After receiving us all very graciously, his lordship asked us to be seated. I thought I had seldom seen a handsomer man. He was tall, graceful and youthful; his manners were polished, and his language bore all the marks of the utmost culture. He first addressed himself to my mother. After making some kindly references to my late father, and his services in the King's cause, he passed at once to a discussion of what was to be in the future. 'You cannot be unaware, madame,' he said, 'of the deep and sympathetic interest I take in the welfare of yourself and your family. The noble spirit of self-sacrifice manifested by you in voluntarily giving up your lands and home, I consider quite beyond praise; and it is with feelings of the profoundest regret that I feel myself obliged to say that it is quite beyond my power to offer compensation to you in any degree commensurate with your loss. As to the future of the rebellion, nothing definite can be said; for myself, I believe that the arms of the King will finally triumph; but this cannot be hoped for in the immediate future. You cannot remain here; the danger grows daily. What think you of Canada, madame? Or of Nova Scotia, of those wide, peaceful, loyal provinces of His Majesty to the north of us? Many of our people, as you know, have sailed for England--too many, I fear; others have asked to be sent to Canada.' My mother did not answer for a time. Finally, she said: 'I like America; I was born here; I have now few friends in England, and I am without means.' At the mention of Canada, I had seen Duncan Hale's face brighten; but he did not speak. A little later, Lord Percy turned to him. 'Tell us,' he said, 'what is said of Nova Scotia in the geographies? Is it really a habitable land?' Duncan bowed very low. 'Yes, my lord,' he said, 'it is a country in no degree less fruitful than that in which we live. In addition to what is writ in our books of it, I have learned from traders that the soil is rich, that it is a land of delightful summers, of mighty rivers, and of boundless forests. The wealth of its fisheries and mines cannot be estimated; and best of all, your lordship, it is a land undefiled by the feet of traitors.' The closing words were spoken in such a manner as to show that Duncan Hale was not one of those who had found it difficult to choose between King and people. Doctor Canfield, who had so far said little, rose and walked to a large map of America that hung upon the wall. 'This is Nova Scotia,' he said, pointing to a large, irregular peninsula. 'Canada is further west, is it not?' [Illustration: 'THIS IS NOVA SCOTIA.' HE SAID, POINTING TO THE MAP.] We gathered about the map, a new and peculiar interest attaching to it, owing to the situation in which we were placed.