154 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



correct line, they were graceful. From the south 

 one looked across the wheatland to the picturesque 

 bluffland lying between the Touchwood trail and 

 Springbrook, from the north, away across four miles 

 of peaceful prairie towards the line of land on the 

 far side of the Qu'Appelle valley, which from that 

 distance looks like a friendly sea, blue as the 

 Mediterranean. So I banished cookstove, pots 

 and pans, and everything that wasn't in the 

 picture to the smaller square room which had been 

 my predecessor's cherished parlour, and had known 

 the glories of an all-over carpet, an organ, a sofa, 

 and a wall-paper — rare distinctions in prairie farm 

 dwellings in those days. Then I bought white 

 paint for many dollars, and the softest, brightest 

 shade of green paper for less than two, little dreaming 

 that I should have to paint every inch of the wood- 

 work and paste on every scrap of paper myself. 

 I didn't mind the painting so much, although I 

 thought my own end must arrive before the end of 

 the ship-lap ceiling ; but the paper was a different 

 matter. I procrastinated for weeks, and then 

 in an evil hour it occurred to me that the two boys 

 might be able to hang it since it was patternless. 



Heriot Hylton-Cave jumped at the idea. He 

 assured me that his mother frequently papered her 

 drawing-room walls, and that he had often helped ; 

 and he talked so convincingly about care and 

 method in cutting and fitting the strips that I 

 believed him. I always believed in him when he 

 spoke of his mother. He adored her, and she had 

 the kind of face that made one want to be kind to 

 her son. When he spoke of her I saw him in the 

 splendid and heroic light of the night out, and 



