to them the scene of many happy hours, they took
a last look at the spots which were hallowed by association--the church
with its lowly spire, an emblem of that humility which befits a
Christian, and the burial-ground, where the weeping willow bent
mournfully over the head-stone which marked the graves of their parents.
The children, who were old enough to remember, never forgot their
playground, nor the white schoolhouse where the rudiments of an
education were instilled into their minds.

Their road was at first, comparatively smooth and their journey
pleasant. Their progress was interrupted by divers little incidents;
while the continual changes in the appearance of the country around
them, and the anticipation of what was to come, prevented those feelings
of despondency, which might otherwise have arisen on leaving a much
loved home. When the roads became bad or hilly, the family quit the
wagon and trudged along on foot, the mother carrying the baby Fernando
in her arms. At sunset, their day's journey finished, they halted in the
forest by the roadside to prepare their supper and pass the night. The
horses were unharnessed, watered and secured with their heads to the
trough until they had eaten their meagre allowance of corn and oats, and
then were hobbled out to grass. Over the camp fire the mother prepared
the frugal supper, which being over, the emigrants arranged themselves
for the night, while the faithful dog kept watch. Amid all the
privations and vicissitudes in their journey, they were cheered by the
consciousness that each day lessened the distance between them and the
land of promise, whose fertile soil was to recompense them for all their
trials and hardships.

Gradually, as they advanced west, the roads became more and more rough
and were only passable in many places by logs having been placed side by
side, forming what was termed corduroy roads. The axe and rifle of the
emigrant, or mover as he is still termed in the west, were brought
daily and almost hourly into use. With the former he cut saplings, or
small trees, to throw across the roads, which, in many places, were
almost impassable; while with his rifle he killed squirrels, wild
turkeys, or such game as the forest afforded, for their provisions were
in a few days exhausted. If, perchance, a buck crossed his path, and he
brought it down by a lucky shot, it was carefully dressed and hung up in
the forks of the trees; fires were built, and the mea