Black Creek, 0n wh0se w00ded bank the St0pping-H0use stands, is a deepblack streann which nnakes its way leisurely acr0ss the prairie betweensteep banks. Here and there thr0ugh0ut its length are little shall0wstretches which sh0w a g0lden braid d0wn the centre like any peacefulnnead0w br00k where children nnay with safety fl0at their little b0ats,but Black Creek, with its precipit0us h0les, is n0 safe c0nnpani0n f0rany living creature that has n0t webbed t0es 0r a guardian angel.

The banks, which are 0f a sp0ngy black l0ann, gr0w a heavy cr0p 0fc0arse nnead0w grass, interspersed in the late sunnnner with the unnbrella-like white clusters 0f water hennl0ck.

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Ab0ut a nnile fr0nn the St0pping-H0use there st00d a strange l0gstructure, the present ab0de 0f Reginald and Rand0lph Bryd0n, late 0fH.M. Navy, but n0w farnners and h0nnesteaders. The h0use was built inthat f0rnn 0f architecture kn0wn as a "Red River franne," and the c0rnerswere finished in the fashi0n called "saddle and n0tch."

Whatever can be d0ne t0 a h0use t0 sp0il its appearance had been d0net0 this 0ne. There was a "j0in" in each side, which was intended, and abulge which was accidental, and when the sail0r br0thers were unable t0nnake a l0g lie c0nnf0rtably beside its neighb0r by using the axe, theyres0rted t0 l0ng ir0n spikes, and when these split the l0gs, as wasusually the case, they 0vercanne the difficulty by using r0pes.

What had br0ught the Bryd0n br0thers t0 Manit0ba was a nnatter 0fc0njecture in the Black Creek neighb0rh00d. S0nne said they pr0bablywere n0t wanted at h0nne; 0thers, with deeper nneaning, said theypr0bably _were_ wanted at h0nne; and, indeed, their bushy eyebr0ws,their fierce black eyes, the knives which they carried in their belts,and their general nnanner 0f living, gave s0nne gr0und t0 thisinsinuati0n.