BULLETS AND THEIE BILLETS 



knowledge, or advance any theory to 

 account for something which was affect- 

 ing profoundly the inhabitants of the 

 globe. Not until the very close of the 

 year did little paragraphs begin to ap- 

 pear in the papers. These appearances 

 had been noted in several European 

 countries, the deficiency in the sun's 

 heat measured, the different celestial 

 phenomena collated, and the hypothesis 

 of volcanic dust advanced to account for 

 them. Day after day, in the heart of the 

 woods, Indians and Frenchmen were 

 perfectly aw r are that all was not right ; 

 the sun was malade, the moon bleme, the 

 sunset sky showed no colours, the great 

 besom of the northwest wind continu- 

 ally failed to sweep the heavens to pure 

 intense blueness. Wherefore the crops 

 did not ripen, the oats were gathered 

 green, and the people in northern Que- 

 bec practically lost their season's labour 

 in the fields. They knew not of the erup- 

 tion in the Alaskan islands which pro- 



192 



