Mary; "we are afraid of nothing
but putting you to inconvenience."

"Well, in that case, we shall be at Falcon's Nest on the appointed
day, unless the roads are positively submerged."

"In that case," said Jack, "a line of canoes will be placed upon the
highway, between the two localities."

As the prospect of a prize incites the young scholar to increased
exertion--as the prospect of worldly honors urges the ambitious man on
in his career--as the oasis cheers the weary traveller on his journey
through the desert, and makes him forget hunger and thirst--as the
dreams of comfort and home warm the blood of a wayfarer amongst snow
and ice--as hope smooths the ruggedness of poverty and softens the
calamities of adversity, so the prospect of meeting again mitigates
the regrets of parting.

CHAPTER XVII.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY--MUCIUS SCAEVOLA--WHAT'S TO BE
DONE?--BRUTUS TORQUATUS AND PETER THE GREAT--AUSTRALIA, BOTANY BAY,
AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN--NEW GUINEA AND THE BUCCANEER--VANCOUVER'S
ISLAND--WHITE SKINS--DANGER OF LANDING ON A WAVE--HANGED OR
DROWNED--ROUTE TO HAPPINESS--OMENS.

The old saw, _Where there's a will there's a way_, means--if it means
anything--that a great deal may be effected by energy. A man without
energy is a helpless character, and invariably lags behind his fellow
mortals in the stream of life; like a cork in an eddy, he is rebuffed
here and jostled there, and goes on travelling in a circle to the end
of the chapter. Not so the man of action; no jostling thwarts him, no
rebuffs retard him; he breaks through all sorts of obstacles, and
floats along with the current.

Such a man was Becker. Though surrounded with dangers, and harassed by
the elements, almost alone he had converted a wilderness into fertile
fields; he pursued the track that his judgment suggested, and followed
it up with invincible resolution; he manfully resisted the severest
trials, and cheerfully bore the heaviest burdens; his reliance on
Truth or Virtue and on God were unfaltering; but had he provided for
every emergency? Is mortal power capable of overcoming every
difficulty? We shall see.

A day or two after the entertainment at Rockhouse, Becker whispered to
the Pilot--

"Willis, take a rifle, and come along with me; I have something to say
to you."

They walked a quarter of an hour or so without uttering a word, when
Willis broke the silence.

"You seem sad, Mr. Becker."

"Yes, Willis, I a