“We are two thirds over now,” said Ben; “we shall be head to the sea, and soon get under the lee of the island; ’tis better to go ahead than to go back.” “I wish we were there now,” said Sally to herself, as she thought of that sheltered spot behind the thick woods, that no wind could get through. “Sit down in the bottom of the canoe, Sally; if the water flies over you, don’t move.” When the squall struck, the wind seemed to shriek right out, and in an instant raised a furious sea, drenching them with water from head to foot. Sally uttered not a word, but sat perfectly still, though the cold spray flew over and ran under her, wetting her through and through. The little boat, managed with consummate skill and strength, rode the sea like an egg-shell. It began to grow smoother as they approached the high woods on the island, when Ben, exerting his strength, drove her through the water, and they were soon at the mouth of the brook, where it was as smooth as a mill-pond. Jumping out, he dragged the canoe from the water, and, taking Sally out, stood her, all dripping, on the beach. “What a calm place,” she exclaimed, “after that dreadful sea! O, you wicked Ben, how could you tell me ’twas such an awful place?” “You’re shaking with the cold; let’s go where there’s a fire;” and catching her up, he ran into the house with her; then striking fire, he lighted the fir top under the forestick; in an instant the bright flame flashed through the pile of wood, and roared up the chimney, diffusing a cheerful warmth through the room. Ben pulled up the great settle; Sally stretched herself upon it, her wet garments smoking in the heat. “Isn’t this nice?” she said, as, safe from danger, she basked in the warm blaze. “I shall always love this great fireplace after this, as long as I live.” Ben was delighted. He knew by experience the power of strong contrasts,--for the whole life of a seaman is made up of them,--and that nothing could have made the island seem so much like home to Sally, as there finding safety when in danger, and warmth when shivering with cold. They now went over the house together; and Sally made Ben completely happy by telling him she would have been thankful for a house not half so good. We see in this well-matched and hardy pair the representatives of those who laid broad and deep the foundations of our free institutions, and whose strength was in their homes. They flung themselves with alacrity upon these hardships, which were to procure for them a heritage of their own,--the product of their own energies,--confident in their own resources, and the protection of that Being whom they had been educated to believe helps those who help themselves. They were now on an island, in the stormy Atlantic, six miles from the nearest land, which, with the exception of a little strip of grass along the beach, was an unbroken forest. Here they had commenced married life, in the face of a long, hard winter.