became from day to day more insistent to pay their mother at
Rugby the long intended visit. Joe, who had never yet dared to acquaint
his brother with the truth concerning her disappearance, found it the
hardest task of his life to dissuade Jim from making the journey and to
find plausible excuses to prevent him from sending a letter to Rugby.

The "skeleton in the closet" rattled ever more threateningly. "Next
Spring," was Jim's ultimate reply, while his fist came angrily down upon
the parlor table, after he and Joe had another of their evermore heated
arguments as to the why and why not they should visit their mother,
"Dorothy and the children and I will certainly visit Rugby, and if you
do not care to join us to see her, we shall go without you," and then he
arose and left the room.

Singular indeed are the ways of Providence, for with the arrival of
Spring a Canadian colonization agent found his way into the fertile
valley of the Arkansas, where every acre of land was pre-empted and
worth a huge price. Backed by an unlimited number of well written
pamphlets which he freely distributed, he described Canada as equal to
the land of Canaan; that homesteads were begging there for settlers and
that land would bountifully produce anything, considering the northern
latitude.

Jim, who had saved a large portion of the annual income the ranch had
earned became greatly interested in that part of the colonizer's story,
in which he spoke of the enormous dividends that investments would
bring, and when the agent explained to him that at a small additional
outlay he could combine a Canadian trip with his journey to Rugby, this
settled the matter.

There was not a single loop hole left for Joe to prevent the journey,
and when Jim and his wife commenced to pack their trunks, ready to leave
for Canada on the coming morning, with or without Joe, the latter with a
heavy heart followed suit, intending to ease as much as possible his
brother's grief when Jim discovered that his journey to Rugby had been
made in vain.

In the morning Mr. Holmes drove Joe, Jim and his wife and children to
the railroad station, but when the brothers asked at the ticket window
for a round trip ticket to Canada, via Rugby, they were informed--to the
dismay of Jim and to the joy of Joe, as this spelled additional
delay--that the ticket would be only good for stop-overs upon their
return journey.

Soon they were aboard their train, and while Jim and his