operation, were high enough, we laid on the rafters, and
covered the roof with boughs of the fir and the bark of the birch-tree,
filling the interstices with moss and mud. By practice, I became, a
very expert engineer, and with the assistance of thirty or forty men, I
could build a very good house in a day.

We next cleared, by burning and rooting up, as much land as would serve
to sustain the little colony for the ensuing season; and having planted
a crop of corn and potatoes, and giving the settlers many articles
useful in their new abode, we left them, agreeably to our orders, and to
my great joy returned to dear Halifax, where I again was blessed with
the sight of my innocent harem. I remember well that I received a
severe rebuke from the captain for inattention to signals. One was
addressed to us from the flag-ship; I was signal midshipman, but instead
of directing my glass towards the old _Centurion_, it was levelled at a
certain young Calypso, whose fair form I discovered wandering along the
"_gazon fleuri_:" how long would I not have dwelt in this happy Arcadia,
had not another Mentor pushed me off the rocks, and sent me once more to
buffet the briny waves.

Contrary to the opinion of any rational being, the President of the
United States was planning a war against England, and every ship in
Halifax harbour was preparing to fight the Yankees. The squadron sailed
in September. I bade adieu to the nymphs of Nova Scotia with more
indifference than became me, or than the reception I had met with from
them seemed to deserve; but I was the same selfish and ungrateful being
as ever. I cared for no one but my own dear self, and as long as I was
gratified, it mattered little to me how many broken hearts I left
behind.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

At once the winds arise,
The thunders roll, the forky lightning flies;
In vain the master issues out commands,
In vain the trembling sailors ply their hands:
The tempest unforeseen prevents their care,
And from the first they labour in despair.
DRYDEN'S FABLES.

Halifax is a charming, hospitable place: its name is associated with so
many pleasing recollections, that it never fails to extort another glass
from the bottle which, having been gagged, was going to pass the night
in the cellaret. But only say "Halifax!" and it is like "Open
sesame!"--out flies the cork, and down goes a bumper to the "health of
all good lasses!"

I related, in the last chapter