Bobby of the Labrador

was half the width of Abel's and Mrs. Abel's bed, but it was quite as long, for Bobby was to grow tall, and to become a big and brave hunter. And, too, for pre

which she made from the duck and goose feathers which she had saved, and spread it with warm blankets and tucked Bobby away in it, he, too, seemed to find it enti

g. They gratified his every wish and whim, even to the extent of tearing from its mother a little pu

ng the two days' enforced leisure from out-of-door activities afforded him by the blizzard, he put the finishing touches upon his work. With infinite patience he fashioned miniature harness for the ivory dogs, and, harnessing them to the ivory sledge, with due ceremony presen

unterpart of Abel's own long whip, which was a full five fathoms long; a small sledge, on which he could coast, and on which pups

l and Bobby, while Abel and Skipper Ed went away to hunt for seals. This was a glorious week for both lads, and with it began a co

activity. The seals were skinned and dressed, the blubber placed in barrels in the porch, and the meat elevated to a stage ou

and prepare for boots and other garments, which Abel and Skippe

lippers and meat, which were always reserved for him, and it was n

eather, to soften and render it pliable for the needle. Indeed, Bobby quickly developed into an Eskimo child in

en spaces it lay frozen and hard, and the sun now had no strength to soften it. A coating of ice crusted the beach where the tide rose and fell, and this crackled and snapped a

ving billows of the bay. The sea was frozen at last, and for many long months there would be no breaking of waves upon the rocks or lapping of tides upon the

e that morning to his traps and would not return until the following evening, and Jimmy was to stay at Abel's over night. This was t

satisfaction stepped out upon it, and still prodding ahead of him made a wide circuit. The ice bent as he walked, but sea ice

he steep bank and shooting far out upon the ice, or running over the ice, with Bobby on the sled and Jimmy hauling him, un

he snow, or built miniature snow igloos, while Bobby grew as tough and hardy as any little Eskimo boy could h

them, and met Bobby for the first time. He was a tall, jolly man, and mad

take him, Abel, to the Mission, and care f

uggested taking him from them. When the mail left the coast, however, the following summer, he wrote to England a full description of the occurrence, and

d began his lessons, coming over to Abel Zachariah's cabin as often as possible, for the purpose

uickly, and was fascinated with the work, for Skipper Ed had the rare faculty of

theaters-and he made more rapid progress than he probably would have made had he attended school in civilization, for Ski

be keenly alert, patient, self-reliant and resourceful-qualities

g dog whip, to wield the long lash with precision. He and Jimmy would practice for hours a

s Abel did when he drove the big team-"Hu-it!" when he wanted them to start; "Ah!" when he wanted them to stop; "Ouk! Ouk! Ouk!" when he wanted th

m a block of wood, a very good imitation of a small seal, and Bobby and Jimmy had unending sport casting th

urcefulness, for his only tools were his knife and his ax, and his only material such as the wilderness produced; and to gain Abel's pra

even how long it had been since the animals that made the tracks had passed by. And he learned to make snares and traps, and how to handle his gun-the wonderful gun which Abel told him God had sent with him from the

yet it is rare, indeed, that one of them can swim. And so it was with Abel. He had never in his life voluntarily gone into the sea. But Skipper Ed was a mighty swimmer, and under his instruction Jimmy had learned the art, and in the fourth summer after Bobby's arri

t-active years that were filled with glorious doing, and with

brain. You were put into the world for some purpose, and your destiny is the will of the Almighty. But we may spoil His will by refusing to do the very best we can. The Almighty plans some fine thing for each of us, but He l

useful man, or we may be intended just to help other people to be noble and honest

or I will ever be great men

now" declared Jimmy. "He

ty as God has pointed it out to me. Perhaps the Great Thing that I was intended to do was to teach you two chaps what I could, and p

ary down at Nain, and the Eskimos at the settlement there, and now and again in summer the fishermen on passing s

e should think hard when we are neither working nor playing. We should not waste time id

ration, also, of the great wilderness and sea, with no other youthful companions or playmates, and with little of the joy of sports with which boys in civilization are blessed, it was but natural t

do this or that, and their mischief was usually the result of indiscretion and error of judgment natural to youth, rather than disobedience. Eskimos do not whip or punis

he case also with Skipper Ed and Jimmy. Skipper Ed, from the first, called Jimmy his partner

Abel's or Mrs. Abel's strong arms. Once he climbed into the big boat, undid the painter, and the tide had carried him well out to sea before his plight was discovered and he was rescued by Abel in the skiff. A

antly varying between a state of suspense and a state of joy, for they were vastly del

d appropriately celebrated each year, and as a convenient date they chose December 1 of the year in which he came to them as his fourth birthday. This was a date

of ice, and Abel and Skipper Ed had gone north in the big boat two days before for the spring seal hunt, and were not expected back for a fortnight. Jimmy, during Skipper Ed's absence,

contrast the fact that the long bleak winter is over. The sun shone brilliantly and the rippling waves of the nearly

, pulling leisurely back from the river, turned Abel's

out. Mother said last night she'd like some eggs. We haven't had any ye

out on the islands, and puffin and auk eggs on the cliffs alo

ey worked Mrs. Abel prepared a simple luncheon of bread, sufficient tea for a brewing, and a bottle of molasses for sweetening, and these, with t

f oars and chatting gaily as they rowed, in fine spirits at the prospect,

e skiff to the sloping rock of an island shore,

y, as they set out with their bags. "P

ed around crying the alarm. Down in rock crevasses along the shore they saw many sea

bother with anyway,"

eider duck! And another! And another! Their

ow, scrubby bush, a down-lined nest

uted Jimmy. "This

in hundreds flew hither and thither, violently protesting, with discordant notes, the invasion and the looting. But the eggs were good

ainland and boil the kettle. It's away pas

"I'm so hungry I've just

coming in close to it where we can get good water.

e gulch banks rose into high cliffs which overhung the sea. Kittiwakes, tube-nosed swimmers, ivory gulls, cormorants, little auks and other birds were flyi

ey secured their boat. "I'd like to see what kind of nests those m

ied it lots of times. They take good care to l

" Bobby declared, as he turned t

id he, as he set the kettle of water down by

e use for bailing the skiff?" Jimmy suggeste

Bobby. "We can b

nd then with his jackknife whittled shavings from the dry heart. He stopped his knife just short of the end of the stick, until six or eight long, thi

whatever he did should be done with all the care possible. And so in making a fire he gave as much care to the cutting of shavings and placing of sticks as though it had bee

holding a bunch of shavings by the thick, or stub, end, he struck a match and lighted the thin end, and when it was blazing well placed the unlighted end upon the two sticks where they met. O

bailing kettle, filled with water, and then the tea pail, in such a way as to bring them directly over the blaze, and though the fire was a small one, it was not many minutes b

y, presently, "l

ys can, and with the keen relis

ff the cliff now," suggested Bobby, when they

believe it can be done. You can't get in from this end,

's a harpoon line in the skiff. Father always keeps it stuffed in under the seat aft.

the harpoon line, and climbing out of the gully followed

Bobby's body under the arms, ran the end of the line through the loop, and secured it. With this a

, so I'll have a purchase on it and it can't slip away from me, and let it out as y

by descended, calling out now and again for Jimmy to "

as full, and he w

mmy. Pull up n

ithout the leverage he feared the line would get away from him, in which case Bobby would crash to the bottom of the cliff. So Jimmy pulled desperately

cliff, saw Bobby dangling in mid air some forty feet below him and thirty feet above the deep black water. He als

s foot the rocky cliff rose out of the deep water in a perpendicular wall, so smooth that there was not even a hand hold to be had, and this was its condition for a considerable dist

r! I can't stand it much longer!" Bobby shou

m out. But again he pulled and pulled in vain. With all the strength he had he could not