Hawtrey's Deputy

beneath the moon, but there was warmth and brightness in Stukely's wooden barn. It stood at one end of the little, desolate settlemen

ising places in Western Canada. That, however, is the land of promise, a promise that is in due time usually fulfilled, and the men of Lander's were, for the most part, shrewdly practical optimist

ring a larger hole through the shingles of the roof. On one side of the stove the floor had been cleared; on the other benches, empty barrels, and tables were huddled together, and such of the guests as were not at the moment dancing sat upon them indiscriminately. A keg of hard Ontario cider had been provided for their refre

pon the newcomer. There was also something in the way they held themselves and put their feet down that suggested health and vigour, and, in the case of most of them, a certain alertness and decision of character. Some hailed from English cities, a few from those of Canada, and some from the bush o

played with Caledonian verve and swing, and kept the snapping time. It was mad, harsh music of the kind that sets the blood tingling and the feet to move in rhythm, thoug

tic of the country. The Englishman has set no distinguishable impress upon the prairie. It has absorbed him with his reserve and sturdy industry, and the Canadian from the cities is apparently lost in it, too, for theirs is the le

im was in fine modelling, and he had a pleasant face of the English blue-eyed type. Just then it was suffused with almost boyish merriment, and indeed an irresponsible gaiety was a salient characteristic of the man. One would have called him handsome, though his mouth was a trifle sl

er, who had come there from Michigan, wa

and it hasn't all worn off yet," he said. "Seen more Englishmen like him, and s

o right as far as they went, for Hawtrey undoubtedly possessed a grace of manner which, however, somehow failed to

vely, "what those kind of fellows

ow and then to be met with on the prair

hy they sent them out to you. Some of them get paid so much on condition that they don't come back again. Say"-and h

lly Creighton, for that matter, and he did not suppose she woul

at, too. If she wants him she'll

nterludes between washing, and baking, and mending their husbands' or fathers' clothes. Their faces were a trifle sallow and had lost their freshness in the dry heat of the stove. Their hands were hard and reddened, and in figure most of them were thin and spare. One could have fancied that in a land where ever

w than a rather highly-tempered spring. She moved with a large vigour which only just fell short of grace, her eyes snapped when she smiled at Hawtrey, and her hair, which was of a ruddy brown, had fiery gleams in it. Anyone would

straight man, a hustler, and smart at handling a team. Still, it's kind of curious that while the man's never been stuck for the stamps like the rest of us, he's made nothing ver

fficiency, and the man of simple, steadfast purpose usually goes the farthest. Hawtrey had graces which won him friends, boldness of conception, and the power of application; but he had somehow fail

t was not astonishing that they talked of farming, w

o break that new piece

team, anyway, and I can't raise the

get ours, but you have to put the breaker in and turn it over. You"-and she flashed

m afraid they won't," he said. "You see, I've put

Sally. "Told them you were t

icular slur upon the family's credit he had signally failed to enhance it, and he was qui

really shouldn't hit a fe

trey was a little casual in speech, but so far most of the young women he bestowed an epithet of that kind upon had attached no sign

he music? Noo it's

comrade waved his fi

neffable contempt, and broke in upon the ranting

nches or on the floor. It was savage, rasping music, but one player infused into it the ebullient verve of France, and the other was from the misty land where the fiddler learns the witchery of the clanging reel and the swing of the Strathspey.

eyes flashed with the effulgence of the Northern night when

She turned and glanced at him imperiousl

s not always set down to their credit, the brown-faced, hard-handed men as a rule live very abstemiously in that country, and, as it happened, Hawtrey, who, however, certainly s

th," she said. "You've had Sproatly living with you all w

e said, "do you think anybo

ed up at him with a little glint in her eyes. "Still

who drove about the prairie in a waggon vending cheap oleographs and patent medicines most of the summer, and contrived to obtain free quarters from his bachelor acquaintances during the winter. It is

r do anything

nted cleaning the last month or two, and we tossed up for who should do it. It fell to Sproatly, who didn't seem quite pleased, but he got as far

p the house straight and look after you. Didn't you

There are a good many of them living in Spartan simplicity upon the prairie, well-trained, well-connected young Englishmen, and others like them from Canadian cities. They naturally look for some grace of culture or refinement in the woman they would marry,

sure, however, that girls of that kind would

onsideration, jarred upon his companion. She had also an ample share of the Western farmer's pride, which firmly declines to

ough," she said with

beat the wilderness and turn it into a garden is an axe, a span of oxen, and a breaker plough.

e used to having more than we have; but isn't that in one way their misfortune? Is

n, but Hawtrey, who seldom occupied him

ck East to eat it, and if some of them only eat it in the shape of dainty cakes that doesn't affect the question. Anyway,

ossible would have judiciously led him up to it if he had not made it. Now, as she

d softly, "I t

you'll wait ten minutes I'