ish-speaking, Americans on the Zone
was proved by the admittance of such complexions to the "gold" roll.

Of native U. S. civilians there were but two of us. Of whom Barter,
speaking only his nasal New Jersey, must perforce be assigned to the
"gold" quarters, leaving me the native town of Empire. At which we were
both satisfied, Barter because he did not like to sully himself by
contact with foreigners, I because one need not travel clear to the
Canal Zone to study the ways of Americans. As for the other seven, each
was assigned his strip of land something over a mile wide and five long
running back to the western boundary of the Zone. That region of
wilderness known as "Beyond the Canal" was to be left for special
treatment later. The Zone had been divided for census purposes into
four sections, with headquarters and supervisor in Ancon, Empire,
Gorgona, and Cristobal respectively. Our district, stretching from the
trestleless bridge over the canal to a great tree near Bas Obispo, was
easily the fat of the land, the most populous, most cosmopolitan, and
embracing within its limits the greatest task on the Zone.

Meanwhile we had fallen to studying the "Instructions to Enumerators,"
the very first article of which was such as to give pause and
reflection;

"When you have once signed on as an enumerator you cannot cease to
exercise your functions as such without justifiable cause under penalty
of $500 fine." Which warning was quickly followed by the hair-raising
announcement:

"If you set down the name of a fictitious person"--what can have given
the good census department the notion of such a possibility?--"you will
be fined $2,000 or sentenced to five years' imprisonment, or both."

From there on the injunctions grew less nerve-racking: "You must use a
medium soft black pencil (which will be furnished)"--law-breaking under
such conditions would be absurdity--"use no ditto marks and"--here I
could not but shudder as there passed before my eyes memories of
college lecture rooms and all the strange marks that have come to mean
something to me alone--"take pains to write legibly!"

Then we arose and swarmed upstairs to an empty court-room, where Judge
G----, throwing away his cigarette and removing his Iowa feet from the
bar of justice, caused us each to raise a right hand and swear an oath
as solemn as ever president on March fourth. An oath, I repeat, not
merely to uphold and defend the constitution against all ene