nd cold, and the people seem so scattered and
so poor. Surely they can't pay a doctor's fees?" some one asked.

"That depends on what you mean by a fee. We don't expect to get blood
out of a stone."

"Is all your work done for nothing, then?"

"No, not exactly for nothing. There is no produce of the coast which
has not been used to express gratitude, and 'to help the hospital
along.' Codfish is a common fee. Sealskins, venison, wild ducks,
beadwork, embroidered skinwork, feathers, firewood--nothing is too
bizarre to offer."

"Do they never pay money?"

"Yes, sometimes. Of late years, a little more each year. But when we
began work, they practically never got any with which to pay. The
fur-trading companies settled in kind, values were often measured, not
by so many dollars, but by so many pelts. The traders gave out
supplies on credit, took the fish or fur from their planters in
return, and made up the balance, when there was any, in goods. Even
barter was quite unusual, though some traders had a 'cash price' for
produce paid down at once, besides the credit price."

"Do you think it a sound policy to be providing services, drugs, and
nursing free?" chimed in a grey-bearded old fellow, evidently the
philosopher of the party.

"Sometimes, sir, policies must be adopted which are rendered necessary
for the time by conditions. Besides, as I have said, the people pay
what they can, and, after all, it is they who catch the fish and fur,
reaping harvests for the world's benefit--for not much return."

"Well, I'm glad that you don't do it for nothing, anyhow. That would
be an imposition on the workers as well as on the subscribers."

The old gentleman seemed a bit disgruntled, so I ventured to put my
viewpoint in a different way.

"Do you see that steep, rocky cape over there?" I asked. "It is the
most northerly you can distinguish."

"A great landmark, and worth the journey up here only to look at it,"
he answered with an enthusiasm which showed that he had a tender spot
for Nature's beauties, and that even if the shell was hard, the kernel
was soft.

"There is a little village just behind that head. It is hidden away in
a rift in the mountain which forms a tiny cove for a safe anchorage. I
had as big a fee there only two days ago as ever I received when I was
practising in London."

The company looked up in astonishment, but like Brer Rabbit, I lay low
to see if they cared for an explanation. I thought I saw