heat was radiating to every corner of the room. As they
busied themselves unpacking dishes and provisions they had
opportunity to take observations of the new place that for one was to
be home and for the other a very welcome haven in a strange land.

The house was built of poplar logs, hewed and dovetailed at the
corners with the skill of the Ontario woodsman. It was about twelve
by sixteen feet in size, with collar-beams eight feet from the floor.
The roof was of two thicknesses of elm boards, with tar-paper
between. The floor was of poplar boards. The door was in the east
side, near the south-east corner; the stove stood about the centre of
the east wall. The only window was in the south; six panes of
eight-by-ten glass sufficed for light. Through this window another
lantern shone back from the darkness, and the flickering light from
the stove danced in duplicate. A rough board table sat under the
window; a box nailed in the south-west corner evidently served as
cupboard. No tools or movables of any value had been left in the
place, Arthurs having stored such effects with a neighbour, some
dozen miles away, lest they be stolen from the cabin by some
unscrupulous traveller during his absence.

"I like the plan of it very much," said Mrs. Arthurs, after a general
survey of the room. "Don't you think Fred has shown good judgment in
the design? This"--indicating the door--"will be my reception-room.
And this, a little further in, is the parlour. The kitchen and pantry
are right at hand--so convenient for the maid in serving, you know.
And then our rooms. Fred and I will have the long room in the
north-west wing, while you, of course, will occupy the guest-chamber
in the northeast. Do not be alarmed, my dear; if the silence of the
prairies weighs too heavily upon you we shall be within call. The
bath may be reached from either room with equal convenience."

Both laughed, but Mary, more serious and sober-minded, was already
slicing ham and greasing a frying-pan. "We need water, Lil--get some
snow while I find the tea. The bread is hard, but there'll be coals
presently, and we shall have toast. Lucky there were baked potatoes
left over from last night's camp; they'll fry up fine along with
this--" But already Lil was outside gathering snow.

She returned in breathless excitement. "Oh, Mary, I've just had a
great thought. All my wedding china--presents, you know--is in that
box, and I have my wedding clothes, too. Have y