hat he was received with such
deference and that his orders, so quietly given, were so instantly and
so continuously obeyed.

The answer was made out of a life-long acquaintance with the history and
the real life of Western Canada: "Well, it is not the young constable
himself that counts so mightily, though he is a likely looking fellow
enough who could be cool anywhere and who could give ample evidence of
possessing those muscles of steel which count in a hand-to-hand
encounter. But you see he is one of that widely known body of men called
the Royal North-West Mounted Police. They have patrolled and guarded and
guided this whole North-West Country for the last forty years and more.
During that period they have built up a great tradition which rests on a
solid foundation of achievement. Their reputation for courage is
unchallenged, their record for giving every man of whatever race or
colour a square deal is unique, their inflexible determination to see
that law is enforced is well known and their refusal to count the odds
against them when duty is to be done has been absolutely proven again
and again. All these elements and others have created the Mounted Police
tradition to such an extent that the one constable you saw is looked on
as the embodiment of the Empire which plays no favourites but which at
the same time will stand no nonsense from anyone. And perhaps most
wonderful of all is that part of their record which shows that they have
done all this and more without any violence or repression, except as a
last resort. They were always more ready and anxious to save human life
than to destroy it."

"All that is very interesting," said my friend; "I would like to hear
more about these men, and would be glad if you would tell me something
of their history." And out there under the open sky of the North
Country, with the stars sparkling above us and the Aurora Borealis
dancing and swishing over our heads in a wonderful panorama of colour
and movement, we talked long into the night about the men in scarlet and
gold. Their whole story could not be told in a night, but the eager
interest of the listener and the creation of a new pride in things
Canadian in his heart, led me to resolve that the history he was seeking
should some day be published to the world. Many requests for the story
have come since that night in the Peace River country, and now that one
period of Police history is closing through the extension of the