Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

268 HISTORY OF THE BANKsilver, on the back seat of the democrat, and the driver, whohad been holding the horses, was about to get in, when thewind, blowing hard at the time, frightened the horses andaway they went, pulling the driver over on his back, in whichposition he was forced to let go the reins. Their mad careerwas abruptly ended, however, when the horses ran on eitherside of a post. For a few minutes the air seemed filled withsuitcases, boxes of stationery, etc. When everything finallycame down to earth, both boxes of stationery had burst, theweight of the silver had split the grip, and the ground for somedistance around was generously strewn with all sorts ofstationery and bundles of cash.After chasing the stationeryabout in the wind for some time and recovering most of it andall of the cash, we procured another democrat and made afresh start."We reached the town of Vegreville that night after along hard drive, the monotony of which was broken slightlyduring the afternoon by another lively but harmless runaway.The hotel, as it was called, was a frame buildingconsisting of little else downstairs than the bar and an "eatingroom." In the latter, we discovered that the only way to havea meal with any degree of peace was to sprinkle sugar at oneend of the table to draw the flies, and then partake of a hastymeal at the other end. Upstairs, the partitions between thebedrooms were of cheesecloth nailed on the studding, so that theoccupant of any room which had a lighted lamp could be distinctlyseen by all others on the floor. After a tiring day weThe bed proved to beretired early to bed, but not to sleep.already too crowded with unwelcome occupants, so much so infact, that sleeping on a chair with one's feet on the washstandwas found to be much more comfortable. The next daywas Sunday, but I got possession of an old abandoned logand mud hut, with an earth floor and one small square windowin the front the only available building where we workedall day cleaning out the cobwebs and other truck. We paintedand put up a large canvas sign, "The Canadian Bank of