64 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Deckmber 13, 1900. 



lived more frugally our wqiital steadily 

 decreased. We bought a load of oats and 

 inside of a week every deadbcat in town 

 who owned a horse brought their bags 

 round and got a bushel or two and "]y,iy 

 you Saturday." We bought thirty 

 bushels of potatoes on a fallin!; market 

 and lost money and linally .rji.,,! tliat 

 sijeeulation was nnt .un hnir It yu\i 



had seen three ablr IhhIi.-I \.iiiiiL; ii 



trudging home froin iIh- liild m llir dusk 

 loaded with peas in the sliell and then 

 in their 7x12 room shelling them for to- 

 morrow's market, you would have said 

 ?ueh industry ought to have helped us 

 along, but it' did not. The profit of the 

 day was not more than 30 eents for the 

 three of us. 



Next ddor to our store was a hotel — 

 called a tavern in Canada, a saloon in 

 the United States, and a public house 

 in Great Britain. We will e,all it an 

 hotel, for there were stables in the rear, 

 and if it had not been for these horse 

 apartments this little story would never 

 have been told. Mr. Holliday was the 

 bonifaee, and very kind he was to the 

 three young strangers. While two 

 worked in the garden the other minded 

 store. In that we took turns, for it 

 was the soft snap of the firm's work. 

 When evening came and our supper 

 dishes were washed and there was noth- 

 ing more t<i do but read by a poor light 

 or stretch ourselves on the floor, the two 

 eldest would exchange glances and from 

 one or the other would come the bold 

 assertion that he thought the firm 

 could afford a glass of beer tonight. The 

 younger member invariably deiinirred on 



shows visited the tnwii; iim lihx(lr m 

 those days: and I can liai.lly llnul, Imi\\ 

 the young people aniUM.! ilum-ihr-. 



You will think, my fiiends. tlial I aiu 

 a long time getting to tlie rats. They 

 are coming fast now. First, I must in- 

 troduce yon to the three young men, at 

 least l)v" iiaiii.'. Tile eldest was W. .S., 

 L'.-): ihr iir\t II, a-c was E. I. M., 24, 



an. I til.' \ v. -1 \\.is A. S., 23. People 



nfii-ii a-kr.l 11^ wlirre we lived. They 

 saw us in the store or on the street, but 

 they never eould hear where we roomed 

 or boarded and we never told them. \Ve 

 kept bachelor's hall in this 7x12 room. 

 A large mattress and bed clothing we 

 had which had crossed the Atlantic in 

 one of our trunks witli many other use- 

 ful things that we expected to use in the 

 woods somewhere south of Hiulson's bay. 

 We always knew on the map our in- 

 tended destination, but we never got 

 within 700 miles of it, and are farther 

 ofl' than ever. We had a bed and bed- 

 ding, but no bedstead — and had no room 

 for one. We. had knives and forks an 

 plates and a coffee pot and frying pan. 

 Possibly we had a saucepan, but of that 

 1 am not sure. A. S.. when starting 

 housckrfi-iirrj. Via.l piivrl-(n = rd a l.uvwr,„d 

 stove Willi ' Im'Ii ill I Im' 1 "|i I I .-^■-l..'>0. 



It had |ni,-|l,h a • -riwr, ||| ;. | n ,,,( b 



rate vailrn.,.1 -lali - n^^Jng 



camp. 



Our three meals a dav never varied 

 from the first to the last of Ihe month. 

 It was fried ham. broad and bullcr. and 

 coffee; oceasiona ll\ -an- ij.-. Iml -i Idom. 

 It was all goi.d -1 il,.' kind and wr Slum 



'Ol 



uniic.c.-aix. Ilr wi 

 b.dli |Manl-, 1,1,1 will 

 what a rcvulutinn , 

 bought and used w li; 

 sity. It was usiia 

 matches. Whoevn 

 had the -av. and 



of ale. Mr. Hnlliday, if you please." "Yes. 

 gentlemen, glad to see you. How's busi- 

 ness?" 



I don't remember that we ever di- 

 vulged 1lii la. t- ni ,111 business, but we 

 ahvavs tli lu'ii li 1 nrw- about the drop 



I : not much do- 

 I re moving quite 

 iHcd to take, or 

 1 at least fifteen 

 it glass of ale, 

 ■very time. Mr. 

 im) would say. 



'ii-aiiU nf times 

 iiidill,iencc and 



have heard' lii.il -aid 



since, Snmilillie- wit 



many tiiin-- with iinea-in- --, iml when 

 it was said by Mr, Ibillnli. i imi\ nne 

 years ago in that little i ini 'iiii .ity 

 they were sweet and weir i.,, d- I 



will be honest and a,dTnil ihii v.. li\eil 

 close and we enjoyed the ale. and tlicn we 

 leisurely strolled back into our hutch, 

 cut up some Canadian plug tobacco, filled 

 our pipes, and by the stimulant of malt 

 and nicotine we sat for awhile and calcu- 

 lated liow luuch money we should realize 

 from the potatoes, onions, parsnips, car- 

 rots, etc.. that were growing in the par- 

 son's lilt. Perhaps we figured on tlie 

 cost of a greenhouse and then \\i- figured 

 on what horse would win next year's 

 Derby, and then we alnio.^t quarreled 

 about the name of the horse that won 

 the St. Lcger in '02. There were no 



never bought till within five minutes of 

 meal time, because the rats would have 

 found them. After losing pounds of 

 sugar and butter, loaves of bread and 

 many slices of ham w-e learned that the 

 grocer and butcher eould store things 

 better than we conld. and as for an ice- 

 box, it wa- a- f.iriiL;ii to us then as 

 Noair- aiL ami wMiiid li:i\e been use- 

 less unle,- made m| ra-l imn. We quar- 



was to go to the' butcher' 

 disagreed about the cook 

 week about. 



Early in llie -r.,-, „ II 

 COft'ce |".t had lie, 11 me! 

 it lefl a InL' Imle ,i, ll.e 

 third el 111., ^^a^ .i..«ll 

 to cle\. lli l.ilim.. III. I 

 wood al -mil an iie/l. 



much .1- |i lid. .\ II li.. 



at the >p.jul Iml.-. Ile.| 



quently 



of beech 



hose duty 

 but we never 

 ', as we took 



if the molecule of grey matter. 

 elites were all right. Neither 

 111 nor stress of business im- 



thei 



A. S. proposed that we should make a 

 hotbed at our back door. The moment 



you sleppe<l out of the dining-living-re- 



'ce|.l i. II I. .li. ..Ill yen were out on the 

 eomiiii.n- \ii .i.nil.t ..iir landlord knew 

 till' I. ..nil. la I I.- ..I III- I.. I. but we never 

 did. ,111.1 a- iliei.. U.I- mi fence Ave never 

 took the trouble to inquire. No man, 

 woman or child in our time had ever 

 passed through that room. Several 

 showed an inclination to do so, but 

 they were never allowed. The tin- 

 smith of the town was more gaily than 

 the rest, and being a frequent caller and 

 on., ef ill. .liaia. ill- lliat amused us, he 

 w,i- li.ii.l I.. I. lull s.. when he said, 



■■r.'.y-. I \\..ni t.. -... ) ■ liimato plants," 



we i....ke.| at ...I. !i ..111 I in dismay. Hut 



■arrangeim III - w.i. - i made for rushing 



him thrmrjli tin- -in.ill space. A. S. 

 stood at the -(..!.■ .I....r and said, "Here 

 you are"; L. 1. -\1. .-icjod half way of 

 the seven feet and said "Right along 

 there," while W. S. stood at the back 

 door and said. "Here thev are." All this 



with OUtspi.a.l ,11111- ami ,1 lltsll. ilr. 

 Tinsmith went tiii..imli I'lH little room 



a-kiting. II.. ii.i.l n. i l* -mvey the 



stove, eoiikimj nl.n-il- ..i -1< i.|iing ac- 

 commodations, and <ime thnmgh the door 

 was bolted and be never came back. He 

 had to take the conmions and find bis 

 way home some ntbei- t-eail. 



Perhaps the nm-i .li-lnil.im^ feature 

 of our existence w.i-. -iiaiej.. t.i say. a 

 cow. I cannot .Ii-.mI... ih.. ...«-. for 1 

 ,l..ii t ie,ii..|iil...r e^,■, -...imj liei in dav- 

 lejil. lint -li. wa- III.. ,.,..,.,. UN of ot'ir 



II. i.jl.l...i, \li. -. i.luni-il.iii^er. Our 



-..\ :d liai 1. I -!. ...I . I -. t.. ..Ill l.aek door, 

 ■f In I .. iva- 11. V Ii III It . t.iit as the 



ivir 



for 



resting would 

 coffee boiled a: 

 and out would 

 ing the fire an 



ofl 



H-aee of mind) a piece 

 I on which the pot was 

 rn tbron-rh before the 



i.v.l w.illl.I .41. (be pot 

 h.ill III.. ...11...., .|neneh- 

 nakiiej -Imil .ilL.wance 

 .1. .1 ml en i.i\ .lid., -limu- 

 I lungs were said when 

 iiiiiy of the familiar 

 iL^land and some of the 

 liar of our adopted 



the B stove" was 



short and to the point and E. I. M. 

 could usually think of that first. With 

 all this we" live.l n.I w..ike,l ami 



lant, \ll -..It- . 

 this lia|.|..li...l 



phrase- ..I 1 ilil I 

 acquired \eni.i. 

 country. "D — ii 



thai a vari.lv ..| .In I 1- -..mlii 

 mental a.tivity ami l.ri.jlit m--, 

 continuous diet of a low grade 

 has the reverse effect. If that is 

 must have been sinking very low 



Imlli- -li.. ....n!.l n..| .^.1 lu'i ll.Md into 



III.. I.:il lel. I. Ill -h.. km v\ Ljll t.i upset 



it I \Mi- 'J. ii.i,ill\ I . uai.l. .1 with some 



Lireiii -lull. W In 11 .l.iikii..- .. .vered the 

 face of the eaitli ami ..III ..il I. imp was 



could be heard at tlie barrel. We stood 

 this several days, till it became monoto- 

 nous to clean up every morning. We 

 ne.a-^ionally npened the "door with the in- 



1 iiii..ii ..| .jiiim; her a good swipe with 

 iii.iliin^ m.ii .il hand, but the cow was 



l.im |..i...- away everv time. A. S. 



lliis was to be raised and suspended over 

 the barrel, and by a clever piece of 

 mechanism, when the barrel was upset 

 down would come the log with a first- 

 class chance of breaking the cow's back. 

 The constable of the town was also a 

 caller, and we divulged to him this dead- 



I ly device. He said, ''Don't do it; you 

 will get into trouble." So this great 

 death dealing effort was abandoned. 



That night the three of us sat close 

 by the door. One had a large stone, one 

 had the castor of the poor old stove and 

 the other had. unfortunately, a very good 

 b. I miller. The li.::bt was put out and 

 . :i. II w. W.I.. -III. III., cow was at the 



.ir..|tli...l ■ wa- .l.i-lied open. All we 



-,n\ was snimlliimj .lark retreating at a 



I long distance. The rock and castor and 

 hammer went in her direction, but did no 



I execution, and the hammer was never 



