She meant to be ready to take her part in a wider and brighter life when she left the settlement.

Knowing little about large towns, she exaggerated the pleasures they could offer.

Montreal, for example, was a city of delight.

She had been there twice and had seen the Ice Palace glitter against the frosty sky, the covered skating rinks, the jingling sleighs, and the toboggans rushing down the long, white slides.

Then she remembered afternoon drives in summer on the wooded slopes of the Mountain, and evenings spent among the garish splendors of Dominion Park, where myriads of lights threw their colored reflections upon the river.