Fortunately, his
great strength and his kindly nature were equal to the burden.
Mother and children were landed safely in their new home on
Bowman's Hill the day that David was eighteen. I have heard the
old folks of that country tell what a splendid figure of a man he
was those days - six feet one in his stockings and broad at the
shoulder. His eyes were grey and set under heavy brows. I have
never forgotten the big man that laid hold of me and the broad
clean-shaven serious face, that looked into mine the day I came to
Paradise Valley. As I write I can see plainly his dimpled chin, his
large nose, his firm mouth that was the key to his character. 'Open
or shet,' I have heard the old folks say, 'it showed he was no fool.'
After two years David took a wife and settled in Paradise Valley.
He prospered in a small way considered handsome thereabouts. In
a few years he had cleared the rich acres of his farm to the sugar
bush that was the north vestibule of the big forest; he had seen the
clearing widen until he could discern the bare summits of the
distant hills, and, far as he could see, were the neat white houses of
the settlers.
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