h."

"Yes," said the girl; "he was quick and resolute." Then reserving the
rest of her thoughts, she added: "His friend's amusing."

"Percy? Oh, yes," agreed her father. "Nothing to notice about
him--he's just one of the boys. The other's different. What that
fellow takes in hand he'll go through with."

"You haven't much to form an opinion on."

"That doesn't count. I can tell if a man's to be trusted when I see
him."

"You're generally right," the girl admitted. "You were about Marston.
I was rather impressed by him when he first came out."

Her father smiled.

"Just so. Marston had only one trouble--he was all on top. You saw
all his good points in the first few minutes. It was rough on him that
they weren't the ones that are needed in this country."

"It's a country that demands a great deal," the girl said thoughtfully.

"Sure," was the dry reply. "The prairie breaks the weak and shiftless
pretty quick; we only have room for hard men who'll stand up against
whatever comes along."

"And do you think that description fits the Englishman we met?"

"Well," said her father, "I guess he wouldn't back down if things went
against him."

He went out for a smoke, and the girl considered what he had said. It
was not a matter of much consequence, but she knew he seldom made
mistakes, and in this instance she agreed with him. As it happened,
George's English relatives included one or two clever people, but none
of them held his talents in much esteem. They thought him honest,
rather painstaking, and good-natured, but that was all. It was left
for two strangers to form a juster opinion; which was, perhaps, a not
altogether unusual thing. Besides, the standards are different in
western Canada. There, a man is judged by what he can do.

CHAPTER V

THE PRAIRIE

After a hot and tedious journey, George and his companion alighted one
afternoon at a little station on a branch line, and Edgar looked about
with interest when the train went on again. A telegraph office with a
baggage-room attached occupied the middle of the low platform, a tall
water-tank stood at the end, and three grain elevators towered high
above a neighboring side-track. Facing the track, stood a row of
wooden buildings varying in size and style: they included a
double-storied hotel with a veranda in front of it, and several untidy
shacks. Running back from them, two short streets, thinly lined with
small houses, led to a