the lower classes be relied upon to constantly produce batches of boys
to step into the ranks? Yes! I believe in Boys' Brigades and in war.
I have some bonds myself.

In the village, several homesteaders who are trending northward to the
Peace River country, have drawn up to the hotel. Their wagons are
piled high with farm implements and household stuff which they
purchased at Edmonton.

All of these people are topful of enthusiasm, being of wise and gallant
mind. Indeed, the whole country seems surcharged with it and even the
poplars clap their hands. The settlers will tell you the only knocker
here is Opportunity. There is always a mirage in the pioneer's sky
which, God be praised, he manages to haul down bit by bit and pin to
the solid earth. "The pins!" you ask. Ah yes! I may as well tell
you; they are surveyors' stakes and tamarack fence-poles.

I have some little talk with a woman who is resting on the balcony
while her horses are being fed. She comes from the United States and,
until her marriage three months ago, practised her profession as a
trained nurse. Her husband is going to make entry for a homestead, and
when, in three years, he has "proven up," they will open a store in one
of the villages. By that time, the railway will have reached their
district. Here is a woman of varied interests and many pursuits; one
with more than an arm up her sleeve. I am doubly sure of her
practicability now that she has told me of the stuff she has packed in
the corners of the wagon, and in the narrow spaces between the
household utensils. She has seeds for her kitchen garden, also sweet
peas, mignonette, sunflowers, hollyhocks, and pansies. The firebox of
her stove contains a hand sewing-machine, while the oven is the
receptacle for a guitar, some music a surgical case, a box of
medicines, a small looking-glass, two metal candlesticks, a roll of
coloured pictures for her walls, a few thin paper classics, stationery,
fishing-tackle, and a well-stored work-bag. The matches she carries in
a case with a close top, while the groceries are packed in tin bread
boxes which will serve the same end in her new home. Besides their
cooking utensils, toilet articles, clothing, blankets, and tent, this
couple carry a rifle, a shot-gun, ammunition, and other small but
useful things like a map, a compass, and an almanac. The wagon has a
canvas top.

One man who is also heading for the far north tells me he has sold