Mrs. Percy sent the carriage for them in the afternoon, and they found the family assembled in the parlor, singing sacred songs. Each one had the music of the hymns, and the hour before tea thus passed most pleasantly. In the evening Norman and his mother went with Mr. and Mrs. Percy to church, and heard an excellent sermon from Dr. Rice, on the breast-plate of faith and love, and the helmet, the hope of salvation. “How much reason have we for thankfulness,” said Mrs. Lester to Norman in the evening, “that everywhere we have found Christian homes; everywhere family prayer, and a love for God’s house and service. How many such privileges have we enjoyed!” The next morning Dr. Davis called to invite them to pay him a visit; Norman went with Albert Davis, and a few hours afterward the doctor called in his carriage for Mrs. Lester. Norman’s uncle and aunt were in the carriage, and when they arrived at the doctor’s country place, they found Norman lying on the grass, contemplating Albert’s pony. Norman found some very interesting books filled with large colored plates of birds, and plants, and Indians. He looked at these portraits of the red men, taken by Mr. Catlin, and read sketches of their history with great interest In the afternoon Dr. Davis drove them to see the pretty grounds of a gentleman in the neighborhood, and to the Lake View House, where they drank some iced lemonade, and wandered on the beach. It seemed very much like the sea-shore, the great waves rolling in and dashing against the sand, and, a little below, the hulk of a vessel blown ashore and stranded in the recent storm. Such proofs of the power of old Michigan, when its waves rise up in their might, may be seen all along its shores, unprovided as they are with harbors for vessels to take refuge in at the approach of the tempest. CHAPTER XIX. ON THE LAKES. “On the shores of Gitche Gumee, Westward by the Big-Sea Water. * * * * * Can it be the sun descending, Sinking down into the water? All the sky is stain’d with purple, All the water flush’d with crimson!” Lake Superior, the mighty lake, fed by two hundred rivers and streams, plunging down falls and rapids to mingle their waters with those of this inland ocean; with its stern rocky walls, and overhanging crags; with its rich mines of copper, silver, and iron; with its abundant fisheries of trout, pickerel, pike, carp, black fish, and white fish; and with its grand pictured rocks, presenting columns, towers, arches, and ruins, and hollowed out into vast caverns, echoing with tremendous roar to the dash of the waves. An excursion proposed to this lake offered great attractions, and Mrs. Lester was tempted to go on the fine steamer that was to take a party thither.