have you not a head, have you not eyes to see, and reason to guide
you? As for impossibilities, they do not belong to the trade of a
soldier,--he dare not see them." Thus were energy and perseverance
early instilled into the, minds of his children. They were now called
upon to give practical proofs of the precepts that had been taught
them in childhood. Hector trusted to his axe, and Louis to his
_couteau de chasse_ and pocket-knife,--the latter was a present from
an old forest friend of his father's, who had visited them the
previous winter, and which, by good luck, Louis had in his pocket,--a
capacious pouch, in which were stored many precious things, such as
coils of twine and string, strips of leather, with odds and ends of
various kinds--nails, bits of iron, leather, and such miscellaneous
articles as find their way most mysteriously into boys' pockets in
general, and Louis Perron's in particular, who was a wonderful
collector of such small matters.

The children were not easily daunted by the prospect of passing a few
days abroad on so charming a spot, and at such a lovely season, where
fruits were so abundant; and when they had finished their morning
meal, so providentially placed within their reach, they gratefully
acknowledged the mercy of God in this thing.

Having refreshed themselves by bathing their hands and faces in the
lake, they cheerfully renewed their wanderings, though something loath
to leave the cool shade and the spring for an untrodden path among the
hills and deep ravines that furrow the shores of the Rice Lake in so
remarkable a manner; and often did our weary wanderers pause to look
upon the wild glens and precipitous hills, where the fawn and the shy
deer found safe retreats, unharmed by the rifle of the hunter, where
the osprey and white-headed eagle built their nests, unheeded and