A dozen times in the course of the day Maria and her mother opened the window to feel the softness of the air, listen to the tinkle of water running from the last drifts on higher slopes, or hearken to the mighty roar telling that the exulting Peribonka was free, and hurrying to the lake a freight of ice-floes from the remote north.

Mother Chapdelaine ended with a sigh. Her thoughts were ever fondly revisiting the older parishes where the land has long been cleared and cultivated, and where the houses are neighbourly-her lost paradise.

Through the little square window she threw a melancholy glance over the scanty cleared fields behind the house, the barn built of ill-joined planks that showed marks of fire, and the land beyond still covered with stumps and encompassed by the forest, whence any return of hay or grain could only be looked for at the end of long and patient waiting.

The Father, among the first to rush where he sees the danger greatest, encourages his people to a brave defense

We saw the fire and the barbarians, but we could not see anything of the two Fathers

without him we would not have so many fine rivers and so many beautiful lakes. In the beginning of the world,

Cùm eram Parvulus, loquebar ut Parvulus, sapiebam ut parvulus; cùm autem factus ero vir, evacuabo quœ, erant Parvuli

At Christmas he made a very good general Confession for the period since his Baptism. Besides, in our Catechizing and teaching of the Savages, he served as Interpreter, and has translated several things into the Huron language for us, wherein we admired the facility with which he understood our language, and comprehended and explained the most difficult mysteries. In short, he gives evidence that truly he has the fear of God before his eyes.