CHAPTER II.

THE ROUND OF PIONEER LIFE--GAME--NIGHT FISHING--MORE DETAILS ABOUT
SUGAR-MAKING--SUGARING-OFF--TAKING A HAND AT THE OLD CHURN--SHEEP-
WASHING-COUNTRY GIRLS, THEN AND NOW--SUBSTANCE AND SHADOW--"OLD GRAY"
AND HIS ECCENTRICITIES--HARVEST--MY EARLY EMULATION OF PETER PAUL
RUBENS--MEETING-HOUSES--ELIA ON QUAKER MEETINGS--VARIEGATED AUTUMN
LANDSCAPES--LOGGING AND QUILTING BEES--EVENING FUN--THE TOUCHING LAY OF
THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO SAT DOWN TO SLEEP.



Visiting for the older folk and sleigh-riding for the younger were the
principal amusements of the winter. The life then led was very plain and
uneventful. There was no ostentatious display, or assumption of
superiority by the "first families." Indeed there was no room for the
lines of demarcation which exist in these days. All had to struggle for
a home and home comforts, and if some had been more successful in the
rough battle of pioneer life than others, they saw no reason why they
should be elated or puffed up over it. Neighbours were too scarce to be
coldly or haughtily treated. They had hewn their way, side by side, into
the fastnesses of the Canadian bush, and therefore stood on one common
level. But few superfluities could be found either in their houses or on
their persons. Their dress was of home-made fabric, plain, often coarse,
but substantial and comfortable. Their manners were cordial and hearty,
even to brusqueness, but they were true friends and honest counsellors,
rejoicing with their neighbours in prosperity, and sympathising when