and bazaars, were to have been held in Calumet school, the probabilities
were all in favour of Frank coming out at the head of the poll.

But better, because more enduring than all these good qualities of body,
head, and heart that formed Frank's sole fortune in the world, was the
thorough religious training upon which they were based. His mother had
left a Christian household to help her husband to found a new home in the
great Canadian timberland; and this new home had ever been a sweet,
serene centre of light and love. While Calumet was little more than a
straggling collection of unlovely frame cottages, and too small to have a
church and pastor of its own, the hard-working Christian minister who
managed to make his way thither once a month or so, to hold service in
the little schoolroom, was always sure of the heartiest kind of a
welcome, and the daintiest dinner possible in that out-of-the-way place,
at Mrs. Kingston's cozy cottage. And thus Frank had been brought into
friendly relations with the "men in black" from the start, with the good
result of causing him to love and respect these zealous home
missionaries, instead of shrinking from them in vague repugnance, as did
many of his companions who had not his opportunities.

When he grew old enough to be trusted, it was his proud privilege to take
the minister's tired horse to water and to fill the rack with sweet hay
for his refreshment before they all went off to the service together; and
very frequently when the minister was leaving he would take Frank up
beside him for a drive as far as the cross-roads, not losing the chance
to say a kindly and encouraging word or two that might help the little
fellow heavenward.

In due time the settlement so prospered and expanded that a little church
was established there, and great was the delight of Mrs. Kingston when