ve him to deal with the case alone. He told me at
once that he had limited his attentions to feeding her, and that
though helpless for over a fortnight, and at times unconscious, the
patient had not once been washed or the bed changed. The result, even
with my experience, appalled me. But while there is life in a young
patient there is always hope, and we at once set to work on our Augean
task. By the strangest coincidence it was an inky dark night outside,
with a low fog hanging over the water, and the big trap boat, with a
crew of some six men, among them the skipper's sons, had been missing
since morning. The skipper had stayed home out of sympathy for his
servant girl, and his mind was torn asunder by the anxiety for the
girl and his fear for his boys.

When night fell, the old captain and I were through with the hardest
part of our work. We had new bedding on the bed and the patient clean
and sleeping quietly. Still the boat and its precious complement did
not come. Every few minutes the skipper would go out and listen, and
stare into the darkness. The girl's heart suddenly failed, and about
midnight her spirit left this world. The captain and I decided that
the best thing to do was to burn everything--and in order to avoid
publicity to do it at once. So having laboriously carried it all out
onto the edge of the cliff, we set a light to the pile and were
rewarded with a bonfire which would have made many a Guy Fawkes
celebration. Quite unintentionally we were sending out great streams
of light into the darkness over the waters away down below us, and
actually giving the longed-for signal to the missing boat. Her crew
worked their way in the fog to life and safety by means of the blazing
and poor discarded "properties" of the soul preceding us to our last
port.

Although our work has lain almost entirely among the white population
of the Labrador and North Newfoundland coasts, still it has been our
privilege occasionally to come in contact with the native races, and
to render them such services, medical or otherwise, as lay within our
power. Our doctor at Harrington on the Canadian Labrador is appointed
by the Canadian Government as Indian Agent.

Once, when my own boat was anchored in Davis Inlet, a band of roving
Indians had come to the post for barter and supplies. Our steamer was
a source of great interest to them. Our steam whistle they would
gladly have purchased, after they had mastered their first fears.