t of eye. But his business in town was
of a very special nature. In his pocket was a hundred dollars and the
grip in his hand was packed for a month's stay.

It was a month of "cold shoulders" and patronizing manners for E. A.
Partridge. No band music was played in his honor, no festive board was
spread, nor was he taken around and shown the sights of the city. On
the contrary, he was made to feel like a spy in the camp of an enemy;
for he found himself entirely without status, the grain dealers
recognizing him merely as a farmers' representative, whatever that was.
Even at the office of the Chief Grain Inspector he was looked upon as a
man who was meddling with something which he wasn't supposed to know
anything about.

Nevertheless, the Chief Inspector himself gave him information at times
and there were one or two others who took the trouble to explain some
things about which he asked questions. Among the latter was a grain
man by the name of Tom Coulter. For the most part, however, the
presence of the "farmers' representative" at Winnipeg was looked upon
as a joke; so that information as to the grain business became for him
largely a still hunt. He visited offices, listened to how interviews
were conducted over the telephone and picked up whatever loose ends he
could find to follow up.

"Who is that fellow, anyway?" asked a grain man who had just got back
to the city. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Oh, him!" laughed his partner as he saw who was indicated. "Only that
gazabo from Sintaluta who's been nosing around lately. Some hayseeds
out the line sent him down here to learn the grain business. They
believe that all wheat's No. 1 Hard, all grain buyers are thieves, and
that hell's to be divided equally between the railways and the milling
companies!"

"So that's the guy, eh?--that's that man Partridge!"

[1] The new name of Rat Portage is Kenora (Ontario).

[2] See Appendix--Par. 2.

[3] See Appendix--Par. 8.

CHAPTER V

"THE HOUSE WITH THE CLOSED SHUTTERS"

Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of Beelzebub? Here's a
farmer . . .--_Macbeth_.

When wheat ceased to be grown for local needs and overflowed upon the
markets of the world, becoming a factor in finance, arenas where its
destiny was decided were established in the large centres of trade. In
these basins of commerce the never-ending flow concentrated and wheeled
for a short space before in re-direct