ion, and found his best plan
was to take a Yankee leave, and clear out, leaving his unfinished home
as a legacy to his creditors.

How to beat a retreat, and take his goods and chattels with him,
without discovery, was a difficult matter. He, however, set his wits to
work, and adopted the following plan, which, in theory, looked feasible
enough, but, when put in practice, was found not quite so easy as he
had anticipated.

He knew that the river Speed, which ran at the rear of his lot, after a
course of fourteen or fifteen miles, debouched into the Grand River,
and was, from thence, navigable for boats to Lake Erie, a distance of
some seventy or eighty miles further. He, therefore, conceived the plan
of building a small scow,* large enough to hold his wife, himself, and
his effects, and silently dropping down with the current, bade adieu to
their sylvan retreat, and the great city of Guelph, which, however, he
was destined to see again, much sooner than he expected.

[* A long-shaped flat-bottomed boat of the same width the entire
length, rising gently at each end, built of two-inch plank, and much
used on shallow rivers and creeks.]

He built his boat close to the river's edge, having, with the
assistance of his wife, carried the planks down for that purpose. I
suppose he took a lesson from Robinson Crusoe, not to build his scow
too far from the water.

Everything being ready, the boat was launched and freighted, our hero
in the stern, with steering paddle in hand, and his patient _compagnon
de voyage_ acting, as bowman.

The Speed is a shallow, swift, running stream, seldom exceeding three
feet in depth during the dry season. For the first mile they got on
pretty well, till they came to a jam of drift wood; over this with
great difficulty they hauled their scow; every few yards fresh
obstructions occurred in the shape of snags, fallen trees, and drift
wood, which caused them to upset twice before they had accomplished the
second mile, till at last an extensive jam across the river many yards
in length, put a complete barrier to their further advance.

Wet and weary, half the day gone, and no chance of proceeding down the
stream, they determined to retrace their course. This was not easy to
accomplish, for the current was too swift to paddle against; so, tying
a short piece of rope to the stem of the scow, he ordered his
unfortunate wife to take the water and tow the boat, whilst he sat in
state in the stern a