We made ourselves very merry at the poor people's expense, and Mr. D----, with his odd stories and Yankeefied expressions, amused the tedium of our progress through the great swamp, which in summer presents for several miles one uniform bridge of rough and unequal logs, all laid loosely across huge sleepers, so that they jumped up and down, when pressed by the wheels, like the keys of a piano. The rough motion and jolting occasioned by this collision is so distressing that it never fails to entail upon the traveller sore bones and an aching head for the rest of the day. The path is so narrow over these logs that two wagons cannot pass without great difficulty, which is rendered more dangerous by the deep natural ditches on either side of the bridge, formed by broad creeks that flow out of the swamp, and often terminate in mud-holes of very ominous dimensions. The snow, however, hid from us all the ugly features of the road, and Mr. D---- steered us through it in perfect safety, and landed us at the door of a little log house which crowned the steep hill on the other side of the swamp, and which he dignified with the name of a tavern. It was now two o'clock. We had been on the road since seven; and men, women, and children were all ready for the good dinner that Mr. D---- had promised us at this splendid house of entertainment, where we were destined to stay for two hours, to refresh ourselves and rest the horses. “Well, Mrs. J----, what have you got for our dinner?” said the driver, after he had seen to the accommodation of his teams. “Pritters and pork, sir. Nothing else to be had in the woods. Thank God, we have enough of that!” D---- shrugged up his shoulders, and looked at us. “We've plenty of that same at home. But hunger's good sauce. Come, be spry, widow, and see about it, for I am very hungry.” I inquired for a private room for myself and the children, but there were no private rooms in the house. The apartment we occupied was like the cobbler's stall in the old song, and I was obliged to attend upon them in public. “You have much to learn, ma'am, if you are going to the woods,” said Mrs. J----. “To unlearn, you mean,” said Mr. D----. “To tell you the truth, Mrs. Moodie, ladies and gentlemen have no business in the woods. Eddication spoils man or woman for that location. So, widow (turning to our hostess), you are not tired of living alone yet?” “No, sir; I have no wish for a second husband. I had enough of the first. I like to have my own way--to lie down mistress, and get up master.” “You don't like to be put out of your _old_ way,” returned he, with a mischievous glance. She coloured very red; but it might be the heat of the fire over which she was frying the pork for our dinner. I was very hungry, but I felt no appetite for the dish she was preparing for us. It proved salt, hard, and unsavoury. D---- pronounced it very bad, and the whiskey still worse, with which he washed it down.