chorus, and Thomas, quite carried away by the excitement, waved
the towel and in a great bellowing voice shouted a 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