ng the end of the fork handle into the ground so that the
whole earth might aid in the hoisting of the load. Of course in all
this Cameron's intelligence and quickness stood him in the place of long
experience, and before the first day's hauling was done he was able to
keep his wagon going.

But with all the stimulus of the harvest movement and colour, Cameron
found himself growing weary of the life on the Haley farm. It was not
the long days, and to none on the farm were the days longer than to
Cameron, who had taken upon himself the duty of supplying the kitchen
with wood and water, no small business, either at the beginning or at
the end of a long day's work; it was not the heavy toil; it was chiefly
the continuous contact with the dirt and disorder of his environment
that wore his body down and his spirit raw. No matter with how keen a
hunger did he approach the dinner table, the disgusting filth everywhere
apparent would cause his gorge to rise and, followed by the cheerful
gibes of Perkins, he would retire often with his strength unrecruited
and his hunger unappeased, and, though he gradually achieved a certain
skill in picking his way through a meal, selecting such articles of food
as could be less affected than others by the unsavoury surroundings,
the want of appetising and nourishing food told disastrously upon his
strength. His sleep, too, was broken and disturbed by the necessity of
sharing a bed with Webster. He had never been accustomed to "doubling
up," and under the most favourable circumstances the experience would
not have been conducive to sound sleep, but Webster's manner of life was
not such as to render him an altogether desirable bed-fellow. For, while
the majority of farm lads in the neighbourhood made at least semi-weekly
pilgrimages to the "dam" for a swim, Webster felt no necessity laid upon
him for such an expenditure of energy after a hard and sweaty day in the
field. His ideas of hygiene were of the most elementary nature; hence
it was his nightly custom, when released from the toils of the day,
to proceed upstairs to his room and, slipping his braces from his
shoulders, allow his nether garments to drop to the floor and, without
further preparation, roll into bed. Of the effeminacy of a night robe
Webster knew nothing except by somewhat hazy rumour. Once under the
patchwork quilt he was safe for the night, for, heaving himself into the
middle of the bed, he sank into solid and stertorous sl