nt. Tell them to
put another name in the pot, an' a hungry name at that. I haven't
seen a white woman's meal I don't know when."

The friends gathered about the old-timer, plying him with questions,
which he answered or discussed until the meal was over, holding his
own business quietly in the background. But, with supper ended, his
pipe in his teeth and his feet resting comfortably in the oven, he
broached his subject.

"Ready for the road in the morning, Jack? Don't want to break up your
little honeymoon, y' know, but the month is wearing on. Nothing but
horseback for it now, an' they do say the settlers are crowding up
something wonderful. The best land's going fast. Most of them will
hold up now, with the roads breaking, but by slipping out on our
horses we can locate an' file before the real spring rush opens. You
should get some kind of shelter up before the frost is out of the
ground, so's to lose no time from ploughing once the spring opens."

Harris needed no urging, and in the early morning the two men, with
blankets and provisions, started out on horseback for the still
farther West. The snow was now going rapidly; water stood in a
thousand pools and ponds on the face of the prairie, or ran with
swift noiselessness in the creeks and ravines, although the real
"break-up" of the streams would not occur until early in April. By
avoiding the sleigh-trails and riding over the open prairie fairly
sound footing was found for the horses and a good opportunity given
to observe the land. Harris soon found that more judgment was
required in the selection of a prairie farm than he had supposed, and
he congratulated himself upon having fallen in with so experienced a
plainsman as McCrae. On the first day they rode over mile after mile
of beautiful country, following the survey stakes as closely as
possible, and noting their location from time to time by the
lettering on the posts.

"This is good enough for me," said Harris at length, as their horses
crested a little elevation from which the prairie stretched away in
all directions, smooth as a table. "Isn't it magnificent! And all
free for the taking!"

"It's pretty to look at," said McCrae, "but I guess you didn't come
West for scenery, did you?"

"Well, what's the matter with it? Look at that grass. If the soil
wasn't all right it wouldn't grow native crops like that, would it?"

"The soil's all right," answered McCrae. "Nothing better anywhere,
an' you can pl