were soon made, and the young lady was not the last who was
ready for the start; her mind was not troubled with a superfluity of
apparel, or an infinity of boxes. We cannot say if she was peculiar to
her sex in this respect, but certain it is she did not hesitate to make
the journey without the legion of packages which are usually the
concomitants of travelling ladies. All her paraphernalia was comfortably
settled on the back of a pack-horse, while her general effects were left
to be forwarded to her brother's station as opportunity offered.

That Kate Ferguson left her father's house without regret we do not
believe; but her mind was so taken up with the thoughts of her domestic
importance, and she was so absorbed with the arrangements in
perspective, that she entirely forgot the fact that she was leaving,
perhaps for ever, her parent's roof; and was about to commence a life
subjected to dangers and inconveniences, which she, even native born
though she was, was totally unacquainted with. With her parents,
however, it was far different; for they had been fully informed by John
what sort of a place it was their daughter was going to. Her father, to
say nothing of the regret which he felt in parting with his child,
experienced some remorse in consigning her to the discomfort of a wild
and unsettled country. At the same time he was convinced she would be
under good protection, and reconciled himself to the separation by the
thought that probably the responsibility of managing the domestic
establishment of her brothers would, in a great measure, prepare her for
a more permanent station in life; and, in fact, rub off the lingering
signs of childhood, and perfect her in a womanly capacity.

The feelings which agitated the breast of her mother, when she parted
with her darling daughter, we cannot pretend to describe. We know that
maternals usually give indications of unbounded grief at parting from
their tender offspring, even upon the consummation of their earthly
happiness. It may possibly arise from grief at the segregation of one
not only made dear by the ties of parental and filial affection, but
from the mutual companionship, reliance, and confidence that exist
between mother and daughter; possibly it may be for the trials and
dangers that beset the young creatures' paths in the commencement of
their independent career; or, there may be an alloy of selfishness in
the feeling. But certain it is, it is one of the mysterie