"I left him with the Strawberry, sir; they were busy with the sugar." "By the by, how much have you got, Malachi?" "About three or four hundred pounds, sir, as near as I can reckon; quite as much as madam will require." "Yes, I should think so; now we shall have preserves of all sorts and the fruit for nothing; the wild raspberries are nearly ripe, and so are the cherries; my cousins want John to help to gather them." "Well, sir, I dare say he will do so, although I believe that he would rather do any thing else. He said he was going to fish this morning." "The water is too rough, and he will not be able to manage the punt by himself." "Then that's the very reason why he'll go out," replied Malachi; "he don't like easy jobs like picking raspberries. Is it true, Mr. Alfred, that we are to have some more settlers come here?" "Yes, I believe so; my father is very anxious to have them; he thinks it will be a great security, and he has offered very advantageous terms; you won't much like that, Malachi?" "Well, sir, I dare say you may think so, but it is not the case; if any one had told me, two years ago, that I could have remained here, I would have said it was impossible, but we are all creatures of habit. I had been so used to my own company for so long a time, that when I first saw you I couldn't bear the sight of you; no, not even that of your pretty cousins, Miss Mary and Emma, although, Heaven knows, they might tame a savage; but now, sir, I feel quite changed; I have first borne with company, because I fancied the boy, and then I felt no dislike to it, and now I like it. I believe that in my old age I am coming back to my feelings as a boy, and I think very often of my father's farm, and the little village that was close to it; and then I often fancy that I should like to see a village rise up here, and a church stand up there upon the mount; I think I should like to live on till I saw a church built and God worshiped as He ought to be." "This is indeed a change, Malachi; well, I hope you will see a church on the mount, and live many years afterward to be present at the weddings and christenings." "As it pleases God, sir. There's one thing, Mr. Alfred, that has given me great content, and more than any thing, perhaps, reconciled me to my new way of living; and that is, that the Strawberry, by the blessing of God and the labor of your mother and cousins, has become a good Christian; you don't know how pleased I am at that." "She's an excellent little creature, Malachi; every one is fond of her, and I believe Martin is very strongly attached to her." "Yes, sir, she's a good wife, for she never uses her tongue, and obeys her husband in all things. I think Martin has now become quite steady, and you might send him to Montreal, or any where else, without fear of his getting into the prison for making a disturbance.--I see that a bear has been over into the maize-field last night." "What! did he climb the snake-fence?"