an angel of
mercy. So far as I was concerned it was a case of love at first sight.
She nursed me back to health; and, with the usual ingratitude of man, I
married her for her pains. I then gave up the sea after a trip or two,
and settled in Montreal. But I could not get used to, nor like the
conventionalities of city life. So I made a trip into these wilds. I saw
an opportunity to do a good business in furs; and so, with wife's
consent, we settled on this spot. I built this house, which I named in
honor of my wife--Constance. I have done fairly well financially, and I
am sure that we have been quite happy and contented. Until Mrs. Barton's
illness, I was without a care or worry in the world."

"But don't you find the winters very long and terribly cold?" asked
Fred.

"On the contrary, we enjoy our winters very much. To be sure, the
thermometer runs from thirty to fifty degrees below zero; but if the
wind does not blow, we suffer very little from it."

"What do you do to pass the time?" asked Will.

"The boys, when the weather is favorable, trap and hunt. I am getting a
little too old and heavy for much of that; so I attend to the chores
about the place, trade goods for furs to the hunters and Esquimaux. Our
evenings are passed in reading, one often reading aloud to the rest of
us. And we have a great deal of music. Joe plays the violin, Sam the
flute, and Jennie the guitar or dulcimer."

"By the way," cried Fred, "Let's have a musical soiree to-night. What do
you all say?"

This proposition was enthusiastically received.

"Come, Will, let's run up and get the organ. Will you go up?" addressing
Joe and Sam.

"Go up, my sons, and see this Alladin's palace," said Mr. Barton. "You
will never see its like again."

In half an hour they returned. The young Bartons were wildly
enthusiastic in their praises of the globe.

"Jennie, you must not fail to see the wonderful air-ship," cried Joe.
Mattie, Jennie, Will and Fred visited the globe, returning just in time
for a splendid supper prepared by the skillful Celestial, Sing. All that
the larders of both Constance House and the globe afforded had been
drawn upon, and it is doubtful if in all inhospitable Labrador a more
elaborate and bountiful table was ever spread.

The Doctor, at Mr. Barton's request, asked the Divine blessing, and all
fell to and ate with an appetite that is known only to those of clear
consciences and sound digestive organs. Having done justice