? It seems 
to me that one might make almost anything 
out of them. Suppose, for example, that 
the owner of that null was a disappointed 
man who had come here to bury the wreck 
of his life in  sawdust ? " 

" Oh, yes I That sort of  ; certainly. 
But I didn't mean that, I meant something 
historical. There is no past, no atmosphere, 
no traditions, you know." 

" Oh, but the Saguenay Tuia a tradition," 
said Kitty. "You know that a party of 
the first explorers left their comrades at 
Tadoussac, and came up the Saguenay three 
hundred years ago, and never were seen or 
heard of again. I think it 's so in keeping 
with the looks of the river. The Saguenay 
would never tell a secret." 

" Um ! " uttered Mr. Arbuton, as if he- 
were not quite sure that it was the Sague- 



V 



80 A CHANCB ACQUAINTANCE. 

nay's place to have a legend of this sort, and 
disposed to snub the legend because the 
Saguenay had it. After a little silence, he 
began to speak of famous rivers abroad. 

** I suppose," Kitty said, " the Rhine has 
traditions enough, hasn't it ? " 

"Yes," he