for common use, which overlapped each of
their reservations, and satisfied the law with
its sociable subterfuge.

The life wasn't bad, Henderson decided;
and he adopted all the ways of the country
in an astonishingly short space of time.
There was a freedom about it all which was
certainly complete. The three alternated
in the night watch. Once a week one of
them went to town for provisions. They
were not good at the making of bread, so
they contented themselves with hot cakes.
Then there was salt pork for a staple, and
prunes. They slept in straw-lined bunks,
with warm blankets for a covering. They
made a point of bringing reading-matter
back from town every week, and there were
always cards to fall back on, and Waite sang
songs for them with natural dramatic talent.

Nevertheless, in spite of their content-
ment, none of them was sorry when the
opportunity offered for going to town.
There was always a bit of stirring gossip to
be picked up, and now and then there was
a "show" at the "opera-house," in which,
it is almost unnecessary to say, no opera
had ever been sung. Then there was the
hotel, at which one not only got good fare,