sixty years have passed.

While the losses of the people of the Puget Sound country were great,
nevertheless good came out of the great stampede in the large accession
of population that remained after the return tide was over. Many people
had become stranded and could not leave the country, but went to work
with a will to make a living there. Of these not a few are still honored
citizens of the state that has been carved out of the territory of that
day.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Carrie sees "a big cat" sharpening its claws.]

CHAPTER TWENTY

MAKING A PERMANENT HOME IN THE WILDS

THE days that followed our venture in the gold field were more peaceful
and prosperous. Soon after the Indian War we had moved to a new claim.
We began now to realize to the full our dream of earlier days, to settle
on a farm and build a home.

Three neighbors were all we had, and the nearest lived nearly two miles
away. Two of them kept bachelor's hall. The thick, high timber made it
impossible for us to see any of our neighbors' houses. We could reach
only one by a road; to the others we might go by a trail. Under such
conditions we could not have a public school. This, however, did not
keep us from having a school of our own.

One day one of our farther-off neighbors, who lived more than four miles
away, came to visit us. Naturally the children flocked around him to
hear his stories in broad Scotch and to ply him with questions. In his
turn, he began to ask them questions. One of these was, "When do you
expect to go to school?"

"Oh, we have school now," responded the children. "We have school every
day."

"And pray, who is your teacher, and where is your schoolhouse?"

"Father teaches us at home every morning before breakfast. He hears the
lessons then, and mother helps us too."

"Your father told me a while ago that you had your breakfast at six
o'clock. What time do you get up?"

"Why, father sets the clock for half-past four, and that gives us an
hour while mother gets breakfast, you know."

Boys and girls of today may pity those poor pioneer children who had to
get up so early. They may as well dismiss such feelings from their
hearts. The children were cheerful and healthy; they did some work
during the day in addition to studying their lessons; and besides they
went to bed earlier than some boys and girls do these days.

In January 1861 the wreck of the steamer _Northerner_ brought great
sorrow