The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-06-17
BY WIN. j. LONG


Matwock, the huge polar bear,
drifted down from the Arctic on an
iceberg and landed, 1 spring night,
in the fog, at Little Harbor Home,
on the east Newfoundland coast.
1t seemed at first a colossal fatal
ity, that iceberg. The fishermen had
just brought their families back
from the winter lodge in the woods,
and had made their boats ready to
go out to the Hook-andLine
grounds for few fresh cod to keep
themselves alive. Then a heavy fog
set in, and in the midst of the fog
the iceberg came laundering into
the tickle, as IL there were no other
place in thousand leagues of sea
and rock-bound coast. There were
200 fathOms of water at the harbor
mouth. and the great berg touched
bottom softly, yet with terrific i'm
pact which sent huge masses of ice
crashing down on the black rocks
on either side. 1t might stay a
month, or 1t might drift away on
the next tide. Meanwhile the fisher
men were helpless as flies in a
bottle; for the iceberg corked the
harbor mouth and not even a punt
could get out or In.
So Matwock lived and hunted for
week, growing fat and contented
again. Then the seals vanished on
one of their sudden migrations-fol-
lowing the fish, no doubt-and for
week more he hunted without a
mouthful. One night, when he re-
turned late to his cave, the great
iceberg had broken its anchorage
and drffted we'll out of the tickle,
and from the harbOr the smell Of
fresh fish drifted into his hungry
nostrils. For the day had been
sunny and calm, and the starving
fishermen had slipped out to the
Hook-and-Line grounds and brought
back exultingly the fish cod of the
season.
Late that night Old Tomah ap-
peared with his otter skins and a
haunch of caribou at Daddy Crum-
NETS cabin. on the edge of the
woods far down at the bottom of
Long Arm. All winter Daddy
Crummet had been sick. chiefly
from rheumatism and lack of food;
and Tomah, taking pity on the
lonely old man, blundered around
In the dark to find wood to make a
stew of the savory meat, which he
had brought with him all the way
from his camp in the interior. At
twilight a fisherman-kind hearted
and generous, as they all are-had
come to leave couple of fresh cod
and hurry away again on his long,
weary pull up the Arm. Daddy
meant to cook the fish, but was too
weak when the time came, and left
them in a barrel in his little shed
Then came Tomah with his stew
and the old man ate and felt bet
ter. It was midnight when they
had smoked pipe of Tomah's dried
willow bark and traded the scant
news from the 2 ends of the wilder
ness and turned in to sleep.
A terrible racket in the shed
reused them whack! bang!
thump! Something was out there
knocking everything to pieces.
Daddy, under the bedclothes, began
to SILVER and wall that the devil
himself had come to fetch him.
Tomah tumbled out of his caribou
skins and jumped up like a jack-in-
the-box. just as barrel was flung
against the door with crash that
made 1t SILVER. In the appalling ST.
lence that followede they heard the
p'chap, p'chap of some huge beast
crunching the Goldfish between his
jaws.
Tomah had brought his gun this
time. He grabbed it from behind
the stove, pulled the big hammer
back and felt with his fingers to be
sure that the. cap was ready on the
nipple, He stole to the door anu
L nnnund II naut iOlSlu r,lc hi n rr Tho