me when Mr Hemmenway made his appearance
there, all the hay was well made and safely housed, without a drop of
rain having fallen upon it.

Davie was tired, but triumphant. "Providence is ay kind," said grannie
softly, and grandfather's assent, though silent as usual, was pleased
and earnest, and he was "in better heart" than he had been for a while.

Davie had some good hard work in other hay-fields in return for the help
they had had at Ythan, and it was done gratefully and heartily.

And when most of the hay-fields in Gershom were bare and brown, waiting
for the showers that were to make them green and beautiful for the fall
pasture, in the short "resting-spell" that usually comes in this part of
Canada between the hay and grain harvest, thoughts of pleasure seemed to
take possession of young and old in Gershom.

It would be impossible to say to whom was due the honour of originating
the idea of assembling for a grand pleasure party of some sort, all the
people of Gershom "and vicinity." A good many people claimed it, and it
is probable they all had a right to do so. For so natural and agreeable
a plan might well suggest itself to several minds at the same time. It
took different forms in different minds, however. All were for
pleasure, but there were various opinions as to how it could best be
secured.

The young people generally were in favour of an expedition to Hawk's
Head, or to the more distant, but more accessible wonders of Clough's
Chasm, where in a sudden deep division of the hills lay a clear, still
lake, whose depths it was said had never yet been sounded. Others
approved rather of some plan that would allow a far larger number to
participate in it, than such an expedition would allow. And while this
was being discussed in a manner that threatened the falling through of
the whole affair, it was taken up by that part of the community who
considered themselves chiefly responsible for the well-being of the body
politic, and who considered themselves also, on the whole, eminently
qualified to perform the duties which the responsibilities implied. And
by them it was declared that a great temperance demonstration was at
this time desirable.

Such a demonstration would do good in many ways. It would revive the
drooping spirits of those who were inclined to despond as to the
prosperity of the cause. It would rouse from slumber the consciences of
some who had once been its active friends, and it wo