46 WHEAT AND WOMAN 



case. He was of the opinion that, as I had no 

 written evidence, I should have but a poor chance 

 of winning the case, and in his kind and cheerful 

 way advised me to pay and look pleasant. 



I reasoned with the contractor, who wouldn't 

 move an inch. The men had returned that time 

 list, which I could not contradict, as, having made 

 it clear to him that I would accept no estimate 

 calculated on time, I hadn't thought it necessary 

 to make any note of the hours or even days. The 

 only possible claim I could make against it, he assured 

 me, was a charge for their board. 



" And that you know quite well I shouldn't do," 

 I said in the heat of the moment. And he said 

 " Quite so." 



In the end I paid one hundred dollars, absolutely 

 refusing to settle the balance unless the law obliged 

 me to do so. I don't think for one moment the 

 contractor was guilty of intentional dishonesty. 

 Both of us were unbusinesslike, and I have no 

 doubt when he received the time sheet from the 

 men it was as severe a shock to him as was my bill 

 to me. Possibly he considered that since one of us 

 must pay for a careless transaction it should be the 

 more careless of the two. Bitterness rankled in my 

 heart over that deal for many a day, but in time 

 we forget everything in Canada. It is a matter 

 of regret too that I have no copy of the time list, 

 as such a record of industry could never have been 

 beaten, or even attained, by the most conscientious 

 bee in the hive watched over by Maeterlinck. The 

 incident proves that it is wisdom in all new-comers 

 to insist that estimates for labour or other services 

 should be presented formally in black on white. 



