Finding That His Friends Would Answer His
Bills No Longer, He Took Possession Of A Grant Of Land Obtained
Through
His father's interest, up in Harvey, a barren township on
the shores of Stony Lake; and, after putting up his
Shanty, and
expending all his remaining means, he found that he did not possess
one acre out of the whole four hundred that would yield a crop of
potatoes. He was now considerably in debt, and the lands, such as
they were, had been seized, with all his effects, by the sheriff,
and a warrant was out for his own apprehension, which he contrived
to elude during his sojourn with us. Money he had none; and, beyond
the dirty fearnought blue seaman's jacket which he wore, a pair of
trousers of the coarse cloth of the country, an old black vest that
had seen better days, and two blue-checked shirts, clothes he had
none. He shaved but once a week, never combed his hair, and never
washed himself. A dirtier or more slovenly creature never before
was dignified by the title of a gentleman. He was, however, a man
of good education, of excellent abilities, and possessed a bitter,
sarcastic knowledge of the world; but he was selfish and
unprincipled in the highest degree.
His shrewd observations and great conversational powers had first
attracted my husband's attention, and, as men seldom show their bad
qualities on a journey, he thought him a blunt, good fellow, who had
travelled a great deal, and could render himself a very agreeable
companion by a graphic relation of his adventures.
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