heavy wagons move slowly
and laboriously forward, sometimes getting so deep in the mire that it
is almost impossible to extricate them, and at times impeded by fallen
trees, which the driver has to cut away. They are poorly protected
against the searching rains, and for the last two days we have been
drenched.

When we caught the first glimpse of the red light in the distance, we
felt very much inclined to appreciate any thing approaching comfort,
tired and dripping as we were; but what our happy Fates had in store for
us, we never for a moment imagined. We had hardly entered the house
before we felt that it was no common place. The fireplace was like a
great cavern, full of immense logs and blazing bark. It lighted up a
most hospitable room. From a beam in the low ceiling, hung a great
branch of apples. I counted twenty-three bright red and yellow apples
shining out from it.

Two stages meet here, and the main business at this time of the year is
drying the passengers sufficiently for them to proceed on their way the
next day. The host and his family stood round the fire, handling and
turning the wet garments with unbounded good-nature and patience. The
stage-drivers cracked jokes and told stories. A spirit of perfect
equality prevailed, and a readiness to take every thing in the best
possible part. The family are Scotch,--hard-working people; but they
have not worked so hard as to rub all the bloom off their lives, as so
many people have that we have seen.

When supper was announced, another surprise awaited us. Instead of the
unvarying round of fried meat and clammy pie with which we had hitherto
been welcomed, we were refreshed with a dish of boiled meat, a
corn-starch pudding, and stewed plums. Why some other dweller in the
wilderness could not have introduced a little variety into his bill of
fare, we could never conceive. It seemed a real inspiration in McDonald,
to send to California or Oregon for a little dried fruit and some papers
of corn-starch. He gave us, too, what was even more delightful than his
wholesome food,--a little glimpse of his home-life. To a tired
traveller, what could be more refreshing than a sight of somebody's
home? Generally, at whatever place we stopped, we saw only the
"men-folks;" the family, often half-breed, being huddled away in the
rear. Here, in the room in which the guests were received, lay the
smiling baby in its old-fashioned cradle. Two blithe little girls danced
in and