ulfilling, in that
the essential requisite, lumber for dwelling-houses, was being prepared.

CHAPTER XLII.

UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

For some sufficient reason, the Yankee storekeeper did not at that time
prosecute his avowed intention of foreclosing the mortgage on Daisy
Burn. Perhaps there was something to be gained by dallying with the
captain still--some further value to be sucked out of him in that
villainous trap, the tavern bar, whither many a disappointed settler has
resorted to drown his cares, and found the intoxicating glass indeed
full of 'blue ruin.'

One brilliant day in midwinter, when the sky was like a crystallized
sapphire dome, and the earth spotless in snow, a single sleigh came
bowling along the smooth road towards the 'Corner.' 'A heavy fall of
snow is equivalent to the simultaneous construction of macadamized roads
all through Canada,' saith that universally quoted personage, Good
Authority. So it is found by thousands of sleighs, then liberated after
a rusty summer rest. Then is the season for good fellowship and friendly
intercourse: leisure has usurped the place of business, and the sternest
utilitarian finds time for relaxation.

The idlers in Bunting's bar heard the sleigh-bells long before they left
the arches of the forest; and as the smallest atom of gravel strikes
commotion into a still pool, so the lightest event was of consequence
in this small stagnant community of the 'Corner.' The idlers speculated
concerning those bells, and a dozen pair of eyes witnessed the emergence
of the vehicle into the little stumpy street.

Zack's sharp vision knew it for one that had been here last year, as he
peered through the store-window, stuffed with goods of all sorts; but
the occupant was not the same. Grizzled hair and beard escaped the
bounds of the fur cap tied down over his ears, and the face was much
older and harder. The mills seemed to attract his attention, frozen up
tightly as they were; he slackened his sleigh to a pause, threw his
reins on the horse's neck, and walked to the edge of the dam. After a
few minutes, Bunting's curiosity stimulated him to follow, and see what
attracted the stranger's regard.

'Are you the proprietor of this mill, sir?' called out the tall
grey-haired gentleman, in no mild tone. Zack hesitated, weighing
the relative advantages of truth and falsehood. 'Wal, I guess'--

'You need guess nothing, sir; but the construction of your dam is a
disgrac