st, should make
her first trip north of the year. A letter from the Reid-Newfoundland
Company, which operates the steamer, informed us that she would
probably make her first trip to Labrador in the last week in June, and
in order to connect with her, we made arrangements to sail from New
York to St. Johns on June 20th, 1903, on the Red Cross Line steamer
Silvia. On the 19th Hubbard personally superintended the placing of
our outfit on board ship, that nothing might be overlooked.

As the Silvia slowly got under way at ten o'clock the next morning, we
waved a last farewell to the little knot of friends who had gathered on
the Brooklyn pier to see us off. We were all very light-hearted and
gay that morning; it was a relief to be off at last and have the worry
of the preparation over. Mrs. Hubbard was a member of the party; she
was to accompany her husband as far as Battle Harbour, the first point
on the Labrador coast touched by the Virginia Lake.

June 24th was my birthday, and early that morning, before we sailed
from Halifax, at which port we lay over for a day, Hubbard came into my
stateroom with a pair of camp blankets that he had been commissioned by
my sisters to present to me. He had told me he had enough blankets in
his outfit and to take none with me. How strangely things sometimes
turn out! Those blankets which Hubbard had withheld in order that I
might be agreeably surprised, were destined to fulfil an office, up
there in the wilds for which we were bound, such as we little
suspected. We reached St. Johns on the morning of Friday, the 26th,
and promptly upon our arrival were introduced to the mysterious ways of
the Reid-Newfoundland Company. The Virginia Lake, we were told, already
had gone north to Labrador, was overdue on her return trip and might
not be in for several days. Hubbard, however, set immediately to work
purchasing the provisions for his expedition and supervising their
packing. The following day, on the advice of the general passenger
agent of the Reid-Newfoundland Company, we took the evening train on
their little narrow-gauge railroad to Whitbourne, en route to Broad
Cove, where we were informed we should find excellent trout fishing and
could pleasantly pass the time while awaiting the steamer.

The Reid-Newfoundland Company failed to carry out its agreement as to
our transportation to Broad Cove, and we had considerable trouble in
reaching there, but we found that no misrepresenta