nd silence.

"This," he said thoughtfully, "makes up for a good deal. Once you get
clear of the railroad, it's a captivating country."

"Have you decided yet what you're going to do in it?"

"It's too soon," Edgar rejoined. "The family idea was that I should
stay about twelve months, and then go back and enter some profession.
Ethel seems quite convinced that a little roughing it will prove
beneficial. I might, however, stop out and try farming, which is one
reason why you can have my services for nothing for a time.
Considering what local wages are, don't you think you're lucky?"

"That," laughed George, "remains to be seen."

"Anyhow, there's no doubt that Sylvia Marston scores in securing you on
the same favorable terms. It has struck me that she's a woman who gets
things easily."

"She hasn't always done so. Can you imagine, for instance, what two
years on a prairie farm must have been to a delicate, fastidious girl,
brought up in luxury?"

"I've an idea that Sylvia would manage to avoid a good many of the
hardships."

"Sylvia would never shirk a duty," George declared firmly.

Edgar refilled his pipe.

"I've been thinking about Dick Marston," he said. "After the way he
was generally regarded at home, it was strange to hear that Canadian's
opinions; but I've a notion that this country's a pretty severe
touchstone. I mean that the sort of qualities that make one popular in
England may not prove of much use here."

"Dick lost his crop; that accounts for a good deal," George said
shortly.

Edgar, knowing how staunch he was to his friends, changed the subject;
and when the light grew dim they went back to the hotel. Breakfasting
soon after six the next morning, they took their places in a light,
four-wheeled vehicle, for which three persons' baggage made a rather
heavy load, and drove away with the hired man. The grass was wet with
dew, the air invigoratingly cool, and for a time the fresh team carried
them across the waste at an excellent pace. When he had got used to
the frantic jolting, Edgar found the drive exhilarating. Poplar
bluffs, little ponds, a lake shining amid tall sedges, belts of
darkgreen wheat, went by; and while the horses plunged through tall
barley-grass or hauled the vehicle over clods and ruts, the same vast
prospect stretched away ahead. It filled the lad with a curious sense
of freedom: there was no limit to the prairies--one could go on and on,
across still wider stre