Breaking the Prairie 



True, it only had an earth floor, but with a 

 rough table and bedsteads which we knocked 

 together, it seemed to us a little palace in com- 

 parison with the tent. 



The toil of stoning now went steadily on, but 

 we had become inured to the work ; besides, June 

 had come and the weather was glorious : flowers 

 were springing all over the prairie, the dwarf 

 rose-bushes were bursting into bud, buffalo birds 

 hopped around us aiM sometimes perched on 

 the backs of the oxen, while the willow and poplar 

 bluffs were showing beautifully green. 



We turned out early in the briUiant mornings, 

 and having made a hearty breakfast, were often 

 wading through the deep, dew-spangled grass by 

 six o'clock. 



As the day advanced we found the sun very 

 hot and took a long rest in the middle, working 

 away again as the evening grew cool. 



The water in the slough near was now drying up, 

 and we had to go to a deeper one with a bucket 

 for our supply, and drive the oxen there morning 

 «nd evening for theirs. 



But a change was imminent ; the weather 

 grew sultry, and a neighbour who owned a ther- 

 mometer told us that on several days it had stood 

 as high as ninety degrees in the shade. 



Suddenly, one afternoon, dark clouds collected 



85 



