WILD WINGS 
170 
all depredations upon the birds. Yet he ought to have more 
done for him, a telephone or telegraph to the Magdalens, 
and more calls of the government supply boat. Left as he 
is, he must dejDend largely upon casual vessels, and he 
can hardly afford to prevent the visitors from egging and 
shooting, lest they, in retaliation, forego their favors. 
From the very start the wind began to die down, and 
before long it was flat calm. We never shall forget that 
night, throughout which, taking turns, we toiled at the oars. 
Yet it was grand. The aurora borealis flashed, the full moon 
smiled benignantly uj:)on the placid ocean, the effects of its 
soft light being wonderfully varied by the majestic streamers 
of clouds which sailed across its face. As we approached the 
Magdalens, a Petrel fluttered close round us several times 
like a bat, and a party of Loons uttered their long-drawn, 
wailing screams. At two A. M. the dawn was evident, and at 
half-past two, in the broad daylight, we beached our craft 
at Grosse Isle, the ski])per firing salutes with his gun to wake 
up the hshermen to help haul up the boat. And then it was 
that he wittily bestowed upon the company, in the name of 
the great Magdalen University of the northern seas, the 
honorary degree of “ S.S.D.,”—sad sea dog, — which is 
to be granted only to those who successfully make the trij:) to 
Bird Rock in an open boat. 
Arousing the family, sore and weary, we took to our beds, 
and slept till nearly noon, awaking to find that the expected 
easterly storm had set in, and the shore was white with break¬ 
ers. Once more we had been just in time. And yet, though 
fortune did favor us by a scant margin, we are not advising 
others, if they can possibly charter a sea-going vessel, to 
attempt the trip to Bird Rock in an open boat. 
