"Donald had a determined look. Duquette made a mistake in taking the farm. The cowboys in the North-West held life rather cheap."
So the old people said.
CHAPTER XV. A SHOT IN THE DARKNESS.
The Duquettes took possession of the farm.
They were quiet, inoffensive people.
Donald had been seen moving about between Marsden and Lake Megantic wearing an air of disquietude.
Something was impending. In a vague way the people felt that something sinister was going to happen.
'Twas about midnight in the village of Marsden. Darkness enveloped it as a mourning garment. Painful effort, and strife, and sorrow were all forgotten in that deep sleep which, as the good Book says, is peculiarly sweet to the laboring man.
The Duquettes had not yet retired to rest. Mrs. Duquette had been kept up by an ailing child. She was sitting with her little one on her knee.