14000 MILES 



them loading hay and digging in the field ; those at home 

 were spinning by the door. If we came across a group 

 of men "loafing," they would cease their jabbering, raise 

 their hats and stand in silence while we passed. We 

 missed these little attentions when we got back to the 

 States. 



By the time we reached Sorel we felt quite at home in 

 Canada. We found there a mixture of nationalities. The 

 host of the Brunswick, where we stopped for dinner and 

 to wait two or three hours for the boat to Berthier, was a 

 native of the States, and we were well cared for. We 

 were well entertained while waiting, for it was market- 

 day, and men and women were standing by their carts, 

 arms akimbo, as they traded their vegetables for straw 

 hats and loaves of bread — so large, it took two to carry 

 them off. We had been meeting them all along, the 

 women and children usually sitting on the floor of the 

 rude carts, with their purchases packed about them. 



At four o'clock Jerry was driven to the door in visiting 

 trim, well groomed, and the phaeton washed. We went 

 to the boat, and there for the first time we thought we 

 had encountered that "mean person," attracted by our 

 "Yankee rig," for a fellow stepped up where we stood by 

 Jerry in the bow of the boat, as he was a little uneasy, 

 and began to talk about "trading horses." The young 

 woman who had him in charge soon called him away, 

 however, and we heard no more from him. 



The sail of nearly an hour among the islands, which at 

 this point in the St. Lawrence begin to be quite 

 numerous, was very pleasant, and when we came in 

 sight of Berthier, marked by its twin shining spires, we 



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