A Grain Growers' Meeting 



" Yes," said Tom ; " I think I see what you 

 mean, and am getting Canadianized, or at least see- 

 ing things a bit differently from what I used to do." 



On arriving at the little white schoolhouse, 

 we found that the stable was monopolized by 

 the horses, but a couple of ox teams were tethered 

 under its sheltering lee, so we also secured Joe 

 and Nigger there, and quickly made om* escape 

 from the biting wind. The building was some- 

 what dimly lit by oil-lamps on the walls, but a 

 group of men stood round the roaring stove, and 

 the heat from it and its nearly redhot pipe, which 

 went out through the roof, was distinctly pleasant. 



The men, who had divested themselves of 

 their furs and sheepskins, readily made room 

 for us, and one or two whom we knew greeted 

 us cheerily with " Good for you, boys ! " and 

 ** How goes it ? " and so we soon felt at home. 



Close to the stove, but at the desks which 

 nearly covered the floor of the building, sat two 

 or three women and a couple of drowsy children, 

 who would later on in the proceedings be rolled 

 up in a bundle of furs and put to sleep snugly 

 in some comer. 



Though the time for beginning the meeting 

 was long past, stragglers kept dropping in, but 

 no one seemed in a hurry, for punctuality is not 

 a characteristic of the prairie-folk. 



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