e listened with a complacency which suggeste

or you," she said, frankly,

trancing curves of womanhood. Her light step, her grace of motion, her clear, pink skin, her sensitive lips half parted over rows of well-formed teeth, her eyes large and dreamful, all whispered in some vague way in the ears of my boyhood that Jean was not as other girls; whispered of Jean the artist-Jean the idealist! Jean had not gone into the mill with the other girls of her age; she had continued longer at school, and then had ta

the first few lessons. "You have perspective and

an had murmured in answer. "You are ve

n excuse for being alive! Ah, Miss Lane, you do not know-yet-how empty a life can be. But you are an artist, and s

id not; but I knew the artist had given Jean an instant's glimpse into life, and it was no

ip your brush in-in the S

tumn which were mirrored at her feet there was no fairer flower than Jean. She

"Jack has told me. I will

orie came almost as a second thought; at a

r even insisted upon selling one of the farms and giving the proceeds to establish ourselves in the West. It was little enough, as we were to lea

said Jack, and we all we

before with his worldly belongings in a grain bag, and had returned wearing tailor-made clothes and a horse-shoe tie pin set with something wh

I've run up quite a bill," was Mr. Gaines' explanation of his gaie

ee land until the snow is off. And you have to see it; otherwise you may take up a fi

put a crop in in the spring?" ask

't amount to much. Likely to be rushed in in too much of a hurry, and in a dry season you lose your seed for your pains. Better take your time; pick out a prime piece of land, get your shacks up, and start p

?" repeated Jean; "

because it's as bare as a bald head, 'cept for a

t on the very day of our departure. The affair was quiet and unpretentious; ceremony in the church at eleven, and dinner at Mrs. Lane's-Mrs. Hall's, I should say-where

lled the seats out, and let down the upper berth, so that there were two narrow beds. The girls had the lower one, around wh

uckles. "At least, the blankets will sa

d Jack. "You should

he car-wheels could not immediately soothe. Gradually the sound droned itself into my consciousness as one word, with the accent on the last syllable-Mani-to-bah, Mani-to-bah, Mani-

arters. We made up our berths and opened our windows; a grey mist hung on the trees and swept by the train, but the smell of it was grateful and refreshing. We washed our hands and faces, a

er term with the greatest liberality. Several languages were spoken. Half-dressed men lolled in their berths, exposing swarthy arms and slabs of hairy chests, and slatternly women shuffled along the aisle, in imminent danger of tripping on their trailing sk

inexperienced in the customs of travel, had the great advantage, which the native-born never fully appreciates, of being in its own country. We were citizens of it, and we had a well-developed Anglo-Saxon pride in what that meant. We understood the language, the currency, and the customs of the people. Brass buttons had no terr

tement of our preparations we had not felt the strain, the lesions of breaking away from parents and friends and surroundings made dea

in which Jack and I, as their young knight-errants, were cast for a somewhat heroic part. For the most part our hero

ie on the second morning out. "I ha

s of tea," said Jean, setting her cup dow

You may fall into their

chance?" she murmured. "That's one of the attr

the grey of dawn, and we did not get off, but through the window w

ms. And yet here and there was now the unbroken sweep of the prairies, and our eyes danced and something caught our breath as we tried to imagine what they meant. We knew what it was for men to spend their lives

our thoughts, his face alive with enthusiasm. "Boy!" he said, banging me on the knee, "there's

nst the railing which bordered the platform lounged groups of young men in shirt sleeves and overalls, easy-going types of farm laborers waiting for a job to hunt them down. The girls had gone

raight on, but Marjorie stopped, rivetted the inquirer with those

on, while from the lounging groups came loud guffaws intended as a tribute to Marjorie's wit, and more largely

id Jean, when they were out of

"there's nothing to those fellows. I coul

you could,"

There were no quick dusk and darkness, as in the East; the sun hung long in the western sky, and as it descended swung steadily to the northward. As it fell feather-like ruffles of cloud almost overhead burst to color in the richest mauves and crimsons, and long ribbons in the west floating like golden islands in a sea of amber, caught the glow and silently unfolded a glory o

e car, and mingled in the richer yellow of her hair. And her blue eyes were all a-glisten, as the long, fine lashes drooped and rose a

We were ready to disembark by the time the train had come to a stop, and our first glimpse of the prairie city was that of buildings silhouetted against a saffron sk