f the information conveyed.

His descriptions of natural scenery, of the grand river Saint Lawrence,
the mountains, the islands, the great falls of Niagara, were very
fine--"perhaps a little too fine"--he acknowledged. But his opinions as
to the state of morals and manners, education and religion, and American
institutions generally, were greatly modified by the time he read his
letters again; his "first impressions" may therefore be omitted in his
story, and his adventures also, which were not of extraordinary
interest, even to himself, until he came to the town of Barstow in the
United States, the only town in all America which at that time had any
special attraction for him.

In those days Barstow used to be spoken of as a Western town; but so
many new States have been made since then, and so many towns and cities
have risen up far to the westward, that it is now regarded as belonging
to the eastern part of the great republic. It was not a large town when
John Beaton first saw it. It had a few long, tree-shaded streets, where
the great square, white houses, stood far apart, with pleasant lawns and
gardens about them. Even the business streets were wide and clean, and
had trees growing in them; and, altogether, "the place gave one the idea
of plenty of elbow room," as John told Robert Hume in the first letter
which he wrote there.

But he did not tell Robert or any one else why he had turned his face
thitherward.

Before Dr Fleming had ended the sentence which declared that a sea
voyage would be the best thing for his patient, John was saying to
himself, that to the town of Barstow, where Alexander Hadden lived, and
where William Bain was likely to go at last, wherever he might be
lingering now, he should first direct his steps when his voyage was
ended. If such a thing were possible, Allison's heart should be set at
rest concerning her brother.

But now that he was there, for a reason which he could not well have
declared to any one, he hesitated to apply to Mr Hadden for the
information which he desired. It would be more natural and more
agreeable to them both, he thought, that meeting William Bain as it were
by chance, he should claim him as a countryman, and strive to win his
confidence first of all. Afterward, he might be able to help and
influence him. And it was too likely that he would need both help and
influence.

That this lad who, not through wickedness perhaps, but through weakness
and fol