n early morning lounger at a livery stable-some of these fellows seemed to get up at daylight for the express purpose of lou

Westerner our imaginations had been picturing. Although it was still early and there was a nip to the air of the first morning in May, he wore neither coat nor waistcoat nor collar nor tie, and the neckband of his shirt was unbuttoned and revealed a generous expanse of throat

s pudgy feet, and scrutinizing us closely through shr

o pick up some of the direct vernacular of the West.

of tobacco, from which he helped himself liberally. Then, evidently in sudden embarrassment over his

ole from Estevan to Prince Albert. I know every patch of stink-weed from Arcola to Swift Current. I've druv this country till there ain't a coyote between Montana an' the Saskatch'wan river but knows the rattle o

"but none to waste.

nd fer drivin', an' fifty dollars for locatin'. That's fer each gent. Now I calls you two boys one gent an' makes you the same price-seven bones an' a grub-stake whether

nguage there was something appealing about him. He threw out a bluff, frank, independent suggestion of friendliness whi

r offer, Mr. --

nterrupted.

r offer. When do we start, what

at the morning sun. Then,

N

ugher than Little Eva in an Uncle Tom's Cabin show, an' a democrat bone-shaker that scuds across the prairie like the shadow of a cloud." (He had

will we

isical mixture of pride and ridicule-"like this. Now I've a spot in my mind I think'll suit you boys right down the calf of the leg. It'll take us ab

isters here. We have to

, evidently in some panic

ay here until w

Jake, visibly relieved. "Well,

stay in Regina while we did our prospecting. They would at once set about to find cheaper lodgings, or a couple of rooms where they cou

preparations that would not spoil in the heat. The democrat was a two-seated affair, and the tent and supplies were bundled on behind, or laid i

ld us that the buffalo wallows were once wet spots on the prairie where the buffalo came to roll in the mud, which had afterwards been baked hard by the sun. We did not know whether to accept this at face value, as it was not easy to tell when Jake was to be taken at par, but we agreed that that was a satisfactory explanation, and did not enter into a d

bout immigrants, and homesteaders, and the business of settling up a country. It appeared that he had no very regular s

hen I suggested that he start up a second-hand clothing store he said, 'Ah, I'm afraid

ok him in tow. "I knew that was no place for him-an' sixty pounds," said Jake, "so I hustled him out an' planted him on as

I, knowin' in advanc

s he. 'Isn't th

as lies out doors, an' a chance to be a farmer, an' have your own stock an' herds an

thick,' he ke

in three years bring me the title to your farm, an' I'll give you back your sixty pounds, an' not charg

suppose you get them here as

n sharks on his trail, and he might as well give it to me fer somethin' as to them fer nothin'. But jus' you watch out that in ten or twenty years he don't have you beat to a custard. Dang me!

bantering our guide, or wanting to draw out his conclusions,-"do you

matter whether it's you or me or the king-six bits is the price. That's business. But you go into a lawyer's or a doctor's an' what does he do? Looks you

hich blew steadily in our faces, began to have effect, and we felt a smarting, tingling sensation over our cheeks and across our noses and chins. Jake had provided against this con

y, and laughed whenever we

as the horses would drink, and filled our water keg, and then sat for a while in the shade of one of his buildings, chewing at straws and gazing into the blank distance. There was a supreme satisfaction,

y to getting up, "some people say that the Indian is a fool, an' the Indian says the white man

re their own, and presently we rattled off down the trail again. On the way we passed the field in which the farmer was

ountry, and suddenly he swung from the trail and pulled up on the top of a little knoll. From this li

ed in a low voice, as though tou

ss-sky an' grass. Ah, there, there's an exception." I followed the line of his

re, if it's a foot," he explained. "Look how green the

ows of our horses and wagon stretched down the slope of the little hill. But most impressive of all was the silence, a silence as of heaven and earth brooding, brooding,

nd a little slough (pronounced slew) of snow water not far away, and he unharnesse

de me warm to the man. "It couldn't rain to-night on a bet. Clean out the wagon an' you two boys s

e will yo

up somewhere. I

tea boiling. Then he fried bacon and laid the strips of hot bacon on slabs of bread. And we ate bacon a

running to the wagon. He slung his rifle over his arm as w

on down reluctantly. "Wouldn't get

e asked. "We did

hem was wild ducks, goin' north a-hootin'. Wou

carry a shot gu

e is better," he

make sure that the magazine was charged, and even throw a cartridge into

too much for us, so Jack sa

tobacco after supper. For a moment or two he sat, puff

e, old Sittin' Crow's been givin' trouble. He's off his reserve again, with a few rash bucks followin' him, an' if he should catch us una

e. My scalp was still in place all rig

strated. "We should have had a rifle each.

's the last thing he's hopin' fer," said Jake. "With one rifle on guard we'

can't sit up on guard all night and drive a

ld not feel. It was quite dark now, and a rising

d Jake, "but I couldn't le

me boat, and we're going to row together. Divide t

ill midnight, which is the most dang'rous time; then you can take i

ispering in the gloom, while the stars blin

ing. "It's jet black now, and if they haven't seen us they won't 'till daylight. I think you'll be safe enoug

awake, I don't know how long, counting the stars. Jake had made a bed of the tent on the prairie and was snori

ling himself, headlong, on the ground. The rifle flew from his ha

d, in a hoarse whisper. "The

ed Jake, while I, wide awa

. I pulled on him, steady and low li

did not come fast, but its approach out of the darkness was the more terrifying for its

nd mortification, but Jake rolled and doubled

th, "why wouldn't the rifle go off? Suppose it

with one nag, neither. So when I took the hobbles off one o' the buckskins, figgerin' he'd likely work up here durin' the night

Sitting Crow," Jack persisted.

ppose it. Because, you see, there ain't no Sittin