132 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



to the life-history of the trader from the hour 

 he was short-coated, inclusive probably (in 

 the West) of a recital of the possession of 

 great riches and how he came to lose them ! 

 This the listener can believe or not, accord- 

 ing as he is minded at the time. But per- 

 sonal historiettes figure largely in rural 

 trading. This bargaining with plain country 

 people is not, however, devoid of instructive- 

 ness, even if they get the better of us, as 

 they mostly do not perhaps entirely owing 

 to superior wit, but rather to a keener zest 

 for the business. The milk of human kind- 

 ness is somehow not destroyed by this trans- 

 parent mode of making something out of 

 individuals who ' must be rich because they 

 pay their bills.' Nevertheless, a hundred 

 times in the past have I cried in my wrath : 

 ' If ever I farm again, I will try it in the 

 Great Progressive West.' And here I am 

 in the G.P.W., and history is still engaged 

 in repeating itself. 



This, however, is the South-West, and 

 therein lies a distinction, if not a difference. 



The morning was cloudy, and there is 

 always something weird and uncanny in the 



