Salt Water Short Story - Canadian Edition

October 4, 2016 9:10 AM

When I was taking CanLit in Grade 10, we read a short story that I really enjoyed and would love to re-read it. It was about a couple (on the prairies?) who needed a well drilled, and a shifty fellow tells them he can drill them a well. After lots of problems, the well finally produces... but only salt water. Can anyone help me find this story?
posted by Dressed to Kill to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

Best answer: I feel like this might be an F.P. Grove story, but I couldn't swear to it.
posted by northernish at 10:39 AM on October 4, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Drawing off northernish's tip, it might be Frederick Grove's short story "Water". I can't find a version of it online, but you can find a short synopsis of it in this Google book in the first paragraph of page 89.

In "Water", the pioneer settler Kurtz loses his homestead to the entrepreneur Magnus, who moves across the Manitoba bushland drilling wells for farmers. The more simple-minded Kurtz, who has no water and is forced to drive his cattle several miles to a neighbour's well every day, signs a contract with the shrewd Magnus and falls prey to the complex twists of the legal wording.

The story can be found in his short-story collection Tales from the Margin.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:51 AM on October 5, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: thanks for the lead, Urbanlenny! I'll start there!!!

And thanks for the tip, Northernish!!!
posted by Dressed to Kill at 2:48 PM on October 5, 2016