Thinks I to myself, “You have taught me two things, my pretty friend; first, how to give, and second, how to receive.”
Well, we bid her good-bye, and after we had proceeded a short distance I returned.
Sais I, “Mrs Steele, there is one thing I wish you would do for me; is there any cranberries in this neighbourhood?”
“Plenty, Sir,” she said; “at the head of this river there is an immense bog, chock full of them.”
“Well,” sais I, “there is nothin’ in natur I am so fond of as them; I would give anything in the world for a few bushel. Tell your husband to employ some people to pick me this fall a barrel of them, and send them to me by one of our vessels, directed to me to Slickville, and when I go on board I will send you a barrel of flour to pay for it.
“Dear me, Sir,” said she, “that’s a great deal more than their value; why they ain’t worth more than two dollars. We will pick them for you with great pleasure. We don’t want pay.”
“Ain’t they worth that?” said I, “so much the better. Well, then, he can send me another barrel the next year. Why, they are as cheap as bull beef at a cent a pound. Good bye; tell him to be sure to come and see me the first time he goes to the States. Adieu.”
“What do you think of that, Doctor?” said I, as we proceeded to the boat; “ain’t that a nice woman? how cheerful and uncomplaining she is; how full of hope and confidence in the future. Her heart is in the right place, ain’t it? My old mother had that same sort of contentment about her, only, perhaps, her resignation was stronger than her hope. When anything ever went wrong about our place to home to Slickville, she’d always say, ‘Well, Sam, it might have been worse;’ or, ‘Sam, the darkest hour is always just afore day,’ and so on. But Minister used to amuse me beyond anything, poor old soul. Once the congregation met and raised his wages from three to four hundred dollars a-year. Well, it nearly set him crazy; it bothered him so he could hardly sleep. So after church was over the next Sunday, he sais, ‘My dear brethren, I hear you have raised my salary to four hundred dollars. I am greatly obliged to you for your kindness, but I can’t think of taking it on no account. First, you can’t afford it no how you can fix it, and I know it; secondly, I ain’t worth it, and you know it; and thirdly, I am nearly tired to death collecting my present income; if I have to dun the same way for that, it will kill me. I can’t stand it; I shall die. No, no; pay me what you allow me more punctually, and it is all I ask, or will ever receive.’
“But this poor woman is a fair sample of her class in this country; I do believe the only true friendship and hospitality is to be found among them. They ain’t rich enough for ostentation, and are too equal in condition and circumstances for the action of jealousy or rivalry; I believe they are the happiest people in the world, but I know they are the kindest. Their feelings are not chilled by poverty or corrupted by plenty; their occupations preclude the hope of wealth and forbid the fear of distress. Dependent on each other for mutual assistance, in those things that are beyond individual exertion, they interchange friendly offices, which commencing in necessity, grow into habit, and soon become the ‘labour of love.’ They are poor, but not destitute, a region in my opinion in which the heart is more fully developed than in any other. Those who are situated like Steele and his wife, and commence a settlement in the woods, with the previous training they have received in the rural districts, begin at the right end; but they are the only people who are fit to be pioneers in the forest. How many there are who begin at the wrong end; perhaps there is no one subject on which men form such false notions as the mode of settling in the country, whether they are citizens of a colonial town, or strangers, from Great Britain.
“Look at that officer at Halifax: he is the best dressed man in the garrison; he is well got up always; he looks the gentleman every inch of him; how well his horses are groomed; how perfect his turn-out looks; how well appointed it is, as he calls it. He and his servant and his cattle are a little bit of fashion imported from the park, and astonish the natives. Look at his wife, ain’t she a beautiful creature? they are proud of, and were just made for each other. This is not merely all external appearance either: they are accomplished people; they sing, they play, they sketch, they paint, they speak several languages, they are well read, they have many resources. Soldiering is dull, and, in time of peace, only a police service. It has disagreeable duties; it involves repeated removals, and the alternation of bad climates—from Hudson’s Bay to Calcutta’s Black Hole. The juniors of the regimental officers are mere boys, the seniors great empty cartouch-boxes, and the women have cabals,—there is a sameness even in its variety; but worse than all, it has no home—in short, the whole thing is a bore. It is better to sell out and settle in the province; land is cheap; their means are ample, and more than sufficient for the requirements of the colony; country society is stupid; there are no people fit to visit. It is best to be out of the reach of their morning calls and their gossip. A few miles back in the woods there is a splendid stream with a beautiful cascade on it; there is a magnificent lake communicating with several others that form a chain of many miles in extent. That swelling knoll that slopes so gently to the water would be such a pretty site for a cottage-orné, and the back-ground of hanging wood has an indescribable beauty in it, especially in the autumn, when the trees are one complete mass of variegated hues. He warms on the theme as he dilates on it, and sings as he turns to his pretty wife: