TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE

THE SURROUNDINGS AND SCENES OF MY BOYHOOD 7

The Island; “Abegweit.” The seas and lakes. Shipwrecks. Iceboats.

Forests and wild life. “The Old Oaken Bucket,” Gardens and Flowers.

"I"

CHAPTER II

WILD ANIMALS AND BIRDS 18 l. ANIMALS

Dangerous seal hunting. Bears and bear hunts. Big Rory kills a bear with his fists. How the bear drove the pig. Jim’s wild race past bears. An exciting bear hunt at night. Foxes and their habits. Catching a fox with a fish hook. Hunting rabbits. How a rabbit uses his ears. The flying squirrels.

2. BIRDS

Their migration. Their songs and noises and habits. Their nests. Domestic animals and birds. Springtime on the farm.

CHAPTER III

MY BOYHOOD HOME 40

My parents and brothers and sisters. The log house. The big fire- place. Home and community festivals. The spirit of Christmas. Cod oil lamps and tallow dips.

CHAPTER IV HOME INDUSTRIES 46

Stormy days and evenings. Flailing grain. The treadmills. The grist mill. Husking barley. Whipsawing. Evenings at home. Sheep shear— ing. The lost mothers. Marking the lambs. Boys and girls in sheep’s

clothing. The loom. Flax braking. Maple sugar making. Soap making.

CHAPTER V

SPORTS AND HOME DUTIES 55

Skating. Coasting. A wild coast through a tunnel. Fishing. Yielding to temptation. Out on the sea. Shipping cattle off shore. Herding the cattle. On a sinking raft. The snake farm. How a snake takes its meals. How a snake changes its clothes.

CHAPTER VI

EXCITING EXPERIENCES AND NARROW ESCAPES 65

Dandy and the wildcat. Lost in the forest. Hanging head down over a deep well. A leap in the dark. Trapping a savage dog. Sliding toward a roaring torrent. Skating into the channel. The white mare turns a somersault. Johnny and old Tom. Raiding an apple orchard. Rescuing a little girl. "The Alpha” and my first sea voyage.