48 FRUIT RANCHING. 



came about the middle of the morning. It pulled up 

 at our station. It put off some heavy stores for the 

 cook-house or bunk-house (sleeping rooms) of the 

 men of the West Kootenay Power and Light Com- 

 pany, and then went on. But where was the car with 

 our two horses? None was left. What had become of 

 them ? Some one at length suggested that, perhaps, 

 they had been left at the Upper Falls. 



Off we went to the Upper Falls Station. Before 

 we reached it, we caught sight of a freight car stand- 

 ing on the spur or siding. We found its floor to be 

 four feet above the ground, and there was nothing in 

 the nature of a platform. How on earth were we to 

 get our horses out? By this time, however, we had 

 had some experience in grappling with little difficul- 

 ties of this kind. Borrowing several stout two-inch 

 planks from the Power Plant people, we constructed a 

 sloping platform, and down it we led our horses one 

 by one. 



We had got our horses. But for some time they 

 proved to be of very little real use to us. I shall 

 never forget the first attempt we made to plough 

 with them. It was not ploughing, as ordinarily 

 understood. It was breaking the ground for the 

 first time since its creation. Centuries upon 

 centuries had gone to the making of it. We aimed 

 at confounding the slow labour of Time in the course 

 of a few fleeting minutes. Although the soil was 

 light in texture, the work was terribly severe. Every 

 few yards we had to stop to clear the plough- 

 share from the mat of interlacing roots w^hich clogged 

 it. Calaby took the plough-handles, while I endea- 

 voured to lead one of the horses by the bridle. From 



