e place was
small and the light poor and a difficult place in which to treat so
critical a case or to operate successfully. He had no surgical
instruments or medicines, and even for him, accustomed as he was to
work under handicaps and difficulties, a serious problem confronted
him.

The man was so far gone that an operation seemed hopeless, but
nevertheless it was worth trying. Grenfell sent messengers far and
near for reserve supplies that he had left at various points to be
drawn upon in cases of emergency, and in a little while had at his
command some opiates, a small amount of ether, some silk for
ligatures, some crude substitutes for instruments, and the supply of
communal wine from the missionary's little church, five miles away.

While these things had been gathered in, the flow of blood had been
abated by the use of a tourniquet. There was scarcely enough ether to
be of use, but with the assistance of two men Dr. Grenfell applied it
and operated.

One of the assistants fainted, but the other stuck faithfully to his
post, and with a cool head and steady hand did Dr. Grenfell's bidding.
The operation was performed successfully, and the young soldier's
life was saved through Dr. Grenfell's skillful treatment. Today this
fisherman has but one leg, but he is well and happy and a useful man
in the world.

Fate takes a hand in our lives sometimes, and plays strange pranks
with us. In New York a group of gentlemen were impatiently awaiting
the arrival of Dr. Grenfell, while he, in an isolated cottage on the
rugged coast of Northern Newfoundland was saving a fisherman's life,
and in the importance and joy of this service had perhaps for the time
quite forgotten the gentlemen and the meeting and even New York.

Perhaps Providence had a hand in it all. If the water lanes had not
closed, and the motor boat had not been damaged, and Dr. Grenfell and
William Taylor had not been sent adrift on the ice, and no obstacles
had stood in the way of Dr. Grenfell's journey to New York, and the
_Strathcona_ had not been frozen into the ice pack, in all probability
this brave young soldier and fisherman would have died. There is no
doubt that _he_ believes God set the stage to send Dr. Grenfell on
that ninety-mile hike.

XXIII

REINDEER AND OTHER THINGS

Hunting in a northern wilderness is never to be depended upon.
Sometimes game is plentiful, and sometimes it is scarcely to be had at
all. This is the case both wit