226 NORTH-WEST REBELLION OF 1885 



way of a confidence man, that he was about to start for home and 

 found he was short of funds and could I accommodate him with a 

 little money until he got to Winnipeg, where he would have an 

 opportunity to repay me. I immediately put my hand on his 

 shoulder and said: "I am an old hand at this sort of thing and if 

 you do not clear out in a moment, I will report this thing to the 

 conductor and have you taken up." He immediately left, and, 

 in a few moments, he came back and sat down beside me again 

 and said that I would have been a very great fool if I had believed 

 what he had said and that he was glad to know that I was in the 

 same line! Further talk resulted in my ordering him out of the 

 car. Willie and I were on our watch after that and I saw a man 

 looking at me. Nothing happened, however. Late in the night, 

 or early in the morning, we reached a place called Barnsville, 

 it was on a Sunday morning. The brakesman woke my son 

 and me. An Englishman and a Dutchman told us that we were 

 to get off here, as this was where the road led to Winnipeg. We 

 carried out our hand-baggage to the platform and waited to have 

 my trunks put off the baggage car. As that had not been done, 

 I walked over to the train and said to the baggage-man: "Why 

 do you not put off my trunks?" He then asked where we were 

 going, and when I told him, to Winnipeg, he said that both roads 

 led to Winnipeg and that the train would naturally be going there 

 now. He told us to get in the train at once, or we would be left 

 behind. We immediately took his advice and hopped on. This 

 was apparently another case of confidence men. 



The next incident of our trip that is worth speaking of was 

 when we all took supper at Broadview and twenty-two of the 

 passengers were poisoned by ptomaine poisoning. We had canned 

 braun for our supper and, as it was soft and easily eaten, I suppose 

 I took more than my share. At this time, no one felt any ill 

 effects and we enjoyed the evening on the train playing cards or 

 talking with other members of the party. A number of young 

 men were there from Ottawa and J. B. Tyrrell, of our own staff, 

 was on the train also. While we were looking at the card game, 

 an old man, dressed in full cow-boy costume, addressed Willie 

 as "Sonnie" and wanted to know where he was going and my son, 



