Homesteading 



aforesaid, Canada is the land of hope, and in 

 a season hke the present it seemed wisest to 

 work in with the rest and do our best. 



Jerry lived with his father, an elderly man 

 who had left the Old Country forty years before 

 and settled in Nova Scotia, and moving with 

 his son recently to the new Western lands, had 

 made a home here. 



They already had the engineer quartered on 

 them, and as they were obviously very busy, 

 and we were not really engaged until the outfit 

 started, we sought supper, lodging, and break- 

 fast at a near neighbour's. We knew that thresh- 

 ing with a small gang like this was a roughish 

 job, and had brought our blankets, prepared to 

 coil ourselves up in any handy place. 



The oxen were safely tethered to the wagon 

 and fed. Nancy was also picketed, but she 

 and her foal had proved rather a trouble, and 

 we decided that come Sunday one of us would 

 take them home and put them in the pasture, 

 where there were plenty of feed and some water. 



Next day proved fine ; the last fall of snow 

 had disappeared, and though the days were 

 rapidly shortening, there seemed some prospect 

 of our enjoying a spell of the short Indian summer. 



Our hosts would not accept payment, though 

 we persuaded the eldest boy to accept a dollar 



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