CHAPTER I.
THE BENT TWIG.
Caius Simpson was the only son of a farmer who lived on the north-west coast of Prince Edward's Island.

The farmer was very well-to-do, for he was a hard-working man, and his land produced richly.

The father was a man of good understanding, and the son had been born with brains; there were traditions of education in the family, hence the name Caius; it was no plan of the elder man that his son should also be a farmer.

The boy was first sent to learn in what was called an "Academy," a school in the largest town of the island.

Caius loved his books, and became a youthful scholar.