ir more
gentle manners and for their ability to pay, were installed as night
lodgers in the inner room at the rate of five dollars per month. This
rate he considered as extremely reasonable, considering that those of
the outer room paid three dollars, while for the luxury of the cellar
accommodation two dollars was the rate.

CHAPTER II

WHERE EAST MEETS WEST

The considerate thoughtfulness of Rosenblatt relieved Paulina of
the necessity of collecting these monthly dues, to her great joy,
for it was far beyond her mental capacity to compute, first in
Galician and then in Canadian money, the amount that each should pay;
and besides, as Rosenblatt was careful to point out, how could she
deal with defaulters, who, after accumulating a serious indebtedness,
might roll up their blankets and without a word of warning fade away
into the winter night? Indeed, with all her agent's care, it not
unfrequently happened that a lodger, securing a job in one of the
cordwood camps, would disappear, leaving behind him only his empty
space upon the floor and his debt upon the books, which Rosenblatt
kept with scrupulous care. Occasionally it happened, however, that,
as in all bookkeeping, a mistake would creep in. This was unfortunately
the case with young Jacob Wassyl's account, of whose perfidy Paulina
made loud complaints to his friends, who straightway remonstrated
with Jacob upon his return from the camp. It was then that Jacob's
indignant protestations caused an examination of Rosenblatt's books,
whereupon that gentleman laboured with great diligence to make
abundantly clear to all how the obliteration of a single letter had
led to the mistake. It was a striking testimony to his fine sense of
honour that Rosenblatt insisted that Jacob, Paulina, and indeed the
whole company, should make the fullest investigation of his books and
satisfy themselves of his unimpeachable integrity. In a private
interview with Paulina, however, his rage passed all bounds, and it
was only Paulina's tearful entreaties that induced him to continue to
act as her agent, and not even her tears had moved him had not Paulina
solemnly sworn that never again would she allow her blundering crudity
to insert itself into the delicate finesse of Rosenblatt's financial
operations. Thenceforward all went harmoniously enough, Paulina toiling
with unremitting diligence at her daily tasks, so that she might make
the monthly payments upon her house, and meet t