A CHEISTMAS JAUNT 



telephone to Murray Bay via Quebec, 

 but the government would not under- 

 take this expense ; it must be a matter of 

 private enterprise. At an outlay there- 

 fore of ninety cents, the polite and effi- 

 cient agent at Murray Bay wharf was 

 communicated with. He was told of the 

 plight of the thirty marooned at Riviere 

 Ouelle, that the wind was falling, the 

 snow had almost ceased, and we had an 

 horizon of several miles on our side of 

 the river. He promised to urge the cap- 

 tain to set forth, and hopes were high as 

 the train carried us to the wharf whence 

 we were able to see half way across the 

 St. Lawrence. The river was free of 

 ice, the east wind had died away, the 

 storm was over. No reason there ap- 

 peared to be why the Champlain should 

 linger, and yet she came not. For one 

 hour, for two hours, we walked up and 

 down among the snow drifts, scanning 

 at every turn the wintry river where 

 cold shiny seals were making the best of 



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