ou,
indeed! There's the sleigh. Come, Hamish, lad, take the lamb out, he
will be jist dead asleep, whatever."

As Scotty passed out like a sack of potatoes on Hamish's shoulder, the
rush of clear, cold air partly revived him. He cuddled under the
blanket close to Granny, and dimly heard the good-nights as each
sleigh-load moved down the long lane, not gaily spoken as when the
neighbours came in for an evening, but low and subdued, for all were
under the spell of the season of prayer. He heard Granny say, "Where's
Callum? Don't be leaving the lad," and a voice answered, "He's yonder
helpin' Tom Caldwell to hitch," and then Callum sprang in, and the
sleigh creaked slowly forward, and Scotty slid away once more down the
dim road of dreamland.

VI

AN IGNOMINIOUS TASK

Into the dim woods full of the tombs
Of the dead trees soft in their sepulchres,
Where the pensive throats of the shy birds hidden
Pipe to us strangely entering unbidden,
And tenderly still in the tremulous glooms
The trilliums scatter their white-winged stars.
--ABCHIBALD LAMPMAN.

Winter passed, and then came the spring, with its fresh, warm winds
coming up from Lake Simcoe and sweeping away the ice and snow in a mad,
joyous rush of water.

Scotty went barefoot just as soon as there was enough bare ground to
step upon. He seemed for a time to cast aside all restraint with his
shoes and stockings, and when not in school lived a freebooter's life
in the forest.

He and Bruce spent much time wandering, plundering and exploring from
the edge of the corduroy road where the musk and marigolds and
fleur-de-lis grew in glorious profusion all through the green and
golden depths to where the River Oro slipped from its sweet enthralment
of reeds and water lilies to go bounding away down the valley to Lake
Simcoe. The whole place was a plantation of treasures and teemed with
sounds of life: the blue-jay, the song-sparrow, the robin, the noisy,
red-winged black-bird, the plaintive pee-wee, the far-off,
clear-ringing whitethroat, the jolly woodpecker, the noisy squirrel,
and the shy raccoon--Scotty knew them all intimately, learned their
ways and lived their life.

He was given to much idle roaming through the swamp, on the way to and
from school, too, and when he went to bring home the cows he remained
longer than even Granny could excuse. For that simple task should have
been performed in a very short time. He could tr