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Late it was whan the lights went out in those r es pective
homes. Short wer e t he hours or rest, for duty called to the
toi l of ano t her da y . The earliest r i sers wer e t hos e whose
busine s s t ook t hem to the woods. Wi nter firewood was a stern
n e ce s s i t y , and t he fickleness of Nature gave no gua rantee that
the late ke en .rr-ost would continue, or that the .fin e hard "path"
could be much l onger counted upon .
Genial as had been t he weather on the Festive D~y,She ila'a
mom broke ~ th mist and dampness . Still there ware no indicati
on s that the d ay would be other than a mi l d one. Men with
hor-aee and do gs wended their way t o the woods with axes an d c'a t ­
emer-ene , some f or f irewood, others 1'01" "fence stuff''' or timbers
and "knees" :for the punts and skiff's t hat in spare hours were to
b e built. All Jo gged along merrily, the " Old salt" ot: halt: a
:::';:".~ c e n t ,! r y and the YO:U!lg~~_~r,....or, ~sixt e. e:l. Now and . ~he n... th?y . WQuld. ,....
group themselves, an d in animated conv ersation would discuss the
happenings of the previous eve. Words of sympathy escaped some
lips, -a nd specul8.tion ' -as .:-to: ~the=hour_ of---·thS' "'approae-h1ng '-:run e r al:.7::'""-~ =-,==-.7
The bUSy task had been accomplished, and e ach one who had
set forth that morning, was returning with his "loadl!. Horses
and dogs were straining every nerve, the men and boys with'-rope
ov er shoulder assisting and directing. For an hour or mor e light
s now had been ste adily raIling, but the win d was now :freshening
:from the South Eas t , whi ch was de ad ahead .
Up the ste ep road f ro m t he s e t tlement, whi ch t he company
that mor ning had t r avelled, a stri ng or women, boys and young