"I am very glad, indeed, that you have brought it, Phil. We shall be happy here this summer now," said Mr. Gracewood.
"Then you intend to stay here this summer."
"We have concluded to remain as long as Mrs. Gracewood and Ella can be contented."
"I am afraid that will not be long," I added, glancing at Ella, who was seated on Matt's chest.
"I am sure I shall be very happy here among such good friends," she replied; and I could not help realizing how delighted I should be while she was at the clearing.
"I will help you carry on your farm, Phil," continued Mr. Gracewood.
"We shall do well, I know."
I felt that paradise had been transported from the island to the clearing, while, as we ate our supper, Ella told what a beautiful place it was. It was so much pleasanter than the boundless prairies which covered the greater portion of the country. It seemed as if civilization had been transplanted to my field and forest as I looked upon Mrs. Gracewood and her daughter. But I was sad when I thought that the time must come, sooner or later, when they would leave me, and I should be more desolate and lonely than ever before.
I slept in the barn again that night; but I hoped Mr. Gracewood's house would be ready for the accommodation of his family by the next evening, and that we should hear the melodious tones of the grand piano by the following day, which would be Sunday. Ella was rapidly recovering from the fatigues of her forced journey with the Indians; and I pictured to myself the pleasure it would afford me to walk with her through the forest, and sail with her on the river. When I went to sleep, I dreamed that I went a fishing with her, and that a big gray trout pulled her into the water, from which, of course, I had the satisfaction of rescuing her.
The next morning Lieutenant Pope directed all his men to assist in the erection of the house. We landed the big box, loaded it upon the wagon, and hauled it up to the site which had been chosen for the new home of the Gracewoods, not a hundred feet from the Castle. While a portion of the troops carted the lumber, the others prepared the foundation of the house. A series of posts were set in the ground, and sawed off on a level about a foot above the sod, so as to make the lower floor dry and comfortable. On those were laid the sills, and before noon the building was up and half covered. All the boards and timbers were numbered, and so many men made quick work of it. In the middle of the afternoon the last board had been screwed on, the sides of the house had been banked and sodded, and the structure was ready to receive the furniture.