IV.

A FEAST AND A STORY

V.

JULIA WILMER

VI.

THE NEW HOME AND SETTLEMENT

VII.

A CAPTIVE

VIII.

A LAMB LOST

IX.

SEEKING THE LOST LAMB IN VAIN

X.

THE SUGAR PARTY

XI.

FABENS PROMOTED TO HONOR

XII.

A LAW SUIT

XIII.

HAPPINESS

XIV.

THE COLD SEASONS

XV.

A WAR OF EXTERMINATION

XVI.

THE MINISTER

XVII.

THE MEETING

XVIII.

THE SECOND MEETING AND ITS FRUITS

XIX.

THE HARVEST LUNCH

XX.

MERCHANT FAIRBANKS

XXI.

THE HUSKING

XXII.

GEORGE LUDLOW AND ALMON FRISBIE

XXIII.

FAIRBANKS, FRISBIE, AND FABENS

XXIV.

A WEEK OF CASTLE BUILDING

XXV.

A WEEK OF REALITY

XXVI.

ANOTHER WEEK OF REALITY

XXVII.

SUNNY SKIES

XXVIII.

CONCLUSION

SUMMERFIELD.

I.

GOING FROM HOME TO BUILD A HOME.

"Yes, and such a wilderness of game! My word for it, you would like it
out there. The fat deer scamper from thicket and opening; foxes and
wolves, and bears are plenty; wild turkeys romp and fly in flocks; wild
ducks dip and skim like swallows on the lakes; trout and sturgeon,
lusty and sweet; Indians good-natured as the yellow sun:--and such
hunts as I've had there!--I tell you what, Matthew, they would cure you
pretty quick of being homesick; and you would hardly look towards the
Hudson again, if you were only once in the lake country."

"I should like to go there, Uncle Walter. It must be a very fine
country, and the encouragements for young men must be great. I should
like those grand old forests you speak of; and those pleasant lakes,
and the hills, and the valleys. Just so strange I am--I should soon
have affection for them, and reckon them among my friends. I should
bring away their sweet summer fragrance and verdure in my soul. And
the deer--how I'd like to see them bounding all about me! and the ducks
and wild turkeys enjoying their free life. But to make them
game,--I'll leave that to you, Uncle Walter, if I cannot soften your
heart. If I could leave father and mother, I would go and see what
sort of a life I could accomplish in a land so free and inviting; and
what kind of a home I could build. The thought of this sets my blood
a-bounding."

"Well, come, make up your mind, and get ready by then I start, and I'll
be right glad of your company. I shall start in a fortnight."

"What say you, father and mother? My heart flutters as I ask you! But
what