Locating a Homestead 



I within a hundred yards of this previously with- 



j out success. 



Pursuing our way, we noticed that about here 



; more of the land had been broken up, and that 

 as the snow melted large areas of stubble were 

 left bare ; and seeing a man seeding near a house 

 on the left, we asked him where W — — , of whom 

 we had bought the oxen, lived. He said that 

 if we went on a little further we should see 

 four square holes with a post in the centre on 

 the left of the road ; that this marked the corner 

 of a section, and that then, if we left it to the 

 oxen, they would find the house for us. This 

 proved true, for the bulls soon struck into a 

 trail which led off the road, and we came in sight 

 of a house perched on a hill, and drawing near, 

 saw two young men busy near a large lumber 

 stable. They stopped work as we came up, 

 and one, a strongly built young fellow in blue 

 jeans and a black cap, looking more at the oxen 

 than us, said, " Joe and Nigger back again ! Well, 

 I did think I had seen the last of those brutes." 

 We were so nonplussed by such a reception 

 that we did not know what reply to make, when 

 his companion, a well-knit figure in light brown, 

 with a large quantity of black hair and wear- 

 ing a Stetson hat, said pleasantly : 



" Don't mind— it's just his way ; I guess you 



55 



