As I returned from Stockwell to Sylvany with Dungowan, our conversation was chiefly regarding the progress of the settlement. I said but little to him on the condition of Mrs. Paddock; I did not even mention her name, but simply that I had been detained by the sick woman, and that I did not expect she would survive the night.

In reverting again to what I had mentioned to him jocularly, of my wish that he would fix near me, and that there was still a large space of Nox not yet located, he observed, that being a bachelor, he was not much inclined to embark in any business, and that, in fact, his coming to Canada was because his little income would not only go farther, he was told, than in Scotland, but also because several of his old regimental friends were settled in the province. He had, in fact, merely come as a visitor to see me, and had no particular object in view; but still the concerns of the settlement furnished topics for conversation as we rode on together, and I was indebted to him for a judicious suggestion, that I afterwards carried into effect. It was accidental and unpremeditated; but the state of my mind at the time seized with avidity every hint that seemed likely to be useful.