o one bright morning he renewed the proposal, made long
before, that Will should show him Canada.

Up to a comparatively recent period, all Mr Snow's ideas of the country
had been got from the careful reading of an old "History of the French
and Indian War." Of course, by this time he had got a little beyond the
belief that the government was a military despotism, that the city of
Montreal was a cluster of wigwams, huddled together within a circular
enclosure of palisades, or that the commerce of the country consisted in
an exchange of beads, muskets, and bad whiskey for the furs of the
Aborigines. Still his ideas were vague and indistinct, not to say
disparaging, and he had already quite unconsciously excited the
amusement of Will and the indignation of Rose, by indulging in remarks
indicative of a low opinion of things in general in the Queen's
dominions. So when he proposed that Will should show him Canada, Rose
looked gravely up and asked,--

"Where will you go first, Will? To the Red river or Hudson's Bay or to
Nova Scotia? You must be back to lunch."

They all laughed, and Arthur said,--

"Oh, fie, Rosie! not to know these places are all beyond the limits of
Canada!--such ignorance!"

"They are in the Queen's dominions, though, and Mr Snow wants to see
all that is worth seeing on British soil."

"Well, I guess we can make out a full day's work in Canada, can't we?
It is best to take it moderate," said Mr Snow, smiling benignly on
Rose. He was tolerant of the young lady's petulance, and not so ready
to excite it as he used to be in the old times, and generally listened
to her little sallies with a deprecating smile, amusing to see.

He was changed in other respects as well. Indeed, it must be confessed
that just at first Arthur was a little disappointed in him. He had only
a slight personal acquaintance with him, but he had heard so much of him
from the others that he had looked forward with interest to making the
acquaintance of the "sharp Yankee deacon." For Harry had a good story
about "Uncle Sampson" ready for all occasions, and there was no end to
the shrewd remarks and scraps of worldly wisdom that he used to quote
from his lips. But Harry's acquaintance had been confined to the first
years of their Merleville life, and Mr Snow had changed much since
then. He saw all things in a new light. Wisdom and folly had changed
their aspect to him. The charity which "believeth and hopeth all
things