Excerpt from The Summer of Sorrow, Abner's Device and Other StoriesThe paddles were dipped, and the boat was soon skimming lake St Francis, for so the expansion of the St Lawrence between Cornwall and Coteau is named. When half-way across they paused to rest, and as they viewed the noble sheet of water, embedded in a setting of bush whose bright colors glowed in the shimmering sunshine of a true Can adian fall day, they thought they had never seen anything more beautiful. And the best of it is, Allan, that the water is fresh and not salt, and, fixing his gaze on his shanty, which he could dis cern beneath the trees, the land is our own, and there will be no rent to pay at Martinmas. When they got to the mill they found there were other customers before them, and having to wait their turn, it was nearly dark when their canoe passed out of the river Raisin into lake St Francis on their homeward journey. The sun had set behind a cloud, and the lake, though calm, had an oily appearance - both signs of a coming change. They had gone far enough tolose sight of the shore they had left, when a slight swell of the waters was noticed, and immediately after wards the hollow sound of approaching wind. Both practised hoatmen of the Old World, they knew what these signs meant. Had we our old boat, Allan, said the father, I would not care for the squall that's coming, but this cockle-shell will not stand a rough sea. It may soon blow over. Yonder I think I see the light your mother has.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.