n and there unfolded to him God's merciful plan of salvation. I
was sure that then was the time. His heart was softened; he was ready
to receive the truths of the gospel. It was a happy thing for me that I
knew the plan of salvation before I left England. I was thus enabled to
impart it to this poor man and to others. His idea was that if he could
but be very sorry for all his misdeeds, and commit no more, and work
away hard to please God in some sort of fashion, he might have a chance
of going to heaven at last. He would scarcely believe me when I told
him that I found nothing of that sort throughout the Gospels and
Epistles; that Christ, the anointed One, had done all that was required
for us sinners; that all we have to do is to accept His glorious offer,
by faith in the perfect efficacy of His atoning blood, shed for all
mankind on Calvary. These truths and many more I tried to explain to
Arthur, and it was satisfactory to mark the readiness with which he
accepted them.

He was for some time utterly prostrated and scarcely able to stand up,
much less to work. We, of course, were all very busy from sunrise to
sunset, and I could pay very little attention to him during the day. I
gave him, however, the few books we had brought with us; but I was glad
to see that the Book of books, long unread, was his chief delight. He
would sit with it in his hand all day, and at night would draw near to
the fire, and pore over its pages as long as the flames burnt with
sufficient brightness. I felt sure from the first that he was in
earnest, though J--- warned me that he was only shamming, and that as
soon as he could have a chance he would be off with anything he could
lay hands on. I said that I had no fear about the matter, and should
not keep a watch over him.

We had pretty hard work, you may be sure, and I doubt if any men could
have worked harder; but we kept our health very well--indeed, in spite
of the heat, I never felt stronger. We had first our own dwelling-house
to get up, and then the huts for the men. Our own abode was, indeed,
but a hut--larger than the others, with divisions; but there was very
little finish or ornament about it. To be sure, it was a good deal
larger than the cabin of the _May Flower_, though the girls complained
that it was not half as neat; nor was it, indeed. Neatness was to come
by and by, we said. With many settlers, it must be owned, it never
comes at all. We, however, befor