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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui cliche, 11 est film6 6 partir de i'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Lev diagrammes suivants iilustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 y ANUCK DOWN SOUTH BY... PRtHUR WEIR ; •• •••••••• • •• » • • • • ,0 ••• • • • • • • » a" ••• ." • i *9 'i MONTREAL : Printed by John Lovell & Sow 1888 mmm WP TO T. G. Roddick, Esq., M.P. M.D.C.M. L.L.D., &c. My friend, I set it down with pride, " My Friendj" without whom I had died, You, one of Nature's tireless police, Who sent me forth, the Golden Fleece Of health to find, will find herein How I that priceless boon did win. And, as my humble work you read With patience (patients are your meed) Before you reach the end, you may Regret you bade me haste away. It no», and you are glad to fitid My health more robust than my mind, ^nu !f the volume n^eapes you, jake it- -it ii not half your due. A. W. :« rt CGNrENrs. On the Trail of the Voyageur Across the Prairie . , Over the Divide In Arcadia . , . ^ In the Sierra . • • • Roughing It . Derringer Dick, the Bicychst • 1 31 58 93 124 147 178 'i- ■1 OTHER WORKS BY THE 8A«(E /^UTIfOR. ricurs de Lys and other Poems* The Bomance of Sir Bichard> Sonnets and other Poems • The Snowflake and other Poems- Prom Paddle to Propeller, a history of Transportation in Canada (nearly ready). — "-•. — CHAPTER I. I On the Trail of the Voyaoeur. When ray friends heard that 1 was or- dered south for the winter, they remem- bered not mine offences. One estimable lady sent me a tract on Sudden Death, and a bachelor friend came forward with a bottle of his favorite Scotch. It was evidenrt that both found in me a lack of spiritual consolation, which the(y proffered according to their lights. A third friend termed my phyeiciaois quacks because they had not adopted a certain system of treatment, and a fourth called them quacks because he thought theound8 each> •aiy seven hundred in all. Do vou know that it will cost us over thirty-five dol- lars for extra baggage?" "What I ! !" '*We are allowed 150 pmmds of bag- gage to each ticket, that's three hund- red, and we pay nine cents per pound for the rest. Lb my calculation apxroxim- ate!y correct V* I thougtit I was having my revenge for their neglect and I enjoyed the situation; On the Trail of tJm Voyageur. that is, until the Princets Hpoke. .Shf» •aid: "Well, of all the uBeless men — why didn't you tell us that a week ago ?" I knew better than to argue with ncy mother-in-law there. I merely said, with a fine sarcasm, thiit was utterly thrown away: "Don't see what you can take, but what you can leave behind." And then I fled. I was an invalid, and those two women might have wonted me to help them pack. Tearfully, and witb msuny protest* against the iniquity of railroad mono- polies the Princera "id her mother he- gen tieir tafdc anew, a:^d actually man- aged to leave out a few pounds. Much of the rest, conslstlnp: of household lin- eu, fiut'cry and bockg a crarJty s'uddDt thought he could not do without (I didn't mention my name, did I ?) we ultimately decided to booc up and send as freight at about one-third the coet. This is a great scheme, and I do rot charge anything for making it public. By all means, if you are ever going to A Canuck dov>n South. California, and have extra ban^gage, send It by freight, and you will probably get It again In time to ship It baclc, if yon have any luck. Our boxes were three months getting to California, and they did not go tourist, either. They got as far aa the States In pursuance of Horace Greeley's advice, and then some brilliant intellect ordered them back to Toronto because a man with a name like mine had lost one trunk somewhei-e between Parkdale and Kalamazoo, or some othar points equally on the line to California, ard although he said my boxes were not his trunk, that the\.y were consigned neither from nor to the snme place as his trunk, tne intelMfeent freight agent at Parkdale, or wherever the boxes lay, kept them, either because he thought the man would take tbem as a compromise, or because the freight hadn't been paid on them back from the States, or for some reason too deepV seated in the grey matter he called his brain, for common mortals to comprehend. Anyway, It ne- ver seemed to have eii^ereerhai8 an apology. After we arrived In California and began to worry the company about the boxes, we never ceased to have a source of In- terest and the O':'easlon for a walk to the post ot ice. We ha(l letters from the gen- eral manager down to the office boy in Montreal, letters from Port Hnron, let- ters from T-os Angeles, from the Cus- tom's house«i, from the Secretary of State, the British consul, the Ambassa- dor at WasJiingtofi, and the Foreign and Colrnlal secretaries at London. At least, *f we didn't have them, we might have had them for the writing. We did get some of thc^e, referring to "voiirs of the — th," "Plense refer to our No. 117- 459A, in replying," and so on. Soine- times we would hear that the boxes had been located at one place (whence they had started) sometimes at another then the next letttr would take it all back and inform us that the boxes would be immediately enquired after, as tbouf;h thait was the iflrwt the railroads had heard of them. There were four systems n ■'-*-§ ill! A Canuck down South. h! over which the boxes had to paae, azA each railroad was ferverlshly hnnting af- ter them. Sometimes we'd hear of a hold up on tho line and the Princess was sare the boxes were stolen, next there would be an accident, of course the boxes must be in it, and so foith. Ultimately tele- grams began to pour in, and the last one declaring that they had at last been lo- cated at Toronto arrived five minutes after they had been deposited on the sta- tion platform under the pain 3 at Santa Anita. Next to getting freight through on time is the fun of hunting it up when It fails to connect. By all means send your belongings to California by freight, If vou desire ai . interest in life and have a few months to live. In Justice to the company, I must say this took place some years ago. Matters are much bet- ter now, and fre!,y- ageur depot, whence the«e bold and ener- getic men ventured by canoe and snow- shoe into the distant wilds of the far West, peopled! by savage Indians, the bison and the bear. Not far from the sta- tion whenw we embairked still stands the old Hudson Bay fort, and yonder 10 On the Trail of the Voyaoeur. lake that !s gleaming througn thP au- tiimur-tliited foliage has rippled many a time and oft bener.th the blade of paddle or of oar, as with song and chorus the picturesque; voyageurs bent to the ptrolje, en route for the far reaches of the Ottawa or the equall;* tumultuous ra- pids of the Upper St. Lawrence. We are at Rte. Anne almost before we ai-e well settled in our luxurious seats, and here are the dashing surges that Tom Moore sung of, on whose unbrageous brink the voyageurs made their first bivouac upon their western journey. AIb^, the voyageur is gone, and his place is filled Ijyi yonder wood-scow sailor man, who sits, smok- ing his clay pipe, upon the long tiller, while drowsy horses draw his craft through the lock. We are on the trail of the voyageur, and shall follow it lor some thirteen hundred miles. He was months on the roiite; we shall do i* easily in sixty hours, and have time to see Chicago. We began our Journey a little after nine in the morning, and all through the daylight hours were speeding througli a 11 i it! UN A Canuck down South. fertile and pronperous country towards Toronto. Hamlets, towns and villages, with now and then a city, rose on the horizon, approached, recedred us and peceederl along the narrowing lines of steel. Forests arci meadows and low hills, with at times glimpses of the sil- ver river rushing down to its tryst with the sea, fields where the yellow wheat had waved and l>eBn out down, fields where cattle browsed, still makirg food for Britain's hungry mill- ions, flashed upon us, and at times we saw the smoke of manufactories in the distance, hives of industry, reached by these same bands of steel, or tributaitjr lines. Above us shoooe the clear October sun through air Just touched with frost, not cold but bracing, so bracing that even I, who knew the rigor of the ap- proaching winter womdtered why I should be compelled to leave so fair a land, so fine a climate. How different it all was from what we were shortly to see. Here old mother earth's brow^n ribs do not lie bare to the sweep of wind, she is still clad in a 12 On the Trail of the Voyageur, mantle almost jfreen. Here Is no i arched Goll, thirsting for the rpin that never comes, every farmHtend has Its winding stream. Some even have their limits set by majestic rivers whose volume changes not but is fed rnifaillngly the whole year through by brooks and tributaries that gather the water drops among still pri- meval forests and' Laurentian lakes sil- ent and solitary amid the hills of gneiss. If it was a land surveyor with p. well thumbed copy of the Oddesy who gave the IState of New York its Utica, Troy and other classical names, to what ejic do we owe the najiies of the sta- tions and towns along the five hundred miles of Canadian territory between Montreal and Sarnia i Shall we call it the epic of life ? Here we have Lachine, the record of La Salle's dream, Vau- dreuil, the last French Governor of Can- ada, Iroquois, name of dread import, JLiaiiSdowne, a recent Governor, Colborne, Grafton, Newcastle, Hamilton, great names all, dear to Canadians. Brock- ville, named after onr immortal general, 7m '•HI (. I %\ k|;| 1 1 'A 1 13 1 1 ■ A Van nek donn South, we salute thet. I'ukIi on, like hlni and his brave York volunteers. But stajy, ^wpely we are no longer in Canada, but rather in some recon»tructed Europe, where the lion lies down with the lamb I Here are Breslau, Uerlln, Petersburg, Ba- den and Hamburg, with Paris not far off. O Kaiser Wllhelm ! is this fair town your capital, and where is Unter den Linden ? And thou, O Czar, we can give you snow and ice amd jingling bells ill their season, but neither serl nor nihil- ist. Be\>'ond Hamburg what comes ? Who but ShakeHpeare, only six miles away, with visions following as a matter of course, of Stratford, St. PauPs, St. Mary's, London and the Tliames. The voyageiir did not thread the path- less woods, but preferred tbe river, not- withstanding the foaming cataracts at the Cascades, Cedars, Coteau and Long Sa\ilt, to say nothing of the scattered rapids above. Whiat tlhough he speoit days In the toll, now In, now out of the canoe, the swirling torrent pouring shoulder high about his stalwart form, were there not calm reaohee, with gentle U IW On the Trail of tlir Voyaycur. current, bright with water Hlle«, wJiere the trees bent down to touch the mir- roring crystal anortage that gave its name to the towD that was flrPt named York. We shall pass £ ngston, outlet of a series of lakes and rivers long used by the I^'dian and now the Rldeau canal, built as a military work by the British Qovernnient, under the supervision of Lt.-Col. By, perhaps the only large can- al ever built in which the engineer-ln- chlef could comnlaln that he had only one theodolite, and that not a good one. Ir. this well fortified harbor have rot- ted large ships of war, built in Eng- land, brought over iri sections and car- ried up the river by the voyageurs past thirty miles of rapids, at a cost in some cases of over sixty thousand dollars. But, shade of President Jefferson, they helped to disappoint you in the cam- paign, of which you had said "the con- quest of Canada will be only a matter of marching." Gentlemen of Detroit, we do not grudge you thoiae captured can- non with grandiloquent inscription in Ifi Oil the Trail of the Yoyageur. trout of your city hall; you have the cannoiD, we held your city; and 8o are quits. Yonder monument In the blue dis- tance, wtithin sound of Niagara, is it not on Queenston heights ? Brother Johna- than you are a brave man, and a deter- mined, but you have found this northern thistle somewhat stinging in your grasp, and I fancy that it was not fear but re- spect and penrhaps a little family pride that always made you draw back and not put your whole heart and hate and power into the blows you dealt us. Not so easily were >ou driven back or dis- couraged in your own great war, where you conscience was with you, as it has never been in any attempt upon your northern brother. We reached Toronto late in the even- ing, and the customs oflftcer with great courtesy examined our baggage, which the railroad officials with equal courtesy drac:ged from the luggage van. We had no claim on these offices as our trunkg should either have been examined at Montreal before siartimg or have waited for the regular examination at dead of .w- B 17 rl'^W A Canuck down South. night at Port Huron. And then the train went on, and we escaped the dnnjirer of an experience the Hive to which for stag- nation and petty, narrow anno(yances bred lar^ly of religious or rather theo- logical Intolerance, is, I am sure, not to be found elsewhore on the continent, nor anywhere in history slrce the days of the Commonwealth of England or the blue laws of the New England States; I mean, of course, a Sunday in Toronto, where the street cars were stopped and a man could do nothing but ait still and grow, and rot make any noine about it either. Toronto is the place where truly good people do not let their hens lay nor their cows give milk or. a Sunday, and have a sincere regret that the Crea- tor did not so arrange their anatomy as to make their heart and lungs cease working during the twenty-four hours. Toronto has dozens of connec*ionH by rail amd water with all parts of the country; time was when the legislature could not assemble there for lack of communication 8. Within the memory of living men a walk from Toronto to 18 On the Trail of the Voyageur. Montreal was a reco^uixed way of mak- ing the Journey, and people sdill talk of the wonderful stage journey made by Lord Sydenham in 1840, It was truly a record breaker. At six o'clock on Mon- day morning, February 18th, the four in hand started, William Weller on the box. What visions t»ie name alone con- jures up ! All day the light flelgh glid- ed along, now crisping the snow, now drawn over bare roads or through mud where the February thaw had done Its work. Noon came, and night, the tired horses were replaced by others at frequi&nt intervalfi, and still Mr, WeUer held the ribbont». Darkness covered the face of the country the stars came out amid flying clouds, and in all the circle of the horizon there was nothing seen but tlie naked trees and the flying ground, and nothing heard but the musi- cal beat of the hoofs of the flying steeds. Immovable, wrcpped In his great coat, the sleepless driver sat, till, at twenty minutes to six on Tuesday afternoon, he threw dowTi his reins in the yard of the Exchange Hostel on St, Paul street. 19 r timr V MM li> I ) II III! I. A Canuck down South. Montreal, and was helped from the box where he had sat for thirta-tive hours and foi ty minutes and guided his gallop- ing horses over three hundred and sixty milee of mother earth. Ben Halliday wasn't "in it," Hank Monk, who drove Horace Greeley and jolted the buttons off his coat, moide no such record as William Weller, and I, who am going where Hank Monk is still talked of, am proud to plact; our CaDadiaxt record in evi- dence. Canadians are lacking m one thing tor which the United Statesian is noted, the art of advertis'ing. I do not believe that there is any country which has done so much as Canada, and at the same time talked of it so little, unless it be our motherland, and her natives make up for this hy art- land coast througlh the portals of the Victoria Bridge, and then as the rumb- ling continued, aaid no sudden and brief flash of light came, suoh as one notes In passing through that tunnel In mid- air, each time a nier is reached, It slow- ly dawned upon me that w3 were pass- g through the tunnel irom iSarnIa to Port Huron, under a tide Whi«h upbears a motre voluntinous shipping tham passies even through the Suez Canal. Here is another little unadvertised work of Ca- [nadlans, compared with which the famed Hoos^ac Tunnel (also built by anadiaoie, it »>nay be mentiomed), is but mole hole. The St. Clair Tumaiel is arly two miles in length; the Hk>osiac Tunnel is only 2504 feet ; *be St. i 3, Hi! i! U A Canuck down 8outh. Gotiiard Taimnel Is 9^ miles; but there is none in America to compare with the St. Clair, and none ajiywheire ao ©xten- 8lT< which is carried imdjer water, if we except the insigmlfloant water-pipe which Chicago carried out tnto Lake Mic(hi- gan to draw a siupply that is not pol- luted by the siewerage of that wicked and progressive city. We were due to arrive in Ohlcago i^omewheire about !:eii ji «he miornfnig, but we did mot draw up at Dearborn Station usntil aiter two oai Sunday. By tlhiat time I stood In need of a shave. 1 would not mention this inslgfnificant de- tail, only that my seiarch for a barker reviealed the strange tact that the skin game is not played in Chioago on thiat day of the week. At least I thoiwght s/o until, as I was returniing to the depot, I was stopped by a genttlemamly-kyok- Ing man, who drew me confldeintialliy aside. "Sir," he said; ••excuse my addresetn^ yoiu, but I have just received a telegram that my mothea* is dying in New York, and I have nothing but my gold watch/. 26 I % m On the Trail of the Voyageur. there Ith the eTten- , if we I whloh MlcOii- )t pol- wlcked Chicago orntng, earbopn ay. By dave. 1 tant d^ baiter lie skin oai thiat tU\ght 8/0 J depoit, ily-kxok- etnitially Now, If you will take the w"tch — It Is worth eixtj- dtollaJB— and give me twen- ty-five, ».ny dying mother's blessing will rest upon the man wlho enahles her siau to reach her bedside." All is not gold that glitters In Chi- cago. A few moments later, a we41-dire88«d man rushed up t^ me and shook me violently by the hand. *'Well," he siaid; "this te a sight for sore ©yes. How did you ever come here, John J. Altkins, of Indianapolis V I haven'* let syes on fou for three years." I f?aid: *'I*m really very sorry, but my niame's not Altkins, and I never was in India- napolis. My name's Blodgiett, I»a\ac K. Bliodgett, and I come from AiUStra'da, I'm going tK) the Alaska gold mines." With profuse apologies, and the assur- ance that I was like enough to John Altktos to be his twin brother, my new friend left me. Some tHoie later, when I was looking tor a cab to drive ahiout the city, I was again sieiz^d by the hamd. '*Well, I never. Can this be B'odgett, vJ*- 27 ■:\ II 1 A Canuck down South. my old friend Istaat Blod'^tt? What on eiaitt'h brouglhit yion to Ghica^. And how ore all the folk to AusKtralfa? I bet you're comloig here to d'attble In our Alaska mitnes. Yo-u know me, of course? I tell you hiOw, you don*t got out of this town without seeing the elephant. How do you do? I'm just wild at meeting you I" **Excuse me," I said, **I'm very sorry, but my name is not Blodgett, and I never was in Australia. My name's Alt- kins — John J. Aitkins, of Indt«jnia Jean Nicoleit, and crossed to the Missis- sippi. Here oame LaiSalle and Mar- quette ; here waved the fleur-de-lys, aind here tbe mass was sung. Earlier BtiU, an extensive trade \^as here, a trade termlnaited so long agfo that we learn of It on'iy throrugh excavations In Ohio mounds, yet it extended nortSi, east, south and west, almost to the conftnes of the continent. A little before ton thsat evening two -'.7 m 29 ' , ^ Canuck down South. very tired adults and two still mort tired ehlldreu, boa»rd©d tlie Atcheeion, Topeka & Santa Fe Calllonila Limlteid, bribed the portei to make up their berths, ano plept a aleep that Argiis might have coveted. . ' '.' 80 ^k.3te^' ^^ ^i/ ^tf \iW \^ ^^ \^\fc ^^ ^^ >Mt >Mt^tt^^^^ #4t«4(*4(«4(*4t4(«««4(«4(4( CHAPTER II. Across thk Prairie. "It is all ohia.nged now," said the Ar- izona ut; "time was wlien out Weex a [plstol-pockert: was imperatively oieces- Siiry. To-day we oivly require a pocktet- plstol." "Man always has a want," moralized ^be Capitalist. "Especially If he la a Britisher," said, le Tall-tw Ister. "If it were not so," remarkied tJje iLleutenajit, with a sly ^nile, "our [friend, the Capitalist, would lose his rocatlon." I said nothing, nor did the other ten- l^eirleet offer a word. We had had our tonings as far west as tine ^llssiouri, butt lince leaving Kansas City mioany In some far-away )rt among the Indians; and there were few stalwart ne'er-do-wells, who had in shipped froiu England with a little loney to retrieve their foi-tune and leir faime, and who would probably id their days on a ''dttle fruit ranch Igh on the Sierra sides, mortgaged to he roof-tree, their ambition crushed by le dreamy, cloudless climate and dis- ipointment. Alas, there were also others in high ^opes, doomed /to extinstlon, — others , { .;j(j 33 A Canvck down South. with flushed cheeks and tranaparenit hands, with a racking eougii, fo(r which they were seeking ease anoked upon them, I thought myaelf, indeed, an In- valid no iVonger, for among the blind the one-«yied nua/n is king. But, such is the buoyancy of hope and the restorative power of change of scene and interest, that we were o(ne and all the ]ollie«t set of Invalids ever seen. Clc\opatra may have wept on Ad- tomy's shoulder as she heard the melan- eholy *'Remembe(r, thou urt mortal," and Caesar may have flinched at the phrase ere he went to his unexpected death ; but, though there were few among us to whom those words might mot slgnlflcantiy haye been addressed, and notwithstanding that we krew the fatal yellow lantern might at any mo- ment fl^'^h out the sad intelligence of death or mute cry tor medical aid through the nigrht, £j9 we rushed past _ the srtatlons, we laughed and talked, "m u •rrl Across the Prairie. oar which I by fl»- st. aomt latlves to I, an in- the hlinill iPi nil!!! i 'lliliii Across the Prairie. im. But L. Time trail wai« ted nigh le miles, iflc then nty thou- rody from Some got rned back; id stayed oatig>l)tt up and the 1© British- California Look at )re© in Los lasm't it's inoier-plate ;land. They jhey oome moneiy Imlto Caipitaltet, jllectlom of which tih« leid. n "Aind then they think they should be elected mayor or aldciman, or be put Oin the police force. Confiscate 'em, £ ■ay." We side-tracked the Tall-twister with ■ome difficulty. '"It seems to me," said the Lieuten- ant, '^that travelling ^;his way Is better than by prairie schooner, and quicker," "IV p different," replied the Argonaut ; •*but it's noughlng it in another way. Here we ajr© cooped up day and night, without a chance to stretoh our legs, xcept for a few minutes at a station ; sport, held up by tiie porter wheu- er we speak to him, biJack^ned by train smoke, blinded by dust, and have to wear a boiled shirt and high collar In all the heat. Just because some lad|y with her liap-dog is on b.,ard, mad dioesn't want the dog's manners eontam- inated. Give me the oW schooner, plen- ty of time amd grub, ^and a good horse. What's yiour hurry In this world? You jroung fellows wamt to get there as iwoo i» yiou hiave started ; you might as well munt to be bom bald-headed and with '-■•.«1 v*j 1 liiiiii i iji: Hi iH n Mil ill ill I M I HI I ,1, A Canuck doicn South. spectacles. It's what oomes betwfeon the beginnlTig and tihe end that makes Ihe. And, as for space! Why, sir, maoy a prairie schooner was almost as big as this car, and the omflt often cost over $5,000. I have sean $8,000 paid for the ■chooner alone, and $l,00v) a pair for mules; ajid that waggon took a dozen yioke : twenty thousand dollars with- out the whip and the yeller dog." I suppose I shiowed surprise, lor th« Argonaut turned on me. "Ask ex-Positmaster-General J'ames If that ain't true. And ask him if the newspapers weren't printed on tissue paper to save over '*ght. They charg- ed five dollarer a letter in those days, and extra on love letters. It was big money times; there wasn't a nickel or a dime west of the Missouri." And so oin amd so forth. The volcanw was going, with frequent geyser-llke ex- plosions, from the Capitalist ^and the Lieutenant. We did not get to bed tlU louig after midmight. My last recollec- tion that nigtit was of seeing the por- ter stand tng on tihe rear platform, slow- 40 Across the Prairie. iy and regrertfully dumping certain old soldiers Into the diarkness of the voice- tees desert. It Is not surprising that the Argo- naut was loqiiaclious on our first night out Irom Kansas City, as we rattlad through the scenes ct his early days. We who had not beeoi participators In the opeming up of the Wast were not un- moved. The sight of a solitary oow- bcy, long-haired, slouch hatted, big spurred, sitting firmly ito his ornate Mexican saddle, and loptng aloing on the prairie, had Jed the ladles to Imdulge In a wavimg of handkerchiefs, and, I fear, a sly throwing of kisses that filled our hearts witih wrath; and had not thm train been going, we would have go* 0(ut agid »assed that cowboy, ajid some- body miirht have been hurt. He had attually tihe audHcity to wave his glov- ed hand towards the Princess, who as- sured me thiat she considered him high] 48 I ' Ml illiiil I I ! Hlllliiiii tillKllllDI • A Canuck down f^ovth. with her, and besides she had aiwaya been ready to talk to the moping, help with a fretful child, ana laugh with the cheerful, notwlthstauding her own fa- tigue and two sturdy atoms of perpe- tual motion. Then there was a young wife going out with an invalid hus- band. Her's was a strange position. She had been sio accustomed to having him pet her, thiUK for her, save her in things small and great, that she never quite got over the impressiom that she was the invalid and he the attentive nursie; and he nerver tried to undeceive her. Many a ti)jie, In the night, when he should have been resting, I have seem him stealing down the aisle Vo get her a drink of water. H^r's was the first berth made up at night, and the last in the morning. Let us hope she woke to the situatio(n Jn due time, for he was going fast. Halt the trouble iai this world is brought ab-out by not seeing things as they are. There are mor.e peo- ple blind thiain selfish. Tihe proverbial old maid was there. We thouglit she had a romance, for sihe 44 Across the Prairie. was in perfest health, and w&b always consulttag the time-table. There was nothing she llkod better than to fet a man, preferably a married man, out on the back platform and monopolize him. She caught the Lleuteuiant that way omce, and for an entire morning he named, described and gave the story ot every place and scene. The next morn- ing there was a marked coolness be- tween his wife juii6 the maiden lady, and a glare in his wife's eye every time she looked at him. All the virgin's bland- ishments were subsequently thrown away upon him, but she inveigled the [Argonaut into what we had begun to term the chamber of horrors. Much to jour surprise, he returned in five minutes, land upon our asking him how he mas- iaged to escape, replied, as he settled himself down for a comfortable smoke, [that he hiad merely tord her a story he Ihad givem us in the smoking-room the Ipirevious night. Robert Louis Stevemsfooi has some itn- Ikfnd word* to say of the offlciak^ cm the line over which he passed on an im- 11 45 I ,il A Canuck down South. migrant train. Our experlemce on th» Limited wafl, ol course, better, probab- ly as much better as the dirrcTetnce In ex- penses would certainly call lor. But I cannot refrain from reeomntlng a little experience which I hiad which »h)owed the Dower :t noiieiy. We !iad wired t50 Chicago for two lower berth*, but bad ultimately been compelled to take a sec- tion, which meant that a child would bare to sleep at the risk of Its neck somewhere contiguous to t roof. 1 had been assured thiat this t ..^ be rec- tified en route. On asking the comduo- tor t)r a lower berth Instead of the upper, and several lowers were empty, lie instantly replied that he had not one to spare, that all were taken. Without urging him further, 1 slipped a bill into his hand, aaid he, on his part, not evem turning away, or pre^iemdlng to recon- sider the question, instantly made the change I had desired. The act was as barefaced as that of the restaurant wait- er who changes the label on a wine bottle In your presence, to suit your taste. I had a similar experlemce, with 4» Across the Prairie. the game reeult, with the porter. I hJad tipped him once already, a large tip, aB I thought, but on the third day out I found that its influence wa« Just ex- piring. I couldn't get him to make up the children's berths at a reasonable hour ; he grurablad because they ha4 left biscuit crumbs on the seat, and be- gan to hint that the regulations of the company prohibited the use of alcohol lamps, a fact. I believe, but winked at when the eyes are epveio^l with green paper bearing a cooiple of signatures amd the portrait of some United Rtates dignitary. Five minutes afterwards he was "yesHSlrrlng" me in the most cheer- ful manner possible, romping aibout the ?ar vestibule with the 3lhlld>ren, and keeping an eye on the teapot. I mentioned this peculiar psychical phenomenon to the Capitalist. **SIr," he said, "you did right. It's Just goit to be done, and allowance made In the estimates . Many a man has lost a ilat contract — ^I mean Just been worried to death by standing on his rights and re- porting to the company. I tiled It once .S'Ti )1 '•I. 47 Mi' mm W iillilll I 1 I i yiiiiii i'iiili A Canuch down South. with a porter. Not on this line. Demme, bI^, he loiade my life miserable. A straight hold-up would have been more humane. WhemeTcr 1 sat down to read, he would come aljng amid dust the seat, and tell me between whiles about the big tip he got from VandeirbUt last week, 'a pufekt gemmen, sah.' If I moved across the aisle he would gatner up all the stray valises in the car and put theiu ostt my legs and Into my, ribs, expJaln- iDg that they belonged to de gemman dat holds dat seat. And every time I stood up, he'd produce his wbisK to brush my coat, and stand there, Just stand. If I went to the smoker, he would steal the matches and take away the cuspidors to clean them, opening the car door and filling the place with train dust and alkiali. When I wanted to go to bed, he'd say cheerfully. 'Bed, sah; yies, sah; make it up at de nex* station, sah,' and I'd have to roust him out of his own eventually In the morning he'd pull back the curtains about daybreak, wakee me up, and then apologize. 'Tougftit you giot out at de 48 ■•MMNMHi Across the Prairie. las' atation, sail, beg pai-don, sah ; de ear'f mtglity crowded • some gemmen just got on look in' fob a seat, 9ah. We's 5oln' trou* fine scenery, sab.' Wby, 11 I badm't tipped bim ait lant, 1 fmlght better bava walked. '^ We had cast off our lawt dining oar at Kansas Olty, and c^eire tbencetoirtb to [depend upooi tbe dining stait&ons aloing [tihie noute. If we exctept tbe occasional [irregTilarity of tbe meal bouirs, which lAometlmee compelled iis to eic^t a second meal ere tbe first was well diown, or tombime two intto one, I must aay no- [thiaig that is mot in praise of the cater- Lg. Twenity minurtes dioes not seem a time for a meal, and it is not, if me contemplates a state dinner ; but, rom the time one sity down to tbe mo- jment one gets up at one of these dining tations, there is nothitig left but to eat. ?bere seem to be three waiters to each it, amd tihe grass dioe8«n't gnow un- tbelr feet. Tbe tirsft course is on tbe ^ble as you sit diown; tbe next mysterl- ily slips under your nose as you take )Uir last mouthful of the fii«t, and so .f m 49 I) II A Cmiui'lc down South. cm, till lyoii fi'iiKl yiouirself at peace with tbe world, emd uointentedly oliewiiD^ a toofthplck apparently houirs before the train gives its prelUflillniary waminig. To the most neryous and most fastidiouB 1 can omly repeat, you will hiave plenty of time, and you cam soaroely dine better. To Invalids and tliose who bave ffTOUDg children 1 would say, by all means take a lumeh box. Our luueh box proved a thing of beauty and a joy for- ever. The Princess looked to that mat- ter herself, amd being blessed with a fine appetite amd a good dlgestiom, toiok pride in her labor. That box was our dearest frlecnd OiU the jublefl with Bancroft's History, and :e no books yourself. You will be hicky If betweem the s1g*hitfl to be a^em gnd the pleaaant oooiversiatfoin of your Companions you get time even to oom- inlt the guide-book you ought to buy on the oai^. If 1, who live chiefly Ifj imd on books, s'ay this, be sure It 1b ao. In Kansas we were first mode ao- ^alnted with the ne^ro amid the mule, (| combination which supports half the i§>mlc papers of the Unlotn; the man Irlth a great flapping hat and the mule iHth two similar contrivances 'umlshed ■Ilfir nature. Sometimes the negiro would bft asleep, and the mule's ears would tall fiOrward over the animal's eyes and iiind It, or get ecntanglad wllth Its feet Ipid nearly send it sprawling^, at which 1^ negro would waken and tie the ears Ipck again. There was a slight breexe tpowing as we passed one such proce»- ijbn, and the nr:ule had great trouble UMiklng against It untfli his master fnnl<- «i hlfl earn. %ow and asgam we had halted at ^ime city of the plains, vigorous. :l -1 :n'l A Canuck doton South. and youthful, with broad avennes and frequemt shade treee, and had then sped out over the rolling prairie, seeing but few of the millions of cattle and but little of t(he cultivated ranches which make Kansas the secomd state of the Umioin in agricultuiral importance. Some of the towns have a reputation to sus- taim, but the majority would prefer to lose theirs. They would even exchiange it for the reputation of a Montreal al- derman. Be it remembered th'aft it was towards the close of October that we passed through Kansas; the crops weire garner- ed, the pllainted seed not yet quickened into life. Return4/ng towards the close of April foUowing, we found the scene vastly dlfferemt. The bare grouiutd was now covered with tender green sihootg, the whiole state ©arpetied with velveit. It is one of the moet striking feieitures of the Journey to one accustomed to the well watered lands of Canada, t)o mark bow, in the dry season, the n)aked dartfa lies a burned and hieart-breaklng desert between the Missouri aAid the Sierra, buiv edst It with thy foot, lake a garden of herbs," though the modern sdence of irrigation has done much to ease the curse. Diogenes say^ they do not water hy the foot out West, but by the "Inch '* A. Western rancher to whom 1 quoted the^ Scriptural passages replied thajt he had been told that there was a spe- culator named Joseph who was able to iqueeze the shorts by getting a comer In Egyptian wheat when the Palestine I crop ran out. It te not safe to ai^gue mt West, or I wouW have suggestad lat the Bigyptlan crop wae short that ir also, and that Joseph had 01117 the supply. From the moment we had left Chl- igo, we had been climbing steadily ^kyward, and when we passed Co(oUd0e, (*/' ! l! i A Canuck down South. the last fytatlan im KanjsiaB, we weire 8,866 feet abore tlde-wateir, CMcago b^ in^ only 579 feet. We were to rise bm high ajgaHn, and hlgOier, ere from the sunmit of the Contltieiiital Divilde we could sweep dowoa towards the F3.f*.fLz, Hitherto, also, we bad heee speeding straight into the pathway of the seftting (BTin, but lat La Jumtia, shortly after en- tering Colorado, we turned southward, leaying behind us the tamed health re- sorts amid mining districts of the state, and seeitng Pikers Peiak dimly outlined noi'thward in the azure distance. We cut off the oouith-fcastemi cornea* of Coloradio, a land of Tirtual desert, of dry water courses, arid plains dotted with sage brush, and enliveaieid at in- frequent iutervals only by the jacknrab- bit, whiose lomg ears obscured the vi- sion. Our traim chased one of these creatures, or rather we thought It did, ODtil he sierttleid down to work, aoDd then we knew he had only been etanavterin^ before. Therei' was »Jiwt one brown streak, amd we were alone again in the diaconsiolialte desert. Il ■'.} ' iif 66 Across the Prairie. 7(6 WOPi Icago bft- > rise em rom the Ivilde we he »efttlng after eai- mthward, loalth r&- bbe Bitate, ■ outlined corner ol desert, of Ins dotted ^ at in- e jack-^rab- out to pass, treading in the tcotsteps of the Angonaiuts and of the iborigiflies who, centurlee before Golum- bns, traTiersetd the Raton Pass, one of bhe few highways through the Rockies. mKimt.fm~^ ^ • • • M flllll W JR JK JK JH ■'i .41 €7 I ! !| I ill . ..l; ': ■■'^■^■.'■^' 'f-'\-;-:'h.i''.lt^'T' "t^- ' ' '^"' ' CHAPTER in, ■''''*■ M ;ll;;l■4^Ar■. \,r';«'i'' Over thk Dividk .! .,[ I Mountains have ever been the holy places of the eartlh. It was upon a mountain that Moees spoke with God, a^ocl irom a mountain that he brouglii down the comimamdments to tlioee who on Ihe plains below were lost in super- stitlci ajnd worshipped tJtie f^olden calf. The world's two historic cities, Jerusa- lem amd Rome, were built upon moum- talns, and tihe story of nations has shown time amd aigain that the love of liberty and honor and great movements have origlntated aimong those who were moun/taiin bred. The lefluenc© of the pBains is depiess- Ing, their mocD'ottoniy sta^gmaites fbe llllli! Over the Divide. [mln^, or InvolTes It in myatlcal theo- iriefi. Witness the theologies of Egrypt land the Populist movement In Kansas. ^The hlllfl uplift to an approxlmatloai of their own grandeur; the vulture for the plains, the eagle for the trags. Such, at |«ny rate, Is the semtlment of the tourist iccustomed to a varied lamdaeape wh)0 had a day and tvro nights upon the iralrle, and sees bet ore bim for the first time, rise upon rise, the ou^tllers of the locky Mountaiiis. We were now well on along the Samrta ^e trail, every mile of whtcn has had Its [tragedy, death by Apache bullet^ death )y hunger, death by thirst, death by torture, amid, perhaps worst of all, [death by heartbreak, wheio the stoat heart that had braved the weary miles [from the Missouri gave out amd lay [down to die before the heedless barrier that stood between him amd the giold »lds where he had hoped to win f op- ine. The Arkaiis'afl River alon^ whose lanks we had for some time been run- ilng, is now forsaken, and we sihall bat little waiter for the remainder of • f 69 -.f- .;?« A Canuck dotcn Slouth. OOP Jonmey, tSBiYe an occasioiml mf>«n- tatn strBajm. We were awaketned for an early break- taMt at La Juntia, a little after six In the morning. La Juntia, the Junction, the name is suggestive of black-4)yed sig- norettas, with cigarettos and Jealous lovers, amd, unlike the bulk of United States names, it does not dlaaippol/nt us. Here a pajdre gets in, who has been ne- euperatlng at Coloradio Sprlntgs or look- ing at the mines a/t DediTer. What ■trainge tales he will tell his little Mexl- eaji mission flo«k! Will his reputtutinn for veracity stand the strain ? He has actually seem men working, working whllft tbey had momey in their pockets. Incr«»uible ! And they did not celebrate a single saint's day. Monstrous! Tbeiy •moke pipes. Caramba I And drink ■trong waters. Ah, now the padie speaks tru/th ; that is to l>e a man. Me>nTi while our train has resiliied tts appaneoitly intermlinjaibie ^O'/rney, and is hurUng Itselt like a bp.tterinig ram against the walUr of rock that are draw- ing ever nearer. We have reached Trini- Over the DitHde, ly break- r six In Junction, lng roar and rumbl« that all Inferno seemed about to wel- come UB to Its Walpurgis dance. "Uncle Dick,** It was the Argonaut who was speaktog, amd his words were 'fi ''ili; •TI Over the Divide, the and T d#- racu- ) ooi wttb long, , amd ibeeoa- im to- ; tihe k that proved limbed fires, Bucb leggars place seemed -"s, we nth 80 rumble to wel- •gooaut w«re (ill addressed to the Princess. ''Uncle Dick lived there," pointing to a rained shanty on the rig'ht of the track as we had ap- proached the tunnel. ''And if ever man was glad to see his fellow-maoi It was Mt^ the night we pulled up here. He «vasnintaln, and toegan, last tlie engbw TO the bunv wheels o\- ve slid dowT , vall«y tbat i^her BCJiam- *t©r of a mlH ain Baton, v« 3bn importamt jjttd (th€« ^ In. From thi aan soewe tol^ jTing, we US' Ithlly rteen to an altitude of 7,452 ft. At Glorleta Pass. Glorleta means bower 4r summer house, but the ii^ame does nut ItoiTud »o Bwaetly in the ears of a con- Ijfamptlye. That place is his Rubicon, ^ten his Waterloo. The hig>h altitude 0t whioh the train travel for a diey and m night is injurious to hemorrhagic pa- UttDtB, or those with heart complicar- llons, though it may be mentioned that He Santa Fe is about the safest trans- ^ntinental route in this respect. Sleep iorsakes the pillow, and, as the hlcurs HP by, with cruel slowness, the shiorten- lllg brea^tlijtwltching hands and distress- tog cough make the offciflls watchful. I^lien comes the hemorrhage, sometimes c«ly a relief, but t^ometlmes ushering Is Hkm' last oene of all, — and the yell»w tag or yellow la tern announces that iiiother mortal has put on Immortality. tkfnial f us felt the oppression of the narifled a -, and lost the night's sleep. We pafwed Albuquerque after sunset, mid took on two dandified personages New York, with high collars, fash^ le befivers and ifrock toats, who •■ w 6S B A Canuck down South. eo(D>tiiiii>alIy sucked the gold Imobs of their waikln.g sitlcks, as though toto r»> cently from the nuraery to have forgot- ten the habits of babyhood. The Argo- naut looked at them as they entered th§ smoking room, got up. ataif% freeztnglj that he feared his smoking might annoy them, and went out upon the plattoirm, **Well," he said, as I Joined him there, *'you wanted to know what dhamges have taken place out west since forty- nine Go back to the smoking car, i and look at them. They would have been planted at Kansas City In my time, They would have scared the stage mules half to death. Did yrou motloe ifaow I bolted?" ^- v^; ^-'-.v... ...-.....,.,.,.-. The Argonaut had not meant this re- flection upon himself, and J was too wise to niotice it. v ^^ % New Mexico is almost the only portlor of the United States which can rival Canada In ancient history, and, like portions of the Province of Quebec, Is the only part of the country where an- tlent manners and customs and Institu- tio(n6 persist sidte by side with modem _ '•ii th. Over the Divide. kiiot>s of gh too re- ave forgot- The Argo- entered the I Ireeztogly light annoy iC plattoarm, J Mm there, at cihamges }liice forty- aoking car, rouW have in my time. stage mules oe ibow I ant tbis re- was too mly portiop 1 can rival , and, m ' Quebec, Is ^ where an* and in»tltu- 1th modem xurogrens Separated by neiarly thr«e Lousand milee, these two conservative [zegions afford many similarities. In Que- the cross is in evidence at interseet- roads, o- }te could sit and smoke and dream Imself at home. Only Jean Baptiste '^ould turn his nose up at the cigarette, Id Juan Bautista would sneeze over le black pipe and klttlkanlk. Furthor- more, neither will use his tigts. The Canadian habitant will light by th* Jiour with his enemy, hulling wordi- •csross the street, and getting his frlends- %o hold him so that he may do his toe- 110 bodily harm, while the Mexican will •mile under am Insult if he does not think it safe to resent it at once, and your friends will find you with a etilet- to in yiour back a week later. Jean .baptiste will work ; Juan Bautista will 67 M m A Canuck down South. not work. Jieaoi Baptiste hides hii hoard in a stoeking ; Juan Bautista hidfiB hlfi wealth in the ground against a rainy day, and that never oomeH In New Mexico. The Capitalist ■aye that thonsianidB of square miles of territory throughout the South are honey-combed with deposits of trea- suire, which the Mexican is too supersti- tious to endeavor to unearth, hvti which he thinks would yield a dividend om the stock of his projected Mexican Buried Treasure Companiy, to wnidh he want- ed me to subscribe. The Mexican takes pride in his hiorse and saddle, and every Canadian know* that Jean Baptiste may be slow in many thi^ngs, but that he must have a fast horse to speed on the ice in winter or down the country road after mass, his hmt girl by his side. Neitheor Mexicajn nor habitant cares much for modeim mprovements ; the Mexican ntill ploughs with a sharpened stick. There is no- thing in the Boman creed itself that should cause men to stagnate, but it is an undeniaible fact that a ifarge Boman 6S Over the Divide. 'm^ • -x ■'Pa Catholic comflniMiity Is generally behiuil one which Is Protestant, la It that anon who bow their wills In all things to one majn, be he priest or ruler under any other name caooiot hope to compete with men who have it heir wits sharpen- ed by sell-'TeUance ? Is it that the un- numbered fete days and holidays ener- vate them lor buslnees, as men who dine by candle-light and sip liqueurs and wear gloves, go dJown before the brawny fisted noond^ay diners, lill, but for the inflow of farmers' sons from ^e conn- try, great cities would deteriorate ? Whatever be the reason, It is Indlsfjut^ able that a priest-ridden people mi A Cmiuck down i^outh. ri7 liiiii The Mexican houses are flat-ronled, one-fitoried affairs, oot unlike large match-boxes, made of miKl, which t ^ • From Glorleta to AiDuquerque the air- brakes were scarcely ever off. We were virtually tobogganing down mountain slopes, and within less than a hundred miles had subsided to an elevation 2,500 feet lower than at Glorleta. We crossed the Rio Grande in the gloom of night, which rendered that stream more roman- tically picturesque than was the Missouri under the sunlight, which had revealed the mud-flats diversltied by a creek, the enormous bridge over which iooked like a piece of sarcasm. But the greater ease in breathing which the lower level gave us was not destined to last long, for from Albuquerque we were again tolling up grade towards the Continental Divide, that mystic point whence a glass of wa^ 74 m Over the Divide. ter spilled east or west might seek the sea of peace or that of storms, th« grand old ocean that for centuries has crowned Bri- tish brows with triumph, or the vast new waters destined to roar through co- ral reefs or whisper on golden sands the story of a dawniug age. Crossing the Divide r The term In olden times was synonymous with death. It was used in this sense by the Argonauts, possibly because their heaven was on the other or eastern side, probably because they could thlnli of no fate more dread- ful than returning from their vast hori- zons and high, bracing, soul-stirring lati- tudes to a life on a lower level among starched shirts and the fetters of cus- tom and fashion forged about mankind by a dead and gone generation, a place where men are measured by their stone frontages and their great grandfathers, and no longer by their own human Inches and mental image of their Creator, it was about three in the morning when we pass* ed this **line," and most of us, notwith- standing our interest, were sleeping, though restlessly. 75 A Canuck down South. '■Iti' ,. It may have been tne effect of the alti- tude, or it may have been something else, but I kwow I dreamt a wonderfisl dream. The romance of the Maiden Lady came home at lost. It was broad daylight, and we men were, as usual, sitting in the smoker spinning yarns. The dandies who had got on at Albuquerque were with tis, each sitting cm his hands and enjoying the eoiiversation. Suddenly the train jar- red, and slowly came to a stop. The Ar- gonaut leaned forward, a straui^e fixed looj£ on his face that w&a not agreeable, and his hand stole round towards his back while he looked penetratingly into all our faces in rapid succession. "What is that?" said one of li e tender- feet. •♦Is it a hold-upV" I don't know why, but we all followed the look of the Argonaut, which was fixed on the Few York dudes, and each of these harm less creatures now held a re- volver in each hand, and each revolver looked like a cannon. ^ ^ -x , Then one of the dudes said suavely: **It is a hold-up. I am sorry to interrupt th» tory, but tan assure you, gentlemen, that n Mii Over the Divide. If you will only keep your bauds abOT^ your heads for a little while, we will do you no harm. There's fifty thousand 5n tne express to-day, and our pals want »t. We don*t intend you any harm Sf you nave horse sense." ■'""■ ■■'^'' " '-' ^.^'^.^^^'^ > There were shots towards the front of he train, then screams, scteams of a man, not reassuring If you have ever heard them ; yet the dudes sat Immovable with their howitzers, that now looked like hundred ton guns, pointing everywhere at once, as it seemed. I was there but 1 musthave had a nightmare, for 1 couldn't raise my hands, and my pistol in my hip- pocket seemed to be about a thousand m lies away. ■. ;■. 'v,.^r•^;^* Then came the denouement. The Maiden Lady entered, clad? — ^well, they ©ay dreams are made, as a mosaic, out of waking experiences; but If I ever saw a woman so dressed I want to know it. She wore pajamas and carried a parasol and said tragically : -^**Thi8 Is a holld-up.'''''':'^^'-"-'^^^" " The mouths oi the revolvers had mean- while expanded to about the sixe of the .,.,. ^. -..^_.-..-.vt - f A Oanuck down kiouth. "iV,' Baton TDiinel; yet on tbe leit side of one I saw the robber wince. The Maiden Ladj looked at him, and then there was a shriek. I said to mjaelf : * Now, we'll get a flrst-class corpse." Instead o* which she threw herself upon the immaculate shirt front." ^ ^ **Found, found J" she cried; "my long lost brother," And then, as I woke, 1 still heard tha long lost brother say "damn." But the last part wasn't a ^IreaiL. 1 heard the word over and over again, as a ntght-ehirted young hu&l and who had got on — well, I wlU not say whero — paraded the car with hiu equalling child. He did not stay In one* place, but with generous instincts dj«tri*.iited that squall ail ovtr the car. Now he would hold the baby to the keyhole of the lieutenant's state- room, and when he heard the JLieutenant's remark, would bolt impetuous'y to th» other end of the car, distributing a war- whoop at every berth. By and bye our youngest woke, stretched himseL, put his to« In my mouth, and said : "Pa, is that a new baby?*' ^ ^^^ -78 Over the Divide, 1 said 1 didn't know. •*WelI, pa, if that's a new baby, don't yon think the angels put him out of hea- ven because he aies so?" Again 1 didn't know, "Pa, don't you think It needs oiling?" 1 said 1 didn't think It could do much better than it was doing. Morning dawned at last after an un- comfortable night, ushering in our fifth day on the cars. I do not know how others feel about it, but we felt after the first day as it a change to a coffin would be a welcome relief, and give us more room. On the second day we were willing to stand another twenty-tour hours ; on the third day, we didn't care how long the Journey lasted, and on the fifth we thought of its termination with regret. There Is no doubt that eels do get used to skinning. We had fallen so thoroughly into on* another's ways, made such delightful friendships, and had, on the whole, bo much comfort on the long Journey, that we would indeed have been very hard to please had we not begun to regret the '■41^ f^WWW *:■ r:t' \M J m \ V ■•'■ .'»'■, ?1 '}h A Canuck down South. now fast approaching hour of separation. The warmth of a trans-Atlantic acquain- tance is but cold and distant compared |vlth that which is engendered by such a trip as ours. Compared with a Pullman car, a steamer is a wilderness. On board ship we/can get away into nooks and corners ; in a Pullman, even a flirtation must tfe carried on under the eyes ol old campaigners, and no one can get out of reach of his neighbor's ears and eyes. W« ate together, talked together, almost dressed together, and slept so closely packed that one felt th *ils neighbor read his very dreams. A. filmy curtain was our house front, and across the street our fellow-citi?;en fared no better. In our long Journey from Chicago w© had till become accustomed to much that would have appeared odd in a drawing- room, which reminds me of a ludicrous Incident, which waij, however, anythlnjp but funny to the chief actors. < -v.; h Some timi> during the night, at some way-station, a man and his wife got on, and w^e were immediately prejudiced against them, because the man had wak- m M^^ Over the Divide. w ened us with his storming at the con- ductor for not having a lower berth to give them, as though the Company should have kept a berth empty for their conveni- ence all the way from Chicago. In tht mornlng,whiie we were in the midst of oup dressing In our usual free and easy style, the Argonaut, sweeping under his berth for his collar-button, and the Capitalist making down the aisle towards the wash- room, with the bulk of his clothing over his arm, a flash of a neat ankle or bare arm, fringed somewhere around the ehoulder with dainty lace showing from behind the berth curtains the kind of struggle the ladies wore having to dres^ ; when, I say, we were thus engaged, this new comer, whom we regarded as an interloper among our party, returned from the wash-room, whsre he had dressed himself He took the situation In at a glance. His wife, who had been, sitting In her seat, complet- ing her toilet, was, In his opinion, In %n- ratnent danger, and he pounced upon the raildest-mannered and most modest ol our party, an English Church clergyman, /m f ..:ii^ ■■' 81 D !,1(ll A Canuck douon k ^th. who stood without coat or vest, giving the finishing touches to the halyards that upheld his lower rigging, his standing rigging, as It were. .. •Sir," screamed the Irate and shocked husband ; "what do you mean by such conduct. How dare you, ilr, unblushlng- ly, dress In my wife's presence?'* If a thunderbolt had fallen amongst us It would not have created more consterna- tion. The Argonaut stopped peering un- der the ^.erth ; the Capitalist quickened his pace and disappeared Into the smoking- room, while there was a sudden stoppage of the rustling behind the curtains, as though the ladles had imagined it was to them that loud-voiced Comstock address- ed himself. Our shy clergyman had no Idea that he was being spoken to In that manner, and proceeded quietly to put on his vest, when a renewed roar In his ear lifted him from the car floor, and when he landed again he turned round and asked in ome confusion, "Are you speaking to To you, sir, yes, sir ; it's perfectly »• n Over the Divide. ring that ling eked such Wng- st us ;erna- ; un- edWa )klng- ppage LS, aa ?^a3 to dress- Iriectly scandalous, sir ! Porter, do you not aeQ hat creature putting on his vest, his vest, Blr, before my life's eyes." But the porter was out on the back platform, admiring the scenery by that time. The poor clergyman so suddenly as- iaulted, lost his presence of mind for the moment, or I'm sure he would not have replied as he did. It was a good retort, but too good to be intended. He said : *' I beg your pardon ; I — I, I reallj didn't think she would object. I'm sure I didn't when I saw her putting on her-" "Sir, don't talk to me ; don't dare, sir. You ought to be ashamed of your cloth," the long coat being very much in evidence on the car seat, and the cler-.cal vest hav- mg been buttoned all awry in great haste. Then the clergyman recovered his senses. He had not dealt with sinners for no- thing, and tihjs boor was very much in his line. 'V.-...4:- .l','-- ■■ >v-.' r.- *'My dear slr,'» he said, tngldly ; **if you cannot be gentlemanly, you should at least be consistent. X do not consider A Canuck down South. that a man without his vest Is so disre- putable an object as to call forth such remarks, and, at any rate, It Is preposte- rous that you should cry out upon me at one moment to be ashamed of my cloth, when you have just told me I should be awhamed of the want of It." Then followed language that I dare not set down, and it was not the clergyman who used It, either. But, fortunately, it did not last long. With one bound the Argonaut laid his still powerful arm on ihat of the boor (we weren't shocked at the lack of the collar-button just then), and he said : *'you miserable hound. If you don't re- cognise that there are ladies on this car, and stop that profanity, I'll throw you from the car window. You never were on a Pullman before, nor mixed with de- Bent people." And the way that man Subsided and took his meek wife off the car at the next station is one of the plea- sant memories of my life, though I, and all of us, were deeply sorry for his wife. When the morning sun gilded the peaks about us we were in Arizona, If New ti ul,:ii.:i Over the Divide. Mexico affords u«i a glimpse of prehistorlo civilization and peoples, surely Arizona re- veals to us the secrets of the creation of the world. Here we seem to be In Na- ture's boiler-room, and her stupendous en- ergy, which in other parts of the world is concealed under vales smiling with flowers and flowing rivers. Is here demon- Btrated in rivers of congealed lava and ashes and cinders, iheaped up mountain high. Among yonder peaks lies cold and Btlll the crater of many a volcajio which once perhaps rivalled Krakatoa, Etna and Vesuvius. In the dawning ages, when the continent bore a different shape, and strange monsters JnrK-ed in the sea and stranger trod the earth, what a dreadful scene must Arlzo/>/i have presented, the solid world trembling w/t/r pent-up va- pors, the lava wlndingf hiiiaiy down the vast mountain slopes, the air thick with uteam and cinders and sick with the con- tinuous thunder of mighty explosions I For miles upon milep, upon all sld€«, as the train swept on, we saw nothing but the relics of subterranean fii-es. And then, as the hours slipped by, nnd once more w^ A Canuck down South. we were on the flanks of the mountains, my heart went out to Arizona. We seem- ed once more In Canada. Here were whispering pines, long woodland aisles where the sunlight steeped verdant knoll and rocky crag with color and with warmth. Here were flowers, water- tfoiirses and life, and the axe ol the lum- berman rang keen as in our woods at home. Yes, I love Arizona. Even In Its deserts It has a charm such as endears Sahara to the Arab, and its bare hills have the strange, weird attraction such aa Bob Wanlock sings of in his Scottish lilts. /Arizona, like a capricious beauty, wins and holds us, in spite of will or rea- son. Whether it be the unique Devil's Canon, which the train leaps over, cling- ing to a fllmy bridge 225 feet above the tiny stream beneath, or the Incomparable Grand Canon of the Colorado, which Is over 6,000 feet deep, or the 13,000 feet of the San Francisco mountain, half of which, even at the elevation we have reached, still towers above us: whether It be the chalcedony park, or the cave dwell- ings, or only the natural mountain parks, Over the Divide* the ruddy desert and cinder cones and the valuable copper mines of the country, Arl- lona is a flttlii;j: gatexvay to California, the land oi sunshine and treasure. I shall not soon forget Canon DJabolo. The Capitalist and I were standing on the rear platform, when suddenly the level prairie sank away swiftly from u« to t depth that made us dizzy to look down, as though the subterranean powers had cleft the earth to claim their own. We had lust time to gasp when the earth rose again to meet us, and the train was once more gliding along the level. There had not been the slightest warning of what was coming. At night a man would walk clear off the prairie, and apparently put his lifted foot down in tne streets of Hong Kong. The Capitalist mopped his brow. .-.'.^■-^ ■ ■•,- **I always forget that canon," h^e said ; ••and my heart jumps into my mouth when we leave the gr»)und so unexpected- ly. I'm no' as good now as the first time I wajB bald-headed, and that gulf 8can»s me. Wihat chances they lose out West • If I had that canon in New York 87 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) // A. ^^ v....v .- The Journey across the continent, is it n'^t an allegory of the journey of life ? Such thought, as the car wheels clanked rythmetically on the rails, shaped itself In my mind as follows : , ^v? ^ LIFE'S ARGONAUTS. Over the Red Missouri , Out on the oprn plain, Far from the haunts of childhood, They ne*er shall see again. [|, ,!,]! 5 - V.!;' A Canuck down South, Seeking the golden treasure, ; .-', Braving the toil and strife, Eagerly go the Argonauts On the journey of life. Vast and void and rolcelesi To the horizon's rim, Stretches the rolling prairie, As day by day grows dim. Beneafth the wondrous star glow That lights the heavens calm. Come bivouac, rest and slumber And dreams of the lone first palm. Nor tree, nor grass, nor blossom, Anywhere under the eye, Sage brush, sand and cactus And glistening alkali; Promise of water often, But only a mirage tham, Till lips can hardly utter A sigh for the lone first palm. The prairie dog has his burrow. The prairie hen her nest; Only we, under heaven, Have neither home nor rest. • ^ Over the Divide, ■'. Over the shlmmerlns: level, Loiag as the hot sun twain, W, . We plodded wearlJy forward. SeekioK the lone first palm. ^' --i Beyond the rolHngr prairie. , . Beyond the desert drear. At last, the rug^ged mountains Their mighty flanks uprear. Parched and starved and weary. We face their pitiless calm — Oh, that the Journey were over. Oh, for the lone first palm I Indian braves In their ambush. Hark I how thd bullets sing! While, through tinfathomed canons, Shrilly the war whoops ring! Lying, face up to the heavens. Silent are Dick and Sam, God in His mercy bring the rest Safe to the lon»; first palm I r • :,-■"■ Miles upon miles of desert . ■ Under a burning sun, Till the blood is boiling In our veins, And life is almost done ; Then rise upon rise of mountains. And hope's eternal balm. In the vales beyond Is the goal we seek. Hurrah I for the lone first palm. 91 v..3i! A Canuck down South, Precipice, cJIff and canon, Toirent and ley peak, , » Tempest, and whirling: buow drifts Hiding the trail we seek. '. : ; : . Then sunnhlne. warmth and pleasure^ And rest without pain or qualm In a riotous garden of flowers Beneath the lone first palm. Prairie and peak and desert^ Hope, and the death ofhope^ Joys and alluring visions, Trials and the strength to cope ; Success to him who struggles^ Defeat to him who faints^ • • So strives each soul to reach its goal, The Haven of the saints. Next morning palm trees and graceful peppers, eucalyptus, poplar and other fa- miliar and unfamiliar trees, greeted our eyes. The desert had given place to a garden, and through orange and lemon groves, vineyards, apricot, prune and flg orchards, and a riot of roses and other flowers, we reached our destination. r: 92 CHAPTER IV. In Arcadia. "WTien we reached Sierra Madre, after fio long a railway journey that the time- table had come to be regarded as a piece of sarcasm, Diogenes met us at the sta- tion. Dioganes is a Canadian, and that is not his name, but as he sets up to be a philosopher and came to meet us with a lantern that glv:)rious sunny morning — a tribute to my honesty — he was so dubbed instanter, and the name has stuck to him. A short drive through avenues shaded with pepper-trees, euca- lypti, palms and live oaks, brought us to the cottage that was to be our Cali- fornia nome, a sweet little place sun- smitten all day long, its verandah gloomed with morning-glories and climb' 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 i ' 1 tj A, Cantick doton South. ing roBCB and its carriage drive lined with broad-leaved palmettos drawn up sol- dierly on either side, as though to keep in check the mob of orange and lemon trees that crowded the ranch. Here in the golden afternoon was gathered a party of reunited Canadians, and while the children romped in the garden, pelt- ing one another with roses and ca.ma- tions or playing hide-and-seek behind banks of chrysanthemums, Diogenes and I talked of the long ago, and offered such incense of tobacco (brought from Canada) to the Manitou as would have made Barrie write a second volume in honor of *My Lady Nicotine,' and have shamed the tribute of the Algonquins who guided Champlain beyond the Chau- diere Falls. After that October day we hunted health and killed time in Arcadia. Phyl- lis was not there, nor Strephon, except under less euphonious names and in more unromantic guise, nor did we ever spy a woodland nymph or hear the hoof of 94 In Arcadia, a satyT among the live oaks' gospelling glooms. Otherwise, it was Arcadia. The sun sauntered lazily through the sky^ day after day, and let tlie seasons take care of themselves. The century- plant thought itself very energetic be- cause it had bloomed cnce since the De- claration of Independence, while the flowers forgot time altogether, and blos- somed the whole year round. There a thousand years were as a day, and a day as a thousand years. The inhabitants seldom knerz the month and hardly ever the date. Calendars are handy when promissory notes have to be renewed. Diogenes had one, and so had I, but we were never able to induce any banker to allow us to put them to their proper use, and the only interest we had in keeping track of the date was connected with our remittances. No one could keep track of the days of the week in this Arcadia, and Diogenes, who has a deep reverence for the fourth command- ment, made it a rule not to work at all. 96 M, uH m ■■• ^' 'I A Canuck down South. lest he should inadvertently break the Sabbath. Phj'sicians the world over send con- sumptives to southern California, but they never seem to get there. At least, there are none in Sierra Madre, although a good deal is heard about lung trouble. No invalid dies there ; he does not even slip awa, like Drumtochty folk. His friends only say that he is gone, and shake their heads, fearing that, having gone farther, he may be faring worse. In the various sanitoriums time is plea- santly spent swapping symptoms, and the man who has most is looked upon with exceeding respect. Diogenes and I secured a fairly good reputation in this direction by the liberal use of a medical dictionary. It is truly wonderful how many symptoms can be got from an un- abridged medical dictionary, assisted by a vivid imagination. There was, however, one man in the place before whom we sank into irritating insignifi- cance. He had more diseases tihan a t^vrr 96 jal )W in- ^re 7/1 Arcadia. civic hospital, and had a -vvay of din^noa- ing some fatal and insidious malady from ■what liis companions had mistaken for signs of robust health. If he slept M-ell, paresis was coming on ; if he slept ill, his days were numbered ; if he had a good appetite, there was a secret waste; if he ate but little, he was in the last fetages of something awful. Diogenes and T could not boast of a single symp- tom in his presence without being swamped with a list of his maladies. He was dying more variously than any per- son we knew — and he is not dead yet. The mystery was subsequently solved when we found that he religiously read through all the patent medicine adver- tisements of the Lo« Angeles 'Times,* and we got to hating him so for his symptoms that we used to wish he would take some of the remedies prescribed, and die a natural death — that is, a nat- ural death for such an idiot. Sierra Madre is an extensive hamlet on the slope of the Sierra Madre moun- E 97 ^»fl 4:\m A Canuck down South. tains, overlooking the fertile valley of San Gabriel and about six niiles from Pasadena and sixteen from Los Angeles, on the Kite-shaped Track, its station be ing Santa Anita. It is devoted to the cultivation of oranges, lemons, apricots, Cigs, grapes and the tuberculous bacillus. As a health resort it ia fast coming to the front, and seems to msrit its reputa- tion. Its little cemetery does its best to prosper with the rest, but is not a success. It is a pathetic little God's Acre under the kindly shadow of the eternal hills. There are a few well- kept graves and several costly head- stones, but these are the exception. To- mato cans usually do service as mortu- ary urns and flower pots, but as the weeds conceal them and the flowers as well, they are quite as good as Carrara. The whole place is usually a blaze of wild sunflowers, and honeycombed with gopher holes, while often the jack rabbit or the cotton-tail sits, lost in reflection beneath its stupendous ears amid the In Arcatlia. .0- the as ra. of [th )it lonely graves . The epitaphs, when de- ciphered, aro not cheerful. The young may die, but the old must, says Loiig follow, and in any properly regulated cemetery youth finds comfort 'n reading that so-and-so died at eighty or ninety, and in finding that he stands a good chance under the system of averages of being able to revisit that cemetery many times yet before he forgets to return to the bustling world. But our cemetery deals not easily with this simple *aith of the young. Here He, in the majority, those of our own age, stricken down be- fore their prime, their ideals unsullied, their hopes unrealized. Here lie some whose history we learn, lonely strangers whom a broad human sympathy has laid in the bosom' of the eternal mother, far f'^m home and friends, some whose de- serted and neglected graves bear mute testimony to the haste with which the nursing relative packed his or her trunk with one hand and closed the dead eyes with the other, grief long since discount- ; V i mmmmm A Canuck down South. Wh^ ed in the early stages of the wearying malady and thoughts of home and relief and rest making welcome the close of the ■ tragedy. ^ Wlien I was in Southern California I wrote an article in wliidh I ctated that tlie country could not progress any faster without pulling' the earth out of its orbit, and that a man going hunting over waste land^ in the morning, was &.pt to lose his way on his return home at nigiht among the orchards that had been planted on the same ground during the day. A California paper piinted the article, but on second thought, and at this distance, I would qualify the statement, by admit- ting that the bustle of trade in and around Sierra Madre was not sufficienitly loud to prevesnt zry sleeping at night. Not that Sierra Madre was imenterprif- iag. The place had a 'bus driver, m- miranoe agent, press correspondent, pii- vate backer, real estate broker, news r agent, and so on. The only trouble was tibdt when this man weiDt to town, busi- 100 1'. In Arcadia. in- pi-i- levm Bess langriiished until hia return. He waa also agent for a firm of undertakers, and was in consequence interest'^d in the progress of every invalid- He dis- played great anxiety about my heaJth from the first, and although we are fast friends, I feel that I disappointed him by the rapidity of my recuperation. Touting for trade. While the subject is still alive, is not uncommon among Southern California undertakers. Cne day a man came up our avenue "while I was an the verandah. 'How do you do?' he said, bowing. Every one bows to us in the country parts of California, whether they krorr U3 or iiot, just as they do in French Canadian districts. It saves trouble if one leaves his hat at home. I gave him good dsy and he came up the steps, txpatialting upon the ^ic^ of tlie valley fmd mountains. Califomians have the idea that the rest of the earth M flat, stde DJid unprofitable, and it does not do to try to undeceive them, :oi u. .if< >; v _ - If a man stays at home he can enjoy the same climate for six months at a time, and the next six months is the twin brother of the first. When a San Franciscan sees the sun he thinks he has discovered a comet, and the Los Angel- enian will write a column editorial and half a dozen sonnets on a shower of lain one could carry in a bucket. And the biggest newspaper in the southern counties will pubdiah his eflForts. Bat I am not surprised at this. After one has lived some months in souThern Cali- fornia, a vague dissatisfactloa permeates his soul, and it finally dawna upon him that a continuity of fine days is mono- tonous. When, day after day week 111 '.I'lmfitr.-.r A. Canuck down South. in aud week out, the sun shines, the flowers bloom and the birds feing, tho stranger finds himself praying for rain. Then he prays for snow, and us the Land of Sunshine continues to verify its name, he gradually increases his demands until he is importuning heaven for hail, wind, cyclones, blizzards, tornados, waterspouts, cloudbursts, anything in fact which will afford a change of weath- er even at the expense of all his wife's relations. But, if he is wise, he will not confess this weakness to a Californian. During our sojourn a man was arrested in Los Angeles for beating his wife, and it came out at his trial that he knocked her down with tho family thermometer because she had complained that the temperature did not fall low enough in a Califoi'nia winter. Once, and once only, we had snow on the level, and it scarcely remained long enough to permit a snowball to be made. That was on March 2 and 3, 1896, and the whole country turned out, including 112 In Arcadia. in the governor of the state, to investigal* the phenomenon. When we arose that momii.K the grountl was dusted over with snow, and through the cool, snow- scented air every wind waft brought tlie heavy perfume of orange blostium^. The sky was overcast. Great clouds rolled down the mountain slopes, coming and going and changing shape every few min- ^ utea, while through the otherwise quiet air, from some height above the clouds, wild geese were screaming discontentedly on their way seaward. 'Vhenever the clouds lifted, there, on the bold summits of the Sierra, the snow lay piled, and in the canons back among the mountains we heard the sullen reverberation of thunder peals rolling like the sound of some titanic drum calling to battle the powers of evil. The power of prose is inadequate to do justice to the weird- ness and beauty ot* the scene, and even the following attempt to describe ii in verse falls far short of conveying tht- proper impression : F 113 A Canuvk down South. A WINTER DAY IN TUB SIERRA. 0'*T the Sierra scarce Uie moon yestre'en Wan risen, to flood each uombre peak with light. Kre came a^ cloud host through the gusty night, StormlDg the crags. Sheer canon walls be- tween, '\-''-- ' ■■''' ■•■' ..^ ■;;-;^^^ - They swept, and hid bare ledge and living green. . ^ ^ ^,, ^ ^_-,, ,,, , ,;, Hoarse thunder pealed from unseen height to height, As though the vast hills boasted of their might, Though Chaos' self upon them seemed to lean. Dawn drew aside night's veil of mist, and came Across the hills. The clouds retlr^.'', and lo"! On every wind swept crag, as Day look- -->y^' ed forth. --;■•■- m :"'-^"'^ "v ' „ Bright ir. the southern sunshiiic gleamed the snow, A vision 0* the unfcrgottej North ""Twlxt golden skies and poppy fields aflame. IN THE VALLEY. Snow en the hills, but in the valley, flow- ers. Peppies aflame a»d orange blooms whose scent 114 ' In Arcadia. With the faint odor of the snow is blent. SiDow on the p'eaks. but in the canons, showers, And torrents drinking strength from stormy -■•-" ■' hours. ''' ■'■i':''''-.^S' " ■ ■ The geese wheel seaward through the . f • clouds half spent, - v ?j Fleeing the snow and screaming discon- tent. But in the vale birds trll) in odorous bow- ers. Summor Ls in the val3. though in the ^ , heights The bandit Winter lurlcs to sehe his prey. Still springs the grain, vines grow and fruit delights i?uu and soft '^inds through many a gold- en day 'is' ■ 'r In many an Eden valley, nestling warm ' Belo-v the stern Sierra, wrapped in ^' storm. The CTimmer of southern California coiTesponds in ite effect with our winter. It IB the fallow season, during which the soil bakes and brings nothing forth. The trees do not sit in sackcloth, but they certainly don ashes enough to sat- isfy the prrcatest mourner at the wailing pJiice 9{ the Jews, till the whole < luntry m' % iir. A Canuck down South, looks like a tramp badly in need of soap. Even in winter there is an oceasidnal Sant'Anna which sweeps up the dust till it shrouds the hills and ohscures the very sun, and that ^ust will remain float- ing in the atmosphere for several days, without, however, affecting the lungs. Farther north, in Utah, we heard of a similar storm which so coated the tele- graph wires and poles with salt that a hose reel had to be called into requisi- tion . A common error concerning the California summer is that it is unendur- ably hot . The story is often told of the bad Californr-an who died, and after a day or two in the place modem theol- ogy does not believe in, sent back for hil blankets . Californians tell that story, but they tell it is a man fi-om Yuma, Arizona, where, t is said, the hens lay hard-boiled eggs in winter. From what I could gather about the California summer, the thermometer is entirely to blame. It persists in trying to make people believe it is ovai-worked. 116 In Arcadia. In this dr> climate, even in winter, I hare known it go up to a hundred and twenty, when the heat was really no more oppressive than it would be at Montreal with the thtfrmometer at eighty. Heat out th^re is not oppres- sive, but pleasant, if somewhat ener- vating. One just wants to lie out and scak in it. T do not mean perspire, for that is a rare phenomenon . And if one feels too hot he has only to go around the house into the shade, and put on an overcoat. Often one might 9e2 a man go down the sunny side of a street in Los Angeles with his ooat over his arm, while on the opposite r}de hi* friends were wearing overcoats. At sundoAvn the man who has no overcoat is like to perish with cold. These pe- culiarities of climate explain why ladief are to be seen dressed in muslins and with gay sunshades, while around their necks are twined huge furs. It rains about a fortnight, off and on during tlie winter or rainy season. Then m 11' A Canuck down South. from the middle of May to the end of October there is never a cloud in the •ky. Once in a dozen years a section of the Pacific Ocean thac has lost its . way runs up against a Sierra peak, and there is a cloudburst. One such vialted . Sierra Madre in 1894. It dropped in for five minutes, and by that time the main atret was a foaming torrent flowing breast high. One man told me that he had not seen such an active movement in real estate since the boom. Moun- tain property that even the boom could not sell v^as can'ied down and turned into town lots. He himself had every- thing clean washed oflf his land except the mortgage, and that, he said, he had to liquidate himself. The canons were roaring sluices, filled to the brim with whirling whitecaps that bore down every- thing before them, even vast trees and huge boulders, and ploughed across the countrj' rofds, cutting deep trenches. And to make matters worse, the poet of the Los Angeles 'Times' jame out 118 In Arcadia, simultaneously with & poem in blank verse, beginning- Drop, gentle dews, from heaven till the mlrth- Pul earth Is moved with an ecstatic thr'.ll. He vrho imagines tihat because two nations speak tlie same language, they miisrt of nec€fcmty go hand in hand, like loving children, tfhrough the world ha 3 never read the history of Greece, and ki'ows nothing of the real feeling wliich the United States entertains towards England and Caaiada. We were 7a Cali- fomoa during the Venezuelan trouble, and the best I can say for the spirit of the United Statesians is that those who do not hate us, have no more love for Ui tJjan they have for Germans, Turks or Fiji Islanders. Our one terror was that the editor of the Los Angeles 'Times/ a mild mamnered, kindly gentleman in pri- vate life, would leave his sub-editor to attend to the fer^vrious editorials against all things British, an-' .girding on his wword again, make a descent upon Sierra 119 A Canuck down South. !^fa(l^e, and butcher U8 one and all. He >vould have had some difficulty, how- ever, for tiie Canadians were in pretty strong force there, wiiile the entire state could, end would, have afforded a battalion to defend the flag that for a tl.ousand years has braved the battle and the breeze. There is not, in fact, a Cuiifornjian ^n California, or, at leaat, they are very scarce. J3ees gather where tliere is honey, and the state is full of shrewd down-easters, canny Scotch" en, st^ilwart Chinese, quaint Japanese, Eng- lishmen and Canadians. If the flood ^^'eT^ repeated, and Califomoa spared, the races of man would not lack representa- tion. One cannot thro^v a stone any- where in California without hitting a Canadian. A Canadian has been, mayor of Los Angeles, a Oaoadian has been president of the Chamber of Commerce ii\ the saone city, a Canadian is at the I'.oad of several railways, and he has Canadian brakenaen and eonduotors un- der him. There are Canadian physi- 120 • In Arcadia. ctianff , enflnneers and ranch ers. I have met CaDadian cowboys. The Brifcisih vice-consul is a Torontonian. Oatario, the model colony of the state, was found-, cd by Canadians, they throng Kedlands and Riverside, and in jne town they elected a Canadian mayor and board of aldermen, as a protest agaan^ the tail- tv/isters. The only place I did not find a Canadian -was in gaol, bi^t I think Diogenes will rectify that if he keeps on. They do not reaJly apeak English, in California. Wber? people go there first, they call a burro a donkey, but when they have resided there a while they call a donkey- a burro, realizing the \aliie of foreign words in cultured speech. Since we have returned I am always, quite inadvertenftly, calling a horse a broncho; 1 liave ceased to car tar, and now ioi>e; every back yard is a cor- ral, and garden a ranch. We no longer water our flowers, we irrigate them, and I u^ver borrow a quarter, though I soinetimes ^rike a friend for two bits. lai A Caniu'k t/oitvi South. In tliis way my fricnda kaow I liave tra- relled. A few days before we left, Di- ogenes came to mc and said, thait as I was going, he had no longer an incentive to be idle, and so had gone to work. I afikcJ liiin what kind of work he was doing, and he saild he wa.> a solicitor. 'A what!* I said. 'A solicitor/ *ilow much did you pay for your de- gree?' 'Nothing. I juiit jnade up my mind I wouM like tlie work.' *Your usual modesty. Because you marage to keep out of gaol, you fancy you loiow someltldng of law.' *Who said any-thing about law/ he cried, indijjnantly, 'I'm going to sell bicycles.* And then I learned lihat in California a canvasser is a solicitor. Our AroadLa was not without its myths and legends, its orades and seers. One can best arrive alt t(he vices and vir- t4ies of a i)eople by reading the adrw- 122 In Arcadia. tisoments in the daily pres«. The people may indignantly repudia-te a charge of superstition or gullibility, but if the papers are filled with fortunetellers' otuxlfl and patent medicine and specialist ad- vertisemeaiits, it is not because the afl- vertisers are eager to add t-o the revenue of the press. The columns of the south - em California press are filled with such things. Then there is always a columa devoted to business ahances, some of the bargains offered being truly generous. One I remember was an offer of a lialf iruterest for one hiundred dollars of a business that brought in two hundred dollars per niontih. If the advertiser had braved it out a fortnight, he mig»it have been his own partner. " ■■'*", 128 1 1 lit u ^ »l ii« CIIAPTEIl V. In tue SiERiiA. 'Nineteen of the Sierra peaks rise to R height of ten thousand feet, and seven of them rise still higher, until Mount Whitney wears the crown, rising to the heavens to the height of 14,900 feet. Some of these summits are still warm with volcanic heat. There they stand, white-hooded, with glaciers moving along their flanks, as if a thousand years wete but as yesterday, letting loose the moim- tain strer.ms that go singing down to the sea. There is the divine sculpture of the rocks, the lakes that mirror those eternal ramparts, the great forests that eing in the storm and sigh in the sum- mer breeze and the groups of sequoia overmatching in height and circumfer- 124 In the f^lerra. ence any other conifers on the globe. There the clouds come down and IciM the mountains, and the lesson is renewed every day of eternal repose and majesty and strength. The mountains are not solitary, but are rich in floral and ani- . mal life. There butterflies flit and birds sing and hi:.ge grizzly bears come out of caves and caverns. There the mariposa lily unfolds its petals and the snow plant, red as blood, springs in a day mysteriously out of the margin of receding banks of snow. And there the lakes repose in bowls with the moun- tains for rims.* These words of Senator Perkins are very pretty and very true, but one has to run almost throughout the state to see all tlxat he depicts. On a more moderate scale, however^ almost any por- tion of the mountain region affords such beauty and even approximately such gran- deur, and DO small portion of our plea- sure while at Sierra Madre was derived from watching the ever-changing aspect 125^ A Canuck dotcn tiouth, of the hills and wanderiitg among their < verdant canons and upon their lofty 'heights. When we arrived at our cottage home in Sierra Madre the children were no sooner out of the carriage before they ' clamored to be taken up the mountains ' that seemed to ri«e out of our back • yard. It was almost impossible to con- vince ourselves, much less them, that the first outlier of the range was quite half a mile away, and it was still more difij- cult to believe that those rock masses Avere tov/ering up four, five and six thou- B;md feet. The only occasion when a proper estimate of the height of the ■ range could be formed was upon a cloudy ' day, when the mists would ebb and flow. Then, while the upper part of the range would be wholly hidden, some magnifi- cent knoll that on fine days we mistook for a gentle elevation would stand out against the background of fleecy white, towering up to twice the height of our own Mount Royal. Ten minutes later 12G In ih€ Skna, the cIouJb would part, and Ibat hill would sink into inBignificance and be- come merged once more in the general contour of the range. Morning, noon and night, ihe hills seemed instinct with life. Even in the sunshine and basking under a cloudless sky, they changed from hour to hour ; and in the monotony of our California life we grew to love them and to watch their every mood. On them alone was to be seen any semblance of the green robe to which we were ac- customed and for which we vainly yearned in the general landscape of the more level valley. Sometimes, too, a careless hand would start a fire, and all night long it would seethe and billow far up among the stars, sometimes creeping like a fiery serpent around a projecting crag and sometimes rushing up a piny canon, v/hich at dawn gleamed, a black- ened ruin, in the rising sun. Among these hills and upon their very summits are to be found sanitoriums wTiere the consumptive flees from the ji7 A Canuck down ^outh. gireat flood of death which is consUiitl/ ming about the race or man. Mount Lowe and Wilson's Peak are two such, adjacent to Sierra Madre, both attainable bj' trails and the formor reached also by a mountain railway rivalling the Rigi. On the trails, especially that to Wilson'g Peak, the bnrro is used, an animal which has done as much for the developmenifc of California as the railway itself, for with- out the burro to bear the pioneer and his pack over and among the mountains Cali- fornia had hardly even yet stood in need of the ii>on horse. The burro is not quite a donkey, though T doubt whether his own mother could expbin the difference. He is a kind of Shetland pony run to ears, or more cor- rectly a mongrel or poor relation of every member of the equine ra j. He is not described in Dr. Goldsmith's 'Animated J^ature,' for obvious reasons. His move- ments arc 80 slow that phyeiciana pre- BcrToe burro riding as a sedative. It is impossible to catch any diseaae on burro 12« ^^^ the Sierra. tack, not even locomotor ataxia. He ..»u..c.J a, a boiler factor. «„ the I ''^•'^""'''-o-otfa.t.l.e: ^a « is 1""'"'^'"^ -" "-"'^ «,v , c">7 ot pohtieiane. and whe^^e decided that Uw,uM be a pj nt departure to celebrate Christ Jd., by an opon-air pic„.e among the »a J ■nake th excunsio.. on bu^o back. W^on'sPeaki^reach^,^^^ * " '"'«°'' "^d f~« Pa^dena, which coneei-ns us no farf),.- j ua no tarther, and one the old t""! from Sierra Madre. ^ „,; ' .^^ counterfeit bi„« could scarccl.tt Zl another. When ,„ "^ ""^ latt«r • 7 * ^""^"^ "ood «>« U^^r„ab«.t.,,,,,,.,^.^,^ .u^^ntl, naxn,ws to leas «^ .Hree. A yaxd « enough for a bu,,o. «nee he .f wa.a finda four feet to walk on. but the of o? *. ""' "'^ "■"" » «teer fait »f other thousands on the outer edge 'M 139 a ■ A Canuck down South. especially if the burro pauses absent- mindedly and reaches outt after a spray of leaves, while the ground begins to slip from under him. In sudi a case the rider wishes for the wings of a dove or for a parachute. The road to the foc-t of the trail skirts the flank of tlie Sierra, under majestic tjplifte, in contour rot unlike the triangu- lar folds of ml? j' i-.^eepers display in their windows. At evening the depart- ing ray? of the eun light up and mellow these peaks until they resemble sdlk in texture also, but in "the unromantic day the sparse pines that cling to each round- ed mass make a pate not unlike that of Diogenes, who has a hair restorer which he recommeads to every or^ is infallible. Immediately below, here i.n^. niere, amid slender leaved peppers, wif '^ drooping scarlet berries, or the eucalipti, Austra- lian visitants which shed their bark and not their leaves, or oftener still among graceful palms and vast leaved bananas, the cottages of Sierra Miidre cling to the 13(> In the Sierra. hillsides, always Burrounded by lemon and oiangc groves, ait tliat time heavy with golden spheres. TLe San Gabriel valley lies outspread beyond, white in patchet of arid, cactus breeding mesas and in places green with fruit plantations; and dtall farther o£f the horizon ie serried V. ith a line of mountains, rise above rise, the higher peaks dazzling wiih their crowns ai snow. And over all thai day "was sr.ch peace that the buzzing of a fly or clear call of tihe cicada through the ambient heat was soul stirring as the bugle blare to troop« ina;rtivc on a bat- tle's edge. But there was not one blaJ.e of gra's. Here, indeed, distance lends enchant- menjt. Wherever we might ride, save in the mountains, nature mourned for hvr children. Her sweet form lay bare to curious eyes, backing the soft, clinging drapery of verdure that tempts the soul aa thei Greek gown lures to love. But all was shortly to change with the coming of spring, a season more etherial than any other land can boast, and amid J I.I i s 131 A Canuck down South. 'The lisp of leaves and ripple of rain.' earth was to rejuvenate herself and meda and bare hiUBide to don an emerald gar- ment the like to which few other !:utdt might ahow. Even though graas was lacking I woa charmed, with the scene, and said 00 to Diogenes, who was riding in the rear. I had not turned my head and when I was answered by a word much used in excommunications, I turned round in amazement, only to find that the epithet had not been intended for me. Diogenes is built like a pair of compasses, and when he rides a burro is apt to stub his toe unless he keeps hia knees as hig!h as his head. He had forgotten this while ad- miring the prospect, and had let his legs hang down, whereupon he ran the gamut of evolution and became transformed from a quadruped into a biped. His ^urro slipped from under and left him standing in the road. He resigned hia position as superintendent of the local Sunday-school the next day, although I had told him I would not turn informer. 132 In the Sierra. '- m led The Princess's daughter, who is in- cidentally mine also, five years of age, bad her own burro to ride and was se- cured to the saddle. She rode astride. T%e side-saddle can be seen in southern California, in museums, where the nevr woman can laugh at it and scoff at her mother. A few such saddles are kept by liverymen for the use of tourists from the east, but as a general rule women in this region ride nature's way, and I have aeen so many girls ride astride, so many bloomers and hundred-button gaiters in Califofmia that I am sure I will bluah at the suggestiveness of the side-saddle for many a day to come. The first time I saw a young woman riding in bloomen I thought an accident had happened, and took to the woods to relieve her embar^ rasament. Mais nous avons change tout ceia, and, after all, bloomers are not im- moral— ihey are only distressingly ugly. If women want more freedom in thsir gaiments, let them by all means dress Khe a man, and a graceful shape will look 336 fir ■ vi A Canuck dotcii South, tweet and modest enough. CompromiauA are never artistic. We used fhe Mexican saddle, though a •aw-ihorse or a tea-tray A\ould have done as well, for any one who would fall off a burro would be immediately arrested for aitAempted suicide. The Mexican sad- dle has huge stirrups of wood or leather that would fit a Chicago girl, and has also a platform in front upon wliich to stand while admiring the scenery. This pommel, as it is called, was, I am told, devised by a vigilance committee to pre- vent cruelty to animals, as it requires a limited corporation to ride a saddle so equipped. A dear fat friend of ours oould not accompany us because, as he jocu- larly remarked, he could not 'atomu^?.!' a Mexican saddle, unless he rode back- wards, in which case the draught between the burro's ears would give him lumbago. Shortly we reached tihe commencement o£ the trail, and I may ais weill coniosa that it was not long before I had to be careful when shutting my mouth not to 134 In the f^ierra. bite my heart in two. The lieLr to my debts, aged three, wiho eat at my saddio how, added to my delight at iaterval* by asking me what I tvould do were l4ie biirix) to fall down this or that abyss, at tlio Iwttom of which tVi«! pine trees look- ed like grass and the nieihing torrent like a silver thread. At times, one foot tvas contracting rheumatism from the draught of some unfatli0.nab\e gorge over which it hung, vhile il;s fellow had difficulty in avoiding a squire league of mountain. Once the child leaned over to pluok some blossoms growing on the edge of a precipice. He did not get them, and I got only half a breath, while the burro cast a reproachful glance at both of us as he swung suddenly in towards safety. 1 gave him no sympathy, however, as for some time he had been displaying a sav- age joy in walking upon the outermost edge of the trail, heedless of my nerves and of the interest of the company which carries an insurance upon my life. I ha-d frequently heard of thi? peculiarit'.v !'! !l III' ■^i'iii 13ft i. Canuck domi South. of Ibc burro and never thought of the czpkDniioa of it until I actw Diogenes on one. It is a mistake to say the burro takes the outer fdge of the trail because he is accustomed to carrying p^cks, he does so either to get room for his own or his rider's ears. We reached a height from which we could look down npoai San Gabriel Val- ley, and what a sight that was! The or- ange and lemon trees looked like those pigmy plants the Chinese excel < in wjlti- vating. The scattered cottages looked like dolls' houses, the orchards like checker- boards, the waste lands showed their dry watercourses which give them the local name of washes, hills once respectable became mere ant hiSls, and Pomona and Los Angoles seemed near enough to one another to have the one board o«f alder- men. And beyond, through a gap in the distant mountains, gleamed the Pa- cific, a broad sheet of silver, with Santa Catalina Island set in its midst, like a sapphire. 13« In the Sierra. There is one loop on the trail, scratched on the face of a perpendicular cliff, from which we looked across a canon and saw where our burros were about to carry us. It was not a soothing prospect. A cloud or two hid the view, somewhat, but, all the same, we noted the sheer rise from base to summit certainly not less than three thousand feet, and up the face ol that magnificent uplift winds the trail, a mere line in the sky, enough to make one dizzy merely to look at it. We had a camera with us and a picture of one of us on that clifE now adorns my library. I wanted to get a c mpanion picture of Diogenes falling down the canon, but he very selfishly declined to- accommodate me. He could have done it just ,as easy as not, since the trail is only two feet wide at one of the most dangerous places. Monitreal readers will get some idea of thia trail if I ask them to pile several French Churdh towers one vpoB the other and tlien ride round the top most coping, till they have acoom- 137 A Canuck down South. pliirficd a few miles. Nay, this i» belo-vv the truth, for there are places where we »kirted prccipdces at whose base the French Church towers could scarcely Imve been distiniguished. And yet we Wf re not half-way up that tower of Ba- bel of mounting, giant reared to heaven, beyond the reach of flood, silent, de.sert- cti, a\vfuil in their titanic majesty. After an eternity of thi.. tight-r3pe buainoss the scene changed. We were still creeping skyward, but were now so deep among the hills that the ravines began to grow shallower. And then, anuid the shifting shadows of that golden day, flung from aromatic pines, steeping the soul in memories of Canadian woods, I dxew one easy breath at last. We were not at the summit, for we contem- plated returning the same day to close our Ohriijtmas ia Canadian fashion with a heavy dinner and an evening round a roaring grate fire. But wo were so high that we feared our burros' ears would dis- turb the astral maps, and had St. Peter IS* In the Sierra. appeared to ask for our passporta W« would scarcely have \yeen surprised, ■!- though Diogenca would certainly hav« been embarrassed for once. Our picnic was a succesa, and none ci MB will sver forget that Christmas meal amid the sliifting shadows of the piuoi upon a golden, glowing afternoon, beaid« a purling stream, cryjital clear, ice coM. Our ride homeward was thrilling, but un- eventful. The burros actually trotted at tiii.ea, and the rattle of stones loosened by their dainty feet to bound and re- bound into the sullen gorges was not the sweetest nor the most reassuring music in a timid ear. That was my firaH; venture among the Sierra, but their spell was upon me, and many a day thereafter I used to roam on foot upon the same trail, visiting canons and crags, at times with rifle or revolver, at times trusting entirely to the charm of nature for entertainment. One deserted shack, I shall not say where, for fear of rcprisaJs, once tempted me to :A 130 Sqfs A Cantuk ilmcn Houth. incTeBtigate. Below stain it was innocent enonc^, but venturing further, into the Attic, to which early gymnastic training alone enabled me to hoitst myself, I found that I was among the haunts of *moou- sfhiners.* There was no liquor, but there was case upon case of little flasks, dry as my-self, awaiting the nijrht, when stealthily through the gloom to that lonely spot some desperate law-breaking private diatiller, with revolver at his belt, would steal fzx>in some still more lonely recess among the : n tains with a sus- pieious barrel upon tne back of a secre- tive burro and make those particles of blf wn glass capable of administering to the joys and sorrows of his fellow-men. Some- times I would, when pining for the snowa of Canada, pluck a rose in our garden, stick it in my button hole and breast the trail, to luxuriate within the half kour in banks of snow. Once when I }iad been thxts engaged I found on my reti!irn, within a few hours, that a friend had been wrentling with the angel of 140 In the Sierra, God and flecurcd the blessing of immor- tality, by so slender a hair is life held in that land of invalids. He had been acarco half an hour dead when I arrived, yet by that time his body was on the road t-o Pasadena in an undertaker's van, and all the world was changed for those who loved him. Some people have presenti- ments o-f such things, but I never hare. Nothing important can happen to those the Princes?" ioves but what she feels it. Once sh( hurried me upon a railway journey on wihat I thought was but a wild-goose chase, upon one such presenti- ment and we arrived as though in re- sponse to the telegram we had never re- ceived. And fiflie knows by intuition wliether I have been delayed by business or a friend at the club, which renders her a somewhat embarrassing wife, or would do so if I were not the saint I am. Psychologists may explain this ad theor will, the fact remains, as I can at- test. Perhaps one must truly live in and for others before such a gift is vouch- safed. The selfisih are beneath it. V 14t :"'-^!i A Cmiuck doitm Houlh. }t was my good fortune to form oue of a party invited to dedicate a new trail through the Sierra. A number of ladies had decided to be the first whose i^kirts would flutter at that high alti- tude, and the officials of the trail invited a number of men to accompany them in sell-defence. We formed a gay caval- cade, and all the ladies rode astride (the Princess was not with us). A temporary trail, corkscrewing up a dreadful slope, almost made some of us slip over our burro's tail, a possibility which was, however, partly robbed of its terrors by the fact that, in such an event, we knew we would land in the lap of some of the opposite sex behind us, the cavalcade being in such manner arranged. The completed trail was not different from any other except that na- ture was still virgin about us. No van- dal hand had cut down the tawny ma- drona or still more swarthy and snaky m'anzanita. The holly berries flashed their scarlet glow upon us, the bay tree 142 In the Sierra. fanned us and the live oak scattered its aheiiy leaves and tremulous shadows €7crywhere. Graceful femo and starry yucca pleased the eye, and we needed no warning to avoid that slender- stemmed, dark-leaved skulker among the heavier wood, for we knew the poison ock of old. So, on and up we moimted, now looking across a canon to the sheer sides of Monrovia mountain towering 4,410 feet into the air, now looking down to catch a glimpse of tapering pines and to hear the murmur of some mountain stream. When the trail became too narow for our burros we advanced on foot. The line of the road had only been marked out, And we had some training in true mountaineering. At one point it was necessary to step from one spur of rock to another with a gorge seven hundred feet in depth yawning hungrily below. The ladies were more indefatigable than the men, and it shortly transpired that their enthuoiasm arose from the fact that IPiH^i': n;{ A Canuck down South. a few hundred yards in advance on the line of the trail ^'as a mountain stream upon whose brink no woman had ever stood, and they were determined to visit and christen it. The chosen sponsor was a charming young lady, whose Chris- tian name was Oline, and after her the stream wae to be named, with the pre- fix 'Saint,' 'all places and things being saints hereabouts, if Oline isn't,' as a maiden friend remarked. The ceremony was short and simple. Standing on the ferny margin of the pool, which mur- mured down a shady and rocky canon, the slender, girlish figure bent, and in the hollow of her hand took up a sunny wavelet with which she performed the mystic rite. It was my privilege as poet laureate to record the christening in simple verse, as follows : — 144 m m In the Sierra, THE POOL OF SANT' OLTNE. ■' '-■1 1 1 t i ";i:i I- Ere yet the Spanish cavalier For this new world set sail, Ere yet the Padres came anear San Gabriel's sunny vale, Ere yet the thirst for gold drew men Across the western hills. I rippled down this rocky glen. The happiest of rills. H'ij. i_^'if jlll^ The shadows of the spreading oak Oft lay upon my breast ; Oft through the brown madronas broke Tlie bear upon his quest. Past starry yuccas to my brink At many a crimson dawn The m( intain lion came to drink, and oft a timid fawn. ii; ii',.. ! The golden moments came and went Of many a sunny year, And still I rippled on, consent And solitary here. At times a weary miner came And quaffed my cooling stream. At times I saw the camp lire flame Of hardy hunters gleam. 145 A Canuck down South. Though oft I paused to hear some bird Trill in the leaves above, A maid I never saw nor heard, Nor knew the name of love. Oh, there was never rivulet So merry in a glen ; But now I never can forget, Nor happy be again. She came in thoughtless girlish mood, The dizzy trail along. Upon my ferny marge she stood And listened to ray song. 1 saw her and I leapt for glee In many a lucent wave, And when she stooped to drink from me My vt ry heart I gave. She passed, and now no more I slag Among the granite liills ; Instead, my ceaseless murmuring The sombre canon tills , Oh, ye to whom that maid divine llath also heartless been, Come join your mournful plaint with mine, The pool of Sant' Oline. c t ii 88 el Be \m ■ ■■'".* . ■ s nne, [ ijang»y^)gitf s^)ja»3irscj» ••*.••*.••*.••*. Iff** 'W^ 'm** ' t^(^r^(^(%aog»»aoa(K»(Ka« ROUGHING IT. •.•?*.•:*.•?•.•?;• The luzuriee of ao'-d&y are tihe neces- saries of to-morrow. We (had been blessed in Gamada mth a comfortable, well-biillt and well-furnished ihome, and had followed our own Ihabits and cus- toms. But in Oalifomia we, in company with tliousands of other winterers, found ourselves obliged to conform to new cus- toms, adopt new habits and rou{^ it Bomerwihat disagreeably in a house lack- ing many conveniences, and wihich, while said to be furnielied, resemMed notSiisg else so much as a OanadJaoi home alter seizure for rent, inasmudh as it contained only the bare necessaries wMdh cold- IK ri te- lls 147 v-f ■ 'rl A Canuck down South, hearted justice deema imperattvely requi- fli'te for the ezuptence of even a bsmk- mpt. One rents a furnished house in Sierra Madre without the formdity of an in- ventory, but one hss to pay remit in ad- vaoice, tihe landlord taking no risks of one's death before the mointh Is up; and aa %.e first month'iB rent "would pay for the entire fumiiture, making an inven- tory would be too much like work for the average Sierra Madran. We could proba/oly have taken away the house at the expiry of our tax months' term with- out any questobns being asked— ^ait all events, we thougiht we had paid about all that it was worth. In our case, i^Dwever, we heard long after that theri had been an Inventory. The house agent from wihk>m we had tak- en the cottage knew nothing of it, and no tenant ever saw £t, but it reiposed in . the cfharse of a friend of orir estimable landlady, our landlady being an absen- 143 Roughing It, • 1 t€e, and afforded the lady "wfco held it the coDseoiLal pdeaflure of pidvaitely in- vestigafting the damage done by each out- going vaiodal, and retailing it to her croaiiea over a cup of tea. No official! compQaint had ever been lodged, but by thia merciful dispeneation of pi'ovidence a certain stratum of eocieity -wteus enter- tained and occupied at a very small ex- pense. I imagine the inventory ran about as follows. It will do for mamy a cottage in the place, and, indeed, Dio- genes says thait sLt least two invalids lay down and died of sheer chagrin when they heard how luxuriyyusly we lived. Inventobt. J Best bedroom — ^The usual hard-wood sert found in seaside hotels, bureau mir- ror maiking a hat on the left ear appear to be on ertraight, carpet made by Noah after he had troddem the wine-press. Worst bedroom — One cheap folding- bed, variegated with a chintz front, war- 149 A Canuck down South. ranted better than an alarm clock at daybreak, one enamelled cbair, formerly white. The occupant of ithis room migjht use the kitdhen sink for a waa!h- Eftand and finUh dressing at the mirror in tftie other room. The floor had a atra;w matting on paiits of it. Dining-room— Hardwtood table and four chairs. There wouldn't have been room for any more, anyway. When we ha/i guests, we moved the table inlto the pai"- !or. This room also contained a diminu- tive stove, called a 'CShromo/ and it was one. Ift was spavined in the ofE hind leg, and was rarely on speaking terms with the dhimney. I*arlo(r— One antique rug (antique sounds betiter than antiquated), eked out with pieces of straiw matting, an in- toxicated bamboo easel warranted to fall upon the nearert person, a visitor for choice, in order to afford a theme for oooiversatioai. (' How horrid ! I do hope it did not hrjt you. No ? How 160 m Roughing It. fortunate. It didn't injure your bon- net ? No ? I'm glad. It's roch a beautiful bonnet ; last year's Btyles were charming, weren't tbey ?*) There warn a bamboo Icxunge in the parlor, the only comfortable piece of furniture in the house, and there were mx cihairs, no iiwo alike, none upholstered, and tlhree were rockers. There were two small tablet. Cutlery, kitclien utensils, ohina (no, I mean crockery), and lineai to match. Wa had napkins on Sunday, till our own supplies turned up. In describing tbeir oontents, I have incidentally meniioned all the rooms of our house, except the kitchen, which could be called a room only by courtesy. The architects of the houses in Sierra Madre wore dyspeptic, and always forgc*+< to make provision £o the State. It was not Icaig 'before we had devoured all the chickens of the neighborlhood, but that is not saying mu(?h, the chickens of California are raised by inicubator, and fed by hand, amd cost their weaglht in gold to bring them into the world. And they no sooner see the kind of country they have got into than they pine away. Diogenes and I decided that there waa money for two dever men in a chicken ranch, and we started one. It was a beautiful ranch, electro-plated wire fence, fine view of the Sierra, one clump of gnasB six indies square, imported at great ♦xpeoase, and a hen house that was the pride of Sierra Madre. The incubaitor was exquisitely polished and varnished, and the oil we boimed ooot a faibulous sum, while the thermometer was one that oould give any other tflbermometer in the place a start of ten degrees a-nd beat it out of sight before the afternoon. It (V, 167 :'f A Canuck down South. had ome of tihioee affairs la It for re^ster* ing tbe maximuim temjpepaiture and we bad only to hold it over the lamp a few mimutes, and it wiouM keep up the tem- peiiatiire of that incuibaitor during the coldest nigiht, even if the lamp went out, I>iioigen«9 call^ me one nigibt just to see it. We were shivering, with blankets WTapx/ed round ua like Pueblo Indians, but through th-e glass of the inicubator that needle in the inside of the thermo- mieter was sticking as clotse to a hundred as if the lamp hadn't been exhausted long before. And ihe miercury wasn't near it, either. But we never seemed to get any chickens, so we used to buy them from the butdher and pay sixty cents aipieoe for them, and it took two to make a meal for one person. Besides, we had trouible with the in- cubaitor. It is bad enough to see a fuU- sized hem fussing over a solitary chick, but it passes the bounds of toleranxje to see a big incubator cluoking abouit the yard, scratdbing the paint off the fence 188 Roughing It. and trying to convmce a drooping chicken that it is fattening diet. And to see an incubaitor staLd ruefully beside tlie irrigation tamks while some duck- ling swam out on the water was eriiough to give a man a delirium. No, when we began to have dreams like that, we knew it was our reason or the incubator that would have to go. We would ha\e gone into market gardening but that seemed overdone. Vegetables were a drug on tihe market. When I fijsit dealt with Joibn Wee Oheii Yen, and asked him for tyenty-five cents wcrtih, he gat down, phlegmatiically, and began to imihaitneas his team. 'What's the matter?' I aaid. 'Me keep horses; yiou keep rest,* he said, end John's vegetable waggon wm larger than a hay cart. But tihey can not grow a vegetable! in Oalifornia to compare, for taste, with thlose of lihe East. They are like tlhe climate, mono- tonousi'y alike. Of wibait use is a pump- kin that cannot be moved without a der- m v» A Canuck down 8outh> rick a>nd a team of horses, if it mil not make a New England puiopkia pie? Oalifomiana will say we didn't know how to oook them. Our butcher used that excuse. He had sold us the last hen in the state, one wfhidh had been brought in by the early missionaries, and of coiirse I broke my carver on it, and sub- sequently splintered the axe-handle. Then I complained to him. *How long did you oook ilt?* he asked. *An hour.' *You should have cooked it three.* And when I told him thia;t wi-th fuel as expensive as it was he would have to bring me a government contract with each hen, he merely laughed at me. After our unfortunate experience with the chicken corral, Ddogenes and I cast about for some other occupation. At first our inclinations were towards some- thing involving brain work, somethling which we could do while sitting on the .verandah smoking and discussing plans. But after a while we realized that there ICO R&ugMng It. is no laboir 90 dd^ified m manual laibor. We would becoone ihomy huuded sons o£ toil, and after a few* years maybe we mdght become walking delegates and Na- poleoniie leaders of a gtrike. We asked tbe Prdttcees what sihe tJboughit. She told us sihe tihiought that was about tflie kind of workmen we would be and of course, that complimenit from her settled the nuatter. So we went out to see if there was any job to be bad washing oranges. In some localities, apparently, where the fogs reach, oranges get toudhed witb a kind of smut, whicih is scrubbed off after plucking, and laborers get about three cenits per box of two 'hundred. We made six cents each, that day, enough to make a Mexican feel like a nabob. We would have nuade more only we fell into a discussion as to what bank we would put our savings into, and, of course, our discussion was so brigiht that the other workers crowded round till the rancher oame and said he would save us the trouble of quarrelling on the subject. t: . 161 : .'iii A Co/nuck down South. We decided after that one experience of the grasping nature of capitaliats that "we would be our own masters, amd with our vvoaith buy up tihe mortgage on tihat man's e£l;ate and squeeze him. I am glad now that we did not, for we might have foimd ourselves like many others in the region, tied for eternity to a ranch that barely paid expenses. There was an old mine tunnel in the haHe nearby, and we decided that \\iie(re there was a mine shaft there was sure to be gold and salver. We had not read mine prospectuses for nothing. The mine was dieserted, but we knew that the general thing is that the poor fellows whio dig in and bkwt and get 'busted/ on A mine, leave off about six inches from the bland lead, or the hainging wall, or the maitiix; so we determdned to opea up that half-foot. But there seemed to be a hiitch somewhere, amd after boring B hole and examining the rock we went back home and spent the afternoon 162 Roughing It. pleasantly and instructively sfcudying Mark Twain and Bret Hart. Witlh renewed courage we decided to prospect, especially as the guide book« declared that fhe Sierrar of Southern Oali- fomia have never been thoroughly pww- peoted, and ougiht to contain untold minieral wealth. For a few days we wan- dered among the canyons and peaks, oc- casionally forgetting our object in the dharm of the scenes. On the lower slopes the soft glow of the purple penste- mon and the deep indigo of the lark- spur diveFsified the scene, mth an occa- sionail flacdh of the scarlet larkspur, which is indigenous to California. The lavender tuil&ps nodded across the plains, and in the washes the white petals of the tall bufih poppy shone aivxund a golden cen- tre. Here and there among the rocks the mimulus was wreathing its orange and red, and the sofit purple of the nightshade Idghted up its dee^per hues. The open slopes were thronged with sun- flowers, and "wiith Hhe advent of spridog 1' ( !i ! !;, I I:. 1 P: t , les A Canuck down South. the piopp'.es had sprung up, like high- landers ironti the correi, and their fiery oroflB was blaaiing far aaid wide, viable even to the wondei'ing sailors far out at 4Ka for the color of tlie poppy is a land- mark to the mariner upon that dreamy ocean. On the higiher levels or slopes the chap- arrel robed the hills in shaggy green, the mountain streams sang as they leaped from cliff to diff. The white sage uplift- ed its tall spires, the yerba santa attract- ed the eye and tihe fragrance of the white amd bluish bloom of bhe miounitaia ma- hogany was upon the air. Here the yuooa lifted its lilies, the bxmeh grass grew and the vetdies trailed their gar- lands of purple and green over the msty white of the wild buckwheat. Willows and coittoniwioods, sycamores and live oaks deepened the shadows, ferns de- pended from moist banks, and far aloft, thoueaude of feet above us we could see the sunlight sUvering ^igajntic mafises of granite, and hear the breezes wliiispering 164 Rouphing It. among t.lie pines that wound intermin- ably up-wards around the flanka of the Sierra, until loet amid the azure clouds where tlhe eomdor waa wheeling upon mKyt» ing spell for baith and breakfa.^. When I say bajth I speak witfh a men- tal reservation. There was one bath in Sierra Madre, and when it was being brought in it frightened the horses worst than a steam roller, and ihe Mexicans couldn't be got to go *'»ear the house 167 ill A Canuck down South. where it was for love or monoy. The man who had tha/t bath kept it in hi» parlor, and thoeo of ufl wiho were not »o furtnnaie thought he only did it justice. Diogenes and I occafinonaillY turned the hose on ourselves in the wood-ahed, but %B a general rule we bathed in aeotiont, beginning at the head on Sunday morn- ing and managing to reach the feet by Saturday night. As the largest vessel in the house was a diahpan, our ten- acity of purpose can be understood. We would have preferred the hose process, but the water company sent us a letter tiat general irriga>tion was only permit- ted three days in each month. After breakfiist came a man. who was our thorn in the flesh. Either he sel- dom had the article we waited or was of the opinion that it was not good for us, for he imvariabdy spent half an hour trj'- ing to persuade us to take somethilng else and at he had a monopoly, the discussion usually terminated by his having his way. He had a cheerful air of superiority 168 Roughing It, About liim tibat made one willing to be an aaBasein, and he wae a lightaing cal- culator. While I would be lalboriKyuiily calculating with pencil and paper whiat poundj and fractaona of our purobaaea at vanring prices and half cents came to, he would nonchalantly jot the total down in our book and drive away to inetruot some one else in arithmetic. And to make matters worse, after I had work- ed the sum out by aigefbra, which ie easier to me than arithmeitic, I would find that he had been right after all. Next came the fishmonger with oysteni in tins and fresh salmon and halibut from the ocean and northern streams. After him the wine merchants would be- gin to arrive, half a dozen of them some- times, and every one would insist upon my taking a glass whether I intended to purchase or not. By the time they were due Diogenes would be on hand to see that I had some one to help me, for it is too serious an insult to think of refusing the proffer. It would have been kindliflr 'li 160 ,-.-i tt!' HH A Canuck down South. to kick thfOin diowTiiektair& I may say, ea pasiwnt, that I do not boo «njt*h.u9iag- tically admire the vnnea of California, except the elarets, th«n which I do not hope to drink l)«titer; and claret was fifty C5enit8 per gallon in Sierra Maudre. Water soon became good enough to wash in. The twandy of California rei>t it waa good to be alive, aiul that life had grown ever so much mere delightful since ouir arrival. Wheri we paid him im cash, he grew aa shy a^ a maideiQ receiving her firsfc offer, and waf 131 at ease unitil the mercenary trazufactdon waa over. When we ceased so to trouble him he would smile all over and *njilark' it om the wall with such delight tha.t we be- gan tc think hi? country must be an Edcx^ for impecunious men and ifco credit bin with ^ n insane desire to cover cottaf,es with hifl quaint hieroglyphics. And when he went away he always said good-by so heartily that it sounded like a benedic- tion. One couldn't spank the enfant terrible for an hour after. There are bad Chinamen, I have no doubt, very bad Gbdnamen, but before despising the Chi- nese nation it would be well for other nations to ascertain w^bether they, too,, feave not a few black sheep. If John likes to hit the pipe a little too much, John Bull and Brother Jonathan are by 172 Roughing It. no means proiiibdtioniata, and while John is revelling in iheavenly dreama that even opium will not bring! to tihe others, John Bull ifi belaboring hSa wife and Brother Jonathan cihaillen^g ail creation to » round. All three may end in the same police court in California, and John may get the heaviest sentence, it is true, but that does not settle the superiority of race or morals. We were not the only people who were roughing it in southern California. When the piinds begin to blow keenly in the east, and the fallen leaves lie thick upon the flward, when the lilies that toil not disappear, «o also disappear from familiar haunts others who do not spin, and like to wihom Solomon in all hia glory wa«» never arrayed. The genua tramp, the palmers of the nineteenth century, steal- ing rides when they can, begging or walk- ing, 0uc(;eed, in some mysterious way, in crossing the arid plains and the cloud- hooded Rockies, and become a genuine and not altogether safe afHiction in the M 173 ii A Canuck down South. Land of Sunshine. I do not think the Princess ever turned a beggar from the door, for she haa a maxim that a meal can do no haxm to any one, but by and by our tramps began to flock in from all quarter© and capped the climax by steal- ing our very dinner on one occasdon, af- ter having been given a good breakfast. Bo at laet I put up a sign at thel turn of the road as foUoavs: — SO AIM • • . Tramps Accommodated with Soap, . Water Supplied Opp<3site. ''m if^*-,-.;*:. ^•M.fiilit^f,;:;^;* c # • • • • This sign served its purpose, eapeciailly aftei* I had erased the private misurka of tbi© fraternity. It was a source of plea- siare to Diogenes and me to sit on the vecrandah and see a traimp come esper- taotiy uj) the road till within sight of i^at sign. He would go up to it, and sometiimes we %vould hoar him soliloquize. .t*4 ..v* ,,JS.k, '• ii.v» r^ Roughing It, ! ^^t-^- ^PpKed opposite. Who waat, 'oofaD« anything but happy ^ ' Ja-d^a and Lo, An«e,«, e„™ed all 2^ day .a« enough; they n..-ar ^P-Wnin^emthey^eh^Zhecit, ^^. Another town kept a :^^r J ^* of oM a„d to tho «„. p.,po« Before we found.it absolutely nZI" «JJ7 «P»t a plea^nt hajf hour with a ^^ They e^d aa n.uch <«^ „, r "" •" """<* i^t-Ueot in wheedling « d~dayo.din«wor.a,w^M»l ^™ a^ «et upon i^^ in,,^^ """ "^' -'■«^ with truth or fn J !| m A Can k dotCH Sauth. hood, at least entertained me with a deactnption of his pioturesque life and with ta]es of places he had visited, will pome day be toased fpom the car upon which he is stealing! a ride^ and the cofo oner will ask no embarraeamg questions of the brakemen. One of iha customs we had brought with us from Canada waa thatt of using ice in hoit weather to pretserve food and to cool our drinks, and, of course, we immediately ordered ice to be supplied daily But we countermanded that or- der after the first ball came in. We found that we had luxuriously been oom- suming a dollar's worth of ice to pre- serve a fifty-cent breakfast and the ica Beveor s-eeined to cool anything, anyway. California was always surprising us in some such simple matter. If we wanted a diink of cold water, we naturally ran it fresh from the tap, but when Diogeneu wanted one he let it stand quite a while, and ijis was cooler than ours. And he told lis that the use of doe was all tom- m «i » mmrn v miimmim Roughing It. foolery so far as prc^serving meat was concerned. 'Hot weB;tiher here/ he said, 'may cook your meat, hat it "will not apoil iit. Bult don't lay in a tAipply in rainy weather; or you will have to mov« into the next lot in an hour or two And you'M be fortunate if the meat doesn't follow.' All the cotJtages have a kind of screen box nailed up on their shadieflt side, and in this butter, meat and other perishable articles of diet are placed, in the open air, covered, to prevent their dr>nn|r 'sp. Everytihinii, or ahnoet everything, was sold in Sierra Madre by weisrht, and thi/ frequenitly included the purchaser. Travelling vans carry spring scales, such as are prohibited by Canadian law, and no two of these scales agree. The scale of one of our tradespeople made oitr grocer's pound weigh nineteen ounces, and I used to lie awake at night trying to d«cide whether, if I made trouble, the grocer or the other man would alter his scale. But the spring balance was not I( t A Canuck doton South, the only scaJe which deceived. Having gone to Sierra Madre for my health, 1 naturally waa wonit to weigh myself rogiiJarly. At our grooer'a I weighed a hundred and twenty-four pounds. Two days later I weighed a hundred and twenty-eeven at another grocer's, and went albout praising Sierra Madre for ite curative powers. A week later I was weighed at X's, and then turned the beam at a hundred and thirty. I be- gan to think tha^t I would soon require a derrick or a ja<:'k-screw to move my»fjf about. But a day la:ter I took to my bed and sent for the doctor and tbe un- dertaker. I had beei^ weiafhed at my grocer's again and had lost six pound! '» twenty-four boms. 178 ^||t|2Sg£^ mmm^mm *******5jgf **^^^^mmmm I5ERRINGER Dm? rnxTr, I^ICK. THE BICYCLIST. ^^TTlnger Dick was a Western n He had twenty nlcka in 1,1 each nick for a ' n! ; '"'"'''' ^""• He'd * lor a gone galoot; -r tr -,r «- - But Derringer Dick i'^n And shootin- at sl^ht mTT ' /'^ed his hands o«-« , Where « f, ,, . "****"' '»na. rntl:?'""''*"^ •»"<"• -he "'"• """ '""'^ '*« a man w.lh ,ana :~„r :r;r ■• r '-•• - 179 A Canuck Down South. And Derringer Dick his eyes lit up ez they hadn't lit fur years, An' he sez "I gruess I'll kill tome more ere I leave this vale of tears." Then Derringer Dick laid his gun away, and bought fur hlvnpelf a bike. He wobbled around in his big corral in a wa that he didn't like, Fur the blame thing bucked and balked, and threw poor Dick all over the place; But Dick was grit, and heM mount again, with a dogged look on his face. Now, behold at last, this westerner astride of his steed of steel. It was a solemn and awful sight to see him upon the wheel, He didn't wear no bicycle suit, nor put on a bit of style, But there wasn't a scorcher in the town could stand to his pace a mile. His pants was tucked in his cowhide boots, his old red shirt he wore. His long grey locks slieameU in the wind and a huge slouch hat upbore. ISn ' r . Derringer Vick^ And ez he wheeled into Bunker street I tell you he looked quite pert, But his eye had its old time glare that meant *'Poni« feller will be hurt." The Editor of the Bugle Horn was the first to some his way. And Dick he owed him a little grudge ('twas all Dick would ever lay). He caught the editor in the baok— Dick's glaring was seventy-four— And the editor of the Bugle Horn won't go to press no more. It tickled the soul of Derringer Dick as he heard the jury say, "The editor of the Bugle Horn hadn't orter bin in the way." Fur that was the selfsame verdict Dick had passed on many a cop Ez stopped a Derringer bullet when the other chap got the drop. He filed a nick on his sprocket wheel and mounted his bike again, And that afternoon another foe was re- moved from this world of pain. Itl A Canuck Down South. Bo day by day es he scorched alonff, ^ome citizen would be missed, ArMi Richard rose Into high repute ep a masterly bicyclist. Sf-z Dick to the coroner over their drinks when the last Inqpest was done, " Human natur's forever the same. Though you've called in the gun, Fur lording it high and ruling the roost and settling on the spot, A bicycle rough Is twice ez tough ez the chap that hacked and shot. Tbe code's the same with another name. It's just 'git outer my light, Don't cross iny path, I'm a man of wrath, I'll do you up on sight.' Tuat's how I felt In the olden time, that's how I'll a.lers feel, Bit a feller don't hev no need fur a irun ez long ez he rides a wheel." Itt th, t's a mm. • 1 m^m^- t ^