THE MIRAGE OF SPRING 139 



stop-over point, since it marked half-way between 

 Lipton and their headquarters and was practically 

 on the trail. 



We agreed that I could easily dispense with the 

 two huge bedsteads I had bought from Mrs. 

 Creegan, and the big kitchen table, four of the 

 eight chairs, and the bench and various other odd- 

 ments. 



" I shall make all my expenses and at least five 

 hundred dollars over long before harvest," said my 

 brother ; " so that I can let you have the fifty 

 pounds back just when you want it for wages and 

 that kind of thing." 



" I wanted it for the new work-horse," I said. 

 " But, as you say, one can buy horses on time, and 

 it would be a pity to miss such a fine opportunity." 



As a matter of fact the stopping-house did not 

 go at all badly, although I doubt if it ever had a 

 genuine margin of profit. Occasionally there was 

 quite an embarrassing number of guests, on one 

 occasion I believe they totalled a score ; but 

 many of them claimed hospitality in a friendly way, 

 which of course was against commercial success. 

 My brother put in his time and his homestead 

 duties, claimed his patent, and in the end sold his 

 homestead and house for two hundred and twenty 

 pounds ! But in Ireland he had earned an income 

 of five hundred pounds a year as a brewer, and his 

 homestead experience and result prove the folly of 

 men who can do well in more suitable openings in 

 the industrial development of Canada falling back on 

 the hundred and sixty acres of free land just because 

 it is free land. Homestead land is usually far from 

 a railway, and needs all that experience and a true 



