er that if he would not order
us both proper suits of clothes I would run away to our father and
complain. He laughed at me, not believing that I would make the
attempt. I was as good as my word, for pretending I was ill one
evening, I got leave to go up early to bed. Instead of going to sleep I
watched my opportunity, slipped out of the house with all the money
Arthur and I could collect, or rather save, in my pocket, and running on
all night, before morning I was far away towards Lake Simcoe. You see,
boys brought up in the bush, as I was, have no fear of being out alone,
and can find their way in any direction they have a mind to follow.
Besides which, it was a beaten cart track I followed, mostly in the line
the railway now takes. Great changes since then! I might have been
caught even then, for I was pursued for some distance; but I was
overtaken by an old acquaintance--a carter, or rather a packer or
carrier--Jack Johnson by name, to whom I narrated what had occurred. My
elder brother had on some occasion offended him, and this made him,
probably, more ready to take my part, and to render me assistance.
`Jump into the waggon, lad, and hide thee away, and if any one comes
after thee I'll show him that Jack Johnson's waggon is just as much his
castle as any man's house is, and if he pries therein he must take the
consequences.' What those consequences would be he did not say, but he
flourished his heavy whip with a ferocity which made it probable that
the head of anybody who interfered would be broken. With this consoling
reflection I fell asleep, for I was very tired after my long run during
all the night. I knew, also, that Jack would be as good as his word, so
I had no fears to keep me awake.

"We jogged on all day, stopping only to bait and water the cattle. Now
and then I awoke and looked out; it was the same scene--forest on either
side, with now and then a small lake, or pond, or creek. Jack was at
his horses' heads, whistling away, as if he had nothing in the world to
care for. He hadn't either. He had been a workhouse-boy in the old
country, and would have ended his days as a labourer, and now he was
laying by a good bit of money every trip, and expected to be able to buy
a comfortable farm before long. So he did, and has brought up a
numerous family, all well-to-do in the world, and lives himself as
comfortably as any man with four or five hundred a-year would, I guess,
in England. At night