is always enough of
that. Sometimes they make a row, and demand to be fed just in the same
way that we feed our own farm hands. For instance, only last evening I
was called into the men's dining-room to quell a disturbance caused by
a sundowner. The travelers' table was supplied with cold meat, bread,
and tea, while the table of our farm hands had on it bread and hot roast
mutton. The sundowner had a knife in his hand and was threatening to
kill the kitchen maid unless she gave him hot mutton instead of cold."

"What did you do about it?"

"I told him that if he could not eat cold meat he was not hungry enough
to eat anything, and if he did not put that knife away one of our men
would knock his head off. He became quiet at once and sat down to his
supper, muttering something about not being treated like a gentleman. We
would like to shut our doors altogether against this class of fellows,
but there are difficulties in the way. We would be liable at times to
turn away honest and deserving men who were really in search of
employment, and furthermore, the revengeful scoundrels would set our
buildings on fire during the night, or perhaps kill our cattle and
horses. They would be less likely to do the latter than the former, as
the destruction of our buildings by fire would be much easier and safer
than the other proceeding. We certainly need some kind of legal
restriction over these sundowners, and we will get it in the course of
time."

The house at which our friends arrived was large and spacious, and its
external appearance, as they approached it, betokened hospitality. It
covered a considerable area of ground but was only a single story in
height, with the exception of one end, where there was an upper story
occupied by the female servants. The men employed at the place ate and
slept in a building in the rear of the principal house, the two being
connected by a kitchen and a shed. The house was substantially
constructed of wood, the sides being double walled with planking, while
the roof sloped gently to the front. There were gutters at the eaves to
catch all the water which came down in the form of rain, and convey it
to a large cistern just in the rear of the main dwelling. Their host
explained that they had a fine spring close to the house, from which
they usually obtained their supply of water. "This spring sometimes
gives out in seasons of excessive dryness," said he, "and then we fall
back upon the cistern."