BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XV1L 



Katie met him at her sister's house, and it was not very 

 long before it became known to the family at Reydon that 

 Mr. Traill meant to precede the Moodies to Canada — and 

 that he was not to go alone. 



The grief of the sisters was great at the idea of parting 

 with the beloved Katie. At first they refused to believe so 

 preposterous a tale, but " the Katie '' had made her choice 

 and no entreaties could prevail upon her to change her mind. 

 They were married on May 13th, 1832, in the parish church 

 at Reydon, by the vicar, the Reverend H. Birch. It was a 

 very quiet wedding, and a sad one, for the shadow of the 

 coming parting was over them all. 



"On the 20th of May I bade farewell to my old home and 

 the beloved mother whom I was never again to see on earth, 

 and, accompanied by my sisters Agnes and Jane, went down 

 to the beach, from whence we were to be rowed out to embark 

 on the City of London, one of the first two steamers which 

 then plied between the metropolis and Leith. 



" It was Sunday and a lovely bright morning, the heavens 

 cloudlessly blue and the sea without a ripple save that of the 

 incoming tide ; the waves running in in curving lines along- 

 the beach, with a murmuring music all their own. The bells 

 from the tower bi the grand old church of St. Edmund 

 were chiming their summons to the morning service, but 

 they seemed to me to be repeating the sad refrain — 



" 'Parting forever, 

 Parting forever, 

 Never again to meet ! 

 Never, O never ! ' 



Yet as I leaned over the side of the ship and watched the 

 boat that conveyed my sisters back to the shore until it was. 

 a mere speck upon the ocean, I little dreamed that my eyes 

 should never again look upon those dear ones and England's 

 loved shores. Hope was ever bright. To me there was always- 



