which there is a delicate fret of small, rocky islets. So,
in magnificent fashion, he came to Kelowna, and the _Sicamous_, that
carried him back to the train.

III

Through the night and during the next morning the train carried the
Prince deeper in the mountains, skirting in amazing loops, when the
train seemed almost to be biting its tail, steep rocky cliffs above
white torrents, or the shining blue surfaces of lakes such as Arrow
Lake, that formed the polished floor of valleys. Now and then we
passed purposeful falls, and by them the power houses that won light
and motive force for the valley towns from the falling water. There
are those who fear the harnessing of water-power, because it may mean
the spoiling of beautiful scenery. Such buildings as I saw in no way
marred the view, but rather added to it a touch of human
picturesqueness.

Creeping down the levels, with discretion at the curves, the train came
in the rain to Nelson on Wednesday, October 1st. Rain spoilt the
reception at Nelson, a town that thrives upon the agricultural and
mining products of the hills about. There seemed to be a touch of
mining grey in the air of the town, but, as in all towns of Canada, no
sense of unhappiness, no sense of poverty--indeed, in the whole of
Canada I saw five beggars and no more (though, of course, there may
have been more). Of these one man was blind, and two were badly
crippled soldiers.

There are no poor in Nelson, so I was told, and no unemployed.

"If a man's unemployed," said a Councillor with a twinkle in his eye,
"he's due for the penitentiary. With labourers getting five dollars a
day, and being able to demand it because of the scarcity of their kind,
when a man who says he can't find work has something wrong with him ...
as a matter of fact the penitentiary idea is only speculative. There's
never been a test case of this kind."

I don't suppose there have been many test cases of that kind in the
whole of Canada, for certainly "the everyday people" everywhere have a
cheerful and self-dependent look.

At Nelson the Prince embarked on another lake boat, the _Nasookin_,
after congratulating rival bands, one of brass, and one (mainly boys)
of bagpipes, on their tenacity in tune in the rain. Nelson gave him a
very jolly send-off. The people managed to invade the quay in great
numbers, and those who were daring clambered to the top of the freight
cars standing on the wharf, the better to give h