--f TO CARIBOO AND BACK }i—

business sense and her lean purse, had hit on
a plan to reach the West with the least possible
expense.

When she found that a number from To-
ronto and vicinity, among them old Professor
Allen, were leaving in the spring of 1862 for
St. Paul, and thence overland to British Colum-
bia, she decided to offer her services as cook,
laundress and seamstress to the party. In
return she asked for free passage for herself,
her son and the little girl who was going out to
meet her father.

“There’s another piece of news I’ve picked
up,” the professor went on as he took a seat
by the table.

He seemed to hesitate, and Mary looking
earnestly in his face saw that there was yet
worse to come.

“Tet it wait,” she said, “till I get the colleen
to bed. Sure, if we’re to leave at daybreak
i’3 time we all were thinking of our rest.”

A bed in a small downstairs room had been
allotted to the one woman of the party, but the
men would have to content themselves with
floor space, for the sleeping rooms the hotel
boasted were not yet supplied with furniture.

Be ee ee

[51]