But he was
afraid for Mrs. Blake and the four little ones at home. Were he to
perish there would be no one to earn a living for them. He was
frightened to think of the privations those he loved would suffer.
Suddenly, in the distance, he glimpsed two objects moving over the
snow. As they came nearer he discovered that they were men. He shouted
and waved his arms, and there was an answering signal. Presently two
Mountaineer Indians approached, hauling loaded toboggans, laughing and
shouting a greeting as they recognized him.
"'Twas an answer to my prayers," said Gilbert in relating the incident
to me. "I was fair scrammed when I saw them Indians. They were the
first Indians I had seen the whole winter. They weren't pretty, but
just then they looked to me like angels from heaven, and just as
pretty as any angels could look."
The Indians had recently made a killing, and their toboggans were
loaded with fresh caribou meat. They made Gilbert eat until they
nearly killed him with kindness, and they had an extra pair of
snowshoes, which they gave him.
This is the life of the trapper on The Labrador.
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