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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1941-02-20, Page 6THE SEAFORTH NEWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1941 The Inland Sea .09110.190 The element was neither of that glee- sy green which distinguishes the Ant- ertean waters in general, nor yet of the deep :blue of the ocean, the 'col a ou ol- our 'being of a slightly amber hue, which scarcely affected- its limpidity. No land was to be seen, With the ex- ception. of the coast, •which stretched ec' he right and left in an unbroken c•ut-tine of forest with wide bays and kw headlands or points; still, much he shore was rocky, and into its caverns the sluggish waters occasioa- a:y rolled. producing a hollow sound. which resembled the concussions of a distant gun. No sail whitened the surface. no .whale or other fish gam- 'eolled en its -boson, no sign of use or zrvice rewarded :he longest and r. t t minute gaze at its boundless ex- panse. -, was a scene, on one side ofareartntly endless forests. while a eentingly interminable wat- t:" .,ret.;: itself on the other. Nature ,t-pear:A to have delighted in pro - aa: r grand effects, by setting two Of her _:•rincipwl agents in bold relief t. each -other, neglecting. details: the eye turning. from the broad carpet of ..aye: to the still broader field of fluid, from the endless but gentle • heaving's of the 'la'ke. to the holy Keen: and ,poeticalsolitude of the for- ts:. with wonder and delight. M:sbel Dunham. though unsophis- t,ca.ed, like most of her country- 4.t•::ten •.1 that period. and ingenpoms ... t .rank as any warm-hearted and -met re -minded girl well could be, was not altogether sitiont a feeling to the .poetry of this beautiful earth of oras. Although she could scarcely -.a-d to be educated at all for few of her ex at that day and in this wsy received much more than the rh- e,iaten is of plain ,English instruction, sail she had been taught much more +. r:r.n was usual for young women in her station of life: and in one sense .rta':niy. she did credit tc. her teach - mg. The widow of a field -officer. n sits lit -i*td to the same regMent as her father. had taken the ,ad i, charge at the death of its mother; and under the - care . f this lad-: Mabel had acquired some tastes ,rd many ideas which otherwise r; :ii -t have ai:-ays remained-trang- ..s te. her. Her situation in the fam- "'-;'en :e.- that n domestic of " humble c.c.:vpaniun. y;itt. apparent ter sang rte e,hererre: fee:Mg,. e n. .ti_ arts fit i„ rta:-,i137 that dis- iied :ter r the simation in life aeidents of lir;it and fortune -.44. no: trobabiv ce.mpe'- her to fill. All else :ha: was distinctive and peculiar .r; net belonged tr, natural character. With such antecedents it - will oc- casion the reader no wonder if he learns that IMa;bel viewed the novel scene before her with a pleasure far superior to that produced by vulgar surprise, She felt its ordinary tbeauties s most would have felt them,' but she had also a feeling for its sublimity -- for that softened solitude, that calm grandeur, and eiquent repose, which ever pervades broad views of natural Objects yet undisturbed by the lab - curs and struggles of man. 'How beautifuil" she exclaimed', unconscious of speaking, as she stood on the solitary :bastion, facing the air ircm the lake, and experiencing the genial influence of its freshness per- vading bath her body and her mind, 'iHow very beautiful! and yet how singular!" The words, and the strain of her ideas, were interrupted by a toneh of a finger on her shoulder. and turning, in the expectation of seeing her father. :M;atbel found Pathfinder a: her Side.: He was leaning quietly on his ic•ng rifle, and laughing in his quiet man- ner. while. with an r asst, et.ined arra, he swept over :he et ?sole pen rarna _c land and weft-, Home you .nate beth ,'.S domains," said he,—"Jasper's and mine. The lake is for him, and the .novels are for me. The lad sometimes boasts of the breadth of his dominions; but I tell him my trees make as broad a plain on the face of this'arth as all his water. Well, Mabel, you are fit for either; for I do not see that fear of the 'Minos. or night -marches, can destroy your pretty looks.' 'It is a new character for the Path- finder to appear in, to compliment a silly girl," Not silly, !Mabel; no, not in the least silly. The Sergean;'s daughter would do discredit to her worthy. father, were she to do or say anything that could be called silly," ""Then she must sake care and not pet too much faith in treacherous, flattering w-ords, Btu, Pathfinder, I rejoice to see you among us again; for, though Jasper did not seen to feel much uneasiness, I was afraid some accident might have happened to you and your friend on that rift," "The lad knows us ,both, and was. Sartain that we should not drown. which is scarcely one of my 'gifts. It would have been hard swimming of a sartainy, with a long -barrelled rifle in the hand; and What between the game, and the savages and the French Kildeer and I have gone through too much in company to part very easily. No, no; we waded ashore, the rift hong shallow enough for that wish small exceptions, and we landed with our arms in our hands. We had to take our time for it, on account of the Iroquois, I will own; but, as soon as the skulking vagabonds saw the lights that the Sergeant sent down to your canoe. we well understood they would decamp, since a visit night have been expected from some of the garrison. So it was only sitting ,pat- iently on the :tones for an hour, and all the danger was over Patience is the greatest of virtues in a woods- man," "I rejoice to hear this, for fatigue itself could scarcely make me sleep, Inc thinking of what might befall you." 'Lord bless your tender little heart. Mabel- hut this is the way with all yon gentle ones. I must say, on my par. however, that I was right glad the lanterns come down to the water- side. which I knew to she a sure sign of poor safety. We hunters and guide: are rode beings; but as have our feel- ings and our ideas. as well as any gen- era' in the army, ..,oh Jasper and l ro:.d ;la, died ,rc;re • ,:i should .alit:' ',file 'tar':,—w-e uould" I thank yon for a1: ton did for toe. Pathfinder: front the bottom, of an heart, ,'.tan:: • ,.'t: and, depend on it. my Fath, -.r sia:i's know it have already told hint mach, but have still a duty . Perforin on this suhjert " "'f,usit. \lai,e:' The Sergeant knows what the woods be. and what men—true red men—be, too. There is little need to tell him anything about it. 'Well, now you have met your father, do you find the honest old soldier the sort of person you expected to find? "He is my own dear father, and received the as a soldier and a father should receive a child. Have you known him long, Pathfinder?" "That is as people count time. I was just twelve when the Sergeant took me on my first scouting, and that is now more than twenty years ago We had a tramping time of it; and, as it was 'before your day, you would have had no father, had not the rifle .been one of my natural gifts," "Explain yourself," "'It is too simple for many words, We were ambushed, and the Ser- geant got a bad hurt, and would have lost his scalp. but for a sort of inbred turn, I took to the weapon. We inrought hien off, however, and a ttandsomtr head hair, for his time of life not to 1.e found in the riji- ment than tb, Sengeant carries about with..ti.,: this ssed day." g'i'rt: se ras my father's life. Wath- finder! exclaimed Mabel, .unconsc- iousi •, though .warmly, taking one of his hard, sinewy hands into 'both her Own. "God bits you for this, too. ol,mg your other good acts1' 'Nay, 1 slid not say that mach, though 1 believe 1 ,did save ?ti• scalp A man might 'live nrithotit e scalp, :.nd so I cannot say 'I saved his life. Jasper may say that, much Consenting you: for without his eye and arm the caro., would never have passed the rift in safety on a night like the lat. 'The gifts of :he lad are for the water, while nine are for the hunt and the trail. He is ponder, in the cove there, :ooking after the canoes, and keeping his eye on his 'beloved- little craft. To my eye, 'there is no likelier youth in these parts than Jasper \\'extern." For the first time since she had left her room, (Mabel now- turned her eves ibeneath her, and got a view of what might be the foreground of the remarkable picture she had been studying with so much ,pleasure. The Oswego threw its dark waters into the lake. ,between banks of some height; that on its eastern side ;being bolder and prejectiflg farther north than that on its western The fort was on the latter, and beneath it were a few huts of logs, which, as they could not interfere with the defence of the place, had been erected along the strand for the purpose of receiving and containing such stores as were landed, or were intended to be embarked, in tine eont- munications between the different ports on the shores of Ontario. Two low, curved, gravelly points had been formed with surprising regularity by the counteracting force^, of the. northerly winds and the swift current, and, inclining from the storms of the lake, formed two coves within the river: that 00 the western side was rhe most deeply indented. and, as it also had the most water, it formed a sort of picturesque little port for the post, It was along the narrow strand that lay between the low height of the fort and the water of this cove, that the rude ibui'Iding just mentioned had heen erected. Several skiffs, bateaux, and canoes were hauled up on the shore, and itt the rove itself lay the little craft front which Jasper obtained his claim to be considered a sailor. She was cutter -rigged, might have been of forty tons iourthen, was SO neatly constructed and painted 55 to have something of the 4ir of a 'vessel of war. :hough without quarters, and rigged and sparred .with so scrupu'ons a regard to proportions and (beauty, as well as fitness and judgment, as to give her an appearance that even Mabel at once distinguished to be ;gallant and trite. Her mottle was, admirable, for a wright of ,great ..611:1 had sent her drafts front England, at the expresss request of the officer who had caused her to he construct- ed: ons rite - t t ed: her paint dark, warlike, and neat; and the long coach -whip ,pennant that site wore at once lrroclaintecl her to be the property of the eking, Her name was the Scud. "•(']tat, then, is the vessel of Jas- per!" said Alaibel, who associated the master of the little craft very natur- ually with the •cutter itself. "Are many others on this lake?" "Frenchers have three: one of which, they tell tee, is a read ship, such as are used on the ocean; attoth- er a ;brig; and a third a cutter, like the Scud here, which they call the Squirrel, in their own tongue, how- ever; and which seems to have a nat- ural hatred of our own pretty boat, for 'Jasper seldom goes mis that the Squirrel is not at his Neots." "Anti is .Jasper one to run from a Frenchman, though he appears in shape of a Squirrel, and that, too, on the water?" "`Of what use woulsi valour be without the means of turning it to account? !Jasper is a :brace boy, as all on this frontier know; but Inc has no gun except a little howitzer, and then his crew consists only of two men 'besides himself, and a boy, 1 was with him in one of his tram - nooses, and the youngster iw•as risky enough, for he brought us so near the enemy that rifles began to talk; but the Trenchers carry cannon and ports, and show their faces outside of Frontenac, without having some twenty men. thesides their Squirrel, in their cutter. No, no; this Scud was built for flying, and the major says he will not put her in a fighting hum- our thy giving her men and arms, lest she should take him at his word, and get her wings clipped: I know little of these tidings, for gifts are not SI all in that way; but I see the reason of the thing—I see its reason, though Jasper does not." "Alt! here is my .uncle, none the worse for Itis ,wini, sprint to Took at OILS inland sea." Sure enough, Cap, who had an- nounced his approach by a couple of lusty heats, now made his appear•- ance on air bastion, where, after nod- ding to his niece and her reonrpanion, he made a deliberate survey of the expanse of mater before hitt, Ian or- der to effect this at his ease, the mariner mounted on one of the old iron guns, folded his amts across his breast and balanced his body, asif he felt the motion of a vessel. To com- plete the picture, he had a short pipe in his mouth. 'Well, Master Cap," asked the Pathfinder innocently, for he did not detect the expression of contempt that was gradually settling on the features of the other; "is it not a beautiful sheet, and fit to benamed a sea" "This, then, is what you call your lake " demanded Cap, sweeping the northern 'horizon wvith his ,pipe, "1 say, is this really your lake?" 'Sartain; and, if the judgment of one who has 4ived on the shores of many others can be taken, a 'very good lake it is." `tJust as I expected. A pond in dim- ensions, and a seuttle'buitt in taste. It is all in vain inland, in the hope of seeing anything either full-grown or useful, I ;knew it would turn out just in this way." 't -What is the matter with ''Ontario Cap? It is large, and fair to look at, and pleasant enough to drink, for those who can't 'get at the water of the springs." "Do you call this large?" asked Cap, again sweeping the air with his pipe. "I will ,jttwt ask you what there is large about it? Didn't jaspper him- self confess that it was only some twenty leagues front shore to shore?" "But, uncle," interposed Mabel, "no land is to be seen, swept here on our own coast, To me h looks exactly like an ocean.." "This bit of 'a pond 'look like tate ocean- Well, Magnet, that from a girl who has had reals seamen in her fam- ily is downright nonsense) 1R -'hat i'. there about it, pray, that has oven the outline of a sea on it?" 'Why, there ,s w•atii'—water--- w•ater—nothing but water, Inc miles on miles.—far as tie eye can sec." SUBSCRIBE NOW TO YOUR FAVOURITE MAGAZINES AND THIS NEWSPAPER AT A THE THRIFTY ECONOMICAj TO SUQSCRIBE TQ THIS NEWSPAPER 0 YOUR FAVOURITE MAGAZINES T SENSATIONALLY LOW PRICES •s••••,.... ♦moi NJ _w,. i .til '�` �/„I��"��✓,/i%W'•..Mii N N �`.i' �I. n•f►'^'^ 1'i•f1. �,,. - fir*✓I Wri �r•MNM. �,Lj�, .,.'.' / • %irN/I .K•v✓�• f....,+•.'�I`-..�r�. �,/ '� i.�_'.,! r,��,...rs� �..-i.•.'"��ra.. 4i�� `�'^s�,.:..,."H�� . - s :ii irir:r�`J� ►, �►r These offers are good for new or renewal orders. It will pay you to look over and send us the coupon. today. ALL -FAMILY OFFER them This Newspaper, 1 Year, and Your Choice Any Three of These Publications CHECK TREES MAGAZINES—ENCLOSE w1TH ORDER 13 Maclean's Magazine, 1 yr, f1 Chatelaine, I yr. (I Canadian Home Journal, 1 ye. [ 3 National Home Monthly, 1 yr. 13 Canadian Horticulture and Herne, 1 yr. 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Province PROFESSIONAL CARDS MEDICAL SEAFORTH CLINIC Dr. E, A. McMaster, Mil., Graduate of University of Toronto, Paul L. Brady, M.D., Graduate of University of Toronto. The1 nic Ci isu fuy ed e ui with equipped P complete and modern xray and other up-to-date diagnostic and thereuptie. equipment. Dr. F. J. R. Forster, Specialist in Diseases of the Ear, Eye, Nose and Throat, will be at the Clinic the first Tuesday in every month from 4 to 6 p.m. Fres well -baby clinic will be held. on the second and last Thursday ill every month from 1 to 2 p.m. JOHN A. GORWELL, B.A.,M.D. Physician and Surgeon In Dr. H. H. Ross' office, Phone 5 J OR. F. J. R. FORSTER Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Graduate in Medicine, University of Toronto; Late Assistant New Yorle Ophthalmic and. Aural Institute, Moorefield'a Eye, and Golden Square throat hospitals, London, Eng. At Commercial Hotel, Seaforth, third Wednesday in each month from 2 to 4 p.m. Also at Seaforth Clinic first Tuesday in each month. -61 Waterloo St., Stratford, Telephone 267. AUCTIONEER GORDON M. GRANT, Licensed Auctioneer for the County of Huron. Arrangements can be made for Sale Date at the Seaforth News, or by writing Gordon M. Grant, Goderich. Charges moderate and satisfaction guaranteed, F. W. AHRENS, Licensed Auction. eer for Perth and Huron Counties. Sales Solicited, Terms on Application, Farm Stock, chattels and real estate property. R. R. No. 4, Mitchell, Phone 034 r 6. Apply at thia office, HAROLD JACKSON Licensed in Huron and Perth Conn - ties. Prices reasonable; satisfaction guaranteed. For information, write or phone Harold Jackson, 698r12, Sea• forth central; Brucei[eld R.R.1, Watson & Reid REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENCY (Successors to James Watson) MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. All kinds of Insurance risks effect ed at lowest rates In First -Clam Companies, The McKillop Mutual Fire Insurance Co. HEAD OFFICE—BEAFORTH, Ont OFFICERS President, Wm. Knox, Londeaboro, Vice President, W. R. Archibald, Seaforth; Secretary Treasurer, M. A Reid, Seaforth,. AGENTS F. McKereher, R.R.1, Dublin; Joh", E. Pepper. R.R.1, Brucefleld; J. F Prtietf-r. 1it•ndhagen; James Watt Myth; Wn;. Yeo, Hcimesville. DIRECTORS,. Alex Broadfoot, Seaforth; Wililan Knox, Londeaboro; .Chris Leonhardt, Dublin; E. J. Trewartha, Clinton; Thomas Moylan, Seaforth; W. R Archibald, Seaforth; Alex McEwing Blyth; Frank McGregor, Minton! Hugh Alexander, Walton. Parties desirous to effect insurance or transact other business, will be promptly attended to by applicatlona to any of the above named officers addressed to their respective post- offices. oetoffices. "And isn't there water—water— water—nothing but water for miles on miles in your rivers, that you have ,been canoeing through, too?—ay, and ''as far as the eye can see,' in the bar. gain?" "Yes, uncle, but the rivers ;have their ;banks, and there are trees along them, and they are narrow," "And isn't this a ;bank where we stand don't these soldiers :caul this the 'bank of elle lake? and aren't ;there trees in thousands? and aren't twenty leagues narrow enough , of all con- science? Who the devil ever heard of the (banks of the ocean, unless it might .be the ;banks that are tinder water?" "I:>.tt, uncle, we cannot see across this lake, as we can see .across a deer, i'y (lt eoener- o1 old ear)— i.e, arc'nbue?" "E:', v er-'lWell,. I can't tell until I walk 'back and find the engine."