ed
the race into every clime and flung its flag beneath every sky, and
Harris's soul again leaped to the summons.

So this morning father and son were especially anxious that not a
moment of their ploughing weather should be lost, and it was
particularly aggravating when the hired man's long delay resulted in
a bubbling sputter followed by a dry hiss from the injector, warning
the engineer that the water-tank was empty. Allan shot an anxious
glance down the road to the coulee, but the water team was not in
sight. Seizing the whistle cord, he sent its peremptory summons into
the air. Harris looked up from the ploughs, and the two exchanged
frowns of annoyance. But the water stood high in the glass, and Allan
did not reduce the speed, although he cut the link action another
notch to get every ounce of advantage from the expansion. Down the
field they went, the big iron horse shouldering itself irresistibly
along, while the ploughs left their dozen furrows of moist, fresh
soil, and the blackbirds hopped gingerly behind. But the water went
down, down in the glass, and still there was no sign of a further
supply. Allan again cut the air with his whistle, and at length, with
a muttered imprecation, he slammed the throttle shut and jumped from
the engine.

His father ran up from the ploughs. "What do you think of that?" the
younger man exclaimed. "Jim must have had trouble. Bogged, or broke a
tongue, or something. Never fell down like that before."

"Keep a keen eye on your fire," said Harris, "and I'll go down and
see what's wrong with him." So the farmer strode off across the
ploughed field. The delay annoyed him, and he felt unreasonably cross
with Travers. As he plodded on through the heavy soil his temper did
not improve, and he was talking to himself by the time he came upon
Travers, giving his team their wind at the top of the hill leading up
from the creek.

"What kept you?" he demanded when he came within a rod of the wagon.
"Here's the outfit shut down waiting for water, and you--"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Harris--"

"That ain't what I asked you. You can't make steam with sorrow. What
have you been foolin' about?"

"I haven't been fooling. As to what delayed me--well, you're delaying
me now. Better jump on and ride up with me."

"So you won't tell me, eh? You think you can do what you like with my
team and my time, and it's none of my business. We'll see whose
business it is."

Harris came threateningly toward t