"How did you nearly smash up?" asked Hornby interestedly.
"Oh, I had a run of bad luck. One year the crop was frosted and the next year I was hailed out. It wants a good deal of capital to stand up against that."
"That's what happened to me," said Taylor. "I was hailed out and I hadn't got any capital, so I just had to hire out." He turned suddenly to Nora. "If it hadn't been for that hail storm you wouldn't have had the pleasure of makin' my acquaintance."
"How hollow and empty life would have been without that!" she said ironically.
"I wonder you didn't just quit and start out Calgary way," put in Gertie.
"Well," said Taylor slowly, "it was this way: I'd put in two years on my homestead and done a lot of clearing. It seemed kind of silly to lose my rights after all that. Then, too, when you've been hailed out once, the chances are it won't happen again, for some years that is, and by that time I ought to have a bit put by."
"What sort of house have you got?" asked Nora.
"Well, it ain't what you might call a palace, but it's large enough for two."
"Thinking of marrying, Frank?" asked Marsh.
"Well, I guess it's kind of lonesome on a farm without a woman. But it's not so easy to find a wife when you're just starting on your own. Canadian girls think twice before taking a farmer."