lain intrenched in the deep
fireplace; and the tender joints of the enormous _boeuf roti_ were ready
to bear their share in the festivities almost as soon as the invited
company. Separated with great cleavers, and laid into white button-wood
trays hollowed out for the purpose, they were borne rapidly to the shady
nook selected for the dining-place, followed by vast supplies of sweet
potatoes, roasted in the ashes, and of rich, golden maize bread. A
barrel of rare cider was broached; while good old-fashioned puddings,
and the luscious fruits of the region completed the bill of fare in
honour of the day. Of course "joy was unconfined." Everybody
pronounced the roast a grand success; and the young Russians thought
that they had never tasted so appetising a meal. With the exhilaration
of the fresh, clear air, the encouragement of hearty appetite, and the
full flavour of the meat--for it is well-known that the sap which exudes
from the pawpaw, when thus exposed to fire, adds a new relish to
whatever is cooked upon it--combined to make a dinner fit for the Czar
himself; and they determined to attempt, at some time, an imitation of
the Southern barbecue under the colder sky of Russia.

Merriment was unbounded; healths were drunk, songs sung, odd speeches
made, and stories told.

One of the last in particular made an impression upon our heroes;
partly, because it was a bear story, and partly because it illustrated a
very characteristic phase of squatter life and practical humour. In
fact, Alexis made a sketch of it in his journal, and from his notes we
now reconstruct it.

Two squatters had occupied lands not far from each other, and within
some eight or ten miles of a small town. Busied in clearing off the
woodland, each bethought himself of a source of revenue beyond the
produce of his tilled ground. He would occupy an occasional leisure day
in hauling to the town, the logs which he cut from time to time, and
then selling them as firewood. This unity of purpose naturally brought
the two men into competition with one another for the limited custom of
the settlement; and a rivalry sprang up between them, which was fast
ripening into jealousy and ill-will, when a curious coincidence
occurred.

Each owned a single yoke of oxen, which he used regularly in his farm
labour, and also in dragging his wood to market. Within a week each
lost an ox; one dying of some bovine distemper,--the other being so
injured by the fal