One dark night, in a frontier settlement of the County of Simcoe, a young man was returning through the bush from a township gathering, when he noticed loaded teams passing along a concession line not far distant. As this was no unusual occurrence, he thought little of it, until some miles further on, he came to a clearing of some forty acres, where there was no dwelling-house apparently, but a solitary barn, which, while he was looking at it, seemed to be lighted up by a lanthorn, and after some minutes, by a flickering flame which gradually increased to a blaze, and shortly enveloped the whole building. Hastening to the spot, no living being was to be seen there, and he was about to leave the place; but giving a last look at the burning building, it struck him that there was very little fire inside, and he turned to satisfy his curiosity. There was nothing whatever in the barn. In due course, a notice was received at our office, that on a certain night the barn of one Dennis ----, containing one thousand bushels of wheat, had been burnt from an unknown cause, and that the value thereof, some eight-hundred dollars, was claimed from the company. At the same time, an anonymous letter reached me, suggesting an inquiry into the causes of the fire. The inquiry was instituted accordingly. The holder of the policy, an old man upwards of sixty years of age, a miser, reputed worth ten thousand dollars at least, was arrested, committed to ---- gaol, and finally tried and found guilty, without a doubt of his criminality being left on any body's mind who was present. Through the skill of his counsel, however, he escaped on a petty technicality; and considering his miserable condition, the loss he had inflicted on himself, and his seven months' detention in gaol, we took no further steps for his punishment.