got all the rest of the baggage up in that hemlock, I'll pass up the boat, and we'll make a camp."

The last words were barely off my lips, when John, having succeeded in getting a firm footing, as he thought, on the slippery bark, threw all his strength into the cast, and away the big iron pan went whizzing up through the branches. But, alas for human calculation! the rotten bark under his feet, rent by the sudden pressure as he pitched the cumbrous missile upward, parted from the smooth wood, and John, with a mighty thump which seemed almost to snap his head off, came down upon the trunk; while the frying-pan, gyrating like a broken-winged bird, landed rods away in the marsh. By this time John's blood was up, and the bombardment began in earnest. The first thing he laid his hand on was the coffee-pot. I followed suit with the gridiron. Then my fishing-basket and a bag of bullets mounted upward. Never before was such a battle waged, or such weapons used. The air was full of missiles. Tin plates, oar-locks, the axe, gridiron, and pieces of pork, were all in the air at once. How long the contest would have continued I cannot tell, had it not been brought to a glorious termination; but at last the heavy iron camp-kettle, hurled by John's nervous wrist, striking the limb fair, crashed through like a forty-pound shot, and down came boots, oars, paddle, and all. Gathering the scattered articles together, we took our respective burdens, and pushed ahead. Weary and hot, we reached at length the margin of the swamp, and our feet stood once more upon solid ground.

From "Adventures in the Wilderness."

Part Sixth.

100

CHOICE SELECTIONS

No. 6.

ALL'S FOR THE BEST.

ALL'S for the best! be sanguine and cheerful,
Troubles and sorrows are friends in disguise;
Nothing but folly goes faithless and fearful—
Courage forever is happy and wise;

All's for the best—if a man could but know it,
Providence wishes us all to be blest;
This is no dream of the pundit or poet,
Heaven is gracious, and all's for the best!

All's for the best! set this on your standard,
Soldier of sadness, or pilgrim of love,

Who to the shores of despair may have wandered,
A wayfaring swallow, or heart-stricken dove.
All's for the best! be a man, but confiding,
Providence tenderly governs the rest,
And the frail bark of his creatures is guiding,
Wisely and warily, all's for the best.

All's for the best! then fling away terrors,
Meet all your fears and loss in the van,
And in the midst of your dangers or errors,
Trust like a child, while you strive like a man.
All's for the best! unbiassed, unbounded,
Providence reigns from the east to the west,
And by both wisdom and mercy surrounded,
Hope and be happy, for all's for the best!

got all the rest of the baggage up in that hemlock, I'll pass up the boat, and we'll make a camp."

The last words were barely off my lips, when John, having succeeded in getting a firm footing, as he thought, on the slippery bark, threw all his strength into the cast, and away the big iron pan went whizzing up through the branches. But, alas for human calculation! the rotten bark under his feet, rent by the sudden pressure as he pitched the cumbrous missile upward, parted from the smooth wood, and John, with a mighty thump which seemed almost to snap his head off, came down upon the trunk; while the frying-pan, gyrating like a broken-winged bird, landed rods away in the marsh. By this time John's blood was up, and the bombardment began in earnest. The first thing he laid his hand on was the coffee-pot. I followed suit with the gridiron. Then my fishing-basket and a bag of bullets mounted upward. Never before was such a battle waged, or such weapons used. The air was full of missiles. Tin plates, oar-locks, the axe, gridiron, and pieces of pork, were all in the air at once. How long the contest would have continued I cannot tell, had it not been brought to a glorious termination; but at last the heavy iron camp-kettle, hurled by John's nervous wrist, striking the limb fair, crashed through like a forty-pound shot, and down came boots, oars, paddle, and all. Gathering the scattered articles together, we took our respective burdens, and pushed ahead. Weary and hot, we reached at length the margin of the swamp, and our feet stood once more upon solid ground.

From "Adventures in the Wilderness."