Left on the Labrador: A Tale of Adventure Down North

ight and tidy for the winter. There were boats to be hauled out of the water and covered, that they might be protected from the ice and snow, fishing gear and boat

mended, and no end of tinkering befo

my boats, and fishin' gear and dog trappin's ship shape before I starts to use un. When I sto

per Zeb and Toby stowing gear. Presently Skipper Zeb, who had

for folks that's feelin' homesick. Lend Toby and me a hand, and you'll be forgettin' all about this fix you

me," Charley admitted. "It isn't much fun sta

s that were moored at the landing. "You take the port side of un along with Toby, and I'

ch "heave ho!" boomed by Skipper Zeb, and in due time the two boats were removed to a desirable distance from high tide l

f the fishing season just ended, and of the winter hunting and trapping, and of journeys on snowshoes and with dogs and sled

ad, and here he was with folk who were living the life and doing the deeds and meeting the adventures of which he had often read with breathless interest. When he went to sleep that night in a bunk with Toby he would

daybreak was still two hours away when Charley embarked with

ls did not fill to Skipper Zeb's satisfaction, and he and Toby each shipped a big oar and pulled for a little until th

er Zeb could know the direction with no landmarks to guide him. How vast and mysterious this new world was! How far away and unreal the land from which he had come! He tried to visualize home, and the city streets with crowded traffic and jostling people; and c

f great loneliness was stealing upon him, w

ome day 'twill be smarter, with mo

rip is it?" a

ver," explained Skipper Zeb. "We never bides here so late in the year. 'Tis wonderful late for

, big boat,"

schooner crew, south bound after the fishin' ends. They wants to sell she bad, because they has no room to st

, I should thin

and save till we gets enough saved to buy un.' So each year we saves a bit, sometimes more and sometimes less, goin' without this and that, and not mindin', because when we goes

Zeb," Mrs. Tw

b, you wants a trap boat. I'll sell you this un.' 'How much does you want for un?' says I. 'You can have she for fifty dollars,' says he, 'and that's givin' sh

lucky!" sa

ps to get un, and He says to that skipper, 'You just sell that trap boat to Skipper Zeb Twig for thirty dollars,

d some protection. A gray dawn was breaking, and this is the coldest and bleakest hour of th

oby. "We'll be getting to Double Up

rved Skipper Zeb, looking critically at

for un to calm down?" asked Mrs. Twig solicit

d on this side o' the Duck's

gale. Skipper Zeb reefed the mainsail. Then taking a long oar from the boat, he dropped it between two pegs ast

ained, "and I can hold she up to the wi

seized a bucket, and began to bail it out. Charley was now thoroughly frigh

d sail. The air was filled with flying spray, and

ck's Head," shouted Skipper Zeb, his voice

ng, and clingin

ured, though he was plainly anxious. "The

ead!" Toby's voice su

er Zeb shouted bac

f! She's straight

I can do," came back from Skip

out in a long point. It bore a strong resemblance to a duck's neck and head, and as though to form the duck's bill a reef extended for several yards beyond into the water and over this the sea with boom and r

utting all the strength he possessed upon the sculling oar. With a scant margin to spare, they were at last sh

reamed in terror, and Charley felt the b