IT was late in the afternoon when they reached that opening in the woods which had suddenly appeared. They had been fearfully exhausted; they had also been almost famished, and were without any prospect of either rest or food, when that opening appeared before them. But the sight of it acted upon them like magic, and seemed to drive away both hunger and weariness. Instantly their pace quickened from a languid, laborious walk to a trot, and then to a run, as they hurried forward, eager to learn what this place might be. Bart, with his hope of finding a settlement with living human beings, from whom he might receive information and assistance, was most excited, and was the first to quicken his pace; and the sight of his excited eagerness affected his companions with the same feelings. Thus they rushed forward, and in a short time emerged from the woods. An open field lay before them, in which stumps arose here and there. The field rose with a slight ascent to an elevation which shut out the scene beyond. It was not the “Barrens,” which Solomon had expected, nor yet the lake or swamp which Pat had mentioned. Bart had been right. It was a space cleared by the hand of man; but still the question remained, what kind of a settlement was it, and of what extent. For a moment they paused as they emerged from the wood, and then they all hurried rapidly forward. As they hurried forward the prospect opened more and more, until they gained the eminence; and then what a scene lay before them! There, full before them--there, to their speechless amazement--lay--what? Could it be possible. Did their eyes deceive them. No. It was a fact. Yet, how amazing! The sea! The wide and boundless sea! Yes, there it was, beyond the possibility of doubt--the sea--the sea itself--no river--no lake--but the sea, and nothing else. Overhead the smoke clouds still rolled, as before, in vast voluminous folds, curling, and turning, and rolling, and lowering down close to the earth, giving to all nature a gloom that was peculiar, and not without terror. But beyond this lay the sea; and it stretched far away to the horizon, reaching along that horizon to the right and to the left as far as the eye could wander. It was the sea, the sea itself; and they had wandered far from the place from which they had set out, to reach such a goal as this. And what was the place?