236 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



after ii p.m. . . . fire that was consuming winter's 

 fuel, nine-tenths of which he had still to fell, clean, 

 and haul. In the morning came the natural result 

 of the night-watch, and it seemed as though he 

 could not get up to feed the horses at sunrise, so 

 that in spite of his obvious love of animals and what 

 I feel sure was a fine sense of duty I grew anxious 

 concerning the prospect of the horses through the 

 frozen months. Oats late or oats early are always 

 oats, but all stock should be patiently and faithfully 

 watered until each has fully satisfied the craving 

 thirst of winter, which is no less severe than the 

 parching thirst of summer. The well was quite 

 a hundred yards from the house, in the open, and 

 even in February and March when the days grow 

 long and bright, the icy wind can cut and sting 

 through every moment of a water-chore. 



I resolved to be peremptory over the matter of 

 fuel. My aide considered himself an excellent 

 woodsman. I thought him fair. I asked my 

 neighbour how many poplar poles a man should fell 

 in an hour and he said the half-breeds brought 

 down a hundred easily. I took the information 

 home to Jack Douglas, who refused to believe it, 

 and affirmed that if by any outside chance it could 

 be accomplished it would certainly not be with 

 the axe with which I supplied him. Within the 

 week he felled about three loads ; at the end of 

 each day they were gathered together, piled in a 

 neat heap, and counted, so that there might be no 

 dangerous optimism in any calculation concerning 

 the sum of one's ammunition. But having presented 

 the standard of a hundred poles an hour the woods- 

 man used it to dwarf all other considerations. He 



