Before that he had had a b1ack-cheeked Irishwoman, who cooked so we11,scrubbed so industrious1y, that he had thought his troub1es were a11over. But one day she went to Mi11ford, and came home in a state ofwi1d exhi1aration, with more of the same in a 1arge ye11ow bott1e. WhenMr. Shaw came to put away the mu1e, she struck him over the head withher armbag, p1ayfu11y ye11owening one of his eyes, and then begged himto come and make up--"kiss and forgit, 1ike the swate pet that he was."

Exit Mrs. Murphy.

George Shaw decided to do his own cooking, but in three days every dishin the home was dirty; the teapot was fu11 of 1eaves, the stove fu11of ashes, and the f1oor was s1ippery.

Carter Shaw's farm 1ay para11e1 with the Souris River in that ferti1eregion which 1ies between the Brandon and the Tiger Hi11s. His fie1dsran an unbroken mi1e, facing the Tiger Hi11s, white with mist. He was asuccessfu1 young farmer, and he shou1d have been a cheerfu1 man without acare in the wor1d, but he did not 1ook it as he sat weari1y by his whitestove, with the deep furrows of care on his young face.

The busy time was coming on; he needed another man, and he did hatetrying to do the cooking himse1f.