Produced by David WidgerYOU NEVER KNOW YOUR LUCKBEING THE STORY OF A MATRIMONIAL DESERTERBy Gilbert ParkerCONTENTS  Volume 1  PROEM  I     PIONEERS O PIONEERS  II    CLOSING THE DOORS  III   THE LOGAN TRIAL AND WHAT CAME OF IT  IV    STRENGTH SHALL BE GIVEN THEE  V     A STORY TO BE TOLD  Volume 2  VI    HERE ENDETH THE FIRST LESSON  VII   A WOMANS WAY TO KNOWLEDGE  VIII  ALL ABOUT AN UNOPENED LETTER  IX    NIGHT SHADE AND MORNING GLORY  X    S O S  XI    IN THE CAMP OF THE DESERTER  Volume 3  XII   AT THE RECEIPT OF CUSTOM  XIII  KITTY SPEAKS HER MIND AGAIN  XIV   AWAITING THE VERDICT  XV    MALE AND FEMALE CREATED HE THEM  XVI   TWAS FOR YOUR PLEASURE YOU CAME HERE YOU GO BACK FOR MINE  XVII  WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT  EPILOGUEINTRODUCTIONThis volume contains two novels dealing with the life of prairie peoplein the town of Askatoon in the far West The World for Sale and thelatter portion of The Money Master deal with the same life and TheMoney Master contained some of the characters to be found in WildYouth The World for Sale also was a picture of prairie country withstrife between a modern AngloCanadian town and a FrenchCanadian townin the West These books are of the same people but You NeverKnow Your Luck and Wild Youth have several characters which moveprominently through bothIn the introduction to The World for Sale in this series I drew adescription of prairie life and I need not repeat what was said thereIn You Never Know Your Luck there is a Proem which describes brieflythe look of the prairie and suggests characteristics of the life ofthe people The basis of the book has a letter written by a wife to herhusband at a critical time in his career when he had broken his promiseto her One or two critics said the situation is impossible because noman would carry a letter unopened for a long number of years My replyis that it is exactly what I myself did I have still a letter writtento me which was delivered at my door sixteen years ago I have neverread it and my reason for not reading it was that I realised as Ithink what its contents were I knew that the letter would annoy andthere it lies The writer of the letter who was then my enemy is now myfriend The chief character in the book Crozier was an Irishman withall the Irishmans cleverness sensitiveness audacity and timidityfor both those latter qualities are characteristic of the Irish raceand as I am half Irish I can understand why I suppressed a letter andwhy Crozier did Crozier is the type of man that comes occasionally tothe Dominion of Canada and Kitty Tynan is the sort of girl that thegreat West breeds She did an immoral thing in opening the letter thatCrozier had suppressed but she did it in a good causefor Crozierssake she made his wife write another letter and she placed it againin the envelope for Crozier to open and see Whatever lack of moralitythere was in her act was balanced by the good end to the story thoughit meant the sacrifice of Kittys love for Crozier and the making ofhis wife happy once moreAs for Wild Youth I make no apology for it It is still fresh in theminds of the American public and it is true to the life Some criticsfrankly called it melodramatic I do not object to the term I knownothing more melodramatic than certain of the plots of Shakespearesplays Thomas Hardy is melodramatic Joseph Conrad is melodramaticBalzac was melodramatic and so were Victor Hugo Charles Dickens andSir Walter Scott The charge of melodrama is not one that should disturba writer of fiction The question is are the characters melodramaticWill anyone suggest to me the marriage of a girl of seventeen with a manover sixty is melodramatic It may be but I think it tragical and soit was in this case As for Orlando Guise I describe the man as I knewhim and he is still alive Some comments upon the story suggested thatit was impossible for a man to spend the night on the prairie with awoman whom he loved without causing her to forget her marriage vows Itis not sentimental to say that is nonsense It is a prurient mind thatonly sees evil in a situation of the sort Why it should be desirable tomake a young man and woman commit a misdemeanor to secure the praise ofa critic is beyond imagination It would be easy enough to do I did itin The Right of Way I did it in others of my books What happens to oneman and one woman does not necessarily happen to another There are menwho for love of a woman would not take advantage of her insecurityThere are others who would In my books I have made both classes dotheir will and both are true to life It does not matter what one bookis or is not but it does matter that an author writes his book with asense of the fitting and the trueBoth these books were written to present that side of life in Canadawhich is not wintry and forbidding There is warmth of summer in bothtales and thrilling air and the beauty of the wild countryside As forthe cold it is severe in most parts of Canada but the air is dry andthe sharpness is not felt as it is in this damper climate of EnglandCanadians feel the cold of a March or November day in London far morethan the cold of a day in Winnipeg with the thermometer many degreesbelow