An individual of this description had his residence near
Hartley's Point. Unlike those however whose dwellings
rose at a distance, few and far between, hemmed in by
the fruits of prosperous agriculture, he appeared to have
paid But little attention to the cultivation of a soil,
which in every part was of exceeding fertility. A rude
log hut, situated in a clearing of the forest, the
imperfect work of lazy labour, was his only habitation,
and here he had for years resided without its being known
how he contrived to procure the necessary means of
subsistence; yet, in defiance of the apparent absence of
all resources, it was subject of general remark, that he
not only never wanted money, but had been enabled to
bestow something like an education on a son, who had, at
the epoch opened by our narrative, been absent from him
upwards of five years. From his frequent voyages, and
the direction his canoe was seen to take, it was inferred
by his immediate neighbours, that he dealt in contraband,
procuring various articles on the American coast, which,
he subsequently disposed of in the small town of
Amherstburgh (one of the principal English posts) among
certain subjects domiciliated there, who were suspected
of no very scrupulous desire to benefit the revenue of
the country they called their own. So well and so wisely,
however, did he cover his operations, that he had always
contrived to elude detection--and, although suspicion
attached to his conduct, in no instance had he openly
committed himself. The man himself, tall, stout and of
a forbidding look, was of a fearless and resolute character,