ft him.
taking with her their child; for whom and herself she earns a
subsistence by going as chambermaid in these boats. Now and then, she
said, her husband called on her, and asked if he might live with her
again; but she always answered, no. Here she was far freer than she
would have been in civilized life.

I was pleased by the nonchalance of this woman, and the perfectly
national manner she had preserved after so many years of contact with
all kinds of people. The two women, when I left the boat, made me
presents of Indian work, such as travellers value, and the manner of the
two was characteristic of their different nations. The Indian brought me
hers, when I was alone, looked bashfully down when she gave it, and made
an almost sentimental little speech. The Dutch girl brought hers in
public, and, bridling her short chin with a self-complacent air,
observed she had _bought_ it for me. But the feeling of affectionate
regard was the same in the minds of both.

Island after island we passed, all fairly shaped and clustering
friendly, but with little variety of vegetation.

In the afternoon the weather became foggy, and we could not proceed
after dark. That was as dull an evening as ever fell.

The next morning the fog still lay heavy, but the captain took me out in
his boat on an exploring expedition, and we found the remains of the
old English fort on Point St. Joseph's. All around was so wholly
unmarked by anything but stress of wind and weather, the shores of these
islands and their woods so like one another, wild and lonely, but
nowhere rich and majestic, that there was some charm in the remains of
the garden, the remains even of chimneys and a pier. They gave feature
to the scene.

Here I gathered many flowers, but they were the same as at Mackinaw.

The captain, though he had been on this trip hundreds of times, had
never seen this spot, and never would, but for this fog, and his desire
to entertain me. He presented a striking instance how men, for the sake
of getting a living, forget to live. It is just the same in the most
romantic as the most dull and vulgar places. Men get the harness on so
fast, that they can never shake it off unless they guard against this
danger from the very first. In Chicago, how many men, who never found
time to see the prairies or learn anything unconnected with the business
of the day, or about the country they were living in!

So this captain, a man of strong sense and goo