On this bench three persons, apparently
attracted by the beauty of the day and the mildness of
the autumnal sun, were now seated, two of whom were
leisurely puffing their pipes, while the third, a female,
was employed in carding wool, a quantity of which lay in
a basket at her feet, while she warbled, in a low tone,
one of the simple airs of her native land. The elder of
the two men, whose age might be about fifty, offered
nothing particularly remarkable in his appearance: he
was dressed in one of those thick coats made of the common
white blanket, which, even to this day, are so generally
worn by the Canadians, while his hair, cut square upon
the forehead, and tied into a club of nearly a foot long,
fell into the cape, or hood, attached to it: his face
was ruddy and shining as that of any rival Boniface among
the race of the hereditary enemies of his forefathers;
and his thick short neck, and round fat person, attested
he was no more an enemy to the good things of this world
than themselves, while he was as little oppressed by its
cares: his nether garments were of a coarse blue homespun,
and his feet were protected by that rudest of all rude
coverings, the Canadian shoe-pack.
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