Читать книгу Towards the Last Spike - E. J. Pratt - Страница 6

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A game it was, and the Pacific lass

Had poker wisdom on her face. Her name

Was rich in values—British; this alone

Could raise Macdonald's temperature: so could

Columbia with a different kind of fever,

And in between the two, Victoria.

So the Pacific with its wash of letters

Could push the Fahrenheit another notch.

She watched for bluff on those Disraeli features,

Impassive but for arrowy chipmunk eyes,

Engaged in fathoming a contract time.

With such a dowry she could well afford

To take the risk of tightening the terms—

"Begin the Road in two years, end in ten"—

Sir John, a moment letting down his guard,

Frowned at the Rocky skyline, but agreed.

(The Terms ratified by Parliament, British Columbia enters Confederation July, 1871, Sandford Fleming being appointed engineer-in-chief of the proposed Railway, Walter Moberly to co-operate with him in the location of routes. "Of course, I don't know how many millions you have, but it is going to cost you money to get through those canyons."—Moberly to Macdonald.)