gon, threw on board a kit consisting mainly of a change of clothes and a blanket for each of us, said a brav

ass for the flag that Marjorie would nail to the roof in case of any emergency; we had laid up fuel and supplies against the immediate needs of the girls during our absence, and now we

the Mounted Police. Brook might be expected to call any day on his return journey to headquarters;-I had hoped that that would be over before I left, and many a glance I sho

ty, and loyalty, as I have discovered, is one of those qualities which does not improve under questioning. Every question aimed at loyalty seems to knock a beam out of its structure, and I began to suspect that I could not spare any beams from my particular air-castle. So I decided on the bold cours

were suddenly aware of the rumble of an approaching vehicle and the tones of a lusty voice, lifted in something e

n-er, a for

ugh-ter, S

had a way of listing to the right and allowing Jake to find his own centre of gravity. In such matters Jake followed the line of least resistance, and bumped along contentedly on the low end of the seat while the other end projected itself abruptly into the atmosphere. His eyes wer

ald lump o' fox-bait"-this to one of the bronchoes, switching at a horse-fly-"don

ith us. "Well, if you're sure there's no d

around. The settlers were streaming in, he said, but the country was so big it was just

ung into the bald-headed were busy bustin' the sod, an' to-day, dang me, they're better off 'n I am. Fellows with no more brains than a grindstone! Got a farm an' stock an' a wife an' kids, an' l

those two fine girls out into the bald-headed I says to myself, 'Jake, this one-horse business is out o' date. Better ge

-book in which he kept a list of vacant qu

n wind and limb and built for speed. Good looks not necessary;

rose to such a bait as that

I had some to show you, but she-Bella-burned 'em all up. They were what I call pictures o' real life. I got so much mail

s college an' hirin' a few dozen stenographers, alo

five p.m. youll know me I am the

oys is pullin' a gag on me, but like a fool down I goes to the station, an' there I saw her comin' right up the pl

are you the lady o'

' yer lip. But do you happen to know a Mr. Jake?' s

thinkin' o' marryin' him let me tell you somethin', jus'

be a relic' before he's a widower,' says she. 'Relic

or relics at Regina fair already, but my wit goes over her head, as it of'en does

o speak, which includes matrimony. The women that wants to marry Jake-lots of 'em rich, too, Madam,' I says. 'I'm steeri

flashes my telegram on her. 'I'm the party of the

ye that made me think o' Sittin'

all her angles stood out like the haunches of a starve

was about right, but she gav

town an' had me married before I knew it, so I'd have to settle fer the supper, as I figgered it out after

in answer to my ad. 'This correspondence o' yours is interestin', but I wouldn't take it to be very fillin', she says, 'an' anyway, if this is al

ack served the meal and for awhile Jake's account of his matrimonial exploit was lost in a hubbub of vigorous mastication. Bread and potat

eak lungs an' the broken knees an' the spavined joints, an' if a man pays me enough I put him wise, an' if he d

ow an' again by tottin' these tenderfoot sod-busters out over the bald-headed.' I dunno where she

cents. Fortunate there was nothin' in it about the hundred dollars I owed at the livery

dear?' she says, all of a

hat was the figger in my mind at the mome

before you're sixty,' she says; 'I can see it in your eyes,' although I wasn't lookin' at her, findin' that rather painful, 'an' leave an estate o' less than six

near as I want to get to a homestead. They're all

he was as imperv'ous to compliments

e. 'If you won't take

with sudden boldness

ed-to-the-wall looks o' hers. 'I will be, in about twenty seconds,' s

he was silent for a minute, and seeme

You remember section Sixteen, that you fellows were lookin' at? I didn't figger it was good enou

n I. "So that is why we couldn't get Sixteen. Surely y

in' it, but takin' prec

ry," was Jack's comment. "How much do we t

g bridegroom," he orated. "Would you expec' me, on an auspicious occasion like this, to

e that Bella Donna w

st name's Bella, so it's half true, which is a pretty good average in this country. Wait 'til you see us, a-charioti

t up-tilted to larboard and his fat figure settling down like a sack with a hat on it. But Ja

ling, O m

ling, Cl

was well with him, at

id of the straws which each of us was unconsciously chewi

make of it?"

er. "Either he's married, or he isn't." Jack

or until the beginning of threshing. His name was Keefer; a short, thick-set man of fifty-five, with a stubby whisker turning an iron grey. He received us in his stable yard, hat

on a bet; there's too much side-play to their gait, but I can use 'em discing the summerfallow. You'll have to sleep in the granary, but we all eat tog

buildings, and the stronger stars looked down, cold and steely, through a temperature which had dropped dangerous

bread and butter, both the latter the products of the housewifely skill of Mrs. Keefer and her daughter. The table was of boards, covered with oilcloth; Mr. Keefer sat at one end, with a husky chap he called George, his permanent hired man, at his right, and his fourteen-year-old son, Harry, at his left. Jack and I sat o

gh a plate of potatoes and pork. "I didn't figure on it so soon, but the last few days have been hot, and my

e us aware that anyone who failed to come up to his standard

r watching us as we started, evidently taking note whether we would follow the binders or go in the opposite direction, and when we did the latter he nodded, as much as to say. "They'll do," and drove on.

into our hair and most particularly through our socks just above the boot-tops. The thermometer during the day hung close to the hundred mark, and as the afternoon wore on we gave way to the temptation to drink heavily from the water keg. It was a forty-acre field, which Keefer was be

d I knew that nothing short of utter exhaustion would prevent him finishing like a thoroughbred. My own muscles were numb, and now seemed to be working quite mechanically; my c

grew more and more insistent, but just as it was almost too dark to see Keefer came down the

ent down the field at a run, setting up the remaining sheaves at a terrific pace. Just as Keefer reached the end of his swath we overtook him, and

g. He climbed down from his bin

e it was in you." Which was a ver