ought back drunk and without a copper in his pockets.
Mr Kerr told me he would stay in Montreal if he got a place. He returned
in the afternoon to tell us he had got work and to take away his few
belongings. He bade all good-bye. On coming to me, I went with him, for
he had asked the mistress that I go with him to see the town. The
narrowness of the streets and the foreign look of the houses with their
high-pitched roofs impressed me less than the muddy roadways, for I had
never thought there could be a town with unpaved streets and no
sidewalks. Mr Kerr, on his way to his boarding-house, showed me the shop
where he was to begin work next morning. While we were in his bedroom a
gong sounded for supper. It was all new to me, the people, their talk,
and the food. I wondered to see meat and potatoes for supper, hot buns,
and apple-pies. After supper we had a walk, and in going along one of
the streets there was a man before us carrying a baby. Raising her head
above his shoulder the child looked at us and said something to him.
Without reflecting, I wondered how a child could have learned French so
early in life. On turning back to the ship Mr Kerr took me into a shop
and bought me a cap, and I had need of one. On coming in front of the
ship, he shook my hands as if he did not want to let me go, and made me
promise I would write him and tell where we had settled. For himself, he
would stay in Montreal at least long enough to get his belongings by
ship from Greenock.

The captain having given notice that everybody must leave the ship next
day, there was early bustling in finishing packing and arranging for the
next stage in our journey, which was to be by a Durham boat to Prescott.
Carts were on hand to haul our luggage to the canal, where lay the boat
that had been hired for our party. A carter hoisted a chest on his
little vehicle and hurriedly drove off. Instead of taking the direction
of the other carts, he went straight up the dump that led into the town.
I shouted to him to stop. He laid his whip on the horse and drove
faster. It flashed on me he was a thief, and I ran after him. I could
never have caught up to him had it not been market day and the street
was crowded with people and carts. I jumped up beside him and pulled at
his collar to make him stop. He tried to push me on to the road, but I
clung to him, when he lashed me with the whip. I shouted for help, but
all being French they did not know what I said, but t