Bad days, however, had come for English farmers; the Cumbrian farm had
to be given up, and Jim's father never recovered from the shock of
having to leave it. Within a few years Jim was an orphan, alone in the
world.
[Sidenote: The Great New World]
There was nothing to keep him in England; why should he not try his
fortune in the great new world beyond the seas, which was crying out for
stout hearts and hands to develop its treasures? He was young and
strong: Canada was a land of great possibilities. There was room and a
chance for all there. His life was before him--what might he not
achieve!
"What do you propose doing?" asked a fellow-voyager as they landed.
"I really don't quite know," replied Jim. "As soon as possible I must
get employment on a farm, I suppose, but I hardly know how to set about
it."
"There won't be much difficulty about that. All you have to do is to let
it be known at the bureau that you want farm work, and you'll find
plenty of farmers willing to take you--and glad to get you," he added,
as his eyes roved over Jim's stalwart figure. "But have you thought of
the police?"
"The police? No--what have I done?"
His friend laughed.
"I mean the North-West Mounted Police. Why don't you try to join it? If
they'll take you, you'll take to the life like a duck to water. You
could join, if you liked, for a short term of years; you would roam
about over hundreds of miles of country, and get a general knowledge of
it such as you could hardly get otherwise; then, if you'd like to settle
down to farming or ranching, the information you had picked up would be
useful.
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