Chapter VIII.

"Think no more of this night's accidents."
-- _Midsummer Night's Dream._

From Stillyside Claude Montigny rode towards the
western extremity of the island; his thoughts steeped
in bliss, and the country, as it slumbered in the
moonlight, seeming to him the land of Elysium. At
the ferry of Pointe Saint Claire he engaged a bateau
in which he was rowed over the confluence of the
rivers Ottawa and Saint Lawrence by four boatmen
who, from time to time, in a low tone, as if afraid
of awakening the dawn, chaunted, now an old song
of Normandy, and now a ballad upon the fate of some
lost voyageur. The moon was yet shining, and he
was in the mood to enjoy such minstrelsy; but when
they neared the opposite shore, a feeling of sadness
and apprehension stole over him, as he thought
of meeting his father, to whom he knew he must
either communicate distasteful tidings, or what was
worse to his ingenuous mind, practice a culpable con-
cealment. Thus musing, as day broke he leaped on
shore, and again mounting his horse rode thoughtful
through forest and farm; now reburied in the dark-
ness of night, which yet lingered amidst the foliage,
and now emerging into the light of the clearing; un-
til, as the sun was rising over the opposite bank of
the St. Lawrence, he entered the manorial gates of

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v?