CHAPTER XI
THE FATHER OF WATERS
"Look, Uncle Sam! See my lovely new muff. I wanted one ever so much. My hands get cold, even in my woolen mittens. Father bought it for a birthday present. He got home from Canada to-day."
"What did he bring you, Joe?" Uncle Sam asked after he had admired Lucy's muff.
"A fur cap. It is a perfect beauty."
"Father says Canada is a great place for hunters, there are so many wild animals in the forests. He was dreadfully cold while he was there. He is glad to be home again."
"Yes, the weather is colder there than it is here, because it is farther north. Yet the cold did not keep the Frenchmen from going to live in Canada long ago. They were willing to suffer a little so long as they could get rich by hunting and trapping, and trading with the Indians.
"They were the first white people to settle in Canada. They called the country 'New France.'
"They built stations here and there along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. The Indians used to bring loads of furs to sell to them. The white men paid for the furs with hatchets, and beads, and pieces of cloth. That was the kind of money the Indians liked best.
"The savages of Canada were always friendly to the Frenchmen. They found that the settlers did not wish to harm them and that they were treated fairly. So there was no trouble.