not come to beg for his return; his credit was
being injured with excessive use; and as he had found no other work, he
took the stage to the larger town of Petersburg some thirty miles away.
Here he sought a job, in his special craft of "joy mixer" but, failing
to find that, he turned his attention to another near akin. In those
days the liquor laws of Canada provided a heavy fine for any breach of
regulation; and of this the informant got half. Here was an easy and
honourable calling for which he was well equipped.

* * * * *

It has ever been law in the man's code that he must protect the place he
drinks in, so that the keepers of these evil joints are often careless
over little lapses. Thus Whiskey Mason easily found a victim, and within
three days was rich once more with half of the thousand-dollar fine that
the magistrate imposed.

He felt that all the country suddenly was his lawful prey. He could not
long remain in Petersburg, where he was soon well known and shunned. He
had some trouble, too, for threats against his life began to reach him
more and more. It was the magistrate himself who suggested
contemptuously, "You had better take out a pistol license, my friend;
and you would be safer in a town where no one knows you."

In those early days before his dismissal by Kitty, Mason's life and
Little Jim's had no point of meeting. Six years later, when he returned
to Links, Jimmy was discovering great possibilities in the stables of
the Inn. Mason often called at the bar-room where he had once been the
ruling figure, and was received with cold aloofness. But he was used to
that; his calling had hardened him to any amount of human scorn. He
still found a kindred spirit, however, in the stable man, Watsie Hall,
and these two would often "visit" in the feed room, which was a
favourite playground of the bright-haired boy.

It is always funny if one can inspire terror without actual danger to
the victim. Mason and Hall taught Jim to throw stones at sparrows, cats,
and dogs, when his mother was not looking. He hardly ever hit them, and
his hardest throw was harmless, but he learned to love the sport. A
stray dog that persisted in stealing scraps which were by right the
heritage of hens, was listed as an enemy, and together they showed Jim
how to tie a tin can on the dog's tail in a manner that produced
amazingly funny results and the final disappearance of the cur in a
chorus of frant