into the ranks of the
labouring classes, without any of the luxuries of civilisation such as
an English artisan would enjoy,' said the old gentleman.

'Except the luxury of paying neither rent nor taxes,' rejoined Robert
promptly.

'You seem to have been carpenter, house-painter, wood-cutter, ploughman'--

'No, sir; there isn't a plough on the premises, and I shouldn't know what
to do with it if there were.'

'Had you no assistance in all this?'

'Oh yes; invaluable help in Jacques Dubois, a lively little French
Canadian from the "Corner," whose indomitable _esprit_ was worth more
than the stronger physique of a heavy Anglo-Saxon. But come, sir, I hear
the dinner bell.'

Which was the rattling of a stick on an invalided kettle, commonly used
by Andy to summon his masters home. To impress the new arrivals with a
sense of their resources, a feast, comprising every accessible delicacy,
had been prepared. Speckled trout from the lake, broiled in the hot wood
ashes, Indian fashion; wild-fowl of various species, and wild fruits,
cooked and _au naturel_, were the components.

'I hardly thought that you would have found time for strawberry
cultivation,' observed Mr. Wynn the elder.

'And we have far more extensive strawberry beds, sir, than I ever saw
in Ireland,' said Robert, with a twinkle of his eyes. 'I'm thinking of
turning in the pigs to eat a few pailfuls; they are quite a drug for
abundance.'

'A raspberry tart!' exclaimed Linda, 'and custards! Why, Bob!'

'Would you like to know a secret?'--followed by a whisper.

'Nonsense! not you!'

They seemed to have other secrets to tell by and by, which required the
open air. The eleven months last gone past had brought many changes to
both. And there they walked to and fro on the margin of the forest,
until the moon's silver wheel rolled up over the dusk trees, and lit
Cedar Creek gloriously.

'What pure and transparent air!' exclaimed Linda, coming back to the
present from the past. 'Is your moonlight always laden with that sweet
aromatic odour?'

'Don't you recognise balm of Gilead? Your greenhouse and garden plant is
a weed here. Our pines also help in the fragrance you perceive.'

'Robert, I know that the red patches burning steadily yonder are the
stumps you showed me; but the half circular rings of fire, I don't
understand them.'

'The niggers round the trunks of some trees,' explained Robert. 'That's
a means we use for burning through timber, and so