CHAPTER XX. 



A TAME SEAL. 



Many years ago, before the great River Moi- 

 sie was resorted to by cod fishermen and others, 

 the harbor seals used to come up the stream 

 in great numbers for the purpose of- bringing 

 forth their young in its quiet upper pools. After 

 staying with their young for a couple of weeks, 

 the mother seals would return down the river, 

 and a few days later the little baby seals would 

 drift down with the current and be carried out 

 to sea, there to hunt and grow big, and in their 

 turn become father and mother seals and visit 

 their native river. 



Many a calm evening I have stood on the 

 gallery outside the house and listened to the 

 infant-like cry of the poor little seals as they 

 drifted on the river past the post. One evening, 

 toward the end of "the run" we heard one cry- 

 ing in a most pitiful and heart-rending way. 

 Every now and then we could see the snow-white 

 mite as he floated on the surface near mid- 

 stream. 



I got a large salmon scoop and joined the 

 man on the beach. We waited till the seal had 



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