Lorimer of the Northwest

ND OF P

d showers of wet snow came down, and I shivered under my new skin coat, envying the busy citizens who, with fur caps drawn low down, hurried to and fro. One and all wore the stamp of prosperity, and their voices had a cheerful ring that grated on me, for I of all that bustling cro

first few years, lad. Thy father played out a losing game only too staunchly; and it's stey work at the beginning. I mind when I started the mill-but that's an old story. It's the man who can

ay of sentiment, and with a cough he hurried away; though I remember that the old cas

ng the estate with it. Thou'rt a gradely fool for thy trouble, Ralph Lorimer. But I knew thy father

ng before me a fine Winchester repeating rifle, which must ha

he said that the child who fought for scraps in the gutter grew to be worth any two of the spoon-fed. You know how fond he is of forcible simile, and he frowned when I suggested that Canada was not a gutter. Still, it is too l

r, while though she drew herself suddenly away with the crimson mantling upward fro

ck from the railroad was registered as wanting assistance, the immigration officer said. Slowly, with more snow and a freshening of the bitter wind, the afternoon wore itself away, and I was glad when that evening I boarded the west-bound train. It was thronged with emigrants of many nationalities, and among them were Scandinavian maidens, tow-haired and red-cheeked, each going out to the

where we slept as best we could on uncushioned seats and floor, through dark pine forests, with only an occasional tin-roofed hamlet to break the monotony. After that there were wooden cities in Ontario very much like the hamlets of a larger growth; and when at last sickened by the vibration, we sped out on to the long-expected 28 prairie, the prospect was by no means inviting. Spring, I was told, was very late that year, and the plains rolled before us to the horizon a dreary white wilderness streaked by willow-swale, with at first many l

am of wind grew louder outside the rattling cars. I was nearly asleep when there came a sudden shock, and the conductor's voice rang out warning us to leave the train. At

light lit up the great white plain, in the midst of which, with the black smoke of the engines drifting across under a double column of roaring steam, stood the illuminated train. There was nothing else to show that man had ever been there before, except the

asked a tall man in fur rob

nd Number Sixty are a very bad pair to beat; he'll either jump the trac

hey swept again down the slight grade like snorting giants, the huge head-lamp casting a blaze of radiance before them. It went out suddenly; I heard the thud of a soft but heavy shock, and long waves of whiteness curled up, while abo

s something to hold that power in the hollow of one's hand. Thick white powder whirled aloft like smoke before them, a filmy wavy mass that seemed alive rolled aside, while presently the whistle boomed in triumph, and there was an exultant shout from the passengers, for steam ha

l take you, but stick him for half as much again as he offers you, and bargain ex harvest-you'll get double wages anywhere then-see? How does this great count

rain ran slowly past an edifice resembling a sod stable with one light in it, stopped, and the conductor strode into the car. Even now the Western railroad conductor is a personage, but he might have been an emperor then, and this particular spe

th the west-bound mail," he said. "Say you," looking at me

look in your wallet;" but this, of course, the magnate refused to do, and when another

. Won't get off? Well, we'll soon put you," and, grasping

d that Coombs' homestead lay almost as near Elktail, and a happy thought struck me. So I offered but little resistance until, as we stood on the platform, the brakeman or some one waved a lantern; then, while with a sho

d then flung myself off backward into the snow. I fell softly for as it happened the conductor fell under me, and, profiti

you get hurt because you

down the track I saw the tail-light of the train grow dimmer acro

his hands. "Not bad for a raw Britisher-put the boss conductor off his own train

l," I answered grimly; and when the

oming back for him. Only one man in this shanty, and he wouldn't turn out unless it were a direc

nds his ways, which is difficult to do at first, there are many good qualities in the Western railroad-man. Still, I always wondered why the friendless newcomer should be considered a fair mark for petty hostility, espec

h is one's usual first impression of a Western town. The rambling wooden building which combined the callings of general store and hotel was all in darkness, for the owner expected no guests just

about? And what are you doing waking up a man this time o' night! Hold on! Yo

, and lighting a kerosene lamp immediately withdrew. Jasper, however, took it all as a matter of course, and when, rolled in his long coat, he stretched himself on a settee and went to sleep, I followed suit. Still they

, who gave me directions as to how

mbs pays you. Guess he'll have taught you something, and I'm not speculating much when I stake on that. You'll fetch Jackson's crossing on the flat; go in and borrow a horse from him. Tell him Jasper sent you. Your baggage? When the stati

orbidding, 34 raw, even more unfinished than smoke-blackened Lancashire, and very cold; but I had found that every one seemed contented, and many of them proud of that new land, and I could see no reason why I too should not grow fond of it. At least I had not seen a hungry o