Troop One of the Labrador | Page 2

louder welcome than
any of them.
There was no happier or better contented family on all The Labrador
than the family of Thomas Angus, though they had their trials and ups
and downs and worries like any other family in or out of Labrador.
"Everybody must expect a bit o' trouble and worry now and again,"
Thomas would say when things did not go as they should. "If we never
had un, and livin' were always fine and clear, we'd forget to be thankful
for our blessin's. We has t' have a share o' trouble in our lives, and here
and there a hard knock whatever, t' know how fine the good things are
and rightly enjoy un when they come. And in the end troubles never
turn out as bad as we're expectin', by half. First and last there's a

wonderful sight more good times than bad uns for all of us."
Thomas had reason to be proud and thankful. Jamie could see as well
as ever he could, and it was all because of Doctor Joe and his
wonderful operation on Jamie's eyes when it seemed certain the lad was
to become blind. Through the skill of Doctor Joe, Jamie's eyes were
every whit as keen as David's and Andy's, and there were no keener
eyes in the Bay than theirs.
David was now nearly seventeen and Andy was fifteen--brawny,
broad-shouldered lads who had already faced more hardships and had
more adventures to their credit than fall to many a man in a whole
lifetime. In that brave land adventures are to be found at every turn.
They bob up unexpectedly, and the man or boy who meets them
successfully must know the ways of the wilderness and must be
self-reliant and resourceful, must have grit a-plenty and a stout heart.
Margaret kept house for the little family, a responsibility that had been
thrust upon her, and which she cheerfully accepted, when her mother
was laid to rest and she was a wee lass of twelve. Now she was
eighteen and as tidy and cheerful a little housekeeper as could be found
on the coast, and pretty too, in manner as well as in feature. "'Tis the
manner that counts," said Thomas, and he declared that there was no
prettier lass to be found on the whole Labrador.
Doctor Joe, whose real name was Joseph Carver, was their nearest
neighbour at Break Cove, ten miles down Eskimo Bay. He had come to
the coast nine years before, a mysterious stranger, nervous and broken
in health. Thomas gave him shelter at The Jug, helped him build his
cabin at Break Cove and taught him the ways of the land and how to set
his traps. Doctor Joe became a trapper like his neighbours, and in time,
with wholesome living in the out-of-doors, regained his health and
came to love his adopted country and its rugged life.
No one knew then that Joseph Carver was indeed a doctor, but he was
so handy with bandages and medicines that the folk of the Bay
recognized his skill and soon fell, by common consent, to calling him
"Doctor Joe."

It was a year before our story begins that Jamie had first complained of
a mist in his eyes. With passing weeks the mist thickened, and one day
Doctor Joe examined the eyes and announced that only a delicate and
serious operation could save the lad's sight. This demanded that Jamie
be taken to a hospital in New York where a specialist might operate. It
was an expensive undertaking. Neither Thomas nor Doctor Joe had the
necessary money, but Thomas hoped to realize enough from his
winter's trapping in the interior and Doctor Joe was to add the proceeds
of his own winter's work to the fund. Then Thomas broke his leg.
Doctor Joe must needs remain at The Jug to care for him, and there
seemed no hope for Jamie but a life of darkness.
But David was confident that he could take his father's place on the
trails, and with some persuasion, for the need was desperate, Thomas
consented that David and Andy should spend the winter in the great
interior wilderness with no other companion than Indian Jake, a
half-breed.
That was an experience needing the stoutest heart. Through long dreary
months they faced the sub-arctic cold and fearful blizzards that swept
the wilderness, following silent trails over wide white wastes or
through the depths of dark forests, and falling upon many a wild
adventure that tried their mettle a hundred times. It was a man's job, but
they both made good, and that is something to be proud of--to make
good at the job you tackle.
Jamie had pluck too, but pluck alone could not save his eyes. The mist
thickened