poken. The coals of fire which he
heaped on their heads appeared really to have softened their hearts.
Having, with the assistance of the Crees, buried their companion, by
Peter's desire their arms were unbound, and they were set at liberty.
Uttering expressions of gratitude such as rarely fall from an Indian's
lips, they took their departure, promising ere long to pay him a visit
at the fort.

A night's rest sufficiently restored old Michael to enable him to
commence his journey on one of the horses to the fort, while the other
carried his peltries and traps. Laurence walked all the way at the head
of his steed, endeavouring by his conversation to keep up the spirits of
his father, and never failing, at every opportunity, to introduce the
subject nearest his heart. The old man listened to what he said; but he
seldom made any answer. He offered, however, no opposition to his
remarks. Frequently Laurence feared that he would sink from the effects
of his wounds; but his life was mercifully preserved, and at length the
fort was reached.

There was sincere rejoicing as Laurence was seen leading his father's
horse up to the gate. The old trapper was carried into Mr Ramsay's
house, and there received that watchful care he so greatly needed. He
gradually recovered his strength. One of his first visitors was Mr
Martin. His object, as may be supposed, was not to talk of temporal
affairs, but to unfold to him, as he perceived that his mind was capable
of comprehending it, God's merciful plan of salvation.

The old man's heart, unlike that of his young son, appeared so hardened
and seared, from having long rejected Divine truth, that some people
might have given up the attempt in despair; but Mr Martin had too much
knowledge of the human heart, and too firm a faith of the all-powerful
influence of God the Holy Spirit, to relax his efforts. From no idle
curiosity, he endeavoured to draw from Michael some account of his early
life. He was, he found, an Englishman, and that he had been for some
time married and settled in Canada, when he had joined the rebellion
which broke out many years ago against the authority of the British
Government. Having acted as a leader in some of the more desperate
enterprises in which a few of the misguided inhabitants engaged at that
time, a price was set on his head. He escaped, however, to the wilds of
the Far West, where, both from inclination and necessity, he had taken
to the pursu