BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXIX 



grief was great. She recalled over and over again the kind- 

 ness to her in the bush in those early days. " Ay, an' she 

 was sae bonnie ; sic a bonnie leddy, wi' her pink cheeks an' 

 her blue e'en, an' she was sae lovin' and dear ; my, but I'll 

 greet sair if she is ta'en away ! " But Jessie's prayers for the 

 recovery of the dear old friend were answered, and we have 

 her with us still. 



In 1839, Mr. Traill sold the farm on the lake, and bought 

 a house and lot in what was lately known as Ashburnham, 

 now a part of Peterborough, where they lived until 1846, 

 when they removed to Rice Lake, and subsequently pur- 

 chased "Oaklands." 



Meanwhile Mrs. Traill had not been idle. They were very 

 poor, as all settlers of Mr. Traill's class and education were 

 in those days, unfitted for the rough life and to cope with the 

 difficulties which the work entailed, and his wife's pen was 

 frequently the means of keeping the wolf from the door. She 

 wrote many short stories and sketches for the magazines both 

 in England and the States, the Anglo-American being one of 

 those in the latter country; and, in 1850, " Lady Mary and 

 her Nurse,'' more familiar to present-day readers as " Afar 

 in the Forest,'' was published. In this little volume there is 

 a story of the grey squirrels, that used to be the delight of my 

 early childhood. 



The Traills had removed from Ashburnham to " Wolf 

 Tower," a house belonging to Mr. Bridges, which attained 

 some celebrity ; from there they went to live in a small log- 

 house on a rise called Mount Ararat, above a deep ravine on 

 the shores of Rice Lake, and it was here, among the actual 

 surroundings, so well depicted on its pages, that Mrs. Traill 

 wrote " The Canadian Crusoes." It was published by Messrs. 

 IJall & Vertue, London, and later the copyright of both it 

 and " Lady Mary and her Nurse " were bought by Messrs. 

 Nelson & Sons, Edinburgh. These books have gone through 

 many editions and been issued under more than one title, 



