me into
submission.

"Come back, I say, this instant." I had now lost all fear and replied,
in a voice which I hardly recognized as my own, "go back, _never_.
Should I be compelled to beg my bread from door to door, I will never
stay another day under your roof." With these words I ran from the
house, and soon reached the little brown cottage in the village three
miles distant where lived my mother and sister Flora.

CHAPTER II.

I never knew a father's protecting care and watchful love; for he died
when I was but little more than three years old; and my sister Flora a
babe in our mother's arms. No prettier village could at that time have
been found in Eastern Canada than Elmwood, and this village was our
home. Its location was romantic and picturesque. Below the village on
one side was a long stretch of level meadow-land through which flowed
a clear and placid river--whose sparkling waters, when viewed from a
distance, reminded one of a surface of polished silver. The margin of
this river, on either side, was fringed with tall stately trees, called
the Rock-Elm. According to the statement of the first settlers in the
vicinity, the whole place was once covered with a forest of those noble
trees and to this circumstance the village owed its name of Elmwood. The
number of those trees which still shaded many of the streets added much
to the beauty of the village. The village was small, but much regularity
had been observed in laying out the streets. The buildings were mostly
composed of wood; and nearly all were painted a pure white with green
blinds, which gave a very tasteful appearance to the place. It had its
two churches, and three stores, where all articles necessary to a
country trade were sold, from a scythe down to cambric needles and pearl
buttons. There was also an academy, a hotel, one and two public schools,
and I believe I have now mentioned the most important of the public
buildings of Elmwood, as it then was. The cool and inviting appearance
of the village, as well as its facilities for fishing, boating and other
healthful recreations, caused it, in course of time, to become a
favorite summer resort for the dwellers in the large cities; and for
a few weeks, once a year, Elmwood was crowded with visitors from many
distant places, and, as may be readily supposed, these periodical visits
of strangers was something which deeply interested the simple residents
of our village. In looking back to-day t