Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 10 CHAPTER I. THE COMING OF THE STRONG : CANADA'S GREETING. THE great Allan Uner Tunisian churned through fog and spume. There had been a day of drizzle, and decks were greasy. We made for the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, highway to the Canadian land of promise, and the syren shrieked like a shrill vixen getting hoarse—" for the icebergs to get off the path," said the funny man. Eight hundred steerage passengers were on board, nicknamed " three pounders " from the price they paid. They were all emigrants. Many sat peering into the misty veil as though expecting it suddenly to lift and reveal the new land. A group of men were beneath the shelter of a life-boat—men of thirty years most of them, muscled mechanics and brawny farm hands. They were strong, and had the good nature of ripe health. "No," said one to me, "I've no plans except I'm going to make for Toronto. All the money I've got in the world is a pound—that's five dollars, ain't it? But I've got five children, and the missus. That's her, with the shawl over her head. She's a plucky 'un. She laughs and makes light of it all, to keep my pecker uv, as it was. She's a fine woman is my missus. And I try to keep her cheerful-like by telling her as how the next time we cross the Tlantic it'll be like them swells in the saloon; but—when I look at her and the kids, something comes into my throat that I can't swallow, blamed if I can. Oh, but it'll be all right. The missus is healthy, the kids is healthy, an' I'm healthy. Look at them hands, sir; there's nowt soft or genteel about them. I got a bit sick of the struggle at home. Not as I wasn't in constant work ; but there was no chance for a man. A mate of mine went to Toronto two years sin, and he's lent me the money to bring us all out. It's the stout heart...