He could scarcely draw a breath without pain, or even
rest without pain at night, and he could not go to his trapping path.
He depended upon his winter's hunt mainly for support, and with no fur
to sell he was, for the first time in his life, compelled to contract
a debt. Then, suddenly, the trader with whom he dealt discontinued
giving credit. Uncle Tom was stranded high and dry, and when the
fishing season came he had no outfit or means of purchasing one, and
could not go fishing.
Besides his wife there were six children in Uncle Tom's family, though
none of them was his own or related to him. When the "flu" came to the
coast in 1918, and one out of every five of the people around Turnavik
Islands died, several little ones were left homeless and orphans. The
generous hearts of Uncle Tom and his wife opened to them and they took
these six children into their home as their own. And so it happened
that Uncle Tom had, and still has, a large family depending upon him.
"As we neared the cottage," said Doctor Grenfell, "his good wife,
beaming from head to foot as usual, came out to greet us.
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