome. The afternoon wore 

 away without incident, while the road took 

 us across La Belle Riviere, that old high- 

 way of the Jesuit missionaries, and by St. 

 Gedeon. 



The rustic mind seems everywhere to 

 have a common trait, an inability to give 

 accurate and clear information concerning 

 the road you wish to travel. If we asked 

 the distance to any point, one responded, 

 50 



