h a new day came fresh hope of
the possibility of rescue. The coast was still well in sight, and
there was a chance that a change of wind might drive the pan toward it
on an incoming tide. At this season, too, the men of the coast were
out scanning the sea for "signs" of seals, and some of them might see
him.
This thought suggested that if he could erect a signal on a pole, it
would attract attention more readily. He had no pole, and he thought
at first no means of raising the signal, which was, indeed, necessary,
for at that distance from shore only a moving signal would be likely
to attract the attention of even the keenly observant fishermen.
Then his eyes fell upon the carcasses of the three dogs with their
stiff legs sticking up. He drew his sheath knife and went at them
immediately. In a little while he had severed the legs from the bodies
and stripped the flesh from the bones. Now with pieces of dog harness
he lashed the legs together, and presently had a serviceable pole, but
one which must have been far from straight.
Elated with the result of his experiment, he hastily stripped the
shirt from his back, fastened it to one end of his staff, and raising
it over his head began moving it back and forth.
It was an ingenious idea to make a flagstaff from the bones of dogs'
legs. Hardly one man in a thousand would have thought of it. It was an
exemplification of Grenfell's resourcefulness, and in the end it saved
his life.
As he had hoped, men were out upon the rocky bluffs scanning the sea
for seals. The keen eyes of one of them discovered, far away,
something dark and unusual. The men of this land never take anything
for granted. It is a part of the training of the woodsman and seaman
to identify any unusual movement or object, or to trace any unusual
sound, before he is satisfied to let it pass unheeded. Centering his
attention upon the distant object the man distinguished a movement
back and forth. Nothing but a man could make such a movement he knew,
and he also knew that any man out there was in grave danger. He called
some other fishermen, manned a boat and Dr. Grenfell and his surviving
dogs were rescued.
XXI
WRECKED AND ADRIFT
It happened that it was necessary for Dr. Grenfell to go to New York
one spring three or four years ago. Men interested in raising funds to
support the Labrador and Newfoundland hospitals were to hold a
meeting, and it was essential that he attend the meeting
|