a
moment seemed astounded, his eye wandered inquiringly from one member
of his family to another, and finally rested upon Howe, as though
expecting him to provide some remedy to stay the hand of innovation.

"It cannot be done, Duncan," said the trapper, comprehending the
unspoken inquiry. "We are completely ensnared. Don't you see we are
surrounded?"

"Had they only chosen some other spot for this last shop, or factory,
or whatever else you call it, I would have tried to borne it. But
there--no, it is too much."

"I have news that will be as unpleasant as the mill. The surveyors will
pass near here in laying out a railroad to-morrow," said Lewis.

"I will never see it," said Mr. Duncan. "The world is wide enough for
all. It may be for the best, that there should be a general revolution
in the mode of manufactures and commerce, but I cannot appreciate it; I
am willing to fall back to the forest to give place to those who can."

It must not be inferred that Mr. Duncan was an illiterate man. On the
contrary, he was well posted on all the great events that transpired,
and was conversant with many ancient and modern authors. He had
carefully instilled into the minds of his children, a love of truth and
virtue, for the contentment and nobleness it gave, and to despise vice
as a thing too contaminating to indulge in by thought or practice. This
love of forest life had become a part of his being, and he could no
more content himself among the rapidly accumulating population that
sprang up around him, than a Broadway dandy could in the wilderness.
When driven from his accustomed fishing ground by the demolition of the
forest, whose trees shaded the brooklet with their gigantic arms
stretching from either side, interlacing and forming an arch above so
compact as to render it impenetrable to the noonday sun, he wearied of
his home, and sighed for the forest that was still in the west. Here he
had been accustomed to resort to indulge in piscatory amusement; with
his trusty rifle, full many a buck and even nobler game had fallen
beneath his aim, as lured by the stillness they had come to quench
their thirst at the brook, unconscious of the danger to which they were
drawing near. He had long looked upon this haunt as peculiarly his own,
not by the right of purchase, but by the possession, which he had
actually enjoyed many years, until he considered it as an essential to
his happiness.

For Mr. Duncan to resolve was to accom