Several days passed before he received a reply to his letter, and when at last it came his hands trembled as he broke the seal and read as follows:
DEAR MR. WRIGHT,—You certainly may not hold out any encouragement until I know the gentleman who would confer upon me the honor to which you refer.
The only true basis of such a union is love, and I cannot love one whom I do not know. If the gentleman in question will call to-morrow I shall be pleased to receive him.
Yours truly,
HANNAH CHAMBERLAIN.
The courtship thus commenced resulted a few months later in a unique wedding. Rev. Mr. Meach had given up the charge, owing to declining health and strength, and there was no clergyman available. It was therefore suggested that they send through the woods to the new Scotch settlement of Perth for a Justice of the Peace, who, it was reported, was authorized to perform marriages.
An Indian guide was secured, and Rug commenced a long and tedious journey through the forest on snowshoes.
No one but an Indian could have kept the tangled path, which led through a perfect confusion of drifts and underbrush. Though only fifty-six miles distant, they were nearly a week on the way, for after several days of circuitous wanderings the Indian was forced to admit that he was not positive as to the exact location of the settlement. Their perseverance was rewarded after five days on seeing smoke ascending from a small collection of huts.
"Is this the Scotch settlement?" asked Rug of an old man who was cutting wood.
"Ay, sir," was the reply.
"Is there a Justice of the Peace here?"