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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16809-h.zip b/16809-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b5ea29 --- /dev/null +++ b/16809-h.zip diff --git a/16809-h/16809-h.htm b/16809-h/16809-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c392f1a --- /dev/null +++ b/16809-h/16809-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6784 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador, by Dillon Wallace. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.center {text-align: center;} + div.content {width: 69%; margin-left: auto; text-align: left;} + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .right {text-align: right; padding-right: 5em; } /* right align with padding */ + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps, normal size */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding: .5em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .totoc {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .totoi {position: absolute; right: 2%; font-size: 75%; text-align: right;} /* to Table of Illustrations link */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding-left: 1em; font-size: smaller; float: right; clear: right;} + + .tdr {text-align: right; padding-right: .5em;} /* aligning cell content to the right */ + .tdc {text-align: center;} /* aligning cell content to the center */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* aligning cell content to the left */ + .tdlsc {text-align: left; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tdrsc {text-align: right; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tdcsc {text-align: center; font-variant: small-caps;} /* aligning cell content and small caps */ + .tr {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: 75%; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador, by Dillon Wallace + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador + A Boy's Life of Wilfred T. Grenfell + +Author: Dillon Wallace + +Release Date: October 7, 2005 [EBook #16809] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GRENFELL *** + + + + +Produced by A www.PGDP.net Volunteer, Jeannie Howse and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<hr /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="noin">Transcriber's Note: Throughout the whole book, St. +John's (Newfoundland) is spelled St. Johns. <br />A list +of typos fixed in this text are listed at <a href="#errata">the end</a>.</p> +</div> + +<hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a> +<h2>THE STORY OF GRENFELL OF THE LABRADOR</h2> +<br /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a> + +<div class="img"><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> +<a href="images/frontispiece.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="350" height="560" alt="The Physician In The Labrador" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">THE PHYSICIAN IN THE LABRADOR<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + + +<h1><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>The Story of Grenfell +of the Labrador</h1> + +<h2>A Boy's Life of Wilfred T. Grenfell</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>By</h4> +<h3>DILLON WALLACE,</h3> +<h4><i>Author of "Grit-a-Plenty," "The Ragged Inlet +Guards," "Ungava Bob," etc., etc.</i></h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>ILLUSTRATED</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5><span class="sc">New York Chicago</span><br /> +Fleming H. Revell Company<br /> +<span class="sc">London and Edinburgh</span></h5> + +<hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a> +<h4>Copyright, 1922, by<br /> +FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</h4> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4>New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br /> +Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave.<br /> +London: 21 Paternoster Square<br /> +Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street</h4> + +<hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a> +<h2>Foreword</h2> +<br /> + + +<p>In a land where there was no doctor and no school, and through an evil +system of barter and trade the people were practically bound to +serfdom, Doctor Wilfred T. Grenfell has established hospitals and +nursing stations, schools and co-operative stores, and raised the +people to a degree of self dependence and a much happier condition of +life. All this has been done through his personal activity, and is +today being supported through his personal administration.</p> + +<p>The author has lived among the people of Labrador and shared some of +their hardships. He has witnessed with his own eyes some of the +marvelous achievements of Doctor Grenfell. In the following pages he +has made a poor attempt to offer his testimony. The book lays no claim +to either originality or literary merit. It barely touches upon the +field. The half has not been told.</p> + +<p>He also wishes to acknowledge reference in compiling the book to old +files and scrapbooks of published articles concerning Doctor Grenfell +and his work, to Doctor Grenfell's book <i>Vikings of Today</i>, and to +having verified dates and incidents through Doctor Grenfell's +Autobiography, published by Houghton Mifflin & Company, of Boston.</p> + +<p class="right">D.W.</p> +<p><i>Beacon, N.Y.</i></p> + +<a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a> +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="65%" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td width="12%" class="tdr"><a href="#I">I.</a></td> + <td width="78%" class="tdlsc">The Sands of Dee</td> + <td width="10%" class="tdr">11</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#II">II.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The North Sea Fleets</td> + <td class="tdr">26</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#III">III.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">On the High Seas</td> + <td class="tdr">31</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Down on the Labrador</td> + <td class="tdr">39</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#V">V.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Ragged Man in the Rickety Boat</td> + <td class="tdr">52</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#VI">VI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Overboard!</td> + <td class="tdr">61</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#VII">VII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">In the Breakers</td> + <td class="tdr">68</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">An Adventurous Voyage</td> + <td class="tdr">74</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#IX">IX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">In the Deep Wilderness</td> + <td class="tdr">83</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#X">X.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Seal Hunter</td> + <td class="tdr">99</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XI">XI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Uncle Willy Wolfrey</td> + <td class="tdr">109</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XII">XII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">A Dozen Fox Traps</td> + <td class="tdr">116</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XIII">XIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Skipper Tom's Cod Trap</td> + <td class="tdr">126</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XIV">XIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Saving of Red Bay</td> + <td class="tdr">135</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XV">XV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">A Lad of the North</td> + <td class="tdr">146</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XVI">XVI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Making a Home for the Orphans</td> + <td class="tdr">158</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XVII">XVII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Dogs of the Ice Trail</td> + <td class="tdr">171</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a><a href="#XVIII">XVIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Facing an Arctic Blizzard</td> + <td class="tdr">183</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XIX">XIX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">How Ambrose Was Made to Walk</td> + <td class="tdr">193</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XX">XX.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Lost on the Ice Floe</td> + <td class="tdr">203</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XXI">XXI.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Wrecked and Adrift</td> + <td class="tdr">213</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XXII">XXII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Saving a Life</td> + <td class="tdr">219</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XXIII">XXIII.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">Reindeer and Other Things</td> + <td class="tdr">225</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#XXIV">XXIV.</a></td> + <td class="tdlsc">The Same Grenfell</td> + <td class="tdr">233</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="toi" id="toi"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a> +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="65%" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdrsc">Facing<br />Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td width="80%" class="tdl">The Physician in the <span class="sc">Labrador</span></td> + <td width="20%" class="tdr"><a href="#frontis"><i>Title</i></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The <span class="sc">Labrador "Liveyere"</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_40a">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"Sails North to Remain Until the End of Summer, Catching Cod"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46a">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Doctor on a Winter's Journey</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84a">84</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"The Trap is Submerged a Hundred Yards or so from Shore"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130a">130</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"<span class="sc">Next</span>"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172b">172</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"Please Look at My Tongue, Doctor"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172a">172</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The Hospital Ship, <span class="sc">Strathcona</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_220a">220</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">"I Have a Crew Strong Enough to Take You into My District"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_234a">234</a></td> + </tr> + </table> +</div> + +<a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="I" id="I"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a> +<h3>I<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE SANDS OF DEE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The first great adventure in the life of our hero occurred on the +twenty-eighth day of February in the year 1865. He was born that day. +The greatest adventure as well as the greatest event that ever comes +into anybody's life is the adventure of being born.</p> + +<p>If there is such a thing as luck, Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, as his +parents named him, fell into luck, when he was born on February +twenty-eighth, 1865. He might have been born on February twenty-ninth +one year earlier, and that would have been little short of a +catastrophe, for in that case his birthdays would have been separated +by intervals of four years, and every boy knows what a hardship it +would be to wait four years for a birthday, when every one else is +having one every year. There <i>are</i> people, to be sure, who would like +their birthdays to be four years apart, but they are not boys.</p> + +<p>Grenfell was also lucky, or, let us say, fortunate in the place where +he was born and spent his early boyhood. His father was Head Master of +Mostyn House, a school for boys at Parkgate, England, a <a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>little +fishing village not far from the historic old city of Chester. By +referring to your map you will find Chester a dozen miles or so to the +southward of Liverpool, though you may not find Parkgate, for it is so +small a village that the map makers are quite likely to overlook it.</p> + +<p>Here at Parkgate the River Dee flows down into an estuary that opens +out into the Irish Sea, and here spread the famous "Sands of Dee," +known the world over through Charles Kingsley's pathetic poem, which +we have all read, and over which, I confess, I shed tears when a boy:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Mary, go and call the cattle home,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And call the cattle home,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And call the cattle home,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Across the Sands o' Dee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The western wind was wild and dank wi' foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And all alone went she.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The creeping tide came up along the sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And o'er and o'er the sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">And round and round the sand,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">As far as eye could see;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The blinding mist came down and hid the land—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And never home came she.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—<br /></span> +<span class="i4">A tress o' golden hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">O' drown'ed maiden's hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Above the nets at sea?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Was never salmon yet that shone so fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Among the stakes on Dee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>They rowed her in across the rolling foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The cruel, crawling foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The cruel, hungry foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To her grave beside the sea;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Across the Sands o' Dee.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Charles Kingsley and the poem become nearer and dearer to us than ever +with the knowledge that he was a cousin of Grenfell, and knew the +Sands o' Dee, over which Grenfell tramped and hunted as a boy, for the +sandy plain was close by his father's house.</p> + +<p>There was a time when the estuary was a wide deep harbor, and really a +part of Liverpool Bay, and great ships from all over the world came +into it and sailed up to Chester, which in those days was a famous +port. But as years passed the sands, loosened by floods and carried +down by the river current, choked and blocked the harbor, and before +Grenfell was born it had become so shallow that only fishing vessels +and small craft could use it.</p> + +<p>Parkgate is on the northern side of the River Dee. On the southern +side and beyond the Sands of Dee, rise the green hills of Wales, +melting away into blue mysterious distance. Near as Wales is the +people over there speak a different tongue from the English, and to +young Grenfell and his companions it was a strange and foreign land +and the people a strange and mysterious people. We have <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>most of us, +in our young days perhaps, thought that all Welshmen were like Taffy, +of whom Mother Goose sings:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't home,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow bone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I took the marrow-bone, and beat about his head."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But it was Grenfell's privilege, living so near, to make little visits +over into Wales, and he early had an opportunity to learn that Taffy +was not in the least like Welshmen. He found them fine, honest, +kind-hearted folk, with no more Taffys among them than there are among +the English or Americans. The great Lloyd George, perhaps the greatest +of living statesmen, is a Welshman, and by him and not by Taffy, we +are now measuring the worth of this people who were the near neighbors +of Grenfell in his young days.</p> + +<p>Mostyn House, where Grenfell lived, overlooked the estuary. From the +windows of his father's house he could see the fishing smacks going +out upon the great adventurous sea and coming back laden with fish.</p> + +<p>Living by the sea where he heard the roar of the breakers and every +day smelled the good salt breath of the ocean, it was natural that he +should love it, and to learn, almost as soon as he could run about, +<a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>to row and sail a boat, and to swim and take part in all sorts of +water sports. Time and again he went with the fishermen and spent the +night and the day with them out upon the sea. This is why it was +fortunate that he was born at Parkgate, for his life there as a boy +trained him to meet adventures fearlessly and prepared him for the +later years which were destined to be years of adventure.</p> + +<p>Far up the river, wide marshes reached; and over these marshes, and +the Sands of Dee, Grenfell roamed at will. His father and mother were +usually away during the long holidays when school was closed, and he +and his brothers were left at these times with a vast deal of freedom +to do as they pleased and seek the adventure that every boy loves, and +on the sands and in the marshes there was always adventure enough to +be found.</p> + +<p>Shooting in the marshes and out upon the sands was a favorite sport, +and when not with the fishermen Grenfell was usually to be found with +his gun stalking curlew, oyster diggers, or some other of the numerous +birds that frequented the marshes and shores. Barefooted, until the +weather grew too cold in autumn, and wearing barely enough clothing to +cover his nakedness, he would set out in early morning and not return +until night fell.</p> + +<p>As often as not he returned from his day's hunting empty handed so far +as game was concerned, but this in no wise detracted from the pleasure +of the hunt. Game was always worth the getting, but <a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>the great joy was +in being out of doors and in tramping over the wide flats. With all +the freedom given him to hunt, he early learned that no animals or +birds were to be killed on any account save for food or purposes of +study. This is the rule of every true sportsman. Grenfell has always +been a great hunter and a fine shot, but he has never killed +needlessly.</p> + +<p>Young Grenfell through these expeditions soon learned to take a great +deal of interest in the habits of birds and their life history. This +led him to try his skill at skinning and mounting specimens. An old +fisherman living near his home was an excellent hand at this and gave +him his first lessons, and presently he developed into a really expert +taxidermist, while his brother made the cases in which he mounted and +exhibited his specimens.</p> + +<p>His interest in birds excited an interest in flowers and plants and +finally in moths and butterflies. The taste for nature study is like +the taste for olives. You have to cultivate it, and once the taste is +acquired you become extremely fond of it. Grenfell became a student of +moths and butterflies. He captured, mounted and identified specimens. +He was out of nights with his net hunting them and "sugaring" trees to +attract them, and he even bred them. A fine collection was the result, +and this, together with one of flowers and plants, was added to that +of his mounted birds. In the course of time he had accumulated a +creditable museum of <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>natural history, which to this day may be seen +at Mostyn House, in Parkgate; and to it have been added specimens of +caribou, seals, foxes, porcupines and other Labrador animals, which in +his busy later years he has found time to mount, for he is still the +same eager and devoted student of nature.</p> + +<p>During these early years, with odds and ends of boards that they +collected, Grenfell and his brother built a boat to supply a better +means of stealing upon flocks of water birds. It was a curious +flat-bottomed affair with square ends and resembled a scow more than a +rowboat, but it served its purpose well enough, and was doubtless the +first craft which the young adventurer, later to become a master +mariner, ever commanded. Up and down the estuary, venturing even to +the sea, the two lads cruised in their clumsy craft, stopping over +night with the kind-hearted fishermen or "sleeping out" when they +found themselves too far from home. Many a fine time the ugly little +boat gave them until finally it capsized one day leaving them to swim +for it and reach the shore as best they could.</p> + +<p>At the age of fourteen Grenfell was sent to Marlborough "College," +where he had earned a scholarship. This was not a college as we speak +of a college in America, but a large university preparatory school.</p> + +<p>In the beginning he had a fight with an "old boy," and being victor +firmly established his place <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>among his fellow students. Whether at +Mostyn House, or later at Marlborough College, Grenfell learned early +to use the gloves. It was quite natural, devoted as he was to +athletics, that he should become a fine boxer. To this day he loves +the sport, and is always ready to put on the gloves for a bout, and it +is a mighty good man that can stand up before him. In most boys' +schools of that day, and doubtless at Marlborough College, boys +settled their differences with gloves, and in all probability Grenfell +had plenty of practice, for he was never a mollycoddle. He was perhaps +not always the winner, but he was always a true sportsman. There is a +vast difference between a "sportsman" and a "sport." Grenfell was a +sportsman, never a sport. His life in the open taught him to accept +success modestly or failure smilingly, and all through his life he has +been a sportsman of high type.</p> + +<p>The three years that Grenfell spent at Marlborough College were active +ones. He not only made good grades in his studies but he took a +leading part in all athletics. Study was easy for him, and this made +it possible to devote much time to physical work. Not only did he +become an expert boxer, but he had no difficulty in making the school +teams, in football, cricket, and other sports that demanded skill, +nerve and physical energy.</p> + +<p>Like all youngsters running over with the joy of youth and life, he +got into his full share of scrapes. If there was anything on foot, +mischievous or <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>otherwise, Grenfell was on hand, though his mischief +and escapades were all innocent pranks or evasion of rules, such as +going out of bounds at prohibited hours to secure goodies. The greater +the element of adventure the keener he was for an enterprise. He was +not by any means always caught in his pranks, but when he was he +admitted his guilt with heroic candor, and like a hero stood up for +his punishment. Those were the days when the hickory switch in +America, and the cane in England, were the chief instruments of +torture.</p> + +<p>With the end of his course at Marlborough College, Grenfell was +confronted with the momentous question of his future and what he was +to do in life. This is a serious question for any young fellow to +answer. It is a question that involves one's whole life. Upon the +decision rests to a large degree happiness or unhappiness, content or +discontent, success or failure.</p> + +<p>It impressed him now as a question that demanded his most serious +thought. For the first time there came to him a full realization that +some day he would have to earn his way in the world with his own brain +and hands. A vista of the future years with their responsibilities, +lay before him as a reality, and he decided that it was up to him to +make the most of those years and to make a success of life. No doubt +this realization fell upon him as a shock, as it does upon most lads +whose parents have supplied their every need. Now he <a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>was called upon +to decide the matter for himself, and his future education was to be +guided by his choice.</p> + +<p>At various periods of his youthful career nearly every boy has an +ambition to be an Indian fighter, or a pirate, or a locomotive +engineer, or a fireman and save people from burning buildings at the +risk of his own life, or to be a hunter of ferocious wild animals. +Grenfell had dreamed of a romantic and adventurous career. Now he +realized that these ambitions must give place to a sedate profession +that would earn him a living and in which he would be contented.</p> + +<p>All of his people had been literary workers, educators, clergymen, or +officers in the army or navy. There was Charles Kingsley and "Westward +Ho." There was Sir Richard Grenvil, immortalized by Tennyson in "The +Revenge." There was his own dear grandfather who was a master at Rugby +under the great Arnold, whom everybody knows through "Tom Brown at +Rugby."</p> + +<p>It was the wish of some of his friends and family that he become a +clergyman. This did not in the least suit his tastes, and he +immediately decided that whatever profession he might choose, it would +<i>not</i> be the ministry. The ministry was distasteful to him as a +profession, and he had no desire or intention to follow in the +footsteps of his ancestors. He wished to be original, and to blaze a +new trail for himself.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>Grenfell was exceedingly fond of the family physician, and one day he +went to him to discuss his problem. This physician had a large +practice. He kept several horses to take him about the country +visiting his patients, and in his daily rounds he traveled many miles. +This was appealing to one who had lived so much out of doors as +Grenfell had. As a doctor he, too, could drive about the country +visiting patients. He could enjoy the sunshine and feel the drive of +rain and wind in his face. He rebelled at the thought of engaging in +any profession that would rob him of the open sky. But he also +demanded that the profession he should choose should be one of +creative work. This would be necessary if his life were to be happy +and successful.</p> + +<p>Observing the old doctor jogging along the country roads visiting his +far-scattered patients, it occurred to Grenfell that here was not only +a pleasant but a useful profession. With his knowledge of medicine the +doctor assisted nature in restoring people to health. Man must have a +well body if he would be happy and useful. Without a well body man's +hands would be idle and his brain dull. Only healthy men could invent +and build and administer. It was the doctor's job to keep them fit. +Here then was creative work of the highest kind! The thought thrilled +him!</p> + +<p>Every boy of the right sort yearns to be of the greatest possible use +in the world. Unselfishness <a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>is a natural instinct. Boys are not born +selfish. They grow selfish because of association or training, and +because they see others about them practicing selfishness. Grenfell's +whole training had been toward unselfishness and usefulness. Here was +a life calling that promised both unselfish and useful service and at +the same time would gratify his desire to be a great deal out of +doors, and he decided at once that he would study medicine and be a +doctor.</p> + +<p>His father was pleased with the decision. His course at Marlborough +College was completed, and he immediately took special work +preparatory to entering London Hospital and University.</p> + +<p>In the University he did well. He passed his examinations creditably +at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and at London University, +and had time to take a most active part in the University athletics as +a member of various 'Varsity teams. At one time or another he was +secretary of the cricket, football and rowing clubs, and he took part +in several famous championship games, and during one term that he was +in residence at Oxford University he played on the University football +team.</p> + +<p>One evening in 1885 Grenfell, largely through curiosity, dropped into +a tent where evangelistic meetings were in progress. The evangelists +conducting the meeting happened to be the then famous D.L. Moody and +Ira D. Sankey. Both <a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey were men of marvelous +power and magnetism. Moody was big, wholesome and practical. He +preached a religion of smiles and happiness and helpfulness. He lived +what he preached. There was no humbug or hypocrisy in him. Sankey +never had a peer as a leader of mass singing.</p> + +<p>Moody was announcing a hymn when Grenfell entered. Sankey, in his +illimitable style, struck up the music. In a moment the vast audience +was singing as Grenfell had never heard an audience sing before. After +the hymn Moody spoke. Grenfell told me once that that sermon changed +his whole outlook upon life. He realized that he was a Christian in +name only and not in fact. His religious life was a fraud.</p> + +<p>There and then he determined that he must be either an out and out +Christian or honestly renounce Christianity. With his home training +and teachings he could not do the latter. He decided upon a Christian +life. He would do nothing as a doctor that he could not do with a +clear conscience as a Christian gentleman. This he also decided: a +man's religion is something for him to be proud of and any one ashamed +to acknowledge the faith of his fathers is a moral coward, and a moral +coward is more contemptible than a physical coward. He also was +convinced that a boy or man afraid or ashamed to acknowledge his +religious belief could only be a mental weakling.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>It was characteristic of Grenfell that whatever he attempted to do he +did with courage and enthusiasm. He never was a slacker. The hospital +to which he was attached was situated in the centre of the worst slums +of London. It occurred to him that he might help the boys, and he +secured a room, fitted it up as a gymnasium, and established a sort of +boys' club, where on Sundays he held a Bible study class and where he +gave the boys physical work on Saturdays. There was no Y.M.C.A. in +England at that time where they could enjoy these privileges. In the +beginning, there were young thugs who attempted to make trouble. He +simply pitched them out, and in the end they were glad enough to +return and behave themselves.</p> + +<p>Grenfell and his brother, with one of their friends, spent the long +holidays when college was closed cruising along the coast in an old +fishing smack which they rented. In the course of his cruising, the +thought came to him that it was hardly fair to the boys in the slums +to run away from them and enjoy himself in the open while they +sweltered in the streets, and he began at once to plan a camp for the +boys.</p> + +<p>This was long before the days of Boy Scouts and their camps. It was +before the days of any boys' camps in England. It was an original idea +with him that a summer camp would be a fine experience for his boys. +At his own expense he established such a camp on the Welsh coast, and +<a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>during every summer until he finished his studies in the University he +took his boys out of the city and gave them a fine outing during a +part of the summer holiday period. It was just at this time that the +first boys' camp in America was founded by Chief Dudley as an +experiment, now the famous Camp Dudley on Lake Champlain. We may +therefore consider Grenfell as one of the pioneers in making popular +the boys' camp idea, and every boy that has a good time in a summer +camp should thank him.</p> + +<p>But a time comes when all things must end, good as well as bad, and +the time came when Grenfell received his degree and graduated a +full-fledged doctor, and a good one, too, we may be sure. Now he was +to face the world, and earn his own bread and butter. Pleasant +holidays, and boys' camps were behind him. The big work of life, which +every boy loves to tackle, was before him.</p> + +<p>Then it was that Dr. Frederick Treves, later Sir Frederick, a famous +surgeon under whom he had studied, made a suggestion that was to shape +young Dr. Grenfell's destiny and make his name known wherever the +English tongue is spoken.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="II" id="II"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a> +<h3>II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE NORTH SEA FLEETS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The North Sea, big as it is, has no great depth. Geologists say that +not long ago, as geologists calculate time, its bottom was dry land +and connected the British Isles with the continent of Europe. Then it +began to sink until the water swept in and covered it, and it is still +sinking. The deepest point in the North Sea is not more than thirty +fathoms, or one hundred eighty feet. There are areas where it is not +over five fathoms deep, and the larger part of it is less than twenty +fathoms.</p> + +<p>Fish are attracted to the North Sea because it is shallow. Its bottom +forms an extensive fishing "bank," we might say, though it is not, +properly speaking, a bank at all, and here is found some of the finest +fishing in the world.</p> + +<p>From time immemorial fishing fleets have gone to the North Sea, and +the North Sea fisheries is one of the important industries of Great +Britain. Men are born to it and live their lives on the small fishing +craft, and their sons follow them for generation after generation. It +is a hazardous calling, and the men of the fleets are brave and hardy +fellows.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>The fishing fleets keep to the sea in winter as well as in summer, and +it is a hard life indeed when decks and rigging are covered with ice, +and fierce north winds blow the snow down, and the cold is bitter +enough to freeze a man's very blood. Seas run high and rough, which is +always the case in shallow waters, and great rollers sweep over the +decks of the little craft, which of necessity have small draft and low +freeboard.</p> + +<p>The fishing fleets were like large villages on the sea. At the time of +which we write, and it may be so to this day, fast vessels came daily +to collect the fish they caught and to take the catch to market. Once +in every three months a vessel was permitted to return to its home +port for rest and necessary re-fitting, and then the men of her crew +were allowed one day ashore for each week they had spent at sea. Now +and again there came to the hospital sick or injured men returned from +the fleet on these home-coming vessels.</p> + +<p>When Grenfell passed his final examinations in 1886, and was admitted +to the College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons of England, +Sir Frederick Treves suggested that he visit the North Sea fishing +fleets and lend his service to the fishermen for a time before +entering upon private practice. The great surgeon, himself a lover of +the sea and acquainted with Grenfell's inclinations toward an active +outdoor life, was also aware that Grenfell was a good sailor.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>"Don't go in summer," admonished Sir Frederick. "Go in winter when you +can see the life of the men at its hardest and when they have the +greatest need of a doctor. Anyhow you'll have some rugged days at sea +if you go in winter."</p> + +<p>He went on to explain that a few men had become interested in the +fishermen of the fleets and had chartered a vessel to go among them to +offer diversion in the hope of counteracting to some extent the +attraction of the whiskey and rum traders whose vessels sold much +liquor to the men and did a vast deal of harm. This vessel was open to +the visits of the fishermen. Religious services were held aboard her +on Sundays. There was no doctor in the fleet, and the skipper, who had +been instructed in ordinary bandaging and in giving simple remedies +for temporary relief, rendered first aid to the injured or sick until +they could be sent away on some home-bound vessel and placed in a +hospital for medical or surgical treatment. Thus a week or sometimes +two weeks would elapse before the sufferer could be put under a +doctor's care. Because of this long delay many men died who, with +prompt attention, would doubtless have lived.</p> + +<p>"The men who have fitted out this mission boat would like a young +doctor to go with it," concluded Sir Frederick. "Go with them for a +little while. You'll find plenty of high sea's adventure, and you'll +like it."</p> + +<p>In more than one way this suited Grenfell <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>exactly. The opportunity +for adventure that such a cruise offered appealed to him strongly, as +it would appeal to any real live red-blooded man or boy. It also +offered an opportunity to gain practical experience in his profession +and at the same time render service to brave men who sadly needed it; +and he could lend a hand in fighting the liquor evil among the seamen +and thus share in helping to care for their moral, as well as their +physical welfare. He had seen much of the evils of the liquor traffic +during his student days in London, and he had acquired a wholesome +hatred for it. In short, he saw an opportunity to help make the lives +of these men happier. That is a high ideal for any one—to do +something whenever possible to bring happiness into the lives of +others.</p> + +<p>This was too good an opportunity to let pass. It offered not only +practice in his profession but service for others, and there would be +the spice of adventure.</p> + +<p>He applied without delay for the post, requesting to go on duty the +following January. Whether Sir Frederick Treves said a word for him to +the newly founded mission or not, I do not know, but at any rate +Grenfell, to his great delight, was accepted, and it is probable the +group of big hearted men who were sending the vessel to the fishermen +were no less pleased to secure the services of a young doctor of his +character.</p> + +<p>At last the time came for departure. The <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>mission ship was to sail +from Yarmouth. Grenfell had been impatiently awaiting orders to begin +his duties, when suddenly he received directions to join his vessel +prepared to go to sea at once. Filled with enthusiasm and keen for the +adventure he boarded the first train for Yarmouth.</p> + +<p>It was a dark and rainy night when he arrived. Searching down among +the wharves he found the mission ship tied to her moorings. She proved +to be a rather diminutive schooner of the type and class used by the +North Sea fishermen, and if the young doctor had pictured a large and +commodious vessel he was disappointed. But Grenfell had been +accustomed in his boyhood to knocking about with fishermen and now he +was quite content with nothing better than fell to the lot of those he +was to serve.</p> + +<p>The little vessel was neat as wax below deck. The crew were +big-hearted, brawny, good-natured fellows, and gave the Doctor a fine +welcome. Of course his quarters were small and crowded, but he was +bound on a mission and an adventure, and cramped quarters were no +obstacle to his enthusiasm. Grenfell was not the sort of man to growl +or complain at little inconveniences. He was thinking only of the +duties he had assumed and the adventures that were before him.</p> + +<p>At last he was on the seas, and his life work, though he did not know +it then, had begun.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="III" id="III"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a> +<h3>III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ON THE HIGH SEAS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The skipper of the vessel was a bluff, hearty man of the old school of +seamen. At the same time he was a sincere Christian devoted to his +duties. At the beginning he made it plain that Grenfell was to have +quite enough to do to keep him occupied, not only in his capacity as +doctor, but in assisting to conduct afloat a work that in many +respects resembled that of our present Young Men's Christian +Association ashore.</p> + +<p>The mission steamer was now to run across to Ostend, Belgium, where +supplies were to be taken aboard before joining the fishing fleets.</p> + +<p>It was bitterly cold, and while they lay at Ostend taking on cargo the +harbor froze over, and they found themselves so firm and fast in the +ice that it became necessary to engage a steamer to go around them to +break them loose. At last, cargo loaded and ice smashed, they sailed +away from Ostend and pointed their bow towards the great fleets, not +again to see land for two full months, save Heligoland and +Terschelling in the far distant offing.</p> + +<p>The little vessel upon which Grenfell sailed was <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>the first sent to +the fisheries by the now famous Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen; and the +young Doctor on her deck, hardly yet realizing all that was expected +of him, was destined to do no small part in the development of the +splendid service that the Mission has since rendered the fishermen.</p> + +<p>On the starboard side of the vessel's bow appeared in bold carved +letters the words, "Heal the sick," on the port side of the bow, +"Preach the Word."</p> + +<p>"Preaching the Word" does not necessarily mean, and did not mean here, +getting up into a pulpit for an hour or two and preaching orthodox +sermons, sometimes as dry as dead husks, on Sundays. Sometimes just a +smile and a cheery greeting is the best sermon in the world, and the +finest sort of preaching. Just the example of living honestly and +speaking truthfully and always lending a hand to the fellow who is in +trouble or discouraged, is a fine sermon, for there is not a man or +boy living whose life and actions do not have an influence for good or +bad on some one else. We do not always realize this, but it is true.</p> + +<p>Grenfell little dreamed of the future that this voyage was to open to +him. He knew little or nothing at that time of Labrador or +Newfoundland. He had never seen an Eskimo nor an American Indian, +unless he had chanced to visit a "wild west" show. He had no other +expectation than that he should make a single winter cruise with the +<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>mission schooner, and then return to England and settle in some +promising locality to the practice of his profession, there to rise to +success or fade into hum-drum obscurity, as Providence might will.</p> + +<p>The fishermen of the North Sea fleet were as rough and ready as the +old buccaneers. They were constantly risking their lives and they had +not much regard for their own lives or the lives of others. With them +life was cheap. Night and day they faced the dangers of the sea as +they worked at the trawls, and when they were not sleeping or working +there was no amusement for them. Then they were prone to resort to the +grog ships, which hovered around them, and they too often drank a +great deal more rum than was good for them. They were reared to a +rough and cruel life, these fishermen. Hard punishments were dealt the +men by the skippers. It was the way of the sea, as they knew it.</p> + +<p>There were more than twenty thousand of these men in the North Sea +fleets. Grenfell must have been overwhelmed with the thought that he +was to be the only doctor within reach of that great number of men. +"Heal the sick"—that was his job!</p> + +<p>But he resolved to do much more than that! He was going to "Preach the +Word" in smiles and cheering words, and was going to help the men in +other ways than with his pill box and surgical bandages. As a doctor +he realized how harmful liquor was to them, and he was going to fight +the grog <a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>ships and do his best to put them out of business. In a +word, he was not only going to doctor the men but he was going to help +them to live straight, clean lives. He was going to play the game as +he had played foot ball or pulled his oar with the winning crew at +college. He was going to put into it the best that was in him!</p> + +<p>That was the way Grenfell always did everything he undertook. When he +had to pummel the "old boy" at Marlborough College he did it the best +he knew how. Now he had a big job on his hands. He resolved, +figuratively, to pummel the rum ships, and he was already planning and +inventing ways that would make the men's lives easier. He went into +the thing with his characteristic zeal, determined to make good. It is +a mighty fine thing to make good. Any of us can make good if we go at +things in the way Grenfell went at them—determined, whatever +obstacles arise, not to fail. Grenfell never whined about luck going +against him. He made his own luck. That is the mark of every +successful and big man.</p> + +<p>"There are the fleets," said the skipper one day, pointing out over +the bow. "We'll make a round of the fleets, and you'll have a chance +to get busy patching the men up."</p> + +<p>And he was busy. There came as many patients every day as any young +doctor could wish to treat. But that was what Grenfell wanted.</p> + +<p>As the skipper suggested, the mission boat made <a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>a tour of the fleets, +of which there were several, each fleet with its own name and colours +and commanded by an Admiral. There were the Columbias, the Rashers, +the Great Northerners and many others. It was finally with the Great +Northerners that the mission boat took its station.</p> + +<p>Grenfell visited among the vessels and made friends among the men, who +were like big boys, rough and ready. They were always prepared to go +into daring ventures. They never flinched at danger. Few of them had +ever enjoyed the privilege of going to school, and none of the men and +few of the skippers could write. They could read the compass just as +men who cannot read can tell the time of day from the clock. But they +had their method of dead reckoning and always appeared to know where +they were, even though land had not been sighted for days.</p> + +<p>Most of these men had been apprentised to the vessels as boys and had +followed the sea all their lives. There were always many apprentised +boys on the ships, and these worked without other pay than clothing, +food and a little pocket money until they were twenty-one years of +age. In many cases they received little consideration from the +skippers and sometimes were treated with unnecessary roughness and +even cruelty.</p> + +<p>From the beginning Doctor Grenfell devoted himself not only to healing +the sick, but also to bettering the condition of the fishermen. His +skill <a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>was applied to the healing of their moral as well as their +physical ills. Of necessity their life was a rough and rugged one, but +there were opportunities to introduce some pleasure into it and to +make it happier in many ways. Here was a strong human call that, from +the beginning, Grenfell could not resist.</p> + +<p>Using his own influence together with the influence of other good men, +necessary funds were raised to meet the expenses of additional mission +ships, and additional doctors and workers were sent out. Those +selected were not only doctors, but men who were qualified by +character and ability to guide the seamen to better and cleaner and +more wholesome living. Queen Victoria became interested. The grog +ships were finally driven from the sea. Laws were enacted to better +conditions upon the fishing vessels that the lives of the fishermen +might be easier and happier. In the course of time, as the result of +Grenfell's tireless efforts, a marvelous change for the better took +place.</p> + +<p>Thus the years passed. Dr. Grenfell, who in the beginning had given +his services to the Mission for a single winter, still remained. He +felt it a duty that he could not desert. The work was hard, and it +denied him the private practice and the home life to which he had +looked forward so hopefully. He never had the time to drive fine +horses about the country as he visited patients. But he had no +regrets. He had chosen to accept and share the life <a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>of the fishermen +on the high seas. It was no less a service to his country and to +mankind than the service of the soldier fighting in the trenches. When +he saw the need and heard the call he was willing enough to sacrifice +personal ambitions that he might help others to become finer, better +men, and live nobler happier lives.</p> + +<p>Looking back over that period there is no doubt that Doctor Grenfell +feels a thousand times repaid for any sacrifices he may have made. It +is always that way. When we give up something for the other fellow, or +do some fine thing to help him, our pleasure at the happiness we have +given him makes us somehow forget ourselves and all we have given up.</p> + +<p>And so came the year 1891. It was in that year that a member of the +Mission Board returned from a visit to Canada and Newfoundland and +reported to the Board great need of work among the Newfoundland +fishermen similar to that that had been done by Grenfell in the North +Sea.</p> + +<p>The members of the Board were stirred by what they heard, and it was +decided to send a ship across the Atlantic. It was necessary that the +man in command be a doctor understanding the work to be done. It was +also necessary that he should be a man of high executive and +administrative ability, capable of organizing and carrying it on +successfully. The man that has made good is the man always looked for +to occupy such a post. Grenfell <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>had made good in the North Sea. His +work there indeed had been a brilliant success. He was the one man the +Board thought of, and he was asked to go.</p> + +<p>He accepted. Here was a new field of work and adventure offering ever +greater possibilities than the old, and he never hesitated about it.</p> + +<p>He began preparations for the new enterprise at once. The <i>Albert</i>, a +little ketch-rigged vessel of ninety-seven tons register, was +selected. Iron hatches were put into her, she was sheathed with +greenhart to withstand the pressure of ice, and thoroughly refitted. +Captain Trevize, a Cornishman, was engaged as skipper. Though Doctor +Grenfell was himself a master mariner and thoroughly qualified as a +navigator, he had never crossed the Atlantic, and in any case he was +to be fully occupied with other duties. There was a crew of eight men +including the mate, Skipper Joe White, a famous skipper of the North +Sea fleets.</p> + +<p>On June 15, 1892, the <i>Albert</i> was towed out of Great Yarmouth Harbor, +and that day she spread her sails and set her course westward. The +great work of Doctor Grenfell's life was now to begin. All the years +of toil on the North Sea had been but an introduction to it and a +preparation for it. His little vessel was to carry him to the bleak +and desolate coast of Labrador and into the ice fields of the North. +He was to meet new and strange people, and he was destined to +experience many stirring adventures.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="IV" id="IV"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a> +<h3>IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>DOWN ON THE LABRADOR</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Heavy seas and head winds met the <i>Albert</i>, and she ran in at the +Irish port of Cookhaven to await better weather. In a day or two she +again spread her canvas, Fastnet Rock, at the south end of Ireland, +the last land of the Old World to be seen, was lost to view, and in +heavy weather she pointed her bow toward St. Johns, Newfoundland.</p> + +<p>Twelve days later, in a thick fog, a huge iceberg loomed suddenly up +before them, and the <i>Albert</i> barely missed a collision that might +have ended the mission. It was the first iceberg that Doctor Grenfell +had ever seen. Presently, and through the following years, they were +to become as familiar to him as the trees of the forests.</p> + +<p>Four hundred years had passed since Cabot on his voyage of discovery +had, in his little caraval, passed over the same course that Grenfell +now sailed in the <i>Albert</i>. Nineteen days after Fastnet Rock was lost +to view, the shores of Newfoundland rose before them. That was fine +sailing for the landfall was made almost exactly opposite St. Johns.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>The harbor of St. Johns is like a great bowl. The entrance is a narrow +passage between high, beetling cliffs rising on either side. From the +sea the city is hidden by hills flanked by the cliffs, and a vessel +must enter the narrow gateway and pass nearly through it before the +city of St. Johns is seen rising from the water's edge upon sloping +hill-sides on the opposite side of the harbor. It is one of the safest +as well as most picturesque harbors in the world.</p> + +<p>As the <i>Albert</i> approached the entrance Doctor Grenfell and the crew +were astonished to see clouds of smoke rising from within and +obscuring the sky. As they passed the cliffs waves of scorching air +met them.</p> + +<p>The city was in flames. Much of it was already in ashes. Stark, +blackened chimneys rose where buildings had once stood. Flames were +still shooting upward from those as yet but partly consumed. Some of +the vessels anchored in the harbor were ablaze. Everything had been +destroyed or was still burning. The Colonial public buildings, the +fine churches, the great warehouses that had lined the wharves, even +the wharves themselves, were smouldering ruins, and scarcely a private +house remained. It was a scene of complete and terrible desolation. +The fire had even extended to the forests beyond the city, and for +weeks afterward continued to rage and carry destruction to quiet, +scattered homes of the country.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_40a" id="Page_40a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep039.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep039.jpg" width="90%" alt="The Labrador 'Liveyere'" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"THE LABRADOR 'LIVEYERE'"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>The cause or origin of the fire no one knew. It had come as a +devastating scourge. It had left the beautiful little city a mass of +blackened, smoking ruins.</p> + +<p>The Newfoundlanders are as fine and brave a people as ever lived. Deep +trouble had come to them, but they met it with their characteristic +heroism. No one was whining, or wringing his hands, or crying out +against God. They were accepting it all as cheerfully as any people +can ever accept so sweeping a calamity. Benjamin Franklin said, "God +helps them that help themselves." That is as true of a city as it is +of a person. That is what the St. Johns people were doing, and +already, while the fire still burned, they were making plans to take +care of themselves and rebuild their city.</p> + +<p>Of course Doctor Grenfell could do little to help with his one small +ship, but he did what he could. The officials and the people found +time to welcome him and to tell him how glad they were that he was to +go to Labrador to heal the sick of their fleets and make the lives of +the fishermen and the natives of the northern coast happier and +pleasanter.</p> + +<p>A pilot was necessary to guide the <i>Albert</i> along the uncharted coast +of Labrador. Captain Nicholas Fitzgerald was provided by the +Newfoundland government to serve in this capacity. Doctor Grenfell +invited Mr. Adolph Neilson, Superintendent of Fisheries for +Newfoundland, to accompany them, <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>and he accepted the invitation, that +he might lend his aid to getting the work of the mission started. He +proved a valuable addition to the party. Then the <i>Albert</i> sailed away +to cruise her new field of service.</p> + +<p>It will be interesting to turn to a map and see for ourselves the +country to which Doctor Grenfell was going. We will find Labrador in +the northeastern corner of the North American continent, just as +Alaska is in the northwestern corner.</p> + +<p>Like Alaska, Labrador is a great peninsula and is nearly, though not +quite, so large as Alaska. Some maps will show only a narrow strip +along the Atlantic east of the peninsula marked "Labrador." This is +incorrect. The whole peninsula, bounded on the south by the Gulf of +St. Lawrence and Straits of Belle Isle, the east by the Atlantic +Ocean, the north by Hudson Straits, the west by Hudson Bay and James +Bay and the Province of Quebec, is included in Labrador. The narrow +strip on the east is under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland, while the +remainder is owned by Quebec. Newfoundland is the oldest colony of +Great Britain. It is not a part of Canada, but has a separate +government.</p> + +<p>The only people living in the interior of Labrador are a few wandering +Indians who live by hunting. There are still large parts of the +interior that have never been explored by white men, and of <a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>which we +know little or no more than was known of America when Columbus +discovered the then new world.</p> + +<p>The people who live on the coast are white men, half-breeds and +Eskimos. None of these ever go far inland, and they live by fishing, +hunting, and trapping animals for the fur. Those on the south, as far +east as Blanc Sablon, on the straits of Belle Isle, speak French. +Eastward from Blanc Sablon and northward to a point a little north of +Indian Harbor at the northern side of the entrance of Hamilton Inlet, +English is spoken. The language on the remainder of the coast is +Eskimo, and nearly all of the people are Eskimos. Once upon a time the +Eskimos lived and hunted on the southern coast along the Straits of +Belle Isle, but only white people and half-breeds are now found south +of Hamilton Inlet.</p> + +<p>The Labrador coast from Cape Charles in the south to Cape Chidley in +the north is scoured as clean as the paving stones of a street. Naked, +desolate, forbidding it lies in a somber mist. In part it is low and +ragged but as we pass north it gradually rises into bare slopes and +finally in the vicinity of Nachbak Bay high mountains, perpendicular +and grey, stand out against the sky.</p> + +<p>Behind the storm-scoured rocky islands lie the bays and tickles and +runs and at the head of the bays the forest begins, reaching back over +rolling hills into the mysterious and unknown regions <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>beyond. There +is not one beaten road in all the land. There is no sandy beach, no +grassy bank, no green field. Nature has been kind to Labrador, +however, in one respect. There are innumerable harbors snugly +sheltered behind the islands and well out of reach of the rolling +breakers and the wind. There is an old saying down on the Labrador +that "from one peril there are two ways of escape to three sheltered +places." The ice and fog are always perils but the skippers of the +coast appear to hold them in disdain and plunge forward through storm +and sea when any navigator on earth would expect to meet disaster. For +the most part the coast is uncharted and the skippers, many of whom +never saw an instrument of navigation in their life, or at least never +owned one, sail by rhyme:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"When Joe Bett's P'int you is abreast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dane's Rock bears due west.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">West-nor'west you must steer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Til Brimstone Head do appear.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The tickle's narrow, not very wide;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The deepest water's on the starboard side<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When in the harbor you is shot,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Four fathoms you has got."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It is an evil coast, with hidden reefs and islands scattered like dust +its whole length. "The man who sails the Labrador must know it all +like his own back yard—not in sunny weather alone, but in the night, +when the headlands are like black clouds <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>ahead, and in the mist, when +the noise of breakers tells him all that he may know of his +whereabouts. A flash of white in the gray distance, a thud and swish +from a hidden place: the one is his beacon, the other his fog-horn. It +is thus, often, that the Doctor gets along."</p> + +<p>Labrador has an Arctic climate in winter. The extreme cold of the +country is caused by the Arctic current washing its shores. All winter +the ocean is frozen as far as one can see. In June, when the ice +breaks away, the great Newfoundland fishing fleet of little schooners +sails north to remain until the end of September catching cod, for +here are the finest cod fishing grounds in the world.</p> + +<p>In 1892 there were nearly twenty-five thousand Newfoundlanders on this +fleet. Doctor Grenfell's mission was to aid and assist these deep sea +fishermen. In those days there was no doctor with the fleet and none +on the whole coast, and any one taken seriously ill or badly injured +usually died for lack of medical or surgical care. Of course, Grenfell +was also to help the people who lived on the coast, that is, the +native inhabitants, who needed him. This service he was giving free.</p> + +<p>At this season there is more fog than sunshine in those northern +latitudes. It settles in a dense pall over the sea, adding to the +dangers of navigation. Now the fog was so thick that they could +scarcely see the length of the vessel. On the fourth day out the fog +lifted for a brief time, and Cape Bauld <a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>the northeasterly point of +Newfoundland Island, showed his grim old head, as if to bid them +goodbye and to wish them good luck "down on The Labrador." Then they +were again swallowed by the fog and plunged into the rough seas where +the Straits of Belle Isle meet the wide ocean.</p> + +<p>No more land was seen, as they ploughed northward through the fog, +until August 4th. This was a Thursday. Like the lifting of a curtain +on a stage the fog, all at once, melted away, to reveal a scene of +marvellous though rugged beauty. As though touched by a hand of magic, +the atmosphere, for so many days dank and thick, suddenly became +brilliantly clear and transparent, and the sun shone bright and warm.</p> + +<p>Off the port bow lay The Labrador, the great silent peninsula of the +north. Doctor Grenfell turned to it with a thrill. Here was the land +he had come so far to see! Here he would find the people to whom he +was to devote his life work!</p> + +<p>There before him lay her scattered islands, her grim and rocky +headlands and beetling cliffs, and beyond the islands, rolling away +into illimitable blue distances her seared hills and the vast unknown +region of her interior, whose mysterious secrets she had kept locked +within her heart through all time. Back there, hidden from the world, +were numberless lakes and rivers and mountains that no white man had +ever seen.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_46a" id="Page_46a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep046.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep046.jpg" width="90%" alt="Sails North To Remain Until The End Of Summer Catching +Cod" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"SAILS NORTH TO REMAIN UNTIL THE END OF SUMMER CATCHING +COD"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>The sea rose and fell in a lazy swell. Not far away a school of whales +were playing, now and again spouting geysers of water high into the +air. Shoals of caplin<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> gave silver flashes upon the surface of the +sea where thousands of the little fish crowded one another to the +surface of the water. Countless birds and sea fowl hovered before the +face of the cliffs and above the placid sea.</p> + +<p>A half hundred icebergs, children of age-old glaciers of the far +North, were scattered over the green-blue waters. Some of them were of +gigantic proportions and strange outlines. There were hills with lofty +summits, marvellous castles, turreted and towered, and majestic +cathedrals, their icy pinnacles and spires reaching high above the +top-masts of the ship and their polished adamantine surfaces sparkling +in the brilliant sunshine and scintillating fire and colour with the +wondrous iridescent beauty of mammoth opals.</p> + +<p>"There's Domino Run," said the pilot.</p> + +<p>"Domino Run? What is that?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis a fine deep run behind the islands," explained the pilot. "All +the fleets of schooners cruisin' north and south go through Domino +Run. There's a fine tidy harbor in there, and we'd be findin' some +schooners anchored there now."</p> + +<p>"We'll go in and see."</p> + +<p>"I think 'twould be well and meet some of the fleet. There's liviyeres +in there too. There's some <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>liviyeres handy to most of the harbors on +the coast."</p> + +<p>"Liveyeres? What are liveyeres?"</p> + +<p>"They're the folk that live on the coast all the time,—the whites and +half-breeds. Newfoundlanders only come to fish in summer, but +liveyeres stay the winter. The shop keepers we calls planters. They're +set up by traders that has fishin' places. The liveyeres has their +homes up the heads of bays in winter, and when the ice fastens over +they trap fur. In the summer they come out to the islands to fish."</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell had heard all this before, but now as he looked at the +dreary desolation of the rocks it seemed almost incredible that +children could be born and grow to manhood and womanhood and live +their lives here, forever fighting for mere existence, and die at last +without ever once knowing the comforts that we who live in kindlier +warmer lands enjoy.</p> + +<p>Presently a beautiful and splendid harbor opened before the <i>Albert</i>. +Several schooners were lying at anchor within the harbor's shelter, +and the strange new ship created a vast sensation as she hove to and +dropped her anchor among them, and hoisted the blue flag of the Deep +Sea Mission.</p> + +<p>From masthead after masthead rose flags of greeting. It was a glorious +welcome for any visitor to receive. A warmer or more cordial greeting +could scarcely have been offered the Governor <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>General himself. It was +given with the fine hearty fervour and characteristic hospitality of +the Newfoundland fishermen and seamen.</p> + +<p>The <i>Albert's</i> anchor chains had scarce ceased to rattle before boats +were pulling toward her from every vessel in the harbor. Ships enough +sailed down the coast, to be sure, but if they were not fishing +vessels they were traders looking to barter for fish, bearing sharp +men who drove hard bargains with the fishermen, as we shall see. But +here was a different vessel from any of them. Everybody knew that +<i>this</i> was not a fisherman, and that she was <i>not</i> a trader. What +<i>was</i> her business? What had she come for? What did her blue flag +mean? These were questions to which everybody must needs find the +answer for himself.</p> + +<p>Great was their joy when it was learned that the <i>Albert</i> was a +hospital ship with a real doctor aboard come to care for and heal +their sick and injured, and that the doctor made no charge for his +services or his medicine. This was a big point that went to their +hearts, for there was scarce a man among them with any money in his +pocket, and if Doctor Grenfell had charged them money they could not +have called upon him to help them, for they could not have paid him. +But here he was ready to serve them without money and without price. +The richest, who were poor enough, and the poorest, could alike have +his care and medicine. Here, indeed, was cause to wonder and rejoice.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>Many of the fishermen took their families with them to live in little +huts at the fishing places during the summer, and to help them prepare +the fish for market. Forty or fifty men, women and children were +packed, like figs in a box, on some of the schooners, with no other +sleeping place than under the deck, on top of the cargo of provisions +and salt in the hold, wherever they could find a place big enough to +squeeze and stow themselves. Under such conditions there were ailing +people enough on the schooners who needed a doctor's care.</p> + +<p>The mail boat from St. Johns came once a fortnight, to be sure, and +she had a doctor aboard her. But he could only see for a moment the +more serious cases, and not all of them, hurriedly leave some medicine +and go, and then he would not return to see them again in another two +weeks. The mail boat had a schedule to make, and the time given her +for the voyage between St. Johns and The Labrador was all too short, +and she never reached the northernmost coast.</p> + +<p>There were calls enough from the very beginning to keep Doctor +Grenfell busy with the sick folk of the schooners. All that day the +people came, and it was late that evening when the sick on the +schooners had been cared for and the last of the visitors had +departed.</p> + +<p>Thus, on that first day in this new land, in the Harbor of Domino Run, +Doctor Grenfell's life <a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>work among the deep sea fishermen of The +Labrador began in earnest.</p> + +<p>But even yet Doctor Grenfell's day's work was not to end. He was to +witness a scene that would sicken his heart and excite his deepest +pity. An experience awaited him that was to guide him to new and +greater plans and to bigger things than he had yet dreamed of.</p> + +<p>For a long while a rickety old rowboat had been lying off from the +<i>Albert</i>. A bronzed and bearded man sat alone in the boat, eyeing the +strange vessel as though afraid to approach nearer. He was thin and +gaunt. The evening was chilly, but he was poorly clad, and his +clothing was as ragged and as tattered as his old boat.</p> + +<p>Finally, as though fearing to intrude, and not sure of his reception, +he hailed the <i>Albert</i>.</p> + +<br /> +<a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p class="noin"><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> A small fish about the size of a smelt.</p> +</div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="V" id="V"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a> +<h3>V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE RAGGED MAN IN THE RICKETY BOAT</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Grenfell, who had been standing at the rail for some time watching the +decrepid old boat and its strange occupant, answered the hail +cheerily.</p> + +<p>"Be there a doctor aboard, sir?" asked the man.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Grenfell. "I'm a doctor."</p> + +<p>"Us were hearin' now they's a doctor on your vessel," said the man +with satisfaction. "Be you a <i>real</i> doctor, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," assured the Doctor. "I hope I am."</p> + +<p>"They's a man ashore that's wonderful bad off, but us hasn't no +money," suggested the man, adding expectantly, "You couldn't come to +doctor he now could you, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I will," assured the Doctor. "What's the matter with the +man? Do you know?"</p> + +<p>"He have a distemper in his chest, sir, and a wonderful bad cough," +explained the man.</p> + +<p>"All right," said the Doctor. "I'll go at once. How far is it?"</p> + +<p>"Right handy, sir," said the man with evident relief.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>"Pull alongside and I'll be with you in a jiffy," and the Doctor +hurried below for his medicine case.</p> + +<p>The man was alongside waiting for him when he returned a few moments +later, and he stepped into the rickety old boat. As the liveyere rowed +away Grenfell may have thought of his own famous flat-boat that sank +with him and his brother in the estuary below Parkgate years before +when they were left to swim for it. But in his mental comparison it is +probable that the flat-boat, even in her oldest and most decrepid +days, would have passed for a rather fine and seaworthy craft in +contrast to this rickety old rowboat. The boat kept afloat, however, +and presently the liveyere pulled it alongside the gray rock that +served for a landing. They stepped out and the guide led the way up +the rocks to a lonely and miserable little sod hut. At the door he +halted.</p> + +<p>"Here we is, sir," he announced. "Step right in. They'll be wonderful +glad to see you, sir."</p> + +<p>Grenfell entered. Within was a room perhaps twelve by fourteen feet in +size. A single small window of pieces of glass patched together was +designed to admit light and at the same time to exclude God's good +fresh air. The floor was of earth, partially paved with small round +stones. Built against the walls were six berths, fashioned after the +model of ship's berths, three lower and three upper ones. A broken old +stove, with its pipe extending through the roof into a mud protection +<a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>rising upon the peak outside in lieu of a chimney, made a smoky +attempt to heat the place. The lower berths and floor served as seats. +There was no furniture.</p> + +<p>The walls of the hut were damp. The atmosphere was dank and +unwholesome and heavy with the ill-smelling odor of stale seal oil and +fish. The place was dirty and as unsanitary and unhealthful as any +human habitation could well be.</p> + +<p>Six ragged, half-starved little children huddled timidly into a corner +upon the entrance of the visitor from the ship and gazed at the Doctor +with wide-open frightened eyes. In one of the lower bunks lay the sick +man coughing himself to death. At his side a gaunt woman, miserably +and scantily clothed, was offering him water in a spoon.</p> + +<p>It was evident to the trained eye of the Doctor that the man was +fatally ill and could live but a short time. He was a hopeless +consumptive, and a hasty examination revealed the fact that he was +also suffering from a severe attack of pneumonia.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell's big sympathetic heart went out to the poor sufferer +and his destitute family. What could he do? How could he help the man +in such a place? He might remove him to one of the clean, white +hospital cots on the <i>Albert</i>, but it would scarcely serve to make +easier the impending death, and the exposure and effort of the +transfer might even hasten it. Then, too, the wife and children would +be denied the satisfaction of the last <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>moments with the departing +soul of the husband and father, for the <i>Albert</i> was to sail at once. +The summer was short, and up and down the coast many others were in +sore need of the Doctor's care, and delay might cost some of them +their lives.</p> + +<p>Grenfell sat silently for several minutes observing his patient and +asking himself the question: "What can I do for this poor man?" If +there had only been a doctor that the man could have called a few days +earlier his life, at least might have been prolonged.</p> + +<p>There was but one answer to the question. There was nothing to do but +leave medicine and give advice and directions for the man's care, and +to supply the ill-nourished family much-needed food and perhaps some +warmer clothing.</p> + +<p>If there were only a hospital on the coast where such cases could be +taken and properly treated! If there were only some place where +fatherless and orphaned children could be cared for! These were some +of the thoughts that crowded upon Doctor Grenfell as he left the hut +that evening and was rowed back to the <i>Albert</i>. And in the weeks that +followed his mind was filled with plans, for never did the picture of +the dying man and helpless little ones fade as he saw it that first +day in Domino Run.</p> + +<p>Another call to go ashore came that evening, and the Doctor answered +it promptly. Again he was guided to a little mud hut, but this had an +<a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>advantage over the other in that it was well ventilated. The one +window which it boasted was an open hole in the side wall with no +glass or other covering to exclude the fresh air. There was no stove, +and an open fire on the earthen floor supplied warmth, while a large +opening in the roof, for there was no chimney, offered an escape for +the smoke, an offer of which the smoke did not freely take advantage.</p> + +<p>On a wooden bench in a corner of the room a man sat doubled up with +pain. Here too was a family consisting of the man's wife and several +children.</p> + +<p>"What's the trouble?" asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"I'm wonderful bad with a distemper in my insides, sir," answered the +man with a groan.</p> + +<p>"Been ill long?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, sir, for three weeks."</p> + +<p>"We'll see what can be done."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir."</p> + +<p>"We'll patch you up and make you as well as ever in a little while," +assured the Doctor after a thorough examination, for this proved to be +a curable case.</p> + +<p>"That'll be fine, sir."</p> + +<p>Medicine was provided, with directions for taking, and, as the Doctor +had promised, and as he later learned, the man soon recovered his +health and returned to his fishing.</p> + +<p>The <i>Albert</i> sailed north. Into every little harbor <a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>and settlement +she dropped her anchor for a visit. She called at the trading posts of +the old Hudson's Bay Company at Cartwright, Rigolet and Davis Inlet +and the Moravian Missions among the Eskimos in the North. She was +welcomed everywhere, and everywhere Doctor Grenfell found so many sick +or injured people that the whole summer long he was kept constantly +busy.</p> + +<p>The waters of this coast were unknown to him. He knew nothing of their +tides or reefs or currents. But with confidence in himself and a +courage that was well-nigh reckless, he sought out the people of every +little harbor that he might give them the help that he had come to +give. If there was too great a hazard for the schooner, he used a +whale-boat. Once this whale-boat was blown out to sea, once it was +driven upon the rocks, once it capsized with all on board, and before +the summer ended it became a complete wreck.</p> + +<p>Nine hundred cases were treated, some trivial though perhaps painful +enough maladies, others most serious or even hopeless. Here was a +tooth to be extracted, there a limb to be amputated,—cases of all +kinds and descriptions, with never a doctor to whom the people could +turn for relief until Doctor Grenfell providentially appeared.</p> + +<p>With all the work, the voyage was one of pleasure. Not only the +pleasure of making others happier,—the greatest pleasure any one can +know,—but it was a rattling fine adventure finding the way <a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>among +islands that had never appeared on any map and were still unnamed. It +was fine fun, too, cruising deep and magnificent fjords past lofty +towering cliffs, and exploring new channels. And there were the +Eskimos and their great wolfish dogs, and their primitive manner of +living and dressing. It was all interesting and fascinating.</p> + +<p>Never, however, since that August night in Domino Run, had the little +mud hut, the dying man, the grief-stricken, miserable mother, and the +neglected and starving little ones been out of Doctor Grenfell's +thoughts, and often enough his big heart had ached for the stricken +ones. He had never before witnessed such awful depths of poverty.</p> + +<p>In other harbors that he had visited in his northern voyage similar +heartrending cases had, to be sure, fallen under his attention. In one +harbor he found a poor Eskimo both of whose hands had been blown off +by the premature discharge of a gun. For days and days the man had +endured indescribable agony. Nothing had been done for him, save to +bathe the stubs of his shattered arms in cold water, until Doctor +Grenfell appeared, for there was no surgeon to call upon to relieve +the sufferer.</p> + +<p>Everywhere there was a mute cry for help. The people were in need of +doctors and hospitals. They were in need of hospital ships to cruise +the coast and visit the sick of the harbors. They were in <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>need of +clothing that they were unable to purchase for themselves. They were +in great need of some one to devise a way that would help them to free +themselves from the ancient truck system that kept them forever +hopelessly in debt to the traders.</p> + +<p>The case of the man in the little mud hut at Domino Run, however, +first suggested to Grenfell the need of these things and the thought +that he might do something to bring them about. As a result of this +visit, he made, during his northward cruise, a most thorough +investigation of the requirements of the coast.</p> + +<p>It was early October, and snow covered the ground, when the <i>Albert</i>, +sailing south, again entered Domino Run and anchored in the harbor. +Grenfell was put ashore and walked up the trail to the hut. The man +had long since died and been laid to rest. The wife and children were +still there. They had no provisions for the winter, and Grenfell, we +may be sure, did all in his power to help them and make them more +comfortable.</p> + +<p>His plans had crystalized. He had determined upon the course he should +take. He would go back to England and exert himself to the utmost to +raise funds to build hospitals and to provide additional doctors and +nurses for The Labrador. He would return to Labrador himself and give +his life and strength and the best that was in him for the rest of his +days in an attempt to make these people happier. Grenfell the athlete, +the football player, <a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>the naturalist, and, above all, the doctor, was +ready to answer the human call and to sacrifice his own comfort and +ease and worldly possessions to the needs of these people. The man +that will freely give his life to relieve the suffering of others +represents the highest type of manhood. It is divine. It was +characteristic of Grenfell.</p> + +<p>And so it came about that the ragged man in the rickety boat who led +Doctor Grenfell to the dying man in the mud hut was the indirect means +of bringing hospitals and stores and many fine things to The Labrador +that the coast had never known before. The ragged man in going for the +doctor was simply doing a kindly act, a good turn for a needy +neighbor. What magnificent results may come from one little act of +kindness! This one laid the foundation for a work whose fame has +encircled the world.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VI" id="VI"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a> +<h3>VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>OVERBOARD!</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When Grenfell set out to do a thing he did it. He never in all his +life said, "I will if I can." His motto has always been, "I <i>can</i> if I +will." He had determined to plant hospitals on the Labrador coast and +to send doctors and nurses there to help the people. When he +determined to do a thing there was an end of it. It would be done. A +great many people plan to do things, but when they find it is hard to +carry out their plans, they give them up. They forget that anything +that is worth having is hard to get. If diamonds were as easy to find +as pebbles they would be worth no more than pebbles.</p> + +<p>That was a hard job that Grenfell had set himself, and he knew it. +When you have a hard job to do, the best way is to go at it just as +soon as ever you can and work at it as hard as ever you can until it +is done. That was Grenfell's way, and as soon as he reached St. Johns +he began to start things moving. Someone else might have waited to +return to England to make a formal report to the Deep Sea Missions +Board, and await the Board's approval. <a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>Not so with Grenfell. He knew +the Board would approve, and time was valuable.</p> + +<p>Down on The Labrador winter begins in earnest in October. Already the +fishing fleets had returned from Labrador when the <i>Albert</i> reached +St. Johns, and the fishermen had brought with them the news of the +<i>Albert</i>'s visit to The Labrador and the wonderful things Doctor +Grenfell had done in the course of his summer's cruise. Praise of his +magnificent work was on everybody's lips. The newspapers, always +hungry for startling news, had published articles about it. Doctor +Grenfell was hailed as a benefactor. All creeds and classes welcomed +and praised him,—fishermen, merchants, politicians. Even the +dignified Board of Trade had recorded its praise.</p> + +<p>It was November when Grenfell arrived in St. Johns. He immediately +waited upon the government officials with the result that His +Excellency, the Governor of the Colony, at once called a meeting in +the Government House that Grenfell might present his plans for the +future to the people. All the great men of the Colony were there. They +listened with interest and were moved with enthusiasm. Some fine +things were said, and then with the unanimous vote of the meeting +resolutions were passed in commendation of Doctor Grenfell's summer's +work and expressing the desire that it might continue and grow in +accordance with Doctor Grenfell's plans. The resolutions finally +<a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>pledged the "co-operation of all classes of this community." Here was +an assurance that the whole of the fine old Colony was behind him, and +it made Grenfell happy.</p> + +<p>But this was not all. It is not the way of Newfoundland people to hold +meetings and say fine things and pass high-sounding resolutions and +then let the whole matter drop as though they felt they had done their +duty. Doctor Grenfell would need something more than fine words and +pats on the back if he were to put his plans through successfully, +though the fine words helped, too, with their encouragement. He would +need the help of men of responsibility who would work with him, and +His Excellency, the Governor, recognizing this fact, appointed a +committee composed of some of Newfoundland's best men for this +purpose.</p> + +<p>Then it was that Mr. W. Baine Grieve arose and began to speak. Mr. +Grieve was a famous merchant of the Colony, and a member of the firm +of Baine Johnston and Company, who owned a large trading station and +stores at Battle Harbor, on an island near Cape Charles, at the +southeastern extremity of Labrador. He was a man of importance in St. +Johns and a leader in the Colony. As he spoke Grenfell suddenly +realized that Mr. Grieve was presenting the Mission with a building at +Battle Harbor which was to be fitted as a hospital and made ready for +use the following summer.</p> + +<p>What a thrill must have come to Grenfell at that <a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>moment! The whole +Newfoundland government was behind him! His first hospital was already +assured! We can easily imagine that he was fairly overwhelmed and +dazed with the success that he had met so suddenly and unexpectedly.</p> + +<p>But Grenfell was not a man to lose his head. This was only a +beginning. He must have more hospitals than one. He must have doctors +and nurses, medicines and hospital supplies, food and clothing, and a +steam vessel that would take him quickly about to see the sick of the +harbors. A great deal of money would be required, and when the +<i>Albert</i> sailed out of St. John's Harbor and turned back to England he +knew that he had assumed a stupendous job, and that the winter was not +to be an idle one for him by any means.</p> + +<p>It was December first when the <i>Albert</i> reached England. With the +backing and assistance of the Mission Board, Doctor Grenfell and +Captain Trevize of the <i>Albert</i> arranged a speaking tour for the +purpose of exciting interest in the Labrador work. Men and women were +moved by the tale of their experiences and the suffering and needs of +the fishermen and liveres. Gifts were made and sufficient funds +subscribed to purchase necessary supplies and hospital equipment, and +a fine rowboat was donated to replace the <i>Albert's</i> whaleboat which +had been smashed during the previous summer.</p> + +<p>Then word came from St. Johns that the great <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>shipping firm of Job +Brothers, who owned a fisheries' station at Indian Harbor, had donated +a hospital to the Newfoundland committee. This was to be erected at +Indian Harbor, at the northern side of the entrance to Hamilton Inlet, +two hundred miles north of Battle Harbor, and was to be ready for use +during the summer. This was fine news. Not only were there large +fishery stations at both Battle Harbor and Indian Harbor, but both +were regular stopping places for the fishing schooners when going +north and again on their homeward voyage. With two hospitals on the +coast a splendid beginning for the work would be made.</p> + +<p>But there was still one necessity lacking,—a little steamer in which +Doctor Grenfell could visit the folk of the scattered harbors. At +Chester on the River Dee and not far from his boyhood home at Parkgate +Grenfell discovered a boat one day that was for sale and that he +believed would answer his purpose. It was a sturdy little steam +launch, forty-five feet over all. It was, however, ridiculously +narrow, with a beam of only eight feet, and was sure to roll terribly +in any sea and even in an ordinary swell.</p> + +<p>But Grenfell was a good seaman, and he could make out in a boat that +did a bit of tumbling. He was the sort of man to do a good job with a +tool that did not suit him if he could not get just the sort of tool +he wanted, and never find fault with it either. The necessary amount +to purchase the <a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>launch was subscribed by a friend of the Mission. +Grenfell bought it and was mightily pleased that this last need was +filled. Later the little launch was christened the "Princess May."</p> + +<p>Then the <i>Albert</i> was made ready for her second voyage to Labrador. +The Mission Board appointed two young physicians to accompany Doctor +Grenfell, Doctor Arthur O. Bobardt and Doctor Eliott Curwen, and two +trained nurses, Miss Cecilia Williams and Miss Ada Cawardine, that +there might be a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Battle Harbor +and a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Indian Harbor. The launch +<i>Princess May</i> was swung aboard the big Allan liner <i>Corean</i> and +shipped to St. John's, and on June second Doctor Grenfell and his +staff sailed from Queenstown on the <i>Albert</i>.</p> + +<p>Grenfell was as fond of sports as ever he was in his boyhood and +college days, and now, when the weather permitted, he played cricket +with any on board who would play with him. The deck of so small a +vessel as the <i>Albert</i> offers small space for a game of this sort, and +one after another the cricket balls were lost overboard until but one +remained. Then, one day, in the midst of a game in mid-ocean, that +last ball unceremoniously followed the others into the sea.</p> + +<p>Grenfell ran to the rail. He could see the ball rise on a wave astern.</p> + +<p>"Tack back and pick me up!" he yelled to the <a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>helmsman, and to the +astonishment and consternation of everyone, over the rail he dived in +pursuit of the ball.</p> + +<p>Grenfell could swim like a fish. He learned that in the River Dee and +the estuary, when he was a boy, and he always kept himself in athletic +training. But he had never before jumped into the middle of so large a +swimming pool as the Atlantic ocean, with the nearest land a thousand +miles away!</p> + +<p>The steersman lost his head. He put over the helm, but failed to cut +Grenfell off, and the Doctor presently found himself a long way from +the ship struggling for life in the icy cold waters of the North +Atlantic.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VII" id="VII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a> +<h3>VII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>IN THE BREAKERS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The young adventurer did not lose his head, and he did not waste his +strength in desperate efforts to overtake the vessel. He calmly +laid-to, kept his head above water, and waited for the helmsman to +bring the ship around again.</p> + +<p>A man less inured to hardships, or less physically fit, would have +surrendered to the icy waters or to fatigue. Grenfell was as fit as +ever a man could be.</p> + +<p>In school and college he had made a record in athletic sports, and +since leaving the university he had not permitted himself to get out +of training. An athlete cannot keep in condition who indulges in +cigarettes or liquor or otherwise dissipates, and Grenfell had lived +clean and straight.</p> + +<p>It was this that saved his life now. He knew he was fit and he had +confidence in himself, and was unafraid. While he appreciated his +peril, he never lost his nerve, and when finally he was rescued and +found himself on deck he was little the worse for his experience, and +with a change of dry clothing was ready to resume the interrupted game +of cricket with the rescued ball.</p> + +<p>With no further adventure than once coming to <a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>close quarters with an +iceberg and escaping without serious damage, the <i>Albert</i> arrived in +due time at St. John's, and Grenfell was at once occupied in +preparation for his summer's work on The Labrador. Materials with +which to construct the Indian Harbor hospital were shipped north by +steamer. Supplies were taken aboard the <i>Albert</i>, and with Dr. Curwin +and nurses Williams and Cawardine she sailed for Battle Harbor, where +the building to be utilized as a hospital was already erected.</p> + +<p>Then the launch <i>Princess May</i>, which had been landed from the +<i>Corean</i>, was made ready for sea, and with an engineer and a cook as +his crew and Dr. Bobardt as a companion, Dr. Grenfell as skipper put +to sea in the tiny craft on July 7th.</p> + +<p>There were many pessimistic prophets to see the <i>Princess May</i> off. +From skipper to cook not a man aboard her was familiar with the coast, +or could recognize a single landmark or headland either on the +Newfoundland coast or on The Labrador.</p> + +<p>They were going into rugged, fog-clogged seas. They might encounter an +ice-pack, and the sea was always strewn with menacing icebergs. True, +they had charts, but the charts were most incomplete, and no +Newfoundlander sails by them.</p> + +<p>The <i>Princess May</i>, a mere cockle-shell, was too small, it was said, +for the undertaking. She was six years old and Grenfell had not given +her a try-out. The consensus of opinion among the wise old +<a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>Newfoundland seamen who gathered on the wharf as she sailed was that +Doctor Grenfell and his crew were much like the three wise men of +Gotham who went to sea in a bowl. Still, not a man of them but would +have ventured forth upon the high seas in an ancient rotten old hull +of a schooner. They were acquainted with schooners and the coast, +while the little launch <i>Princess May</i> was a new species of craft to +them, and was manned by green hands.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a dangerous voyage for green hands to be makin'," said one, "and +that small boat were never meant for the sea."</p> + +<p>"Aye, for green hands," said another. "They'll never make un without +mishap."</p> + +<p>"If they does, 'twill be by the mercy o' God."</p> + +<p>"And how'll they make harbor, not knowin' what to sail by?"</p> + +<p>"That bit of a craft would never stand half a gale, and if she meets +th' ice she'll crumple up like an eggshell."</p> + +<p>"And they'll be havin' some nasty weather, <i>I</i> says. We'll never hear +o' <i>she</i> again or any o' them on board."</p> + +<p>"Unless by the mercy o' God."</p> + +<p>Such were the remarks of those ashore as the <i>Princess May</i> steamed +down the harbor and out through the narrow channel between the +beetling cliffs, into the broad Atlantic. Dr. Grenfell has confessed +that he was not wholly without <a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>misgivings himself, and they seemed +well founded when, at the end of the first five miles, the engineer +reported:</p> + +<p>"She's sprung a leak, sir!" and anxiously asked, "Had we better put +back?"</p> + +<p>"No! We'll stand on!" answered Grenfell. "Those croakers ashore would +never let us hear the end of it if we turned back. We'll see what's +happened."</p> + +<p>An examination discovered a small opening in the bottom. A wooden plug +was shaped and driven into the hole. To Doctor Grenfell's satisfaction +and relief, this was found to heal the leak effectually, and the +<i>Princess May</i> continued on her course.</p> + +<p>But this was not to end the difficulties. In those waters dense fogs +settled suddenly and without warning, and now such a fog fell upon +them to shut out all view of land and the surrounding sea.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the <i>Princess May</i> steamed bravely ahead. To avoid +danger Grenfell was holding her, as he believed, well out to sea, when +suddenly there rose out of the fog a perpendicular towering cliff. +They were almost in the white surf of the waves pounding upon the +rocky base of the cliff before they were aware of their perilous +position.</p> + +<p>Every one expected that the little vessel would be driven upon the +rocks and lost, and they realized if that were to happen only a +miracle could save them. Grenfell shouted to the engineer, the engine +was <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>reversed and by skillful maneuvering the <i>Princess May</i> +succeeded, by the narrowest margin, in escaping unharmed. To their own +steady nerves, and the intervention of Providence the fearless mariner +and his little crew undoubtedly owed their lives.</p> + +<p>Grenfell suspected that the compass was not registering correctly. +Standing out to sea until they were at a safe distance from the +treacherous shore rocks, a careful examination was made. The binnacle +had been left in St. Johns for necessary repairs, and the examination +discovered that iron screws had been used to make the compass box fast +to the cabin. These screws were responsible for a serious deviation of +the needle, and this it was that had so nearly led them to fatal +disaster.</p> + +<p>A heavy swell was running, and the little vessel, with but eight feet +beam, rolled so rapidly that the compass needle, even when the defect +had been remedied, made a wide swing from side to side as the vessel +rolled. The best that could be done was to read the dial midway +between the extreme points of the needle's swing. This was deemed safe +enough, and away the <i>Princess May</i> ploughed again through the fog.</p> + +<p>At five o'clock in the afternoon it was decided to work in toward +shore and search for a sheltering harbor in which to anchor for the +night. Under any circumstance it would be foolhardy for so small a +vessel to remain in the open sea outside, after darkness set in, in +those ice-menaced fog-choked <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>northern waters. The course of the +<i>Princess May</i> was accordingly changed to bear to the westward and +Grenfell was continuously feeling his way through the fog when +suddenly, and to the dismay of all on board, they found themselves +surrounded by jagged reefs and small rocky islands and in the midst of +boiling surf.</p> + +<p>Now they were indeed in grave peril. They must needs maintain +sufficient headway to keep the vessel under her helm. Black rocks +capped with foam rose on every side, they did not know the depth of +the water, and the fog was so thick they could scarce see two boat +lengths from her bow.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a> +<h3>VIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The finest school of courage in the world is the open. The Sands of +Dee, the estuary and the hills of Wales made a fine school of this +sort for Grenfell.</p> + +<p>The out-of-doors clears the brain, and there a man learns to think +straight and to the point. When he is on intimate terms with the woods +and mountains, and can laugh at howling gales and the wind beating in +his face, and can take care of himself and be happy without the +effeminating comforts of steam heat and luxurious beds, a man will +prove himself no coward when he comes some day face to face with grave +danger. He has been trained in a school of courage. He has learned to +depend upon himself.</p> + +<p>Fine, active games of competition like baseball, football, basketball +and boxing, give nerve, self-confidence and poise. Through them the +hand learns instinctively, and without a moment's hesitation, to do +the thing the brain tells it to do.</p> + +<p>Down on The Labrador they say that Grenfell has always been "lucky" in +getting out of tight places and bad corners. But we all know, 'way +<a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>down in our hearts, that there is no such thing as "luck." "God helps +them that help themselves." That's the secret of Grenfell's getting +out of such tight corners as this one that he had now run into in the +fog. He was trained in the school of courage. He helped himself, and +he knew how. He was unafraid.</p> + +<p>So it was now as always afterward. Grim danger was threatening the +<i>Princess May</i> on every side. Each moment Grenfell and his companions +expected to feel the shock of collision and hear the fatal crunching +and splintering of the vessel's timbers upon the rocks. All of +Grenfell's experiences on the Sands of Dee and in the hills of Wales +and out on the estuary came to his rescue. He did not lose his head +for a moment. That would have been fatal. He had acquired courage and +resourcefulness in that out-of-door school he had attended when a boy. +The situation called for all the grit and good judgment he and his +crew possessed.</p> + +<p>Under just enough steam to give the vessel steerageway, they wound in +and out between protruding rocks and miniature islands amidst the +white foam of breakers that pounded upon the rocks all around them. At +length they were headed about. Then cautiously they threaded their way +into the open sea and safety.</p> + +<p>This was to be but an incident in the years of labor that lay before +Grenfell on The Labrador. He was to have no end of exciting +experiences, <a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>some of them so thrilling that this one was, in +comparison, to fade into insignificance. Labrador is a land of +adventures. The man who casts his lot in that bleak country cannot +escape them. Adventure lurks in every cove and harbor, on every turn +of the trail, ready to spring out upon you and try your mettle, and +learn the sort of stuff you are made of.</p> + +<p>Later in the evening they again felt their way landward through the +fog. To their delight they presently found themselves in a harbor, and +that night they rested in a safe and snug anchorage sheltered from +wind and pounding sea.</p> + +<p>There was adventure enough on that voyage to satisfy anybody. The sun +did not set that the voyagers had not experienced at least one good +thrill during the daylight hours. On the seventh day from St. Johns +the <i>Princess May</i> crossed the Straits of Belle Isle, and drew +alongside the <i>Albert</i> at Battle Harbor.</p> + +<p>The new hospital was nearly ready to receive patients, the first of +the hospitals to be built as a result of the visit to the <i>Albert</i> the +previous summer of the ragged man in the rickety boat. The other +hospital was in course of building at Indian Harbor, and Doctor +Grenfell dispatched the <i>Albert</i>, with Doctor Curwin and Miss Williams +to assist in preparing it for patients, while Doctor Bobart and Miss +Cawardine remained in charge of the Battle Harbor hospital.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>Away Doctor Grenfell steamed again in the <i>Princess May</i> nothing +daunted by his many difficulties with the little craft in his voyage +from St. John's. It was necessary that he know the headlands and the +harbors, the dangerous places and the safe ones along the whole coast. +The only way to do this was by visiting them, and the quickest and +best way to learn them was by finding them out for himself while +navigating his own craft. Now, light houses stand on two or three of +the most dangerous points of the coast, but in those days there were +none, and there were no correct charts. The mariner had to carry +everything in his head, and indeed he must still do so. He must know +the eight hundred miles of coast as we know the nooks and corners of +our dooryards.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell wished also to make the acquaintance of the people. He +wished to visit them in their homes that he might learn their needs +and troubles and so know better how to help them. He was not alone to +be their doctor. He was to clothe and feed the poor so far as he could +and to put them in a way to help themselves.</p> + +<p>To do this it was necessary that he know them as a man knows his near +neighbors. He must needs know them as the family doctor knows his +patients. He was no preacher, but, to some degree, he was to be their +pastor and look after their moral as well as their physical welfare. +In short, he was to be their friend, and if he were to do his best for +them, they <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>would have to look upon him as a friend and not only call +upon him when they were in need, but lend him any assistance they +could. To this end they would have to be taught to accept him as one +of themselves, come to live among them, and not as an occasional +visitor or a foreigner.</p> + +<p>With the exception of a few small settlements of a half-dozen houses +or so in each settlement, the cabins on the Labrador coast are ten or +fifteen and often twenty or more miles apart. If all of them were +brought together there would scarcely be enough to make one fair-sized +village.</p> + +<p>All of the people, as we have seen, live on the seacoast, and not +inland. Only wandering Indians live in the interior. Though Labrador +is nearly as large as Alaska, there is no permanent dwelling in the +whole interior. It is a vast, trackless, uninhabited wilderness of +stunted forests and wide, naked barrens.</p> + +<p>The Liveyeres, as the natives, other than Indians and Eskimos, are +called, have no other occupation than trapping and hunting in winter, +and fishing in summer. Their winter cabins are at the heads of deep +bays, in the edge of the forest. In the summer they move to their +fishing places farther down the bays or on scattered, barren islands, +where they live in rude huts or, sometimes, in tents. They catch cod +chiefly, but also, at the mouths of rivers, salmon and trout. All the +fish are salted, and, like the furs caught in winter, bartered to +<a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>traders for tea and flour and pork and other necessities of life.</p> + +<p>To make the acquaintance of these scattered people, along hundreds of +miles of coast, was a big undertaking. And then, too, there were the +settlements in the north of Newfoundland, among whose people he was to +work. Doctor Grenfell, and his assistants were the only doctors that +any of them could call upon.</p> + +<p>And there were the fishermen of the fleet. The twenty-five thousand or +more men, women and children attached to the Newfoundland summer +fisheries on The Labrador formed a temporary summer population.</p> + +<p>He could not hope, of course, in the two or three months they were +there, to get on intimate terms with all of them, but he was to meet +as many as he could, and renew and increase both his acquaintances and +his service of the year before. With the <i>Princess May</i> to visit the +sick folk ashore, and the hospital ship <i>Albert</i>, which was to serve, +in a manner, as a sea ambulance to take serious cases to the new +hospitals at Indian Harbor and Battle Harbor, Doctor Grenfell felt +that he had made a good start.</p> + +<p>As already suggested, this was an adventurous voyage. Twice that +summer the <i>Princess May</i> went aground on the rocks, and once the +<i>Albert</i> was fastened on a reef. Both vessels lost sections <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>of their +keels, but otherwise, due to good seamanship, escaped with minor +injuries.</p> + +<p>At every place the Doctor visited he made a record of the people. +After the names of the poorer and destitute ones was listed the things +of which they were most in need.</p> + +<p>In one poor little cabin the mother of a large family had, though ill, +kept to her duties in and out of the house until she could stand on +her feet no longer, and when Doctor Grenfell entered the cabin he +found her lying helpless on a rough couch of boards, with scarce +enough bed clothing to cover her. Some half-clad children shivered +behind a miserable broken stove, which radiated little heat but sent +forth much smoke. The haggard and worn out father was walking up and +down the chill room with a wee mite of a baby in his arms, while it +cried pitifully for food. Like all the family the poor little thing +was starving.</p> + +<p>The mother was suffering with an acute attack of bronchitis and +pleurisy. All were suffering from lack of food and clothing. The +children were barefooted. One little fellow had no other covering than +an old trouser leg drawn over his frail little body. The man's fur +hunt had failed the previous winter. Sickness prevented fishing. There +was nothing in the house to eat and the family were helpless. Doctor +Grenfell came to them none too soon.</p> + +<p>In every harbor and bay and cove there was <a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>enough for Doctor Grenfell +to do. His heart and hands were full that summer as they have ever +been since. His skill was constantly in demand. Here was some one +desperately ill, there a finger or an arm to be amputated, or a more +serious operation to be performed.</p> + +<p>The hospitals were soon filled to overflowing. Doctor Grenfell afloat, +and his two assistants with the nurses in the hospitals were busy +night and day. The best of it all was many lives were saved. Some who +would have been helpless invalids as long as they lived were sent home +from the hospitals strong and well and hearty. An instance of this was +a girl of fourteen, who had suffered for three years with internal +absesses that would eventually have killed her. She was taken to the +Battle Harbor Hospital, operated upon, and was soon perfectly well. To +this day she is living, a robust contented woman, the mother of a +family, and, perchance, a grandmother.</p> + +<p>Grenfell was happy. Here was something better than jogging over +English highways behind a horse and visiting well-to-do grumbling +patients. He was out on the sea he loved, meeting adventure in fog and +storm and gale. That was better than a gig on a country road. He was +helping people to be happy. He prized that far more than the wealth he +might have accumulated, or the reputation he might have gained at +home, as a famous physician or surgeon. There is no happiness in the +world to <a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>compare with the happiness that comes with the knowledge +that one is making others happy and helping them to better living and +contentment.</p> + +<p>Without knowing it, Grenfell was building a world-fame. If he had +known it, he would not have cared a straw. He was working not for fame +but for results—for the good he could do others. Nothing else has +ever influenced him. Every day he was doing endless good turns without +pay or the thought of pay. In this he was serving not only God but his +country. And he never neglected his athletics, for it was necessary +that he keep his body in the finest physical condition that his brain +might always be keen and alert. Grenfell could not have remained a +year in the field if he had neglected his body, and he was still an +athlete in the pink of condition.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="IX" id="IX"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a> +<h3>IX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>IN THE DEEP WILDERNESS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Imagine, if you will, a vast primeval wilderness spreading away before +you for hundreds of miles, uninhabited, grim and solitary. None but +wild beasts and the roving Indians that hunt them live there. None but +they know the mysteries that lie hidden and guarded by those trackless +miles of forests and barren reaches of unexplored country.</p> + +<p>And so this wilderness has lain since creation, unmarred by the hand +of civilized man, clean and unsullied, as God made it. The air, laden +with the perfume of spruce and balsam, is pure and wholesome. The +water carries no germs from the refuse of man, and one may drink it +freely, from river and brook and lake, without fear of contamination. +There is no sound to break the silence of ages save the song of river +rapids, the thunder of mighty falls, or the whisper or moan of wind in +the tree tops; or, perchance, the distant cry of a wolf, the weird +laugh of a loon or the honk of the wild goose.</p> + +<p>There are no roads or beaten trails other than the trails of the +caribou, the wild deer that make this their home. The nearest railroad +is half a <a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>thousand miles away. Automobiles are unknown and would be +quite useless here. Great rivers and innumerable emerald lakes render +the land impassable for horses. The traveler must make his own trails, +and he must depend in summer upon his canoe or boat, and in winter +upon his snowshoes and his sledge, hauled by great wolf dogs.</p> + +<p>With his gun and traps and fishing gear he must glean his living from +the wilderness or from the sea. If he would have a shelter he must +fell trees with his axe and build it with his own skill. He has little +that his own hands and brain do not provide. He must be resourceful +and self-reliant.</p> + +<p>I venture to say there is not a boy living—a real red-blooded boy or +red-blooded man either for that matter—who has not dreamed of the day +when he might experience the thrill of venturing into such a +wilderness as we have described. This was America as the discoverers +found it, and as it was before the great explorers and adventurers +opened it to civilization. This was Labrador as Grenfell found +Labrador, and as it is to-day—the great "silent peninsula of the +North." It occupies a large corner of the North American continent, +and much of it is still unexplored, a vast, grim, lonely land, but one +of majestic grandeur and beauty.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_84a" id="Page_84a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep085.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep085.jpg" width="52%" alt=""The Doctor On A Winter's Journey"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"THE DOCTOR ON A WINTER'S JOURNEY"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>The hardy pioneers and settlers of Labrador, as we have seen, have +made their homes only on the seacoast, leaving the interior to +wandering Indian hunters. They do, to be sure, enter the wilderness +<a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>for short distances in winter when they are following their business +as hunters, but none has ever made his home beyond the sound of the +sea.</p> + +<p>In the forests of the south and southeast are the Mountaineer Indians, +as they are called by all English speaking people; or, if we wish to +put on airs and assume French we may call them the <i>Montaignais</i> +Indians. In the North are the Nascaupees, today the most primitive +Indians on the North American continent. In the west and southwest are +the Crees.</p> + +<p>All of these Indians are of the great Algonquin family, and are much +like those that Natty Bumpo chummed with or fought against, and those +who lived in New York and New England when the settlers first came to +what are now our eastern states. Labrador is so large, and there are +so few Indians to occupy it, however, that the explorer may wander +through it for months, as I have done, without ever once seeing the +smoke rising from an Indian tepee or hearing a human voice.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos of the north coast are much like the Eskimos of Greenland, +both in language and in the way they live. Their summer shelters are +skin tents, which they call <i>tupeks</i>. In winter they build dome-shaped +houses from blocks of snow, though they sometimes have cave-like +shelters of stone and earth built against the side of a hill. The snow +houses they call <i>iglooweuks</i>, or houses of snow; the stone and earth +shelters are <i>igloosoaks</i>, or big <a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>igloos, the word igloo, in the +Eskimo language, meaning house. When winter comes big snow drifts soon +cover the igloosoaks, and the snow keeps out the wind and cold. As a +further protection, snow tunnels, through which the people crawl on +hands and knees, are built out from the entrance to the igloosoak, and +these keep all drafts, when a gale blows, from those within.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos heat their snow igloos, and in treeless regions their +igloosoaks also, with lamps of hollowed stone. These lamps are made in +the form of a half moon. Seal oil is used as fuel, and a rag, if there +is any to be had, or moss, resting upon the straight side of the lamp, +does service as the wick.</p> + +<p>Of course the snow igloos must never be permitted to get so warm that +the snow will melt. The temperature in a snow house is therefore kept +at about thirty degrees, or a little lower. Nevertheless it is +comfortable enough, when the temperature outside is perhaps forty or +fifty degrees below zero and quite likely a stiff breeze blowing. +Comfort is always a matter of comparison. I have spent a good many +nights in snow houses, and was always glad to enjoy the comfort they +offered. To the traveler who has been in the open all day, the snow +house is a cozy retreat and a snug enough place to rest and sleep in.</p> + +<p>On the east coast the Eskimos are more civilized and live much like +the liveyeres. All Eskimos are <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>kind hearted, hospitable people. Once, +I remember, when an Eskimo host noticed that the bottom of my sealskin +mocasins had worn through to the stocking, he pulled those he wore off +his feet, and insisted upon me wearing them. He had others, to be +sure, but they were not so good as those he gave me. No matter how +poorly off he is, an Eskimo will feel quite offended if a visitor does +not share with him what he has to eat.</p> + +<p>Though Dr. Grenfell's hospitals are farther south, on the coast where +the liveyeres have their cabins, he cruises northward to the Eskimo +country of the east coast every summer, and in the summer has nursing +stations there. Sometimes, when there is a case demanding it, he +brings the sick Eskimos to one of the hospitals. But, generally, the +east coast Eskimos are looked after by the Moravian Brethren in their +missions, and in summer Dr. Grenfell calls at the missions to give +them his medical and surgical assistance.</p> + +<p>As stated before, the liveyeres and others than the Indians, build +their cabins on the coast, usually on the shores of bays, but always +by the salt water and where they can hear the sound of the sea. Every +man of them is a hunter or a fisherman or both, and the boys grow up +with guns in their hands, and pulling at an oar or sailing a boat. +They begin as soon as they can walk to learn the ways of the +wilderness and of the wild things that live in it, and they are good +sailors and know a <a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>great deal about the sea and the fish while they +are still wee lads. That is to be their profession, and they are +preparing for it.</p> + +<p>The Labrador home of the liveyere usually contains two rooms, but +occasionally three, though there are many, especially north of +Hamilton Inlet, of but a single room. All have an enclosed lean-to +porch at the entrance. This serves not only as a protection from +drifting snow in winter, but as a place where stovewood is piled, dog +harness and snowshoes are hung, and various articles stored.</p> + +<p>In the cabin is a large wood-burning stove, the first and most +important piece of furniture. There is a home-made table and sometimes +a home-made chair or two, though usually chests in which clothing and +furs are stored are utilized also as seats. A closet built at one side +holds the meager supply of dishes. On a mantelshelf the clock ticks, +if the cabin boasts one, and by its side rests a well-thumbed Bible.</p> + +<p>Bunks, built against the rear of the room, serve as beds. If there is +a second room, it supplies additional sleeping quarters, with bunks +built against the walls as in the living room. Travelers and visitors +carry their own sleeping bags and bedding with them and sleep upon the +floor. This is the sort of bed Dr. Grenfell enjoys when sleeping at +night in a liveyere's home.</p> + +<p>On the beams overhead are rifles and shotguns, always within easy +reach, for a shot at some game <a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>may offer at any time. The side walls +of the cabins are papered with old newspapers, or illustrations cut +from old magazines.</p> + +<p>The more thrifty and cleanly scrub floors, tables, doors and all +woodwork with soap and sand once a week, until everything is +spotlessly clean. But along the coast one comes upon cabins often +enough that appear never to have had a cleaning day, and in which the +odor of seal oil and fish is heavy.</p> + +<p>Those of the Newfoundland fishermen that bring their families to the +coast live in all sorts of cabins. Some are well built and +comfortable, while others are merely sod-covered huts with earthen +floor. These are occupied, however, only during the fishing season. +The fishermen move into them early in July and begin to leave them +early in September.</p> + +<p>As stated elsewhere, no farming can be done in Labrador, and the only +way men can make a living is by hunting and fishing. Eskimos seldom +venture far inland on their hunting and trapping expeditions, but some +of the liveyeres go fifty or sixty miles from the coast to set their +traps, and some of those in Hamilton Inlet go up the Grand River for a +distance of more than two hundred and fifty miles, and others go up +the Nascaupee River for upwards of a hundred miles.</p> + +<p>Trapping is all done in winter and it is a lonely and adventurous +calling. Early in September, the men who go the greatest distance +inland set out for their trapping grounds. Usually two men go +<a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>together. They build a small log hut called a "tilt," about eight by +ten feet in size. Against each of two sides a bunk is made of saplings +and covered with spruce or balsam boughs. On the boughs the sleeping +bags are spread, and the result is a comfortable bed. The bunks also +serve as seats. A little sheet iron stove that weighs, including +stovepipe, about eighteen pounds and is easy to transport, heats the +tilt, and answers very well for the trapper's simple cooking. The +stovepipe, protruding through the roof, serves as a chimney.</p> + +<p>The main tilt is used as a base of supplies, and here reserve +provisions are stored together with accumulations of furs as they are +caught. Fat salt pork, flour, baking powder or soda, salt, tea and +Barbadoes molasses complete the list of provisions carried into the +wilderness from the trading post. Other provisions must be hunted.</p> + +<p>Each man provides himself with a frying pan, a tin cup, a spoon or +two, a tin pail to serve as a tea kettle and sometimes a slightly +larger pail for cooking. On his belt he carries a sheath knife, which +he uses for cooking, skinning, eating and general utility. He rarely +encumbers himself with a fork.</p> + +<p>For use on the trail each man has a stove similar to the one that +heats the tilt, a small cotton tent, and a toboggan.</p> + +<p>From the base tilt the trapping paths or trails lead out. Each trapper +has a path which he has established and which he works alone. He +hauls <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>his sleeping bag, provisions and other equipment on his +toboggan or, as he calls it, "flat sled." He carries his rifle in his +hand and his ax is stowed on the toboggan, for he never knows when a +quick shot will get him a pelt or a day's food.</p> + +<p>Sometimes tilts are built along the path at the end of a day's +journey, but if there is no tilt the cotton tent is pitched. In likely +places traps are set for marten, mink or fox. Ice prevents trapping +for the otter in winter, but they are often shot.</p> + +<p>At the end of a week or fortnight the partners meet at the base tilt. +Otherwise each man is alone, and we may imagine how glad they are to +see each other when the meeting time comes. But they cannot be idle. +Out through the snow-covered forest, along the shores of frozen lakes +and on wide bleak marshes the trapper has one hundred traps at least, +and some of them as many as three hundred. The men must keep busy to +look after them properly, and so, after a Sunday's rest together they +again separate and are away on their snowshoes hauling their toboggans +after them.</p> + +<p>At Christmas time they go back to their homes, down by the sea, to see +their wives and children and to make merry for a week. What a meeting +that always is! How eagerly the little ones have been looking forward +to the day when Daddy would come! O, that blessed Christmas week! But +it is only seven days long, and on the second day of January the +trappers are away again to their <a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>tilts and trails and traps. Again +early in March they visit their homes for another week, and then again +return to the deep wilderness to remain there until June.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the father never comes back, and then the wilderness carries +in its heart the secret of his end. Then, oh, those hours of happy +expectancy that become days of grave anxiety and finally weeks of +black despair! Such a case happened once when I was in Labrador. Later +they found the young trapper's body where the man had perished, +seventy miles from his home.</p> + +<p>As I have said, the life of the trapper is filled with adventure. Many +a narrow escape he has, but he never loses his grit. He cannot afford +to. Gilbert Blake was one of four trappers that rescued me several +years ago, when I had been on short rations in the wilderness for +several weeks, and without food for two weeks. I had eaten my +moccasins, my feet were frozen and I was so weak I could not walk. +Gilbert and I have been friends since then and we later traveled the +wilderness together. Gilbert has no trapping partner. His "path" is a +hundred miles inland from his home. All winter, with no other +companion than a little dog, he works alone in that lonely wilderness.</p> + +<p>One winter game was scarce, and Gilbert's provisions were practically +exhausted when he set out to strike up his traps preparatory to his +visit home in March. He was several miles from his tilt when <a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>suddenly +one of his snowshoes broke beyond repair. He could not move a step +without snowshoes, for the snow lay ten feet deep. He had no skin with +him with which to net another snowshoe, even if he were to make the +frame; and he had nothing to eat.</p> + +<p>A Labrador blizzard came on, and Gilbert for three days was held +prisoner in his tent. He spent his time trying to make a serviceable +snowshoe with netting woven from parts of his clothing torn into +strips. When at last the storm ended and he struck his tent he was +famished.</p> + +<p>Packing his things on his toboggan he set out for the tilt, but had +gone only a short distance when the improvised snowshoe broke. He made +repeated efforts to mend it, but always it broke after a few steps +forward. He was in a desperate situation.</p> + +<p>He had now been nearly three days without eating. He was still several +miles from the tilt where he had a scant supply that had been reserved +for his journey home. To proceed to the tilt was obviously impossible, +and he could only perish by remaining where he was.</p> + +<p>Utterly exhausted after a fruitless effort to flounder forward, he sat +down upon his flatsled, and looked out over the silent snow waste. +Weakened with hunger, it seemed to him that he had reached the end of +his endurance. So far as he knew there was not another human being +within a hundred miles of where he sat, and he had no <a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>expectation or +slightest hope of any one coming to his assistance. "I was scrammed," +said he, which meant, in our vernacular, he was "all in."</p> + +<p>Gilbert is a fine Christian man, and all the time, as he told me in +relating his experience, he had been praying God to show him a way to +safety. He never was a coward, and he was not afraid to die, for he +had faced death many times before and men of the wilderness become +accustomed to the thought that sometime, out there in the silence and +alone, the hand of the grim messenger may grasp them. But he was +afraid for Mrs. Blake and the four little ones at home. Were he to +perish there would be no one to earn a living for them. He was +frightened to think of the privations those he loved would suffer.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, in the distance, he glimpsed two objects moving over the +snow. As they came nearer he discovered that they were men. He shouted +and waved his arms, and there was an answering signal. Presently two +Mountaineer Indians approached, hauling loaded toboggans, laughing and +shouting a greeting as they recognized him.</p> + +<p>"'Twas an answer to my prayers," said Gilbert in relating the incident +to me. "I was fair scrammed when I saw them Indians. They were the +first Indians I had seen the whole winter. They weren't pretty, but +just then they looked to me like angels from heaven, and just as +pretty as any angels could look."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>The Indians had recently made a killing, and their toboggans were +loaded with fresh caribou meat. They made Gilbert eat until they +nearly killed him with kindness, and they had an extra pair of +snowshoes, which they gave him.</p> + +<p>This is the life of the trapper on The Labrador. This is the sort of +man he is—hardy, patient, brave and reverent. He is a man of grit and +daring, as he must be to cheerfully meet, with a stout heart and a +smile, the constant hardships and adventures that beset him.</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell declares that it is no hardship to devote his life to +helping men like this. His work among them brings constant joy to him. +They appreciate him, and he has grown to look upon them as all members +of his big family. He takes a personal and devoted interest in each. +It is a great comfort to the men to know that if any are sick or +injured at home while they are away on the trails the mission doctor +will do his best to heal them. Before Grenfell went to The Labrador +there was no doctor to call upon the whole winter through.</p> + +<p>The trapping season for fur ends in April. Then the trapper "strikes +up" his traps, hangs them in trees where he will find them the +following fall, packs his belongings on his toboggan and returns home, +unless he is to remain to hunt bear. In that case he must wait for the +bears to come forth from their winter's sleep, and this will keep the +hunter in the wilderness until after <a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>the "break-up" comes and the ice +goes out. Those who go far inland usually wait in any case until the +ice is out of the streams and boat or canoe traveling is possible and +safe.</p> + +<p>The break-up sets in, usually, early in June. Then come torrential +rains. The snow-covered wilderness is transformed into a sea of slush. +New brooks rise everywhere and pour down with rush and roar into lakes +and rivers. The rivers over-flow their banks. Trees are uprooted and +are swept forward on the flood. Broken ice jams and pounds its way +through the rapids with sound like thunder. The spring break-up is an +inspiring and wonderful spectacle.</p> + +<p>When the hunting season ends and the trappers return from their winter +trails, they enjoy a respite at home mending fishing nets, repairing +boats and making things tidy and ship-shape for the summer's fishing. +Everyone is now looking forward with keen anticipation to the first +run of fish. From the time the ice goes out all one hears along the +coast is talk of fish. "Any signs of fish, b'y?" One hears it +everywhere, for everybody is asking everybody else that question.</p> + +<p>In Hamilton Inlet and Sandwich Bay salmon fisheries are of chief +importance. Salmon here are all salted down in barrels and not tinned, +as on the Pacific coast. Once there was a salmon cannery in Sandwich +Bay, but the Hudson's Bay Company bought it and demolished it, as +there was doubtless <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>less work and more profit for the Company in +salted salmon. Elsewhere the fisheries are mainly for cod.</p> + +<p>In a frontier land it is not easy to earn a living. Everybody must +work hard all the time. Men, women, boys and girls all do their share +at the fishing. Women and children help to split and cure the fish. It +is a proud day for any lad when he is big enough and strong enough to +pull a stroke with the heavy oar, and go out to sea with his father.</p> + +<p>The Labrador, or Arctic, current now and again keeps ice drifting +along the coast the whole summer through. When ice is there fishermen +cannot set their nets and fish traps, for the ice would tear the gear +and ruin it. Neither can they fish successfully with hook and line +when the ice is in. When this happens few fish are caught.</p> + +<p>Then, too, there are seasons when game and animals move away from +certain regions, and then the trapper cannot get them. Perhaps they go +farther inland, and too far for him to follow. I have seen times when +ptarmigans were so thick men killed them for dog food, and perhaps the +next year there would not be a ptarmigan to be found to put into the +pot for dinner. I have seen the snow trampled down everywhere in the +woods and among the brush by innumerable snowshoe rabbits, and I have +seen other years when not a single rabbit track was to be found +anywhere. It is the same with <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>caribou and the fur bearing animals as +well. In those years when game is scarce the people are hard put to it +to get a bit of fresh meat to eat.</p> + +<p>When no fresh meat is to be had salt fish, bread (rarely with butter) +and tea, with molasses as sweetening, is the diet. There is no milk, +even for the babies. If all the salt fish has been sold or traded in +for flour and tea, bread and tea three times a day is all there is to +eat.</p> + +<p>People cannot keep well on just bread and tea, or even bread and salt +fish and tea. It is not hard for us to imagine how we would feel if +every meal we had day in and day out was only bread and tea, and +sometimes not enough of that.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="X" id="X"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a> +<h3>X<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE SEAL HUNTER</h3> +<br /> + +<p>No less perilous is the business of fisherman and sealer than that of +hunter and trapper. Every turn a man makes down on The Labrador is +likely to carry him into some adventure that will place his life in +danger, at sea as on land. But there is no way out of it if a living +is to be made.</p> + +<p>It is a strange fact that one never recognizes a great deal of danger +in the life that one is accustomed to living, no matter how perilous +it may seem to others. If a Labradorman were to come to any of our +towns or cities his heart would be in his mouth at every turn, for a +time at least, dodging automobiles and street cars. It would appear to +him an exceedingly hazardous existence that we live, and he would long +to be back to the peace and quiet and safety of his sea and +wilderness. And our streets would be dangerous ground to him, indeed, +until he became accustomed to dodging motor cars. He is nimble enough, +and on his own ground could put most of us to shame in that respect, +but here he is lacking in experience.</p> + +<p>The same hunter will face the storms and <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>solitude of the wilderness +trail without ever once feeling that he is in danger or afraid. He +knows how to do it. That is the life that he has been reared to live. +The average city man would perish in a day if left alone to care for +himself on a trapper's trail. He has never learned the business, and +he would not know how to take care of himself.</p> + +<p>The Labradorman being both hunter and fisherman, is perfectly at home +both in the wilderness and on the sea. He has the dangers of both to +meet, but he does not recognize them as dangerous callings, though +every year some mate or neighbor loses his life. "'Tis the way o' th' +Lard."</p> + +<p>Ice still covers the Labrador harbors in May, and this is when the +seal hunt begins, or, as the liveyere says, he goes "swileing." He +calls a seal a "swile." With a harpoon attached to a long line he +stations himself at a breathing hole in the ice which the seals under +the ice have kept open, and out of which, now and again, one raises +its nose and fills its lungs with air, for seals are animals, not +fish, and must have air to breathe or they will drown. The hole is a +small one, but large enough to cast the spear, or harpoon, into.</p> + +<p>Seals are exceedingly shy animals, and the slightest movement will +frighten them away. Therefore the seal hunter must stand perfectly +still, like a graven image, with harpoon poised, and that is pretty +cold work in zero weather. If luck is with him he will after a time +see a small movement in <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>the water, and a moment later a seal's nose +will appear. Then like a flash of lightning, he casts the harpoon, and +if his aim is good, as it usually is, a seal is fast on the barbs of +the harpoon.</p> + +<p>The harpoon point is attached to a long line, while the harpoon shaft, +by an ingenious arrangement, will slip free from the point. Now, while +the shaft remains in the hands of the hunter, the line begins running +rapidly down through the hole, for the seal in a vain endeavor to free +itself dives deeply. The other end of the line also remaining in the +hands of the hunter is fastened to the shaft of the harpoon, and there +is a struggle. In time, the seal, unable to return to its hole for +air, is drowned, and then is hauled out through the hole upon the ice.</p> + +<p>These north Atlantic seals, having no fine fur like the Pacific seals, +are chiefly valuable for their fat. The pelts are, however, of +considerable value to the natives. The women tan them and make them +into watertight boots or other clothing. Of course a good many of them +find their way to civilization, where they are made into pocketbooks +and bags, and they make a very fine tough leather indeed. The flesh is +utilized for dog food, though, as in the case of young seals +particularly, it is often eaten by the people, particularly when other +sorts of meat is scarce. Most of the people, and particularly the +Eskimos, are fond of the flippers and liver.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the seals come out of their holes to <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>lie on the ice and +bask in the sun. Then the hunter, simulating the movements of a seal, +crawls toward his game until he is within rifle shot.</p> + +<p>Should a gale of wind arise suddenly, the ice may be separated into +pans and drift abroad before the seal hunters can make their escape to +land. In that case a hunter may be driven to sea on an ice pan, and he +is fortunate if his neighbors discover him and rescue him in boats.</p> + +<p>After the ice goes out, those who own seal nets set them, and a great +many seals are caught in this way. At this season the seals frequently +are seen sunning themselves on the shore rocks, and the hunters stalk +and shoot them.</p> + +<p>Newfoundlanders carry on their sealing in steamers built for the +purpose. They go out to the great ice floe, far out to sea and quite +too far for the liveyeres to reach in small craft. Here the seals are +found in thousands. These vessels, depending upon the size, bring home +a cargo sometimes numbering as many as 20,000 to 30,000 seals in a +single ship, and there are about twenty-five ships in the fleet.</p> + +<p>This terrible slaughter has seriously decreased the numbers. The +Labrador Eskimos used to depend upon them largely for their living. +They can do this no longer, for not every season, as formerly, are +there enough seals to supply needs. All of the five varieties of North +Atlantic seals are caught on the coast—harbor, jar, harp, hooded and +<a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>square flipper. The last named is also called the great bearded seal +and sometimes the sealion. The first named is the smallest of all.</p> + +<p>Scarce a year passes that we do not hear of a serious disaster in the +Newfoundland sealing fleet. Sometimes severe snow storms arise when +the men are hunting on the floe, and then the men are often lost. +Sometimes the ships are crushed in the big floe and go to the bottom. +The latest of these disasters was the disappearance of the <i>Southern +Cross</i>, with a crew of one hundred seventy-five men.</p> + +<p>One of my good friends, Captain Jacob Kean, used to command the +<i>Virginia Lake</i>, one of the largest of the sealers. She carried a crew +of about two hundred men. A few years before Captain Kean lost his +life in one of the awful sea disasters of the coast, he related to me +one of his experiences at the sealing.</p> + +<p>Captain Kean was in luck that year, and found the seals early and in +great numbers. The crew had made a good hunt on the floe, and they are +loading them with about a third of a cargo aboard when suddenly the +ice closed in and the <i>Virginia Lake</i> was "pinched," with the result +that a good sized hole was broken in her planking on the port side +forward below the water line. The sea rushed in, and it looked for a +time as though the vessel would sink, and there were not boats enough +to accommodate the crew even if boats could have been used, which was +hardly possible under the <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>conditions, for the sea was clogged with +heaving ice pans.</p> + +<p>The pumps were manned, and Captain Kean, and with every man not +working the pumps, with feverish haste shifted the cargo to the +starboard side and aft. Presently, with the weight shifted, the ship +lay over on her starboard side and her bow rose above the water until +the crushed planking and the hole were above the water line.</p> + +<p>The hole now exposed, Captain Kean stuffed it with sea biscuit, or +hardtack. Over this he nailed a covering of canvas. Tubs of butter +were brought up, and the canvas thoroughly and thickly buttered. This +done, a sheathing of planking was spiked on over the buttered canvas. +Then the cargo was re-shifted into place, the vessel settled back upon +an even keel, and it was found that the leak was healed. The sea +biscuit, absorbing moisture, swelled, and this together with the +canvas, butter and planking proved effectual. Captain Kean loaded his +ship with seals and took her into St. John's harbor safely with a full +cargo.</p> + +<p>The following year the <i>Virginia Lake</i> was again pinched by the ice, +but this time was lost. Captain Kean and his crew took refuge on the +ice floe, and were fortunately rescued by another sealer. When Captain +Kean lost his life a few years later the sealing fleet lost one of its +most successful masters. He was a fine Christian gentleman and as able +a seaman as ever trod a bridge.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>But this is the life of the sealer and the fisherman of the northern +sees. Terrible storms sometimes sweep down that rugged, barren coast +and leave behind them a harvest of wrecked vessels and drowned men and +destitute families that have lost their only support.</p> + +<p>These were the conditions that Grenfell found in Labrador, and this +was the breed of men, these hunters and trappers, fishermen and +sealers—sturdy, honest, God-fearing folk—with whom Grenfell took up +his life. He had elected to share with them the hardships of their +desolate land and the perils of their ice-choked sea. They needed him, +and to them he offered a service that was Christ-like in its breadth +and devotion.</p> + +<p>It was a peculiar field. No ordinary man could have entered it with +hope of success. Mere ability as a physician and surgeon of wide +experience was not enough. In addition to this, success demanded that +he be a Christian gentleman with high ideals, and freedom from +bigotry. Courage, moral as well as physical, was a necessity. Only a +man who was himself a fearless and capable navigator could make the +rounds of the coast and respond promptly to the hurried and urgent +calls to widely separated patients. Constant exposure to hardship and +peril demanded a strong body and a level head. Balanced judgment, high +executive and administrative ability, deep insight into human +character and unbounded sympathy for those who suffered or were <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>in +trouble were indispensable characteristics. All of these attributes +Grenfell possessed.</p> + +<p>A short time before Mr. Moody's death, Grenfell met Moody and told him +of the inspiration he had received from that sermon, delivered in +London many years before by the great evangelist.</p> + +<p>"What have you been doing since?" asked Moody.</p> + +<p>What has Grenfell been doing since? He has established hospitals at +Battle Harbor, Indian Harbor, Harrington and Northwest River in +Labrador, and at St. Anthony in northeastern Newfoundland. He has +established schools and nursing stations both in Labrador and +Newfoundland. He has built and maintains two orphanages. He founded +the Seamen's Institute in St. Johns.</p> + +<p>Year after year, since that summer's day when the <i>Albert</i> anchored in +Domino Run and Grenfell first met the men of the Newfoundland fishing +fleet and the liveyeres of the Labrador coast, winter and summer, +Grenfell himself and the doctors that assist him have patrolled that +long desolate coast giving the best that was in them to the people +that lived there. Grenfell has preached the Word, fed the hungry, +clothed the naked, sheltered the homeless and righted many wrongs. He +has fought disease and poverty, evil and oppression. Hardship, peril +and prejudice have fallen to his lot, but he has met them with a +courage and determination that never faltered, and he is still "up and +at it."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>Grenfell's life has been a life of service to others. Freely and +joyfully he has given himself and all that was in him to the work of +making others happier, and the people of the coast love and trust him. +With pathetic confidence they lean upon him and call him in their +need, as children lean upon their father, and he has never failed to +respond. When a man who had lost a leg felt the need for an artificial +one, he appealed to Grenfell:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">Docter plase I whant to see you. Docter sir have you got a +leg if you have Will you plase send him Down Praps he may +fet and you would oblig.</p></div> + +<p>One who wished clothing for his family wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">To Dr. Gransfield</p> + +<p class="noin">Dear honrabel Sir,</p> + +<p class="noin">I would be pleased to ask you Sir if you would be pleased to +give me and my wife a littel poor close. I was going in the +Bay to cut some wood. But I am all amost blind and cant Do +much so if you would spear me some Sir I would Be very +thankful to you Sir.</p></div> + +<p>Calls to visit the sick are continuously received. The following are +genuine examples:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">Reverance dr. Grandfell. Dear sir we are expecting you hup +and we would like for you to come so quick as you can for my +dater is very sick with a very large sore under her left +harm we emenangin that the old is two enchis deep and two +enches wide plase com as quick as you can to save life I +remains yours truely.</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">Docker—Please wel you send me somting for the pain in my<a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a> +feet and what you proismed to send my little boy. Docker I +am almost cripple, it is up my hips, I can hardly walk. This +is my housban is gaining you this note.</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">doctor—i have a compleant i ham weak with wind on the +chest, weakness all over me up in my harm.</p></div> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="noin">Dear Dr. Grenfell.</p> + +<p class="noin">I would like for you to Have time to come Down to my House +Before you leaves to go to St. Anthony. My little Girl is +very Bad. it seems all in Her neck. Cant Ply her Neck +forward if do she nearly goes in the fits. i dont know what +it is the matter with Her myself. But if you would see Her +you would know what the matter with Her. Please send a word +by the Bearer what gives you this note and let me know where +you will have time to come down to my House, i lives down +the Bay a Place called Berry Head.</p></div> + +<p>These people are made of the same clay as you and I. They are moved by +the same human emotions. They love those who are near and dear to them +no less than we love those who are near and dear to us. The same +heights or depths of joy and sorrow, hopes and disappointments enter +into their lives. In the following chapters let us meet some of them, +and travel with Doctor Grenfell as he goes about his work among them.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XI" id="XI"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a> +<h3>XI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>UNCLE WILLIE WOLFREY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One bitterly cold day in winter our dog team halted before a cabin. We +had been hailed as we were passing by the man of the house. He gave us +a hearty hand shake and invitation to have "a drop o' tea and a bit to +eat," adding, "you'd never ha' been passin' without stoppin' for a cup +o' tea to warm you up, whatever." It was early, and we had intended to +stop farther on to boil our kettle in the edge of the woods with as +little loss of time as possible, but there was no getting away from +the hospitality of the liveyere.</p> + +<p>There were three of us, and we were as hungry as bears, for there is +nothing like snowshoe traveling in thirty and forty degrees below zero +weather to give one an appetite. As we entered we sniffed a delicious +odor of roasting meat, and that one sniff made us glad we had stopped, +and made us equally certain we had never before in our lives been so +hungry for a good meal. For days we had been subsisting on hardtack +and jerked venison, two articles of food that will not freeze for they +contain no moisture, and tea; or, when we stopped at a cabin, on bread +and tea. The man's wife was <a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>already placing plates, cups and saucers +on the bare table for us, and two little boys were helping with hungry +eagerness.</p> + +<p>"Hang your adikeys on the pegs there and get warmed up," our host +invited. "Dinner's a'most ready. 'Tis a wonderful frosty day to be +cruisin'."</p> + +<p>We did as he directed, and then seated ourselves on chests that he +pulled forward for seats. He had many questions to ask concerning the +folk to the northward, their health and their luck at the winter's +trapping, until, presently, the woman brought forth from the oven and +placed upon the table a pan of deliciously browned, smoking meat.</p> + +<p>"Set in! Set in!" beamed our host. "'Tis fine you comes today and not +yesterday," adding as we drew up to the table: "All we'd been havin' +to give you yesterday and all th' winter, were bread and tea. Game's +been wonderful scarce, and this is the first bit o' meat we has th' +whole winter, barrin' a pa'tridge or two in November. But this marnin' +I finds a lynx in one o' my traps, and a fine prime skin he has. I'll +show un to you after we eats, though he's on the dryin' board and you +can't see the fur of he."</p> + +<p>We bowed our heads while the host asked the blessing. The Labradorman +rarely omits the blessing, and often the meal is closed with a final +thanks, for men of the wilderness live near to God. He is very near to +them and they reverence Him.</p> + +<p>"Help yourself, sir! Help yourself!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>Each of us helped himself sparingly to the cat meat. There was bread, +but no butter, and there was hot tea with black molasses for +sweetening.</p> + +<p>"Take more o' th' meat now! Help yourselves! Don't be afraid of un," +our hospitable host urged, and we did help ourselves again, for it was +good.</p> + +<p>Whenever we passed within hailing distance of a cabin, we had to stop +for a "cup o' hot tea, whatever." Otherwise the people would have felt +sorely hurt. We seldom found more elaborate meals than bread, tea and +molasses, rarely butter, and of course never any vegetables.</p> + +<p>We soon discovered that we could not pay the head of the family for +our entertainment, but where there were children we left money with +the mother with which to buy something for the little ones, which +doubtless would be clothing or provisions for the family. If there +were no children we left the money on the table or somewhere where it +surely would be discovered after our departure.</p> + +<p>I remember one of this fine breed of men well. I met him on this +journey, and he once drove dog team for me—Uncle Willie Wolfrey. +Doctor Grenfell says of him:</p> + +<p>"Uncle Willie isn't a scholar, a social light, or a capitalist +magnate, but all the same ten minutes' visit to Uncle Willie Wolfrey +is worth five dollars of any man's investment."</p> + +<p>It requires a lot of physical energy for any man to tramp the trails +day after day through a frigid, <a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>snow-covered wilderness, and months +of it at a stretch. It is a big job for a young and hearty man, and a +tremendous one for a man of Uncle Willie's years. And it is a man's +job, too, to handle a boat in all weather, in calm and in gale, in +clear and in fog, sixteen to twenty hours a day, and the fisherman's +day is seldom shorter than that. The fish must be caught when they are +there to be caught, and they must be split and salted the day they are +caught, and then there's the work of spreading them on the "flakes," +and turning them, and piling and covering them when rain threatens.</p> + +<p>A cataract began to form on Uncle Willie's eyes, and every day he +could see just a little less plainly than the day before. The +prospects were that he would soon be blind, and without his eyesight +he could neither hunt nor fish.</p> + +<p>But with his growing age and misfortune Uncle Willie was never a whit +less cheerful. He had to earn his living and he kept at his work.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the way of the Lard," said he. "He's blessed me with fine health +all my life, and kept the house warm, and we've always had a bit to +eat, whatever. The Lard has been wonderful good to us, and I'll never +be complainin'."</p> + +<p>It was never Uncle Willie's way to complain about hard luck. He always +did his best, and somehow, no matter how hard a pinch in which he +found himself, it always came out right in the end.</p> + +<p>Finally Uncle Willie's eyesight became so poor <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>that it was difficult +for him to see sufficiently to get around, and one day last summer +(1921) he stepped off his fish stage where he was at work, and the +fall broke his thigh. This happened at the very beginning of the +fishing season, and put an end to the summer's fishing for Uncle +Willie, and, of course, to all hope of hunting and trapping during +last winter.</p> + +<p>Then Doctor Grenfell happened along with his brave old hospital ship +<i>Strathcona</i>. Dr. Grenfell has a way of happening along just when +people are desperately in need of him. With Dr. Grenfell was Dr. +Morlan, a skillful and well-known eye and throat specialist from +Chicago. Dr. Morlan was spending his holiday with Dr. Grenfell, +helping heal the sick down on The Labrador, giving free his services +and his great skill.</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell set and dressed Uncle Willie Wolfrey's broken thigh. Dr. +Morlan was to remain but a few days. If he were to help Uncle Willie's +eyes there could be no time given for a recovery from the operation on +the thigh. Uncle Willie was game for it.</p> + +<p>They had settled Uncle Willie comfortably at Indian Harbor Hospital, +and immediately the thigh was set Dr. Morlan operated upon one of the +eyes. The operation was successful, and when the freeze-up came with +the beginning of winter, Uncle Willie, hobbling about on crutches and +with one good eye was home again in his cabin.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>Uncle Willie lives in a lonely place, and for many miles north and +south he has but one neighbor. The outlook for the winter was dismal +indeed. His flour barrel was empty. He had no money.</p> + +<p>But that stout old heart could not be discouraged or subdued. Uncle +Willie was as full of grit as ever he was in his life. He was still a +fountain of cheery optimism and hope. He could see with one eye now, +and out of that eye the world looked like a pretty good place in which +to live, and he was decided to make the best of it.</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell, passing down the coast, called in to see the crippled +old fisherman and hunter, and in commenting on that visit he said:</p> + +<p>"There are certain men it always does one good to meet. Uncle Willie +is a channel of blessing. His sincerity and faith do one good. There +is always a merry glint in his eye. Even with one eye out, and his +crutches on, and his prospect of hunger, Uncle Willie was just the +same."</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell left some money, donated by the Doctor's friends, and +made other provisions for the comfort of Uncle Willie Wolfrey during +the winter. If all goes well he will be at his fishing again, when the +ice clears away; and the snows of another winter will see him again on +his trapping path setting traps for martens and foxes. And with his +rifle and one good eye, who knows but he may knock over a silver fox +or a bear or two?</p> + +<p><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>Good luck to Uncle Willie Wolfrey and his spirit, which cannot be +downed.</p> + +<p>As Dr. Grenfell has often said, the Labradorman is a fountain of faith +and hope and inspiration. If the fishing season is a failure he turns +to his winter's trapping with unwavering faith that it will yield him +well. If his trapping fails his hope and faith are none the less when +he sets out in the spring to hunt seals. Seals may be scarce and the +reward poor, but never mind! The summer fishing is at hand, and <i>this</i> +year it will certainly bring a good catch! "The Lard be wonderful good +to us, <i>what</i>ever."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XII" id="XII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a> +<h3>XII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>A DOZEN FOX TRAPS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>On that same voyage along the coast when Uncle Willie Wolfrey was +found with a broken thigh, Dr. Grenfell, after he had operated upon +Uncle Willie, in the course of his voyage, stopping at many harbors to +give medical assistance to the needy ones, ran in one day to Kaipokok +Bay, at Turnavik Islands.</p> + +<p>As the vessel dropped her anchor he observed a man sitting on the +rocks eagerly watching the ship. The jolly boat was launched, and as +it approached the land the man arose and coming down to the water's +edge, shouted:</p> + +<p>"Be that you, Doctor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Uncle Tom, it is I?" the Doctor shouted back, for he had already +recognized Uncle Tom, one of the fine old men of the coast.</p> + +<p>When Grenfell stepped ashore and took Uncle Tom's hand in a hearty +grasp, the old man broke down and cried like a child. Uncle Tom was +evidently in keen distress.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Doctor, I'm so glad you comes. I were lookin' for you, Doctor," +said the old man in a voice broken by emotion. "I were watchin' and +<a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>watchin' out here on the rocks, not knowin' whether you'd be comin' +this way, but hopin', and prayin' the Lard to send you. He sends you, +Doctor. 'Twere the Lard sends you when I'm needin' you, sir, sorely +needin' you."</p> + +<p>Uncle Tom is seventy years of age. He was born and bred on The +Labrador, but he has not spent all his life there. In his younger days +he shipped as a sailor, and as a seaman saw many parts of the world. +But long ago he returned to his home to settle down as a fisherman and +a trapper.</p> + +<p>When the war came, the brave old soul, stirred by patriotism, paid his +own passage and expenses on the mail boat to St. Johns, and offered to +volunteer for service. Of course he was too old and was rejected +because of his age.</p> + +<p>Uncle Tom, his patriotism not in the least dampened, returned to his +Labrador home and divided all the fur of his winter's hunt into two +equal piles. To one pile he added a ten dollar bill, and that pile, +with the ten dollars added, he shipped at once to the "Patriotic Fund" +in St. Johns. He had offered himself, and they would not take him, and +this was all he could do to help win the war, and he did it freely and +wistfully, out of his noble, generous patriotic soul.</p> + +<p>"What is the trouble, Uncle Tom?" asked Grenfell, when Uncle Tom had +to some extent regained his composure, and the old man told his +story.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>He was in hard luck. Late the previous fall (1920) or early in the +winter he had met with a severe accident that had resulted in several +broken ribs. Navigation had closed, and he was cut off from all +surgical assistance, and his broken ribs had never had attention and +had not healed. He could scarcely draw a breath without pain, or even +rest without pain at night, and he could not go to his trapping path.</p> + +<p>He depended upon his winter's hunt mainly for support, and with no fur +to sell he was, for the first time in his life, compelled to contract +a debt. Then, suddenly, the trader with whom he dealt discontinued +giving credit. Uncle Tom was stranded high and dry, and when the +fishing season came he had no outfit or means of purchasing one, and +could not go fishing.</p> + +<p>Besides his wife there were six children in Uncle Tom's family, though +none of them was his own or related to him. When the "flu" came to the +coast in 1918, and one out of every five of the people around Turnavik +Islands died, several little ones were left homeless and orphans. The +generous hearts of Uncle Tom and his wife opened to them and they took +these six children into their home as their own. And so it happened +that Uncle Tom had, and still has, a large family depending upon him.</p> + +<p>"As we neared the cottage," said Doctor Grenfell, "his good wife, +beaming from head to foot <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>as usual, came out to greet us. Optimist to +the last ditch, she <i>knew</i> that somehow provision would be made. She, +too, had had her troubles, for twice she had been operated on at +Indian Harbor for cancer."</p> + +<p>Uncle Tom must have suffered severely during all those months that he +had lived with his broken ribs uncared for. Now Dr. Grenfell, without +loss of time, strapped them up good and tight. Mrs. Grenfell supplied +the six youngsters with a fine outfit of good warm clothes, and when +Dr. Grenfell sailed out of Kaipokok Bay Uncle Tom and Mrs. Tom had no +further cause for worry concerning the source from which provisions +would come for themselves and the six orphans they had adopted.</p> + +<p>These are but a few incidents in the life of the people to whom Dr. +Grenfell is devoting his skill and his sympathy year in and year out. +I could relate enough of them to fill a dozen volumes like this, but +space is limited.</p> + +<p>There is always hardship and always will be in a frontier land like +Labrador, and Labrador north of Cape Charles is the most primitive of +frontier lands. Dr. Grenfell and his helpers find plenty to do in +addition to giving out medicines and dressing wounds. A little boost +sometimes puts a family on its feet, raising it from abject poverty to +independence and self-respect. Just a little momentum to push them +over the line. Grenfell knows how to do this.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>Several years ago Dr. Grenfell anchored his vessel in Big Bight, and +went ashore to visit David Long. David had had a hard winter, and +among other kindnesses to the family, Dr. Grenfell presented David's +two oldest boys, lads of fifteen or sixteen or thereabouts, with a +dozen steel fox traps. Lack of traps had prevented the boys taking +part in trapping during the previous winter.</p> + +<p>The next year after giving the boys the traps, Grenfell again cast +anchor in Big Bight, and, as usual, rowed ashore to visit the Longs. +There was great excitement in their joyous greeting. Something +important had happened. There was no doubt of that! David and Mrs. +Long and the two lads and all the little Longs were exuding mystery, +but particularly the two lads. Whatever this mysterious secret was +they could scarce keep it until they had led Dr. Grenfell into the +cabin, and he was comfortably seated.</p> + +<p>Then, with vast importance and some show of deliberate dignity, David +opened a chest. From its depths he drew forth a pelt. Dr. Grenfell +watched with interest while David shook it to make the fur stand out +to best advantage, and then held up to his admiring gaze the skin of a +beautiful silver fox! The lads had caught it in one of the dozen traps +he had given them.</p> + +<p>"We keeps un for you," announced David exultantly.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>"It's a prime one, too!" exclaimed the Doctor, duly impressed, as he +examined it.</p> + +<p>"She <i>be</i> that," emphasized David proudly. "No finer were caught on +the coast the winter."</p> + +<p>"It was a good winter's work," said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"'Twere <i>that</i> now! 'Twere a <i>wonder</i>ful good winter's work—just +t'cotch that un!" enthused Mrs. Long.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with it?" asked Doctor Grenfell.</p> + +<p>"We keeps un for you," said David. "The time was th' winter when we +has ne'er a bit o' grub but what we hunts, all of our flour and +molasses gone. But we don't take <i>he</i> to the trade, <i>what</i>ever. We +keeps <i>he</i> for you."</p> + +<p>Out on a coast island Captain William Bartlett, of Brigus, +Newfoundland, kept a fishing station and a supply store. Captain Will +is a famous Arctic navigator. He is one of the best known and most +successful masters of the great sealing fleet. He is also a cod +fisherman of renown and he is the father of Captain "Bob" Bartlett, +master of explorer Peary's <i>Roosevelt</i>, and it was under Captain Will +Bartlett's instruction that Captain "Bob" learned seamanship and +navigation. Captain William Bartlett is as fine a man as ever trod a +deck. He is just and honest to a degree, and he has a big generous +heart.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell accepted the silver fox pelt, and as he steamed down +the coast he ran his vessel in <a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>at Captain Bartlett's station. He had +confidence in Captain Bartlett.</p> + +<p>"Here's a silver fox skin that belongs to David Long's lads," said he, +depositing the pelt on the counter. "I wish you'd take it, and do the +best you can for David, Captain Will. I'll leave it with you."</p> + +<p>Captain Bartlett shook the pelt out, and admired its lustrous beauty.</p> + +<p>"It's a good one! David's lads were in luck when they caught <i>that</i> +fellow. I'll do the best I can with it," he promised.</p> + +<p>"They'll take the pay in provisions and other necessaries," suggested +Grenfell.</p> + +<p>"All right," agreed Captain Will. "I'll send the goods over to them."</p> + +<p>On his way to the southward a month later Doctor Grenfell again cast +anchor at Big Bight. David Long and Mrs. Long, the two big lads, and +all the little Longs, were as beaming and happy as any family could be +in the whole wide world. Captain Bartlett's vessel had run in at Big +Bight one day, and paid for the silver fox pelt in merchandise.</p> + +<p>The cabin was literally packed with provisions. The family were well +clothed. There was enough and to spare to keep them in affluence, as +affluence goes down on The Labrador, for a whole year and longer. Need +and poverty were vanished. Captain Will had, indeed, done well with +the silver fox pelt.</p> + +<p>These are stories of life on The Labrador as <a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>Doctor Grenfell found +it. From the day he reached the coast and every day since his heart +has ached with the troubles and poverty existing among the liveyeres. +He has been thrilled again and again by incidents of heroic struggle +and sacrifice among them. He has done a vast deal to make them more +comfortable and happy, as in the case of David Long. Still, in spite +of it all, there are cases of desperate poverty and suffering there, +and doubtless will always be.</p> + +<p>In every city and town and village of our great and prosperous country +people throw away clothing and many things that would help to make the +lives of the Longs and the hundreds of other liveyeres of the coast +who are toiling for bare existence easier to endure. Enough is wasted +every year, indeed, in any one of our cities to make the whole +population of Labrador happy and comfortable. And there's the pity. If +Grenfell could <i>only</i> be given <i>some</i> of this waste to take to them!</p> + +<p>From the beginning this thought troubled Doctor Grenfell. And in +winter when the ice shuts the whole coast off from the rest of the +world, he turned his attention to efforts to secure the help of good +people the world over in his work. Making others happy is the greatest +happiness that any one can experience, and Grenfell wished others to +share his happiness with him. Nearly every winter for many years he +has lectured in the United States and Canada and Great Britain with +this in view. <a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>The Grenfell Association was organized with +headquarters in New York, where money and donations of clothing and +other necessaries might be sent.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<p>As we shall see, many great things have been accomplished by Doctor +Grenfell and this Association, organized by his friends several years +ago. Every year a great many boxes and barrels of clothing go to him +down on The Labrador, filled with good things for the needy ones. Boys +and girls, as well as men and women, send warm things for winter. Not +only clothing, but now and again toys for the Wee Tots find their way +into the boxes. Just like other children the world over, the Wee Tots +of The Labrador like toys to play with and they are made joyous with +toys discarded by the over-supplied youngsters of our land.</p> + +<p>Of course there are foolish people who send useless things too. +Scattered through the boxes are now and again found evening clothes +for men and women, silk top hats, flimsy little women's bonnets, +dancing pumps, and even crepe-de-chene nighties. These serve as +playthings for the grown-ups, many of whom, especially the Indians and +Eskimos, are quite childlike with gimcracks. I recall once seeing an +Eskimo parading around on a warm day in the glory of a full dress coat +and silk hat, the coat drawn on over his ordinary clothing. He was the +envy of his friends.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>While Grenfell dispensed medical and surgical treatment, and at the +same time did what he could for the needy, he also turned his +attention to an attack upon the truck system. This system of barter +was responsible for the depths of poverty in which he found the +liveyeres. He was mightily wrought up against it, as well he might +have been, and still is, and he laid plans at once to relieve the +liveyeres and northern Newfoundlanders from its grip.</p> + +<p>This was a great undertaking. It was a stroke for freedom, for the +truck system, as we have seen, is simply a species of slavery. He +realized that in attacking it he was to create powerful enemies who +would do their utmost to injure him and interfere with his work. Some +of these men he knew would go to any length to drive him off The +Labrador. It required courage, but Grenfell was never lacking in +courage. He rolled up his sleeves and went at it. He always did things +openly and fearlessly, first satisfying himself he was right.</p> + +<br /> +<a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p class="noin"><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> The address of the Grenfell Association is 156 Fifth +Avenue, New York.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a> +<h3>XIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>SKIPPER TOM'S COD TRAP</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Skipper Tom lived, and for aught I know still lives, at Red Bay, a +little settlement on the Straits of Belle Isle, some sixty miles to +the westward of Battle Harbor.</p> + +<p>Along the southern coast of Labrador the cabins are much closer +together than on the east coast, and there are some small settlements +in the bays and harbors, with snug little painted cottages.</p> + +<p>Red Bay, where Skipper Tom lived, is one of these settlements. It +boasts a neat little Methodist chapel, built by the fishermen and +trappers from lumber cut in the near-by forest, and laboriously sawn +into boards with the pit saw.</p> + +<p>Skipper Tom lived in one of the snuggest and coziest of the cottages. +I remember the cottage and I remember Skipper Tom well. I happened +into the settlement one evening directly ahead of a winter blizzard, +and Skipper Tom and his good family opened their little home to me and +sheltered me with a hospitable cordial welcome for three days, until +the weather cleared and the dogs could travel again and I pushed +forward on my journey.</p> + +<p>Skipper Tom stood an inch or two above six feet <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>in his moccasins. He +was a broad-shouldered, strong-limbed man of the wilderness and the +sea. His face was kindly and gentle, but at the same time reflected +firmness, strength and thoughtfulness. When he spoke you were sure to +listen, for there was always the conviction that he was about to utter +some word of wisdom, or tell you something of importance. The moment +you looked at him and heard his voice you said to yourself: "Here is a +man upon whom I can rely and in whom I can place absolute confidence."</p> + +<p>If Skipper Tom promised to do anything, he did it, unless Providence +intervened. If he said he would not do a thing, he would not do it, +and you could depend on it. He was a man of his word. That was Skipper +Tom—big, straight spoken, and as square as any man that ever lived. +That is what his neighbors said of him, and that is the way Doctor +Grenfell found him.</p> + +<p>Now and again the Methodist missionary visited Red Bay in his circuit +of the settlements, and when he came he made his headquarters in the +home of Skipper Tom. On the occasion of these visits he conducted +services in the chapel on Sunday, and on week days visited every home +in Red Bay. Skipper Tom was class leader, and looked after the +religious welfare of the little community, presiding over his class in +the chapel, on the great majority of Sundays, when the missionary was +engaged elsewhere.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>The people looked up to Skipper Tom. The folk of Red Bay, like most +people who live much in the open and close to nature, have a deep +religious reverence and a wholesome fear of God. As their class leader +Skipper Tom guided them in their worship, and they looked upon him as +an example of upright living. So it was that he had a great burden of +responsibility, with the morals of the community thrust upon him.</p> + +<p>In one respect Skipper Tom was fortunate. He did not inherit a debt, +and all his life he had kept free from the truck system under which +his neighbors toiled hopelessly, year in and year out.</p> + +<p>He had, in one way or another, picked up enough education to read and +write and figure. He could read and interpret his Bible and he could +calculate his accounts. He knew that two times two make four. If he +sold two hundred quintals<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> of fish at $2.25 a quintal, he knew that +$450.00 were due him. No trader had a mortgage upon the product of +<i>his</i> labor, as they had upon that of his neighbors, and he was free +to sell his fur and fish to whoever would pay him the highest price.</p> + +<p>To be sure there were seasons when Skipper Tom was hard put to it to +make ends meet, and a scant diet and a good many hardships fell to his +lot and to the lot of his family. And when he had enough and his +neighbors were in need, he denied himself to see others through, and +even pinched himself to do it.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>But he saved bit by bit until, at the age of forty-five, he was able +to purchase a cod trap, which was valued at about $400.00. The +purchase of this cod trap had been the ambition of his life and we can +imagine his joy when finally the day came that brought it to him. It +made more certain his catch of cod, and therefore lessened the +possibility of winters of privation.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to know how the fishermen of The Labrador catch cod. +It may be worth while also to explain that when the Labradorman or +Newfoundlander speaks of "fish" he means cod in his vocabulary. A +trout is a trout, a salmon is a salmon and a caplin is a caplin, but a +cod is a fish. He never thinks of anything as fish but cod.</p> + +<p>Early in the season, directly the ice breaks up, a little fish called +the caplin, which is about the size of a smelt, runs inshore in great +schools of countless millions, to spawn. I have seen them lying in +windrows along the shore where the receding tide had left them high +and dry upon the land. This is a great time for the dogs, which feast +upon them and grow fat. It is a great time also for the cod, which +feed on the caplin, and for the fishermen who catch the cod. Cod +follow the caplin schools, and this is the season when the fisherman, +if he is so fortunate as to own a trap, reaps his greatest harvest.</p> + +<p>The trap is a net with four sides and a bottom, but no top. It is like +a great room without a <a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>ceiling. On one side is a door or opening. The +trap is submerged a hundred yards or so from shore, at a point where +the caplin, with the cod at their heels, are likely to run in. A net +attached to the trap at the center of the door is stretched to the +nearest shore.</p> + +<p>Like a flock of geese that follows the old gander cod follow their +leaders. When the leaders pilot the school in close to shore in +pursuit of the caplin, they encounter the obstructing net, then follow +along its side with the purpose of going around it. This leads them +into the trap. Once into the trap they remain there until the +fishermen haul their catch.</p> + +<p>The fisherman who owns no trap must rely upon the hook and line. +Though sometimes hook and line fishermen meet with good fortune, the +results are much less certain than with the traps and the work much +slower and vastly more difficult.</p> + +<p>When the water is not too deep jigging with unbaited hooks proves +successful when fish are plentiful. Two large hooks fastened back to +back, with lead to act as a sinker, serve the purpose. This double +hook at the end of the line is dropped over the side of the boat and +lowered until it touches bottom. Then it is raised about three feet, +and from this point "jigged," or raised and lowered continuously until +taken by a cod.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_130a" id="Page_130a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep132.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep132.jpg" width="90%" alt=""The Trap Is Submerged A Hundred Yards Or So From Shore"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"THE TRAP IS SUBMERGED A HUNDRED YARDS OR SO FROM SHORE"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>In deep water, however, bait is necessary and the squid is a favorite +bait. A squid is a baby octopus, <a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>or "devil fish." The squid is +caught by jigging up and down a lead weight filled with wire spikes +and painted bright red. It seizes the weight with its tentacles. When +raised into the boat it releases its hold and squirts a small stream +of black inky fluid. In the water, when attacked, this inky fluid +discolors the water and screens it from its enemy.</p> + +<p>The octopus grows to immense size, with many long arms. Two +Newfoundlanders were once fishing in an open boat, when an octopus +attacked the boat, reaching for it with two enormous arms, with the +purpose of dragging it down. One of the fishermen seized an ax that +lay handy in the boat and chopped the arms off. The octopus sank and +all the sea about was made black with its screen of ink. The sections +of arms cut off were nineteen feet in length. They are still on +exhibition in the St. Johns Museum, where I have seen them many times. +Shortly afterward a dead octopus was found, measuring, with tentacles +spread, forty feet over all. It was not, however, the same octopus +which attacked the fishermen, for that must have been much larger.</p> + +<p>We can understand, then, how much Skipper Tom's cod trap meant to him. +We can visualize his pleasure, and share his joy. The trap was, to a +large extent, insurance against privation and hardship. It was his +reward for the self-denial of himself and his family for years, and +represented his life's savings.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>When at last the ice cleared from his fishing place and the trap was +set, there was no prouder or happier man on The Labrador than Skipper +Tom. The trap was in the water when the <i>Princess May</i>, one Saturday +afternoon, steamed into Red Bay and Doctor Grenfell accepted the +hospitable invitation of Skipper Tom to spend the night at his home.</p> + +<p>It was still early in the season and icebergs were plentiful enough, +as, indeed, they are the whole summer long. They are always a menace +to cod traps, for should a berg drift against a trap, that will be the +end of the trap forever. Fishermen watch their traps closely, and if +an iceberg comes so near as to threaten it the trap must be removed to +save it. A little lack of watchfulness leads to ruin.</p> + +<p>"The trap's well set," said Skipper Tom, when Doctor Grenfell inquired +concerning it. "The ice is keepin' clear, but I watches close."</p> + +<p>"What are the signs of fish?" asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"Fine!" said Skipper Tom. "The signs be <i>wonderful</i> fine."</p> + +<p>"I hope you'll have a big year."</p> + +<p>"There's a promise of un," Skipper Tom grinned happily. "The trap's +sure to do fine for us."</p> + +<p>But nobody knows from one day to another what will happen on The +Labrador.</p> + +<p>According to habit Skipper Tom was up bright and early on Sunday +morning and went for a look <a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>at the trap. When presently he returned +to join Doctor Grenfell at breakfast he was plainly worried.</p> + +<p>"There's a berg driftin' down on the trap. We'll have to take her in," +he announced.</p> + +<p>"But 'tis Sunday," exclaimed his wife. "You'll never be workin' on +Sunday."</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'tis Sunday and 'tis against my principles to fish on the +Sabbath day. I never did before, but 'tis to save our cod trap now. +The lads and I'll not fish. We'll just haul the trap."</p> + +<p>"The Lard'll forgive <i>that, what</i>ever," agreed his wife.</p> + +<p>Skipper Tom went out when he had eaten, but it was not long until he +returned.</p> + +<p>"I'm not goin' to haul the trap today," he said quietly and +decisively. "There are those in this harbor," he added, turning to +Doctor Grenfell, "who would say, if I hauled that trap, that 'twould +be no worse for them to fish on Sunday than for me to haul my trap. +Then they'd go fishin' Sundays the same as other days, and none of un +would keep Sunday any more as a day of rest, as the Lard intends us to +keep un, and has told us in His own words we must keep un. I'll not +haul the trap this day, though 'tis sore hard to lose un."</p> + +<p>For a principle, and because he was well aware of his influence upon +the folk of the settlement, Skipper Tom had made his decision to +sacrifice his cod trap and the earnings of his lifetime. His +<a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>conscience told him it would be wrong to do a thing that might lead +others to do wrong. When our conscience tells us it is wrong to do a +thing, it is wrong for us to do it. Conscience is the voice of God. If +we disobey our conscience God will soon cease to speak to us through +it. That is the way every criminal in the world began his downward +career. He disobeyed his conscience, and continued to disobey it until +he no longer heard it.</p> + +<p>Skipper Tom never disobeyed his conscience. Now the temptation was +strong. His whole life's savings were threatened to be swept away. +There was still time to save the trap.</p> + +<p>But Skipper Tom was strong. He turned his back upon the cod trap and +the iceberg and temptation, and as he and Doctor Grenfell climbed the +hill to the chapel he greeted his neighbors calmly and cheerily.</p> + +<p>Every eye in Red Bay was on Skipper Tom that day. Every person knew of +the cod trap and its danger, and all that it meant to Skipper Tom, and +the temptation Skipper Tom was facing; but from all outward appearance +he had dismissed the cod trap and the iceberg from his mind.</p> + +<p>When dusk fell that night the iceberg was almost upon the cod trap.</p> + +<br /> +<a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p class="noin"><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Pronounced kentel in Labrador; 112 pounds.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a> +<h3>XIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE SAVING OF RED BAY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>At an early hour on Sunday evening Skipper Tom went to his bed as +usual, and it is quite probable that within a period of ten minutes +after his head rested upon his pillow he was sleeping peacefully. +There was nothing else to do. He had no doubt that his cod trap was +lying under the iceberg a hopeless wreck.</p> + +<p>Well, what of it? In any case he had acted as his conscience had him +act. He knew that there were those who would say that his conscience +was over-sensitive. Perhaps it was, but it was <i>his</i> conscience, not +theirs. He was class leader in the chapel. He never forgot that. And +he was the leading citizen of the settlement. At whatever cost, he +must needs prove a good example to his neighbors in his deeds. Worry +would not help the case in the least. Too much of it would +incapacitate him. He had lived forty-four years without a cod trap, +and he had not starved, and he could finish his days without one.</p> + +<p>"The Lard'll take care of us," Skipper Tom often said when they were +in a tight pinch, but he always added, "if we does our best to make +the <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>best of things and look after ourselves and the things the Lard +gives us to do with. He calls on us to do that."</p> + +<p>Though Skipper Tom could scarce see how his trap might have escaped +destruction he had no intention of resting upon that supposition and +perhaps he still entertained a lingering hope that it had escaped. +There is no doubt he prayed for its preservation, and he had strong +faith in prayer. At any rate, at half past eleven o'clock that night +he was up and dressed, and routed his two sons out of their beds. At +the stroke of midnight, waiting a tick longer perhaps, to be quite +sure that Sunday had gone and Monday morning had arrived, he and his +sons pushed out in their big boat.</p> + +<p>Skipper Tom would not be doing his best if he did not make certain of +what had actually happened to the cod trap. Every one in Red Bay said +it had been destroyed, and no doubt of that. But no one knew for a +certainty, and there <i>might</i> have been an intervention of Divine +Providence.</p> + +<p>"The Lard helped us to get that trap," said Skipper Tom, "and 'tis +hard to believe he'll take un away from us so soon, for I tried not to +be vain about un, only just a bit proud of un and glad I has un. If +He's took un from me I'll know 'twere to try my faith, and I'll never +complain."</p> + +<p>Down they rowed toward the iceberg, whose polished surface gleamed +white in the starlight.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>"She's right over where the trap were set! The trap's gone," said one +of the sons.</p> + +<p>"I'm doubtin'," Skipper Tom was measuring the distance critically with +his eye.</p> + +<p>"The trap's tore to pieces," insisted the son with discouragement in +his voice.</p> + +<p>"The berg's to the lee'ard of she," declared Skipper Tom finally.</p> + +<p>"Tis too close t' shore."</p> + +<p>"'Tis to the lee'ard!"</p> + +<p>"Is you sure, now, Pop?"</p> + +<p>"The trap's safe and sound! The berg <i>is</i> t' the lee'ard!"</p> + +<p>Tom was right. A shift of tide had come at the right moment to save +the trap.</p> + +<p>"The Lard is good to us," breathed Skipper Tom. "He've saved our trap! +He always takes care of them that does what they feels is right. We'll +thank the Lard, lads."</p> + +<p>In the trap was a fine haul of cod, and when they had removed the fish +the trap was transferred to a new position where it would be quite +safe until the menacing iceberg had drifted away.</p> + +<p>There were seventeen families living in Red Bay. As settlements go, +down on The Labrador, seventeen cabins, each housing a family, is +deemed a pretty good sized place.</p> + +<p>At Red Bay, as elsewhere on the coast, bad seasons for fishing came +now and again. These occur when the ice holds inshore so long that the +best <a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>run of cod has passed before the men can get at them; or because +for some unexplained reason the cod do not appear at all along certain +sections of the coast. When two bad seasons come in succession, +starvation looms on the horizon.</p> + +<p>Seasons when the ice held in, Skipper Tom could not set his cod trap. +When this happened he was as badly off as any of his neighbors. In a +season when there were no fish to catch, it goes without saying that +his trap brought him no harvest. Fishing and trapping is a gamble at +best, and Skipper Tom, like his neighbors, had to take his chance, and +sometimes lost. If he accumulated anything in the good seasons, he +used his accumulation to assist the needy ones when the bad seasons +came, and, in the end, though he kept out of debt, he could not get +ahead, try as he would.</p> + +<p>The seasons of 1904 and 1905 were both poor seasons, and when, in the +fall of 1905, Doctor Grenfell's vessel anchored in Red Bay Harbor he +found that several of the seventeen families had packed their +belongings and were expectantly awaiting his arrival in the hope that +he would take them to some place where they might find better +opportunities. They were destitute and desperate.</p> + +<p>There was nowhere to take them where their condition would be better. +Grenfell, already aware of their desperate poverty, had been giving +the problem much consideration. The truck system was directly +responsible for the conditions at Red Bay <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>and for similar conditions +at every other harbor along the coast. Something had to be done, and +done at once.</p> + +<p>With the assistance of Skipper Tom and one or two others, Doctor +Grenfell called a meeting of the people of the settlement that +evening, to talk the matter over. The men and women were despondent +and discouraged, but nearly all of them believed they could get on +well enough if they could sell their fish and fur at a fair valuation, +and could buy their supplies at reasonable prices.</p> + +<p>All of them declared they could no longer subsist at Red Bay upon the +restricted outfits allowed them by the traders, which amounted to +little or nothing when the fishing failed. They preferred to go +somewhere else and try their luck where perhaps the traders would be +more liberal. If they remained at Red Bay under the old conditions +they would all starve, and they might as well starve somewhere else.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell then suggested his plan. It was this. They would form +a company. They would open a store for themselves. Through the store +their furs and fish would be sent to market and they would get just as +big a price for their products as the traders got. They would buy the +store supplies at wholesale just as cheaply as the traders could buy +them. They would elect one of their number, who could keep accounts, +to be storekeeper. They would buy the things they needed from the +store <a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>at a reasonable price, and at the end of the year each would be +credited with his share of the profits. In other words, they would +organize a co-operative store and trading system and be their own +traders and storekeepers.</p> + +<p>This meant breaking off from the traders with whom they had always +dealt and all hope of ever securing advance of supplies from them +again. It was a hazardous venture for the fishermen to make. They did +not understand business, but they were desperate and ready for any +chance that offered relief, and in the end they decided to do as +Doctor Grenfell suggested.</p> + +<p>Each man was to have a certain number of shares of stock in the new +enterprise. The store would be supplied at once, and each family would +be able to get from it what was needed to live upon during the winter. +Any fish they might have on hand would be turned over to the store, +credited as cash, and sent to market at once, in a schooner to be +chartered for the purpose and this schooner would bring back to Red +Bay the winter's supplies.</p> + +<p>A canvass then was made with the result that among the seventeen +families the entire assets available for purchasing supplies amounted +to but eighty-five dollars. This was little better than nothing.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell had faith in Skipper Tom and the others. They were +honest and hard-working folk. He knew that all they required was an +<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>opportunity to make good. He was determined to give them the +opportunity, and he announced, without hesitation, that he would +personally lend them enough to pay for the first cargo and establish +the enterprise. Can any one wonder that the people love Grenfell? He +was the one man in the whole world that would have done this, or who +had the courage to do it. He knew well enough that he was calling down +upon his own head the wrath of the traders.</p> + +<p>The schooner was chartered, the store was stocked and opened, and +there was enough to keep the people well-fed, well-clothed, happy and +comfortable through the first year.</p> + +<p>In the beginning there were some of the men who were actually afraid +to have it known they were interested in the store, such was the fear +with which the traders had ruled them. They were so timid, indeed, +about the whole matter that they requested no sign designating the +building as a store be placed upon it. That, they declared, would make +the traders angry, and no one knew to what lengths these former +slaveholders might go to have revenge upon them. It is no easy matter +to shake oneself free from the traditions of generations and it was +hard for these trappers and fishermen to realize that they were freed +from their ancient bondage. But Doctor Grenfell fears no man, and, +with his usual aggressiveness, he nailed upon the front of the store a +big sign, reading:</p> + +<p class="cen sc"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>Red Bay Co-operative Store.</p> + +<p>It was during the winter of 1905-1906 and ten years after the +launching of the enterprise and the opening of the store, that I drove +into Red Bay with a train of dogs one cold afternoon. Skipper Tom was +my host, and after we had a cheery cup of tea, he said:</p> + +<p>"Come out. I wants to show you something."</p> + +<p>He led me a little way down from his cottage to the store, and +pointing up at the big bold sign, which Grenfell had nailed there, he +announced proudly:</p> + +<p>"'Tis <i>our</i> co-operative store, the first on the whole coast. Doctor +Grenfell starts un for us."</p> + +<p>Then after a pause:</p> + +<p>"Doctor Grenfell be a wonderful man! He be a man of God."</p> + +<p>As expected, there was a furore among the little traders when the news +was spread that a co-operative store had been opened in Red Bay. The +big Newfoundland traders and merchants were heartily in favor of it, +and even stood ready to give the experiment their support.</p> + +<p>But the little traders who had dealt with the Red Bay settlement for +so long, and had bled the people and grown fat upon their labors, were +bitterly hostile. They began a campaign of defamation against Doctor +Grenfell and his whole field of work. They questioned his honesty, and +criticised the conduct of his hospitals. They even enlisted <a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>the +support of a Newfoundland paper in their opposition to him. They did +everything in their power to drive him from the coast, so that they +would have the field again in their own greedy hands. It was a +dastardly exhibition of selfishness, but there are people in the world +who will sell their own souls for profit.</p> + +<p>Grenfell went on about his business of making people happier. He was +in the right. If the traders would fight he would give it to them. He +was never a quitter. He was the same Grenfell that beat up the big boy +at school, years before. He was going to have his way about it, and do +what he went to Labrador to do. He was going to do more. He was +determined now to improve the trading conditions of the people of +Labrador and northern Newfoundland, as well as to heal their sick.</p> + +<p>From the day the co-operative store was opened in Red Bay not one fish +and not one pelt of fur has ever gone to market from that harbor +through a trader. The store has handled everything and it has +prospered and the people have prospered beyond all expectation. Every +one at Red Bay lives comfortably now. The debt to Doctor Grenfell was +long since paid and cancelled. And it is characteristic of him that he +would not accept one cent of interest. Shares of stock in the store, +originally issued at five dollars a share, are now worth one hundred +and four dollars a share, the difference <a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>being represented by profits +that have not been withdrawn. Every share is owned by the people of +the prosperous little settlement.</p> + +<p>Up and down the Labrador coast and in northern Newfoundland nine +co-operative stores have been established by Doctor Grenfell since +that autumn evening when he met the Red Bay folk in conference and +they voted to stake their all, even their life, in the venture that +proved so successful. Two or three of the stores had to discontinue +because the people in the localities where they were placed lived so +far apart that there were not enough of them to make a store +successful.</p> + +<p>Every one of these stores was a great venture to the people who cast +their lot with it. True they had little in money, but the stake of +their venture was literally in each case their life. The man who never +ventures never succeeds. Opportunity often comes to us in the form of +a venture. Sometimes, it is a desperate venture too.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell had to fight the traders all along the line. They even +had the Government of Newfoundland appoint a Commission to inquire +into the operation of the Missions as a "menace to honest trade." A +menace to honest trade! Think of it!</p> + +<p>The result of the investigation proved that Grenfell and his mission +was doing a big self-sacrificing work, and the finest kind of work to +help the poor folk, and were doing it at a great cost and at no +<a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>profit to the mission. So down went the traders in defeat.</p> + +<p>The fellow that's right is the fellow that wins in the end. The fellow +that's wrong is the fellow that is going to get the worst of it at the +proper time. Grenfell only tried to help others. He never reaped a +penny of personal gain. He always came out on top.</p> + +<p>It's a good thing to be a scrapper sometimes, but if you're a scrapper +be a good one. Grenfell is a scrapper when it is necessary, and when +he has to scrap he goes at it with the best that's in him. He never +does things half way. He never was a quitter. When he starts out to do +anything he does it.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XV" id="XV"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a> +<h3>XV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>A LAD OF THE NORTH</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The needs of the children attracted Dr. Grenfell's attention from the +beginning. A great many of them were neglected because the parents +were too poor to provide for them properly. Those who were orphaned +were thrown upon the care of their neighbors, and though the neighbors +were willing they were usually too poor to take upon themselves this +added burden.</p> + +<p>There were no schools save those conducted by the Brethren of the +Moravian missions among the Eskimos to the northward, and these were +Eskimo schools where the people were taught to read and write in their +own strange language, and to keep their accounts. But for the English +speaking folk south of the Eskimo coast no provision for schools had +ever been made.</p> + +<p>The hospitals were overflowing with the sick or injured, and there was +no room for children, unless they were in need of medical or surgical +attention. There was great need of a home for the orphans where they +would be cared for and receive motherly training and attention and +could go to school.</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell had thought about this a great deal. <a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>He had made the +best arrangements possible for the actually destitute little ones by +finding more or less comfortable homes for them, and seeking +contributions from generous folk in the United States, Canada and +Great Britain to pay for their expense.</p> + +<p>But it was not, perhaps, until Pomiuk, a little Eskimo boy, came under +his care that he finally decided that the establishment of a +children's home could no longer be delayed.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk's home was in the far north of Labrador, where no trees grow, +and where the seasons are quite as frigid as those of northern +Greenland. In summer he lived with his father and mother in a skin +tent, or tupek, and in winter in a snow igloo, or iglooweuk.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk's mother cooked the food over the usual stone lamp, which also +served to heat their igloo in winter. This lamp, which was referred to +in an earlier chapter, and described as a hollowed stone in the form +of a half moon, was an exceedingly crude affair, measuring eighteen +inches long on its straight side and nine inches broad at its widest +part. When it was filled with oil squeezed from a piece of seal +blubber, the blubber was suspended over it at the back that the heat, +when the wick of moss was lighted, would cause the blubber oil to +continue to drip and keep the lamp supplied with oil. The lamp gave +forth a smoky, yellow flame. This was the only fireside that little +Pomiuk knew. You and I would not think it a very cheerful one, +<a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>perhaps, but Pomiuk was accustomed to cold and he looked upon it as +quite comfortable and cheerful enough.</p> + +<p>Ka-i-a-chou-ouk, Pomiuk's father, was a hunter and fisherman, as are +all the Eskimos. He moved his tupek in summer, or built his igloo of +blocks of snow in winter, wherever hunting and fishing were the best, +but always close to the sea.</p> + +<p>Here, under the shadow of mighty cliffs and towering, rugged +mountains, by the side of the great water, Pomiuk was born and grew +into young boyhood, and played and climbed among the mountain crags or +along the ocean shore with other boys. He loved the rugged, naked +mountains, they stood so firm and solid! No storm or gale could ever +make them afraid, or weaken them. Always they were the same, towering +high into the heavens, untrod and unchanged by man, just as they had +stood facing the arctic storms through untold ages.</p> + +<p>From the high places he could look out over the sea, where icebergs +glistened in the sunshine, and sometimes he could see the sail of a +fishing schooner that had come out of the mysterious places beyond the +horizon. He loved the sea. Day and night in summer the sound of surf +pounding ceaselessly upon the cliffs was in his ears. It was music to +him, and his lullaby by night.</p> + +<p>But he loved the sea no less in winter when it lay frozen and silent +and white. As far as his <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>vision reached toward the rising sun, the +endless plain of ice stretched away to the misty place where the ice +and sky met. Pomiuk thought it would be a fine adventure, some night, +when he was grown to be a man and a great hunter, to take the dogs and +komatik and drive out over the ice to the place from which the sun +rose, and be there in the morning to meet him. He had no doubt the sun +rose out of a hole in the ice, and it did not seem so far away.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk's world was filled with beautiful and wonderful things. He +loved the bright flowers that bloomed under the cliffs when the winter +snows were gone, and the brilliant colors that lighted the sky and +mountains and sea, when the sun set of evenings. He loved the mists, +and the mighty storms that sent the sea rolling in upon the cliffs in +summer. He never ceased to marvel at the aurora borealis, which by +night flashed over the heavens in wondrous streams of fire and lighted +the darkened world. His father told him the aurora borealis was the +spirits of their departed people dancing in the sky. He learned the +ways of the wild things in sea and on land and never tired of +following the tracks of beasts in the snow, or of watching the seals +sunning themselves on rocks or playing about in the water.</p> + +<p>The big wolf dogs were his special delight. His father kept nine of +them, and many an exciting ride Pomiuk had behind them when his father +took <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>him on the komatik to hunt seals or to look at fox traps, or to +visit the Trading Post.</p> + +<p>When he was a wee lad his father made for him a small dog whip of +braided walrus hide. This was Pomiuk's favorite possession. He +practiced wielding it, until he became so expert he could flip a +pebble no larger than a marble with the tip end of the long lash; and +he could snap and crack the lash with a report like a pistol shot.</p> + +<p>As he grew older and stronger he practiced with his father's whip, +until he became quite as expert with that as with his own smaller one. +This big whip had a wooden handle ten inches in length, and a supple +lash of braided walrus hide thirty-five feet long. The lash was about +an inch in diameter where it joined the handle, tapering to a thin tip +at the end.</p> + +<p>One summer day, when Pomiuk was ten years of age, a strange ship +dropped anchor off the rocky shore where Pomiuk's father and several +other Eskimo families had pitched their tupeks, while they fished in +the sea near by for cod or hunted seals. A boat was launched from the +ship, and as it came toward the shore all of the excited Eskimos from +the tupeks, men, women and children, and among them Pomiuk, ran down +to the landing place to greet the visitors, and as they ran every one +shouted, "Kablunak! Kablunak!" which meant, "Stranger! Stranger!"</p> + +<p>Some white men and an Eskimo stepped out of <a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>the boat, and in the +hospitable, kindly manner of the Eskimo Pomiuk's father and Pomiuk and +their friends greeted the strangers with handshakes and cheerful +laughter, and said "Oksunae" to each as he shook his hand, which is +the Eskimo greeting, and means "Be strong."</p> + +<p>The Eskimo that came with the ship was from an Eskimo settlement +called Karwalla, in Hamilton Inlet, on the east of Labrador, but a +long way to the south of Nachvak Bay where Pomiuk's people lived. He +could speak English as well as Eskimo, and acted as interpreter for +the strangers.</p> + +<p>This Eskimo explained that the white men had come from America to +invite some of the Labrador Eskimos to go to America to see their +country. People from all the nations of the world, he said, were to +gather there to meet each other and to get acquainted. They were to +bring strange and wonderful things with them, that the people of each +nation might see how the people of other nations made and used their +things, and how they lived. They wished the Labrador Eskimos to come +and show how they dressed their skins and made their skin clothing and +skin boats, and to bring with them dogs and sledges, and harpoons and +other implements of the hunt.</p> + +<p>The white men promised it would be a most wonderful experience for +those that went. They agreed to take them and all their things on the +ship and <a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>after the big affair in America was over bring them back to +their homes, and give them enough to make them all rich for the rest +of their lives.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos were naturally quite excited with the glowing +descriptions, the opportunity to travel far into new lands, and the +prospect of wealth and happiness offered them when they again returned +to their Labrador homes. Pomiuk and his mother were eager for the +journey, but his father did not care to leave the land and the life he +knew. He decided that he had best remain in Labrador and hunt; but he +agreed that Pomiuk's mother might go to make skin boots and clothing, +and Pomiuk might go with her and take the long dog whip to show how +well he could use it.</p> + +<p>And so one day Pomiuk and his mother said goodbye to his father, and +with several other Eskimos sailed away to the United States, destined +to take their place as exhibits at the great World's Fair in Chicago.</p> + +<p>The suffering of the Eskimos in the strange land to which they were +taken was terrible. In Labrador they lived in the open, breathing +God's fresh air. In Chicago they were housed in close and often poorly +ventilated quarters. The heat was unbearable, and through all the long +hours of day and night when they were on exhibition they were +compelled to wear their heavy winter skin or fur clothing. They were +unaccustomed to the food. Some of them died, and the white men buried +them <a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>with little more thought or ceremony than was given those of +their dogs that died.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk, in spite of his suffering, kept his spirits. He loved to wield +his long dog whip. It was his pride. Visitors at the fair pitched +nickles and dimes into the enclosure where the Eskimos and their +exhibits were kept. Pomiuk with the tip of his thirty-five foot lash +would clip the coins, and laugh with delight, for every coin he +clipped was to be his. He was the life of the Eskimo exhibit. Visitors +could always distinguish his ringing laugh. He was always smiling.</p> + +<p>The white men who had induced the Eskimos to leave their homes failed +to keep their promise when the fair closed. The poor Eskimos were +abandoned in a practically penniless condition and no means was +provided to return them to their homes. To add to the distress of +Pomiuk's mother, Pomiuk fell and injured his hip. Proper surgical +treatment was not supplied, the injury, because of this neglect, did +not heal, and Pomiuk could no longer run about or walk or even stand +upon his feet.</p> + +<p>Those of the Eskimos who survived the heat and unaccustomed climate, +in some manner, God alone knows how, found their way to Newfoundland. +Pomiuk, in his mother's care, was among them. The hospitality of big +hearted fishermen of Newfoundland, who sheltered and fed the Eskimos +in their cabins, kept them through the winter. It was <a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>a period of +intense suffering for poor little Pomiuk, whose hip constantly grew +worse.</p> + +<p>When summer came again, Doctor Frederick Cook, the explorer, bound to +the Arctic on an exploring expedition, heard of the stranded Eskimos, +and carried some of them to their Labrador homes on his ship; and when +the schooners of the great fishing fleets sailed north, kindly +skippers made room aboard their little craft for others of the +destitute Eskimos. Thus Pomiuk, once so active and happy, now a +helpless cripple, found his way back on a fishing schooner to +Labrador.</p> + +<p>We can understand, perhaps, the joy and hope with which Pomiuk looked +again upon the rock-bound coast that he loved so well. On <i>these</i> +shores he had lived care-free and happy and full of bounding health +until the deceitful white men had lured him away. He had no doubt that +once again in his own native land and among his own people in old +familiar surroundings, he would soon get well and be as strong as ever +he had been to run over the rocks and to help his father with the dogs +and traps and at the fishing.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk could scarcely wait to meet his father. He laughed and +chattered eagerly of the good times he and his father would have +together. He was deeply attached to his father who had always been +kind and good to him, and who loved him better, even, than his mother +loved him.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk's heart beat high, when at last, one day, <a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>the vessel drew into +the narrow channel that leads between high cliffs into Nachvak Bay. He +looked up at the rocky walls towering two thousand feet above him on +either side. They were as firm and unchanging as always. He loved +them, and his eyes filled with happy tears. Just beyond, at the other +end of the channel, lay the broad bay and the white buildings of the +Hudson's Bay Company's trading post, where his father used to bring +him sometimes with the dogs in winter or in the boat in summer. What +fine times he and his father had on those excursions! And somewhere, +back there, camped in his tupek, was his father. What a surprise his +coming would be to his father!</p> + +<p>Pomiuk was carried ashore at the Post. Eskimos camped near-by crowded +down to greet him and his mother and the other wanderers who had +returned with them. It would be a short journey now in the boat to his +father's fishing place and his own dear home in their snug tupek. What +a lot of things he had to tell his father! And at home, with his +father's help he would soon be well and strong again.</p> + +<p>Then he heard some one say his father was dead. Dazed with grief he +was taken to one of the Eskimo tupeks where he was to make his home. +All that day and for days afterward, days of deep, unspoken sorrow, +the thought that he would never again hear his father's dear voice was +in his mind and forcing itself upon him. The world had grown <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>suddenly +dark for the crippled boy. All of his fine plans were vanished.</p> + +<p>One day late that fall Dr. Grenfell found Pomiuk lying helpless and +naked upon the rocks near the tupek of the Eskimo who had taken him +in. The little lad was carried aboard the hospital ship. He was washed +and his diseased hip dressed, he was given clean warm clothing to +wear, and altogether he was made more comfortable than he had been in +many months. Then, with Pomiuk as a patient on board, the ship steamed +away.</p> + +<p>Thus Pomiuk bade goodbye to his home, to the towering cliffs and +rugged sturdy mountains that he loved so well, and to his people. The +dear days when he was so jolly and happy in health were only a memory, +though he was to know much happiness again. Perhaps, lying helpless +upon the deck of the hospital ship, he shed a tear as he recalled the +fine trips he used to have when his father took him to the post with +dogs and komatik in winter, or he and his father went cruising in the +boat along the coast in summer. And now he would never see his dear +father again, and could never be a great hunter like his father, as he +had once dreamed he would be.</p> + +<p>But the cruise was a pleasant one, with every moment something new to +attract his attention. Dr. Grenfell was as kind and considerate as a +father. Pomiuk had never known such care and attention. His diseased +hip was dressed regularly, and had not been so free from pain since it +was <a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>injured. Appetizing, wholesome meals were served him. Everyone +aboard ship did everything possible for his comfort and entertainment.</p> + +<p>Pomiuk was taken to the Indian Harbor Hospital where he remained until +the cold of winter settled, and the hospital was closed for the winter +season. Then he was removed to a comfortable home up the Bay. Under +careful surgical treatment his hip improved until he was able to get +about well on crutches.</p> + +<p>There was never a happier boy in the world than this little Eskimo +cripple in his new surroundings and with his new friends. He laughed +and played about quite as though he had the use of his limbs, and had +forgotten his affliction. During the winter one of the good +missionaries from the Moravian Mission at Hopedale visited him and +baptized him "Gabriel"—the angel of comfort. He was a comfort indeed +and a joy to those who had his care.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a> +<h3>XVI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>MAKING A HOME FOR THE ORPHANS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The next winter Pomiuk was taken to the hospital at Battle Harbor +where he could receive more constant surgical treatment. He was a joy +to the doctors and nurses. His face was always happy and smiling. He +never complained, and his amiable disposition endeared him not only to +the doctors and nurses but to the other patients as well.</p> + +<p>But Pomiuk was never to be well again. The diseased hip was beyond +control, and was wearing down his constitution and his strength. One +day he fell suddenly very ill. For a week he lay in bed, at times +unconscious, and then early one morning passed away.</p> + +<p>Many shed tears for Pomiuk when he was gone. They missed his joyous +laughter and his smiling face. Doctor Grenfell missed him sorely. He +could not forget the suffering, naked little boy that he had rescued +from the rocks of Nachvak Bay, and he decided that some provision +should be made to care for the other orphaned, homeless, neglected +children of Labrador. In some way, he decided, the funds for such a +home had to be found, though <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>he had no means then at his disposal for +the purpose. He further decided that the home must not be an +institution merely but a real home made pleasant for the boys and +girls, where they would have motherly care and sympathy, and where +they should have a school to go to like the children of our own +favoured land.</p> + +<p>With cheerful optimism and heroic determination Doctor Grenfell set +for himself the task of establishing such a home. And in the end great +things grew out of the suffering and death of Gabriel Pomiuk. The +splendid courage and cheerfulness of the little Eskimo lad was to +result in happiness for many other little sufferers. Now, as always it +was, with Doctor Grenfell, "I can if I will,"—none of the uncertainty +of, "I will if I can." He pitched into the work of raising money to +build that children's home. He lectured, and wrote, and talked about +it in his usual enthusiastic way, and money began to come to him from +good people all over the world. At length enough was raised and the +home was built.</p> + +<p>He had already picked up and taken into his mission family so many +boys and girls, orphans or otherwise, that were without home or +shelter, and that he could not leave behind him to suffer and die, +that he had nearly enough on his hands to populate the new building +before it was ready for them. Indeed he soon found himself almost in +the position of the "old woman that lived in a shoe," and "had <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>so +many children she didn't know what to do." His big kind fatherly heart +would never permit him to abandon a homeless child, and so he took +them under his care, and somehow always managed to provide for them.</p> + +<p>It was about the time of Pomiuk's death, I believe, that the first of +these children came to him. One day, when cruising north in the +<i>Strathcona</i>, he was told that a family living in an isolated and +lonely spot on the Labrador coast required the attention of a doctor. +He answered the call at once.</p> + +<p>When he approached the bleak headland where the cabin stood, and his +vessel hove her anchor, he was quite astonished that no one came out +of the cabin to offer welcome, as is the custom with Labradormen +everywhere when vessels anchor near their homes. He and his mate were +put ashore in a boat, and as they walked up the trail to the cabin +still no one appeared and no smoke issued from the stovepipe, which, +rising through the roof, served as a chimney. When he lifted the latch +he was quite decided no one, after all, was at home.</p> + +<p>Upon entering the cabin a shocking scene presented itself. The mother +of the family lay upon the bed with wide-open stare. Doctor Grenfell's +practiced eye told him she was dead. The father, a Scotch fisherman +and trapper, was stretched upon the floor, helplessly ill, and a hasty +examination proved that he was dying. Five frightened, hungry, cold +little children were huddled in a corner.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>That night the father died, though every effort was made to revive him +and save his life. Grenfell and his crew gave the man and woman as +decent a Christian burial as the wilderness and conditions would +permit, and when all was over the Doctor found five small children on +his hands.</p> + +<p>An uncle of the children lived upon the coast and this uncle +volunteered to take one of them into his home. The other four Doctor +Grenfell carried south on the hospital ship. There was no proper +provision for their care at St. Anthony, his headquarters hospital, +and he advertised in a New England paper for homes for them. One +response was received, and this from the wife of a New England farmer, +offering to provide for two. The Doctor sent two to the farm, the +other two remaining at St. Anthony hospital.</p> + +<p>The next child to come to him was a baby of three years. The child's +father had died and the mother married a widower with a large family +of his own. He was a hard-hearted rascal, and the mother was a selfish +woman with small love for her baby. The man declined to permit her to +take it into his home and she left it in a mud hut, a cellar-like +place, with no other floor than the earth. A kind-hearted woman, who +lived near by, ran in now and again to see the baby and to take it +scraps of food and give it some care. She could not adopt it, for she +and her husband were scarce able to feed the many mouths in their own +family.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>So alone this tiny little girl of three lived in the mud hut through +the long days and the longer and darker nights. There was no mother's +knee at which to kneel; no one to teach her to lisp her first prayer; +no one to tuck her snugly into a little white bed; no one to kiss her +before she slept. O, how lonely she must have been! Think of those +chilly Labrador nights, when she huddled down on the floor in the +ragged blanket that was her bed! How many nights she must have cried +herself to sleep with loneliness and fear!</p> + +<p>Here, in the mud hut, Doctor Grenfell found her one day. She was +sitting on the earthen floor, talking to herself and playing with a +bit of broken crockery, her only toy. He gathered her into his big +strong arms and I have no doubt that tears filled his eyes as he +looked into her innocent little face and carried her down to his boat.</p> + +<p>In a locker on his ship, the <i>Strathcona</i>, there were neat little +clothes that thoughtful children in our own country had sent him to +give to the destitute little ones of Labrador. He turned the baby girl +over to his big mate, who had babies of his own at home. The mate +stroked her tangled hair with a brawney hand, and talked baby talk to +her, and as she snuggled close in his fatherly arms, he carried her +below decks. The baby's mother would not have known her little +daughter if, two hours later, she had gone aboard the <i>Strathcona</i> and +heard the peals of laughter and seen the happy little thing, <a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>bathed, +dressed in neat clean clothes, and well fed, playing on deck with a +pretty doll that Doctor Grenfell had somewhere found.</p> + +<p>It was on his last cruise south late one fall, and not long before +navigation closed, that Doctor Grenfell learned that a family of +liveyeres encamped on one of the coastal islands was in a destitute +condition, without food and practically unsheltered and unclothed.</p> + +<p>He went immediately in search, steaming nearly around the island, and +discerning no sign of life he had decided that the people had gone, +when a little curl of smoke rising from the center of the island +caught his eye. He at once brought his vessel to, let go the anchor, +lowered away a boat and accompanied by his mate pulled ashore. Making +the boat fast the two men scrambled up the rocks and set out in the +direction from which they had seen the smoke rise.</p> + +<p>Near the center of the island they suddenly brought up before a cliff, +against which, supported by poles, was stretched a sheet of old +canvas, pieced out by bits of matting and bagging, to form the roof of +a lean-to shelter. In front of the lean-to a fire burned, and under +the shelter by the fire sat a scantily clad, bedraggled woman. In her +arms she held a bundle of rags, which proved to envelop a tiny new +born baby, nursing at her breast.</p> + +<p>A little girl of five, barefooted and ragged, slunk <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>timidly back as +the strangers approached. The woman grunted a greeting, but did not +rise.</p> + +<p>"Where is your man?" asked Doctor Grenfell.</p> + +<p>"He's right handy, huntin' gulls," she answered.</p> + +<p>Upon inquiry it was learned that there were three boys in the family +and that they were also "somewheres handy about." A search discovered +two of them, lads of seven and eight, practically naked, but tough as +little bears, feeding upon wild berries. Their bodies were tanned +brown by sun and wind, and streaked and splotched with the blue and +red stain of berry juice. They were jabbering contentedly and both +were as plump and happy in their foraging as a pair of young cubs.</p> + +<p>Snow had begun to fall before Doctor Grenfell followed by the two lads +returned to the fire at the cliff, soon to be joined by the boys' +father, tall, gaunt and bearded. His hair, untrimmed for many weeks, +was long and snarled. He was nearly barefooted and his clothing hung +in tatters. In one hand he carried a rusty old trade gun, (a +single-barreled, old-fashioned muzzle loading shotgun), in the other +he clutched by its wing a gull that he had recently shot. Following +the father came an older lad, perhaps fourteen years of age, little +better clothed than his two brothers and as wild and unkempt in +appearance as the father.</p> + +<p>"Evenin'," greeted the man, as he leaned his gun against the cliff and +dropped the gull by its side.</p> + +<p>It was cold. The now thickly falling snow spoke <a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>loudly of the Arctic +winter so near at hand. The liveyere and his family, however, seemed +not to feel or mind the chill in the least, and apparently gave no +more thought to the morrow or the coming winter, upon whose frigid +threshold they stood, than did the white-winged gulls flying low over +the water.</p> + +<p>Fresh wood was placed upon the fire, and Grenfell and the mate joined +the family circle around the blaze.</p> + +<p>"Do you kill much game here on the island?" asked Doctor Grenfell.</p> + +<p>"One gull is all I gets today," announced the man. "They bides too far +out. I has no shot. I uses pebbles for shot, and 'tis hard to hit un +with pebbles. 'Tis wonderful hard to knock un down with no shot."</p> + +<p>"What have you to eat?" inquired the Doctor. "Have you any provisions +on hand?"</p> + +<p>"All us has is the gull," the man glanced toward the limp bird. "We +eats berries."</p> + +<p>"'Tis the Gover'me't's place to give us things," broke in the woman in +a high key. "The Gov'me't don't give us no flour and nothin'."</p> + +<p>"It's snowing and the berries will soon be covered," suggested +Grenfell. "You can't live without something to eat and now winter is +coming you'll need a house to live in. You haven't even a tent."</p> + +<p>"Us would make out and the Gover'me't gave us <a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>a bit o' flour and tea +and some clodin' (clothing)," harped the woman. "The Gover'me't don't +give un to us. The Gover'me't folks don't care what becomes o' we."</p> + +<p>"How are you going to take care of these children this winter?" asked +Grenfell. "You can't feed them and without clothing they'll freeze. +Let us take them with us. We'll give them plenty to eat and clothe +them well."</p> + +<p>"Don't be sayin' now you'll let un go!" broke in the mother in a high +voice, turning to the man, who stood mute. "Don't be givin' away your +own flesh and blood now! Don't let un go."</p> + +<p>"You can't keep yourselves and these children alive through the +winter. Some of you will starve or freeze," persisted Grenfell. +"Suppose you let us have the two young lads and the little maid. We'll +take good care of them and we'll give you some clothing we have aboard +the vessel, and some flour and tea to start you."</p> + +<p>"And a bit o' shot for my gun?" asked the man, showing interest.</p> + +<p>"Don't be givin' away your own flesh and blood!" interjected the woman +in the same high key. "'Tis the Gov'me't's place to be givin' us what +we needs, clodin' and grub too."</p> + +<p>"I'll let you have one o' th' lads and you lets me have a bit o' +shot," the man compromised.</p> + +<p>The sympathetic mate, with no intention of giving the man an +opportunity to change his mind, <a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>seized the naked boy nearest him, +tucked the lad, kicking and struggling, under one arm, and started for +the boat, but upon Doctor Grenfell's suggestion waited, with the lad +still under his arm, for developments.</p> + +<p>In the beginning, to be sure, Doctor Grenfell had intended to issue +supplies to the man, whether or no. But no matter how much or what +supplies were issued there was no doubt these people would be reduced +to severe suffering before summer came again. He wished to save the +children from want, and to give them a chance to make good in the +world as he believed they would with opportunity.</p> + +<p>The oldest boy could be of assistance to his father in the winter +hunting, and he could scarce expect the mother to give up her new-born +baby. Therefore negotiations were confined to a view of securing the +two small boys and the little girl.</p> + +<p>Presently, in spite of violent protests from the mother, the father +was moved, by promises of additional supplies, to consent to Grenfell +taking the other boy. And immediately the man had said, "Take un +both," the mate seized the second lad and with a youngster struggling +under each arm, and with four bare legs kicking in a wild but vain +effort for freedom and two pairs of lusty young lungs howling +rebellion, he strode exultantly away through the falling snow to the +boat with his captives.</p> + +<p>No arguments and no amount of promised stores <a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>could move the father +to open his mouth again, and Grenfell was finally compelled to be +content with the two boys and to leave the little girl behind him to +face the hardships and rigors of a northern winter. Poor little thing! +She did not realize the wonderful opportunity her parents had denied +her.</p> + +<p>When negotiations were ended Doctor Grenfell arranged for the +liveyeres to occupy a comfortable cabin on the mainland. He conspired +with the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, with the result that they +were properly clothed and provisioned, a better gun was found for the +man and an ample supply of ammunition.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of stories might be told of the destitute little ones that +have been, since the day he found Pomiuk on the rocks of Nochvak, +gathered together by Doctor Grenfell and tenderly cared for in the +Children's Home that was built at St. Anthony. There was a little girl +whose feet were so badly frozen that her father had to chop them both +off with an ax to save her life, and who Doctor Grenfell found +helpless in the poor little cabin where her people lived. I wish there +was time and room to tell about her. He took her away with him, and +healed her wounds, and fitted cork feet to her stumps of legs so that +she could go to school and run around and play with the other +children. Indeed, she learned to use her new feet so well that today, +if you saw her you would never guess that her feet were not her real +ones.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>And there was a little boy whose father was frozen to death at his +trapping one winter, a bright little chap now in the home and going to +school.</p> + +<p>These are but a few of the many, many children that have been made +happy and have been trained at the Home and under Doctor Grenfell's +care to useful lives. Some of them have worked their way through +college. Some of the boys served in the Great War at the front. Many +are holding positions of importance. Let us see, however, what became +of those particular ones, mentioned in this chapter.</p> + +<p>One of the Scotch trapper's daughters found by Doctor Grenfell in the +lonely cabin when her mother lay dead and her father dying is a +trained nurse. The others are also in responsible positions.</p> + +<p>The baby of the mud hut is a charming young lady, a graduate of a +school in the United States, and the successful member of a useful +profession.</p> + +<p>Both of the little naked boys taken from the island that snowy day are +grown men now, and graduates of the famous Pratt Institute in +Brooklyn, New York. One is a master carpenter, the other the manager +of a big trading store on the Labrador coast.</p> + +<p>Now, as I write, in the fall of 1921, the walls of a new fine concrete +home for the children are under construction at St. Anthony, to be +used in conjunction with the original wooden building which is crowded +to capacity. Children of the United <a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>States, Canada, and Great Britain +giving of their pennies made the new building possible. More money is +needed to furnish it, but enough will surely be given for the homeless +little ones of the Labrador must be cared for.</p> + +<p>And so, in the end, great things grew out of the suffering and death +of Gabriel Pomiuk, the little Eskimo lad. His splendid courage and +cheerfulness has led to happiness for many other little sufferers.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a> +<h3>XVII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE DOGS OF THE ICE TRAIL</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One of the most interesting features of Labrador life in winter is dog +travel. The dogs are interesting the year round, for they are always +in evidence winter and summer, but in the fall when the sea freezes +and snow comes, they take a most important place in the life of the +people of the coast. They are the horses and automobiles and +locomotives of the country. No one can travel far without them.</p> + +<p>The true Eskimo dog of Labrador, the "husky," as he is called, is the +direct descendant of the great Labrador wolf. The Labrador wolf is the +biggest and fiercest wolf on the North American continent, and the +Eskimo dog of northern Labrador, his brother, is the biggest and +finest sledge dog to be found anywhere in the world. He is larger and +more capable than the Greenland species of which so much has been +written, and he is quite superior to those at present found in Alaska.</p> + +<p>The true husky dog of northern Labrador has the head and jawls and +upstanding ears of the wild wolf. He has the same powerful shoulders, +thick forelegs, and bristling mane. He does not bark <a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>like other dogs, +but has the characteristic howl of the wolf. There is apparently but +one difference between him and the wild wolf, and this comes, +possibly, through domestication. He curls his tail over his back, +while the wolf does not. Even this distinction does not always hold, +for I have seen and used dogs that did not curl their tail. These big +fellows often weigh a full hundred pounds and more.</p> + +<p>Indeed these northern huskies and the wild wolves mix together +sometimes to fight, and sometimes in good fellowship. Once I had a +wolf follow my komatik for two days, and at night when we stopped and +turned our dogs loose the wolf joined them and staid the night with +them only to slink out of rifle shot with the coming of dawn.</p> + +<p>One of my friends, an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, was once +traveling with a native Labradorman driver along the Labrador coast, +when his train of eight big huskies, suddenly becoming excited, gave +an extra strain on their traces and snapped the "bridle," the long +walrus hide thong that connects the traces with the komatik. Away the +dogs ran, heading over a low hill, apparently in pursuit of some game +they had scented.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_172a" id="Page_172a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep175a.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep175a.jpg" width="45%" alt=""Please Look At My Tongue, Doctor!"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"PLEASE LOOK AT MY TONGUE, DOCTOR!"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_172b" id="Page_172b"></a> +<a href="images/imagep175b.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep175b.jpg" width="49%" alt=""Next!"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"NEXT!"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>My friend, on snowshoes, ran in pursuit, while the driver made a +circuit around the hill in the hope of heading the dogs off. Ten +minutes later the team swung down over the hill and back to the +komatik. From a distance the men saw them and <a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>also turned back, but +to their astonishment they counted not the eight dogs that composed +their team, but thirteen. On drawing nearer they realized that five +great wolves had joined the dogs.</p> + +<p>The men's guns were lashed on the komatik, and both were, therefore, +unarmed, and before they could reach the komatik and unlash the rifles +the wolves had fled over the hill and out of range. The dogs, however, +answered the driver's call and were captured.</p> + +<p>One winter evening a few years ago I drove my dog team to the isolated +cabin of Tom Broomfield, a trapper of the coast, where I was to spend +the night. When our dogs were fed and we had eaten our own supper, Tom +went to a chest and drew forth a huge wolf skin, which he held up for +my inspection.</p> + +<p>"He's a big un, now! A wonderful big un!" he commented. "Most big +enough all by hisself for a man's sleepin' bag!"</p> + +<p>"It's a monster!" I exclaimed. "Where did you kill it?"</p> + +<p>"Right here handy t' th' door," he grinned. "I were standin' just +outside th' door o' th' porch when I fires and knocks he over th' +first shot."</p> + +<p>"He were here th' day before Tom kills he," interjected Tom's wife. +"He gives me a wonderful scare that wolf does. I were alone wi' th' +two young ones."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it," I suggested.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>"'Twere this way sir," said Tom, spreading the pelt over a big chest +where we could admire it. "I were away 'tendin' fox traps, and I has +th' komatik and all th' dogs, savin' one, which I leaves behind. Th' +woman were bidin' home alone wi' th' two young ones. In th' evenin'<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> +her hears dogs a fightin' outside, and thinkin' 'tis one o' th' team +broke loose and runned home that's fightin' th' dog I leaves behind, +she starts t' go out t' beat un apart and stop th' fightin' when she +sees 'tis a wolf and no dog at all. 'Twere a wonderful big un too. He +were inside that skin you sees there, sir, and you can see for +yourself th' bigness o' he.</p> + +<p>"Her tries t' take down th' rifle, th' one as is there on th' pegs, +sir. Th' wolf and th' dog be now fightin' agin' th' door, and th' door +is bendin' in and handy t' breakin' open. She's a bit scared, sir, and +shakin' in th' hands, and she makes a slip, and th' rifle, he goes +off, bang! and th' bullet makes that hole marrin' th' timber above th' +windy."</p> + +<p>Tom arose and pointed out a bullet hole above the window.</p> + +<p>"Then th' wolf, he goes off too, bein' scared at th' shootin'.</p> + +<p>"I were home th' next day mendin' dog harness, when I hears th' dogs +fightin', and I takes a look out th' windy, and there I sees that wolf +fightin' wi' th' dogs, and right handy t' th' house. I just <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>takes my +rifle down spry as I can, and goes out. When th' dogs sees me open th' +door they runs away and leaves th' wolf apart from un, and I ups and +knocks he over wi' a bullet, sir. I gets he fair in th' head first +shot I takes, and there be th' skin. 'Tis worth a good four dollars +too, for 'tis an extra fine one."</p> + +<p>They are treacherous beasts, but, like the wolf, cowardly, these big +dogs of the Labrador. If a man should trip and fall among them, the +likelihood is he would be torn to pieces by their fangs before he +could help himself. You cannot make pals of them as you can of other +dogs. They would as lief snap off the hand that reared and feeds them +as not. It is never safe for a stranger to move among a pack of them +without a stick in his hand. But a threatened kick or the swing of a +menacing stick will send them off crawling and whining.</p> + +<p>The Hudson's Bay Company once had a dozen or so of these big fellows +at Cartwright Post, in Sandwich Bay. They were exceptionally fine dogs +of the true husky breed, brought down from one of the more northerly +posts, and the agent was proud of them. This was the same agent whose +dogs ran away to chum with the wolves, and I believe these were some +of the same dogs. They were splendid animals in harness, well broken +and tireless travelers on the trail.</p> + +<p>One evening, late in the fall, the agent's wife was standing at the +open door of the post house, and <a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>her little boy, a lad of about your +years, was playing near the doorstep.</p> + +<p>Labrador dogs are fed but once a day, and this is always in the +evening. It was feeding time for the dogs, and a servant down at the +feed house, where the dog rations were kept, called them. With a rush +they responded. Just when some of them were passing the post house the +little boy in his play stumbled and fell. In an instant the dogs were +upon him. The mother, with rare presence of mind, sprang forward, +seized the boy, sprang back into the house and slammed the door upon +the dogs.</p> + +<p>The boy was on the ground but a moment, but in that moment he was +horribly torn by the sharp fangs. At one place his entrails were laid +bare. There were over sixty wounds on his little body. The dogs lapped +up the blood that fell upon the ground and doorstep. That night the +pack, like a pack of hungry wolves, congregated outside the window +where they heard the child crying and moaning with pain and all night +howled as wolves howl when they have cornered prey.</p> + +<p>The following morning it happened providentially that Doctor +Grenfell's hospital ship steamed into Cartwright Harbor and dropped +anchor. The Doctor himself was aboard. He took the boy under his +charge and the little one's life was saved through his skill.</p> + +<p>After the attack the dogs became extremely aggressive and surly. They +were like a pack of <a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>fierce wolves. No one about the place was safe, +and the agent was compelled to shoot every animal in defense of human +life. Usually in Labrador when dogs are guilty of attacking people +they are hung by the neck to a gibbet until dead, and left hanging for +several days. I have seen dogs thus hanging after execution.</p> + +<p>When I left Davis Inlet Post of the Hudson's Bay Company with my dog +team one cold winter morning, a native trapper told me that he would +follow later in the day and probably overtake me at the Moravian +Mission Station at Hopedale. We made half the journey to Hopedale that +night and spent the night in a native cabin. A storm was threatening +the next morning, but, nevertheless, we set forward. Shortly after +midday the storm broke with a gale of wind and driving, smothering +snow, and a temperature 30 degrees below zero. Every moment it +increased in fury, but fortunately we reached the mission station +before it had reached its worst, and here remained stormbound for two +days, during which time the trapper did not appear.</p> + +<p>Later I learned that, with his wife and young son he left Davis Inlet +a few hours after our departure. After the storm had abated his dog +team appeared at Davis Inlet, but he and his wife and child were not +heard from. A searching party set out, but could find no trace of the +missing ones.</p> + +<p>In the spring, when the snow had begun to melt, <a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>the komatik was found +and scattered about it were human bones. It was supposed that the man +had halted to camp and await the passing of the storm. Benumbed by the +cold he had probably fallen among his dogs, and they had torn him to +pieces, and with whetted appetite had then attacked and killed his +wife and child.</p> + +<p>These great wolf dogs of the north are quite different from those of +the south. It is doubtful if today a true Eskimo dog is to be found +south of Sandwich Bay, and here and for a long distance north of +Sandwich Bay many of the animals have mongrel blood in their veins. +They are smaller and inferior. But from Sandwich Bay southward the +difference is marked.</p> + +<p>These southern dogs are faster, in a spurt of half a day or so, than +the big wolf dog, but they lack size and strength, and therefore the +staying powers that will carry them forward tirelessly day after day. +The strain of wolf in their blood often makes them vicious, but in +general they respond to kindly treatment and may be petted like dogs +the world over, and sometimes the natives make house dogs of their +leaders.</p> + +<p>The dogs of Newfoundland, such as Doctor Grenfell uses in his winter +journeys in going out from St. Anthony to visit patients, are still a +different type. These are usually big lop-eared kindly fellows, and +just as friendly as any dog in the world. The laws of Newfoundland +provide a <a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>heavy fine upon any one bringing upon the island a Labrador +dog that is related even remotely to the husky wolf dog.</p> + +<p>The leader of the dog team is the best disciplined dog in the team but +not always by any means the "boss" dog, or bully, of the pack. Every +pack has its bully and generally, also, its under dog that all the +others pick upon. Eskimo dogs fight among themselves, but the packs +hold together as a gang against strange packs, and when sledges meet +each other on the trail the drivers must exert their utmost effort and +caution, and wield the whip freely, or there will be a fine mix-up, +resulting often in crippled animals.</p> + +<p>The komatik or sledge used in dog travel is from ten to fourteen feet +in length, though in the far north I have seen them a full eighteen +feet long. In the extreme north of Labrador, where the largest ones +are found, they are but sixteen inches wide. Further south, in the +region where the mission hospitals are situated, from ten to twelve +feet is the usual length and about two feet the breadth.</p> + +<p>In Alaska and the Northwest dogs are harnessed tandem, that is one in +front of another in a straight line. This is a white man's method, and +a fine method too when driving through timbered regions.</p> + +<p>But in Labrador dog travel is usually on the naked coast and seldom in +timbered country, and here the old Eskimo method is used. Each dog has +its individual trace, which is fastened to the end <a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>of a single line +of walrus skin leading from the komatik and called the bridle. The +leading dog, which is especially trained to answer the driver's +direction, has the longest trace, the next two dogs nearer the komatik +shorter ones, the next two still shorter, and so on. Thus, when they +travel the leader is in advance with the pack spread out behind him on +either side, fan-shaped. Dogs follow the leader like a pack of wolves.</p> + +<p>When the driver wishes the dogs to go forward he shouts "oo-isht," and +to hurry "oksuit."<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> If he wishes them to turn to the right he calls +"ouk!", to the left "rah-der!", and to stop "Ah!"</p> + +<p>In Newfoundland "Hist!" means "Go on"; "Keep off!" "to the right"; +"Hold on!" "to the left." The dogs are harnessed in a similar manner +to that used in Labrador, and the sledges are of the same form, though +of the widest type.</p> + +<p>When the dogs are put in harness in preparation for a journey they are +always keen for the start. They will leap and howl in eagerness to be +off unless the menace of a whip compels them to lie down. When the +driver is ready he shouts "oo-isht!" to the dogs, as he pulls the nose +of the komatik sharply to one side to "break" it loose from the snow. +Immediately the dogs are away at a mad gallop, with the komatik +swinging wildly <a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>from side to side. Quickly enough the animals settle +down to a slow pace, only to spurt if game is scented or on +approaching a building.</p> + +<p>The usual dog whip is thirty or thirty-five feet in length, though I +have seen them nearly fifty feet long. Eskimo drivers are exceedingly +expert in handling the long whip, and in the hands of a cruel driver +it is an instrument of torture. In southeastern and southern Labrador +and in Newfoundland the dog whip is used much less freely than in the +north, and the people are less expert in its manipulation than are the +Eskimos. The different species of dogs renders the use of the whip +less necessary.</p> + +<p>Dog travel is seldom over smooth unobstructed ice fields. Sometimes it +is over frozen bays where the tide has thrown up rough hummocks and +ridges. I have been, under such conditions, nearly half a day crossing +the mouth of a river one mile wide. Often the trail leads over high +hills, with long hard steep climbs to be made and sometimes dangerous +descents. In traveling over sea ice, especially in the late winter and +spring, and always when an off shore wind prevails, there is danger of +encountering bad ice, and breaking through, or having the ice "go +abroad," and cutting you off from shore. When the tide has smashed the +ice, it is often necessary to drive the team on the "ballicaders," or +ice barricade, a narrow strip of ice clinging to the rocky shore. This +is sometimes <a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>scarce wide enough for the komatik, and the greatest +skill is necessary on the part of the driver to keep the komatik from +slipping off the ballicader and falling and pulling the dogs into the +sea.</p> + +<p>When the snow is soft some one on snowshoes must go in advance of the +dogs and pack the trail for them. Where traveling is rough, and in +up-hill work, it is more than often necessary to pull with the dogs, +and lift the komatik over obstructions.</p> + +<p>In descending steep slopes the driver has a thick hoop of woven walrus +hide, which he throws over the nose of one of the runners to serve as +a drag. Even then, the descent may be rapid and exciting, and not a +little dangerous for dogs and men. The driver throws himself on his +side on the komatik clinging to it with both hands. His legs extend +forward at the side of the sledge, he sticks his heels into the snow +ahead to retard the progress, in imminent danger of a broken leg.</p> + +<p>Winter settles early in Labrador and northern Newfoundland. Snow +comes, the sea smokes, and then one morning men wake up to find a +field of ice where waves were lapping the day before and where boats +have sailed all summer.</p> + +<p>Then it is that Doctor Grenfell sets out with his dogs and komatik +over the great silent snow waste to visit his far scattered patients. +Adventures meet him at every turn and some exciting experiences he has +had, as we shall see.</p> + +<br /> +<a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a> +<br /> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p class="noin"><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Afternoon is referred to as "evening" by Labradormen.</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<p class="noin"><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> In Alaska they say "Mush," but this is never heard in +Labrador.</p> +</div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a> +<h3>XVIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>FACING AN ARCTIC BLIZZARD</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The leader of Doctor Grenfell's dog team at St. Anthony, Newfoundland, +is Gypsy, a big black and white fellow, friendly as ever a good dog +can be, and trained to a nicety, always obedient and prompt in +responding to the driver's commands. Running next behind Gypsy, and +pulling side by side, are Tiger and Spider. Tiger is a large, +good-natured red and white fellow, and Spider, his brother, is black +and white. The next is Spot, a great white fellow with a black spot on +his neck, which gives him his name. His mate in harness is a tawny +yellow dog called Scotty. Then come Rover and Shaver. Rover is a +small, black, lop-eared dog, about half the size of Shaver, who looks +upon Rover as an inconsequent attachment, and though he thinks that +Rover is of small assistance, he takes upon himself the responsibility +of making this little working mate of his keep busy when in harness. +Tad and Eric, the rear dogs, are the largest and heaviest of the pack, +and perhaps the best haulers. Their traces are never slack, and they +attend strictly to business.</p> + +<p>This is the team that hauls Doctor Grenfell in <a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>long winter journeys, +when he visits the coast settlements of northern Newfoundland, in +every one of which he finds no end of eager folk welcoming him and +calling him to their homes to heal their sick.</p> + +<p>In the scattered hamlets and sparsely settled coast of northern +Newfoundland the folk have no doctor to call upon at a moment's notice +when they are sick, as we have. They live apart and isolated from many +of the conveniences of life that we look upon as necessities.</p> + +<p>It was this condition that led Doctor Grenfell to build his fine +mission hospital at St. Anthony, and from St. Anthony, to brave the +bitter storms of winter, traveling over hundreds of miles of dreary +frozen storm-swept sea and land to help the needy, often to save life. +He never charges a fee, but the Newfoundlander is independent and +self-respecting, and when he is able to do so he pays. All that comes +to Doctor Grenfell in this way he gives to the mission to help support +the hospitals. Those who cannot pay receive from him and his +assistants the same skilled and careful treatment as those who do pay. +Money makes no difference. Doctor Grenfell is giving his life to the +people because they need him, and he never keeps for his own use any +part of the small fees paid him. He is never so happy as when he is +helping others, and to help others who are in trouble is his one great +object in life.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>Two or three years ago the Newfoundland Government extended a +telegraph line to St. Anthony. This offers the people an opportunity +to call upon Doctor Grenfell when they are in need of him, though +sometimes they live so far away that in the storms of winter and +uncertainty of dog travel several days may pass before he can reach +the sick ones in answer to the calls. But let the weather be what it +may, he always responds, for there is no other doctor than Doctor +Grenfell and his assistant, the surgeon at St. Anthony Hospital, +within several hundred miles, north and west of St. Anthony.</p> + +<p>Late one January afternoon in 1919 such a telegram came from a young +fisherman living at Cape Norman, urging Doctor Grenfell to come to his +home at once, and stating that the fisherman's wife was seriously ill. +Grenfell's assistant had taken the dog team the previous day to answer +a call, and had not returned, and if he were to go before his +assistant's return there would be no doctor at the hospital. He +therefore answered the man, stating these facts. During the evening +another wire was received urging him to find a team somewhere and come +at all costs.</p> + +<p>It was evidently indeed a serious case. Cape Norman lies thirty miles +to the northward of St. Anthony, and the trail is a rough one. The +night was moonless and pitchy black, but Grenfell set out at once to +look for dogs. He borrowed four from one man, hired one from another, +and arranged <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>with a man, named Walter, to furnish four additional +ones and to drive the team. Walter was to report at the hospital at +4:30 in the morning prepared to start, though it would still be long +before daybreak.</p> + +<p>Having made these arrangements Grenfell went back to the hospital and +with the head nurse called upon every patient in the wards, providing +so far as possible for any contingency that might arise during his +absence. It was midnight when he had finished. Snow had set in, and +the wind was rising with the promise of bad weather ahead.</p> + +<p>At 4:30 he was dressed and ready for the journey. He looked out into +the darkness. The air was thick with swirling clouds of snow driven +before a gale. He made out a dim figure battling its way to the door, +and as the figure approached he discovered it was Walter, but without +the dogs.</p> + +<p>"Where are the dogs, Walter?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I didn't bring un, sir," Walter stepped inside and shook the +accumulation of snow from his garments. "'Tis a wonderful nasty +mornin', and I'm thinkin' 'tis too bad to try un before daylight. I've +been watchin' the weather all night, sir. 'Tis growin' worse. We has +only a scratch team and the dog'll not work together right 'till they +gets used to each other. I'm thinkin' we'll have to wait 'till it +comes light."</p> + +<p>"You've the team to drive and you know best," <a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>conceded the Doctor. +"Under the circumstances I suppose we'll save time by waiting."</p> + +<p>"That we will, sir. We'd be wastin' the dogs' strength and ours and +losin' time goin' now. We couldn't get on at all, sir."</p> + +<p>"Very well; at daylight."</p> + +<p>Walter returned home and Doctor Grenfell to his room to make the most +of the two hours' rest.</p> + +<p>It was scarce daylight and Walter had not yet appeared when another +telegram was clicked in over the wires:</p> + +<p>"Come along soon. Wife worse."</p> + +<p>The storm had increased in fury since Walter's early visit. It was now +blowing a living gale, and the snow was so thick one could scarce +breathe in it. The trail lay directly in the teeth of the storm. No +dogs on earth could face and stem it and certainly not the picked up, +or "scratch" team as Walter called it, for strange dogs never work +well together, and will never do their best by any means for a strange +driver, and Walter had never driven any of these except his own four.</p> + +<p>With visions of the suffering woman whose life might depend upon his +presence, the Doctor chafed the forenoon through. Then at midday came +another telegram:</p> + +<p>"Come immediately if you can. Wife still holding out."</p> + +<p>He had but just read this telegram when, to his <a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>astonishment, two +snow-enveloped, bedraggled men limped up to the door.</p> + +<p>"Where did you come from in this storm?" he asked, hardly believing +his eyes that men could travel in that drift and gale.</p> + +<p>"We comes from Cape Norman, sir, to fetch you," answered one of the +men.</p> + +<p>"Fetch me!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Do you believe dogs can travel +against this gale?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, they never could stem it, not 'till the wind shifts, +whatever," said the man. "Us comes with un drivin' from behind. The +gale blows us here."</p> + +<p>That was literally true. Ten miles of their journey had been over +partially protected land, but for twenty miles it lay over +unobstructed sea ice where the gale blew with all its force. Only the +deep snow prevented them being carried at a pace that would have +wrecked their sledge, in which case they would certainly have +perished.</p> + +<p>"When did you leave Cape Norman?" asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"Eight o'clock last evenin', sir," said the man.</p> + +<p>All night these brave men, with no thought of reward, had been +enduring that terrible storm to bring assistance to a neighbor! After +the manner of the Newfoundlanders they had already fed and cared for +the comfort of their wearied dogs, before giving thought to +themselves, staggering with fatigue as they were.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>"Go into the hospital and get your dinner," directed the Doctor. "When +you've eaten, go to bed. We'll call you when we think it's safe to +start."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," and the grateful men left for the hospital kitchen.</p> + +<p>It was after dark that evening when the two men again appeared at +Doctor Grenfell's house. They were troubled for the safety of their +neighbor's sick wife, and could not rest.</p> + +<p>"Us were just gettin' another telegram sayin' to hurry, sir," +announced the spokesman. "The storm has eased up a bit, and we're +thinkin' to make a try for un if you're ready."</p> + +<p>"Call Walter, and I'll be right with you," directed the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"Us has been and called he, sir," said the man. "He's gettin' the dogs +together and he'll be right here."</p> + +<p>A lull in a winter storm in this north country, with the clouds still +hanging low and no change of wind, does not promise the end of the +storm. It indicates that this is the center, that it is working in a +circle and will soon break upon the world again with even increased +fury.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell knew this and the men knew it full well, but their +anxiety for the suffering woman at Cape Norman would not permit them +to sleep. Anything was better than sitting still. The decision to +start was a source of vast relief to Doctor <a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>Grenfell, even though it +were to venture into the face of the terrible storm and bitter cold. +Grenfell will venture anything with any man, and if those men could +face the wind and snow and cold he could.</p> + +<p>In half an hour they were off. Before them lay the harbor of St. +Anthony, and the ice must be crossed. Through the darkness of night +and swirling snow they floundered down to it. The men were immediately +knee-deep in slush and the two teams of dogs were nearly swimming. +Their feet could not reach the solid bed of ice below. The immense +weight of snow had pushed the ice down with the falling tide and the +rising tide had flooded it.</p> + +<p>The team from Cape Norman took the lead to break the way. Every one +put on his snowshoes, for traveling without them was impossible. One +of those with the advance team went ahead of the dogs to tramp the +path for the sledge and make the work easier for the poor animals, +while the other remained with the team to drive. In like manner Walter +tramped ahead of the rear dogs and Doctor Grenfell drove them.</p> + +<p>At length they reached the opposite shore, fighting against the gale +at every step. Now there was a hill to cross.</p> + +<p>Here on the lee side of the hill they met mighty drifts of feathery +snow into which the dogs wallowed to their backs and the snowshoes of +the men sunk deep. They were compelled to haul on the <a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>traces with the +dogs. They had to lift and manipulate the sledges with tremendous +effort. Up the grade they toiled and strained, yard by yard, foot by +foot. Sometimes it seemed to them they were making no appreciable +progress, but on they fought through the black night and the driving +snow, sweating in spite of the Arctic blasts and clouds of drift that +sometimes nearly stopped their breath and carried them off their feet.</p> + +<p>The life of the young fisherman's wife at Cape Norman hung in the +balance. The toiling men visualized her lying on a bed of pain and +perhaps dying for the need of a doctor. They saw the agonized husband +by her side, tortured by his helplessness to save her. They forgot +themselves and the risk they were taking in their desire to bring to +the fisherman's wife the help her husband was beseeching God to send. +This is true heroism.</p> + +<p>As the saying on the coast goes, "'tis dogged as does it," and as +Grenfell himself says, "not inspiration, but perspiration wins the +prizes of life." They finally reached the crest of the hill.</p> + +<p>On the opposite or weather side of the hill the gale met them with +full force. It had swept the slope clean and left it a glade of ice. +They slid down at a dangerous speed, taking all sorts of chances, +colliding in the darkness with stumps and ice-coated rocks and other +snags, in imminent danger of having their brains knocked out or limbs +broken.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>The open places below were little better. Everything was ice-coated. +They slipped and slid about, falling and rising with every dozen +steps. If they threw themselves on the sledges to ride the dogs came +to a stop, for they could not haul them. If they walked they could not +keep their feet. Their course took them along the bed of Bartlett +River, and twice Grenfell and some of the others broke through into +the icy rapids.</p> + +<p>At half past one in the morning they reached the mouth of Bartlett +River where it empties into the sea and between them and Cape Norman +lay twenty miles of unobstructed sea ice. They had been traveling for +nearly six hours and had covered but ten miles of the journey. The +temporary lull in the storm had long since passed, and now, beating +down upon the world with redoubled fury, it met them squarely in the +face. No dog could stem it. The men could scarce stand upright. The +clouds of snow suffocated them, and the cold was withering.</p> + +<p>Far out they could hear the thunder of smashing ice. It was a threat +that the still firm ice lying before them might be broken into +fragments at any time. Sea water had already driven over it, forming a +thick coating of half-frozen slush. Even though the gale that swept +the ice field had not been too fierce to face, any attempt to cross +would obviously have been a foolhardy undertaking.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a> +<h3>XIX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>HOW AMBROSE WAS MADE TO WALK</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One of the men from Cape Norman had been acting as leader on the trail +from St. Anthony. His name was Will, and he was a big broad-shouldered +man, a giant of a fellow. He knew all the trappers on this part of the +coast, and where their trapping grounds lay. One of his neighbors, +whom he spoke of as "Si," trapped in the neighborhood where the +baffled men now found themselves.</p> + +<p>"I'm rememberin', now, Si built a tilt handy by here," he suddenly +exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"A tilt!" Grenfell was sceptical. "I've been going up and down this +coast for twenty years and I never heard of a tilt near here."</p> + +<p>"He built un last fall. I thinks, now, I could find un," Will +suggested.</p> + +<p>"Find it if you can," urged Grenfell hopefully. "Where is it?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis in a bunch of trees, somewheres handy."</p> + +<p>"Is there a stove in it?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not knowin' that. I'll try to find un and see."</p> + +<p>They had retreated to the edge of the forest. <a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>Will disappeared among +the trees, and Grenfell and the others waited. It was still six hours +to daylight, and to stand inactive for six hours in the storm and +biting cold would have been perilous if not fatal.</p> + +<p>Presently Will's shout came out of the forest, rising above the road +of wind:</p> + +<p>"Ti-l-t and St-o-ve!"</p> + +<p>They followed Will's voice, bumping against trees, groping through +flying snow and darkness, and quickly came upon Will and the tilt. +There was indeed, to their great joy, a stove in it. There was also a +supply of dry wood, all cut and piled ready for use. In one end of the +tilt was a bench covered with spruce boughs which Si used as a bed.</p> + +<p>There was nothing to feed the exhausted dogs, but they were +unharnessed and were glad enough to curl up in the snow, where the +drift would cover them, after the manner of northern dogs.</p> + +<p>Then a fire was lighted in the stove. Will went out with the ax and +kettle, and presently returned with the kettle filled with water +dipped from Bartlett River after he had cut a hole through the ice.</p> + +<p>Setting the kettle on the stove, Will, standing by the stove, +proceeded to fill and light his pipe while Doctor Grenfell opened his +dunnage bag to get the tea and sugar. Suddenly Will's pipe clattered +to the floor. Will, standing like a statue, did not stoop to pick it +up and Grenfell rescued it and rising offered it to him, when, to his +vast <a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>astonishment, he discovered that the man, standing erect upon +his feet was fast asleep. He had been nearly sixty hours without sleep +and forty-eight hours of this had been spent on the trail.</p> + +<p>They aroused Will and had him sit down on the bench. He re-lighted his +pipe but in a moment it fell from his teeth again. He rolled over on +the bench and was too soundly asleep to be interested in pipe or tea +or anything to eat.</p> + +<p>Daylight brought no abatement in the storm. The ice was deep under a +coating of slush, and quite impassable for dogs and men, and the sea +was pounding and battering at the outer edge, as the roar of smashing +ice testified, though quite shut out from view by driving snow. There +was nothing to do but follow the shore, a long way around, and off +they started.</p> + +<p>Here and there was an opportunity to cut across small coves and inlets +where the ice was safe enough, and at two o'clock in the afternoon +they reached Crow Island, a small island three-quarters of a mile from +the mainland.</p> + +<p>Under the shelter of scraggly fir trees on Crow Island an attempt was +made to light a fire and boil the kettle for tea. But there was no +protection from the blizzard. They failed to get the fire, and finally +compelled by the elements to give it up they took a compass course for +a small settlement on the mainland. The instinct of the dogs led them +straight, and when the men had almost despaired of <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>locating the +settlement they suddenly drew up before a snug cottage.</p> + +<p>A cup of steaming tea, a bit to eat, and Grenfell and his men were off +again. Cape Norman was not far away, and that evening they reached the +fisherman's home.</p> + +<p>The joy and thankfulness of the young fisherman was beyond bounds. His +wife was in agony and in a critical condition. Doctor Grenfell +relieved her pain at once, and by skillful treatment in due time +restored her to health. Had he hesitated to face the storm or had he +been made of less heroic stuff and permitted himself to be driven back +by the blizzard, she would have died. Indeed there are few men on the +coast that would have ventured out in that storm. But he went and he +saved the woman's life, and today that young fisherman's wife is as +well and happy as ever she could be, and she and her husband will +forever be grateful to Doctor Grenfell for his heroic struggle to +reach them.</p> + +<p>In a few days Doctor Grenfell was back again in St. Anthony, and then +a telegram came calling him to a village to the south. The weather was +fair. His own splendid team was at home, and he was going through a +region where settlements were closer together than on the Cape Norman +trail.</p> + +<p>The first night was spent in his sleeping bag stretched on the floor +of a small building kept open for the convenience of travelers with +dog sledges. <a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>The next night he was comfortably housed in a little +cabin in the woods, also used for the convenience of travelers, and +generally each night he was quite as well housed.</p> + +<p>He was going now to see a lad of fifteen whose thigh had been broken +while steering a komatik down a steep hill. Dog driving, as we have +seen, is frequently a dangerous occupation, and this young fellow had +suffered.</p> + +<p>In every settlement Doctor Grenfell was hailed by folk who needed a +doctor. There was one broken leg that required attention, one man had +a broken knee cap. In one house he found a young woman dying of +consumption. There were many cases of Spanish influenza and several +people dangerously ill with bronchial pneumonia. There was one little +blind child later taken to the hospital at St. Anthony to undergo an +operation to restore her sight. In the course of that single journey +he treated eighty-six different cases, and but for his fortunate +coming none of them could have had a doctor's care.</p> + +<p>He found the lad Ambrose suffering intense pain. After his accident +the lad had been carried home by a friend. His people did not know +that the thigh was broken, and when it swelled they rubbed and +bandaged it.</p> + +<p>The pain grew almost too great for the boy to bear. A priest passing +through the settlement advised them to put the leg in splints. This +was done, <a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>but no padding was used, which, as every Boy Scout knows, +was a serious omission. Boards were used as splints, extending from +thigh to heel and they cut into the flesh, causing painful sores.</p> + +<p>The priest had gone, and though Ambrose was suffering so intensely +that he could not sleep at night no one dared remove the splints. The +neighbors declared the lad's suffering was caused by the pain from the +injured thigh coming out at the heel.</p> + +<p>Ambrose was in a terrible condition when Doctor Grenfell arrived. The +pain had been continuous and for a long time he had not slept. The +broken thigh had knit in a bowed position, leaving that leg three +inches shorter than the other.</p> + +<p>It was necessary to re-break the thigh to straighten it. Doctor +Grenfell could not do this without assistance. There was but one thing +to do, take the lad to St. Anthony hospital.</p> + +<p>A special team and komatik would be required for the journey, but the +lad's father had no dogs, and with a family of ten children to +support, in addition to Ambrose, no money with which to hire one. A +friend came to the rescue and volunteered to haul the lad to the +hospital.</p> + +<p>It was a journey of sixty miles. The trail from the village where +Ambrose lived rose over a high range of hills. The snow was deep and +the traveling hard, and several men turned out to help the dogs haul +the komatik to the summit. Then, with Doctor Grenfell's sledge ahead +to break the trail, <a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>and the other following with the helpless lad +packed in a box they set out, Ambrose's father on snowshoes walking by +the side of the komatik to offer his boy any assistance the lad might +need.</p> + +<p>The next morning Doctor Grenfell was delayed with patients and the +other komatik went ahead, only to be lost and to finally turn back on +the trail until they met Grenfell's komatik, which was searching for +them.</p> + +<p>The cold was bitter and terrible that day. The men on snowshoes were +comfortable enough with their hard exercise, but it was almost +impossible to keep poor Ambrose from freezing in spite of heavy +covering. Now and again his father had to remove the moccasins from +Ambrose's feet and rub them briskly with bare hands to restore +circulation. He even removed the warm mittens from his own hands and +gave them to Ambrose to pull on over the ones he already wore.</p> + +<p>At midday a halt was made to "boil the kettle," and by the side of the +big fire that was built in the shelter of the forest Ambrose was +restored to comparative comfort. On the trail again it was colder than +ever in the afternoon, and they thought the lad, though he never once +uttered a complaint, would freeze before they could reach the cabin +that was to shelter them for the night. At last the cabin was reached. +A fire was hurriedly built in the stove, and with much rubbing of +hands and legs and feet, and a roaring fire, he was made so +<a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>comfortable that he could eat, and a fine supper they had for him.</p> + +<p>At the place where they stopped the previous night Doctor Grenfell had +mentioned that the oven that sat on the stove in this cabin, was worn +out. One of the men immediately went out, procured some corrugated +iron, pounded it flat with the back of an ax and then proceeded to +make an oven for Grenfell to take with him on his komatik. Upon +opening the oven now it was found that the good friend who had made +the oven had packed it full of rabbits and ptarmigans, the white +partridge or grouse of the north. In a little while a delicious stew +was sending forth its appetizing odors. A pan of nicely browned hot +biscuits, freshly baked in the new oven and a kettle of steaming tea +completed a feast that would have tempted anyone's appetite, and +Ambrose, for the first time in many a day relieved of much of his +pain, through Doctor Grenfell's ministrations, enjoyed it immensely, +and for the first time in many a night, followed his meal with +refreshing sleep.</p> + +<p>The next morning the cold was more intense than ever. Ambrose was +wrapped in every blanket they had and, as additional protection, +Doctor Grenfell stowed him away in his own sleeping bag, and packed +him on the sledge. Off they went on the trail again. Late that +afternoon they crossed a big bay, and St. Anthony was but eighteen +mile away.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>When Ambrose was made comfortable in a settler's cottage, Doctor +Grenfell directed that he was to be brought on to the hospital the +following morning, and he himself much needed at the hospital pushed +forward at once, arriving at St. Anthony long after night.</p> + +<p>But before morning the worst storm of the winter broke upon them. The +buildings at St. Anthony rocked in the gale until the maids on the top +floor of the hospital said they were seasick. And when the storm was +over the snow was so deep that men with snowshoes walked from the +gigantic snow banks to some of the roofs which were on a level with +the drifts. Tunnels had to be cut through the snow to doors.</p> + +<p>The storm delayed Ambrose and his friends, but after the weather +cleared their komatik appeared. The lad was put on the operating +table, the thigh re-broken and properly set by Doctor Grenfell, and +the leg brought down to its proper length. Presently the time came +when Grenfell was able to tell the father that, after all their fears, +Ambrose was not to be a cripple and that he would be as strong and +nimble as ever he was. This was actually the case. Doctor Grenfell is +a remarkably skillful surgeon and he had wrought a miracle. The +thankful and relieved father shed tears of joy.</p> + +<p>"When I gets un," said he, his voice choked by emotion, "I'll send +five dollars for the hospital."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>Five dollars, to Ambrose's father, was a lot of money.</p> + +<p>Winter storms, as we have seen, never hold Doctor Grenfell back when +he is called to the sick and injured. Many times he has broken through +the sea ice, and many times he has narrowly escaped death. The story +of a few of these experiences would fill a volume of rattling fine +adventure. I am tempted to go on with them. One of these big +adventures at least we must not pass by. As we shall see in the next +chapter, it came dangerously near being his last one.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XX" id="XX"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a> +<h3>XX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>LOST ON THE ICE FLOE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One day in April several years ago, Dr. Grenfell, who was at the time +at St. Anthony Hospital, received an urgent call to visit a sick man +two days' journey with dogs to the southward. The patient was +dangerously ill. No time was to be lost, for delay might cost the +man's life.</p> + +<p>It is still winter in northern Newfoundland in April, though the days +are growing long and at midday the sun, climbing high now in the +heavens, sends forth a genial warmth that softens the snow. At this +season winds spring up suddenly and unexpectedly, and blow with +tremendous velocity. Sometimes the winds are accompanied by squalls of +rain or snow, with a sudden fall in temperature, and an off-shore wind +is quite certain to break up the ice that has covered the bays all +winter, and to send it abroad in pans upon the wide Atlantic, to melt +presently and disappear.</p> + +<p>This breaking up of the ice sometimes comes so suddenly that traveling +with dogs upon the frozen bays at this season is a hazardous +undertaking. Scarcely a year passes that some one is not lost. +<a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>Sometimes men are carried far to sea on ice pans and are never heard +from again.</p> + +<p>A man must know the trails to travel with dogs along this rough coast. +Much better progress is made traveling upon sea ice than on land +trails, for the latter are usually up and down over rocky hills and +through entangling brush and forest, while the former is a smooth +straight-away course. When the ice is rotted by the sun's heat, +however, and is covered by deep slush, and is broken by dangerous +holes and open leads that cannot safely be crossed, the driver keeps +close to shore, and is sometimes forced to turn to the land and leave +the ice altogether. When the ice is good and sound the dog traveler +only leaves it to cross necks of land separating bays and inlets, +where distance may be shortened, and makes as straight a course across +the frozen bays as possible.</p> + +<p>There is a great temptation always, even when the ice is in poor +condition, to cross it and "take a chance," which usually means a +considerable risk, rather than travel the long course around shore. +Long experience at dog travel, instead of breeding greater caution in +the men of the coast, leads them to take risks from which the less +experienced man would shrink.</p> + +<p>These were the conditions when the call came that April day to Dr. +Grenfell. Traveling at this season was, at best, attended by risk. But +this man's life depended upon his going, and no risk <a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>could be +permitted to stand in the way of duty. Without delay he packed his +komatik box with medicines, bandages and instruments. It was certain +he would have many calls, both for medical and surgical attention, +from the scattered cottages he should pass, and on these expeditions +he always travels fully prepared to meet any ordinary emergency from +administering pills to amputating a leg or an arm. He also packed in +the box a supply of provisions and his usual cooking kit.</p> + +<p>Only in cases of stress do men take long journeys with dogs alone, but +there was no man about the hospital at this time that Grenfell could +take with him as a traveling companion and to assist him, and no time +to wait for any one, and so, quite alone and driving his own team, he +set out upon his journey.</p> + +<p>It was mid-afternoon when he "broke" his komatik loose, and his dogs, +eager for the journey, turned down upon the trail at a run. The dogs +were fresh and in the pink of condition, and many miles were behind +him when he halted his team at dusk before a fisherman's cottage. Here +he spent the night, and the following morning, bright and early, +harnessed his dogs and was again hurrying forward.</p> + +<p>The morning was fine and snappy. The snow, frozen and crisp, gave the +dogs good footing. The komatik slid freely over the surface. Dr. +Grenfell urged the animals forward that they might take all <a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>the +advantage possible of the good sledging before the heat of the midday +sun should soften the snow and make the hauling hard.</p> + +<p>The fisherman's cottage where he had spent the night was on the shores +of a deep inlet, and a few rods beyond the cottage the trail turned +down upon the inlet ice, and here took a straight course across the +ice to the opposite shore, some five miles distant, where it plunged +into the forest to cross another neck of land.</p> + +<p>A light breeze was coming in from the sea, the ice had every +appearance of being solid and secure, and Dr. Grenfell dove out upon +it for a straight line across. To have followed the shore would have +increased the distance to nearly thirty miles.</p> + +<p>Everything went well until perhaps half the distance had been covered. +Then suddenly there came a shift of wind, and Grenfell discovered, +with some apprehension, that a stiff breeze was rising, and now +blowing from land toward the sea, instead of from the sea toward the +land as it had done when he started early in the morning from the +fisherman's cottage. Still the ice was firm enough, and in any case +there was no advantage to be had by turning back, for he was as near +one shore as the other.</p> + +<p>Already the surface of the ice, which, with several warm days, had +become more or less porous and rotten, was covered with deep slush. +The western sky was now blackened by heavy wind <a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>clouds, and with +scarce any warning the breeze developed into a gale. Forcing his dogs +forward at their best pace, while he ran by the side of the komatik, +he soon put another mile behind him. Before him the shore loomed up, +and did not seem far away. But every minute counted. It was evident +the ice could not stand the strain of the wind much longer.</p> + +<p>Presently one of Grenfell's feet went through where slush covered an +opening crack. He shouted at the dogs, but, buffeted by wind and +floundering through slush, they could travel no faster though they +made every effort to do so, for they, no less perhaps than their +master, realized the danger that threatened them.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, the ice went asunder, not in large pans as it would +have done earlier in the winter when it was stout and hard, but in a +mass of small pieces, with only now and again a small pan.</p> + +<p>Grenfell and the dogs found themselves floundering in a sea of slush +ice that would not bear their weight. The faithful dogs had done their +best, but their best had not been good enough. With super-human effort +Grenfell managed to cut their traces and set them free from the +komatik, which was pulling them down. Even now, with his own life in +the gravest peril, he thought of them.</p> + +<p>When the dogs were freed, Grenfell succeeded in clambering upon a +small ice pan that was scarce <a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>large enough to bear his weight, and +for the moment was safe. But the poor dogs, much more frightened than +their master, and looking to him for protection, climbed upon the pan +with him, and with this added weight it sank from under him.</p> + +<p>Swimming in the ice-clogged water must have been well nigh impossible. +The shock of the ice-cold water itself, even had there been no ice, +was enough to paralyze a man. But Grenfell, accustomed to cold, and +with nerves of iron as a result of keeping his body always in the pink +of physical condition, succeeded finally in reaching a pan that would +support both himself and the dogs. The animals followed him and took +refuge at his feet.</p> + +<p>Standing upon the pan, with the dogs huddled about him, he scanned the +naked shores, but no man or sign of human life was to be seen. How +long his own pan would hold together was a question, for the broken +ice, grinding against it, would steadily eat it away.</p> + +<p>There was a steady drift of the ice toward the open sea. The wind was +bitterly cold. There was nothing to eat for himself and nothing to +feed the dogs, for the loaded komatik had long since disappeared +beneath the surface of the sea.</p> + +<p>Exposed to the frigid wind, wet to the skin, and with no other +protection than the clothes upon his back, it seemed inevitable that +the cold would presently benumb him and that he would perish from it +even though his pan withstood the wearing effects <a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>of the water. The +pan was too small to admit of sufficient exercise to keep up the +circulation of blood, and though he slapped his arms around his +shoulders and stamped his feet, a deadening numbness was crawling over +him as the sun began to sink in the west and cold increased.</p> + +<p>Though, in the end he might drown, Grenfell determined to live as long +as he could. Perhaps this was a test of courage that God had given +him! It is a man's duty, whatever befalls him, to fight for life to +the last ditch, and live as long as he can. Most men, placed as +Grenfell was placed, would have sunk down in despair, and said: "It's +all over! I've done the best I could!" And there they would have +waited for death to find them. When a man is driven to the wall, as +Grenfell was, it is easier to die than live. When God brings a man +face to face with death, He robs death of all its terrors, and when +that time comes it is no harder for a man who has lived right with God +to die than it is for him to lie down at night and sleep. But Grenfell +was never a quitter. He was going to fight it out now with the +elements as best he could with what he had at hand.</p> + +<p>These northern dogs, when driven to desperation by hunger, will turn +upon their best friend and master, and here was another danger. If he +and the dogs survived the night and another day, what would the dogs +do? Then it would be, as Grenfell knew full well, his life or theirs.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>The dogs wore good warm coats of fur, and if he had a coat made of dog +skins it would keep him warm enough to protect his life, at least, +from the cold. Now the animals were docile enough. Clustered about his +feet, they were looking up into his face expectantly and confidently. +He loved them as a good man always loves the beasts that serve him. +They had hauled him over many a weary mile of snow and ice, and had +been his companions and shared with him the hardships of many a +winter's storm.</p> + +<p>But it was his life or theirs. If he were to survive the night, some +of the dogs must be sacrificed. In all probability he and they would +be drowned anyway before another night fell upon the world.</p> + +<p>There was no time to be lost in vain regrets and indecision. Grenfell +drew his sheath knife, and as hard as we know it was for him, +slaughtered three of the animals. This done, he removed their pelts, +and wrapping the skins about him, huddled down among the living dogs +for a night of long, tedious hours of waiting and uncertainty, until +another day should break.</p> + +<p>That must have been a period of terrible suffering for Grenfell, but +he had a stout heart and he survived it. He has said that the dog +skins saved his life, and without them he certainly would have +perished.</p> + +<p>The ice pan still held together, and with a new day came fresh hope of +the possibility of rescue. <a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>The coast was still well in sight, and +there was a chance that a change of wind might drive the pan toward it +on an incoming tide. At this season, too, the men of the coast were +out scanning the sea for "signs" of seals, and some of them might see +him.</p> + +<p>This thought suggested that if he could erect a signal on a pole, it +would attract attention more readily. He had no pole, and he thought +at first no means of raising the signal, which was, indeed, necessary, +for at that distance from shore only a moving signal would be likely +to attract the attention of even the keenly observant fishermen.</p> + +<p>Then his eyes fell upon the carcasses of the three dogs with their +stiff legs sticking up. He drew his sheath knife and went at them +immediately. In a little while he had severed the legs from the bodies +and stripped the flesh from the bones. Now with pieces of dog harness +he lashed the legs together, and presently had a serviceable pole, but +one which must have been far from straight.</p> + +<p>Elated with the result of his experiment, he hastily stripped the +shirt from his back, fastened it to one end of his staff, and raising +it over his head began moving it back and forth.</p> + +<p>It was an ingenious idea to make a flagstaff from the bones of dogs' +legs. Hardly one man in a thousand would have thought of it. It was an +exemplification of Grenfell's resourcefulness, and in the end it saved +his life.</p> + +<p>As he had hoped, men were out upon the rocky <a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>bluffs scanning the sea +for seals. The keen eyes of one of them discovered, far away, +something dark and unusual. The men of this land never take anything +for granted. It is a part of the training of the woodsman and seaman +to identify any unusual movement or object, or to trace any unusual +sound, before he is satisfied to let it pass unheeded. Centering his +attention upon the distant object the man distinguished a movement +back and forth. Nothing but a man could make such a movement he knew, +and he also knew that any man out there was in grave danger. He called +some other fishermen, manned a boat and Dr. Grenfell and his surviving +dogs were rescued.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a> +<h3>XXI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>WRECKED AND ADRIFT</h3> +<br /> + +<p>It happened that it was necessary for Dr. Grenfell to go to New York +one spring three or four years ago. Men interested in raising funds to +support the Labrador and Newfoundland hospitals were to hold a +meeting, and it was essential that he attend the meeting and tell them +of the work on the coast, and what he needed to carry it on.</p> + +<p>This meeting was to have been held in May, and to reach New York in +season to attend it Dr. Grenfell decided to leave St. Anthony +Hospital, where he then was, toward the end of April, for in any case +traveling would be slow.</p> + +<p>It was his plan to travel northward, by dog team, to the Straits of +Belle Isle, thence westward along the shores, and finally southward, +down the western coast of Newfoundland, to Port Aux Basque, from which +point a steamer would carry him over to North Sydney, in Nova Scotia. +There he could get a train and direct railway connections to New York. +There is an excellent, and ordinarily, at this season, an expeditious +route for dog travel down the western coast of Newfoundland, and +Grenfell anticipated no difficulties.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>Just as he was ready to start a blizzard set in with a northeast gale, +and smash! went the ice. This put an end to dog travel. There was but +one alternative, and that was by boat. Traveling along the coast in a +small boat is pretty exciting and sometimes perilous when you have to +navigate the boat through narrow lanes of water, with land ice on one +side and the big Arctic ice pack on the other, and a shift of wind is +likely to send the pack driving in upon you before you can get out of +the way. And if the ice pack catches you, that's the end of it, for +your boat will be ground up like a grain of wheat between mill stones, +and there you are, stranded upon the ice, and as like as not cut off +from land, too.</p> + +<p>But there was no other way to get to that meeting in New York, and +Grenfell was determined to get there. And so, when the blizzard had +passed he got out a small motor boat, and made ready for the journey. +If he could reach a point several days' journey by boat to the +southward, he could leave the boat and travel one hundred miles on +foot overland to the railroad.</p> + +<p>This hike of one hundred miles, with provisions and equipment on his +back, was a tremendous journey in itself. It would not be on a beaten +road, but through an unpopulated wilderness still lying deep under +winter snows. To Grenfell, however, it would be but an incident in his +active life. He was accustomed to following a dog team, and that +<a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>hardens a man for nearly any physical effort. It requires that a man +keep at a trot the livelong day, and it demands a good heart and good +lungs and staying powers and plenty of grit, and Grenfell was well +equipped with all of these.</p> + +<p>The menacing Arctic ice pack lay a mile or so seaward when Grenfell +and one companion turned their backs on St. Anthony, and the motor +boat chugged southward, out of the harbor and along the coast. For a +time all went well, and then an easterly wind sprang up and there +followed a touch-and-go game between Dr. Grenfell and the ice.</p> + +<p>In an attempt to dodge the ice the boat struck upon rocks. This caused +some damage to her bottom, but not sufficient to incapacitate her, as +it was found the hole could be plugged. The weather turned bitterly +cold, and the circulating pipes of the motor froze and burst. This was +a more serious accident, but it was temporarily repaired while +Grenfell bivouaced ashore, sleeping at night under the stars with a +bed of juniper boughs for a mattress and an open fire to keep him +warm.</p> + +<p>Ice now blocked the way to the southward, though open leads of water +to the northward offered opportunity to retreat, and, with the motor +boat in a crippled condition, it was decided to return to St. Anthony +and make an attempt, with fresh equipment, to try a route through the +Straits of Belle Isle.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>They were still some miles from St. Anthony when they found it +necessary to abandon the motor boat in one of the small harbor +settlements. Leaving it in charge of the people, Grenfell borrowed a +small rowboat. Rowing the small boat through open lanes and hauling it +over obstructing ice pans they made slow progress and the month of May +was nearing its close when one day the pack suddenly drove in upon +them.</p> + +<p>They were fairly caught. Ice surrounded them on every side. The boat +was in imminent danger of being crushed before they realized their +danger. Grenfell and his companion sprang from the boat to a pan, and +seizing the prow of the boat hauled upon it with the energy of +desperation. They succeeded in raising the prow upon the ice, but they +were too late. The edge of the ice was high and the pans were moving +rapidly, and to their chagrin they heard a smashing and splintering of +wood, and the next instant were aware that the stern of the boat had +been completely bitten off and that they were adrift on an ice pan, +cut off from the land by open water.</p> + +<p>An inspection of the boat proved that it was wrecked beyond repair. +All of the after part had been cut off and ground to pulp between the +ice pans. In the distance, to the westward, rose the coast, a grim +outline of rocky bluffs. Between them and the shore the sea was dotted +with pans and pieces of ice, separated by canals of black <a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>water. The +men looked at each other in consternation as they realized that they +had no means of reaching land and safety, and that a few hours might +find them far out on the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>In the hope of attracting attention, Dr. Grenfell and William Taylor, +his companion, fired their guns at regular intervals. Expectantly they +waited, but there was no answering signal from shore and no sign of +life anywhere within their vision.</p> + +<p>For a long while they waited and watched and signalled. With a turn in +the tide it became evident, finally, that the pan on which they were +marooned was drifting slowly seaward. If this continued they would +soon be out of sight of land, and then all hope of rescue would +vanish.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what I'll do, now," suggested Taylor. "I'll copy toward +shore. I'll try to get close enough for some one to see me."</p> + +<p>To "copy" is to jump from one pan or piece of ice to another. The gaps +of water separating them are sometimes wide, and a man must be a good +jumper who lands. Some of the pieces of ice are quite too small to +bear a man's weight, and he must leap instantly to the next or he will +sink with the ice. It is perilous work at best, and much too dangerous +for any one to attempt without much practice and experience.</p> + +<p>They had a boat hook with them, and taking it to assist in the long +leaps, Taylor started shore-ward. Dr. Grenfell watched him anxiously +as he <a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>sprang from pan to pan making a zigzag course toward shore, now +and again taking hair-raising risks, sometimes resting for a moment on +a substantial pan while he looked ahead to select his route, then +running, and using the boat hook as a vaulting pole, spanning a wide +chasm. Then, suddenly, Dr. Grenfell saw him totter, throw up his hands +and disappear beneath the surface of the water. In a hazardous leap he +had missed his footing, or a small cake of ice had turned under his +weight.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a> +<h3>XXII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>SAVING A LIFE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>It was a terrible moment for Grenfell when he saw his friend disappear +beneath the icy waves. Would the cold so paralyze him as to render him +helpless? Would he be caught under an ice pan? A hundred such thoughts +flashed through Grenfell's mind as he stood, impotent to help because +of the distance between them. Then to his great joy he saw Taylor rise +to the surface and scramble out upon a pan in safety.</p> + +<p>The ice was too far separated now for Taylor either to advance or +retreat, and the pan upon which he had taken refuge began a rapid +drift seaward. He had made a valiant effort, but the attempt had +failed.</p> + +<p>Grenfell resumed firing his gun, still hoping that some one might hear +it and come to their rescue. Time passed and Taylor drifted abreast of +Grenfell and finally drifted past him. Then, in the far distance, +Grenfell glimpsed the flash of an oar. The flash was repeated with +rhythmic regularity. The outlines of a boat came into view. The men +shouted the good news to each other. Help was coming!</p> + +<p><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>The signals had been heard, and in due time, and with much +thankfulness, Dr. Grenfell and William Taylor were safely in the boat +and on their way to St. Anthony.</p> + +<p>Not long after his return to St. Anthony, the ice drifted eastward and +an open strip of sea appeared leading northward toward the Straits of +Belle Isle. The ice was now a full mile off shore, it was the +beginning of June, and Dr. Grenfell, expecting that at this late +season the Straits would be open for navigation, had the <i>Strathcona</i> +made ready for sea at once, and with high hopes, stowed the anchor and +steamed northward. It was his plan to have the vessel carry him +westward through the Straits and land him at some port on the west +coast of Newfoundland where he could take passage on the regular mail +boat, which he had been advised had begun its summer service. Thence +he could continue his trip to New York, where the important meeting +had been adjourned several times in expectation of his coming.</p> + +<p>But again he was doomed to disappointment. The Straits were found to +be packed from shore to shore with heavy floe ice and clogged with +icebergs. Before the <i>Strathcona</i> could make her escape she was +surrounded by ice and frozen tight and fast into the floe.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_220a" id="Page_220a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep224.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep224.jpg" width="90%" alt=""The Hospital Ship. Strathcona"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"THE HOSPITAL SHIP. STRATHCONA"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>Grenfell was determined to reach New York and attend that meeting. It +was supremely important that he do so. Now there was but one way to +<a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>reach the mail boat, and that was to walk. The distance to the nearest +port of call was ninety miles.</p> + +<p>Making up a pack of food, cooking utensils, bedding and a suit of +clothes that would permit him to present a civilized and respectable +appearance when he reached New York, he made ready for the long +overland journey. Shouldering his big pack, he bade goodbye to Mrs. +Grenfell, who was with him on the <i>Strathcona</i>, and to the crew, and +set out over the ice pack to the land.</p> + +<p>Three days later Dr. Grenfell reached the harbor where he was to board +the mail boat upon her arrival. He was wearied and stiff in his joints +after the hard overland hike with a heavy pack on his back, and +looking forward to rest and a good meal, he went directly to the home +of a mission clergyman living in the little village.</p> + +<p>His welcome was hearty, as a welcome always is on this coast. The +clergyman showered him with kindnesses. A pot of steaming tea and an +appetizing meal was on the table in a jiffy. It was luxury after the +long days on the trail and Grenfell sat down with anticipation of keen +enjoyment.</p> + +<p>At the moment that Grenfell seated himself the door opened +unceremoniously, and an excited fisherman burst into the room with the +exclamation:</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, some one come! Come and save my brother's life! He's +bleeding to death!"</p> + +<p>Dr. Grenfell learned in a few hurried inquiries <a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>that the man's +brother had accidentally shot his leg nearly off an hour before and +was already in a comatose condition from loss of blood. The family +lived five miles distant, and the only way to reach the cabin where +the wounded man lay was on foot.</p> + +<p>Grenfell forgot all about the steaming tea, the good meal and rest. A +moment's delay might cost the man his life. Grenfell ran. Over that +five miles of broken country he ran as he had never run before, with +the half-frenzied fisherman leading the way.</p> + +<p>The wounded man was a young fellow of twenty. Dr. Grenfell knew him +well. He was a hero of the world war. He had volunteered when a mere +boy, served bravely through four years of the terrible conflict and +though he had taken part in many of the great battles he had lived to +return to his home and his fishing.</p> + +<p>"I never knew a better cure for stiffness than a splendid chance for +serving," said Grenfell in referring to that run from the missionary's +home to the fisherman's cottage. All his stiff joints and weary +muscles were forgotten as he ran.</p> + +<p>When Dr. Grenfell entered the room where the man lay, he found the +young fisherman soaked with blood and sea water, lying stretched upon +a hard table. The remnant of his shattered leg rested upon a feather +pillow and was strung up to the ceiling in an effort to stop the flow +of blood. He <a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>was moaning, but was practically unconscious, and barely +alive.</p> + +<p>The room was crowded to suffocation with weeping relatives and +sympathetic neighbors. Dr. Grenfell cleared it at once. The place was +small and the light poor and a difficult place in which to treat so +critical a case or to operate successfully. He had no surgical +instruments or medicines, and even for him, accustomed as he was to +work under handicaps and difficulties, a serious problem confronted +him.</p> + +<p>The man was so far gone that an operation seemed hopeless, but +nevertheless it was worth trying. Grenfell sent messengers far and +near for reserve supplies that he had left at various points to be +drawn upon in cases of emergency, and in a little while had at his +command some opiates, a small amount of ether, some silk for +ligatures, some crude substitutes for instruments, and the supply of +communal wine from the missionary's little church, five miles away.</p> + +<p>While these things had been gathered in, the flow of blood had been +abated by the use of a tourniquet. There was scarcely enough ether to +be of use, but with the assistance of two men Dr. Grenfell applied it +and operated.</p> + +<p>One of the assistants fainted, but the other stuck faithfully to his +post, and with a cool head and steady hand did Dr. Grenfell's bidding. +The operation was performed successfully, and the young <a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>soldier's +life was saved through Dr. Grenfell's skillful treatment. Today this +fisherman has but one leg, but he is well and happy and a useful man +in the world.</p> + +<p>Fate takes a hand in our lives sometimes, and plays strange pranks +with us. In New York a group of gentlemen were impatiently awaiting +the arrival of Dr. Grenfell, while he, in an isolated cottage on the +rugged coast of Northern Newfoundland was saving a fisherman's life, +and in the importance and joy of this service had perhaps for the time +quite forgotten the gentlemen and the meeting and even New York.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Providence had a hand in it all. If the water lanes had not +closed, and the motor boat had not been damaged, and Dr. Grenfell and +William Taylor had not been sent adrift on the ice, and no obstacles +had stood in the way of Dr. Grenfell's journey to New York, and the +<i>Strathcona</i> had not been frozen into the ice pack, in all probability +this brave young soldier and fisherman would have died. There is no +doubt that <i>he</i> believes God set the stage to send Dr. Grenfell on +that ninety-mile hike.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a> +<h3>XXIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>REINDEER AND OTHER THINGS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Hunting in a northern wilderness is never to be depended upon. +Sometimes game is plentiful, and sometimes it is scarcely to be had at +all. This is the case both with fur bearing animals and food game. So +it is in Labrador. When I have been in that country I have depended +upon my gun to get my living, just as the Indians do. One year I all +but starved to death, because caribou and other game was scarce. Other +years I have lived in plenty, with a caribou to shoot whenever I +needed meat.</p> + +<p>In Labrador the Eskimos and liveyeres rely upon the seals to supply +them with the greater part of their dog feed, supplemented by fish, +cod heads and nearly any offal. The Eskimos eat seal meat, too, with a +fine relish, both cooked and raw, and when the seals are not too old +their meat, properly cooked, is very good eating indeed for anybody.</p> + +<p>The Indians rely on the caribou, or wild reindeer, to furnish their +chief food supply, and to a large extent the caribou is also the chief +meat animal of the liveyeres.</p> + +<p>Sometimes caribou are plentiful enough on <a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>certain sections of the +coast north of Hamilton Inlet. I remember that in January, 1903, an +immense herd came out to the coast north of Hamilton Inlet, They +passed in thousands in front of a liveyere's cabin, and standing in +his door the liveyere shot with his rifle more than one hundred of +them, only stopping his slaughter when his last cartridge was used. +From up and down the coast for a hundred miles Eskimos and liveyeres +came with dogs and komatik to haul the carcasses to their homes, for +the liveyere who killed the animals gave to those who had killed none +all that he could not use himself, and none was wasted.</p> + +<p>That was a year of plenty. Oftener than not no caribou come within +reach of the folk that live on the coast, and in these frequent +seasons of scarcity the only meat they have in winter is the salt pork +they buy at the trading posts, if they have the means to buy it, +together with the rabbits and grouse they hunt, and, in the wooded +districts, an occasional porcupine. Now and again, to be sure, a polar +bear is killed, but this is seldom. Owls are eaten with no less relish +than partridges, and lynx meat is excellent, as I can testify from +experience.</p> + +<p>But the smaller game is not sufficient to supply the needs and it +occurred to Doctor Grenfell that, if the Lapland reindeer could be +introduced, this animal would not only prove superior to the dog for +driving, but would also furnish a regular supply of meat to the +people, and also milk for the babies.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>The domestic reindeer is a species of caribou. In other words, the +caribou is the wild reindeer. The domestic and the wild animals eat +the same food, the gray caribou moss, which carpets northern +Newfoundland and the whole of Labrador, furnishing an inexhaustible +supply of forage everywhere in forest and in barrens. The Lapland +reindeer had been introduced into Alaska and northwestern Canada with +great success. They would thrive equally well in Labrador and +Newfoundland.</p> + +<p>With this in mind Doctor Grenfell learned all he could about reindeer +and reindeer raising. The more he studied the subject the better +convinced he was that domesticated reindeer introduced into Labrador +would prove a boon to the people. He appealed to some of his generous +friends and they subscribed sufficient money to undertake the +experiment.</p> + +<p>In 1907 three hundred reindeer were purchased and landed safely at St. +Anthony, Newfoundland. With experienced Lapland herders to care for +them they were turned loose in the open country. For a time the herd +grew and thrived and the prospects for complete success of the +experiment were bright.</p> + +<p>It was Doctor Grenfell's policy to first demonstrate the usefulness of +reindeer in Newfoundland, and finally transfer a part of the herd to +Labrador. The great difficulty that stood in the way of rearing the +animals in eastern Labrador was the vicious wolf dogs. It was obvious +that dogs and reindeer <a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>could not live together, for the dogs would +hunt and kill the inoffensive reindeer just as their primitive +progenitors, the wolves, hunt and kill the wild caribou.</p> + +<p>Because of the dogs, no domestic animals can be kept in eastern +Labrador. Once Malcolm MacLean, a Scotch settler at Carter's Basin, in +Hamilton Inlet, imported a cow. He built a strong stable for it +adjoining his cabin. Twelve miles away, at Northwest River, the dogs +one winter night when the Inlet had frozen sniffed the air blowing +across the ice. They smelled the cow. Like a pack of wolves they were +off. They trailed the scent those twelve miles over the ice to the +door of the stable where Malcolm's cow was munching wild hay. They +broke down the stable door, and before Malcolm was aware of what was +taking place the cow was killed and partly devoured.</p> + +<p>For generations untold, Labradormen have kept dogs for hauling their +loads and the dogs have served them well. They were not willing to +substitute reindeer. They knew their dogs and they did not know the +reindeer, and they refused to kill their dogs. To educate them to the +change it was evident would be a long process.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the herd in Newfoundland was growing. In 1911 it +numbered one thousand head, and in 1912 approximated thirteen hundred. +Then an epidemic attacked them and numbers died. Following this, +illegitimate hunting of the animals <a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>began, and without proper means +of guarding them Doctor Grenfell decided to turn them over to the +Canadian Government.</p> + +<p>During those strenuous years of war, when food was so scarce, a good +many of the herd had been killed by poachers. Perhaps we cannot blame +the poachers, for when a man's family is hungry he will go to lengths +to get food for his children, and Doctor Grenfell recognized the +stress of circumstances that led men to kill his animals and carry off +the meat. The epidemic, as stated, had proved fatal to a considerable +number of the animals, and the herd therefore was much reduced in +size. The remnant were corralled in 1918, and shipped to the Canadian +Government at St. Augustine, in southern Labrador, where they are now +thriving and promise marvelous results.</p> + +<p>Some day Doctor Grenfell's efforts with reindeer will prove a great +success at least in southern Labrador, where the dogs are less +vicious, and play a less important part in the life of the people than +on the eastern coast. Upon these thousands of acres of uncultivated +and otherwise useless land the reindeer will multiply until they will +not only feed the people of Labrador but will become no small part of +the meat supply of eastern Canada. His introduction of reindeer into +southern Labrador will be remembered as one of the great acts of his +great life of activity. Their introduction was the introduction of an +industry that will in time place the <a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>people of this section in a +position of thrifty independence.</p> + +<p>There never was yet a man with any degree of self-respect who did not +wish to pay his own way in the world. Every real man wishes to stand +squarely upon his own feet, and pay for what he receives. To accept +charity from others always makes a man feel that he has lost out in +the battle of life. It robs him of ambition for future effort and of +self-reliance and self-respect.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell has always recognized this human characteristic. It +was evident to him when he entered the mission field in Labrador that +in seasons when the fisheries failed and no fur could be trapped a +great many of the people in Labrador and some in northern Newfoundland +would be left without a means of earning their living. There are no +factories there and no work to be had except at the fisheries in the +summer, trapping in winter and the brief seal hunt in the spring and +fall. When any of these fail, the pantries are empty and the men and +their families must suffer. But most of the people are too proud to +admit their poverty when a season of poverty comes to them. They are +eager for work and willing and ready always to turn their hand to +anything that offers a chance to earn a dollar.</p> + +<p>To provide for such emergencies Grenfell, many years ago, established +a lumber camp in the north of Newfoundland, and at Canada Bay in the +<a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>extreme northeast a ship building yard where schooners and other small +craft could be built, and nearly everyone out of work could find +employment.</p> + +<p>In southern and eastern Labrador, where wood is to be had for the +cutting, he arranged to purchase such wood as the people might deliver +to his vessels. In return for the wood he gave clothing and other +supplies.</p> + +<p>Then came mat and rug weaving, spinning and knitting and basket +making. Through Grenfell's efforts volunteer teachers went north in +summers to teach the people these useful arts. He supplied looms. +Every one was eager to learn and today Labrador women are making rugs, +baskets and various saleable articles in their homes, and Grenfell +sells for them in the "States" and Canada all they make. Thus a new +means of earning a livelihood was opened to the women, where formerly +there was nothing to which they could turn their hand to earn money +when the men were away at the hunting and trapping.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Grenfell has more recently introduced the art of making +artificial flowers. The women learned it readily, and their product is +quite equal to that of the French makers.</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell had been many years on the coast before he was +married. Mrs. Grenfell was Miss Anna MacCalahan, of Chicago. Upon her +marriage to Doctor Grenfell, Mrs. Grenfell went with him to his +northern field. She cruises with <a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>him on his hospital ship, the +<i>Strathcona</i>, acting as his secretary, braving stormy seas, and +working for the people with all his own self-sacrificing devotion. She +is a noble inspiration in his great work, and the "mother of the +coast."</p> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell has established a school at St. Anthony open not only +to the orphans of the children's home but to all the children of the +coast. There are schools on the Labrador also, connected with the +mission. It is a fine thing to see the eagerness of the Labrador boys +and girls to learn. They are offered an opportunity through Doctor +Grenfell's thoughtfulness that their parents never had and they +appreciate it. It is no exaggeration to say that they enjoy their +schools quite as much as our boys and girls enjoy moving pictures, and +they give as close attention to their books and to the instruction as +any of us would give to a picture. They look upon the school as a fine +gift, as indeed it is. The teachers are giving them something every +day—a much finer thing than a new sled or a new doll—knowledge that +they will carry with them all their lives and that they can use +constantly. And so it happens that study is not work to them.</p> + +<p>How much Doctor Grenfell has done for the Labrador! How much he is +doing every day! How much more he would do if those who have in +abundance would give but a little more to aid him! How much happiness +he has spread and is spreading in that northland!</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a> +<h3>XXIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE SAME GRENFELL</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Doctor Grenfell is not alone the doctor of the coast. He is also a +duly appointed magistrate, and wherever he happens to be on Sundays, +where there is no preacher to conduct religious services, and it +rarely happens there is one, for preachers are scarce on the coast, he +takes the preacher's place. It does not matter whether it is a Church +of England, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, or a Baptist congregation, he +speaks to the people and conducts the service with fine unsectarian +religious devotion. Grenfell is a deeply religious man, and in his +religious life there is no buncomb or humbug. He lives what he +preaches. In his audiences at his Sunday services are Protestants and +Roman Catholics alike, and they all love him and will travel far to +hear him.</p> + +<p>Norman Duncan, in that splendid book, "Doctor Grenfell's Parish," +tells the story of a man who had committed a great wrong, amounting to +a crime. The man was brought before Grenfell, as Labrador magistrate. +He acknowledged his crime, but was defiant. The man cursed the +doctor.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>"You will do as I tell you," said the Doctor, "or I will put you under +arrest, and lock you up."</p> + +<p>The man laughed, and called Doctor Grenfell's attention to the fact +that he was outside his judicial district, and had no power to make +the arrest.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," warned the Doctor quietly. "I have a crew strong enough +to take you into my district."</p> + +<p>The man retorted that he, also, had a crew.</p> + +<p>"Are the men of your crew loyal enough to fight for you?" asked the +Doctor. "There's going to be a fight if you don't submit without it. +This is what you must do," he continued. "You will come to the church +service at seven o'clock on Sunday evening, and before the whole +congregation you will confess your crime."</p> + +<p>Again the man cursed the Doctor and defied him. It happened that this +man was a rich trader and felt his power.</p> + +<p>The man did not appear at the church on Sunday evening. Doctor +Grenfell announced to the congregation that the man was to appear to +confess and receive judgment, and he asked every one to keep his seat +while he went to fetch the fellow.</p> + +<p>He found the man in a neighbor's house, surrounded by his friends. It +was evident the man's crew had no mind to fight for him, they knew he +was guilty. The man was praying, perhaps to soften the Doctor's +heart.</p> + +<div class="img"><a name="Page_234a" id="Page_234a"></a> +<a href="images/imagep239.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep239.jpg" width="90%" alt=""I Have A Crew Strong Enough To Take You Into My District"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen">"I HAVE A CREW STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE YOU INTO MY DISTRICT"<span class="totoi"><a href="#toi">ToList</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>"Prayer is a good thing in its place," said the Doctor, "but it +doesn't 'go' here. Come with me."</p> + +<p>The man, like a whipped dog, went with the Doctor. Entering the +meeting room, he stood before the waiting congregation and made a +complete confession.</p> + +<p>"You deserve the punishment of man and God?" asked the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"I do," said the man, no longer defiant.</p> + +<p>The Doctor told him that God would forgive him if he truly repented, +but that the people, being human, could not, for he had wronged them +sorely. Then he charged the people that for a whole year none of them +should speak or deal with that man; but if he made an honest effort to +mend his way, they could feel free to talk with him and deal with him +again at the end of the year.</p> + +<p>"This relentless judge," says Norman Duncan, "on a stormy July day +carried many bundles ashore at Cartwright, in Sandwich Bay of the +Labrador. The wife of the Hudson's Bay Company's agent examined them +with delight. They were Christmas gifts from the children of the +"States" to the lads and little maids of that coast. The Doctor never +forgets the Christmas gifts." The wife of the agent stowed away the +gifts to distribute them at next Christmas time.</p> + +<p>"It makes them <i>very</i> happy," said the agent's wife.</p> + +<p>"Not long ago," said Duncan, "I saw a little <a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>girl with a stick of +wood for a dolly. Are they not afraid to play with these pretty +things?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes," she laughed, "but it makes them happy just to look at +them. But they do play with them. There is a little girl up the bay +who <i>has kissed the paint off her dolly</i>!"</p> + +<p>And so even the tiniest, most forlorn little lad or lass is not +forgotten by Doctor Grenfell. He is the Santa Claus of the coast. He +never forgets. Nothing, if it will bring joy into the life of any one, +is too big or too small for his attention.</p> + +<p>Can we wonder that Grenfell is happy in his work? Can we wonder that +nothing in the world could induce him to leave the Labrador for a life +of ease? Battling, year in and year out, with stormy seas in summer, +and ice and snow and arctic blizzards in winter, the joy of life is in +him. Every day has a thrill for him. Here in this rugged land of +endeavor he has for thirty years been healing the sick and saving +life, easing pain, restoring cripples to strength, feeding and +clothing and housing the poor, and putting upon their feet with useful +work unfortunate men that they might look the world in the face +bravely and independently.</p> + +<p>There is no happiness in the world so keen as the happiness that comes +through making others happy. This is what Doctor Grenfell is doing. He +is giving his life to others, and he is getting no end of joy out of +life himself. The life he leads possesses for him no element of +self-denial, after all, <a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>and he never looks upon it as a life of +hardship. He loves the adventure of it, and by straight, clean living +he has prepared himself, physically and mentally, to meet the storms +and cold and privations with no great sense of discomfort.</p> + +<p>Wilfred Thomason Grenfell is the same sportsman, as, when a lad, he +roamed the Sands o' Dee; the same lover of fun that he was when he +went to Marlborough College; the same athlete that made the football +team and rowed with the winning crew when a student in the +University—sympathetic, courageous, tireless, a doer among men and +above all, a Christian gentleman.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h5><i>Printed in the United States of America</i></h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> + +<h4><a name="errata" id="errata"></a>Obvious typos fixed:</h4> +<br /> + +<h5>"book" for "look", page 132<br /> +"alseep" for "asleep", page 195 (twice)<br /> +"hundrel" for "hundred", page 214<br /> +"seaprated" for "separated", page 216<br /> +"Malcom's" for "Malcolm's", page 228 (twice)<br /> +"bad" for "bade", page 156<br /> +"Trezize" for "Trevize", page 38</h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador +by Dillon Wallace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GRENFELL *** + +***** This file should be named 16809-h.htm or 16809-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/8/0/16809/ + +Produced by A www.PGDP.net Volunteer, Jeannie Howse and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador + A Boy's Life of Wilfred T. Grenfell + +Author: Dillon Wallace + +Release Date: October 7, 2005 [EBook #16809] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GRENFELL *** + + + + +Produced by A www.PGDP.net Volunteer, Jeannie Howse and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + * * * * * + ++--------------------------------------------------------------+ +| Transcriber's Note: Throughout the whole book, St. | +| John's (Newfoundland) is spelled St. Johns. A list | +| of typos fixed in this text are listed at the end. | ++--------------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE STORY OF GRENFELL OF THE LABRADOR + +[Illustration: THE PHYSICIAN IN THE LABRADOR] + + + + +The Story of Grenfell +of the Labrador + +A Boy's Life of Wilfred T. Grenfell + +By +DILLON WALLACE, +Author of "_Grit-a-Plenty_," "_The Ragged Inlet Guards_," +"_Ungava Bob_," etc., etc. + +ILLUSTRATED + +NEW YORK CHICAGO +Fleming H. Revell Company +LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + +Copyright, 1922, by +FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY + + +New York: 158 Fifth Avenue +Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. +London: 21 Paternoster Square +Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street + + + + +Foreword + + +In a land where there was no doctor and no school, and through an evil +system of barter and trade the people were practically bound to +serfdom, Doctor Wilfred T. Grenfell has established hospitals and +nursing stations, schools and co-operative stores, and raised the +people to a degree of self dependence and a much happier condition of +life. All this has been done through his personal activity, and is +today being supported through his personal administration. + +The author has lived among the people of Labrador and shared some of +their hardships. He has witnessed with his own eyes some of the +marvelous achievements of Doctor Grenfell. In the following pages he +has made a poor attempt to offer his testimony. The book lays no claim +to either originality or literary merit. It barely touches upon the +field. The half has not been told. + +He also wishes to acknowledge reference in compiling the book to old +files and scrapbooks of published articles concerning Doctor Grenfell +and his work, to Doctor Grenfell's book _Vikings of Today_, and to +having verified dates and incidents through Doctor Grenfell's +Autobiography, published by Houghton Mifflin & Company, of Boston. + + D.W. + + _Beacon, N.Y._ + + + + +Contents + + + I. THE SANDS OF DEE 11 + + II. THE NORTH SEA FLEETS 26 + + III. ON THE HIGH SEAS 31 + + IV. DOWN ON THE LABRADOR 39 + + V. THE RAGGED MAN IN THE RICKETY BOAT 52 + + VI. OVERBOARD! 61 + + VII. IN THE BREAKERS 68 + + VIII. AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE 74 + + IX. IN THE DEEP WILDERNESS 83 + + X. THE SEAL HUNTER 99 + + XI. UNCLE WILLY WOLFREY 109 + + XII. A DOZEN FOX TRAPS 116 + + XIII. SKIPPER TOM'S COD TRAP 126 + + XIV. THE SAVING OF RED BAY 135 + + XV. A LAD OF THE NORTH 146 + + XVI. MAKING A HOME FOR THE ORPHANS 158 + + XVII. THE DOGS OF THE ICE TRAIL 171 + + XVIII. FACING AN ARCTIC BLIZZARD 183 + + XIX. HOW AMBROSE WAS MADE TO WALK 193 + + XX. LOST ON THE ICE FLOE 203 + + XXI. WRECKED AND ADRIFT 213 + + XXII. SAVING A LIFE 219 + + XXIII. REINDEER AND OTHER THINGS 225 + + XXIV. THE SAME GRENFELL 233 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + FACING PAGE + + The Physician in the LABRADOR _Title_ + + The LABRADOR "LIVEYERE" 40 + + "Sails North to Remain Until the End of Summer, + Catching Cod" 46 + + The Doctor on a Winter's Journey 84 + + "The Trap is Submerged a Hundred Yards or so from Shore" 130 + + "NEXT" 172 + + "Please Look at My Tongue, Doctor" 172 + + The Hospital Ship, STRATHCONA 220 + + "I Have a Crew Strong Enough to Take You into My District" 234 + + + + +I + +THE SANDS OF DEE + + +The first great adventure in the life of our hero occurred on the +twenty-eighth day of February in the year 1865. He was born that day. +The greatest adventure as well as the greatest event that ever comes +into anybody's life is the adventure of being born. + +If there is such a thing as luck, Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, as his +parents named him, fell into luck, when he was born on February +twenty-eighth, 1865. He might have been born on February twenty-ninth +one year earlier, and that would have been little short of a +catastrophe, for in that case his birthdays would have been separated +by intervals of four years, and every boy knows what a hardship it +would be to wait four years for a birthday, when every one else is +having one every year. There _are_ people, to be sure, who would like +their birthdays to be four years apart, but they are not boys. + +Grenfell was also lucky, or, let us say, fortunate in the place where +he was born and spent his early boyhood. His father was Head Master of +Mostyn House, a school for boys at Parkgate, England, a little +fishing village not far from the historic old city of Chester. By +referring to your map you will find Chester a dozen miles or so to the +southward of Liverpool, though you may not find Parkgate, for it is so +small a village that the map makers are quite likely to overlook it. + +Here at Parkgate the River Dee flows down into an estuary that opens +out into the Irish Sea, and here spread the famous "Sands of Dee," +known the world over through Charles Kingsley's pathetic poem, which +we have all read, and over which, I confess, I shed tears when a boy: + + O Mary, go and call the cattle home, + And call the cattle home, + And call the cattle home, + Across the Sands o' Dee; + The western wind was wild and dank wi' foam, + And all alone went she. + + The creeping tide came up along the sand, + And o'er and o'er the sand, + And round and round the sand, + As far as eye could see; + The blinding mist came down and hid the land-- + And never home came she. + + Oh is it weed, or fish, or floating hair-- + A tress o' golden hair, + O' drown'ed maiden's hair, + Above the nets at sea? + Was never salmon yet that shone so fair, + Among the stakes on Dee. + + They rowed her in across the rolling foam, + The cruel, crawling foam, + The cruel, hungry foam, + To her grave beside the sea; + But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home, + Across the Sands o' Dee. + +Charles Kingsley and the poem become nearer and dearer to us than ever +with the knowledge that he was a cousin of Grenfell, and knew the +Sands o' Dee, over which Grenfell tramped and hunted as a boy, for the +sandy plain was close by his father's house. + +There was a time when the estuary was a wide deep harbor, and really a +part of Liverpool Bay, and great ships from all over the world came +into it and sailed up to Chester, which in those days was a famous +port. But as years passed the sands, loosened by floods and carried +down by the river current, choked and blocked the harbor, and before +Grenfell was born it had become so shallow that only fishing vessels +and small craft could use it. + +Parkgate is on the northern side of the River Dee. On the southern +side and beyond the Sands of Dee, rise the green hills of Wales, +melting away into blue mysterious distance. Near as Wales is the +people over there speak a different tongue from the English, and to +young Grenfell and his companions it was a strange and foreign land +and the people a strange and mysterious people. We have most of us, +in our young days perhaps, thought that all Welshmen were like Taffy, +of whom Mother Goose sings: + + "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief, + Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef; + I went to Taffy's house, Taffy wasn't home, + Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow bone; + I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed, + I took the marrow-bone, and beat about his head." + +But it was Grenfell's privilege, living so near, to make little visits +over into Wales, and he early had an opportunity to learn that Taffy +was not in the least like Welshmen. He found them fine, honest, +kind-hearted folk, with no more Taffys among them than there are among +the English or Americans. The great Lloyd George, perhaps the greatest +of living statesmen, is a Welshman, and by him and not by Taffy, we +are now measuring the worth of this people who were the near neighbors +of Grenfell in his young days. + +Mostyn House, where Grenfell lived, overlooked the estuary. From the +windows of his father's house he could see the fishing smacks going +out upon the great adventurous sea and coming back laden with fish. + +Living by the sea where he heard the roar of the breakers and every +day smelled the good salt breath of the ocean, it was natural that he +should love it, and to learn, almost as soon as he could run about, +to row and sail a boat, and to swim and take part in all sorts of +water sports. Time and again he went with the fishermen and spent the +night and the day with them out upon the sea. This is why it was +fortunate that he was born at Parkgate, for his life there as a boy +trained him to meet adventures fearlessly and prepared him for the +later years which were destined to be years of adventure. + +Far up the river, wide marshes reached; and over these marshes, and +the Sands of Dee, Grenfell roamed at will. His father and mother were +usually away during the long holidays when school was closed, and he +and his brothers were left at these times with a vast deal of freedom +to do as they pleased and seek the adventure that every boy loves, and +on the sands and in the marshes there was always adventure enough to +be found. + +Shooting in the marshes and out upon the sands was a favorite sport, +and when not with the fishermen Grenfell was usually to be found with +his gun stalking curlew, oyster diggers, or some other of the numerous +birds that frequented the marshes and shores. Barefooted, until the +weather grew too cold in autumn, and wearing barely enough clothing to +cover his nakedness, he would set out in early morning and not return +until night fell. + +As often as not he returned from his day's hunting empty handed so far +as game was concerned, but this in no wise detracted from the pleasure +of the hunt. Game was always worth the getting, but the great joy was +in being out of doors and in tramping over the wide flats. With all +the freedom given him to hunt, he early learned that no animals or +birds were to be killed on any account save for food or purposes of +study. This is the rule of every true sportsman. Grenfell has always +been a great hunter and a fine shot, but he has never killed +needlessly. + +Young Grenfell through these expeditions soon learned to take a great +deal of interest in the habits of birds and their life history. This +led him to try his skill at skinning and mounting specimens. An old +fisherman living near his home was an excellent hand at this and gave +him his first lessons, and presently he developed into a really expert +taxidermist, while his brother made the cases in which he mounted and +exhibited his specimens. + +His interest in birds excited an interest in flowers and plants and +finally in moths and butterflies. The taste for nature study is like +the taste for olives. You have to cultivate it, and once the taste is +acquired you become extremely fond of it. Grenfell became a student of +moths and butterflies. He captured, mounted and identified specimens. +He was out of nights with his net hunting them and "sugaring" trees to +attract them, and he even bred them. A fine collection was the result, +and this, together with one of flowers and plants, was added to that +of his mounted birds. In the course of time he had accumulated a +creditable museum of natural history, which to this day may be seen +at Mostyn House, in Parkgate; and to it have been added specimens of +caribou, seals, foxes, porcupines and other Labrador animals, which in +his busy later years he has found time to mount, for he is still the +same eager and devoted student of nature. + +During these early years, with odds and ends of boards that they +collected, Grenfell and his brother built a boat to supply a better +means of stealing upon flocks of water birds. It was a curious +flat-bottomed affair with square ends and resembled a scow more than a +rowboat, but it served its purpose well enough, and was doubtless the +first craft which the young adventurer, later to become a master +mariner, ever commanded. Up and down the estuary, venturing even to +the sea, the two lads cruised in their clumsy craft, stopping over +night with the kind-hearted fishermen or "sleeping out" when they +found themselves too far from home. Many a fine time the ugly little +boat gave them until finally it capsized one day leaving them to swim +for it and reach the shore as best they could. + +At the age of fourteen Grenfell was sent to Marlborough "College," +where he had earned a scholarship. This was not a college as we speak +of a college in America, but a large university preparatory school. + +In the beginning he had a fight with an "old boy," and being victor +firmly established his place among his fellow students. Whether at +Mostyn House, or later at Marlborough College, Grenfell learned early +to use the gloves. It was quite natural, devoted as he was to +athletics, that he should become a fine boxer. To this day he loves +the sport, and is always ready to put on the gloves for a bout, and it +is a mighty good man that can stand up before him. In most boys' +schools of that day, and doubtless at Marlborough College, boys +settled their differences with gloves, and in all probability Grenfell +had plenty of practice, for he was never a mollycoddle. He was perhaps +not always the winner, but he was always a true sportsman. There is a +vast difference between a "sportsman" and a "sport." Grenfell was a +sportsman, never a sport. His life in the open taught him to accept +success modestly or failure smilingly, and all through his life he has +been a sportsman of high type. + +The three years that Grenfell spent at Marlborough College were active +ones. He not only made good grades in his studies but he took a +leading part in all athletics. Study was easy for him, and this made +it possible to devote much time to physical work. Not only did he +become an expert boxer, but he had no difficulty in making the school +teams, in football, cricket, and other sports that demanded skill, +nerve and physical energy. + +Like all youngsters running over with the joy of youth and life, he +got into his full share of scrapes. If there was anything on foot, +mischievous or otherwise, Grenfell was on hand, though his mischief +and escapades were all innocent pranks or evasion of rules, such as +going out of bounds at prohibited hours to secure goodies. The greater +the element of adventure the keener he was for an enterprise. He was +not by any means always caught in his pranks, but when he was he +admitted his guilt with heroic candor, and like a hero stood up for +his punishment. Those were the days when the hickory switch in +America, and the cane in England, were the chief instruments of +torture. + +With the end of his course at Marlborough College, Grenfell was +confronted with the momentous question of his future and what he was +to do in life. This is a serious question for any young fellow to +answer. It is a question that involves one's whole life. Upon the +decision rests to a large degree happiness or unhappiness, content or +discontent, success or failure. + +It impressed him now as a question that demanded his most serious +thought. For the first time there came to him a full realization that +some day he would have to earn his way in the world with his own brain +and hands. A vista of the future years with their responsibilities, +lay before him as a reality, and he decided that it was up to him to +make the most of those years and to make a success of life. No doubt +this realization fell upon him as a shock, as it does upon most lads +whose parents have supplied their every need. Now he was called upon +to decide the matter for himself, and his future education was to be +guided by his choice. + +At various periods of his youthful career nearly every boy has an +ambition to be an Indian fighter, or a pirate, or a locomotive +engineer, or a fireman and save people from burning buildings at the +risk of his own life, or to be a hunter of ferocious wild animals. +Grenfell had dreamed of a romantic and adventurous career. Now he +realized that these ambitions must give place to a sedate profession +that would earn him a living and in which he would be contented. + +All of his people had been literary workers, educators, clergymen, or +officers in the army or navy. There was Charles Kingsley and "Westward +Ho." There was Sir Richard Grenvil, immortalized by Tennyson in "The +Revenge." There was his own dear grandfather who was a master at Rugby +under the great Arnold, whom everybody knows through "Tom Brown at +Rugby." + +It was the wish of some of his friends and family that he become a +clergyman. This did not in the least suit his tastes, and he +immediately decided that whatever profession he might choose, it would +_not_ be the ministry. The ministry was distasteful to him as a +profession, and he had no desire or intention to follow in the +footsteps of his ancestors. He wished to be original, and to blaze a +new trail for himself. + +Grenfell was exceedingly fond of the family physician, and one day he +went to him to discuss his problem. This physician had a large +practice. He kept several horses to take him about the country +visiting his patients, and in his daily rounds he traveled many miles. +This was appealing to one who had lived so much out of doors as +Grenfell had. As a doctor he, too, could drive about the country +visiting patients. He could enjoy the sunshine and feel the drive of +rain and wind in his face. He rebelled at the thought of engaging in +any profession that would rob him of the open sky. But he also +demanded that the profession he should choose should be one of +creative work. This would be necessary if his life were to be happy +and successful. + +Observing the old doctor jogging along the country roads visiting his +far-scattered patients, it occurred to Grenfell that here was not only +a pleasant but a useful profession. With his knowledge of medicine the +doctor assisted nature in restoring people to health. Man must have a +well body if he would be happy and useful. Without a well body man's +hands would be idle and his brain dull. Only healthy men could invent +and build and administer. It was the doctor's job to keep them fit. +Here then was creative work of the highest kind! The thought thrilled +him! + +Every boy of the right sort yearns to be of the greatest possible use +in the world. Unselfishness is a natural instinct. Boys are not born +selfish. They grow selfish because of association or training, and +because they see others about them practicing selfishness. Grenfell's +whole training had been toward unselfishness and usefulness. Here was +a life calling that promised both unselfish and useful service and at +the same time would gratify his desire to be a great deal out of +doors, and he decided at once that he would study medicine and be a +doctor. + +His father was pleased with the decision. His course at Marlborough +College was completed, and he immediately took special work +preparatory to entering London Hospital and University. + +In the University he did well. He passed his examinations creditably +at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and at London University, +and had time to take a most active part in the University athletics as +a member of various 'Varsity teams. At one time or another he was +secretary of the cricket, football and rowing clubs, and he took part +in several famous championship games, and during one term that he was +in residence at Oxford University he played on the University football +team. + +One evening in 1885 Grenfell, largely through curiosity, dropped into +a tent where evangelistic meetings were in progress. The evangelists +conducting the meeting happened to be the then famous D.L. Moody and +Ira D. Sankey. Both Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey were men of marvelous +power and magnetism. Moody was big, wholesome and practical. He +preached a religion of smiles and happiness and helpfulness. He lived +what he preached. There was no humbug or hypocrisy in him. Sankey +never had a peer as a leader of mass singing. + +Moody was announcing a hymn when Grenfell entered. Sankey, in his +illimitable style, struck up the music. In a moment the vast audience +was singing as Grenfell had never heard an audience sing before. After +the hymn Moody spoke. Grenfell told me once that that sermon changed +his whole outlook upon life. He realized that he was a Christian in +name only and not in fact. His religious life was a fraud. + +There and then he determined that he must be either an out and out +Christian or honestly renounce Christianity. With his home training +and teachings he could not do the latter. He decided upon a Christian +life. He would do nothing as a doctor that he could not do with a +clear conscience as a Christian gentleman. This he also decided: a +man's religion is something for him to be proud of and any one ashamed +to acknowledge the faith of his fathers is a moral coward, and a moral +coward is more contemptible than a physical coward. He also was +convinced that a boy or man afraid or ashamed to acknowledge his +religious belief could only be a mental weakling. + +It was characteristic of Grenfell that whatever he attempted to do he +did with courage and enthusiasm. He never was a slacker. The hospital +to which he was attached was situated in the centre of the worst slums +of London. It occurred to him that he might help the boys, and he +secured a room, fitted it up as a gymnasium, and established a sort of +boys' club, where on Sundays he held a Bible study class and where he +gave the boys physical work on Saturdays. There was no Y.M.C.A. in +England at that time where they could enjoy these privileges. In the +beginning, there were young thugs who attempted to make trouble. He +simply pitched them out, and in the end they were glad enough to +return and behave themselves. + +Grenfell and his brother, with one of their friends, spent the long +holidays when college was closed cruising along the coast in an old +fishing smack which they rented. In the course of his cruising, the +thought came to him that it was hardly fair to the boys in the slums +to run away from them and enjoy himself in the open while they +sweltered in the streets, and he began at once to plan a camp for the +boys. + +This was long before the days of Boy Scouts and their camps. It was +before the days of any boys' camps in England. It was an original idea +with him that a summer camp would be a fine experience for his boys. +At his own expense he established such a camp on the Welsh coast, and +during every summer until he finished his studies in the University he +took his boys out of the city and gave them a fine outing during a +part of the summer holiday period. It was just at this time that the +first boys' camp in America was founded by Chief Dudley as an +experiment, now the famous Camp Dudley on Lake Champlain. We may +therefore consider Grenfell as one of the pioneers in making popular +the boys' camp idea, and every boy that has a good time in a summer +camp should thank him. + +But a time comes when all things must end, good as well as bad, and +the time came when Grenfell received his degree and graduated a +full-fledged doctor, and a good one, too, we may be sure. Now he was +to face the world, and earn his own bread and butter. Pleasant +holidays, and boys' camps were behind him. The big work of life, which +every boy loves to tackle, was before him. + +Then it was that Dr. Frederick Treves, later Sir Frederick, a famous +surgeon under whom he had studied, made a suggestion that was to shape +young Dr. Grenfell's destiny and make his name known wherever the +English tongue is spoken. + + + + +II + +THE NORTH SEA FLEETS + + +The North Sea, big as it is, has no great depth. Geologists say that +not long ago, as geologists calculate time, its bottom was dry land +and connected the British Isles with the continent of Europe. Then it +began to sink until the water swept in and covered it, and it is still +sinking. The deepest point in the North Sea is not more than thirty +fathoms, or one hundred eighty feet. There are areas where it is not +over five fathoms deep, and the larger part of it is less than twenty +fathoms. + +Fish are attracted to the North Sea because it is shallow. Its bottom +forms an extensive fishing "bank," we might say, though it is not, +properly speaking, a bank at all, and here is found some of the finest +fishing in the world. + +From time immemorial fishing fleets have gone to the North Sea, and +the North Sea fisheries is one of the important industries of Great +Britain. Men are born to it and live their lives on the small fishing +craft, and their sons follow them for generation after generation. It +is a hazardous calling, and the men of the fleets are brave and hardy +fellows. + +The fishing fleets keep to the sea in winter as well as in summer, and +it is a hard life indeed when decks and rigging are covered with ice, +and fierce north winds blow the snow down, and the cold is bitter +enough to freeze a man's very blood. Seas run high and rough, which is +always the case in shallow waters, and great rollers sweep over the +decks of the little craft, which of necessity have small draft and low +freeboard. + +The fishing fleets were like large villages on the sea. At the time of +which we write, and it may be so to this day, fast vessels came daily +to collect the fish they caught and to take the catch to market. Once +in every three months a vessel was permitted to return to its home +port for rest and necessary re-fitting, and then the men of her crew +were allowed one day ashore for each week they had spent at sea. Now +and again there came to the hospital sick or injured men returned from +the fleet on these home-coming vessels. + +When Grenfell passed his final examinations in 1886, and was admitted +to the College of Physicians and Royal College of Surgeons of England, +Sir Frederick Treves suggested that he visit the North Sea fishing +fleets and lend his service to the fishermen for a time before +entering upon private practice. The great surgeon, himself a lover of +the sea and acquainted with Grenfell's inclinations toward an active +outdoor life, was also aware that Grenfell was a good sailor. + +"Don't go in summer," admonished Sir Frederick. "Go in winter when you +can see the life of the men at its hardest and when they have the +greatest need of a doctor. Anyhow you'll have some rugged days at sea +if you go in winter." + +He went on to explain that a few men had become interested in the +fishermen of the fleets and had chartered a vessel to go among them to +offer diversion in the hope of counteracting to some extent the +attraction of the whiskey and rum traders whose vessels sold much +liquor to the men and did a vast deal of harm. This vessel was open to +the visits of the fishermen. Religious services were held aboard her +on Sundays. There was no doctor in the fleet, and the skipper, who had +been instructed in ordinary bandaging and in giving simple remedies +for temporary relief, rendered first aid to the injured or sick until +they could be sent away on some home-bound vessel and placed in a +hospital for medical or surgical treatment. Thus a week or sometimes +two weeks would elapse before the sufferer could be put under a +doctor's care. Because of this long delay many men died who, with +prompt attention, would doubtless have lived. + +"The men who have fitted out this mission boat would like a young +doctor to go with it," concluded Sir Frederick. "Go with them for a +little while. You'll find plenty of high sea's adventure, and you'll +like it." + +In more than one way this suited Grenfell exactly. The opportunity +for adventure that such a cruise offered appealed to him strongly, as +it would appeal to any real live red-blooded man or boy. It also +offered an opportunity to gain practical experience in his profession +and at the same time render service to brave men who sadly needed it; +and he could lend a hand in fighting the liquor evil among the seamen +and thus share in helping to care for their moral, as well as their +physical welfare. He had seen much of the evils of the liquor traffic +during his student days in London, and he had acquired a wholesome +hatred for it. In short, he saw an opportunity to help make the lives +of these men happier. That is a high ideal for any one--to do +something whenever possible to bring happiness into the lives of +others. + +This was too good an opportunity to let pass. It offered not only +practice in his profession but service for others, and there would be +the spice of adventure. + +He applied without delay for the post, requesting to go on duty the +following January. Whether Sir Frederick Treves said a word for him to +the newly founded mission or not, I do not know, but at any rate +Grenfell, to his great delight, was accepted, and it is probable the +group of big hearted men who were sending the vessel to the fishermen +were no less pleased to secure the services of a young doctor of his +character. + +At last the time came for departure. The mission ship was to sail +from Yarmouth. Grenfell had been impatiently awaiting orders to begin +his duties, when suddenly he received directions to join his vessel +prepared to go to sea at once. Filled with enthusiasm and keen for the +adventure he boarded the first train for Yarmouth. + +It was a dark and rainy night when he arrived. Searching down among +the wharves he found the mission ship tied to her moorings. She proved +to be a rather diminutive schooner of the type and class used by the +North Sea fishermen, and if the young doctor had pictured a large and +commodious vessel he was disappointed. But Grenfell had been +accustomed in his boyhood to knocking about with fishermen and now he +was quite content with nothing better than fell to the lot of those he +was to serve. + +The little vessel was neat as wax below deck. The crew were +big-hearted, brawny, good-natured fellows, and gave the Doctor a fine +welcome. Of course his quarters were small and crowded, but he was +bound on a mission and an adventure, and cramped quarters were no +obstacle to his enthusiasm. Grenfell was not the sort of man to growl +or complain at little inconveniences. He was thinking only of the +duties he had assumed and the adventures that were before him. + +At last he was on the seas, and his life work, though he did not know +it then, had begun. + + + + +III + +ON THE HIGH SEAS + + +The skipper of the vessel was a bluff, hearty man of the old school of +seamen. At the same time he was a sincere Christian devoted to his +duties. At the beginning he made it plain that Grenfell was to have +quite enough to do to keep him occupied, not only in his capacity as +doctor, but in assisting to conduct afloat a work that in many +respects resembled that of our present Young Men's Christian +Association ashore. + +The mission steamer was now to run across to Ostend, Belgium, where +supplies were to be taken aboard before joining the fishing fleets. + +It was bitterly cold, and while they lay at Ostend taking on cargo the +harbor froze over, and they found themselves so firm and fast in the +ice that it became necessary to engage a steamer to go around them to +break them loose. At last, cargo loaded and ice smashed, they sailed +away from Ostend and pointed their bow towards the great fleets, not +again to see land for two full months, save Heligoland and +Terschelling in the far distant offing. + +The little vessel upon which Grenfell sailed was the first sent to +the fisheries by the now famous Mission to Deep-Sea Fishermen; and the +young Doctor on her deck, hardly yet realizing all that was expected +of him, was destined to do no small part in the development of the +splendid service that the Mission has since rendered the fishermen. + +On the starboard side of the vessel's bow appeared in bold carved +letters the words, "Heal the sick," on the port side of the bow, +"Preach the Word." + +"Preaching the Word" does not necessarily mean, and did not mean here, +getting up into a pulpit for an hour or two and preaching orthodox +sermons, sometimes as dry as dead husks, on Sundays. Sometimes just a +smile and a cheery greeting is the best sermon in the world, and the +finest sort of preaching. Just the example of living honestly and +speaking truthfully and always lending a hand to the fellow who is in +trouble or discouraged, is a fine sermon, for there is not a man or +boy living whose life and actions do not have an influence for good or +bad on some one else. We do not always realize this, but it is true. + +Grenfell little dreamed of the future that this voyage was to open to +him. He knew little or nothing at that time of Labrador or +Newfoundland. He had never seen an Eskimo nor an American Indian, +unless he had chanced to visit a "wild west" show. He had no other +expectation than that he should make a single winter cruise with the +mission schooner, and then return to England and settle in some +promising locality to the practice of his profession, there to rise to +success or fade into hum-drum obscurity, as Providence might will. + +The fishermen of the North Sea fleet were as rough and ready as the +old buccaneers. They were constantly risking their lives and they had +not much regard for their own lives or the lives of others. With them +life was cheap. Night and day they faced the dangers of the sea as +they worked at the trawls, and when they were not sleeping or working +there was no amusement for them. Then they were prone to resort to the +grog ships, which hovered around them, and they too often drank a +great deal more rum than was good for them. They were reared to a +rough and cruel life, these fishermen. Hard punishments were dealt the +men by the skippers. It was the way of the sea, as they knew it. + +There were more than twenty thousand of these men in the North Sea +fleets. Grenfell must have been overwhelmed with the thought that he +was to be the only doctor within reach of that great number of men. +"Heal the sick"--that was his job! + +But he resolved to do much more than that! He was going to "Preach the +Word" in smiles and cheering words, and was going to help the men in +other ways than with his pill box and surgical bandages. As a doctor +he realized how harmful liquor was to them, and he was going to fight +the grog ships and do his best to put them out of business. In a +word, he was not only going to doctor the men but he was going to help +them to live straight, clean lives. He was going to play the game as +he had played foot ball or pulled his oar with the winning crew at +college. He was going to put into it the best that was in him! + +That was the way Grenfell always did everything he undertook. When he +had to pummel the "old boy" at Marlborough College he did it the best +he knew how. Now he had a big job on his hands. He resolved, +figuratively, to pummel the rum ships, and he was already planning and +inventing ways that would make the men's lives easier. He went into +the thing with his characteristic zeal, determined to make good. It is +a mighty fine thing to make good. Any of us can make good if we go at +things in the way Grenfell went at them--determined, whatever +obstacles arise, not to fail. Grenfell never whined about luck going +against him. He made his own luck. That is the mark of every +successful and big man. + +"There are the fleets," said the skipper one day, pointing out over +the bow. "We'll make a round of the fleets, and you'll have a chance +to get busy patching the men up." + +And he was busy. There came as many patients every day as any young +doctor could wish to treat. But that was what Grenfell wanted. + +As the skipper suggested, the mission boat made a tour of the fleets, +of which there were several, each fleet with its own name and colours +and commanded by an Admiral. There were the Columbias, the Rashers, +the Great Northerners and many others. It was finally with the Great +Northerners that the mission boat took its station. + +Grenfell visited among the vessels and made friends among the men, who +were like big boys, rough and ready. They were always prepared to go +into daring ventures. They never flinched at danger. Few of them had +ever enjoyed the privilege of going to school, and none of the men and +few of the skippers could write. They could read the compass just as +men who cannot read can tell the time of day from the clock. But they +had their method of dead reckoning and always appeared to know where +they were, even though land had not been sighted for days. + +Most of these men had been apprentised to the vessels as boys and had +followed the sea all their lives. There were always many apprentised +boys on the ships, and these worked without other pay than clothing, +food and a little pocket money until they were twenty-one years of +age. In many cases they received little consideration from the +skippers and sometimes were treated with unnecessary roughness and +even cruelty. + +From the beginning Doctor Grenfell devoted himself not only to healing +the sick, but also to bettering the condition of the fishermen. His +skill was applied to the healing of their moral as well as their +physical ills. Of necessity their life was a rough and rugged one, but +there were opportunities to introduce some pleasure into it and to +make it happier in many ways. Here was a strong human call that, from +the beginning, Grenfell could not resist. + +Using his own influence together with the influence of other good men, +necessary funds were raised to meet the expenses of additional mission +ships, and additional doctors and workers were sent out. Those +selected were not only doctors, but men who were qualified by +character and ability to guide the seamen to better and cleaner and +more wholesome living. Queen Victoria became interested. The grog +ships were finally driven from the sea. Laws were enacted to better +conditions upon the fishing vessels that the lives of the fishermen +might be easier and happier. In the course of time, as the result of +Grenfell's tireless efforts, a marvelous change for the better took +place. + +Thus the years passed. Dr. Grenfell, who in the beginning had given +his services to the Mission for a single winter, still remained. He +felt it a duty that he could not desert. The work was hard, and it +denied him the private practice and the home life to which he had +looked forward so hopefully. He never had the time to drive fine +horses about the country as he visited patients. But he had no +regrets. He had chosen to accept and share the life of the fishermen +on the high seas. It was no less a service to his country and to +mankind than the service of the soldier fighting in the trenches. When +he saw the need and heard the call he was willing enough to sacrifice +personal ambitions that he might help others to become finer, better +men, and live nobler happier lives. + +Looking back over that period there is no doubt that Doctor Grenfell +feels a thousand times repaid for any sacrifices he may have made. It +is always that way. When we give up something for the other fellow, or +do some fine thing to help him, our pleasure at the happiness we have +given him makes us somehow forget ourselves and all we have given up. + +And so came the year 1891. It was in that year that a member of the +Mission Board returned from a visit to Canada and Newfoundland and +reported to the Board great need of work among the Newfoundland +fishermen similar to that that had been done by Grenfell in the North +Sea. + +The members of the Board were stirred by what they heard, and it was +decided to send a ship across the Atlantic. It was necessary that the +man in command be a doctor understanding the work to be done. It was +also necessary that he should be a man of high executive and +administrative ability, capable of organizing and carrying it on +successfully. The man that has made good is the man always looked for +to occupy such a post. Grenfell had made good in the North Sea. His +work there indeed had been a brilliant success. He was the one man the +Board thought of, and he was asked to go. + +He accepted. Here was a new field of work and adventure offering ever +greater possibilities than the old, and he never hesitated about it. + +He began preparations for the new enterprise at once. The _Albert_, a +little ketch-rigged vessel of ninety-seven tons register, was +selected. Iron hatches were put into her, she was sheathed with +greenhart to withstand the pressure of ice, and thoroughly refitted. +Captain Trevize, a Cornishman, was engaged as skipper. Though Doctor +Grenfell was himself a master mariner and thoroughly qualified as a +navigator, he had never crossed the Atlantic, and in any case he was +to be fully occupied with other duties. There was a crew of eight men +including the mate, Skipper Joe White, a famous skipper of the North +Sea fleets. + +On June 15, 1892, the _Albert_ was towed out of Great Yarmouth Harbor, +and that day she spread her sails and set her course westward. The +great work of Doctor Grenfell's life was now to begin. All the years +of toil on the North Sea had been but an introduction to it and a +preparation for it. His little vessel was to carry him to the bleak +and desolate coast of Labrador and into the ice fields of the North. +He was to meet new and strange people, and he was destined to +experience many stirring adventures. + + + + +IV + +DOWN ON THE LABRADOR + + +Heavy seas and head winds met the _Albert_, and she ran in at the +Irish port of Cookhaven to await better weather. In a day or two she +again spread her canvas, Fastnet Rock, at the south end of Ireland, +the last land of the Old World to be seen, was lost to view, and in +heavy weather she pointed her bow toward St. Johns, Newfoundland. + +Twelve days later, in a thick fog, a huge iceberg loomed suddenly up +before them, and the _Albert_ barely missed a collision that might +have ended the mission. It was the first iceberg that Doctor Grenfell +had ever seen. Presently, and through the following years, they were +to become as familiar to him as the trees of the forests. + +Four hundred years had passed since Cabot on his voyage of discovery +had, in his little caraval, passed over the same course that Grenfell +now sailed in the _Albert_. Nineteen days after Fastnet Rock was lost +to view, the shores of Newfoundland rose before them. That was fine +sailing for the landfall was made almost exactly opposite St. Johns. + +The harbor of St. Johns is like a great bowl. The entrance is a narrow +passage between high, beetling cliffs rising on either side. From the +sea the city is hidden by hills flanked by the cliffs, and a vessel +must enter the narrow gateway and pass nearly through it before the +city of St. Johns is seen rising from the water's edge upon sloping +hill-sides on the opposite side of the harbor. It is one of the safest +as well as most picturesque harbors in the world. + +As the _Albert_ approached the entrance Doctor Grenfell and the crew +were astonished to see clouds of smoke rising from within and +obscuring the sky. As they passed the cliffs waves of scorching air +met them. + +The city was in flames. Much of it was already in ashes. Stark, +blackened chimneys rose where buildings had once stood. Flames were +still shooting upward from those as yet but partly consumed. Some of +the vessels anchored in the harbor were ablaze. Everything had been +destroyed or was still burning. The Colonial public buildings, the +fine churches, the great warehouses that had lined the wharves, even +the wharves themselves, were smouldering ruins, and scarcely a private +house remained. It was a scene of complete and terrible desolation. +The fire had even extended to the forests beyond the city, and for +weeks afterward continued to rage and carry destruction to quiet, +scattered homes of the country. + +[Illustration: "THE LABRADOR 'LIVEYERE'"] + +The cause or origin of the fire no one knew. It had come as a +devastating scourge. It had left the beautiful little city a mass of +blackened, smoking ruins. + +The Newfoundlanders are as fine and brave a people as ever lived. Deep +trouble had come to them, but they met it with their characteristic +heroism. No one was whining, or wringing his hands, or crying out +against God. They were accepting it all as cheerfully as any people +can ever accept so sweeping a calamity. Benjamin Franklin said, "God +helps them that help themselves." That is as true of a city as it is +of a person. That is what the St. Johns people were doing, and +already, while the fire still burned, they were making plans to take +care of themselves and rebuild their city. + +Of course Doctor Grenfell could do little to help with his one small +ship, but he did what he could. The officials and the people found +time to welcome him and to tell him how glad they were that he was to +go to Labrador to heal the sick of their fleets and make the lives of +the fishermen and the natives of the northern coast happier and +pleasanter. + +A pilot was necessary to guide the _Albert_ along the uncharted coast +of Labrador. Captain Nicholas Fitzgerald was provided by the +Newfoundland government to serve in this capacity. Doctor Grenfell +invited Mr. Adolph Neilson, Superintendent of Fisheries for +Newfoundland, to accompany them, and he accepted the invitation, that +he might lend his aid to getting the work of the mission started. He +proved a valuable addition to the party. Then the _Albert_ sailed away +to cruise her new field of service. + +It will be interesting to turn to a map and see for ourselves the +country to which Doctor Grenfell was going. We will find Labrador in +the northeastern corner of the North American continent, just as +Alaska is in the northwestern corner. + +Like Alaska, Labrador is a great peninsula and is nearly, though not +quite, so large as Alaska. Some maps will show only a narrow strip +along the Atlantic east of the peninsula marked "Labrador." This is +incorrect. The whole peninsula, bounded on the south by the Gulf of +St. Lawrence and Straits of Belle Isle, the east by the Atlantic +Ocean, the north by Hudson Straits, the west by Hudson Bay and James +Bay and the Province of Quebec, is included in Labrador. The narrow +strip on the east is under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland, while the +remainder is owned by Quebec. Newfoundland is the oldest colony of +Great Britain. It is not a part of Canada, but has a separate +government. + +The only people living in the interior of Labrador are a few wandering +Indians who live by hunting. There are still large parts of the +interior that have never been explored by white men, and of which we +know little or no more than was known of America when Columbus +discovered the then new world. + +The people who live on the coast are white men, half-breeds and +Eskimos. None of these ever go far inland, and they live by fishing, +hunting, and trapping animals for the fur. Those on the south, as far +east as Blanc Sablon, on the straits of Belle Isle, speak French. +Eastward from Blanc Sablon and northward to a point a little north of +Indian Harbor at the northern side of the entrance of Hamilton Inlet, +English is spoken. The language on the remainder of the coast is +Eskimo, and nearly all of the people are Eskimos. Once upon a time the +Eskimos lived and hunted on the southern coast along the Straits of +Belle Isle, but only white people and half-breeds are now found south +of Hamilton Inlet. + +The Labrador coast from Cape Charles in the south to Cape Chidley in +the north is scoured as clean as the paving stones of a street. Naked, +desolate, forbidding it lies in a somber mist. In part it is low and +ragged but as we pass north it gradually rises into bare slopes and +finally in the vicinity of Nachbak Bay high mountains, perpendicular +and grey, stand out against the sky. + +Behind the storm-scoured rocky islands lie the bays and tickles and +runs and at the head of the bays the forest begins, reaching back over +rolling hills into the mysterious and unknown regions beyond. There +is not one beaten road in all the land. There is no sandy beach, no +grassy bank, no green field. Nature has been kind to Labrador, +however, in one respect. There are innumerable harbors snugly +sheltered behind the islands and well out of reach of the rolling +breakers and the wind. There is an old saying down on the Labrador +that "from one peril there are two ways of escape to three sheltered +places." The ice and fog are always perils but the skippers of the +coast appear to hold them in disdain and plunge forward through storm +and sea when any navigator on earth would expect to meet disaster. For +the most part the coast is uncharted and the skippers, many of whom +never saw an instrument of navigation in their life, or at least never +owned one, sail by rhyme: + + "When Joe Bett's P'int you is abreast, + Dane's Rock bears due west. + West-nor'west you must steer, + 'Til Brimstone Head do appear. + + "The tickle's narrow, not very wide; + The deepest water's on the starboard side + When in the harbor you is shot, + Four fathoms you has got." + +It is an evil coast, with hidden reefs and islands scattered like dust +its whole length. "The man who sails the Labrador must know it all +like his own back yard--not in sunny weather alone, but in the night, +when the headlands are like black clouds ahead, and in the mist, when +the noise of breakers tells him all that he may know of his +whereabouts. A flash of white in the gray distance, a thud and swish +from a hidden place: the one is his beacon, the other his fog-horn. It +is thus, often, that the Doctor gets along." + +Labrador has an Arctic climate in winter. The extreme cold of the +country is caused by the Arctic current washing its shores. All winter +the ocean is frozen as far as one can see. In June, when the ice +breaks away, the great Newfoundland fishing fleet of little schooners +sails north to remain until the end of September catching cod, for +here are the finest cod fishing grounds in the world. + +In 1892 there were nearly twenty-five thousand Newfoundlanders on this +fleet. Doctor Grenfell's mission was to aid and assist these deep sea +fishermen. In those days there was no doctor with the fleet and none +on the whole coast, and any one taken seriously ill or badly injured +usually died for lack of medical or surgical care. Of course, Grenfell +was also to help the people who lived on the coast, that is, the +native inhabitants, who needed him. This service he was giving free. + +At this season there is more fog than sunshine in those northern +latitudes. It settles in a dense pall over the sea, adding to the +dangers of navigation. Now the fog was so thick that they could +scarcely see the length of the vessel. On the fourth day out the fog +lifted for a brief time, and Cape Bauld the northeasterly point of +Newfoundland Island, showed his grim old head, as if to bid them +goodbye and to wish them good luck "down on The Labrador." Then they +were again swallowed by the fog and plunged into the rough seas where +the Straits of Belle Isle meet the wide ocean. + +No more land was seen, as they ploughed northward through the fog, +until August 4th. This was a Thursday. Like the lifting of a curtain +on a stage the fog, all at once, melted away, to reveal a scene of +marvellous though rugged beauty. As though touched by a hand of magic, +the atmosphere, for so many days dank and thick, suddenly became +brilliantly clear and transparent, and the sun shone bright and warm. + +Off the port bow lay The Labrador, the great silent peninsula of the +north. Doctor Grenfell turned to it with a thrill. Here was the land +he had come so far to see! Here he would find the people to whom he +was to devote his life work! + +There before him lay her scattered islands, her grim and rocky +headlands and beetling cliffs, and beyond the islands, rolling away +into illimitable blue distances her seared hills and the vast unknown +region of her interior, whose mysterious secrets she had kept locked +within her heart through all time. Back there, hidden from the world, +were numberless lakes and rivers and mountains that no white man had +ever seen. + +[Illustration: "SAILS NORTH TO REMAIN UNTIL THE END OF SUMMER CATCHING +COD"] + +The sea rose and fell in a lazy swell. Not far away a school of whales +were playing, now and again spouting geysers of water high into the +air. Shoals of caplin[A] gave silver flashes upon the surface of the +sea where thousands of the little fish crowded one another to the +surface of the water. Countless birds and sea fowl hovered before the +face of the cliffs and above the placid sea. + +A half hundred icebergs, children of age-old glaciers of the far +North, were scattered over the green-blue waters. Some of them were of +gigantic proportions and strange outlines. There were hills with lofty +summits, marvellous castles, turreted and towered, and majestic +cathedrals, their icy pinnacles and spires reaching high above the +top-masts of the ship and their polished adamantine surfaces sparkling +in the brilliant sunshine and scintillating fire and colour with the +wondrous iridescent beauty of mammoth opals. + +"There's Domino Run," said the pilot. + +"Domino Run? What is that?" + +"'Tis a fine deep run behind the islands," explained the pilot. "All +the fleets of schooners cruisin' north and south go through Domino +Run. There's a fine tidy harbor in there, and we'd be findin' some +schooners anchored there now." + +"We'll go in and see." + +"I think 'twould be well and meet some of the fleet. There's liviyeres +in there too. There's some liviyeres handy to most of the harbors on +the coast." + +"Liveyeres? What are liveyeres?" + +"They're the folk that live on the coast all the time,--the whites and +half-breeds. Newfoundlanders only come to fish in summer, but +liveyeres stay the winter. The shop keepers we calls planters. They're +set up by traders that has fishin' places. The liveyeres has their +homes up the heads of bays in winter, and when the ice fastens over +they trap fur. In the summer they come out to the islands to fish." + +Doctor Grenfell had heard all this before, but now as he looked at the +dreary desolation of the rocks it seemed almost incredible that +children could be born and grow to manhood and womanhood and live +their lives here, forever fighting for mere existence, and die at last +without ever once knowing the comforts that we who live in kindlier +warmer lands enjoy. + +Presently a beautiful and splendid harbor opened before the _Albert_. +Several schooners were lying at anchor within the harbor's shelter, +and the strange new ship created a vast sensation as she hove to and +dropped her anchor among them, and hoisted the blue flag of the Deep +Sea Mission. + +From masthead after masthead rose flags of greeting. It was a glorious +welcome for any visitor to receive. A warmer or more cordial greeting +could scarcely have been offered the Governor General himself. It was +given with the fine hearty fervour and characteristic hospitality of +the Newfoundland fishermen and seamen. + +The _Albert's_ anchor chains had scarce ceased to rattle before boats +were pulling toward her from every vessel in the harbor. Ships enough +sailed down the coast, to be sure, but if they were not fishing +vessels they were traders looking to barter for fish, bearing sharp +men who drove hard bargains with the fishermen, as we shall see. But +here was a different vessel from any of them. Everybody knew that +_this_ was not a fisherman, and that she was _not_ a trader. What +_was_ her business? What had she come for? What did her blue flag +mean? These were questions to which everybody must needs find the +answer for himself. + +Great was their joy when it was learned that the _Albert_ was a +hospital ship with a real doctor aboard come to care for and heal +their sick and injured, and that the doctor made no charge for his +services or his medicine. This was a big point that went to their +hearts, for there was scarce a man among them with any money in his +pocket, and if Doctor Grenfell had charged them money they could not +have called upon him to help them, for they could not have paid him. +But here he was ready to serve them without money and without price. +The richest, who were poor enough, and the poorest, could alike have +his care and medicine. Here, indeed, was cause to wonder and rejoice. + +Many of the fishermen took their families with them to live in little +huts at the fishing places during the summer, and to help them prepare +the fish for market. Forty or fifty men, women and children were +packed, like figs in a box, on some of the schooners, with no other +sleeping place than under the deck, on top of the cargo of provisions +and salt in the hold, wherever they could find a place big enough to +squeeze and stow themselves. Under such conditions there were ailing +people enough on the schooners who needed a doctor's care. + +The mail boat from St. Johns came once a fortnight, to be sure, and +she had a doctor aboard her. But he could only see for a moment the +more serious cases, and not all of them, hurriedly leave some medicine +and go, and then he would not return to see them again in another two +weeks. The mail boat had a schedule to make, and the time given her +for the voyage between St. Johns and The Labrador was all too short, +and she never reached the northernmost coast. + +There were calls enough from the very beginning to keep Doctor +Grenfell busy with the sick folk of the schooners. All that day the +people came, and it was late that evening when the sick on the +schooners had been cared for and the last of the visitors had +departed. + +Thus, on that first day in this new land, in the Harbor of Domino Run, +Doctor Grenfell's life work among the deep sea fishermen of The +Labrador began in earnest. + +But even yet Doctor Grenfell's day's work was not to end. He was to +witness a scene that would sicken his heart and excite his deepest +pity. An experience awaited him that was to guide him to new and +greater plans and to bigger things than he had yet dreamed of. + +For a long while a rickety old rowboat had been lying off from the +_Albert_. A bronzed and bearded man sat alone in the boat, eyeing the +strange vessel as though afraid to approach nearer. He was thin and +gaunt. The evening was chilly, but he was poorly clad, and his +clothing was as ragged and as tattered as his old boat. + +Finally, as though fearing to intrude, and not sure of his reception, +he hailed the _Albert_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] A small fish about the size of a smelt. + + + + +V + +THE RAGGED MAN IN THE RICKETY BOAT + + +Grenfell, who had been standing at the rail for some time watching the +decrepid old boat and its strange occupant, answered the hail +cheerily. + +"Be there a doctor aboard, sir?" asked the man. + +"Yes," answered Grenfell. "I'm a doctor." + +"Us were hearin' now they's a doctor on your vessel," said the man +with satisfaction. "Be you a _real_ doctor, sir?" + +"Yes," assured the Doctor. "I hope I am." + +"They's a man ashore that's wonderful bad off, but us hasn't no +money," suggested the man, adding expectantly, "You couldn't come to +doctor he now could you, sir?" + +"Certainly I will," assured the Doctor. "What's the matter with the +man? Do you know?" + +"He have a distemper in his chest, sir, and a wonderful bad cough," +explained the man. + +"All right," said the Doctor. "I'll go at once. How far is it?" + +"Right handy, sir," said the man with evident relief. + +"Pull alongside and I'll be with you in a jiffy," and the Doctor +hurried below for his medicine case. + +The man was alongside waiting for him when he returned a few moments +later, and he stepped into the rickety old boat. As the liveyere rowed +away Grenfell may have thought of his own famous flat-boat that sank +with him and his brother in the estuary below Parkgate years before +when they were left to swim for it. But in his mental comparison it is +probable that the flat-boat, even in her oldest and most decrepid +days, would have passed for a rather fine and seaworthy craft in +contrast to this rickety old rowboat. The boat kept afloat, however, +and presently the liveyere pulled it alongside the gray rock that +served for a landing. They stepped out and the guide led the way up +the rocks to a lonely and miserable little sod hut. At the door he +halted. + +"Here we is, sir," he announced. "Step right in. They'll be wonderful +glad to see you, sir." + +Grenfell entered. Within was a room perhaps twelve by fourteen feet in +size. A single small window of pieces of glass patched together was +designed to admit light and at the same time to exclude God's good +fresh air. The floor was of earth, partially paved with small round +stones. Built against the walls were six berths, fashioned after the +model of ship's berths, three lower and three upper ones. A broken old +stove, with its pipe extending through the roof into a mud protection +rising upon the peak outside in lieu of a chimney, made a smoky +attempt to heat the place. The lower berths and floor served as seats. +There was no furniture. + +The walls of the hut were damp. The atmosphere was dank and +unwholesome and heavy with the ill-smelling odor of stale seal oil and +fish. The place was dirty and as unsanitary and unhealthful as any +human habitation could well be. + +Six ragged, half-starved little children huddled timidly into a corner +upon the entrance of the visitor from the ship and gazed at the Doctor +with wide-open frightened eyes. In one of the lower bunks lay the sick +man coughing himself to death. At his side a gaunt woman, miserably +and scantily clothed, was offering him water in a spoon. + +It was evident to the trained eye of the Doctor that the man was +fatally ill and could live but a short time. He was a hopeless +consumptive, and a hasty examination revealed the fact that he was +also suffering from a severe attack of pneumonia. + +Doctor Grenfell's big sympathetic heart went out to the poor sufferer +and his destitute family. What could he do? How could he help the man +in such a place? He might remove him to one of the clean, white +hospital cots on the _Albert_, but it would scarcely serve to make +easier the impending death, and the exposure and effort of the +transfer might even hasten it. Then, too, the wife and children would +be denied the satisfaction of the last moments with the departing +soul of the husband and father, for the _Albert_ was to sail at once. +The summer was short, and up and down the coast many others were in +sore need of the Doctor's care, and delay might cost some of them +their lives. + +Grenfell sat silently for several minutes observing his patient and +asking himself the question: "What can I do for this poor man?" If +there had only been a doctor that the man could have called a few days +earlier his life, at least might have been prolonged. + +There was but one answer to the question. There was nothing to do but +leave medicine and give advice and directions for the man's care, and +to supply the ill-nourished family much-needed food and perhaps some +warmer clothing. + +If there were only a hospital on the coast where such cases could be +taken and properly treated! If there were only some place where +fatherless and orphaned children could be cared for! These were some +of the thoughts that crowded upon Doctor Grenfell as he left the hut +that evening and was rowed back to the _Albert_. And in the weeks that +followed his mind was filled with plans, for never did the picture of +the dying man and helpless little ones fade as he saw it that first +day in Domino Run. + +Another call to go ashore came that evening, and the Doctor answered +it promptly. Again he was guided to a little mud hut, but this had an +advantage over the other in that it was well ventilated. The one +window which it boasted was an open hole in the side wall with no +glass or other covering to exclude the fresh air. There was no stove, +and an open fire on the earthen floor supplied warmth, while a large +opening in the roof, for there was no chimney, offered an escape for +the smoke, an offer of which the smoke did not freely take advantage. + +On a wooden bench in a corner of the room a man sat doubled up with +pain. Here too was a family consisting of the man's wife and several +children. + +"What's the trouble?" asked the Doctor. + +"I'm wonderful bad with a distemper in my insides, sir," answered the +man with a groan. + +"Been ill long?" + +"Aye, sir, for three weeks." + +"We'll see what can be done." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"We'll patch you up and make you as well as ever in a little while," +assured the Doctor after a thorough examination, for this proved to be +a curable case. + +"That'll be fine, sir." + +Medicine was provided, with directions for taking, and, as the Doctor +had promised, and as he later learned, the man soon recovered his +health and returned to his fishing. + +The _Albert_ sailed north. Into every little harbor and settlement +she dropped her anchor for a visit. She called at the trading posts of +the old Hudson's Bay Company at Cartwright, Rigolet and Davis Inlet +and the Moravian Missions among the Eskimos in the North. She was +welcomed everywhere, and everywhere Doctor Grenfell found so many sick +or injured people that the whole summer long he was kept constantly +busy. + +The waters of this coast were unknown to him. He knew nothing of their +tides or reefs or currents. But with confidence in himself and a +courage that was well-nigh reckless, he sought out the people of every +little harbor that he might give them the help that he had come to +give. If there was too great a hazard for the schooner, he used a +whale-boat. Once this whale-boat was blown out to sea, once it was +driven upon the rocks, once it capsized with all on board, and before +the summer ended it became a complete wreck. + +Nine hundred cases were treated, some trivial though perhaps painful +enough maladies, others most serious or even hopeless. Here was a +tooth to be extracted, there a limb to be amputated,--cases of all +kinds and descriptions, with never a doctor to whom the people could +turn for relief until Doctor Grenfell providentially appeared. + +With all the work, the voyage was one of pleasure. Not only the +pleasure of making others happier,--the greatest pleasure any one can +know,--but it was a rattling fine adventure finding the way among +islands that had never appeared on any map and were still unnamed. It +was fine fun, too, cruising deep and magnificent fjords past lofty +towering cliffs, and exploring new channels. And there were the +Eskimos and their great wolfish dogs, and their primitive manner of +living and dressing. It was all interesting and fascinating. + +Never, however, since that August night in Domino Run, had the little +mud hut, the dying man, the grief-stricken, miserable mother, and the +neglected and starving little ones been out of Doctor Grenfell's +thoughts, and often enough his big heart had ached for the stricken +ones. He had never before witnessed such awful depths of poverty. + +In other harbors that he had visited in his northern voyage similar +heartrending cases had, to be sure, fallen under his attention. In one +harbor he found a poor Eskimo both of whose hands had been blown off +by the premature discharge of a gun. For days and days the man had +endured indescribable agony. Nothing had been done for him, save to +bathe the stubs of his shattered arms in cold water, until Doctor +Grenfell appeared, for there was no surgeon to call upon to relieve +the sufferer. + +Everywhere there was a mute cry for help. The people were in need of +doctors and hospitals. They were in need of hospital ships to cruise +the coast and visit the sick of the harbors. They were in need of +clothing that they were unable to purchase for themselves. They were +in great need of some one to devise a way that would help them to free +themselves from the ancient truck system that kept them forever +hopelessly in debt to the traders. + +The case of the man in the little mud hut at Domino Run, however, +first suggested to Grenfell the need of these things and the thought +that he might do something to bring them about. As a result of this +visit, he made, during his northward cruise, a most thorough +investigation of the requirements of the coast. + +It was early October, and snow covered the ground, when the _Albert_, +sailing south, again entered Domino Run and anchored in the harbor. +Grenfell was put ashore and walked up the trail to the hut. The man +had long since died and been laid to rest. The wife and children were +still there. They had no provisions for the winter, and Grenfell, we +may be sure, did all in his power to help them and make them more +comfortable. + +His plans had crystalized. He had determined upon the course he should +take. He would go back to England and exert himself to the utmost to +raise funds to build hospitals and to provide additional doctors and +nurses for The Labrador. He would return to Labrador himself and give +his life and strength and the best that was in him for the rest of his +days in an attempt to make these people happier. Grenfell the athlete, +the football player, the naturalist, and, above all, the doctor, was +ready to answer the human call and to sacrifice his own comfort and +ease and worldly possessions to the needs of these people. The man +that will freely give his life to relieve the suffering of others +represents the highest type of manhood. It is divine. It was +characteristic of Grenfell. + +And so it came about that the ragged man in the rickety boat who led +Doctor Grenfell to the dying man in the mud hut was the indirect means +of bringing hospitals and stores and many fine things to The Labrador +that the coast had never known before. The ragged man in going for the +doctor was simply doing a kindly act, a good turn for a needy +neighbor. What magnificent results may come from one little act of +kindness! This one laid the foundation for a work whose fame has +encircled the world. + + + + +VI + +OVERBOARD! + + +When Grenfell set out to do a thing he did it. He never in all his +life said, "I will if I can." His motto has always been, "I _can_ if I +will." He had determined to plant hospitals on the Labrador coast and +to send doctors and nurses there to help the people. When he +determined to do a thing there was an end of it. It would be done. A +great many people plan to do things, but when they find it is hard to +carry out their plans, they give them up. They forget that anything +that is worth having is hard to get. If diamonds were as easy to find +as pebbles they would be worth no more than pebbles. + +That was a hard job that Grenfell had set himself, and he knew it. +When you have a hard job to do, the best way is to go at it just as +soon as ever you can and work at it as hard as ever you can until it +is done. That was Grenfell's way, and as soon as he reached St. Johns +he began to start things moving. Someone else might have waited to +return to England to make a formal report to the Deep Sea Missions +Board, and await the Board's approval. Not so with Grenfell. He knew +the Board would approve, and time was valuable. + +Down on The Labrador winter begins in earnest in October. Already the +fishing fleets had returned from Labrador when the _Albert_ reached +St. Johns, and the fishermen had brought with them the news of the +_Albert_'s visit to The Labrador and the wonderful things Doctor +Grenfell had done in the course of his summer's cruise. Praise of his +magnificent work was on everybody's lips. The newspapers, always +hungry for startling news, had published articles about it. Doctor +Grenfell was hailed as a benefactor. All creeds and classes welcomed +and praised him,--fishermen, merchants, politicians. Even the +dignified Board of Trade had recorded its praise. + +It was November when Grenfell arrived in St. Johns. He immediately +waited upon the government officials with the result that His +Excellency, the Governor of the Colony, at once called a meeting in +the Government House that Grenfell might present his plans for the +future to the people. All the great men of the Colony were there. They +listened with interest and were moved with enthusiasm. Some fine +things were said, and then with the unanimous vote of the meeting +resolutions were passed in commendation of Doctor Grenfell's summer's +work and expressing the desire that it might continue and grow in +accordance with Doctor Grenfell's plans. The resolutions finally +pledged the "co-operation of all classes of this community." Here was +an assurance that the whole of the fine old Colony was behind him, and +it made Grenfell happy. + +But this was not all. It is not the way of Newfoundland people to hold +meetings and say fine things and pass high-sounding resolutions and +then let the whole matter drop as though they felt they had done their +duty. Doctor Grenfell would need something more than fine words and +pats on the back if he were to put his plans through successfully, +though the fine words helped, too, with their encouragement. He would +need the help of men of responsibility who would work with him, and +His Excellency, the Governor, recognizing this fact, appointed a +committee composed of some of Newfoundland's best men for this +purpose. + +Then it was that Mr. W. Baine Grieve arose and began to speak. Mr. +Grieve was a famous merchant of the Colony, and a member of the firm +of Baine Johnston and Company, who owned a large trading station and +stores at Battle Harbor, on an island near Cape Charles, at the +southeastern extremity of Labrador. He was a man of importance in St. +Johns and a leader in the Colony. As he spoke Grenfell suddenly +realized that Mr. Grieve was presenting the Mission with a building at +Battle Harbor which was to be fitted as a hospital and made ready for +use the following summer. + +What a thrill must have come to Grenfell at that moment! The whole +Newfoundland government was behind him! His first hospital was already +assured! We can easily imagine that he was fairly overwhelmed and +dazed with the success that he had met so suddenly and unexpectedly. + +But Grenfell was not a man to lose his head. This was only a +beginning. He must have more hospitals than one. He must have doctors +and nurses, medicines and hospital supplies, food and clothing, and a +steam vessel that would take him quickly about to see the sick of the +harbors. A great deal of money would be required, and when the +_Albert_ sailed out of St. John's Harbor and turned back to England he +knew that he had assumed a stupendous job, and that the winter was not +to be an idle one for him by any means. + +It was December first when the _Albert_ reached England. With the +backing and assistance of the Mission Board, Doctor Grenfell and +Captain Trevize of the _Albert_ arranged a speaking tour for the +purpose of exciting interest in the Labrador work. Men and women were +moved by the tale of their experiences and the suffering and needs of +the fishermen and liveres. Gifts were made and sufficient funds +subscribed to purchase necessary supplies and hospital equipment, and +a fine rowboat was donated to replace the _Albert's_ whaleboat which +had been smashed during the previous summer. + +Then word came from St. Johns that the great shipping firm of Job +Brothers, who owned a fisheries' station at Indian Harbor, had donated +a hospital to the Newfoundland committee. This was to be erected at +Indian Harbor, at the northern side of the entrance to Hamilton Inlet, +two hundred miles north of Battle Harbor, and was to be ready for use +during the summer. This was fine news. Not only were there large +fishery stations at both Battle Harbor and Indian Harbor, but both +were regular stopping places for the fishing schooners when going +north and again on their homeward voyage. With two hospitals on the +coast a splendid beginning for the work would be made. + +But there was still one necessity lacking,--a little steamer in which +Doctor Grenfell could visit the folk of the scattered harbors. At +Chester on the River Dee and not far from his boyhood home at Parkgate +Grenfell discovered a boat one day that was for sale and that he +believed would answer his purpose. It was a sturdy little steam +launch, forty-five feet over all. It was, however, ridiculously +narrow, with a beam of only eight feet, and was sure to roll terribly +in any sea and even in an ordinary swell. + +But Grenfell was a good seaman, and he could make out in a boat that +did a bit of tumbling. He was the sort of man to do a good job with a +tool that did not suit him if he could not get just the sort of tool +he wanted, and never find fault with it either. The necessary amount +to purchase the launch was subscribed by a friend of the Mission. +Grenfell bought it and was mightily pleased that this last need was +filled. Later the little launch was christened the "Princess May." + +Then the _Albert_ was made ready for her second voyage to Labrador. +The Mission Board appointed two young physicians to accompany Doctor +Grenfell, Doctor Arthur O. Bobardt and Doctor Eliott Curwen, and two +trained nurses, Miss Cecilia Williams and Miss Ada Cawardine, that +there might be a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Battle Harbor +and a doctor and a nurse for the hospital at Indian Harbor. The launch +_Princess May_ was swung aboard the big Allan liner _Corean_ and +shipped to St. John's, and on June second Doctor Grenfell and his +staff sailed from Queenstown on the _Albert_. + +Grenfell was as fond of sports as ever he was in his boyhood and +college days, and now, when the weather permitted, he played cricket +with any on board who would play with him. The deck of so small a +vessel as the _Albert_ offers small space for a game of this sort, and +one after another the cricket balls were lost overboard until but one +remained. Then, one day, in the midst of a game in mid-ocean, that +last ball unceremoniously followed the others into the sea. + +Grenfell ran to the rail. He could see the ball rise on a wave astern. + +"Tack back and pick me up!" he yelled to the helmsman, and to the +astonishment and consternation of everyone, over the rail he dived in +pursuit of the ball. + +Grenfell could swim like a fish. He learned that in the River Dee and +the estuary, when he was a boy, and he always kept himself in athletic +training. But he had never before jumped into the middle of so large a +swimming pool as the Atlantic ocean, with the nearest land a thousand +miles away! + +The steersman lost his head. He put over the helm, but failed to cut +Grenfell off, and the Doctor presently found himself a long way from +the ship struggling for life in the icy cold waters of the North +Atlantic. + + + + +VII + +IN THE BREAKERS + + +The young adventurer did not lose his head, and he did not waste his +strength in desperate efforts to overtake the vessel. He calmly +laid-to, kept his head above water, and waited for the helmsman to +bring the ship around again. + +A man less inured to hardships, or less physically fit, would have +surrendered to the icy waters or to fatigue. Grenfell was as fit as +ever a man could be. + +In school and college he had made a record in athletic sports, and +since leaving the university he had not permitted himself to get out +of training. An athlete cannot keep in condition who indulges in +cigarettes or liquor or otherwise dissipates, and Grenfell had lived +clean and straight. + +It was this that saved his life now. He knew he was fit and he had +confidence in himself, and was unafraid. While he appreciated his +peril, he never lost his nerve, and when finally he was rescued and +found himself on deck he was little the worse for his experience, and +with a change of dry clothing was ready to resume the interrupted game +of cricket with the rescued ball. + +With no further adventure than once coming to close quarters with an +iceberg and escaping without serious damage, the _Albert_ arrived in +due time at St. John's, and Grenfell was at once occupied in +preparation for his summer's work on The Labrador. Materials with +which to construct the Indian Harbor hospital were shipped north by +steamer. Supplies were taken aboard the _Albert_, and with Dr. Curwin +and nurses Williams and Cawardine she sailed for Battle Harbor, where +the building to be utilized as a hospital was already erected. + +Then the launch _Princess May_, which had been landed from the +_Corean_, was made ready for sea, and with an engineer and a cook as +his crew and Dr. Bobardt as a companion, Dr. Grenfell as skipper put +to sea in the tiny craft on July 7th. + +There were many pessimistic prophets to see the _Princess May_ off. +From skipper to cook not a man aboard her was familiar with the coast, +or could recognize a single landmark or headland either on the +Newfoundland coast or on The Labrador. + +They were going into rugged, fog-clogged seas. They might encounter an +ice-pack, and the sea was always strewn with menacing icebergs. True, +they had charts, but the charts were most incomplete, and no +Newfoundlander sails by them. + +The _Princess May_, a mere cockle-shell, was too small, it was said, +for the undertaking. She was six years old and Grenfell had not given +her a try-out. The consensus of opinion among the wise old +Newfoundland seamen who gathered on the wharf as she sailed was that +Doctor Grenfell and his crew were much like the three wise men of +Gotham who went to sea in a bowl. Still, not a man of them but would +have ventured forth upon the high seas in an ancient rotten old hull +of a schooner. They were acquainted with schooners and the coast, +while the little launch _Princess May_ was a new species of craft to +them, and was manned by green hands. + +"'Tis a dangerous voyage for green hands to be makin'," said one, "and +that small boat were never meant for the sea." + +"Aye, for green hands," said another. "They'll never make un without +mishap." + +"If they does, 'twill be by the mercy o' God." + +"And how'll they make harbor, not knowin' what to sail by?" + +"That bit of a craft would never stand half a gale, and if she meets +th' ice she'll crumple up like an eggshell." + +"And they'll be havin' some nasty weather, _I_ says. We'll never hear +o' _she_ again or any o' them on board." + +"Unless by the mercy o' God." + +Such were the remarks of those ashore as the _Princess May_ steamed +down the harbor and out through the narrow channel between the +beetling cliffs, into the broad Atlantic. Dr. Grenfell has confessed +that he was not wholly without misgivings himself, and they seemed +well founded when, at the end of the first five miles, the engineer +reported: + +"She's sprung a leak, sir!" and anxiously asked, "Had we better put +back?" + +"No! We'll stand on!" answered Grenfell. "Those croakers ashore would +never let us hear the end of it if we turned back. We'll see what's +happened." + +An examination discovered a small opening in the bottom. A wooden plug +was shaped and driven into the hole. To Doctor Grenfell's satisfaction +and relief, this was found to heal the leak effectually, and the +_Princess May_ continued on her course. + +But this was not to end the difficulties. In those waters dense fogs +settled suddenly and without warning, and now such a fog fell upon +them to shut out all view of land and the surrounding sea. + +Nevertheless, the _Princess May_ steamed bravely ahead. To avoid +danger Grenfell was holding her, as he believed, well out to sea, when +suddenly there rose out of the fog a perpendicular towering cliff. +They were almost in the white surf of the waves pounding upon the +rocky base of the cliff before they were aware of their perilous +position. + +Every one expected that the little vessel would be driven upon the +rocks and lost, and they realized if that were to happen only a +miracle could save them. Grenfell shouted to the engineer, the engine +was reversed and by skillful maneuvering the _Princess May_ +succeeded, by the narrowest margin, in escaping unharmed. To their own +steady nerves, and the intervention of Providence the fearless mariner +and his little crew undoubtedly owed their lives. + +Grenfell suspected that the compass was not registering correctly. +Standing out to sea until they were at a safe distance from the +treacherous shore rocks, a careful examination was made. The binnacle +had been left in St. Johns for necessary repairs, and the examination +discovered that iron screws had been used to make the compass box fast +to the cabin. These screws were responsible for a serious deviation of +the needle, and this it was that had so nearly led them to fatal +disaster. + +A heavy swell was running, and the little vessel, with but eight feet +beam, rolled so rapidly that the compass needle, even when the defect +had been remedied, made a wide swing from side to side as the vessel +rolled. The best that could be done was to read the dial midway +between the extreme points of the needle's swing. This was deemed safe +enough, and away the _Princess May_ ploughed again through the fog. + +At five o'clock in the afternoon it was decided to work in toward +shore and search for a sheltering harbor in which to anchor for the +night. Under any circumstance it would be foolhardy for so small a +vessel to remain in the open sea outside, after darkness set in, in +those ice-menaced fog-choked northern waters. The course of the +_Princess May_ was accordingly changed to bear to the westward and +Grenfell was continuously feeling his way through the fog when +suddenly, and to the dismay of all on board, they found themselves +surrounded by jagged reefs and small rocky islands and in the midst of +boiling surf. + +Now they were indeed in grave peril. They must needs maintain +sufficient headway to keep the vessel under her helm. Black rocks +capped with foam rose on every side, they did not know the depth of +the water, and the fog was so thick they could scarce see two boat +lengths from her bow. + + + + +VIII + +AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE + + +The finest school of courage in the world is the open. The Sands of +Dee, the estuary and the hills of Wales made a fine school of this +sort for Grenfell. + +The out-of-doors clears the brain, and there a man learns to think +straight and to the point. When he is on intimate terms with the woods +and mountains, and can laugh at howling gales and the wind beating in +his face, and can take care of himself and be happy without the +effeminating comforts of steam heat and luxurious beds, a man will +prove himself no coward when he comes some day face to face with grave +danger. He has been trained in a school of courage. He has learned to +depend upon himself. + +Fine, active games of competition like baseball, football, basketball +and boxing, give nerve, self-confidence and poise. Through them the +hand learns instinctively, and without a moment's hesitation, to do +the thing the brain tells it to do. + +Down on The Labrador they say that Grenfell has always been "lucky" in +getting out of tight places and bad corners. But we all know, 'way +down in our hearts, that there is no such thing as "luck." "God helps +them that help themselves." That's the secret of Grenfell's getting +out of such tight corners as this one that he had now run into in the +fog. He was trained in the school of courage. He helped himself, and +he knew how. He was unafraid. + +So it was now as always afterward. Grim danger was threatening the +_Princess May_ on every side. Each moment Grenfell and his companions +expected to feel the shock of collision and hear the fatal crunching +and splintering of the vessel's timbers upon the rocks. All of +Grenfell's experiences on the Sands of Dee and in the hills of Wales +and out on the estuary came to his rescue. He did not lose his head +for a moment. That would have been fatal. He had acquired courage and +resourcefulness in that out-of-door school he had attended when a boy. +The situation called for all the grit and good judgment he and his +crew possessed. + +Under just enough steam to give the vessel steerageway, they wound in +and out between protruding rocks and miniature islands amidst the +white foam of breakers that pounded upon the rocks all around them. At +length they were headed about. Then cautiously they threaded their way +into the open sea and safety. + +This was to be but an incident in the years of labor that lay before +Grenfell on The Labrador. He was to have no end of exciting +experiences, some of them so thrilling that this one was, in +comparison, to fade into insignificance. Labrador is a land of +adventures. The man who casts his lot in that bleak country cannot +escape them. Adventure lurks in every cove and harbor, on every turn +of the trail, ready to spring out upon you and try your mettle, and +learn the sort of stuff you are made of. + +Later in the evening they again felt their way landward through the +fog. To their delight they presently found themselves in a harbor, and +that night they rested in a safe and snug anchorage sheltered from +wind and pounding sea. + +There was adventure enough on that voyage to satisfy anybody. The sun +did not set that the voyagers had not experienced at least one good +thrill during the daylight hours. On the seventh day from St. Johns +the _Princess May_ crossed the Straits of Belle Isle, and drew +alongside the _Albert_ at Battle Harbor. + +The new hospital was nearly ready to receive patients, the first of +the hospitals to be built as a result of the visit to the _Albert_ the +previous summer of the ragged man in the rickety boat. The other +hospital was in course of building at Indian Harbor, and Doctor +Grenfell dispatched the _Albert_, with Doctor Curwin and Miss Williams +to assist in preparing it for patients, while Doctor Bobart and Miss +Cawardine remained in charge of the Battle Harbor hospital. + +Away Doctor Grenfell steamed again in the _Princess May_ nothing +daunted by his many difficulties with the little craft in his voyage +from St. John's. It was necessary that he know the headlands and the +harbors, the dangerous places and the safe ones along the whole coast. +The only way to do this was by visiting them, and the quickest and +best way to learn them was by finding them out for himself while +navigating his own craft. Now, light houses stand on two or three of +the most dangerous points of the coast, but in those days there were +none, and there were no correct charts. The mariner had to carry +everything in his head, and indeed he must still do so. He must know +the eight hundred miles of coast as we know the nooks and corners of +our dooryards. + +Doctor Grenfell wished also to make the acquaintance of the people. He +wished to visit them in their homes that he might learn their needs +and troubles and so know better how to help them. He was not alone to +be their doctor. He was to clothe and feed the poor so far as he could +and to put them in a way to help themselves. + +To do this it was necessary that he know them as a man knows his near +neighbors. He must needs know them as the family doctor knows his +patients. He was no preacher, but, to some degree, he was to be their +pastor and look after their moral as well as their physical welfare. +In short, he was to be their friend, and if he were to do his best for +them, they would have to look upon him as a friend and not only call +upon him when they were in need, but lend him any assistance they +could. To this end they would have to be taught to accept him as one +of themselves, come to live among them, and not as an occasional +visitor or a foreigner. + +With the exception of a few small settlements of a half-dozen houses +or so in each settlement, the cabins on the Labrador coast are ten or +fifteen and often twenty or more miles apart. If all of them were +brought together there would scarcely be enough to make one fair-sized +village. + +All of the people, as we have seen, live on the seacoast, and not +inland. Only wandering Indians live in the interior. Though Labrador +is nearly as large as Alaska, there is no permanent dwelling in the +whole interior. It is a vast, trackless, uninhabited wilderness of +stunted forests and wide, naked barrens. + +The Liveyeres, as the natives, other than Indians and Eskimos, are +called, have no other occupation than trapping and hunting in winter, +and fishing in summer. Their winter cabins are at the heads of deep +bays, in the edge of the forest. In the summer they move to their +fishing places farther down the bays or on scattered, barren islands, +where they live in rude huts or, sometimes, in tents. They catch cod +chiefly, but also, at the mouths of rivers, salmon and trout. All the +fish are salted, and, like the furs caught in winter, bartered to +traders for tea and flour and pork and other necessities of life. + +To make the acquaintance of these scattered people, along hundreds of +miles of coast, was a big undertaking. And then, too, there were the +settlements in the north of Newfoundland, among whose people he was to +work. Doctor Grenfell, and his assistants were the only doctors that +any of them could call upon. + +And there were the fishermen of the fleet. The twenty-five thousand or +more men, women and children attached to the Newfoundland summer +fisheries on The Labrador formed a temporary summer population. + +He could not hope, of course, in the two or three months they were +there, to get on intimate terms with all of them, but he was to meet +as many as he could, and renew and increase both his acquaintances and +his service of the year before. With the _Princess May_ to visit the +sick folk ashore, and the hospital ship _Albert_, which was to serve, +in a manner, as a sea ambulance to take serious cases to the new +hospitals at Indian Harbor and Battle Harbor, Doctor Grenfell felt +that he had made a good start. + +As already suggested, this was an adventurous voyage. Twice that +summer the _Princess May_ went aground on the rocks, and once the +_Albert_ was fastened on a reef. Both vessels lost sections of their +keels, but otherwise, due to good seamanship, escaped with minor +injuries. + +At every place the Doctor visited he made a record of the people. +After the names of the poorer and destitute ones was listed the things +of which they were most in need. + +In one poor little cabin the mother of a large family had, though ill, +kept to her duties in and out of the house until she could stand on +her feet no longer, and when Doctor Grenfell entered the cabin he +found her lying helpless on a rough couch of boards, with scarce +enough bed clothing to cover her. Some half-clad children shivered +behind a miserable broken stove, which radiated little heat but sent +forth much smoke. The haggard and worn out father was walking up and +down the chill room with a wee mite of a baby in his arms, while it +cried pitifully for food. Like all the family the poor little thing +was starving. + +The mother was suffering with an acute attack of bronchitis and +pleurisy. All were suffering from lack of food and clothing. The +children were barefooted. One little fellow had no other covering than +an old trouser leg drawn over his frail little body. The man's fur +hunt had failed the previous winter. Sickness prevented fishing. There +was nothing in the house to eat and the family were helpless. Doctor +Grenfell came to them none too soon. + +In every harbor and bay and cove there was enough for Doctor Grenfell +to do. His heart and hands were full that summer as they have ever +been since. His skill was constantly in demand. Here was some one +desperately ill, there a finger or an arm to be amputated, or a more +serious operation to be performed. + +The hospitals were soon filled to overflowing. Doctor Grenfell afloat, +and his two assistants with the nurses in the hospitals were busy +night and day. The best of it all was many lives were saved. Some who +would have been helpless invalids as long as they lived were sent home +from the hospitals strong and well and hearty. An instance of this was +a girl of fourteen, who had suffered for three years with internal +absesses that would eventually have killed her. She was taken to the +Battle Harbor Hospital, operated upon, and was soon perfectly well. To +this day she is living, a robust contented woman, the mother of a +family, and, perchance, a grandmother. + +Grenfell was happy. Here was something better than jogging over +English highways behind a horse and visiting well-to-do grumbling +patients. He was out on the sea he loved, meeting adventure in fog and +storm and gale. That was better than a gig on a country road. He was +helping people to be happy. He prized that far more than the wealth he +might have accumulated, or the reputation he might have gained at +home, as a famous physician or surgeon. There is no happiness in the +world to compare with the happiness that comes with the knowledge +that one is making others happy and helping them to better living and +contentment. + +Without knowing it, Grenfell was building a world-fame. If he had +known it, he would not have cared a straw. He was working not for fame +but for results--for the good he could do others. Nothing else has +ever influenced him. Every day he was doing endless good turns without +pay or the thought of pay. In this he was serving not only God but his +country. And he never neglected his athletics, for it was necessary +that he keep his body in the finest physical condition that his brain +might always be keen and alert. Grenfell could not have remained a +year in the field if he had neglected his body, and he was still an +athlete in the pink of condition. + + + + +IX + +IN THE DEEP WILDERNESS + + +Imagine, if you will, a vast primeval wilderness spreading away before +you for hundreds of miles, uninhabited, grim and solitary. None but +wild beasts and the roving Indians that hunt them live there. None but +they know the mysteries that lie hidden and guarded by those trackless +miles of forests and barren reaches of unexplored country. + +And so this wilderness has lain since creation, unmarred by the hand +of civilized man, clean and unsullied, as God made it. The air, laden +with the perfume of spruce and balsam, is pure and wholesome. The +water carries no germs from the refuse of man, and one may drink it +freely, from river and brook and lake, without fear of contamination. +There is no sound to break the silence of ages save the song of river +rapids, the thunder of mighty falls, or the whisper or moan of wind in +the tree tops; or, perchance, the distant cry of a wolf, the weird +laugh of a loon or the honk of the wild goose. + +There are no roads or beaten trails other than the trails of the +caribou, the wild deer that make this their home. The nearest railroad +is half a thousand miles away. Automobiles are unknown and would be +quite useless here. Great rivers and innumerable emerald lakes render +the land impassable for horses. The traveler must make his own trails, +and he must depend in summer upon his canoe or boat, and in winter +upon his snowshoes and his sledge, hauled by great wolf dogs. + +With his gun and traps and fishing gear he must glean his living from +the wilderness or from the sea. If he would have a shelter he must +fell trees with his axe and build it with his own skill. He has little +that his own hands and brain do not provide. He must be resourceful +and self-reliant. + +I venture to say there is not a boy living--a real red-blooded boy or +red-blooded man either for that matter--who has not dreamed of the day +when he might experience the thrill of venturing into such a +wilderness as we have described. This was America as the discoverers +found it, and as it was before the great explorers and adventurers +opened it to civilization. This was Labrador as Grenfell found +Labrador, and as it is to-day--the great "silent peninsula of the +North." It occupies a large corner of the North American continent, +and much of it is still unexplored, a vast, grim, lonely land, but one +of majestic grandeur and beauty. + +[Illustration: "THE DOCTOR ON A WINTER'S JOURNEY"] + +The hardy pioneers and settlers of Labrador, as we have seen, have +made their homes only on the seacoast, leaving the interior to +wandering Indian hunters. They do, to be sure, enter the wilderness +for short distances in winter when they are following their business +as hunters, but none has ever made his home beyond the sound of the +sea. + +In the forests of the south and southeast are the Mountaineer Indians, +as they are called by all English speaking people; or, if we wish to +put on airs and assume French we may call them the _Montaignais_ +Indians. In the North are the Nascaupees, today the most primitive +Indians on the North American continent. In the west and southwest are +the Crees. + +All of these Indians are of the great Algonquin family, and are much +like those that Natty Bumpo chummed with or fought against, and those +who lived in New York and New England when the settlers first came to +what are now our eastern states. Labrador is so large, and there are +so few Indians to occupy it, however, that the explorer may wander +through it for months, as I have done, without ever once seeing the +smoke rising from an Indian tepee or hearing a human voice. + +The Eskimos of the north coast are much like the Eskimos of Greenland, +both in language and in the way they live. Their summer shelters are +skin tents, which they call _tupeks_. In winter they build dome-shaped +houses from blocks of snow, though they sometimes have cave-like +shelters of stone and earth built against the side of a hill. The snow +houses they call _iglooweuks_, or houses of snow; the stone and earth +shelters are _igloosoaks_, or big igloos, the word igloo, in the +Eskimo language, meaning house. When winter comes big snow drifts soon +cover the igloosoaks, and the snow keeps out the wind and cold. As a +further protection, snow tunnels, through which the people crawl on +hands and knees, are built out from the entrance to the igloosoak, and +these keep all drafts, when a gale blows, from those within. + +The Eskimos heat their snow igloos, and in treeless regions their +igloosoaks also, with lamps of hollowed stone. These lamps are made in +the form of a half moon. Seal oil is used as fuel, and a rag, if there +is any to be had, or moss, resting upon the straight side of the lamp, +does service as the wick. + +Of course the snow igloos must never be permitted to get so warm that +the snow will melt. The temperature in a snow house is therefore kept +at about thirty degrees, or a little lower. Nevertheless it is +comfortable enough, when the temperature outside is perhaps forty or +fifty degrees below zero and quite likely a stiff breeze blowing. +Comfort is always a matter of comparison. I have spent a good many +nights in snow houses, and was always glad to enjoy the comfort they +offered. To the traveler who has been in the open all day, the snow +house is a cozy retreat and a snug enough place to rest and sleep in. + +On the east coast the Eskimos are more civilized and live much like +the liveyeres. All Eskimos are kind hearted, hospitable people. Once, +I remember, when an Eskimo host noticed that the bottom of my sealskin +mocasins had worn through to the stocking, he pulled those he wore off +his feet, and insisted upon me wearing them. He had others, to be +sure, but they were not so good as those he gave me. No matter how +poorly off he is, an Eskimo will feel quite offended if a visitor does +not share with him what he has to eat. + +Though Dr. Grenfell's hospitals are farther south, on the coast where +the liveyeres have their cabins, he cruises northward to the Eskimo +country of the east coast every summer, and in the summer has nursing +stations there. Sometimes, when there is a case demanding it, he +brings the sick Eskimos to one of the hospitals. But, generally, the +east coast Eskimos are looked after by the Moravian Brethren in their +missions, and in summer Dr. Grenfell calls at the missions to give +them his medical and surgical assistance. + +As stated before, the liveyeres and others than the Indians, build +their cabins on the coast, usually on the shores of bays, but always +by the salt water and where they can hear the sound of the sea. Every +man of them is a hunter or a fisherman or both, and the boys grow up +with guns in their hands, and pulling at an oar or sailing a boat. +They begin as soon as they can walk to learn the ways of the +wilderness and of the wild things that live in it, and they are good +sailors and know a great deal about the sea and the fish while they +are still wee lads. That is to be their profession, and they are +preparing for it. + +The Labrador home of the liveyere usually contains two rooms, but +occasionally three, though there are many, especially north of +Hamilton Inlet, of but a single room. All have an enclosed lean-to +porch at the entrance. This serves not only as a protection from +drifting snow in winter, but as a place where stovewood is piled, dog +harness and snowshoes are hung, and various articles stored. + +In the cabin is a large wood-burning stove, the first and most +important piece of furniture. There is a home-made table and sometimes +a home-made chair or two, though usually chests in which clothing and +furs are stored are utilized also as seats. A closet built at one side +holds the meager supply of dishes. On a mantelshelf the clock ticks, +if the cabin boasts one, and by its side rests a well-thumbed Bible. + +Bunks, built against the rear of the room, serve as beds. If there is +a second room, it supplies additional sleeping quarters, with bunks +built against the walls as in the living room. Travelers and visitors +carry their own sleeping bags and bedding with them and sleep upon the +floor. This is the sort of bed Dr. Grenfell enjoys when sleeping at +night in a liveyere's home. + +On the beams overhead are rifles and shotguns, always within easy +reach, for a shot at some game may offer at any time. The side walls +of the cabins are papered with old newspapers, or illustrations cut +from old magazines. + +The more thrifty and cleanly scrub floors, tables, doors and all +woodwork with soap and sand once a week, until everything is +spotlessly clean. But along the coast one comes upon cabins often +enough that appear never to have had a cleaning day, and in which the +odor of seal oil and fish is heavy. + +Those of the Newfoundland fishermen that bring their families to the +coast live in all sorts of cabins. Some are well built and +comfortable, while others are merely sod-covered huts with earthen +floor. These are occupied, however, only during the fishing season. +The fishermen move into them early in July and begin to leave them +early in September. + +As stated elsewhere, no farming can be done in Labrador, and the only +way men can make a living is by hunting and fishing. Eskimos seldom +venture far inland on their hunting and trapping expeditions, but some +of the liveyeres go fifty or sixty miles from the coast to set their +traps, and some of those in Hamilton Inlet go up the Grand River for a +distance of more than two hundred and fifty miles, and others go up +the Nascaupee River for upwards of a hundred miles. + +Trapping is all done in winter and it is a lonely and adventurous +calling. Early in September, the men who go the greatest distance +inland set out for their trapping grounds. Usually two men go +together. They build a small log hut called a "tilt," about eight by +ten feet in size. Against each of two sides a bunk is made of saplings +and covered with spruce or balsam boughs. On the boughs the sleeping +bags are spread, and the result is a comfortable bed. The bunks also +serve as seats. A little sheet iron stove that weighs, including +stovepipe, about eighteen pounds and is easy to transport, heats the +tilt, and answers very well for the trapper's simple cooking. The +stovepipe, protruding through the roof, serves as a chimney. + +The main tilt is used as a base of supplies, and here reserve +provisions are stored together with accumulations of furs as they are +caught. Fat salt pork, flour, baking powder or soda, salt, tea and +Barbadoes molasses complete the list of provisions carried into the +wilderness from the trading post. Other provisions must be hunted. + +Each man provides himself with a frying pan, a tin cup, a spoon or +two, a tin pail to serve as a tea kettle and sometimes a slightly +larger pail for cooking. On his belt he carries a sheath knife, which +he uses for cooking, skinning, eating and general utility. He rarely +encumbers himself with a fork. + +For use on the trail each man has a stove similar to the one that +heats the tilt, a small cotton tent, and a toboggan. + +From the base tilt the trapping paths or trails lead out. Each trapper +has a path which he has established and which he works alone. He +hauls his sleeping bag, provisions and other equipment on his +toboggan or, as he calls it, "flat sled." He carries his rifle in his +hand and his ax is stowed on the toboggan, for he never knows when a +quick shot will get him a pelt or a day's food. + +Sometimes tilts are built along the path at the end of a day's +journey, but if there is no tilt the cotton tent is pitched. In likely +places traps are set for marten, mink or fox. Ice prevents trapping +for the otter in winter, but they are often shot. + +At the end of a week or fortnight the partners meet at the base tilt. +Otherwise each man is alone, and we may imagine how glad they are to +see each other when the meeting time comes. But they cannot be idle. +Out through the snow-covered forest, along the shores of frozen lakes +and on wide bleak marshes the trapper has one hundred traps at least, +and some of them as many as three hundred. The men must keep busy to +look after them properly, and so, after a Sunday's rest together they +again separate and are away on their snowshoes hauling their toboggans +after them. + +At Christmas time they go back to their homes, down by the sea, to see +their wives and children and to make merry for a week. What a meeting +that always is! How eagerly the little ones have been looking forward +to the day when Daddy would come! O, that blessed Christmas week! But +it is only seven days long, and on the second day of January the +trappers are away again to their tilts and trails and traps. Again +early in March they visit their homes for another week, and then again +return to the deep wilderness to remain there until June. + +Sometimes the father never comes back, and then the wilderness carries +in its heart the secret of his end. Then, oh, those hours of happy +expectancy that become days of grave anxiety and finally weeks of +black despair! Such a case happened once when I was in Labrador. Later +they found the young trapper's body where the man had perished, +seventy miles from his home. + +As I have said, the life of the trapper is filled with adventure. Many +a narrow escape he has, but he never loses his grit. He cannot afford +to. Gilbert Blake was one of four trappers that rescued me several +years ago, when I had been on short rations in the wilderness for +several weeks, and without food for two weeks. I had eaten my +moccasins, my feet were frozen and I was so weak I could not walk. +Gilbert and I have been friends since then and we later traveled the +wilderness together. Gilbert has no trapping partner. His "path" is a +hundred miles inland from his home. All winter, with no other +companion than a little dog, he works alone in that lonely wilderness. + +One winter game was scarce, and Gilbert's provisions were practically +exhausted when he set out to strike up his traps preparatory to his +visit home in March. He was several miles from his tilt when suddenly +one of his snowshoes broke beyond repair. He could not move a step +without snowshoes, for the snow lay ten feet deep. He had no skin with +him with which to net another snowshoe, even if he were to make the +frame; and he had nothing to eat. + +A Labrador blizzard came on, and Gilbert for three days was held +prisoner in his tent. He spent his time trying to make a serviceable +snowshoe with netting woven from parts of his clothing torn into +strips. When at last the storm ended and he struck his tent he was +famished. + +Packing his things on his toboggan he set out for the tilt, but had +gone only a short distance when the improvised snowshoe broke. He made +repeated efforts to mend it, but always it broke after a few steps +forward. He was in a desperate situation. + +He had now been nearly three days without eating. He was still several +miles from the tilt where he had a scant supply that had been reserved +for his journey home. To proceed to the tilt was obviously impossible, +and he could only perish by remaining where he was. + +Utterly exhausted after a fruitless effort to flounder forward, he sat +down upon his flatsled, and looked out over the silent snow waste. +Weakened with hunger, it seemed to him that he had reached the end of +his endurance. So far as he knew there was not another human being +within a hundred miles of where he sat, and he had no expectation or +slightest hope of any one coming to his assistance. "I was scrammed," +said he, which meant, in our vernacular, he was "all in." + +Gilbert is a fine Christian man, and all the time, as he told me in +relating his experience, he had been praying God to show him a way to +safety. He never was a coward, and he was not afraid to die, for he +had faced death many times before and men of the wilderness become +accustomed to the thought that sometime, out there in the silence and +alone, the hand of the grim messenger may grasp them. But he was +afraid for Mrs. Blake and the four little ones at home. Were he to +perish there would be no one to earn a living for them. He was +frightened to think of the privations those he loved would suffer. + +Suddenly, in the distance, he glimpsed two objects moving over the +snow. As they came nearer he discovered that they were men. He shouted +and waved his arms, and there was an answering signal. Presently two +Mountaineer Indians approached, hauling loaded toboggans, laughing and +shouting a greeting as they recognized him. + +"'Twas an answer to my prayers," said Gilbert in relating the incident +to me. "I was fair scrammed when I saw them Indians. They were the +first Indians I had seen the whole winter. They weren't pretty, but +just then they looked to me like angels from heaven, and just as +pretty as any angels could look." + +The Indians had recently made a killing, and their toboggans were +loaded with fresh caribou meat. They made Gilbert eat until they +nearly killed him with kindness, and they had an extra pair of +snowshoes, which they gave him. + +This is the life of the trapper on The Labrador. This is the sort of +man he is--hardy, patient, brave and reverent. He is a man of grit and +daring, as he must be to cheerfully meet, with a stout heart and a +smile, the constant hardships and adventures that beset him. + +Dr. Grenfell declares that it is no hardship to devote his life to +helping men like this. His work among them brings constant joy to him. +They appreciate him, and he has grown to look upon them as all members +of his big family. He takes a personal and devoted interest in each. +It is a great comfort to the men to know that if any are sick or +injured at home while they are away on the trails the mission doctor +will do his best to heal them. Before Grenfell went to The Labrador +there was no doctor to call upon the whole winter through. + +The trapping season for fur ends in April. Then the trapper "strikes +up" his traps, hangs them in trees where he will find them the +following fall, packs his belongings on his toboggan and returns home, +unless he is to remain to hunt bear. In that case he must wait for the +bears to come forth from their winter's sleep, and this will keep the +hunter in the wilderness until after the "break-up" comes and the ice +goes out. Those who go far inland usually wait in any case until the +ice is out of the streams and boat or canoe traveling is possible and +safe. + +The break-up sets in, usually, early in June. Then come torrential +rains. The snow-covered wilderness is transformed into a sea of slush. +New brooks rise everywhere and pour down with rush and roar into lakes +and rivers. The rivers over-flow their banks. Trees are uprooted and +are swept forward on the flood. Broken ice jams and pounds its way +through the rapids with sound like thunder. The spring break-up is an +inspiring and wonderful spectacle. + +When the hunting season ends and the trappers return from their winter +trails, they enjoy a respite at home mending fishing nets, repairing +boats and making things tidy and ship-shape for the summer's fishing. +Everyone is now looking forward with keen anticipation to the first +run of fish. From the time the ice goes out all one hears along the +coast is talk of fish. "Any signs of fish, b'y?" One hears it +everywhere, for everybody is asking everybody else that question. + +In Hamilton Inlet and Sandwich Bay salmon fisheries are of chief +importance. Salmon here are all salted down in barrels and not tinned, +as on the Pacific coast. Once there was a salmon cannery in Sandwich +Bay, but the Hudson's Bay Company bought it and demolished it, as +there was doubtless less work and more profit for the Company in +salted salmon. Elsewhere the fisheries are mainly for cod. + +In a frontier land it is not easy to earn a living. Everybody must +work hard all the time. Men, women, boys and girls all do their share +at the fishing. Women and children help to split and cure the fish. It +is a proud day for any lad when he is big enough and strong enough to +pull a stroke with the heavy oar, and go out to sea with his father. + +The Labrador, or Arctic, current now and again keeps ice drifting +along the coast the whole summer through. When ice is there fishermen +cannot set their nets and fish traps, for the ice would tear the gear +and ruin it. Neither can they fish successfully with hook and line +when the ice is in. When this happens few fish are caught. + +Then, too, there are seasons when game and animals move away from +certain regions, and then the trapper cannot get them. Perhaps they go +farther inland, and too far for him to follow. I have seen times when +ptarmigans were so thick men killed them for dog food, and perhaps the +next year there would not be a ptarmigan to be found to put into the +pot for dinner. I have seen the snow trampled down everywhere in the +woods and among the brush by innumerable snowshoe rabbits, and I have +seen other years when not a single rabbit track was to be found +anywhere. It is the same with caribou and the fur bearing animals as +well. In those years when game is scarce the people are hard put to it +to get a bit of fresh meat to eat. + +When no fresh meat is to be had salt fish, bread (rarely with butter) +and tea, with molasses as sweetening, is the diet. There is no milk, +even for the babies. If all the salt fish has been sold or traded in +for flour and tea, bread and tea three times a day is all there is to +eat. + +People cannot keep well on just bread and tea, or even bread and salt +fish and tea. It is not hard for us to imagine how we would feel if +every meal we had day in and day out was only bread and tea, and +sometimes not enough of that. + + + + +X + +THE SEAL HUNTER + + +No less perilous is the business of fisherman and sealer than that of +hunter and trapper. Every turn a man makes down on The Labrador is +likely to carry him into some adventure that will place his life in +danger, at sea as on land. But there is no way out of it if a living +is to be made. + +It is a strange fact that one never recognizes a great deal of danger +in the life that one is accustomed to living, no matter how perilous +it may seem to others. If a Labradorman were to come to any of our +towns or cities his heart would be in his mouth at every turn, for a +time at least, dodging automobiles and street cars. It would appear to +him an exceedingly hazardous existence that we live, and he would long +to be back to the peace and quiet and safety of his sea and +wilderness. And our streets would be dangerous ground to him, indeed, +until he became accustomed to dodging motor cars. He is nimble enough, +and on his own ground could put most of us to shame in that respect, +but here he is lacking in experience. + +The same hunter will face the storms and solitude of the wilderness +trail without ever once feeling that he is in danger or afraid. He +knows how to do it. That is the life that he has been reared to live. +The average city man would perish in a day if left alone to care for +himself on a trapper's trail. He has never learned the business, and +he would not know how to take care of himself. + +The Labradorman being both hunter and fisherman, is perfectly at home +both in the wilderness and on the sea. He has the dangers of both to +meet, but he does not recognize them as dangerous callings, though +every year some mate or neighbor loses his life. "'Tis the way o' th' +Lard." + +Ice still covers the Labrador harbors in May, and this is when the +seal hunt begins, or, as the liveyere says, he goes "swileing." He +calls a seal a "swile." With a harpoon attached to a long line he +stations himself at a breathing hole in the ice which the seals under +the ice have kept open, and out of which, now and again, one raises +its nose and fills its lungs with air, for seals are animals, not +fish, and must have air to breathe or they will drown. The hole is a +small one, but large enough to cast the spear, or harpoon, into. + +Seals are exceedingly shy animals, and the slightest movement will +frighten them away. Therefore the seal hunter must stand perfectly +still, like a graven image, with harpoon poised, and that is pretty +cold work in zero weather. If luck is with him he will after a time +see a small movement in the water, and a moment later a seal's nose +will appear. Then like a flash of lightning, he casts the harpoon, and +if his aim is good, as it usually is, a seal is fast on the barbs of +the harpoon. + +The harpoon point is attached to a long line, while the harpoon shaft, +by an ingenious arrangement, will slip free from the point. Now, while +the shaft remains in the hands of the hunter, the line begins running +rapidly down through the hole, for the seal in a vain endeavor to free +itself dives deeply. The other end of the line also remaining in the +hands of the hunter is fastened to the shaft of the harpoon, and there +is a struggle. In time, the seal, unable to return to its hole for +air, is drowned, and then is hauled out through the hole upon the ice. + +These north Atlantic seals, having no fine fur like the Pacific seals, +are chiefly valuable for their fat. The pelts are, however, of +considerable value to the natives. The women tan them and make them +into watertight boots or other clothing. Of course a good many of them +find their way to civilization, where they are made into pocketbooks +and bags, and they make a very fine tough leather indeed. The flesh is +utilized for dog food, though, as in the case of young seals +particularly, it is often eaten by the people, particularly when other +sorts of meat is scarce. Most of the people, and particularly the +Eskimos, are fond of the flippers and liver. + +Sometimes the seals come out of their holes to lie on the ice and +bask in the sun. Then the hunter, simulating the movements of a seal, +crawls toward his game until he is within rifle shot. + +Should a gale of wind arise suddenly, the ice may be separated into +pans and drift abroad before the seal hunters can make their escape to +land. In that case a hunter may be driven to sea on an ice pan, and he +is fortunate if his neighbors discover him and rescue him in boats. + +After the ice goes out, those who own seal nets set them, and a great +many seals are caught in this way. At this season the seals frequently +are seen sunning themselves on the shore rocks, and the hunters stalk +and shoot them. + +Newfoundlanders carry on their sealing in steamers built for the +purpose. They go out to the great ice floe, far out to sea and quite +too far for the liveyeres to reach in small craft. Here the seals are +found in thousands. These vessels, depending upon the size, bring home +a cargo sometimes numbering as many as 20,000 to 30,000 seals in a +single ship, and there are about twenty-five ships in the fleet. + +This terrible slaughter has seriously decreased the numbers. The +Labrador Eskimos used to depend upon them largely for their living. +They can do this no longer, for not every season, as formerly, are +there enough seals to supply needs. All of the five varieties of North +Atlantic seals are caught on the coast--harbor, jar, harp, hooded and +square flipper. The last named is also called the great bearded seal +and sometimes the sealion. The first named is the smallest of all. + +Scarce a year passes that we do not hear of a serious disaster in the +Newfoundland sealing fleet. Sometimes severe snow storms arise when +the men are hunting on the floe, and then the men are often lost. +Sometimes the ships are crushed in the big floe and go to the bottom. +The latest of these disasters was the disappearance of the _Southern +Cross_, with a crew of one hundred seventy-five men. + +One of my good friends, Captain Jacob Kean, used to command the +_Virginia Lake_, one of the largest of the sealers. She carried a crew +of about two hundred men. A few years before Captain Kean lost his +life in one of the awful sea disasters of the coast, he related to me +one of his experiences at the sealing. + +Captain Kean was in luck that year, and found the seals early and in +great numbers. The crew had made a good hunt on the floe, and they are +loading them with about a third of a cargo aboard when suddenly the +ice closed in and the _Virginia Lake_ was "pinched," with the result +that a good sized hole was broken in her planking on the port side +forward below the water line. The sea rushed in, and it looked for a +time as though the vessel would sink, and there were not boats enough +to accommodate the crew even if boats could have been used, which was +hardly possible under the conditions, for the sea was clogged with +heaving ice pans. + +The pumps were manned, and Captain Kean, and with every man not +working the pumps, with feverish haste shifted the cargo to the +starboard side and aft. Presently, with the weight shifted, the ship +lay over on her starboard side and her bow rose above the water until +the crushed planking and the hole were above the water line. + +The hole now exposed, Captain Kean stuffed it with sea biscuit, or +hardtack. Over this he nailed a covering of canvas. Tubs of butter +were brought up, and the canvas thoroughly and thickly buttered. This +done, a sheathing of planking was spiked on over the buttered canvas. +Then the cargo was re-shifted into place, the vessel settled back upon +an even keel, and it was found that the leak was healed. The sea +biscuit, absorbing moisture, swelled, and this together with the +canvas, butter and planking proved effectual. Captain Kean loaded his +ship with seals and took her into St. John's harbor safely with a full +cargo. + +The following year the _Virginia Lake_ was again pinched by the ice, +but this time was lost. Captain Kean and his crew took refuge on the +ice floe, and were fortunately rescued by another sealer. When Captain +Kean lost his life a few years later the sealing fleet lost one of its +most successful masters. He was a fine Christian gentleman and as able +a seaman as ever trod a bridge. + +But this is the life of the sealer and the fisherman of the northern +sees. Terrible storms sometimes sweep down that rugged, barren coast +and leave behind them a harvest of wrecked vessels and drowned men and +destitute families that have lost their only support. + +These were the conditions that Grenfell found in Labrador, and this +was the breed of men, these hunters and trappers, fishermen and +sealers--sturdy, honest, God-fearing folk--with whom Grenfell took up +his life. He had elected to share with them the hardships of their +desolate land and the perils of their ice-choked sea. They needed him, +and to them he offered a service that was Christ-like in its breadth +and devotion. + +It was a peculiar field. No ordinary man could have entered it with +hope of success. Mere ability as a physician and surgeon of wide +experience was not enough. In addition to this, success demanded that +he be a Christian gentleman with high ideals, and freedom from +bigotry. Courage, moral as well as physical, was a necessity. Only a +man who was himself a fearless and capable navigator could make the +rounds of the coast and respond promptly to the hurried and urgent +calls to widely separated patients. Constant exposure to hardship and +peril demanded a strong body and a level head. Balanced judgment, high +executive and administrative ability, deep insight into human +character and unbounded sympathy for those who suffered or were in +trouble were indispensable characteristics. All of these attributes +Grenfell possessed. + +A short time before Mr. Moody's death, Grenfell met Moody and told him +of the inspiration he had received from that sermon, delivered in +London many years before by the great evangelist. + +"What have you been doing since?" asked Moody. + +What has Grenfell been doing since? He has established hospitals at +Battle Harbor, Indian Harbor, Harrington and Northwest River in +Labrador, and at St. Anthony in northeastern Newfoundland. He has +established schools and nursing stations both in Labrador and +Newfoundland. He has built and maintains two orphanages. He founded +the Seamen's Institute in St. Johns. + +Year after year, since that summer's day when the _Albert_ anchored in +Domino Run and Grenfell first met the men of the Newfoundland fishing +fleet and the liveyeres of the Labrador coast, winter and summer, +Grenfell himself and the doctors that assist him have patrolled that +long desolate coast giving the best that was in them to the people +that lived there. Grenfell has preached the Word, fed the hungry, +clothed the naked, sheltered the homeless and righted many wrongs. He +has fought disease and poverty, evil and oppression. Hardship, peril +and prejudice have fallen to his lot, but he has met them with a +courage and determination that never faltered, and he is still "up and +at it." + +Grenfell's life has been a life of service to others. Freely and +joyfully he has given himself and all that was in him to the work of +making others happier, and the people of the coast love and trust him. +With pathetic confidence they lean upon him and call him in their +need, as children lean upon their father, and he has never failed to +respond. When a man who had lost a leg felt the need for an artificial +one, he appealed to Grenfell: + + Docter plase I whant to see you. Docter sir have you got a + leg if you have Will you plase send him Down Praps he may + fet and you would oblig. + +One who wished clothing for his family wrote: + + To Dr. Gransfield + Dear honrabel Sir, + I would be pleased to ask you Sir if you would be pleased to + give me and my wife a littel poor close. I was going in the + Bay to cut some wood. But I am all amost blind and cant Do + much so if you would spear me some Sir I would Be very + thankful to you Sir. + +Calls to visit the sick are continuously received. The following are +genuine examples: + + Reverance dr. Grandfell. Dear sir we are expecting you hup + and we would like for you to come so quick as you can for my + dater is very sick with a very large sore under her left + harm we emenangin that the old is two enchis deep and two + enches wide plase com as quick as you can to save life I + remains yours truely. + + Docker--Please wel you send me somting for the pain in my + feet and what you proismed to send my little boy. Docker I + am almost cripple, it is up my hips, I can hardly walk. This + is my housban is gaining you this note. + + doctor--i have a compleant i ham weak with wind on the + chest, weakness all over me up in my harm. + + Dear Dr. Grenfell. + I would like for you to Have time to come Down to my House + Before you leaves to go to St. Anthony. My little Girl is + very Bad. it seems all in Her neck. Cant Ply her Neck + forward if do she nearly goes in the fits. i dont know what + it is the matter with Her myself. But if you would see Her + you would know what the matter with Her. Please send a word + by the Bearer what gives you this note and let me know where + you will have time to come down to my House, i lives down + the Bay a Place called Berry Head. + +These people are made of the same clay as you and I. They are moved by +the same human emotions. They love those who are near and dear to them +no less than we love those who are near and dear to us. The same +heights or depths of joy and sorrow, hopes and disappointments enter +into their lives. In the following chapters let us meet some of them, +and travel with Doctor Grenfell as he goes about his work among them. + + + + +XI + +UNCLE WILLIE WOLFREY + + +One bitterly cold day in winter our dog team halted before a cabin. We +had been hailed as we were passing by the man of the house. He gave us +a hearty hand shake and invitation to have "a drop o' tea and a bit to +eat," adding, "you'd never ha' been passin' without stoppin' for a cup +o' tea to warm you up, whatever." It was early, and we had intended to +stop farther on to boil our kettle in the edge of the woods with as +little loss of time as possible, but there was no getting away from +the hospitality of the liveyere. + +There were three of us, and we were as hungry as bears, for there is +nothing like snowshoe traveling in thirty and forty degrees below zero +weather to give one an appetite. As we entered we sniffed a delicious +odor of roasting meat, and that one sniff made us glad we had stopped, +and made us equally certain we had never before in our lives been so +hungry for a good meal. For days we had been subsisting on hardtack +and jerked venison, two articles of food that will not freeze for they +contain no moisture, and tea; or, when we stopped at a cabin, on bread +and tea. The man's wife was already placing plates, cups and saucers +on the bare table for us, and two little boys were helping with hungry +eagerness. + +"Hang your adikeys on the pegs there and get warmed up," our host +invited. "Dinner's a'most ready. 'Tis a wonderful frosty day to be +cruisin'." + +We did as he directed, and then seated ourselves on chests that he +pulled forward for seats. He had many questions to ask concerning the +folk to the northward, their health and their luck at the winter's +trapping, until, presently, the woman brought forth from the oven and +placed upon the table a pan of deliciously browned, smoking meat. + +"Set in! Set in!" beamed our host. "'Tis fine you comes today and not +yesterday," adding as we drew up to the table: "All we'd been havin' +to give you yesterday and all th' winter, were bread and tea. Game's +been wonderful scarce, and this is the first bit o' meat we has th' +whole winter, barrin' a pa'tridge or two in November. But this marnin' +I finds a lynx in one o' my traps, and a fine prime skin he has. I'll +show un to you after we eats, though he's on the dryin' board and you +can't see the fur of he." + +We bowed our heads while the host asked the blessing. The Labradorman +rarely omits the blessing, and often the meal is closed with a final +thanks, for men of the wilderness live near to God. He is very near to +them and they reverence Him. + +"Help yourself, sir! Help yourself!" + +Each of us helped himself sparingly to the cat meat. There was bread, +but no butter, and there was hot tea with black molasses for +sweetening. + +"Take more o' th' meat now! Help yourselves! Don't be afraid of un," +our hospitable host urged, and we did help ourselves again, for it was +good. + +Whenever we passed within hailing distance of a cabin, we had to stop +for a "cup o' hot tea, whatever." Otherwise the people would have felt +sorely hurt. We seldom found more elaborate meals than bread, tea and +molasses, rarely butter, and of course never any vegetables. + +We soon discovered that we could not pay the head of the family for +our entertainment, but where there were children we left money with +the mother with which to buy something for the little ones, which +doubtless would be clothing or provisions for the family. If there +were no children we left the money on the table or somewhere where it +surely would be discovered after our departure. + +I remember one of this fine breed of men well. I met him on this +journey, and he once drove dog team for me--Uncle Willie Wolfrey. +Doctor Grenfell says of him: + +"Uncle Willie isn't a scholar, a social light, or a capitalist +magnate, but all the same ten minutes' visit to Uncle Willie Wolfrey +is worth five dollars of any man's investment." + +It requires a lot of physical energy for any man to tramp the trails +day after day through a frigid, snow-covered wilderness, and months +of it at a stretch. It is a big job for a young and hearty man, and a +tremendous one for a man of Uncle Willie's years. And it is a man's +job, too, to handle a boat in all weather, in calm and in gale, in +clear and in fog, sixteen to twenty hours a day, and the fisherman's +day is seldom shorter than that. The fish must be caught when they are +there to be caught, and they must be split and salted the day they are +caught, and then there's the work of spreading them on the "flakes," +and turning them, and piling and covering them when rain threatens. + +A cataract began to form on Uncle Willie's eyes, and every day he +could see just a little less plainly than the day before. The +prospects were that he would soon be blind, and without his eyesight +he could neither hunt nor fish. + +But with his growing age and misfortune Uncle Willie was never a whit +less cheerful. He had to earn his living and he kept at his work. + +"'Tis the way of the Lard," said he. "He's blessed me with fine health +all my life, and kept the house warm, and we've always had a bit to +eat, whatever. The Lard has been wonderful good to us, and I'll never +be complainin'." + +It was never Uncle Willie's way to complain about hard luck. He always +did his best, and somehow, no matter how hard a pinch in which he +found himself, it always came out right in the end. + +Finally Uncle Willie's eyesight became so poor that it was difficult +for him to see sufficiently to get around, and one day last summer +(1921) he stepped off his fish stage where he was at work, and the +fall broke his thigh. This happened at the very beginning of the +fishing season, and put an end to the summer's fishing for Uncle +Willie, and, of course, to all hope of hunting and trapping during +last winter. + +Then Doctor Grenfell happened along with his brave old hospital ship +_Strathcona_. Dr. Grenfell has a way of happening along just when +people are desperately in need of him. With Dr. Grenfell was Dr. +Morlan, a skillful and well-known eye and throat specialist from +Chicago. Dr. Morlan was spending his holiday with Dr. Grenfell, +helping heal the sick down on The Labrador, giving free his services +and his great skill. + +Dr. Grenfell set and dressed Uncle Willie Wolfrey's broken thigh. Dr. +Morlan was to remain but a few days. If he were to help Uncle Willie's +eyes there could be no time given for a recovery from the operation on +the thigh. Uncle Willie was game for it. + +They had settled Uncle Willie comfortably at Indian Harbor Hospital, +and immediately the thigh was set Dr. Morlan operated upon one of the +eyes. The operation was successful, and when the freeze-up came with +the beginning of winter, Uncle Willie, hobbling about on crutches and +with one good eye was home again in his cabin. + +Uncle Willie lives in a lonely place, and for many miles north and +south he has but one neighbor. The outlook for the winter was dismal +indeed. His flour barrel was empty. He had no money. + +But that stout old heart could not be discouraged or subdued. Uncle +Willie was as full of grit as ever he was in his life. He was still a +fountain of cheery optimism and hope. He could see with one eye now, +and out of that eye the world looked like a pretty good place in which +to live, and he was decided to make the best of it. + +Dr. Grenfell, passing down the coast, called in to see the crippled +old fisherman and hunter, and in commenting on that visit he said: + +"There are certain men it always does one good to meet. Uncle Willie +is a channel of blessing. His sincerity and faith do one good. There +is always a merry glint in his eye. Even with one eye out, and his +crutches on, and his prospect of hunger, Uncle Willie was just the +same." + +Dr. Grenfell left some money, donated by the Doctor's friends, and +made other provisions for the comfort of Uncle Willie Wolfrey during +the winter. If all goes well he will be at his fishing again, when the +ice clears away; and the snows of another winter will see him again on +his trapping path setting traps for martens and foxes. And with his +rifle and one good eye, who knows but he may knock over a silver fox +or a bear or two? + +Good luck to Uncle Willie Wolfrey and his spirit, which cannot be +downed. + +As Dr. Grenfell has often said, the Labradorman is a fountain of faith +and hope and inspiration. If the fishing season is a failure he turns +to his winter's trapping with unwavering faith that it will yield him +well. If his trapping fails his hope and faith are none the less when +he sets out in the spring to hunt seals. Seals may be scarce and the +reward poor, but never mind! The summer fishing is at hand, and _this_ +year it will certainly bring a good catch! "The Lard be wonderful good +to us, _what_ever." + + + + +XII + +A DOZEN FOX TRAPS + + +On that same voyage along the coast when Uncle Willie Wolfrey was +found with a broken thigh, Dr. Grenfell, after he had operated upon +Uncle Willie, in the course of his voyage, stopping at many harbors to +give medical assistance to the needy ones, ran in one day to Kaipokok +Bay, at Turnavik Islands. + +As the vessel dropped her anchor he observed a man sitting on the +rocks eagerly watching the ship. The jolly boat was launched, and as +it approached the land the man arose and coming down to the water's +edge, shouted: + +"Be that you, Doctor?" + +"Yes, Uncle Tom, it is I?" the Doctor shouted back, for he had already +recognized Uncle Tom, one of the fine old men of the coast. + +When Grenfell stepped ashore and took Uncle Tom's hand in a hearty +grasp, the old man broke down and cried like a child. Uncle Tom was +evidently in keen distress. + +"Oh, Doctor, I'm so glad you comes. I were lookin' for you, Doctor," +said the old man in a voice broken by emotion. "I were watchin' and +watchin' out here on the rocks, not knowin' whether you'd be comin' +this way, but hopin', and prayin' the Lard to send you. He sends you, +Doctor. 'Twere the Lard sends you when I'm needin' you, sir, sorely +needin' you." + +Uncle Tom is seventy years of age. He was born and bred on The +Labrador, but he has not spent all his life there. In his younger days +he shipped as a sailor, and as a seaman saw many parts of the world. +But long ago he returned to his home to settle down as a fisherman and +a trapper. + +When the war came, the brave old soul, stirred by patriotism, paid his +own passage and expenses on the mail boat to St. Johns, and offered to +volunteer for service. Of course he was too old and was rejected +because of his age. + +Uncle Tom, his patriotism not in the least dampened, returned to his +Labrador home and divided all the fur of his winter's hunt into two +equal piles. To one pile he added a ten dollar bill, and that pile, +with the ten dollars added, he shipped at once to the "Patriotic Fund" +in St. Johns. He had offered himself, and they would not take him, and +this was all he could do to help win the war, and he did it freely and +wistfully, out of his noble, generous patriotic soul. + +"What is the trouble, Uncle Tom?" asked Grenfell, when Uncle Tom had +to some extent regained his composure, and the old man told his +story. + +He was in hard luck. Late the previous fall (1920) or early in the +winter he had met with a severe accident that had resulted in several +broken ribs. Navigation had closed, and he was cut off from all +surgical assistance, and his broken ribs had never had attention and +had not healed. He could scarcely draw a breath without pain, or even +rest without pain at night, and he could not go to his trapping path. + +He depended upon his winter's hunt mainly for support, and with no fur +to sell he was, for the first time in his life, compelled to contract +a debt. Then, suddenly, the trader with whom he dealt discontinued +giving credit. Uncle Tom was stranded high and dry, and when the +fishing season came he had no outfit or means of purchasing one, and +could not go fishing. + +Besides his wife there were six children in Uncle Tom's family, though +none of them was his own or related to him. When the "flu" came to the +coast in 1918, and one out of every five of the people around Turnavik +Islands died, several little ones were left homeless and orphans. The +generous hearts of Uncle Tom and his wife opened to them and they took +these six children into their home as their own. And so it happened +that Uncle Tom had, and still has, a large family depending upon him. + +"As we neared the cottage," said Doctor Grenfell, "his good wife, +beaming from head to foot as usual, came out to greet us. Optimist to +the last ditch, she _knew_ that somehow provision would be made. She, +too, had had her troubles, for twice she had been operated on at +Indian Harbor for cancer." + +Uncle Tom must have suffered severely during all those months that he +had lived with his broken ribs uncared for. Now Dr. Grenfell, without +loss of time, strapped them up good and tight. Mrs. Grenfell supplied +the six youngsters with a fine outfit of good warm clothes, and when +Dr. Grenfell sailed out of Kaipokok Bay Uncle Tom and Mrs. Tom had no +further cause for worry concerning the source from which provisions +would come for themselves and the six orphans they had adopted. + +These are but a few incidents in the life of the people to whom Dr. +Grenfell is devoting his skill and his sympathy year in and year out. +I could relate enough of them to fill a dozen volumes like this, but +space is limited. + +There is always hardship and always will be in a frontier land like +Labrador, and Labrador north of Cape Charles is the most primitive of +frontier lands. Dr. Grenfell and his helpers find plenty to do in +addition to giving out medicines and dressing wounds. A little boost +sometimes puts a family on its feet, raising it from abject poverty to +independence and self-respect. Just a little momentum to push them +over the line. Grenfell knows how to do this. + +Several years ago Dr. Grenfell anchored his vessel in Big Bight, and +went ashore to visit David Long. David had had a hard winter, and +among other kindnesses to the family, Dr. Grenfell presented David's +two oldest boys, lads of fifteen or sixteen or thereabouts, with a +dozen steel fox traps. Lack of traps had prevented the boys taking +part in trapping during the previous winter. + +The next year after giving the boys the traps, Grenfell again cast +anchor in Big Bight, and, as usual, rowed ashore to visit the Longs. +There was great excitement in their joyous greeting. Something +important had happened. There was no doubt of that! David and Mrs. +Long and the two lads and all the little Longs were exuding mystery, +but particularly the two lads. Whatever this mysterious secret was +they could scarce keep it until they had led Dr. Grenfell into the +cabin, and he was comfortably seated. + +Then, with vast importance and some show of deliberate dignity, David +opened a chest. From its depths he drew forth a pelt. Dr. Grenfell +watched with interest while David shook it to make the fur stand out +to best advantage, and then held up to his admiring gaze the skin of a +beautiful silver fox! The lads had caught it in one of the dozen traps +he had given them. + +"We keeps un for you," announced David exultantly. + +"It's a prime one, too!" exclaimed the Doctor, duly impressed, as he +examined it. + +"She _be_ that," emphasized David proudly. "No finer were caught on +the coast the winter." + +"It was a good winter's work," said the Doctor. + +"'Twere _that_ now! 'Twere a _wonder_ful good winter's work--just +t'cotch that un!" enthused Mrs. Long. + +"What are you going to do with it?" asked Doctor Grenfell. + +"We keeps un for you," said David. "The time was th' winter when we +has ne'er a bit o' grub but what we hunts, all of our flour and +molasses gone. But we don't take _he_ to the trade, _what_ever. We +keeps _he_ for you." + +Out on a coast island Captain William Bartlett, of Brigus, +Newfoundland, kept a fishing station and a supply store. Captain Will +is a famous Arctic navigator. He is one of the best known and most +successful masters of the great sealing fleet. He is also a cod +fisherman of renown and he is the father of Captain "Bob" Bartlett, +master of explorer Peary's _Roosevelt_, and it was under Captain Will +Bartlett's instruction that Captain "Bob" learned seamanship and +navigation. Captain William Bartlett is as fine a man as ever trod a +deck. He is just and honest to a degree, and he has a big generous +heart. + +Doctor Grenfell accepted the silver fox pelt, and as he steamed down +the coast he ran his vessel in at Captain Bartlett's station. He had +confidence in Captain Bartlett. + +"Here's a silver fox skin that belongs to David Long's lads," said he, +depositing the pelt on the counter. "I wish you'd take it, and do the +best you can for David, Captain Will. I'll leave it with you." + +Captain Bartlett shook the pelt out, and admired its lustrous beauty. + +"It's a good one! David's lads were in luck when they caught _that_ +fellow. I'll do the best I can with it," he promised. + +"They'll take the pay in provisions and other necessaries," suggested +Grenfell. + +"All right," agreed Captain Will. "I'll send the goods over to them." + +On his way to the southward a month later Doctor Grenfell again cast +anchor at Big Bight. David Long and Mrs. Long, the two big lads, and +all the little Longs, were as beaming and happy as any family could be +in the whole wide world. Captain Bartlett's vessel had run in at Big +Bight one day, and paid for the silver fox pelt in merchandise. + +The cabin was literally packed with provisions. The family were well +clothed. There was enough and to spare to keep them in affluence, as +affluence goes down on The Labrador, for a whole year and longer. Need +and poverty were vanished. Captain Will had, indeed, done well with +the silver fox pelt. + +These are stories of life on The Labrador as Doctor Grenfell found +it. From the day he reached the coast and every day since his heart +has ached with the troubles and poverty existing among the liveyeres. +He has been thrilled again and again by incidents of heroic struggle +and sacrifice among them. He has done a vast deal to make them more +comfortable and happy, as in the case of David Long. Still, in spite +of it all, there are cases of desperate poverty and suffering there, +and doubtless will always be. + +In every city and town and village of our great and prosperous country +people throw away clothing and many things that would help to make the +lives of the Longs and the hundreds of other liveyeres of the coast +who are toiling for bare existence easier to endure. Enough is wasted +every year, indeed, in any one of our cities to make the whole +population of Labrador happy and comfortable. And there's the pity. If +Grenfell could _only_ be given _some_ of this waste to take to them! + +From the beginning this thought troubled Doctor Grenfell. And in +winter when the ice shuts the whole coast off from the rest of the +world, he turned his attention to efforts to secure the help of good +people the world over in his work. Making others happy is the greatest +happiness that any one can experience, and Grenfell wished others to +share his happiness with him. Nearly every winter for many years he +has lectured in the United States and Canada and Great Britain with +this in view. The Grenfell Association was organized with +headquarters in New York, where money and donations of clothing and +other necessaries might be sent.[B] + +As we shall see, many great things have been accomplished by Doctor +Grenfell and this Association, organized by his friends several years +ago. Every year a great many boxes and barrels of clothing go to him +down on The Labrador, filled with good things for the needy ones. Boys +and girls, as well as men and women, send warm things for winter. Not +only clothing, but now and again toys for the Wee Tots find their way +into the boxes. Just like other children the world over, the Wee Tots +of The Labrador like toys to play with and they are made joyous with +toys discarded by the over-supplied youngsters of our land. + +Of course there are foolish people who send useless things too. +Scattered through the boxes are now and again found evening clothes +for men and women, silk top hats, flimsy little women's bonnets, +dancing pumps, and even crepe-de-chene nighties. These serve as +playthings for the grown-ups, many of whom, especially the Indians and +Eskimos, are quite childlike with gimcracks. I recall once seeing an +Eskimo parading around on a warm day in the glory of a full dress coat +and silk hat, the coat drawn on over his ordinary clothing. He was the +envy of his friends. + +While Grenfell dispensed medical and surgical treatment, and at the +same time did what he could for the needy, he also turned his +attention to an attack upon the truck system. This system of barter +was responsible for the depths of poverty in which he found the +liveyeres. He was mightily wrought up against it, as well he might +have been, and still is, and he laid plans at once to relieve the +liveyeres and northern Newfoundlanders from its grip. + +This was a great undertaking. It was a stroke for freedom, for the +truck system, as we have seen, is simply a species of slavery. He +realized that in attacking it he was to create powerful enemies who +would do their utmost to injure him and interfere with his work. Some +of these men he knew would go to any length to drive him off The +Labrador. It required courage, but Grenfell was never lacking in +courage. He rolled up his sleeves and went at it. He always did things +openly and fearlessly, first satisfying himself he was right. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[B] The address of the Grenfell Association is 156 Fifth Avenue, New +York. + + + + +XIII + +SKIPPER TOM'S COD TRAP + + +Skipper Tom lived, and for aught I know still lives, at Red Bay, a +little settlement on the Straits of Belle Isle, some sixty miles to +the westward of Battle Harbor. + +Along the southern coast of Labrador the cabins are much closer +together than on the east coast, and there are some small settlements +in the bays and harbors, with snug little painted cottages. + +Red Bay, where Skipper Tom lived, is one of these settlements. It +boasts a neat little Methodist chapel, built by the fishermen and +trappers from lumber cut in the near-by forest, and laboriously sawn +into boards with the pit saw. + +Skipper Tom lived in one of the snuggest and coziest of the cottages. +I remember the cottage and I remember Skipper Tom well. I happened +into the settlement one evening directly ahead of a winter blizzard, +and Skipper Tom and his good family opened their little home to me and +sheltered me with a hospitable cordial welcome for three days, until +the weather cleared and the dogs could travel again and I pushed +forward on my journey. + +Skipper Tom stood an inch or two above six feet in his moccasins. He +was a broad-shouldered, strong-limbed man of the wilderness and the +sea. His face was kindly and gentle, but at the same time reflected +firmness, strength and thoughtfulness. When he spoke you were sure to +listen, for there was always the conviction that he was about to utter +some word of wisdom, or tell you something of importance. The moment +you looked at him and heard his voice you said to yourself: "Here is a +man upon whom I can rely and in whom I can place absolute confidence." + +If Skipper Tom promised to do anything, he did it, unless Providence +intervened. If he said he would not do a thing, he would not do it, +and you could depend on it. He was a man of his word. That was Skipper +Tom--big, straight spoken, and as square as any man that ever lived. +That is what his neighbors said of him, and that is the way Doctor +Grenfell found him. + +Now and again the Methodist missionary visited Red Bay in his circuit +of the settlements, and when he came he made his headquarters in the +home of Skipper Tom. On the occasion of these visits he conducted +services in the chapel on Sunday, and on week days visited every home +in Red Bay. Skipper Tom was class leader, and looked after the +religious welfare of the little community, presiding over his class in +the chapel, on the great majority of Sundays, when the missionary was +engaged elsewhere. + +The people looked up to Skipper Tom. The folk of Red Bay, like most +people who live much in the open and close to nature, have a deep +religious reverence and a wholesome fear of God. As their class leader +Skipper Tom guided them in their worship, and they looked upon him as +an example of upright living. So it was that he had a great burden of +responsibility, with the morals of the community thrust upon him. + +In one respect Skipper Tom was fortunate. He did not inherit a debt, +and all his life he had kept free from the truck system under which +his neighbors toiled hopelessly, year in and year out. + +He had, in one way or another, picked up enough education to read and +write and figure. He could read and interpret his Bible and he could +calculate his accounts. He knew that two times two make four. If he +sold two hundred quintals[C] of fish at $2.25 a quintal, he knew that +$450.00 were due him. No trader had a mortgage upon the product of +_his_ labor, as they had upon that of his neighbors, and he was free +to sell his fur and fish to whoever would pay him the highest price. + +To be sure there were seasons when Skipper Tom was hard put to it to +make ends meet, and a scant diet and a good many hardships fell to his +lot and to the lot of his family. And when he had enough and his +neighbors were in need, he denied himself to see others through, and +even pinched himself to do it. + +But he saved bit by bit until, at the age of forty-five, he was able +to purchase a cod trap, which was valued at about $400.00. The +purchase of this cod trap had been the ambition of his life and we can +imagine his joy when finally the day came that brought it to him. It +made more certain his catch of cod, and therefore lessened the +possibility of winters of privation. + +It is interesting to know how the fishermen of The Labrador catch cod. +It may be worth while also to explain that when the Labradorman or +Newfoundlander speaks of "fish" he means cod in his vocabulary. A +trout is a trout, a salmon is a salmon and a caplin is a caplin, but a +cod is a fish. He never thinks of anything as fish but cod. + +Early in the season, directly the ice breaks up, a little fish called +the caplin, which is about the size of a smelt, runs inshore in great +schools of countless millions, to spawn. I have seen them lying in +windrows along the shore where the receding tide had left them high +and dry upon the land. This is a great time for the dogs, which feast +upon them and grow fat. It is a great time also for the cod, which +feed on the caplin, and for the fishermen who catch the cod. Cod +follow the caplin schools, and this is the season when the fisherman, +if he is so fortunate as to own a trap, reaps his greatest harvest. + +The trap is a net with four sides and a bottom, but no top. It is like +a great room without a ceiling. On one side is a door or opening. The +trap is submerged a hundred yards or so from shore, at a point where +the caplin, with the cod at their heels, are likely to run in. A net +attached to the trap at the center of the door is stretched to the +nearest shore. + +Like a flock of geese that follows the old gander cod follow their +leaders. When the leaders pilot the school in close to shore in +pursuit of the caplin, they encounter the obstructing net, then follow +along its side with the purpose of going around it. This leads them +into the trap. Once into the trap they remain there until the +fishermen haul their catch. + +The fisherman who owns no trap must rely upon the hook and line. +Though sometimes hook and line fishermen meet with good fortune, the +results are much less certain than with the traps and the work much +slower and vastly more difficult. + +When the water is not too deep jigging with unbaited hooks proves +successful when fish are plentiful. Two large hooks fastened back to +back, with lead to act as a sinker, serve the purpose. This double +hook at the end of the line is dropped over the side of the boat and +lowered until it touches bottom. Then it is raised about three feet, +and from this point "jigged," or raised and lowered continuously until +taken by a cod. + +[Illustration: "THE TRAP IS SUBMERGED A HUNDRED YARDS OR SO FROM +SHORE"] + +In deep water, however, bait is necessary and the squid is a favorite +bait. A squid is a baby octopus, or "devil fish." The squid is +caught by jigging up and down a lead weight filled with wire spikes +and painted bright red. It seizes the weight with its tentacles. When +raised into the boat it releases its hold and squirts a small stream +of black inky fluid. In the water, when attacked, this inky fluid +discolors the water and screens it from its enemy. + +The octopus grows to immense size, with many long arms. Two +Newfoundlanders were once fishing in an open boat, when an octopus +attacked the boat, reaching for it with two enormous arms, with the +purpose of dragging it down. One of the fishermen seized an ax that +lay handy in the boat and chopped the arms off. The octopus sank and +all the sea about was made black with its screen of ink. The sections +of arms cut off were nineteen feet in length. They are still on +exhibition in the St. Johns Museum, where I have seen them many times. +Shortly afterward a dead octopus was found, measuring, with tentacles +spread, forty feet over all. It was not, however, the same octopus +which attacked the fishermen, for that must have been much larger. + +We can understand, then, how much Skipper Tom's cod trap meant to him. +We can visualize his pleasure, and share his joy. The trap was, to a +large extent, insurance against privation and hardship. It was his +reward for the self-denial of himself and his family for years, and +represented his life's savings. + +When at last the ice cleared from his fishing place and the trap was +set, there was no prouder or happier man on The Labrador than Skipper +Tom. The trap was in the water when the _Princess May_, one Saturday +afternoon, steamed into Red Bay and Doctor Grenfell accepted the +hospitable invitation of Skipper Tom to spend the night at his home. + +It was still early in the season and icebergs were plentiful enough, +as, indeed, they are the whole summer long. They are always a menace +to cod traps, for should a berg drift against a trap, that will be the +end of the trap forever. Fishermen watch their traps closely, and if +an iceberg comes so near as to threaten it the trap must be removed to +save it. A little lack of watchfulness leads to ruin. + +"The trap's well set," said Skipper Tom, when Doctor Grenfell inquired +concerning it. "The ice is keepin' clear, but I watches close." + +"What are the signs of fish?" asked the Doctor. + +"Fine!" said Skipper Tom. "The signs be _wonderful_ fine." + +"I hope you'll have a big year." + +"There's a promise of un," Skipper Tom grinned happily. "The trap's +sure to do fine for us." + +But nobody knows from one day to another what will happen on The +Labrador. + +According to habit Skipper Tom was up bright and early on Sunday +morning and went for a look at the trap. When presently he returned +to join Doctor Grenfell at breakfast he was plainly worried. + +"There's a berg driftin' down on the trap. We'll have to take her in," +he announced. + +"But 'tis Sunday," exclaimed his wife. "You'll never be workin' on +Sunday." + +"Aye, 'tis Sunday and 'tis against my principles to fish on the +Sabbath day. I never did before, but 'tis to save our cod trap now. +The lads and I'll not fish. We'll just haul the trap." + +"The Lard'll forgive _that, what_ever," agreed his wife. + +Skipper Tom went out when he had eaten, but it was not long until he +returned. + +"I'm not goin' to haul the trap today," he said quietly and +decisively. "There are those in this harbor," he added, turning to +Doctor Grenfell, "who would say, if I hauled that trap, that 'twould +be no worse for them to fish on Sunday than for me to haul my trap. +Then they'd go fishin' Sundays the same as other days, and none of un +would keep Sunday any more as a day of rest, as the Lard intends us to +keep un, and has told us in His own words we must keep un. I'll not +haul the trap this day, though 'tis sore hard to lose un." + +For a principle, and because he was well aware of his influence upon +the folk of the settlement, Skipper Tom had made his decision to +sacrifice his cod trap and the earnings of his lifetime. His +conscience told him it would be wrong to do a thing that might lead +others to do wrong. When our conscience tells us it is wrong to do a +thing, it is wrong for us to do it. Conscience is the voice of God. If +we disobey our conscience God will soon cease to speak to us through +it. That is the way every criminal in the world began his downward +career. He disobeyed his conscience, and continued to disobey it until +he no longer heard it. + +Skipper Tom never disobeyed his conscience. Now the temptation was +strong. His whole life's savings were threatened to be swept away. +There was still time to save the trap. + +But Skipper Tom was strong. He turned his back upon the cod trap and +the iceberg and temptation, and as he and Doctor Grenfell climbed the +hill to the chapel he greeted his neighbors calmly and cheerily. + +Every eye in Red Bay was on Skipper Tom that day. Every person knew of +the cod trap and its danger, and all that it meant to Skipper Tom, and +the temptation Skipper Tom was facing; but from all outward appearance +he had dismissed the cod trap and the iceberg from his mind. + +When dusk fell that night the iceberg was almost upon the cod trap. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[C] Pronounced kentel in Labrador; 112 pounds. + + + + +XIV + +THE SAVING OF RED BAY + + +At an early hour on Sunday evening Skipper Tom went to his bed as +usual, and it is quite probable that within a period of ten minutes +after his head rested upon his pillow he was sleeping peacefully. +There was nothing else to do. He had no doubt that his cod trap was +lying under the iceberg a hopeless wreck. + +Well, what of it? In any case he had acted as his conscience had him +act. He knew that there were those who would say that his conscience +was over-sensitive. Perhaps it was, but it was _his_ conscience, not +theirs. He was class leader in the chapel. He never forgot that. And +he was the leading citizen of the settlement. At whatever cost, he +must needs prove a good example to his neighbors in his deeds. Worry +would not help the case in the least. Too much of it would +incapacitate him. He had lived forty-four years without a cod trap, +and he had not starved, and he could finish his days without one. + +"The Lard'll take care of us," Skipper Tom often said when they were +in a tight pinch, but he always added, "if we does our best to make +the best of things and look after ourselves and the things the Lard +gives us to do with. He calls on us to do that." + +Though Skipper Tom could scarce see how his trap might have escaped +destruction he had no intention of resting upon that supposition and +perhaps he still entertained a lingering hope that it had escaped. +There is no doubt he prayed for its preservation, and he had strong +faith in prayer. At any rate, at half past eleven o'clock that night +he was up and dressed, and routed his two sons out of their beds. At +the stroke of midnight, waiting a tick longer perhaps, to be quite +sure that Sunday had gone and Monday morning had arrived, he and his +sons pushed out in their big boat. + +Skipper Tom would not be doing his best if he did not make certain of +what had actually happened to the cod trap. Every one in Red Bay said +it had been destroyed, and no doubt of that. But no one knew for a +certainty, and there _might_ have been an intervention of Divine +Providence. + +"The Lard helped us to get that trap," said Skipper Tom, "and 'tis +hard to believe he'll take un away from us so soon, for I tried not to +be vain about un, only just a bit proud of un and glad I has un. If +He's took un from me I'll know 'twere to try my faith, and I'll never +complain." + +Down they rowed toward the iceberg, whose polished surface gleamed +white in the starlight. + +"She's right over where the trap were set! The trap's gone," said one +of the sons. + +"I'm doubtin'," Skipper Tom was measuring the distance critically with +his eye. + +"The trap's tore to pieces," insisted the son with discouragement in +his voice. + +"The berg's to the lee'ard of she," declared Skipper Tom finally. + +"Tis too close t' shore." + +"'Tis to the lee'ard!" + +"Is you sure, now, Pop?" + +"The trap's safe and sound! The berg _is_ t' the lee'ard!" + +Tom was right. A shift of tide had come at the right moment to save +the trap. + +"The Lard is good to us," breathed Skipper Tom. "He've saved our trap! +He always takes care of them that does what they feels is right. We'll +thank the Lard, lads." + +In the trap was a fine haul of cod, and when they had removed the fish +the trap was transferred to a new position where it would be quite +safe until the menacing iceberg had drifted away. + +There were seventeen families living in Red Bay. As settlements go, +down on The Labrador, seventeen cabins, each housing a family, is +deemed a pretty good sized place. + +At Red Bay, as elsewhere on the coast, bad seasons for fishing came +now and again. These occur when the ice holds inshore so long that the +best run of cod has passed before the men can get at them; or because +for some unexplained reason the cod do not appear at all along certain +sections of the coast. When two bad seasons come in succession, +starvation looms on the horizon. + +Seasons when the ice held in, Skipper Tom could not set his cod trap. +When this happened he was as badly off as any of his neighbors. In a +season when there were no fish to catch, it goes without saying that +his trap brought him no harvest. Fishing and trapping is a gamble at +best, and Skipper Tom, like his neighbors, had to take his chance, and +sometimes lost. If he accumulated anything in the good seasons, he +used his accumulation to assist the needy ones when the bad seasons +came, and, in the end, though he kept out of debt, he could not get +ahead, try as he would. + +The seasons of 1904 and 1905 were both poor seasons, and when, in the +fall of 1905, Doctor Grenfell's vessel anchored in Red Bay Harbor he +found that several of the seventeen families had packed their +belongings and were expectantly awaiting his arrival in the hope that +he would take them to some place where they might find better +opportunities. They were destitute and desperate. + +There was nowhere to take them where their condition would be better. +Grenfell, already aware of their desperate poverty, had been giving +the problem much consideration. The truck system was directly +responsible for the conditions at Red Bay and for similar conditions +at every other harbor along the coast. Something had to be done, and +done at once. + +With the assistance of Skipper Tom and one or two others, Doctor +Grenfell called a meeting of the people of the settlement that +evening, to talk the matter over. The men and women were despondent +and discouraged, but nearly all of them believed they could get on +well enough if they could sell their fish and fur at a fair valuation, +and could buy their supplies at reasonable prices. + +All of them declared they could no longer subsist at Red Bay upon the +restricted outfits allowed them by the traders, which amounted to +little or nothing when the fishing failed. They preferred to go +somewhere else and try their luck where perhaps the traders would be +more liberal. If they remained at Red Bay under the old conditions +they would all starve, and they might as well starve somewhere else. + +Doctor Grenfell then suggested his plan. It was this. They would form +a company. They would open a store for themselves. Through the store +their furs and fish would be sent to market and they would get just as +big a price for their products as the traders got. They would buy the +store supplies at wholesale just as cheaply as the traders could buy +them. They would elect one of their number, who could keep accounts, +to be storekeeper. They would buy the things they needed from the +store at a reasonable price, and at the end of the year each would be +credited with his share of the profits. In other words, they would +organize a co-operative store and trading system and be their own +traders and storekeepers. + +This meant breaking off from the traders with whom they had always +dealt and all hope of ever securing advance of supplies from them +again. It was a hazardous venture for the fishermen to make. They did +not understand business, but they were desperate and ready for any +chance that offered relief, and in the end they decided to do as +Doctor Grenfell suggested. + +Each man was to have a certain number of shares of stock in the new +enterprise. The store would be supplied at once, and each family would +be able to get from it what was needed to live upon during the winter. +Any fish they might have on hand would be turned over to the store, +credited as cash, and sent to market at once, in a schooner to be +chartered for the purpose and this schooner would bring back to Red +Bay the winter's supplies. + +A canvass then was made with the result that among the seventeen +families the entire assets available for purchasing supplies amounted +to but eighty-five dollars. This was little better than nothing. + +Doctor Grenfell had faith in Skipper Tom and the others. They were +honest and hard-working folk. He knew that all they required was an +opportunity to make good. He was determined to give them the +opportunity, and he announced, without hesitation, that he would +personally lend them enough to pay for the first cargo and establish +the enterprise. Can any one wonder that the people love Grenfell? He +was the one man in the whole world that would have done this, or who +had the courage to do it. He knew well enough that he was calling down +upon his own head the wrath of the traders. + +The schooner was chartered, the store was stocked and opened, and +there was enough to keep the people well-fed, well-clothed, happy and +comfortable through the first year. + +In the beginning there were some of the men who were actually afraid +to have it known they were interested in the store, such was the fear +with which the traders had ruled them. They were so timid, indeed, +about the whole matter that they requested no sign designating the +building as a store be placed upon it. That, they declared, would make +the traders angry, and no one knew to what lengths these former +slaveholders might go to have revenge upon them. It is no easy matter +to shake oneself free from the traditions of generations and it was +hard for these trappers and fishermen to realize that they were freed +from their ancient bondage. But Doctor Grenfell fears no man, and, +with his usual aggressiveness, he nailed upon the front of the store a +big sign, reading: + + RED BAY CO-OPERATIVE STORE. + +It was during the winter of 1905-1906 and ten years after the +launching of the enterprise and the opening of the store, that I drove +into Red Bay with a train of dogs one cold afternoon. Skipper Tom was +my host, and after we had a cheery cup of tea, he said: + +"Come out. I wants to show you something." + +He led me a little way down from his cottage to the store, and +pointing up at the big bold sign, which Grenfell had nailed there, he +announced proudly: + +"'Tis _our_ co-operative store, the first on the whole coast. Doctor +Grenfell starts un for us." + +Then after a pause: + +"Doctor Grenfell be a wonderful man! He be a man of God." + +As expected, there was a furore among the little traders when the news +was spread that a co-operative store had been opened in Red Bay. The +big Newfoundland traders and merchants were heartily in favor of it, +and even stood ready to give the experiment their support. + +But the little traders who had dealt with the Red Bay settlement for +so long, and had bled the people and grown fat upon their labors, were +bitterly hostile. They began a campaign of defamation against Doctor +Grenfell and his whole field of work. They questioned his honesty, and +criticised the conduct of his hospitals. They even enlisted the +support of a Newfoundland paper in their opposition to him. They did +everything in their power to drive him from the coast, so that they +would have the field again in their own greedy hands. It was a +dastardly exhibition of selfishness, but there are people in the world +who will sell their own souls for profit. + +Grenfell went on about his business of making people happier. He was +in the right. If the traders would fight he would give it to them. He +was never a quitter. He was the same Grenfell that beat up the big boy +at school, years before. He was going to have his way about it, and do +what he went to Labrador to do. He was going to do more. He was +determined now to improve the trading conditions of the people of +Labrador and northern Newfoundland, as well as to heal their sick. + +From the day the co-operative store was opened in Red Bay not one fish +and not one pelt of fur has ever gone to market from that harbor +through a trader. The store has handled everything and it has +prospered and the people have prospered beyond all expectation. Every +one at Red Bay lives comfortably now. The debt to Doctor Grenfell was +long since paid and cancelled. And it is characteristic of him that he +would not accept one cent of interest. Shares of stock in the store, +originally issued at five dollars a share, are now worth one hundred +and four dollars a share, the difference being represented by profits +that have not been withdrawn. Every share is owned by the people of +the prosperous little settlement. + +Up and down the Labrador coast and in northern Newfoundland nine +co-operative stores have been established by Doctor Grenfell since +that autumn evening when he met the Red Bay folk in conference and +they voted to stake their all, even their life, in the venture that +proved so successful. Two or three of the stores had to discontinue +because the people in the localities where they were placed lived so +far apart that there were not enough of them to make a store +successful. + +Every one of these stores was a great venture to the people who cast +their lot with it. True they had little in money, but the stake of +their venture was literally in each case their life. The man who never +ventures never succeeds. Opportunity often comes to us in the form of +a venture. Sometimes, it is a desperate venture too. + +Doctor Grenfell had to fight the traders all along the line. They even +had the Government of Newfoundland appoint a Commission to inquire +into the operation of the Missions as a "menace to honest trade." A +menace to honest trade! Think of it! + +The result of the investigation proved that Grenfell and his mission +was doing a big self-sacrificing work, and the finest kind of work to +help the poor folk, and were doing it at a great cost and at no +profit to the mission. So down went the traders in defeat. + +The fellow that's right is the fellow that wins in the end. The fellow +that's wrong is the fellow that is going to get the worst of it at the +proper time. Grenfell only tried to help others. He never reaped a +penny of personal gain. He always came out on top. + +It's a good thing to be a scrapper sometimes, but if you're a scrapper +be a good one. Grenfell is a scrapper when it is necessary, and when +he has to scrap he goes at it with the best that's in him. He never +does things half way. He never was a quitter. When he starts out to do +anything he does it. + + + + +XV + +A LAD OF THE NORTH + + +The needs of the children attracted Dr. Grenfell's attention from the +beginning. A great many of them were neglected because the parents +were too poor to provide for them properly. Those who were orphaned +were thrown upon the care of their neighbors, and though the neighbors +were willing they were usually too poor to take upon themselves this +added burden. + +There were no schools save those conducted by the Brethren of the +Moravian missions among the Eskimos to the northward, and these were +Eskimo schools where the people were taught to read and write in their +own strange language, and to keep their accounts. But for the English +speaking folk south of the Eskimo coast no provision for schools had +ever been made. + +The hospitals were overflowing with the sick or injured, and there was +no room for children, unless they were in need of medical or surgical +attention. There was great need of a home for the orphans where they +would be cared for and receive motherly training and attention and +could go to school. + +Dr. Grenfell had thought about this a great deal. He had made the +best arrangements possible for the actually destitute little ones by +finding more or less comfortable homes for them, and seeking +contributions from generous folk in the United States, Canada and +Great Britain to pay for their expense. + +But it was not, perhaps, until Pomiuk, a little Eskimo boy, came under +his care that he finally decided that the establishment of a +children's home could no longer be delayed. + +Pomiuk's home was in the far north of Labrador, where no trees grow, +and where the seasons are quite as frigid as those of northern +Greenland. In summer he lived with his father and mother in a skin +tent, or tupek, and in winter in a snow igloo, or iglooweuk. + +Pomiuk's mother cooked the food over the usual stone lamp, which also +served to heat their igloo in winter. This lamp, which was referred to +in an earlier chapter, and described as a hollowed stone in the form +of a half moon, was an exceedingly crude affair, measuring eighteen +inches long on its straight side and nine inches broad at its widest +part. When it was filled with oil squeezed from a piece of seal +blubber, the blubber was suspended over it at the back that the heat, +when the wick of moss was lighted, would cause the blubber oil to +continue to drip and keep the lamp supplied with oil. The lamp gave +forth a smoky, yellow flame. This was the only fireside that little +Pomiuk knew. You and I would not think it a very cheerful one, +perhaps, but Pomiuk was accustomed to cold and he looked upon it as +quite comfortable and cheerful enough. + +Ka-i-a-chou-ouk, Pomiuk's father, was a hunter and fisherman, as are +all the Eskimos. He moved his tupek in summer, or built his igloo of +blocks of snow in winter, wherever hunting and fishing were the best, +but always close to the sea. + +Here, under the shadow of mighty cliffs and towering, rugged +mountains, by the side of the great water, Pomiuk was born and grew +into young boyhood, and played and climbed among the mountain crags or +along the ocean shore with other boys. He loved the rugged, naked +mountains, they stood so firm and solid! No storm or gale could ever +make them afraid, or weaken them. Always they were the same, towering +high into the heavens, untrod and unchanged by man, just as they had +stood facing the arctic storms through untold ages. + +From the high places he could look out over the sea, where icebergs +glistened in the sunshine, and sometimes he could see the sail of a +fishing schooner that had come out of the mysterious places beyond the +horizon. He loved the sea. Day and night in summer the sound of surf +pounding ceaselessly upon the cliffs was in his ears. It was music to +him, and his lullaby by night. + +But he loved the sea no less in winter when it lay frozen and silent +and white. As far as his vision reached toward the rising sun, the +endless plain of ice stretched away to the misty place where the ice +and sky met. Pomiuk thought it would be a fine adventure, some night, +when he was grown to be a man and a great hunter, to take the dogs and +komatik and drive out over the ice to the place from which the sun +rose, and be there in the morning to meet him. He had no doubt the sun +rose out of a hole in the ice, and it did not seem so far away. + +Pomiuk's world was filled with beautiful and wonderful things. He +loved the bright flowers that bloomed under the cliffs when the winter +snows were gone, and the brilliant colors that lighted the sky and +mountains and sea, when the sun set of evenings. He loved the mists, +and the mighty storms that sent the sea rolling in upon the cliffs in +summer. He never ceased to marvel at the aurora borealis, which by +night flashed over the heavens in wondrous streams of fire and lighted +the darkened world. His father told him the aurora borealis was the +spirits of their departed people dancing in the sky. He learned the +ways of the wild things in sea and on land and never tired of +following the tracks of beasts in the snow, or of watching the seals +sunning themselves on rocks or playing about in the water. + +The big wolf dogs were his special delight. His father kept nine of +them, and many an exciting ride Pomiuk had behind them when his father +took him on the komatik to hunt seals or to look at fox traps, or to +visit the Trading Post. + +When he was a wee lad his father made for him a small dog whip of +braided walrus hide. This was Pomiuk's favorite possession. He +practiced wielding it, until he became so expert he could flip a +pebble no larger than a marble with the tip end of the long lash; and +he could snap and crack the lash with a report like a pistol shot. + +As he grew older and stronger he practiced with his father's whip, +until he became quite as expert with that as with his own smaller one. +This big whip had a wooden handle ten inches in length, and a supple +lash of braided walrus hide thirty-five feet long. The lash was about +an inch in diameter where it joined the handle, tapering to a thin tip +at the end. + +One summer day, when Pomiuk was ten years of age, a strange ship +dropped anchor off the rocky shore where Pomiuk's father and several +other Eskimo families had pitched their tupeks, while they fished in +the sea near by for cod or hunted seals. A boat was launched from the +ship, and as it came toward the shore all of the excited Eskimos from +the tupeks, men, women and children, and among them Pomiuk, ran down +to the landing place to greet the visitors, and as they ran every one +shouted, "Kablunak! Kablunak!" which meant, "Stranger! Stranger!" + +Some white men and an Eskimo stepped out of the boat, and in the +hospitable, kindly manner of the Eskimo Pomiuk's father and Pomiuk and +their friends greeted the strangers with handshakes and cheerful +laughter, and said "Oksunae" to each as he shook his hand, which is +the Eskimo greeting, and means "Be strong." + +The Eskimo that came with the ship was from an Eskimo settlement +called Karwalla, in Hamilton Inlet, on the east of Labrador, but a +long way to the south of Nachvak Bay where Pomiuk's people lived. He +could speak English as well as Eskimo, and acted as interpreter for +the strangers. + +This Eskimo explained that the white men had come from America to +invite some of the Labrador Eskimos to go to America to see their +country. People from all the nations of the world, he said, were to +gather there to meet each other and to get acquainted. They were to +bring strange and wonderful things with them, that the people of each +nation might see how the people of other nations made and used their +things, and how they lived. They wished the Labrador Eskimos to come +and show how they dressed their skins and made their skin clothing and +skin boats, and to bring with them dogs and sledges, and harpoons and +other implements of the hunt. + +The white men promised it would be a most wonderful experience for +those that went. They agreed to take them and all their things on the +ship and after the big affair in America was over bring them back to +their homes, and give them enough to make them all rich for the rest +of their lives. + +The Eskimos were naturally quite excited with the glowing +descriptions, the opportunity to travel far into new lands, and the +prospect of wealth and happiness offered them when they again returned +to their Labrador homes. Pomiuk and his mother were eager for the +journey, but his father did not care to leave the land and the life he +knew. He decided that he had best remain in Labrador and hunt; but he +agreed that Pomiuk's mother might go to make skin boots and clothing, +and Pomiuk might go with her and take the long dog whip to show how +well he could use it. + +And so one day Pomiuk and his mother said goodbye to his father, and +with several other Eskimos sailed away to the United States, destined +to take their place as exhibits at the great World's Fair in Chicago. + +The suffering of the Eskimos in the strange land to which they were +taken was terrible. In Labrador they lived in the open, breathing +God's fresh air. In Chicago they were housed in close and often poorly +ventilated quarters. The heat was unbearable, and through all the long +hours of day and night when they were on exhibition they were +compelled to wear their heavy winter skin or fur clothing. They were +unaccustomed to the food. Some of them died, and the white men buried +them with little more thought or ceremony than was given those of +their dogs that died. + +Pomiuk, in spite of his suffering, kept his spirits. He loved to wield +his long dog whip. It was his pride. Visitors at the fair pitched +nickles and dimes into the enclosure where the Eskimos and their +exhibits were kept. Pomiuk with the tip of his thirty-five foot lash +would clip the coins, and laugh with delight, for every coin he +clipped was to be his. He was the life of the Eskimo exhibit. Visitors +could always distinguish his ringing laugh. He was always smiling. + +The white men who had induced the Eskimos to leave their homes failed +to keep their promise when the fair closed. The poor Eskimos were +abandoned in a practically penniless condition and no means was +provided to return them to their homes. To add to the distress of +Pomiuk's mother, Pomiuk fell and injured his hip. Proper surgical +treatment was not supplied, the injury, because of this neglect, did +not heal, and Pomiuk could no longer run about or walk or even stand +upon his feet. + +Those of the Eskimos who survived the heat and unaccustomed climate, +in some manner, God alone knows how, found their way to Newfoundland. +Pomiuk, in his mother's care, was among them. The hospitality of big +hearted fishermen of Newfoundland, who sheltered and fed the Eskimos +in their cabins, kept them through the winter. It was a period of +intense suffering for poor little Pomiuk, whose hip constantly grew +worse. + +When summer came again, Doctor Frederick Cook, the explorer, bound to +the Arctic on an exploring expedition, heard of the stranded Eskimos, +and carried some of them to their Labrador homes on his ship; and when +the schooners of the great fishing fleets sailed north, kindly +skippers made room aboard their little craft for others of the +destitute Eskimos. Thus Pomiuk, once so active and happy, now a +helpless cripple, found his way back on a fishing schooner to +Labrador. + +We can understand, perhaps, the joy and hope with which Pomiuk looked +again upon the rock-bound coast that he loved so well. On _these_ +shores he had lived care-free and happy and full of bounding health +until the deceitful white men had lured him away. He had no doubt that +once again in his own native land and among his own people in old +familiar surroundings, he would soon get well and be as strong as ever +he had been to run over the rocks and to help his father with the dogs +and traps and at the fishing. + +Pomiuk could scarcely wait to meet his father. He laughed and +chattered eagerly of the good times he and his father would have +together. He was deeply attached to his father who had always been +kind and good to him, and who loved him better, even, than his mother +loved him. + +Pomiuk's heart beat high, when at last, one day, the vessel drew into +the narrow channel that leads between high cliffs into Nachvak Bay. He +looked up at the rocky walls towering two thousand feet above him on +either side. They were as firm and unchanging as always. He loved +them, and his eyes filled with happy tears. Just beyond, at the other +end of the channel, lay the broad bay and the white buildings of the +Hudson's Bay Company's trading post, where his father used to bring +him sometimes with the dogs in winter or in the boat in summer. What +fine times he and his father had on those excursions! And somewhere, +back there, camped in his tupek, was his father. What a surprise his +coming would be to his father! + +Pomiuk was carried ashore at the Post. Eskimos camped near-by crowded +down to greet him and his mother and the other wanderers who had +returned with them. It would be a short journey now in the boat to his +father's fishing place and his own dear home in their snug tupek. What +a lot of things he had to tell his father! And at home, with his +father's help he would soon be well and strong again. + +Then he heard some one say his father was dead. Dazed with grief he +was taken to one of the Eskimo tupeks where he was to make his home. +All that day and for days afterward, days of deep, unspoken sorrow, +the thought that he would never again hear his father's dear voice was +in his mind and forcing itself upon him. The world had grown suddenly +dark for the crippled boy. All of his fine plans were vanished. + +One day late that fall Dr. Grenfell found Pomiuk lying helpless and +naked upon the rocks near the tupek of the Eskimo who had taken him +in. The little lad was carried aboard the hospital ship. He was washed +and his diseased hip dressed, he was given clean warm clothing to +wear, and altogether he was made more comfortable than he had been in +many months. Then, with Pomiuk as a patient on board, the ship steamed +away. + +Thus Pomiuk bade goodbye to his home, to the towering cliffs and +rugged sturdy mountains that he loved so well, and to his people. The +dear days when he was so jolly and happy in health were only a memory, +though he was to know much happiness again. Perhaps, lying helpless +upon the deck of the hospital ship, he shed a tear as he recalled the +fine trips he used to have when his father took him to the post with +dogs and komatik in winter, or he and his father went cruising in the +boat along the coast in summer. And now he would never see his dear +father again, and could never be a great hunter like his father, as he +had once dreamed he would be. + +But the cruise was a pleasant one, with every moment something new to +attract his attention. Dr. Grenfell was as kind and considerate as a +father. Pomiuk had never known such care and attention. His diseased +hip was dressed regularly, and had not been so free from pain since it +was injured. Appetizing, wholesome meals were served him. Everyone +aboard ship did everything possible for his comfort and entertainment. + +Pomiuk was taken to the Indian Harbor Hospital where he remained until +the cold of winter settled, and the hospital was closed for the winter +season. Then he was removed to a comfortable home up the Bay. Under +careful surgical treatment his hip improved until he was able to get +about well on crutches. + +There was never a happier boy in the world than this little Eskimo +cripple in his new surroundings and with his new friends. He laughed +and played about quite as though he had the use of his limbs, and had +forgotten his affliction. During the winter one of the good +missionaries from the Moravian Mission at Hopedale visited him and +baptized him "Gabriel"--the angel of comfort. He was a comfort indeed +and a joy to those who had his care. + + + + +XVI + +MAKING A HOME FOR THE ORPHANS + + +The next winter Pomiuk was taken to the hospital at Battle Harbor +where he could receive more constant surgical treatment. He was a joy +to the doctors and nurses. His face was always happy and smiling. He +never complained, and his amiable disposition endeared him not only to +the doctors and nurses but to the other patients as well. + +But Pomiuk was never to be well again. The diseased hip was beyond +control, and was wearing down his constitution and his strength. One +day he fell suddenly very ill. For a week he lay in bed, at times +unconscious, and then early one morning passed away. + +Many shed tears for Pomiuk when he was gone. They missed his joyous +laughter and his smiling face. Doctor Grenfell missed him sorely. He +could not forget the suffering, naked little boy that he had rescued +from the rocks of Nachvak Bay, and he decided that some provision +should be made to care for the other orphaned, homeless, neglected +children of Labrador. In some way, he decided, the funds for such a +home had to be found, though he had no means then at his disposal for +the purpose. He further decided that the home must not be an +institution merely but a real home made pleasant for the boys and +girls, where they would have motherly care and sympathy, and where +they should have a school to go to like the children of our own +favoured land. + +With cheerful optimism and heroic determination Doctor Grenfell set +for himself the task of establishing such a home. And in the end great +things grew out of the suffering and death of Gabriel Pomiuk. The +splendid courage and cheerfulness of the little Eskimo lad was to +result in happiness for many other little sufferers. Now, as always it +was, with Doctor Grenfell, "I can if I will,"--none of the uncertainty +of, "I will if I can." He pitched into the work of raising money to +build that children's home. He lectured, and wrote, and talked about +it in his usual enthusiastic way, and money began to come to him from +good people all over the world. At length enough was raised and the +home was built. + +He had already picked up and taken into his mission family so many +boys and girls, orphans or otherwise, that were without home or +shelter, and that he could not leave behind him to suffer and die, +that he had nearly enough on his hands to populate the new building +before it was ready for them. Indeed he soon found himself almost in +the position of the "old woman that lived in a shoe," and "had so +many children she didn't know what to do." His big kind fatherly heart +would never permit him to abandon a homeless child, and so he took +them under his care, and somehow always managed to provide for them. + +It was about the time of Pomiuk's death, I believe, that the first of +these children came to him. One day, when cruising north in the +_Strathcona_, he was told that a family living in an isolated and +lonely spot on the Labrador coast required the attention of a doctor. +He answered the call at once. + +When he approached the bleak headland where the cabin stood, and his +vessel hove her anchor, he was quite astonished that no one came out +of the cabin to offer welcome, as is the custom with Labradormen +everywhere when vessels anchor near their homes. He and his mate were +put ashore in a boat, and as they walked up the trail to the cabin +still no one appeared and no smoke issued from the stovepipe, which, +rising through the roof, served as a chimney. When he lifted the latch +he was quite decided no one, after all, was at home. + +Upon entering the cabin a shocking scene presented itself. The mother +of the family lay upon the bed with wide-open stare. Doctor Grenfell's +practiced eye told him she was dead. The father, a Scotch fisherman +and trapper, was stretched upon the floor, helplessly ill, and a hasty +examination proved that he was dying. Five frightened, hungry, cold +little children were huddled in a corner. + +That night the father died, though every effort was made to revive him +and save his life. Grenfell and his crew gave the man and woman as +decent a Christian burial as the wilderness and conditions would +permit, and when all was over the Doctor found five small children on +his hands. + +An uncle of the children lived upon the coast and this uncle +volunteered to take one of them into his home. The other four Doctor +Grenfell carried south on the hospital ship. There was no proper +provision for their care at St. Anthony, his headquarters hospital, +and he advertised in a New England paper for homes for them. One +response was received, and this from the wife of a New England farmer, +offering to provide for two. The Doctor sent two to the farm, the +other two remaining at St. Anthony hospital. + +The next child to come to him was a baby of three years. The child's +father had died and the mother married a widower with a large family +of his own. He was a hard-hearted rascal, and the mother was a selfish +woman with small love for her baby. The man declined to permit her to +take it into his home and she left it in a mud hut, a cellar-like +place, with no other floor than the earth. A kind-hearted woman, who +lived near by, ran in now and again to see the baby and to take it +scraps of food and give it some care. She could not adopt it, for she +and her husband were scarce able to feed the many mouths in their own +family. + +So alone this tiny little girl of three lived in the mud hut through +the long days and the longer and darker nights. There was no mother's +knee at which to kneel; no one to teach her to lisp her first prayer; +no one to tuck her snugly into a little white bed; no one to kiss her +before she slept. O, how lonely she must have been! Think of those +chilly Labrador nights, when she huddled down on the floor in the +ragged blanket that was her bed! How many nights she must have cried +herself to sleep with loneliness and fear! + +Here, in the mud hut, Doctor Grenfell found her one day. She was +sitting on the earthen floor, talking to herself and playing with a +bit of broken crockery, her only toy. He gathered her into his big +strong arms and I have no doubt that tears filled his eyes as he +looked into her innocent little face and carried her down to his boat. + +In a locker on his ship, the _Strathcona_, there were neat little +clothes that thoughtful children in our own country had sent him to +give to the destitute little ones of Labrador. He turned the baby girl +over to his big mate, who had babies of his own at home. The mate +stroked her tangled hair with a brawney hand, and talked baby talk to +her, and as she snuggled close in his fatherly arms, he carried her +below decks. The baby's mother would not have known her little +daughter if, two hours later, she had gone aboard the _Strathcona_ and +heard the peals of laughter and seen the happy little thing, bathed, +dressed in neat clean clothes, and well fed, playing on deck with a +pretty doll that Doctor Grenfell had somewhere found. + +It was on his last cruise south late one fall, and not long before +navigation closed, that Doctor Grenfell learned that a family of +liveyeres encamped on one of the coastal islands was in a destitute +condition, without food and practically unsheltered and unclothed. + +He went immediately in search, steaming nearly around the island, and +discerning no sign of life he had decided that the people had gone, +when a little curl of smoke rising from the center of the island +caught his eye. He at once brought his vessel to, let go the anchor, +lowered away a boat and accompanied by his mate pulled ashore. Making +the boat fast the two men scrambled up the rocks and set out in the +direction from which they had seen the smoke rise. + +Near the center of the island they suddenly brought up before a cliff, +against which, supported by poles, was stretched a sheet of old +canvas, pieced out by bits of matting and bagging, to form the roof of +a lean-to shelter. In front of the lean-to a fire burned, and under +the shelter by the fire sat a scantily clad, bedraggled woman. In her +arms she held a bundle of rags, which proved to envelop a tiny new +born baby, nursing at her breast. + +A little girl of five, barefooted and ragged, slunk timidly back as +the strangers approached. The woman grunted a greeting, but did not +rise. + +"Where is your man?" asked Doctor Grenfell. + +"He's right handy, huntin' gulls," she answered. + +Upon inquiry it was learned that there were three boys in the family +and that they were also "somewheres handy about." A search discovered +two of them, lads of seven and eight, practically naked, but tough as +little bears, feeding upon wild berries. Their bodies were tanned +brown by sun and wind, and streaked and splotched with the blue and +red stain of berry juice. They were jabbering contentedly and both +were as plump and happy in their foraging as a pair of young cubs. + +Snow had begun to fall before Doctor Grenfell followed by the two lads +returned to the fire at the cliff, soon to be joined by the boys' +father, tall, gaunt and bearded. His hair, untrimmed for many weeks, +was long and snarled. He was nearly barefooted and his clothing hung +in tatters. In one hand he carried a rusty old trade gun, (a +single-barreled, old-fashioned muzzle loading shotgun), in the other +he clutched by its wing a gull that he had recently shot. Following +the father came an older lad, perhaps fourteen years of age, little +better clothed than his two brothers and as wild and unkempt in +appearance as the father. + +"Evenin'," greeted the man, as he leaned his gun against the cliff and +dropped the gull by its side. + +It was cold. The now thickly falling snow spoke loudly of the Arctic +winter so near at hand. The liveyere and his family, however, seemed +not to feel or mind the chill in the least, and apparently gave no +more thought to the morrow or the coming winter, upon whose frigid +threshold they stood, than did the white-winged gulls flying low over +the water. + +Fresh wood was placed upon the fire, and Grenfell and the mate joined +the family circle around the blaze. + +"Do you kill much game here on the island?" asked Doctor Grenfell. + +"One gull is all I gets today," announced the man. "They bides too far +out. I has no shot. I uses pebbles for shot, and 'tis hard to hit un +with pebbles. 'Tis wonderful hard to knock un down with no shot." + +"What have you to eat?" inquired the Doctor. "Have you any provisions +on hand?" + +"All us has is the gull," the man glanced toward the limp bird. "We +eats berries." + +"'Tis the Gover'me't's place to give us things," broke in the woman in +a high key. "The Gov'me't don't give us no flour and nothin'." + +"It's snowing and the berries will soon be covered," suggested +Grenfell. "You can't live without something to eat and now winter is +coming you'll need a house to live in. You haven't even a tent." + +"Us would make out and the Gover'me't gave us a bit o' flour and tea +and some clodin' (clothing)," harped the woman. "The Gover'me't don't +give un to us. The Gover'me't folks don't care what becomes o' we." + +"How are you going to take care of these children this winter?" asked +Grenfell. "You can't feed them and without clothing they'll freeze. +Let us take them with us. We'll give them plenty to eat and clothe +them well." + +"Don't be sayin' now you'll let un go!" broke in the mother in a high +voice, turning to the man, who stood mute. "Don't be givin' away your +own flesh and blood now! Don't let un go." + +"You can't keep yourselves and these children alive through the +winter. Some of you will starve or freeze," persisted Grenfell. +"Suppose you let us have the two young lads and the little maid. We'll +take good care of them and we'll give you some clothing we have aboard +the vessel, and some flour and tea to start you." + +"And a bit o' shot for my gun?" asked the man, showing interest. + +"Don't be givin' away your own flesh and blood!" interjected the woman +in the same high key. "'Tis the Gov'me't's place to be givin' us what +we needs, clodin' and grub too." + +"I'll let you have one o' th' lads and you lets me have a bit o' +shot," the man compromised. + +The sympathetic mate, with no intention of giving the man an +opportunity to change his mind, seized the naked boy nearest him, +tucked the lad, kicking and struggling, under one arm, and started for +the boat, but upon Doctor Grenfell's suggestion waited, with the lad +still under his arm, for developments. + +In the beginning, to be sure, Doctor Grenfell had intended to issue +supplies to the man, whether or no. But no matter how much or what +supplies were issued there was no doubt these people would be reduced +to severe suffering before summer came again. He wished to save the +children from want, and to give them a chance to make good in the +world as he believed they would with opportunity. + +The oldest boy could be of assistance to his father in the winter +hunting, and he could scarce expect the mother to give up her new-born +baby. Therefore negotiations were confined to a view of securing the +two small boys and the little girl. + +Presently, in spite of violent protests from the mother, the father +was moved, by promises of additional supplies, to consent to Grenfell +taking the other boy. And immediately the man had said, "Take un +both," the mate seized the second lad and with a youngster struggling +under each arm, and with four bare legs kicking in a wild but vain +effort for freedom and two pairs of lusty young lungs howling +rebellion, he strode exultantly away through the falling snow to the +boat with his captives. + +No arguments and no amount of promised stores could move the father +to open his mouth again, and Grenfell was finally compelled to be +content with the two boys and to leave the little girl behind him to +face the hardships and rigors of a northern winter. Poor little thing! +She did not realize the wonderful opportunity her parents had denied +her. + +When negotiations were ended Doctor Grenfell arranged for the +liveyeres to occupy a comfortable cabin on the mainland. He conspired +with the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, with the result that they +were properly clothed and provisioned, a better gun was found for the +man and an ample supply of ammunition. + +Hundreds of stories might be told of the destitute little ones that +have been, since the day he found Pomiuk on the rocks of Nochvak, +gathered together by Doctor Grenfell and tenderly cared for in the +Children's Home that was built at St. Anthony. There was a little girl +whose feet were so badly frozen that her father had to chop them both +off with an ax to save her life, and who Doctor Grenfell found +helpless in the poor little cabin where her people lived. I wish there +was time and room to tell about her. He took her away with him, and +healed her wounds, and fitted cork feet to her stumps of legs so that +she could go to school and run around and play with the other +children. Indeed, she learned to use her new feet so well that today, +if you saw her you would never guess that her feet were not her real +ones. + +And there was a little boy whose father was frozen to death at his +trapping one winter, a bright little chap now in the home and going to +school. + +These are but a few of the many, many children that have been made +happy and have been trained at the Home and under Doctor Grenfell's +care to useful lives. Some of them have worked their way through +college. Some of the boys served in the Great War at the front. Many +are holding positions of importance. Let us see, however, what became +of those particular ones, mentioned in this chapter. + +One of the Scotch trapper's daughters found by Doctor Grenfell in the +lonely cabin when her mother lay dead and her father dying is a +trained nurse. The others are also in responsible positions. + +The baby of the mud hut is a charming young lady, a graduate of a +school in the United States, and the successful member of a useful +profession. + +Both of the little naked boys taken from the island that snowy day are +grown men now, and graduates of the famous Pratt Institute in +Brooklyn, New York. One is a master carpenter, the other the manager +of a big trading store on the Labrador coast. + +Now, as I write, in the fall of 1921, the walls of a new fine concrete +home for the children are under construction at St. Anthony, to be +used in conjunction with the original wooden building which is crowded +to capacity. Children of the United States, Canada, and Great Britain +giving of their pennies made the new building possible. More money is +needed to furnish it, but enough will surely be given for the homeless +little ones of the Labrador must be cared for. + +And so, in the end, great things grew out of the suffering and death +of Gabriel Pomiuk, the little Eskimo lad. His splendid courage and +cheerfulness has led to happiness for many other little sufferers. + + + + +XVII + +THE DOGS OF THE ICE TRAIL + + +One of the most interesting features of Labrador life in winter is dog +travel. The dogs are interesting the year round, for they are always +in evidence winter and summer, but in the fall when the sea freezes +and snow comes, they take a most important place in the life of the +people of the coast. They are the horses and automobiles and +locomotives of the country. No one can travel far without them. + +The true Eskimo dog of Labrador, the "husky," as he is called, is the +direct descendant of the great Labrador wolf. The Labrador wolf is the +biggest and fiercest wolf on the North American continent, and the +Eskimo dog of northern Labrador, his brother, is the biggest and +finest sledge dog to be found anywhere in the world. He is larger and +more capable than the Greenland species of which so much has been +written, and he is quite superior to those at present found in Alaska. + +The true husky dog of northern Labrador has the head and jawls and +upstanding ears of the wild wolf. He has the same powerful shoulders, +thick forelegs, and bristling mane. He does not bark like other dogs, +but has the characteristic howl of the wolf. There is apparently but +one difference between him and the wild wolf, and this comes, +possibly, through domestication. He curls his tail over his back, +while the wolf does not. Even this distinction does not always hold, +for I have seen and used dogs that did not curl their tail. These big +fellows often weigh a full hundred pounds and more. + +Indeed these northern huskies and the wild wolves mix together +sometimes to fight, and sometimes in good fellowship. Once I had a +wolf follow my komatik for two days, and at night when we stopped and +turned our dogs loose the wolf joined them and staid the night with +them only to slink out of rifle shot with the coming of dawn. + +One of my friends, an agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, was once +traveling with a native Labradorman driver along the Labrador coast, +when his train of eight big huskies, suddenly becoming excited, gave +an extra strain on their traces and snapped the "bridle," the long +walrus hide thong that connects the traces with the komatik. Away the +dogs ran, heading over a low hill, apparently in pursuit of some game +they had scented. + +[Illustration: "PLEASE LOOK AT MY TONGUE, DOCTOR!"] + +[Illustration: "NEXT!"] + +My friend, on snowshoes, ran in pursuit, while the driver made a +circuit around the hill in the hope of heading the dogs off. Ten +minutes later the team swung down over the hill and back to the +komatik. From a distance the men saw them and also turned back, but +to their astonishment they counted not the eight dogs that composed +their team, but thirteen. On drawing nearer they realized that five +great wolves had joined the dogs. + +The men's guns were lashed on the komatik, and both were, therefore, +unarmed, and before they could reach the komatik and unlash the rifles +the wolves had fled over the hill and out of range. The dogs, however, +answered the driver's call and were captured. + +One winter evening a few years ago I drove my dog team to the isolated +cabin of Tom Broomfield, a trapper of the coast, where I was to spend +the night. When our dogs were fed and we had eaten our own supper, Tom +went to a chest and drew forth a huge wolf skin, which he held up for +my inspection. + +"He's a big un, now! A wonderful big un!" he commented. "Most big +enough all by hisself for a man's sleepin' bag!" + +"It's a monster!" I exclaimed. "Where did you kill it?" + +"Right here handy t' th' door," he grinned. "I were standin' just +outside th' door o' th' porch when I fires and knocks he over th' +first shot." + +"He were here th' day before Tom kills he," interjected Tom's wife. +"He gives me a wonderful scare that wolf does. I were alone wi' th' +two young ones." + +"Tell me about it," I suggested. + +"'Twere this way sir," said Tom, spreading the pelt over a big chest +where we could admire it. "I were away 'tendin' fox traps, and I has +th' komatik and all th' dogs, savin' one, which I leaves behind. Th' +woman were bidin' home alone wi' th' two young ones. In th' evenin'[D] +her hears dogs a fightin' outside, and thinkin' 'tis one o' th' team +broke loose and runned home that's fightin' th' dog I leaves behind, +she starts t' go out t' beat un apart and stop th' fightin' when she +sees 'tis a wolf and no dog at all. 'Twere a wonderful big un too. He +were inside that skin you sees there, sir, and you can see for +yourself th' bigness o' he. + +"Her tries t' take down th' rifle, th' one as is there on th' pegs, +sir. Th' wolf and th' dog be now fightin' agin' th' door, and th' door +is bendin' in and handy t' breakin' open. She's a bit scared, sir, and +shakin' in th' hands, and she makes a slip, and th' rifle, he goes +off, bang! and th' bullet makes that hole marrin' th' timber above th' +windy." + +Tom arose and pointed out a bullet hole above the window. + +"Then th' wolf, he goes off too, bein' scared at th' shootin'. + +"I were home th' next day mendin' dog harness, when I hears th' dogs +fightin', and I takes a look out th' windy, and there I sees that wolf +fightin' wi' th' dogs, and right handy t' th' house. I just takes my +rifle down spry as I can, and goes out. When th' dogs sees me open th' +door they runs away and leaves th' wolf apart from un, and I ups and +knocks he over wi' a bullet, sir. I gets he fair in th' head first +shot I takes, and there be th' skin. 'Tis worth a good four dollars +too, for 'tis an extra fine one." + +They are treacherous beasts, but, like the wolf, cowardly, these big +dogs of the Labrador. If a man should trip and fall among them, the +likelihood is he would be torn to pieces by their fangs before he +could help himself. You cannot make pals of them as you can of other +dogs. They would as lief snap off the hand that reared and feeds them +as not. It is never safe for a stranger to move among a pack of them +without a stick in his hand. But a threatened kick or the swing of a +menacing stick will send them off crawling and whining. + +The Hudson's Bay Company once had a dozen or so of these big fellows +at Cartwright Post, in Sandwich Bay. They were exceptionally fine dogs +of the true husky breed, brought down from one of the more northerly +posts, and the agent was proud of them. This was the same agent whose +dogs ran away to chum with the wolves, and I believe these were some +of the same dogs. They were splendid animals in harness, well broken +and tireless travelers on the trail. + +One evening, late in the fall, the agent's wife was standing at the +open door of the post house, and her little boy, a lad of about your +years, was playing near the doorstep. + +Labrador dogs are fed but once a day, and this is always in the +evening. It was feeding time for the dogs, and a servant down at the +feed house, where the dog rations were kept, called them. With a rush +they responded. Just when some of them were passing the post house the +little boy in his play stumbled and fell. In an instant the dogs were +upon him. The mother, with rare presence of mind, sprang forward, +seized the boy, sprang back into the house and slammed the door upon +the dogs. + +The boy was on the ground but a moment, but in that moment he was +horribly torn by the sharp fangs. At one place his entrails were laid +bare. There were over sixty wounds on his little body. The dogs lapped +up the blood that fell upon the ground and doorstep. That night the +pack, like a pack of hungry wolves, congregated outside the window +where they heard the child crying and moaning with pain and all night +howled as wolves howl when they have cornered prey. + +The following morning it happened providentially that Doctor +Grenfell's hospital ship steamed into Cartwright Harbor and dropped +anchor. The Doctor himself was aboard. He took the boy under his +charge and the little one's life was saved through his skill. + +After the attack the dogs became extremely aggressive and surly. They +were like a pack of fierce wolves. No one about the place was safe, +and the agent was compelled to shoot every animal in defense of human +life. Usually in Labrador when dogs are guilty of attacking people +they are hung by the neck to a gibbet until dead, and left hanging for +several days. I have seen dogs thus hanging after execution. + +When I left Davis Inlet Post of the Hudson's Bay Company with my dog +team one cold winter morning, a native trapper told me that he would +follow later in the day and probably overtake me at the Moravian +Mission Station at Hopedale. We made half the journey to Hopedale that +night and spent the night in a native cabin. A storm was threatening +the next morning, but, nevertheless, we set forward. Shortly after +midday the storm broke with a gale of wind and driving, smothering +snow, and a temperature 30 degrees below zero. Every moment it +increased in fury, but fortunately we reached the mission station +before it had reached its worst, and here remained stormbound for two +days, during which time the trapper did not appear. + +Later I learned that, with his wife and young son he left Davis Inlet +a few hours after our departure. After the storm had abated his dog +team appeared at Davis Inlet, but he and his wife and child were not +heard from. A searching party set out, but could find no trace of the +missing ones. + +In the spring, when the snow had begun to melt, the komatik was found +and scattered about it were human bones. It was supposed that the man +had halted to camp and await the passing of the storm. Benumbed by the +cold he had probably fallen among his dogs, and they had torn him to +pieces, and with whetted appetite had then attacked and killed his +wife and child. + +These great wolf dogs of the north are quite different from those of +the south. It is doubtful if today a true Eskimo dog is to be found +south of Sandwich Bay, and here and for a long distance north of +Sandwich Bay many of the animals have mongrel blood in their veins. +They are smaller and inferior. But from Sandwich Bay southward the +difference is marked. + +These southern dogs are faster, in a spurt of half a day or so, than +the big wolf dog, but they lack size and strength, and therefore the +staying powers that will carry them forward tirelessly day after day. +The strain of wolf in their blood often makes them vicious, but in +general they respond to kindly treatment and may be petted like dogs +the world over, and sometimes the natives make house dogs of their +leaders. + +The dogs of Newfoundland, such as Doctor Grenfell uses in his winter +journeys in going out from St. Anthony to visit patients, are still a +different type. These are usually big lop-eared kindly fellows, and +just as friendly as any dog in the world. The laws of Newfoundland +provide a heavy fine upon any one bringing upon the island a Labrador +dog that is related even remotely to the husky wolf dog. + +The leader of the dog team is the best disciplined dog in the team but +not always by any means the "boss" dog, or bully, of the pack. Every +pack has its bully and generally, also, its under dog that all the +others pick upon. Eskimo dogs fight among themselves, but the packs +hold together as a gang against strange packs, and when sledges meet +each other on the trail the drivers must exert their utmost effort and +caution, and wield the whip freely, or there will be a fine mix-up, +resulting often in crippled animals. + +The komatik or sledge used in dog travel is from ten to fourteen feet +in length, though in the far north I have seen them a full eighteen +feet long. In the extreme north of Labrador, where the largest ones +are found, they are but sixteen inches wide. Further south, in the +region where the mission hospitals are situated, from ten to twelve +feet is the usual length and about two feet the breadth. + +In Alaska and the Northwest dogs are harnessed tandem, that is one in +front of another in a straight line. This is a white man's method, and +a fine method too when driving through timbered regions. + +But in Labrador dog travel is usually on the naked coast and seldom in +timbered country, and here the old Eskimo method is used. Each dog has +its individual trace, which is fastened to the end of a single line +of walrus skin leading from the komatik and called the bridle. The +leading dog, which is especially trained to answer the driver's +direction, has the longest trace, the next two dogs nearer the komatik +shorter ones, the next two still shorter, and so on. Thus, when they +travel the leader is in advance with the pack spread out behind him on +either side, fan-shaped. Dogs follow the leader like a pack of wolves. + +When the driver wishes the dogs to go forward he shouts "oo-isht," and +to hurry "oksuit."[E] If he wishes them to turn to the right he calls +"ouk!", to the left "rah-der!", and to stop "Ah!" + +In Newfoundland "Hist!" means "Go on"; "Keep off!" "to the right"; +"Hold on!" "to the left." The dogs are harnessed in a similar manner +to that used in Labrador, and the sledges are of the same form, though +of the widest type. + +When the dogs are put in harness in preparation for a journey they are +always keen for the start. They will leap and howl in eagerness to be +off unless the menace of a whip compels them to lie down. When the +driver is ready he shouts "oo-isht!" to the dogs, as he pulls the nose +of the komatik sharply to one side to "break" it loose from the snow. +Immediately the dogs are away at a mad gallop, with the komatik +swinging wildly from side to side. Quickly enough the animals settle +down to a slow pace, only to spurt if game is scented or on +approaching a building. + +The usual dog whip is thirty or thirty-five feet in length, though I +have seen them nearly fifty feet long. Eskimo drivers are exceedingly +expert in handling the long whip, and in the hands of a cruel driver +it is an instrument of torture. In southeastern and southern Labrador +and in Newfoundland the dog whip is used much less freely than in the +north, and the people are less expert in its manipulation than are the +Eskimos. The different species of dogs renders the use of the whip +less necessary. + +Dog travel is seldom over smooth unobstructed ice fields. Sometimes it +is over frozen bays where the tide has thrown up rough hummocks and +ridges. I have been, under such conditions, nearly half a day crossing +the mouth of a river one mile wide. Often the trail leads over high +hills, with long hard steep climbs to be made and sometimes dangerous +descents. In traveling over sea ice, especially in the late winter and +spring, and always when an off shore wind prevails, there is danger of +encountering bad ice, and breaking through, or having the ice "go +abroad," and cutting you off from shore. When the tide has smashed the +ice, it is often necessary to drive the team on the "ballicaders," or +ice barricade, a narrow strip of ice clinging to the rocky shore. This +is sometimes scarce wide enough for the komatik, and the greatest +skill is necessary on the part of the driver to keep the komatik from +slipping off the ballicader and falling and pulling the dogs into the +sea. + +When the snow is soft some one on snowshoes must go in advance of the +dogs and pack the trail for them. Where traveling is rough, and in +up-hill work, it is more than often necessary to pull with the dogs, +and lift the komatik over obstructions. + +In descending steep slopes the driver has a thick hoop of woven walrus +hide, which he throws over the nose of one of the runners to serve as +a drag. Even then, the descent may be rapid and exciting, and not a +little dangerous for dogs and men. The driver throws himself on his +side on the komatik clinging to it with both hands. His legs extend +forward at the side of the sledge, he sticks his heels into the snow +ahead to retard the progress, in imminent danger of a broken leg. + +Winter settles early in Labrador and northern Newfoundland. Snow +comes, the sea smokes, and then one morning men wake up to find a +field of ice where waves were lapping the day before and where boats +have sailed all summer. + +Then it is that Doctor Grenfell sets out with his dogs and komatik +over the great silent snow waste to visit his far scattered patients. +Adventures meet him at every turn and some exciting experiences he has +had, as we shall see. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[D] Afternoon is referred to as "evening" by Labradormen. + +[E] In Alaska they say "Mush," but this is never heard in Labrador. + + + + +XVIII + +FACING AN ARCTIC BLIZZARD + + +The leader of Doctor Grenfell's dog team at St. Anthony, Newfoundland, +is Gypsy, a big black and white fellow, friendly as ever a good dog +can be, and trained to a nicety, always obedient and prompt in +responding to the driver's commands. Running next behind Gypsy, and +pulling side by side, are Tiger and Spider. Tiger is a large, +good-natured red and white fellow, and Spider, his brother, is black +and white. The next is Spot, a great white fellow with a black spot on +his neck, which gives him his name. His mate in harness is a tawny +yellow dog called Scotty. Then come Rover and Shaver. Rover is a +small, black, lop-eared dog, about half the size of Shaver, who looks +upon Rover as an inconsequent attachment, and though he thinks that +Rover is of small assistance, he takes upon himself the responsibility +of making this little working mate of his keep busy when in harness. +Tad and Eric, the rear dogs, are the largest and heaviest of the pack, +and perhaps the best haulers. Their traces are never slack, and they +attend strictly to business. + +This is the team that hauls Doctor Grenfell in long winter journeys, +when he visits the coast settlements of northern Newfoundland, in +every one of which he finds no end of eager folk welcoming him and +calling him to their homes to heal their sick. + +In the scattered hamlets and sparsely settled coast of northern +Newfoundland the folk have no doctor to call upon at a moment's notice +when they are sick, as we have. They live apart and isolated from many +of the conveniences of life that we look upon as necessities. + +It was this condition that led Doctor Grenfell to build his fine +mission hospital at St. Anthony, and from St. Anthony, to brave the +bitter storms of winter, traveling over hundreds of miles of dreary +frozen storm-swept sea and land to help the needy, often to save life. +He never charges a fee, but the Newfoundlander is independent and +self-respecting, and when he is able to do so he pays. All that comes +to Doctor Grenfell in this way he gives to the mission to help support +the hospitals. Those who cannot pay receive from him and his +assistants the same skilled and careful treatment as those who do pay. +Money makes no difference. Doctor Grenfell is giving his life to the +people because they need him, and he never keeps for his own use any +part of the small fees paid him. He is never so happy as when he is +helping others, and to help others who are in trouble is his one great +object in life. + +Two or three years ago the Newfoundland Government extended a +telegraph line to St. Anthony. This offers the people an opportunity +to call upon Doctor Grenfell when they are in need of him, though +sometimes they live so far away that in the storms of winter and +uncertainty of dog travel several days may pass before he can reach +the sick ones in answer to the calls. But let the weather be what it +may, he always responds, for there is no other doctor than Doctor +Grenfell and his assistant, the surgeon at St. Anthony Hospital, +within several hundred miles, north and west of St. Anthony. + +Late one January afternoon in 1919 such a telegram came from a young +fisherman living at Cape Norman, urging Doctor Grenfell to come to his +home at once, and stating that the fisherman's wife was seriously ill. +Grenfell's assistant had taken the dog team the previous day to answer +a call, and had not returned, and if he were to go before his +assistant's return there would be no doctor at the hospital. He +therefore answered the man, stating these facts. During the evening +another wire was received urging him to find a team somewhere and come +at all costs. + +It was evidently indeed a serious case. Cape Norman lies thirty miles +to the northward of St. Anthony, and the trail is a rough one. The +night was moonless and pitchy black, but Grenfell set out at once to +look for dogs. He borrowed four from one man, hired one from another, +and arranged with a man, named Walter, to furnish four additional +ones and to drive the team. Walter was to report at the hospital at +4:30 in the morning prepared to start, though it would still be long +before daybreak. + +Having made these arrangements Grenfell went back to the hospital and +with the head nurse called upon every patient in the wards, providing +so far as possible for any contingency that might arise during his +absence. It was midnight when he had finished. Snow had set in, and +the wind was rising with the promise of bad weather ahead. + +At 4:30 he was dressed and ready for the journey. He looked out into +the darkness. The air was thick with swirling clouds of snow driven +before a gale. He made out a dim figure battling its way to the door, +and as the figure approached he discovered it was Walter, but without +the dogs. + +"Where are the dogs, Walter?" he asked. + +"I didn't bring un, sir," Walter stepped inside and shook the +accumulation of snow from his garments. "'Tis a wonderful nasty +mornin', and I'm thinkin' 'tis too bad to try un before daylight. I've +been watchin' the weather all night, sir. 'Tis growin' worse. We has +only a scratch team and the dog'll not work together right 'till they +gets used to each other. I'm thinkin' we'll have to wait 'till it +comes light." + +"You've the team to drive and you know best," conceded the Doctor. +"Under the circumstances I suppose we'll save time by waiting." + +"That we will, sir. We'd be wastin' the dogs' strength and ours and +losin' time goin' now. We couldn't get on at all, sir." + +"Very well; at daylight." + +Walter returned home and Doctor Grenfell to his room to make the most +of the two hours' rest. + +It was scarce daylight and Walter had not yet appeared when another +telegram was clicked in over the wires: + +"Come along soon. Wife worse." + +The storm had increased in fury since Walter's early visit. It was now +blowing a living gale, and the snow was so thick one could scarce +breathe in it. The trail lay directly in the teeth of the storm. No +dogs on earth could face and stem it and certainly not the picked up, +or "scratch" team as Walter called it, for strange dogs never work +well together, and will never do their best by any means for a strange +driver, and Walter had never driven any of these except his own four. + +With visions of the suffering woman whose life might depend upon his +presence, the Doctor chafed the forenoon through. Then at midday came +another telegram: + +"Come immediately if you can. Wife still holding out." + +He had but just read this telegram when, to his astonishment, two +snow-enveloped, bedraggled men limped up to the door. + +"Where did you come from in this storm?" he asked, hardly believing +his eyes that men could travel in that drift and gale. + +"We comes from Cape Norman, sir, to fetch you," answered one of the +men. + +"Fetch me!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Do you believe dogs can travel +against this gale?" + +"No, sir, they never could stem it, not 'till the wind shifts, +whatever," said the man. "Us comes with un drivin' from behind. The +gale blows us here." + +That was literally true. Ten miles of their journey had been over +partially protected land, but for twenty miles it lay over +unobstructed sea ice where the gale blew with all its force. Only the +deep snow prevented them being carried at a pace that would have +wrecked their sledge, in which case they would certainly have +perished. + +"When did you leave Cape Norman?" asked the Doctor. + +"Eight o'clock last evenin', sir," said the man. + +All night these brave men, with no thought of reward, had been +enduring that terrible storm to bring assistance to a neighbor! After +the manner of the Newfoundlanders they had already fed and cared for +the comfort of their wearied dogs, before giving thought to +themselves, staggering with fatigue as they were. + +"Go into the hospital and get your dinner," directed the Doctor. "When +you've eaten, go to bed. We'll call you when we think it's safe to +start." + +"Thank you, sir," and the grateful men left for the hospital kitchen. + +It was after dark that evening when the two men again appeared at +Doctor Grenfell's house. They were troubled for the safety of their +neighbor's sick wife, and could not rest. + +"Us were just gettin' another telegram sayin' to hurry, sir," +announced the spokesman. "The storm has eased up a bit, and we're +thinkin' to make a try for un if you're ready." + +"Call Walter, and I'll be right with you," directed the Doctor. + +"Us has been and called he, sir," said the man. "He's gettin' the dogs +together and he'll be right here." + +A lull in a winter storm in this north country, with the clouds still +hanging low and no change of wind, does not promise the end of the +storm. It indicates that this is the center, that it is working in a +circle and will soon break upon the world again with even increased +fury. + +Doctor Grenfell knew this and the men knew it full well, but their +anxiety for the suffering woman at Cape Norman would not permit them +to sleep. Anything was better than sitting still. The decision to +start was a source of vast relief to Doctor Grenfell, even though it +were to venture into the face of the terrible storm and bitter cold. +Grenfell will venture anything with any man, and if those men could +face the wind and snow and cold he could. + +In half an hour they were off. Before them lay the harbor of St. +Anthony, and the ice must be crossed. Through the darkness of night +and swirling snow they floundered down to it. The men were immediately +knee-deep in slush and the two teams of dogs were nearly swimming. +Their feet could not reach the solid bed of ice below. The immense +weight of snow had pushed the ice down with the falling tide and the +rising tide had flooded it. + +The team from Cape Norman took the lead to break the way. Every one +put on his snowshoes, for traveling without them was impossible. One +of those with the advance team went ahead of the dogs to tramp the +path for the sledge and make the work easier for the poor animals, +while the other remained with the team to drive. In like manner Walter +tramped ahead of the rear dogs and Doctor Grenfell drove them. + +At length they reached the opposite shore, fighting against the gale +at every step. Now there was a hill to cross. + +Here on the lee side of the hill they met mighty drifts of feathery +snow into which the dogs wallowed to their backs and the snowshoes of +the men sunk deep. They were compelled to haul on the traces with the +dogs. They had to lift and manipulate the sledges with tremendous +effort. Up the grade they toiled and strained, yard by yard, foot by +foot. Sometimes it seemed to them they were making no appreciable +progress, but on they fought through the black night and the driving +snow, sweating in spite of the Arctic blasts and clouds of drift that +sometimes nearly stopped their breath and carried them off their feet. + +The life of the young fisherman's wife at Cape Norman hung in the +balance. The toiling men visualized her lying on a bed of pain and +perhaps dying for the need of a doctor. They saw the agonized husband +by her side, tortured by his helplessness to save her. They forgot +themselves and the risk they were taking in their desire to bring to +the fisherman's wife the help her husband was beseeching God to send. +This is true heroism. + +As the saying on the coast goes, "'tis dogged as does it," and as +Grenfell himself says, "not inspiration, but perspiration wins the +prizes of life." They finally reached the crest of the hill. + +On the opposite or weather side of the hill the gale met them with +full force. It had swept the slope clean and left it a glade of ice. +They slid down at a dangerous speed, taking all sorts of chances, +colliding in the darkness with stumps and ice-coated rocks and other +snags, in imminent danger of having their brains knocked out or limbs +broken. + +The open places below were little better. Everything was ice-coated. +They slipped and slid about, falling and rising with every dozen +steps. If they threw themselves on the sledges to ride the dogs came +to a stop, for they could not haul them. If they walked they could not +keep their feet. Their course took them along the bed of Bartlett +River, and twice Grenfell and some of the others broke through into +the icy rapids. + +At half past one in the morning they reached the mouth of Bartlett +River where it empties into the sea and between them and Cape Norman +lay twenty miles of unobstructed sea ice. They had been traveling for +nearly six hours and had covered but ten miles of the journey. The +temporary lull in the storm had long since passed, and now, beating +down upon the world with redoubled fury, it met them squarely in the +face. No dog could stem it. The men could scarce stand upright. The +clouds of snow suffocated them, and the cold was withering. + +Far out they could hear the thunder of smashing ice. It was a threat +that the still firm ice lying before them might be broken into +fragments at any time. Sea water had already driven over it, forming a +thick coating of half-frozen slush. Even though the gale that swept +the ice field had not been too fierce to face, any attempt to cross +would obviously have been a foolhardy undertaking. + + + + +XIX + +HOW AMBROSE WAS MADE TO WALK + + +One of the men from Cape Norman had been acting as leader on the trail +from St. Anthony. His name was Will, and he was a big broad-shouldered +man, a giant of a fellow. He knew all the trappers on this part of the +coast, and where their trapping grounds lay. One of his neighbors, +whom he spoke of as "Si," trapped in the neighborhood where the +baffled men now found themselves. + +"I'm rememberin', now, Si built a tilt handy by here," he suddenly +exclaimed. + +"A tilt!" Grenfell was sceptical. "I've been going up and down this +coast for twenty years and I never heard of a tilt near here." + +"He built un last fall. I thinks, now, I could find un," Will +suggested. + +"Find it if you can," urged Grenfell hopefully. "Where is it?" + +"'Tis in a bunch of trees, somewheres handy." + +"Is there a stove in it?" + +"I'm not knowin' that. I'll try to find un and see." + +They had retreated to the edge of the forest. Will disappeared among +the trees, and Grenfell and the others waited. It was still six hours +to daylight, and to stand inactive for six hours in the storm and +biting cold would have been perilous if not fatal. + +Presently Will's shout came out of the forest, rising above the road +of wind: + +"Ti-l-t and St-o-ve!" + +They followed Will's voice, bumping against trees, groping through +flying snow and darkness, and quickly came upon Will and the tilt. +There was indeed, to their great joy, a stove in it. There was also a +supply of dry wood, all cut and piled ready for use. In one end of the +tilt was a bench covered with spruce boughs which Si used as a bed. + +There was nothing to feed the exhausted dogs, but they were +unharnessed and were glad enough to curl up in the snow, where the +drift would cover them, after the manner of northern dogs. + +Then a fire was lighted in the stove. Will went out with the ax and +kettle, and presently returned with the kettle filled with water +dipped from Bartlett River after he had cut a hole through the ice. + +Setting the kettle on the stove, Will, standing by the stove, +proceeded to fill and light his pipe while Doctor Grenfell opened his +dunnage bag to get the tea and sugar. Suddenly Will's pipe clattered +to the floor. Will, standing like a statue, did not stoop to pick it +up and Grenfell rescued it and rising offered it to him, when, to his +vast astonishment, he discovered that the man, standing erect upon +his feet was fast asleep. He had been nearly sixty hours without sleep +and forty-eight hours of this had been spent on the trail. + +They aroused Will and had him sit down on the bench. He re-lighted his +pipe but in a moment it fell from his teeth again. He rolled over on +the bench and was too soundly asleep to be interested in pipe or tea +or anything to eat. + +Daylight brought no abatement in the storm. The ice was deep under a +coating of slush, and quite impassable for dogs and men, and the sea +was pounding and battering at the outer edge, as the roar of smashing +ice testified, though quite shut out from view by driving snow. There +was nothing to do but follow the shore, a long way around, and off +they started. + +Here and there was an opportunity to cut across small coves and inlets +where the ice was safe enough, and at two o'clock in the afternoon +they reached Crow Island, a small island three-quarters of a mile from +the mainland. + +Under the shelter of scraggly fir trees on Crow Island an attempt was +made to light a fire and boil the kettle for tea. But there was no +protection from the blizzard. They failed to get the fire, and finally +compelled by the elements to give it up they took a compass course for +a small settlement on the mainland. The instinct of the dogs led them +straight, and when the men had almost despaired of locating the +settlement they suddenly drew up before a snug cottage. + +A cup of steaming tea, a bit to eat, and Grenfell and his men were off +again. Cape Norman was not far away, and that evening they reached the +fisherman's home. + +The joy and thankfulness of the young fisherman was beyond bounds. His +wife was in agony and in a critical condition. Doctor Grenfell +relieved her pain at once, and by skillful treatment in due time +restored her to health. Had he hesitated to face the storm or had he +been made of less heroic stuff and permitted himself to be driven back +by the blizzard, she would have died. Indeed there are few men on the +coast that would have ventured out in that storm. But he went and he +saved the woman's life, and today that young fisherman's wife is as +well and happy as ever she could be, and she and her husband will +forever be grateful to Doctor Grenfell for his heroic struggle to +reach them. + +In a few days Doctor Grenfell was back again in St. Anthony, and then +a telegram came calling him to a village to the south. The weather was +fair. His own splendid team was at home, and he was going through a +region where settlements were closer together than on the Cape Norman +trail. + +The first night was spent in his sleeping bag stretched on the floor +of a small building kept open for the convenience of travelers with +dog sledges. The next night he was comfortably housed in a little +cabin in the woods, also used for the convenience of travelers, and +generally each night he was quite as well housed. + +He was going now to see a lad of fifteen whose thigh had been broken +while steering a komatik down a steep hill. Dog driving, as we have +seen, is frequently a dangerous occupation, and this young fellow had +suffered. + +In every settlement Doctor Grenfell was hailed by folk who needed a +doctor. There was one broken leg that required attention, one man had +a broken knee cap. In one house he found a young woman dying of +consumption. There were many cases of Spanish influenza and several +people dangerously ill with bronchial pneumonia. There was one little +blind child later taken to the hospital at St. Anthony to undergo an +operation to restore her sight. In the course of that single journey +he treated eighty-six different cases, and but for his fortunate +coming none of them could have had a doctor's care. + +He found the lad Ambrose suffering intense pain. After his accident +the lad had been carried home by a friend. His people did not know +that the thigh was broken, and when it swelled they rubbed and +bandaged it. + +The pain grew almost too great for the boy to bear. A priest passing +through the settlement advised them to put the leg in splints. This +was done, but no padding was used, which, as every Boy Scout knows, +was a serious omission. Boards were used as splints, extending from +thigh to heel and they cut into the flesh, causing painful sores. + +The priest had gone, and though Ambrose was suffering so intensely +that he could not sleep at night no one dared remove the splints. The +neighbors declared the lad's suffering was caused by the pain from the +injured thigh coming out at the heel. + +Ambrose was in a terrible condition when Doctor Grenfell arrived. The +pain had been continuous and for a long time he had not slept. The +broken thigh had knit in a bowed position, leaving that leg three +inches shorter than the other. + +It was necessary to re-break the thigh to straighten it. Doctor +Grenfell could not do this without assistance. There was but one thing +to do, take the lad to St. Anthony hospital. + +A special team and komatik would be required for the journey, but the +lad's father had no dogs, and with a family of ten children to +support, in addition to Ambrose, no money with which to hire one. A +friend came to the rescue and volunteered to haul the lad to the +hospital. + +It was a journey of sixty miles. The trail from the village where +Ambrose lived rose over a high range of hills. The snow was deep and +the traveling hard, and several men turned out to help the dogs haul +the komatik to the summit. Then, with Doctor Grenfell's sledge ahead +to break the trail, and the other following with the helpless lad +packed in a box they set out, Ambrose's father on snowshoes walking by +the side of the komatik to offer his boy any assistance the lad might +need. + +The next morning Doctor Grenfell was delayed with patients and the +other komatik went ahead, only to be lost and to finally turn back on +the trail until they met Grenfell's komatik, which was searching for +them. + +The cold was bitter and terrible that day. The men on snowshoes were +comfortable enough with their hard exercise, but it was almost +impossible to keep poor Ambrose from freezing in spite of heavy +covering. Now and again his father had to remove the moccasins from +Ambrose's feet and rub them briskly with bare hands to restore +circulation. He even removed the warm mittens from his own hands and +gave them to Ambrose to pull on over the ones he already wore. + +At midday a halt was made to "boil the kettle," and by the side of the +big fire that was built in the shelter of the forest Ambrose was +restored to comparative comfort. On the trail again it was colder than +ever in the afternoon, and they thought the lad, though he never once +uttered a complaint, would freeze before they could reach the cabin +that was to shelter them for the night. At last the cabin was reached. +A fire was hurriedly built in the stove, and with much rubbing of +hands and legs and feet, and a roaring fire, he was made so +comfortable that he could eat, and a fine supper they had for him. + +At the place where they stopped the previous night Doctor Grenfell had +mentioned that the oven that sat on the stove in this cabin, was worn +out. One of the men immediately went out, procured some corrugated +iron, pounded it flat with the back of an ax and then proceeded to +make an oven for Grenfell to take with him on his komatik. Upon +opening the oven now it was found that the good friend who had made +the oven had packed it full of rabbits and ptarmigans, the white +partridge or grouse of the north. In a little while a delicious stew +was sending forth its appetizing odors. A pan of nicely browned hot +biscuits, freshly baked in the new oven and a kettle of steaming tea +completed a feast that would have tempted anyone's appetite, and +Ambrose, for the first time in many a day relieved of much of his +pain, through Doctor Grenfell's ministrations, enjoyed it immensely, +and for the first time in many a night, followed his meal with +refreshing sleep. + +The next morning the cold was more intense than ever. Ambrose was +wrapped in every blanket they had and, as additional protection, +Doctor Grenfell stowed him away in his own sleeping bag, and packed +him on the sledge. Off they went on the trail again. Late that +afternoon they crossed a big bay, and St. Anthony was but eighteen +mile away. + +When Ambrose was made comfortable in a settler's cottage, Doctor +Grenfell directed that he was to be brought on to the hospital the +following morning, and he himself much needed at the hospital pushed +forward at once, arriving at St. Anthony long after night. + +But before morning the worst storm of the winter broke upon them. The +buildings at St. Anthony rocked in the gale until the maids on the top +floor of the hospital said they were seasick. And when the storm was +over the snow was so deep that men with snowshoes walked from the +gigantic snow banks to some of the roofs which were on a level with +the drifts. Tunnels had to be cut through the snow to doors. + +The storm delayed Ambrose and his friends, but after the weather +cleared their komatik appeared. The lad was put on the operating +table, the thigh re-broken and properly set by Doctor Grenfell, and +the leg brought down to its proper length. Presently the time came +when Grenfell was able to tell the father that, after all their fears, +Ambrose was not to be a cripple and that he would be as strong and +nimble as ever he was. This was actually the case. Doctor Grenfell is +a remarkably skillful surgeon and he had wrought a miracle. The +thankful and relieved father shed tears of joy. + +"When I gets un," said he, his voice choked by emotion, "I'll send +five dollars for the hospital." + +Five dollars, to Ambrose's father, was a lot of money. + +Winter storms, as we have seen, never hold Doctor Grenfell back when +he is called to the sick and injured. Many times he has broken through +the sea ice, and many times he has narrowly escaped death. The story +of a few of these experiences would fill a volume of rattling fine +adventure. I am tempted to go on with them. One of these big +adventures at least we must not pass by. As we shall see in the next +chapter, it came dangerously near being his last one. + + + + +XX + +LOST ON THE ICE FLOE + + +One day in April several years ago, Dr. Grenfell, who was at the time +at St. Anthony Hospital, received an urgent call to visit a sick man +two days' journey with dogs to the southward. The patient was +dangerously ill. No time was to be lost, for delay might cost the +man's life. + +It is still winter in northern Newfoundland in April, though the days +are growing long and at midday the sun, climbing high now in the +heavens, sends forth a genial warmth that softens the snow. At this +season winds spring up suddenly and unexpectedly, and blow with +tremendous velocity. Sometimes the winds are accompanied by squalls of +rain or snow, with a sudden fall in temperature, and an off-shore wind +is quite certain to break up the ice that has covered the bays all +winter, and to send it abroad in pans upon the wide Atlantic, to melt +presently and disappear. + +This breaking up of the ice sometimes comes so suddenly that traveling +with dogs upon the frozen bays at this season is a hazardous +undertaking. Scarcely a year passes that some one is not lost. +Sometimes men are carried far to sea on ice pans and are never heard +from again. + +A man must know the trails to travel with dogs along this rough coast. +Much better progress is made traveling upon sea ice than on land +trails, for the latter are usually up and down over rocky hills and +through entangling brush and forest, while the former is a smooth +straight-away course. When the ice is rotted by the sun's heat, +however, and is covered by deep slush, and is broken by dangerous +holes and open leads that cannot safely be crossed, the driver keeps +close to shore, and is sometimes forced to turn to the land and leave +the ice altogether. When the ice is good and sound the dog traveler +only leaves it to cross necks of land separating bays and inlets, +where distance may be shortened, and makes as straight a course across +the frozen bays as possible. + +There is a great temptation always, even when the ice is in poor +condition, to cross it and "take a chance," which usually means a +considerable risk, rather than travel the long course around shore. +Long experience at dog travel, instead of breeding greater caution in +the men of the coast, leads them to take risks from which the less +experienced man would shrink. + +These were the conditions when the call came that April day to Dr. +Grenfell. Traveling at this season was, at best, attended by risk. But +this man's life depended upon his going, and no risk could be +permitted to stand in the way of duty. Without delay he packed his +komatik box with medicines, bandages and instruments. It was certain +he would have many calls, both for medical and surgical attention, +from the scattered cottages he should pass, and on these expeditions +he always travels fully prepared to meet any ordinary emergency from +administering pills to amputating a leg or an arm. He also packed in +the box a supply of provisions and his usual cooking kit. + +Only in cases of stress do men take long journeys with dogs alone, but +there was no man about the hospital at this time that Grenfell could +take with him as a traveling companion and to assist him, and no time +to wait for any one, and so, quite alone and driving his own team, he +set out upon his journey. + +It was mid-afternoon when he "broke" his komatik loose, and his dogs, +eager for the journey, turned down upon the trail at a run. The dogs +were fresh and in the pink of condition, and many miles were behind +him when he halted his team at dusk before a fisherman's cottage. Here +he spent the night, and the following morning, bright and early, +harnessed his dogs and was again hurrying forward. + +The morning was fine and snappy. The snow, frozen and crisp, gave the +dogs good footing. The komatik slid freely over the surface. Dr. +Grenfell urged the animals forward that they might take all the +advantage possible of the good sledging before the heat of the midday +sun should soften the snow and make the hauling hard. + +The fisherman's cottage where he had spent the night was on the shores +of a deep inlet, and a few rods beyond the cottage the trail turned +down upon the inlet ice, and here took a straight course across the +ice to the opposite shore, some five miles distant, where it plunged +into the forest to cross another neck of land. + +A light breeze was coming in from the sea, the ice had every +appearance of being solid and secure, and Dr. Grenfell dove out upon +it for a straight line across. To have followed the shore would have +increased the distance to nearly thirty miles. + +Everything went well until perhaps half the distance had been covered. +Then suddenly there came a shift of wind, and Grenfell discovered, +with some apprehension, that a stiff breeze was rising, and now +blowing from land toward the sea, instead of from the sea toward the +land as it had done when he started early in the morning from the +fisherman's cottage. Still the ice was firm enough, and in any case +there was no advantage to be had by turning back, for he was as near +one shore as the other. + +Already the surface of the ice, which, with several warm days, had +become more or less porous and rotten, was covered with deep slush. +The western sky was now blackened by heavy wind clouds, and with +scarce any warning the breeze developed into a gale. Forcing his dogs +forward at their best pace, while he ran by the side of the komatik, +he soon put another mile behind him. Before him the shore loomed up, +and did not seem far away. But every minute counted. It was evident +the ice could not stand the strain of the wind much longer. + +Presently one of Grenfell's feet went through where slush covered an +opening crack. He shouted at the dogs, but, buffeted by wind and +floundering through slush, they could travel no faster though they +made every effort to do so, for they, no less perhaps than their +master, realized the danger that threatened them. + +Then, suddenly, the ice went asunder, not in large pans as it would +have done earlier in the winter when it was stout and hard, but in a +mass of small pieces, with only now and again a small pan. + +Grenfell and the dogs found themselves floundering in a sea of slush +ice that would not bear their weight. The faithful dogs had done their +best, but their best had not been good enough. With super-human effort +Grenfell managed to cut their traces and set them free from the +komatik, which was pulling them down. Even now, with his own life in +the gravest peril, he thought of them. + +When the dogs were freed, Grenfell succeeded in clambering upon a +small ice pan that was scarce large enough to bear his weight, and +for the moment was safe. But the poor dogs, much more frightened than +their master, and looking to him for protection, climbed upon the pan +with him, and with this added weight it sank from under him. + +Swimming in the ice-clogged water must have been well nigh impossible. +The shock of the ice-cold water itself, even had there been no ice, +was enough to paralyze a man. But Grenfell, accustomed to cold, and +with nerves of iron as a result of keeping his body always in the pink +of physical condition, succeeded finally in reaching a pan that would +support both himself and the dogs. The animals followed him and took +refuge at his feet. + +Standing upon the pan, with the dogs huddled about him, he scanned the +naked shores, but no man or sign of human life was to be seen. How +long his own pan would hold together was a question, for the broken +ice, grinding against it, would steadily eat it away. + +There was a steady drift of the ice toward the open sea. The wind was +bitterly cold. There was nothing to eat for himself and nothing to +feed the dogs, for the loaded komatik had long since disappeared +beneath the surface of the sea. + +Exposed to the frigid wind, wet to the skin, and with no other +protection than the clothes upon his back, it seemed inevitable that +the cold would presently benumb him and that he would perish from it +even though his pan withstood the wearing effects of the water. The +pan was too small to admit of sufficient exercise to keep up the +circulation of blood, and though he slapped his arms around his +shoulders and stamped his feet, a deadening numbness was crawling over +him as the sun began to sink in the west and cold increased. + +Though, in the end he might drown, Grenfell determined to live as long +as he could. Perhaps this was a test of courage that God had given +him! It is a man's duty, whatever befalls him, to fight for life to +the last ditch, and live as long as he can. Most men, placed as +Grenfell was placed, would have sunk down in despair, and said: "It's +all over! I've done the best I could!" And there they would have +waited for death to find them. When a man is driven to the wall, as +Grenfell was, it is easier to die than live. When God brings a man +face to face with death, He robs death of all its terrors, and when +that time comes it is no harder for a man who has lived right with God +to die than it is for him to lie down at night and sleep. But Grenfell +was never a quitter. He was going to fight it out now with the +elements as best he could with what he had at hand. + +These northern dogs, when driven to desperation by hunger, will turn +upon their best friend and master, and here was another danger. If he +and the dogs survived the night and another day, what would the dogs +do? Then it would be, as Grenfell knew full well, his life or theirs. + +The dogs wore good warm coats of fur, and if he had a coat made of dog +skins it would keep him warm enough to protect his life, at least, +from the cold. Now the animals were docile enough. Clustered about his +feet, they were looking up into his face expectantly and confidently. +He loved them as a good man always loves the beasts that serve him. +They had hauled him over many a weary mile of snow and ice, and had +been his companions and shared with him the hardships of many a +winter's storm. + +But it was his life or theirs. If he were to survive the night, some +of the dogs must be sacrificed. In all probability he and they would +be drowned anyway before another night fell upon the world. + +There was no time to be lost in vain regrets and indecision. Grenfell +drew his sheath knife, and as hard as we know it was for him, +slaughtered three of the animals. This done, he removed their pelts, +and wrapping the skins about him, huddled down among the living dogs +for a night of long, tedious hours of waiting and uncertainty, until +another day should break. + +That must have been a period of terrible suffering for Grenfell, but +he had a stout heart and he survived it. He has said that the dog +skins saved his life, and without them he certainly would have +perished. + +The ice pan still held together, and with a new day came fresh hope of +the possibility of rescue. The coast was still well in sight, and +there was a chance that a change of wind might drive the pan toward it +on an incoming tide. At this season, too, the men of the coast were +out scanning the sea for "signs" of seals, and some of them might see +him. + +This thought suggested that if he could erect a signal on a pole, it +would attract attention more readily. He had no pole, and he thought +at first no means of raising the signal, which was, indeed, necessary, +for at that distance from shore only a moving signal would be likely +to attract the attention of even the keenly observant fishermen. + +Then his eyes fell upon the carcasses of the three dogs with their +stiff legs sticking up. He drew his sheath knife and went at them +immediately. In a little while he had severed the legs from the bodies +and stripped the flesh from the bones. Now with pieces of dog harness +he lashed the legs together, and presently had a serviceable pole, but +one which must have been far from straight. + +Elated with the result of his experiment, he hastily stripped the +shirt from his back, fastened it to one end of his staff, and raising +it over his head began moving it back and forth. + +It was an ingenious idea to make a flagstaff from the bones of dogs' +legs. Hardly one man in a thousand would have thought of it. It was an +exemplification of Grenfell's resourcefulness, and in the end it saved +his life. + +As he had hoped, men were out upon the rocky bluffs scanning the sea +for seals. The keen eyes of one of them discovered, far away, +something dark and unusual. The men of this land never take anything +for granted. It is a part of the training of the woodsman and seaman +to identify any unusual movement or object, or to trace any unusual +sound, before he is satisfied to let it pass unheeded. Centering his +attention upon the distant object the man distinguished a movement +back and forth. Nothing but a man could make such a movement he knew, +and he also knew that any man out there was in grave danger. He called +some other fishermen, manned a boat and Dr. Grenfell and his surviving +dogs were rescued. + + + + +XXI + +WRECKED AND ADRIFT + + +It happened that it was necessary for Dr. Grenfell to go to New York +one spring three or four years ago. Men interested in raising funds to +support the Labrador and Newfoundland hospitals were to hold a +meeting, and it was essential that he attend the meeting and tell them +of the work on the coast, and what he needed to carry it on. + +This meeting was to have been held in May, and to reach New York in +season to attend it Dr. Grenfell decided to leave St. Anthony +Hospital, where he then was, toward the end of April, for in any case +traveling would be slow. + +It was his plan to travel northward, by dog team, to the Straits of +Belle Isle, thence westward along the shores, and finally southward, +down the western coast of Newfoundland, to Port Aux Basque, from which +point a steamer would carry him over to North Sydney, in Nova Scotia. +There he could get a train and direct railway connections to New York. +There is an excellent, and ordinarily, at this season, an expeditious +route for dog travel down the western coast of Newfoundland, and +Grenfell anticipated no difficulties. + +Just as he was ready to start a blizzard set in with a northeast gale, +and smash! went the ice. This put an end to dog travel. There was but +one alternative, and that was by boat. Traveling along the coast in a +small boat is pretty exciting and sometimes perilous when you have to +navigate the boat through narrow lanes of water, with land ice on one +side and the big Arctic ice pack on the other, and a shift of wind is +likely to send the pack driving in upon you before you can get out of +the way. And if the ice pack catches you, that's the end of it, for +your boat will be ground up like a grain of wheat between mill stones, +and there you are, stranded upon the ice, and as like as not cut off +from land, too. + +But there was no other way to get to that meeting in New York, and +Grenfell was determined to get there. And so, when the blizzard had +passed he got out a small motor boat, and made ready for the journey. +If he could reach a point several days' journey by boat to the +southward, he could leave the boat and travel one hundred miles on +foot overland to the railroad. + +This hike of one hundred miles, with provisions and equipment on his +back, was a tremendous journey in itself. It would not be on a beaten +road, but through an unpopulated wilderness still lying deep under +winter snows. To Grenfell, however, it would be but an incident in his +active life. He was accustomed to following a dog team, and that +hardens a man for nearly any physical effort. It requires that a man +keep at a trot the livelong day, and it demands a good heart and good +lungs and staying powers and plenty of grit, and Grenfell was well +equipped with all of these. + +The menacing Arctic ice pack lay a mile or so seaward when Grenfell +and one companion turned their backs on St. Anthony, and the motor +boat chugged southward, out of the harbor and along the coast. For a +time all went well, and then an easterly wind sprang up and there +followed a touch-and-go game between Dr. Grenfell and the ice. + +In an attempt to dodge the ice the boat struck upon rocks. This caused +some damage to her bottom, but not sufficient to incapacitate her, as +it was found the hole could be plugged. The weather turned bitterly +cold, and the circulating pipes of the motor froze and burst. This was +a more serious accident, but it was temporarily repaired while +Grenfell bivouaced ashore, sleeping at night under the stars with a +bed of juniper boughs for a mattress and an open fire to keep him +warm. + +Ice now blocked the way to the southward, though open leads of water +to the northward offered opportunity to retreat, and, with the motor +boat in a crippled condition, it was decided to return to St. Anthony +and make an attempt, with fresh equipment, to try a route through the +Straits of Belle Isle. + +They were still some miles from St. Anthony when they found it +necessary to abandon the motor boat in one of the small harbor +settlements. Leaving it in charge of the people, Grenfell borrowed a +small rowboat. Rowing the small boat through open lanes and hauling it +over obstructing ice pans they made slow progress and the month of May +was nearing its close when one day the pack suddenly drove in upon +them. + +They were fairly caught. Ice surrounded them on every side. The boat +was in imminent danger of being crushed before they realized their +danger. Grenfell and his companion sprang from the boat to a pan, and +seizing the prow of the boat hauled upon it with the energy of +desperation. They succeeded in raising the prow upon the ice, but they +were too late. The edge of the ice was high and the pans were moving +rapidly, and to their chagrin they heard a smashing and splintering of +wood, and the next instant were aware that the stern of the boat had +been completely bitten off and that they were adrift on an ice pan, +cut off from the land by open water. + +An inspection of the boat proved that it was wrecked beyond repair. +All of the after part had been cut off and ground to pulp between the +ice pans. In the distance, to the westward, rose the coast, a grim +outline of rocky bluffs. Between them and the shore the sea was dotted +with pans and pieces of ice, separated by canals of black water. The +men looked at each other in consternation as they realized that they +had no means of reaching land and safety, and that a few hours might +find them far out on the Atlantic. + +In the hope of attracting attention, Dr. Grenfell and William Taylor, +his companion, fired their guns at regular intervals. Expectantly they +waited, but there was no answering signal from shore and no sign of +life anywhere within their vision. + +For a long while they waited and watched and signalled. With a turn in +the tide it became evident, finally, that the pan on which they were +marooned was drifting slowly seaward. If this continued they would +soon be out of sight of land, and then all hope of rescue would +vanish. + +"I'll tell you what I'll do, now," suggested Taylor. "I'll copy toward +shore. I'll try to get close enough for some one to see me." + +To "copy" is to jump from one pan or piece of ice to another. The gaps +of water separating them are sometimes wide, and a man must be a good +jumper who lands. Some of the pieces of ice are quite too small to +bear a man's weight, and he must leap instantly to the next or he will +sink with the ice. It is perilous work at best, and much too dangerous +for any one to attempt without much practice and experience. + +They had a boat hook with them, and taking it to assist in the long +leaps, Taylor started shore-ward. Dr. Grenfell watched him anxiously +as he sprang from pan to pan making a zigzag course toward shore, now +and again taking hair-raising risks, sometimes resting for a moment on +a substantial pan while he looked ahead to select his route, then +running, and using the boat hook as a vaulting pole, spanning a wide +chasm. Then, suddenly, Dr. Grenfell saw him totter, throw up his hands +and disappear beneath the surface of the water. In a hazardous leap he +had missed his footing, or a small cake of ice had turned under his +weight. + + + + +XXII + +SAVING A LIFE + + +It was a terrible moment for Grenfell when he saw his friend disappear +beneath the icy waves. Would the cold so paralyze him as to render him +helpless? Would he be caught under an ice pan? A hundred such thoughts +flashed through Grenfell's mind as he stood, impotent to help because +of the distance between them. Then to his great joy he saw Taylor rise +to the surface and scramble out upon a pan in safety. + +The ice was too far separated now for Taylor either to advance or +retreat, and the pan upon which he had taken refuge began a rapid +drift seaward. He had made a valiant effort, but the attempt had +failed. + +Grenfell resumed firing his gun, still hoping that some one might hear +it and come to their rescue. Time passed and Taylor drifted abreast of +Grenfell and finally drifted past him. Then, in the far distance, +Grenfell glimpsed the flash of an oar. The flash was repeated with +rhythmic regularity. The outlines of a boat came into view. The men +shouted the good news to each other. Help was coming! + +The signals had been heard, and in due time, and with much +thankfulness, Dr. Grenfell and William Taylor were safely in the boat +and on their way to St. Anthony. + +Not long after his return to St. Anthony, the ice drifted eastward and +an open strip of sea appeared leading northward toward the Straits of +Belle Isle. The ice was now a full mile off shore, it was the +beginning of June, and Dr. Grenfell, expecting that at this late +season the Straits would be open for navigation, had the _Strathcona_ +made ready for sea at once, and with high hopes, stowed the anchor and +steamed northward. It was his plan to have the vessel carry him +westward through the Straits and land him at some port on the west +coast of Newfoundland where he could take passage on the regular mail +boat, which he had been advised had begun its summer service. Thence +he could continue his trip to New York, where the important meeting +had been adjourned several times in expectation of his coming. + +But again he was doomed to disappointment. The Straits were found to +be packed from shore to shore with heavy floe ice and clogged with +icebergs. Before the _Strathcona_ could make her escape she was +surrounded by ice and frozen tight and fast into the floe. + +[Illustration: "THE HOSPITAL SHIP. STRATHCONA"] + +Grenfell was determined to reach New York and attend that meeting. It +was supremely important that he do so. Now there was but one way to +reach the mail boat, and that was to walk. The distance to the nearest +port of call was ninety miles. + +Making up a pack of food, cooking utensils, bedding and a suit of +clothes that would permit him to present a civilized and respectable +appearance when he reached New York, he made ready for the long +overland journey. Shouldering his big pack, he bade goodbye to Mrs. +Grenfell, who was with him on the _Strathcona_, and to the crew, and +set out over the ice pack to the land. + +Three days later Dr. Grenfell reached the harbor where he was to board +the mail boat upon her arrival. He was wearied and stiff in his joints +after the hard overland hike with a heavy pack on his back, and +looking forward to rest and a good meal, he went directly to the home +of a mission clergyman living in the little village. + +His welcome was hearty, as a welcome always is on this coast. The +clergyman showered him with kindnesses. A pot of steaming tea and an +appetizing meal was on the table in a jiffy. It was luxury after the +long days on the trail and Grenfell sat down with anticipation of keen +enjoyment. + +At the moment that Grenfell seated himself the door opened +unceremoniously, and an excited fisherman burst into the room with the +exclamation: + +"For God's sake, some one come! Come and save my brother's life! He's +bleeding to death!" + +Dr. Grenfell learned in a few hurried inquiries that the man's +brother had accidentally shot his leg nearly off an hour before and +was already in a comatose condition from loss of blood. The family +lived five miles distant, and the only way to reach the cabin where +the wounded man lay was on foot. + +Grenfell forgot all about the steaming tea, the good meal and rest. A +moment's delay might cost the man his life. Grenfell ran. Over that +five miles of broken country he ran as he had never run before, with +the half-frenzied fisherman leading the way. + +The wounded man was a young fellow of twenty. Dr. Grenfell knew him +well. He was a hero of the world war. He had volunteered when a mere +boy, served bravely through four years of the terrible conflict and +though he had taken part in many of the great battles he had lived to +return to his home and his fishing. + +"I never knew a better cure for stiffness than a splendid chance for +serving," said Grenfell in referring to that run from the missionary's +home to the fisherman's cottage. All his stiff joints and weary +muscles were forgotten as he ran. + +When Dr. Grenfell entered the room where the man lay, he found the +young fisherman soaked with blood and sea water, lying stretched upon +a hard table. The remnant of his shattered leg rested upon a feather +pillow and was strung up to the ceiling in an effort to stop the flow +of blood. He was moaning, but was practically unconscious, and barely +alive. + +The room was crowded to suffocation with weeping relatives and +sympathetic neighbors. Dr. Grenfell cleared it at once. The place was +small and the light poor and a difficult place in which to treat so +critical a case or to operate successfully. He had no surgical +instruments or medicines, and even for him, accustomed as he was to +work under handicaps and difficulties, a serious problem confronted +him. + +The man was so far gone that an operation seemed hopeless, but +nevertheless it was worth trying. Grenfell sent messengers far and +near for reserve supplies that he had left at various points to be +drawn upon in cases of emergency, and in a little while had at his +command some opiates, a small amount of ether, some silk for +ligatures, some crude substitutes for instruments, and the supply of +communal wine from the missionary's little church, five miles away. + +While these things had been gathered in, the flow of blood had been +abated by the use of a tourniquet. There was scarcely enough ether to +be of use, but with the assistance of two men Dr. Grenfell applied it +and operated. + +One of the assistants fainted, but the other stuck faithfully to his +post, and with a cool head and steady hand did Dr. Grenfell's bidding. +The operation was performed successfully, and the young soldier's +life was saved through Dr. Grenfell's skillful treatment. Today this +fisherman has but one leg, but he is well and happy and a useful man +in the world. + +Fate takes a hand in our lives sometimes, and plays strange pranks +with us. In New York a group of gentlemen were impatiently awaiting +the arrival of Dr. Grenfell, while he, in an isolated cottage on the +rugged coast of Northern Newfoundland was saving a fisherman's life, +and in the importance and joy of this service had perhaps for the time +quite forgotten the gentlemen and the meeting and even New York. + +Perhaps Providence had a hand in it all. If the water lanes had not +closed, and the motor boat had not been damaged, and Dr. Grenfell and +William Taylor had not been sent adrift on the ice, and no obstacles +had stood in the way of Dr. Grenfell's journey to New York, and the +_Strathcona_ had not been frozen into the ice pack, in all probability +this brave young soldier and fisherman would have died. There is no +doubt that _he_ believes God set the stage to send Dr. Grenfell on +that ninety-mile hike. + + + + +XXIII + +REINDEER AND OTHER THINGS + + +Hunting in a northern wilderness is never to be depended upon. +Sometimes game is plentiful, and sometimes it is scarcely to be had at +all. This is the case both with fur bearing animals and food game. So +it is in Labrador. When I have been in that country I have depended +upon my gun to get my living, just as the Indians do. One year I all +but starved to death, because caribou and other game was scarce. Other +years I have lived in plenty, with a caribou to shoot whenever I +needed meat. + +In Labrador the Eskimos and liveyeres rely upon the seals to supply +them with the greater part of their dog feed, supplemented by fish, +cod heads and nearly any offal. The Eskimos eat seal meat, too, with a +fine relish, both cooked and raw, and when the seals are not too old +their meat, properly cooked, is very good eating indeed for anybody. + +The Indians rely on the caribou, or wild reindeer, to furnish their +chief food supply, and to a large extent the caribou is also the chief +meat animal of the liveyeres. + +Sometimes caribou are plentiful enough on certain sections of the +coast north of Hamilton Inlet. I remember that in January, 1903, an +immense herd came out to the coast north of Hamilton Inlet, They +passed in thousands in front of a liveyere's cabin, and standing in +his door the liveyere shot with his rifle more than one hundred of +them, only stopping his slaughter when his last cartridge was used. +From up and down the coast for a hundred miles Eskimos and liveyeres +came with dogs and komatik to haul the carcasses to their homes, for +the liveyere who killed the animals gave to those who had killed none +all that he could not use himself, and none was wasted. + +That was a year of plenty. Oftener than not no caribou come within +reach of the folk that live on the coast, and in these frequent +seasons of scarcity the only meat they have in winter is the salt pork +they buy at the trading posts, if they have the means to buy it, +together with the rabbits and grouse they hunt, and, in the wooded +districts, an occasional porcupine. Now and again, to be sure, a polar +bear is killed, but this is seldom. Owls are eaten with no less relish +than partridges, and lynx meat is excellent, as I can testify from +experience. + +But the smaller game is not sufficient to supply the needs and it +occurred to Doctor Grenfell that, if the Lapland reindeer could be +introduced, this animal would not only prove superior to the dog for +driving, but would also furnish a regular supply of meat to the +people, and also milk for the babies. + +The domestic reindeer is a species of caribou. In other words, the +caribou is the wild reindeer. The domestic and the wild animals eat +the same food, the gray caribou moss, which carpets northern +Newfoundland and the whole of Labrador, furnishing an inexhaustible +supply of forage everywhere in forest and in barrens. The Lapland +reindeer had been introduced into Alaska and northwestern Canada with +great success. They would thrive equally well in Labrador and +Newfoundland. + +With this in mind Doctor Grenfell learned all he could about reindeer +and reindeer raising. The more he studied the subject the better +convinced he was that domesticated reindeer introduced into Labrador +would prove a boon to the people. He appealed to some of his generous +friends and they subscribed sufficient money to undertake the +experiment. + +In 1907 three hundred reindeer were purchased and landed safely at St. +Anthony, Newfoundland. With experienced Lapland herders to care for +them they were turned loose in the open country. For a time the herd +grew and thrived and the prospects for complete success of the +experiment were bright. + +It was Doctor Grenfell's policy to first demonstrate the usefulness of +reindeer in Newfoundland, and finally transfer a part of the herd to +Labrador. The great difficulty that stood in the way of rearing the +animals in eastern Labrador was the vicious wolf dogs. It was obvious +that dogs and reindeer could not live together, for the dogs would +hunt and kill the inoffensive reindeer just as their primitive +progenitors, the wolves, hunt and kill the wild caribou. + +Because of the dogs, no domestic animals can be kept in eastern +Labrador. Once Malcolm MacLean, a Scotch settler at Carter's Basin, in +Hamilton Inlet, imported a cow. He built a strong stable for it +adjoining his cabin. Twelve miles away, at Northwest River, the dogs +one winter night when the Inlet had frozen sniffed the air blowing +across the ice. They smelled the cow. Like a pack of wolves they were +off. They trailed the scent those twelve miles over the ice to the +door of the stable where Malcolm's cow was munching wild hay. They +broke down the stable door, and before Malcolm was aware of what was +taking place the cow was killed and partly devoured. + +For generations untold, Labradormen have kept dogs for hauling their +loads and the dogs have served them well. They were not willing to +substitute reindeer. They knew their dogs and they did not know the +reindeer, and they refused to kill their dogs. To educate them to the +change it was evident would be a long process. + +In the meantime the herd in Newfoundland was growing. In 1911 it +numbered one thousand head, and in 1912 approximated thirteen hundred. +Then an epidemic attacked them and numbers died. Following this, +illegitimate hunting of the animals began, and without proper means +of guarding them Doctor Grenfell decided to turn them over to the +Canadian Government. + +During those strenuous years of war, when food was so scarce, a good +many of the herd had been killed by poachers. Perhaps we cannot blame +the poachers, for when a man's family is hungry he will go to lengths +to get food for his children, and Doctor Grenfell recognized the +stress of circumstances that led men to kill his animals and carry off +the meat. The epidemic, as stated, had proved fatal to a considerable +number of the animals, and the herd therefore was much reduced in +size. The remnant were corralled in 1918, and shipped to the Canadian +Government at St. Augustine, in southern Labrador, where they are now +thriving and promise marvelous results. + +Some day Doctor Grenfell's efforts with reindeer will prove a great +success at least in southern Labrador, where the dogs are less +vicious, and play a less important part in the life of the people than +on the eastern coast. Upon these thousands of acres of uncultivated +and otherwise useless land the reindeer will multiply until they will +not only feed the people of Labrador but will become no small part of +the meat supply of eastern Canada. His introduction of reindeer into +southern Labrador will be remembered as one of the great acts of his +great life of activity. Their introduction was the introduction of an +industry that will in time place the people of this section in a +position of thrifty independence. + +There never was yet a man with any degree of self-respect who did not +wish to pay his own way in the world. Every real man wishes to stand +squarely upon his own feet, and pay for what he receives. To accept +charity from others always makes a man feel that he has lost out in +the battle of life. It robs him of ambition for future effort and of +self-reliance and self-respect. + +Doctor Grenfell has always recognized this human characteristic. It +was evident to him when he entered the mission field in Labrador that +in seasons when the fisheries failed and no fur could be trapped a +great many of the people in Labrador and some in northern Newfoundland +would be left without a means of earning their living. There are no +factories there and no work to be had except at the fisheries in the +summer, trapping in winter and the brief seal hunt in the spring and +fall. When any of these fail, the pantries are empty and the men and +their families must suffer. But most of the people are too proud to +admit their poverty when a season of poverty comes to them. They are +eager for work and willing and ready always to turn their hand to +anything that offers a chance to earn a dollar. + +To provide for such emergencies Grenfell, many years ago, established +a lumber camp in the north of Newfoundland, and at Canada Bay in the +extreme northeast a ship building yard where schooners and other small +craft could be built, and nearly everyone out of work could find +employment. + +In southern and eastern Labrador, where wood is to be had for the +cutting, he arranged to purchase such wood as the people might deliver +to his vessels. In return for the wood he gave clothing and other +supplies. + +Then came mat and rug weaving, spinning and knitting and basket +making. Through Grenfell's efforts volunteer teachers went north in +summers to teach the people these useful arts. He supplied looms. +Every one was eager to learn and today Labrador women are making rugs, +baskets and various saleable articles in their homes, and Grenfell +sells for them in the "States" and Canada all they make. Thus a new +means of earning a livelihood was opened to the women, where formerly +there was nothing to which they could turn their hand to earn money +when the men were away at the hunting and trapping. + +Mrs. Grenfell has more recently introduced the art of making +artificial flowers. The women learned it readily, and their product is +quite equal to that of the French makers. + +Doctor Grenfell had been many years on the coast before he was +married. Mrs. Grenfell was Miss Anna MacCalahan, of Chicago. Upon her +marriage to Doctor Grenfell, Mrs. Grenfell went with him to his +northern field. She cruises with him on his hospital ship, the +_Strathcona_, acting as his secretary, braving stormy seas, and +working for the people with all his own self-sacrificing devotion. She +is a noble inspiration in his great work, and the "mother of the +coast." + +Doctor Grenfell has established a school at St. Anthony open not only +to the orphans of the children's home but to all the children of the +coast. There are schools on the Labrador also, connected with the +mission. It is a fine thing to see the eagerness of the Labrador boys +and girls to learn. They are offered an opportunity through Doctor +Grenfell's thoughtfulness that their parents never had and they +appreciate it. It is no exaggeration to say that they enjoy their +schools quite as much as our boys and girls enjoy moving pictures, and +they give as close attention to their books and to the instruction as +any of us would give to a picture. They look upon the school as a fine +gift, as indeed it is. The teachers are giving them something every +day--a much finer thing than a new sled or a new doll--knowledge that +they will carry with them all their lives and that they can use +constantly. And so it happens that study is not work to them. + +How much Doctor Grenfell has done for the Labrador! How much he is +doing every day! How much more he would do if those who have in +abundance would give but a little more to aid him! How much happiness +he has spread and is spreading in that northland! + + + + +XXIV + +THE SAME GRENFELL + + +Doctor Grenfell is not alone the doctor of the coast. He is also a +duly appointed magistrate, and wherever he happens to be on Sundays, +where there is no preacher to conduct religious services, and it +rarely happens there is one, for preachers are scarce on the coast, he +takes the preacher's place. It does not matter whether it is a Church +of England, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, or a Baptist congregation, he +speaks to the people and conducts the service with fine unsectarian +religious devotion. Grenfell is a deeply religious man, and in his +religious life there is no buncomb or humbug. He lives what he +preaches. In his audiences at his Sunday services are Protestants and +Roman Catholics alike, and they all love him and will travel far to +hear him. + +Norman Duncan, in that splendid book, "Doctor Grenfell's Parish," +tells the story of a man who had committed a great wrong, amounting to +a crime. The man was brought before Grenfell, as Labrador magistrate. +He acknowledged his crime, but was defiant. The man cursed the +doctor. + +"You will do as I tell you," said the Doctor, "or I will put you under +arrest, and lock you up." + +The man laughed, and called Doctor Grenfell's attention to the fact +that he was outside his judicial district, and had no power to make +the arrest. + +"Never mind," warned the Doctor quietly. "I have a crew strong enough +to take you into my district." + +The man retorted that he, also, had a crew. + +"Are the men of your crew loyal enough to fight for you?" asked the +Doctor. "There's going to be a fight if you don't submit without it. +This is what you must do," he continued. "You will come to the church +service at seven o'clock on Sunday evening, and before the whole +congregation you will confess your crime." + +Again the man cursed the Doctor and defied him. It happened that this +man was a rich trader and felt his power. + +The man did not appear at the church on Sunday evening. Doctor +Grenfell announced to the congregation that the man was to appear to +confess and receive judgment, and he asked every one to keep his seat +while he went to fetch the fellow. + +He found the man in a neighbor's house, surrounded by his friends. It +was evident the man's crew had no mind to fight for him, they knew he +was guilty. The man was praying, perhaps to soften the Doctor's +heart. + +[Illustration: "I HAVE A CREW STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE YOU INTO MY +DISTRICT"] + +"Prayer is a good thing in its place," said the Doctor, "but it +doesn't 'go' here. Come with me." + +The man, like a whipped dog, went with the Doctor. Entering the +meeting room, he stood before the waiting congregation and made a +complete confession. + +"You deserve the punishment of man and God?" asked the Doctor. + +"I do," said the man, no longer defiant. + +The Doctor told him that God would forgive him if he truly repented, +but that the people, being human, could not, for he had wronged them +sorely. Then he charged the people that for a whole year none of them +should speak or deal with that man; but if he made an honest effort to +mend his way, they could feel free to talk with him and deal with him +again at the end of the year. + +"This relentless judge," says Norman Duncan, "on a stormy July day +carried many bundles ashore at Cartwright, in Sandwich Bay of the +Labrador. The wife of the Hudson's Bay Company's agent examined them +with delight. They were Christmas gifts from the children of the +"States" to the lads and little maids of that coast. The Doctor never +forgets the Christmas gifts." The wife of the agent stowed away the +gifts to distribute them at next Christmas time. + +"It makes them _very_ happy," said the agent's wife. + +"Not long ago," said Duncan, "I saw a little girl with a stick of +wood for a dolly. Are they not afraid to play with these pretty +things?" + +"Sometimes," she laughed, "but it makes them happy just to look at +them. But they do play with them. There is a little girl up the bay +who _has kissed the paint off her dolly_!" + +And so even the tiniest, most forlorn little lad or lass is not +forgotten by Doctor Grenfell. He is the Santa Claus of the coast. He +never forgets. Nothing, if it will bring joy into the life of any one, +is too big or too small for his attention. + +Can we wonder that Grenfell is happy in his work? Can we wonder that +nothing in the world could induce him to leave the Labrador for a life +of ease? Battling, year in and year out, with stormy seas in summer, +and ice and snow and arctic blizzards in winter, the joy of life is in +him. Every day has a thrill for him. Here in this rugged land of +endeavor he has for thirty years been healing the sick and saving +life, easing pain, restoring cripples to strength, feeding and +clothing and housing the poor, and putting upon their feet with useful +work unfortunate men that they might look the world in the face +bravely and independently. + +There is no happiness in the world so keen as the happiness that comes +through making others happy. This is what Doctor Grenfell is doing. He +is giving his life to others, and he is getting no end of joy out of +life himself. The life he leads possesses for him no element of +self-denial, after all, and he never looks upon it as a life of +hardship. He loves the adventure of it, and by straight, clean living +he has prepared himself, physically and mentally, to meet the storms +and cold and privations with no great sense of discomfort. + +Wilfred Thomason Grenfell is the same sportsman, as, when a lad, he +roamed the Sands o' Dee; the same lover of fun that he was when he +went to Marlborough College; the same athlete that made the football +team and rowed with the winning crew when a student in the +University--sympathetic, courageous, tireless, a doer among men and +above all, a Christian gentleman. + + * * * * * + +_Printed in the United States of America_ + + + * * * * * + +Obvious typos fixed: + +"book" for "look", page 132 +"alseep" for "asleep", page 195 (twice) +"hundrel" for "hundred", page 214 +"seaprated" for "separated", page 216 +"Malcom's" for "Malcolm's", page 228 (twice) +"bad" for "bade", page 156 +"Trezize" for "Trevize", page 38 + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Grenfell of the Labrador +by Dillon Wallace + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GRENFELL *** + +***** This file should be named 16809.txt or 16809.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/8/0/16809/ + +Produced by A www.PGDP.net Volunteer, Jeannie Howse and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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