cts his sense of honour to a very considerable strain; the
known presence of a dray load of beer kegs in the neighbourhood would
almost certainly intensify the strain beyond the breaking point. But as
the shadows of evening began to gather, the great brewery dray with its
splendid horses and its load of kegs piled high, drew up to Paulina's
door. Without loss of time, and under the supervision of Rosenblatt
and Jacob himself, the beer kegs were carried by the willing hands of
Paulina's boarders down to the cellar, piled high against the walls,
and carefully counted. There they were safe enough, for every man, not
only among the boarders but in the whole colony, who expected to be
present at the feast, having contributed his dollar toward the purchase
of the beer, constituted himself a guardian against the possible
depredations of his neighbours. Not a beer keg from this common store
was to be touched until after the ceremony, when every man should have
a fair start. For the preliminary celebrations during the evening and
night preceding the wedding day the beer furnished by the proprietor
of the New West Hotel would prove sufficient.

It was considered a most fortunate circumstance both by the bride
and groom-elect, that there should have appeared in the city,
the week before, a priest of the Greek Catholic faith, for though
in case of need they could have secured the offices of a Roman
priest from St. Boniface, across the river, the ceremonial would
thereby have been shorn of much of its picturesqueness and efficacy.
Anka and her people had little regard for the services of a Church
to which they owed only nominal allegiance.

The wedding day dawned clear, bright, and not too cold to forbid
a great gathering of the people outside Paulina's house, who stood
reverently joining with those who had been fortunate enough to
secure a place in Paulina's main room, which had been cleared of
all beds and furniture, and transformed for the time being into
a chapel. The Slav is a religious man, intensely, and if need be,
fiercely, religious; hence these people, having been deprived for
long months of the services of their Church, joined with eager and
devout reverence in the responses to the prayers of the priest,
kneeling in the snow unmoved by and apparently unconscious of
the somewhat scornful levity of the curious crowd of onlookers
that speedily gathered about them. For more than two hours the
religious part of the ceremony