In his reply to Minnie, Donald described the tragic scene with which
the reader is familiar, deplored the occurrence, but, with great
earnestness, asked her to believe that he had acted only in
self-defence. "I started out," he said, in one portion of his letter,
"to go to church last Sunday evening. I had reached the door, when I
thought--'Donald, you have broken a law of God!' and I had not the
courage to go in."

We quote this passage merely in confirmation of our statement that
Donald felt perfectly free to go abroad after the tragedy, and to
participate in the social life of the village.




CHAPTER XXIII.

ACTION OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.--FIVE OFFICERS SENT TO MEGANTIC.

To the common mind government is something vast, mysterious, and
powerful. It is associated with armies and navies, and an unlimited
police force. There are a glittering sword, a ponderous mace, and an
argus eye, that reaches to the remotest point of territory like a great
big electric search light, in it.

No man is a hero to his valet, and the nearer you get to the seat of
power, the less does government impose upon the imagination. Those who
read, with infinite respect, "that the Government has decided, after a
protracted meeting of the Cabinet, to levy a tax upon terrier dogs for