"Yes, dear England, my good girl; we are English, and can love our
country as much now as we did when we lived in it. We are still English,
and in an English colony; it has pleased Heaven to remove us away from
our native land, but our hearts and feelings are still the same, and so
will all English hearts be found to be in every settlement made by our
country all over the wide world. We all glory in being English, and have
reason to be proud of our country. May the feeling never be lost, but
have an elevating influence upon our general conduct!"
CHAPTER XXVI.
It was very nearly five weeks before Henry returned from his expedition
to Montreal. During this time, the Colonel had repeated his visit and
made arrangements with Mr. Campbell. A party of twenty soldiers had been
sent to work at felling timber and splitting rails, for whose services
Mr. Campbell paid as before. The winter house and palisade fence for the
sheep were put in hand, and great progress was made in a short time, now
that so many people were employed. They had also examined the stream for
some distance, to ascertain which would be the most eligible site for
the water-mill, and had selected one nearly half a mile from the shore
of the lake, and where there was a considerable fall, and the stream ran
with great rapidity. It was not, however, expected that the mill would
be erected until the following year, as it was necessary to have a
millwright and all the machinery from either Montreal or Quebec. It was
intended that the estimate of the expense should be given in, the
contract made, and the order given during the autumn, so that it might
be all ready for the spring of the next year. It was on a Monday morning
that Henry arrived from the fort, where he had staid the Sunday, having
reached it late on Saturday night. The _bateaux_, with the stock and
stores, he had left at the fort; they were to come round during the day,
but Henry's impatience to see the family would not allow him to wait. He
was, as may be supposed, joyfully received, and, as soon as the first
recognitions were over, he proceeded to acquaint his father with what he
had done. He had obtained from a Canadian farmer forty ewes of very fair
stock, although not any thing equal to the English; but the agent had
worked hard for him, and procured him twenty English sheep and two rams
of the best kind, to improve the breed. For the latter he had to pay
rather dear, but they were worth any money to Mr. Campbell, who was
quite delighted with the acquisition. In selecting the sheep, of course
Henry was obliged to depend on the agent and the parties he employed,
as he was no judge himself; but he had, upon his own judgment, purchased
two Canadian horses, for Henry had been long enough at Oxford to know
the points of a horse, and as they turned out, he had made a very good
bargain. He had also bought a sow and pigs of an improved breed, and all
the other commissions had been properly executed; the packages of skins
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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