THE CUSTOM OF THE PEOPLE 



(codfish) try to swallow jigger before him at the 

 bottom very fine." 



They stayed on the water until the last possible 

 moment, but they are a wary folk, and as the spray 

 came whipping along with the rising wind they took 

 warning, and headed for the shore. 



They were none too soon, some of them ; they 

 had barely time to drag their boats out of reach 

 of the sea before the wind was howling and the 

 waves were crashing furiously on the rocks. 



Round the bend, just outside the mouth of the 

 bay, two men were sitting in their boat absorbed 

 in their fishing. They had misjudged the signs of 

 the coming gale, and it burst upon them while they 

 were still far from shore. They pulled and tugged 

 and strained at their oars, striving all they knew to 

 reach shelter, but it was hopeless. It takes a lot to 

 frighten an Eskimo fisherman ; I believe there are no 

 finer boatmen in the world; but those two fellows 

 thought their time had come. They do not remember 

 much about it; all they know is that they found 

 themselves in the water, clinging to the keel of their 

 boat, and staring at each other across it. They 

 could not speak, for the waves were constantly 

 rolling the boat so as to dip first one and then the 

 other under the water, or crashing over and half 

 stunning them ; the roar of the gale was in their ears, 

 and they saw glimpses of the rocks slipping past as 

 the wind drove them towards the open sea ; without 

 much real hope they clung on until their poor 

 cramped fingers began to slip off the slimy wood ; they 

 made a last despairing effort to shout. Then, while 

 all seemed dark and misty, and the sound of the 

 storm was drowsy and far away, they were seized 



