noon
A familiar sound of knocking and hammering , however , suggested that they must have put into port for the repairs determined on ; and , grasping her scanty complement of bed-clothes that were slipping to the floor , Cecil conveyed the re-assuring intelligence to her sisters , and they composed themselves to sleep at last . Another day 's progress down the beautiful river , -- narrow enough at intervals to see both shores , the Stars and Stripes in American villages , as well as the Union Jack in those of the `` Dominion , '' as it is now called , -- and then they entered among the thousand islands of the great St. Lawrence . Everybody was on deck watching their changing shapes , some apparently all rock , and others a bower of greenery , and admiring the skilful steering of the large vessel among them . Soon after noon the first rapid was shot , a bubbling , seething whirlpool , with clouds of white foam beaten up by the jagged teeth of the sunken rocks . Winding in and out among the islands till late in the afternoon , they reached their port , and repaired to the hotel , to pursue the rest of their journey by land . A ricketty waggon -- not an English hay-cart , but a spidery trap , with high wheels , so called -- and a dilapidated buggy were placed at their disposal . Two children and the old nurse remained to follow in the coach , and the advance guard started , after an anxious consultation as to whether the wheel of the buggy could be trusted to revolve the twelve miles without dislocation .