The Log House by the Lake: A Tale of Canada

by William Henry Giles Kingston

The store was visited, and commissions, the list of which filled two columns of Philip’s note-book, were executed, and then, with a considerable addition to their lading, they once more got under way. They had now to beat back; but the boat lay closer to the wind than if she had been in water, and though she made some lee-way, they beat back in a wonderfully short space of time. They were so delighted with their sail that they could scarcely keep out of their boat. The whole circuit of the lake was visited, and they talked of taking her into Lake Huron, when, perhaps fortunately, down came such a fall of snow as to make rapid progress over the ice impossible, and they once again returned to their more serious occupations.

The snow became every day harder, till a crust formed on the top of it, which made walking over it where it was not beaten down, both difficult and painful. Some Indians had encamped in the neighbourhood for the purpose of trading with the pale faces, and obtaining food and clothing. Two of them at this juncture came with some slight oblong frames, between three and four feet in length, with net-work filling up the inner portion. What they could be, none of the younger members of the family could guess, till the Indians fastened one to each of their feet and began to move along over the snow on the lake. “Snow-shoes! snow-shoes!” cried Charley; and forthwith a bargain was struck for several pair. The squaws brought some the next day of a lighter construction for the ladies of the family, and a new source of amusement was found enabling them also to take the exercise so necessary for health. Bravely Sophy and her sisters faced the cold, bitter and biting as it was, and with their brothers made their first attempt to walk in snow-shoes on the lake.

They were all thus engaged, laughing and shouting and enjoying the amusement, when an object was seen in the distance approaching them, and the silvery cheerful sound of sleigh-bells floated up to them through the calm air. “Bravo—excellent!—that is what I like to see. We should hear nothing of sick headaches in Canada, if all the young ladies would put their pretty little feet on to snow-shoes, and step over the country as you are doing, or rather will be doing before long, for you are on the ice just now,” cried Mr Norman from a handsome sleigh which drove up to them. The horses’ harness, surmounted by a belfry, as Harry called the frame to which the bells were suspended, was covered with bright-coloured braiding, and rich skins filled the sleigh itself and hung over the back. From among them a lady’s head was seen. “Allow me to introduce my wife,” continued Mr Norman. “She has just told me that she has already fallen in love with you all; but do not let us bring you in—we will wait for you at the house.”

Sophy, however, soon began to find that she had had snow-shoeing enough for one day, and the rest of the party discovered, when they took the shoes off, that their insteps ached more than they had ever before done. Still they were all ready to try again the next day. Mrs Norman proved to be exactly the sort of person her husband had described her; though homely, she was entirely free from vulgarity, and as she had lived all her life in Canada, she possessed and was glad to impart a large amount of information most valuable to Mrs Ashton and Sophy. She promised to remain a week with them, to give them instruction in numerous departments of domestic management of which they were ignorant. “It’s a pleasure, ma’am, to tell you these things,” she remarked to Mrs Ashton; “you take them in so kindly, and don’t seem to fancy that your own ways are better, and that you know more than the person teaching you, as some people do.”

The winter passed by pleasantly and usefully. There were some days when even the most hardy of the party had no inclination to go out; this was when there was a strong northerly wind and an intense frost, and the finer particles of snow were carried through the air and struck the face like so many Liliputian arrows discharged by an army from that far-famed land of Liliput. There was, however, abundance of work to be done in the house, and plenty of hard exercise in sawing up logs for the stove fires. These, while the severer frost lasted, were never allowed to go out, and no one had reason to complain of the want of warmth inside the house; indeed, the walls were so thick, that they retained the heat in the way an ordinary brick or plank building could not have done. Old and young declared, that in spite of cold and snow, they had never spent a happier or pleasanter winter. Probably the happiness of the elders arose from seeing their children contented and well employed around them. There was one absent—Leonard, the midshipman. They almost wished that he would give up the sea, and come and live with them. Mr Ashton had not even suggested that he should do so, though his necessary allowance took away a large portion of the slender income on which the family had mainly to depend. His parents were amply rewarded by hearing of the high character he was gaining for himself. D’Arcy was a frequent visitor; he would have been more frequent, but duty kept him labouring at home. Occasionally Philip went over to help him in return for the assistance he gave them. The winter passed away so rapidly that they could scarcely believe that spring had really come. The snow melted, the green grass appeared, the leaves burst forth, the flowers bloomed and gave their fragrance to the air, the birds warbled forth their notes of joy, and all nature seemed alive and busy. If time passed quickly during the months of winter, it flew by still more rapidly now when there was so much to do that every moment of the twenty-four hours was fully occupied, a very small portion only being devoted to sleep; but then, as Harry declared, they all slept very fast, so that they really got as much as they required. They were all up at dawn of day, and but a short time was allowed for meals till they assembled round the supper-table by the light of their home-made candles, the most social and pleasant meal in the day, when the hard work was over and any light indoor occupation could be engaged in. Even then there was no light or frivolous conversation; constant steady work had sobered their minds, and they had no taste for what was not real and earnest. Generally Mr Ashton or Philip read some interesting book, the subject of which was afterwards talked over, while comments were generally made as they proceeded.

It is not necessary to describe the various occupations in which the family were engaged. One of the most amusing and not the least important, was the sugar-making from the neighbouring sugar-bush or maple grove, before the snow had disappeared from the ground. They were surprised at the large amount of sap which even a single tree gave forth. This being collected in wooden troughs placed under the spouts formed in the trunk, was next transferred to a huge cauldron, where it was boiled, and then turned out to cool and crystallise. They were in this way able to obtain an ample supply of sugar for their tea or coffee, for preserving fruits, and for their puddings during the year. The demand for it became considerable, when, as the summer advanced, all sorts of wild fruits were found in the woods, and strawberries and raspberries in prodigious quantities.

The Canadian spring soon merges into full-blown summer. The boat had been for some time launched, and Philip acting as captain, with Sophy and their mother as passengers, and Harry as crew, started in her to pay their visit of welcome to D’Arcy’s mother and sisters, who had just arrived at his clearing. The Ashtons were very much pleased with them. They were just what they expected D’Arcy’s relatives would be. Sophy had not been to the clearing for some time; D’Arcy invited her to accompany him over it. On one side stood a cottage almost completed. D’Arcy produced a plan. “That is what it will look like when it is finished,” he observed. “For whom is this?” asked Sophy. “For my mother and sisters,” was the answer. “Then who is to inhabit your house?” asked Sophy, though the moment she had uttered the words she wished that she had kept silence. “I shall be very miserable, if you are not its mistress,” said D’Arcy.

They were the first couple married in the new church at the settlement, mainly built by Mr Ashton’s exertions. He had hitherto, from his first arrival, conducted a service at his own house, open to all who would attend.

Mr Norman wrote to Mr Ashton to say that he would pay him a visit. “I have come on business,” he said after the usual greetings were over. “I am a patriot, and I am anxious for the improvement of the country. Your sons are excellent young men, with talent and sense. The education of the two younger is not complete, and Philip might improve his agricultural knowledge with advantage to himself as well as to the province. On these grounds I beg to invite them to take up their residence at my house at Toronto, while they take advantage of the very liberal means of instruction which that city affords. There are some important lectures on agriculture which are about to commence. Charley should go to Upper Canada College, and Harry to the University; and, my dear sir, as I have no young people depending on me, you must allow me to defray all expenses.”