damage had been done, for they
expected to find that the family had been burned out, and had made
arrangements at the fort to receive them.

Gradually the weather became cold and the fires were lighted, and a
month after the evil we have described, the winter again set in.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Once more was the ground covered with snow to the depth of three feet.
The cattle were littered down inside the inclosure of palisades round
the cow-house; the sheep were driven into the inclosed sheep-fold, and
the horses were put into a portion of the barn in the sheep-fold which
had been parted off for them. All was made secure, and every preparation
was made for the long winter. Although there had been a fall of snow,
the severe frost had not yet come on. It did, however, in about a
fortnight afterward, and then, according to the wishes of the Colonel,
six oxen were killed for the use of the fort, and taken there by the
horses on a sledge; this was the last task that they had to fulfill, and
then Alfred bade adieu to the officers of the fort, as they did not
expect to meet again till the winter was over. Having experienced one
winter, they were more fully prepared for the second; and as Malachi,
the Strawberry and John were now regular inmates of the house, for they
did not keep a separate table, there was a greater feeling of security,
and the monotony and dreariness were not so great as in the preceding
winter: moreover, every thing was now in its place, and they had more
to attend to,--two circumstances which greatly contributed to relieve
the _ennui_ arising from continual confinement. The hunting parties went
out as usual; only Henry, and occasionally Alfred, remained at home to
attend to the stock, and to perform other offices which the increase of
their establishment required. The new books brought by Henry from
Montreal, and which by common consent had been laid aside for the
winter's evenings, were now a great source of amusement, as Mr. Campbell
read aloud a portion of them every evening. Time passed away quickly, as
it always does when there is a regular routine of duties and employment,
and Christmas came before they were aware of its approach.

It was a great comfort to Mrs. Campbell that she now always had John at
home, except when he was out hunting, and on that score she had long
dismissed all anxiety, as she had full confidence in Malachi; but
latterly Malachi and John seldom went out alone; indeed, the