ZAKKI THE ISLAND 53 



his son to the doctor. There was a doctor in the 

 village of Okak, a hundred and forty miles away ; 

 there they would go as soon as the sea should freeze 

 and make the journey possible. To go by boat was 

 out of the question ; the north-east storms were 

 blowing, and to venture a small boat upon the fringe 

 of the Atlantic where it laps the coast of Labrador 

 is a risky thing even in the calm days of August. 

 It was now late in October, and the swell was roar- 

 ing over the frosted rocks ; the only hope was that 

 the sea ice would form early. So the father set 

 himself to wait, with anxiety gnawing at his heart ; 

 and the days crawled slowly by. 



It was hard to leave the child ; he could scarcely 

 get out of bed now, but the work must be done. 

 There was the winter's food to be thought of 

 food for themselves and food for the hungry dogs ; 

 and day by day the father went out to the seal net, 

 and hauled it inshore with his own unaided strength, 

 hoping and praying for the time to pass. 



At last December came, and in the early days 

 the sea began to smoke. A fine white haze lay upon 

 the water, drifting like a mist before the wind ; and 

 Zakki knew that the time of ice was near. The 

 haze lasted for three or four days. There came a 

 keen, calm moonlight night, and Zakki slept with 

 a lighter heart, for he had seen the sea setting in 

 an oily scum. His instinctive knowledge of Nature's 

 signs had told him truly, for in the morning there 

 was no more sea only a wide stretch of dull grey 

 ice, tough and elastic. He tried it with his foot, 

 but it was not yet safe to venture far from shore ; 



