CHAPTER I.

The prose and poetry of pioneer life in the backwoods--The log house-- Sugar making--An omen of good luck--My Quaker grandparents--The old home--Winter evenings at the fireside--Rural hospitality--Aristocracy _versus_ Democracy--School days--Debating societies in the olden time--A rural orator clinches the nail--Cider, sweet and otherwise-- Husking in the barn--Hog killing and sausage making--Full cloth and corduroy--Winter work and winter amusements--A Canadian skating song.