Near the centre of the colony of Red River, the stream from which the settlement derives its name isjoined by another, called the Assiniboine. About five or six hundred yards from the point where thisunion takes place, and on the banks of the latter stream, stands the Hudson's Bay Company'strading-post, Fort Garry. It is a massive square building of stone. Four high and thick walls enclose aspace of ground on which are built six or eight wooden houses, some of which are used as dwellingsfor the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, and others as stores, wherein are contained the furs, the provisions which are sent annually to various parts of the country, and the goods (such as cloth, guns, powder and shot, blankets, twine, axes, knives, etcetera, etcetera, ) with which the fur-trade iscarried on. Although Red River is a peaceful colony, and not at all likely to be assaulted by the poorIndians, it was, nevertheless, deemed prudent by the traders to make some show of power; and so atthe corners of the fort four round bastions of a very imposing appearance were built, from theembrasures of which several large black-muzzled guns protruded. No one ever conceived the idea offiring these engines of war; and, indeed, it is highly probable that such an attempt would have beenattended with consequences much more dreadful to those behind than to those who might chance tobe in front of the guns. Nevertheless they were imposing, and harmonised well with the flagstaff, which was the only other military symptom about the place. This latter was used on particularoccasions, such as the arrival or departure of a brigade of boats, for the purpose of displaying thefolds of a red flag on which were the letters H.B.C.The fort stood, as we have said, on the banks of the Assiniboine River, on the opposite side ofwhich the land was somewhat wooded, though not heavily, with oak, maple, poplar, aspens, andwillows; while at the back of the fort the great prairie rolled out like a green sea to the horizon, andfar beyond that again to the base of the Rocky Mountains. The plains at this time, however, were asheet of unbroken snow, and the river a mass of solid ice.It was noon on the day following that on which our friend Charley had threatened rebellion, when atall elderly man might have been seen standing at the back gate of Fort Garry, gazing wistfully outinto the prairie in the direction of the lower part of the settlement. He was watching a small speckwhich moved rapidly over the snow in the direction of the f