JUNE RAINS HAYING HARVEST 201 



" It was such a splendid load ! " he murmured. 

 " And of course the steak is dried to a chip." 



" It was," I acknowledged. " But I remembered 

 how you hated it, so I gave it to Pax, and put ready- 

 some more. By the time you have unhitched and 

 watered the horses the meal will be just ready." 



Throughout that pleasant summer I rode much. 

 I didn't appreciate men of method then as I do 

 now, but it was delightful to have one's horse 

 saddled for one again, and the saddle and bridle and 

 iron and things all polished and shining and as they 

 should be. My brother wouldn't take Nancy, but 

 Charles Edward paid us a short visit in exchange for 

 Dick, and although he certainly was not an inspiring 

 mount, he saw much of the country in the beautiful 

 Qu'Appelle valley. We usually rode between 6 and 

 ii P.M., and one Sunday night we lost our way 

 hopelessly, and it was certainly Charles Edward who 

 led us back in safety to the gate of the new fence. 



Acting on my neighbour's advice, I engaged a 

 man who was breaking seventy-five acres for him 

 to break twenty-five for me. He was to break, 

 disc, and harrow, in short put in shape for crop, 

 twenty-five acres, and the charge was to be five 

 dollars an acre. He found his team of four horses 

 in fodder, and I agreed to board and lodge him ; 

 and I found this by far the cheapest way of breaking 

 up the land. The name of the breaker was Si 

 Booth, and in common with most of the other 

 Canadians with whom I seemed to come in contact 

 he was distinctly more individual than typical. He 

 was very tall, lean, with a sunburnt, well-formed 

 face and those far-seeing blue eyes that always 

 seem on the lookout beyond the horizon. He hated 



