154 PEARLS AND PEBBLES. 



sky above were gleaming ere they paled before the 

 saffron light of the dawning day now streaking the 

 eastern horizon. The mist was rising in clouds from the 

 river where the rapids were tossing their white-crested 

 heads beneath the shadows of the pines that clothed the 

 opposite shores, grand and beautiful, untouched by the 

 hand of man. What a contrast to the confusion spread 

 around the recently erected mill and the half -finished, 

 unsightly buildings, where heaps of refuse, piles of - chips 

 and bark strewed the ground ! 



No one was awake or stirring — not a sound was heard 

 save the wild rushing sweep of the restless river as it 

 dashed over its rocky bed, unchecked in its downward 

 course by mill-dams or saw-logs, its clear waters 

 unpolluted by sawdust or bark, nor ploughed and stirred 

 by steamboats and the rafts and cribs of the lumbermen. 



I turned once more to the contemplation of human 

 suffering. Without all was joy and life ; within was 

 sorrow and death. 



I found Jessie awake and watching by the cradle of 

 her little one, her hopes risen with the new day. The 

 babe lay still and sleeping, and she thought it might yet 

 recover. Knowing that I was needed at home by my 

 own little one, and leaving Jessie with a promise to 

 return, I set out on my solitary walk. 



The day was now fairly opened. The ground was 

 hard and crisp, and though keen, the fresh air of the 

 early morning refreshed and revived me. 



