Little did
we then dream of what cruel fate had in store for us.

"Our manner of living in Acadia was peculiar, the people forming, as
it were, one single family. The province was divided into districts
inhabited by a certain number of families, among which the government
parceled out the land in tracts sufficiently large for their needs.
Those families grouping together formed small villages, or posts,
under the administration of commandants. No one was allowed to lead a
life of idleness, or to be a worthless member of the province. The
child worked as soon as he was old enough to do so, and he worked
until old age unfitted him for toil. The men tended the flocks and
tilled the land, and while they plowed the fields, the boys followed
them step by step, goading on the work-oxen. The wives and daughters
attended to the household work, and spun the wool and cotton which
they wove and manufactured into cloth with which to clothe the family.
The old people not over active and strong, like your grandmother," she
would add with a smile, "together with the infirm and invalids,
braided the straw with which we manufactured our hats; so that you
see, petiots, we had no drones, no useless loungers in our villages,
and every one lived the better for it.

"The land allotted to each district was divided into two unequal
parts; the larger portion was set apart as the tillage ground, and
then parceled out among the different families; and yet the clashing
of interests, resulting from that community of rights, never stirred
up any contentions among your Acadian ancestors.

"Although poor, they were honest and industrious, and they lived
contented with what little they had, without envying their neighbors,
and how could it be otherwise? If any one was unable to do his field
work because of illness, or of some other misfortune, his neighbors
flew to his assistance, and it required but a few days work, with
their combined efforts to weed his field and save his crop.

"Thus it was that, incited by noble and generous feeling, the
inhabitants of the province seemed to form one single family, and not
a community composed of separate families.

"These details, petiots, are tedious to you, and you would rather that
I should tell you stories more amusing and captivating."

"No, grandmother, we feel more and more interested in your narrative.
Speak to us of Acadia, your native land, which we already love for
your sake."

"Petiots," she