Dick's Desertion: A Boy's Adventures in Canadian Forests / A Tale of the Early Settlement of Ontario

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essed upon his memory. His was a nature readily moved to admiration, and had powers of observation unusual in a lad of his a

saw a sudden little flame of colour leap to life against the black stems of the pines-a flame so intense in its ruddy gold that it seemed to throb and pulsate like a tongue of fire.

re gliding slowly along in the shadow of the bank, when they came upon a tall brown crane standing quietly on one yellow leg in the calm shallows. He did not offer to move as they slipped past, but stood there peacefully, in water which reflected the sunset

mes hard put to it to keep up with him. His caution increased also as they advanced into more open country-country which graduall

the Indian responded, "go on your way, see how far you get. What you know? What you see? What you hear? Nothin'. You blind, deaf, sleepy all times. I see, hear, know. You come with me, o

natural to Dick as the splendid clearness of air was natural. So when one morning in September he came upon the ashes of a fire that were still warm, it gave him

peered about the fire with a frowning face

waiting for an answer, "I should have liked t

Peter's uneasiness, for they were then almost within the vast territories ruled over by the Hudson Bay Company. And at no time did the great Company prove friendly to strangers. The

the key to that savage nature, he would have guessed that it was the nearness of the prairies which so moved the impassive Indian. As the sea to a coast-bred man, as the mountains to a hillman, so were the prairies to Peter Many-Names. They had called him

ght. Once having reached the goal of his desire, Peter's hurry seemed in great measure to evaporate. He was content to see the vast arch of the pale autumn skies above his head, to feel the keen air in his face, to tr

r Many-Names went off a day's journey to the east with the intention of procuring a couple of ponies. "Saw fire-smoke dark when sun rose," h

r them," Dick protested. However, Peter took no notice of him, and p

sure to spare, for it was four days before Peter appeared from the southwest, riding one pony and leading another. They were sturdy little brown beasts, very shy of Dick, and practically wild. There was nothing remarkable about them in any way except that they were very mudd

them?" But Peter only grinned, as he occasionally condescended to do when much amused, and Dick

e utmost edge of the great undulating plain. They were now travelling quite slowly, but after a few days-nay, a few hours-the prairies seemed to close in upon them, to swallow them up in vastness and silence. Dick, dre

the countless farms and homesteads. These fertile lands, known then to few but the Indian and the hunter, have been claimed by civilisation, a

riendly trees left behind them, and to regard the limitless plain and the skies arching from the horizon almost as hostile things, with someth

g to spend the wint

s own endurance and toughness compared with the Indian's. He was no weakling; but he dearly loved his flesh-pots, and, with the prospect becoming one of hardship and discomfort, he began to think a

ourse inured to any changes of climate. Game became more scarce, and sometimes they wandered far afield in search of their supplies, occasionally falling back upon their reserve store of dried meat. But it was still very enjoyable, and perhaps Peter, who had been an exile

miles. The mud had by now scaled off their ponies, and the curiously shaped white spots were as remarkable as the speed of the little animals who were distinguished b

ared off, and the sky was dazzlingly fair and blue. But it gave Dick a curious shock to think that the winter was close upon them. His thoughts turned to the homestead where he and Stephanie had been received as welcome guests in the time of sorrow and almost destitution, to that Christmas day when he had, as he thought, fought and conquered his roving inclinations. How different had been his intentions! Even in the hour of his greatest delight

onscience and his almost dormant affection for Stephanie made him cling more obstinately to the wilds. He angrily assured himself that he would not go back. He had chosen his present deliberately, and the future must take care of itself. With determination worthy of a

hey were following. And now Peter's caution began to re-appear. A bitter wind had suddenly arisen, blowing wit

If they turned south now, they might never turn north again. And that one homestead which held Stephanie represented to him the whole of the country they had left behind them. He felt that he could never face the Collinsons, could never endure the humiliation of a return

d I cannot leave you. But it is for true we go into death." And the ponies hung their heads and shivered restlessly before that

s fought against Sisera." And now the spirit

now gave an edge of steel to that steady, unceasing wind. By midday the sky