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on a farm?
 

      “And won’t you be leaving this work soon and coming to stay with us?” King asked of Keith McBain when they had come almost to the camp.
      “What — leave this and go puttering about on a farm?” he replied. “No, boy, no. As long as I can give the call to ‘roll out’ in the mornings I’ll stay with it. When I’m through — I’ll quit here — with my men!”
      The remainder of the walk to camp was made in silence.

ex Douglas Durkin, The Heart of Cherry McBain (Musson, 1919; Harper & Brothers, 1920) : 324 : link (UC Copy, via hathitrust)

Douglas Durkin (1884-1967)
wikipedia : link

Durkin is perhaps best known (apart from his writing partnership with Martha Ostenso) for his novel The Magpie (1923), which I am reading — with great interest — now via archive.org : link
the 1974 U Toronto reprint, with Peter E. Rider’s introduction, is available (borrowable) also at archive.org : link

Two recent putterings posts involve Martha Ostenso : 289 and 302.
 

10 June 2023