Wyandotte

e new--the bu

elm-tree's n

nest beneat

birds in last

gfe

ite half the day, and speaking with a bright face, and in a cheerful voice--"Here is a letter from my excellent old colonel; and

The first was produced by pleasure at hearing that her son had got an ensigncy in the 60th, or Royal Americans;

that Robert will be delighted at possessing the king's commission; but

-he added in a half-regretful manner, for old habits and opinions would occasionally cross his mind--"as for myself, the cultivation of turnips must be my future occupation. Well, the bit of parchment is sold, Bob has got

and her smile sweet. Maud, the adopted one, however, had already the sunny countenance of an angel, with quite as much of the appearance of health as her sister; her face had more finesse, her looks more intelligence, her playfulness more feeling, her smile more tenderness, at times; at others, more meaning. It is scarcely necessary to say that both had that delicacy of outline which seems almost inseparable from the female form in this country. What was, perhaps, more usual in that day among persons of their class than it is in our own, each spoke her own language with an even graceful

, eyes and cheeks of his smiling little favourite--"Now, Maud, I

eave Manor this summer, as some call the ugly

rling; more kind than prude

on her youngest child, had an increasing respect for the greater sol

mother's eyes," answered the eldest girl, loo

her father's arms--"Bob has got his commission!--I know it all well enough, now--I would no

ed Beulah, anxiously, a

or, will be one, in a day or two.

always away, and we shall never see him; then he may be ob

with smiles, his appearance admired himself, and of course his sisters, happy. Captain Willoughby sympathized altogether with his pet. Accustomed to arms, he rejoiced that a career in which he had partially failed--this he did not conceal from himsel

es would separate them from their beloved daughters. Fifty of these miles, however, were absolutely wilderness; and to achieve them, quite a hundred of tangled forest, or of difficult navigation, were to be passed. The communications would be at considerable inte

er was a brigade moved twenty-four hours into the American wilds, that had not greater embarrassments of this nature to overcome, unless in those cases in which favourable river navigation has offered its facilities. Still, time and necess

himself, a passage through the forest was effected as far as the head of the Otsego. The distance being about twelve miles, it required two days for its performance. As the settlements extended south from the Mohawk a few miles, the first night was passed in a log cabin, on the extreme verge of civilization, if civilization it could be called, and the remaining eight miles were got over in the course of the s

s whom Captain Willoughby had employed to carry on his improvements. The men sent in advance had not been idle, any more than those left at the Hutted Knoll. They had built three or four skiffs, one small batteau, and a couple of canoes. These were all in the water, in waiting for the disappearance of the ice; which was now reduc

e grants of land in that vicinity extending back so far. Still the spot began to be known, and hunters had been in the habit of frequenting its bosom and its shores, for the last twenty years or more Not a vestige of their presence, however, was to be seen from

d, "which seems to promise that we shall meet with a beneficent nature, in the spot t

ase, as I think it may, we shall see this chilling sheet of ice succeeded by the more che

ving the sheets of ice before it, towards the head, at a rate of quite a mile in the hour. Just then, an Irishman, named Michael O'Hearn, who had recently arrived in America, and whom the captain had hired as a serv

cried "Well, and there'll be room for us all, and to spare; for divil a bir-r-d will be left in that quarter by

pen, Mrs. Willoughby was quite at a loss to get a clue to the idea; but, her husband, mo

ly number of them; and I dare say our hunters will bring us in some, for dinner. It is a certain sign that

onour," answered the o

," said the captain, sm

se cr'atures came from. I'm thinking, yer honour, if we don't ate them, they'll be wanting to ate us. What a power of them, counting big and little; though

ation, Mike," observed the captain, willing to amuse hi

-ds, would knock down 'praties, in a wonderful degree, and make even butthermilk chape and plenthiful. Will it be always such abu

n the spring and autumn; though we have both birds a

guards in Albany, at their Pauss, as they calls it, jist to let my sisther's childer have their supper out of one of these flocks, such as they

three or four miles. By this time it was blowing fresh, and the wind, having a clear rake, drove up the honeycomb-looking sheet before it, as the scraper accumulates snow. When the sun set, the whole north shore was white with piles of glittering icicles; while the bosom of the Otsego, no longer disturbed by the wind, resembled a placid mirror. Early on the following morning, the whole party embarked. There was no wind, and men w

ed by the captain, was a Connecticut man, of the name of Joel Strides, between whom and the County Leitrim-man, there had early commenced a warfare of tricks and petty annoyances; a warfare that was perfectly defensive on the part of O'Hearn, who did little more, in the way of retort, than comment

narrow and conceited selfishness lay at the root of the larger portion of this man's faults. As a physical being, he was a perfect labour-saving machine, himself; bringing all the resources of a naturally quick and acute mind to bear on this one end, never doing anything that required a particle more than the exertion and strength that were absolutely necessary to effect his object. He rowed the skiff in which the captain and his wife had embarked, with his own hands; and, previously to

the same labour, in effecting a given purpose, that was expended by the Yankee; doing the thing worse, too, besides losing twice the time. He never paused to think of this, however. The masther's boat was to be rowed to the other end of the lake, and, though he

aid in loading his own boat, with the bed and bedding from the hut. All was ready, at length, and taking his seat, with a sort of quiet deliberation, Joel said, in his drawling way, "You'll follow us, Mike

s. He was quite alone; for all the other boats were already two or three miles on their way, and d

wasn't for the masther and the missus, ra'al jontlemen and ladies they be, I'd turn my back on ye, in the desert, and let ye find that Beaver estate,

efore Mike would think of changing it, on that account. Joel, alone, sat with his face towards the head of the lake, and he alone could see the dilemma in which the county Leitrim-man was placed. Neither the captain nor his wife thought of looking behind, and the yankee had all the fun to himself. As for Mike, he succeeded in getting a few rods from the land, when the strong arm and the longer lever asserting their superiority, the skiff began to incline to the westward. So intense, however, was the poor fellow's zeal,

ye to do as ye ought, and ye'll not be doing it, just out of contrairiness. Why the divil can't ye do like the other skiffs, a

tered it, was lost to view for a minute, then came in sight again, scratching his head, and renewing his muttering--"No," he said, "divil a thing can I see, and it must be pure co

s often return to it, gradually working his way towards the western shore, and slightly down the lake. In this manner, Mike at length got himself so far on the si

ye'll be satisfied without walking out into the forest, where I wish ye war' with all my he

ction. It is not necessary to say that his expectations were disappointed, and he finally was reduced to getting out into the water, cool as was the weather, and of wading along t

party had been over the route several times already, there was no hesitation on the subject of the point to which the boats were to proceed. They all touched the shore near the stone that is now called the "Otseg

father and son, named Pliny the elder, and Pliny the younger, or, in common parlance, "old Plin" and "young Plin," was sent back along the west-shore to hunt him up. Of course, a hut was immediately prepared for the reception of Mrs. Willou

toil about a league ere he was met, and glad enough was he to see his succour approach. In that day, the strong antipathy which now exists between the black and the emigrant Irishman was unknown, the compe

ike?" cried the younger negro--"wh

country, and war-r-m I find it, sure enough, though the wather isn't as warm as good whiskey.

ditching, though it may be questioned if the pores of his body closed again that day, so very effectually had they been opened. When he rejoined his master, not a syllable was said of the mishap, Joel having the prudence to keep his o

of which one of the hunters had brought in a report the preceding day. Two hours later, the boats left the shore, and beg

former, had commenced their operations on the upper side of the raft, piling the logs on one another, with a view to make a passage through the centre. Of c

e right," he said--"cann

who enjoyed other people's ignorance. "A sensible crittur' wou

n, and order thing

ptitude. After rating the negroes roundly for their stupidity, and laying it on Mike without much delicacy of thought or dictio

Joel having the prudence to set no more timber in motion than was necessary to his purpose, lest it might choke the stream below. In this manner the party got through, and, the river being high at that seas

ching the foot of the rapids, or straggling falls, on which the captain had built his mills, about an hour before the sun disappeared. Here, of course, the boats were left, a rude road having been cut, by means of which the freights were transported on a sledge the remainder of the distance. Throughout the whole of this trying day, Joel had not only worked head-work, but he had actually exerted himself with his body. As for Mike, never before had he made su

t's as obliging as one's own mother. It followed the day all's one like a puppy dog, while yon on