said they, "for the noises which frighten you so much proceeds from
nothing more formidable than owls." Their answer, however, did not
satisfy me, and I kept a sharp look-out among the branches of the
surrounding trees lest the dreaded monster should descend upon as
unawares. Old Rufus was boiling sap, half a mile from us, and it was a
joyful moment to me, when he suddenly approached us out of the darkness,
saying, "Well, boys, don't you want company? I have got my sap all
boiled in, and as I felt kinder lonesome, I thought I would come across,
and sleep by your shanty fire." The old man enquired why I seemed so
much terrified, and my brothers told him that I would persist in calling
a screech-owl, a catamount. Old Rufus did not often laugh, but he
laughed heartily on this occasion, and truly it was no wonder, and when
he corroborated what my brothers had already told me, I decided that
what he said must be true. His presence at once gave me a feeling of
protection and security, and creeping close to his side on the cedar
boughs which formed our bed, while the immense fire blazed in front of
our tent, I soon forgot my childish fears, in a sound sleep which
remained unbroken till the morning sun was shining brightly above the
trees. But it was long before I heard the last of the night I spent in
the bush; and as often as my brothers wished to tease me, they would
enquire if I had lately heard the cries of a catamount? Time passed on
till I grew up, and leaving the paternal home went forth, to make my own
way in the world. Old Rufus still resided in R. When a child I used to
fancy that he would never seem older than he had appeared since my
earliest recollection of him; but about the time I left home there was a
very observable change in his appearance. I noticed that his walk was
slow and feeble, and his form was bending beneath the weight of years,
and his hair was becoming white by the frosts of time. I occasionally
visited my parents, and during these visits I frequently met with my old
friend; and it was evident that he was fast failing, and was fast losing
his hold of life. He still resided alone, much against the wishes of his
neighbours, but his old habits still clung to him. I removed to a longer
distance and visited my early home less frequently. Returning to R.,
after a longer absence than usual, I learned that the health of Old
Rufus had so much failed, that the neighbours, deeming it unsafe for him
to remain