THE LAKE SHORE— DIVERSION 107 



why the Canadians are silent and very patient 

 and perhaps a little solemn, and it was also through 

 this active form of understanding I arrived in time 

 at the conclusion that if ever Canada strays into the 

 reckless fury and folly of war, the endurance, which 

 seems to claim the laughter of her children, will 

 place to the credit of her account a magnificent 

 army born of men and women not merely trained 

 but bred to self-control. 



Yet another function at which I was present in 

 the town hall of Fort Qu'Appelle was the Agri- 

 cultural Dance — " Gentlemen's tickets a dollar — • 

 Ladies free." It chanced that I was a little late, 

 as I had to walk from the livery barn to the ball- 

 room in the darkness, and had taken more than one 

 plunge from the sidewalk to the snow en route. 

 Dancing was in full swing when I entered, and with 

 difficulty I dodged the dancers on my way to the 

 cloakroom, which is found in a very small and 

 curtained-off corner of the platform from which 

 the musicians play, and supper is served, and the 

 dowagers of Fort Qu'Appelle assemble to do honour 

 to the occasion. 



The crowd of dancers was positively dense. 

 I wore a tall white muslin gown, but as it was not 

 off the ground it tailed into ribbons after my second 

 dance, " the Military," known in Britain as the 

 Schottische. There were very few waltzes, many 

 two-steps, fewer three-steps, and that most charming 

 and graceful and delightful of Canadian dances, the 

 " Jersey." Lastly, but chiefly, the Canadian dance 

 which beggars all description and to be appreciated 

 must be seen — the quadrille — which is stage- 

 managed by a professional caller-off, who shouts his 



