14 ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



ference, as those with frontier experience will bear me 

 out. 



I found Edmonton settled into a steady-going business 

 community, with many hotels and few saloons, and the 

 most exciting sight I beheld during my two-nights-and-a- 

 day stop was a freighter wrestling with himself after a 

 bout with "40 proof." 



Indeed, when I set out, the morning after my arrival, to 

 get all in readiness in the one day that we might make 

 the start for Lac La Biche on the second, I doubted if the 

 citizens had ever heard of the word " hustle." I had been 

 delayed in leaving New York, delayed in having to stop 

 over at Winnipeg to get letters of credit from the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, and, now that I had finally reached the fron- 

 tier, I was determined to be delayed no longer if effort of 

 mine would provide against it. First of all, the shops did 

 not open until nine o'clock, and I, forgetful of being in a 

 latitude where the sun in winter does not show himself 

 before that hour, found myself chasing about the streets in 

 the dawn that, before coming out of doors, I fancied due 

 to a clouded sky. At last the shops and the sun opened 

 for the day, and I succeeded in getting every one on the 

 move. Still, we should not have been able to sret awav 



o ^ 



next day, I am sure, but for the consideration of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company factor, Mr. Livock, and his chief aid, 

 Mr. Kinnaird, who were kind enough to neglect their bus- 

 iness to attend to mine. The one happy stroke we had 

 made was in choosing the Queen's for our hotel ; it was 

 quite haphazard, but very lucky. 



Here I found the best board to which I had ever sat 

 down in a frontier town, and host and hostess who did 

 more for me during my sojourn than the bill showed or I 

 could repay. 



