The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-22

a respite, in which it was made known
TO MIN that one other had survived.
BE it you, Matthew" said Saul.
"Noa-'tis Andrew Butts. 1 be fair
done out, Saul
Saul gathered his strength to con-
tinue the f1ght-to meet the stress and
terrors Of the hours to come; for 1t was
without quarter, this fight: there is nor
mercy In cold, nor is there any compass
sion of the great deep. Soon-it may
nave been two hours after the assault
or the five great WaVes-the seas came
with new venom and might; they were
charged with broken ice, massed frag-
ments OF the pack, into which the
wind had driven the pan, or it may be,
with the slush of pans, which the Blue
black Shoal had discharged. The ice
added weight and a new terror to the
waves. They bruised and dazed and
sorely hurt the man when they fell
upon him. No wave came but carried
jagged chunks of ice-some great and
some small; and these they flung at
the men on the pan needing only to
strike here or there to kill them.
Saul shielded his head with his arms
He was struck on the legs and on the
left side; and once he was struck on
the breast and knocked down. After
while-it may have been an hour after
water-he was struck fair on the fore
head; his senses wavered, but his
strength continued sufficiently, and
soon he forgot that he had so nearly
been fordone. Again. after a time-it
may now have been three hours before
m1dnight-other greater waves came.
Ihey broke over his head They cast
their weight Of ice upon him. There
seemed to be no end to their number.
Once, Saul, rising from where they
had beaten him-rising doggedIy to
face them again-found that his right
arm was powerless. He tried to lift 1t
but could not. He felt a bone CRATE
over bone in his shoulder-and a stab
of pain. So he shielded his head from
the ice in the next wave with his left
ARMAND from the ice in the next, and
in the next, and the next.
The wave had broken his collarbone.
And thus, in diminishing degree, for
fifteen hours longer
The folk Of Neighborly Cove say that
when the wind once more herded the
pack and drove it inshore Saul Nash,
being alone, made his way across four
miles of loose ice to the home Of Abra-
ham Coachman, in the lee of Gods
Warning, SOp's Arm way where they
had corn meal for dinner; but Saul
has forgotten that-this and all else
that befell him after the sea struck him
that brutal blow on the shoulder; the
things of the whirling night, of the
tagging dawn, when the snow thinned
and ceased, and of the gray, frowning
day. when the waves left him in peace.
crooked shoulder, which healed OF
itself, and a broad scar, which slants
from the tip Of his nose far up into
his hair, tell him that the fight was
hard. But what MATERIAL this?
Notwithstanding all, when next the
sea baited It's trap with swarming
herds, he set forth with John, his
brother, to the hunt; for the world
which lies hidden in the wide beyond
has some strange need of seal fat, and
stands ready to pay, as Of course. 1t
pays gold to the man at the counter in
st. Johns, and for what the world pays
a dollar the outport warrior gets a
pound of reeking pork.
But what matter? What matter-aIl
this toll and peril? What matter when
the pork lies steaming on the table and
the yellow duff is in plenty in the
dish? What matter when, beholding
it, the blue eyes of the lads and little
maids flash merrily? What matter
when the strength Of a man provides
so bounteously that his children may
pass their plates for more? What mat
ter-when there comes night wherein
a man may rest? What matter-in the
end? Ease is a shame; and, for truth,
old age holds nothing for any man
save a seat in a corner and the sound
of voices drifting in.