etter for you,' directed the stranger. There was none. 'Now come with
me and I will try to find out some way to help you.' They entered a
large store, opposite the market-place, of which the gentleman was
owner. The place was crowded with customers waiting their turn to be
served. Taking him into a cubby-hole of an office he asked the master to
speak frankly, to tell him how much land he wanted, what money he had,
and the number of his family. When he had learned all, Mr Dunlop, for
that was his name, said, 'You may give up your notion of getting land
for the fees. All the good land, so far surveyed, is in the hands of our
gentry, who live by selling it, or of speculators. The lots the
surveyor-general would give you would be dear for nothing, they are so
far away. You want to be as near the lake, or a town or village as you
can manage, so that you can buy and sell to advantage. Many who go on
remote lots have to leave them after undergoing sufferings no Christian
man or woman should endure. I am busy now; come back at four o'clock and
I will find out what can be done.'

On returning to the store at that hour he found Mr Dunlop had been
called away, but had left a letter, which he was to deliver. With some
difficulty the master found the house. There was a man and woman sitting
in the shade on the stoop. Reading the letter he was asked to sit down.
The master described the man as short and thin and well up in years, but
wiry and active. His wife was comely for her years, with a placid
expression. In reply to his first question, the master addressed him as
Sir. 'Use not that word again; all men are equal before God; use not the
vain distinctions by which so many try to magnify themselves and set
themselves apart from their fellows.' The master was taken aback. The
wife explained that they were Friends, whom the world named Quakers, and
that their yea and nay meant what they expressed; they desired
directness and sincerity in speech. Both took much interest in what the
master told them, for they kept questioning him until they learned how
he came to leave Scotland and of the voyage. They were struck by his
account of the ship grounding off Newfoundland and the wife remarked
'Thee did well to give thanks to Him who saved you.' The address of Mr
Kerr they asked for, and the master promised to get it. 'He has suffered
as we Friends have and still do, for we have no voice in the government
of the country and can hold no office