A TRAGEDY 



movement increased it dawned upon them that they 

 were turning over. 



And then the slow-witted Jakko had one of 

 those flashes of inspiration that come at such times ; 

 with a quick cry of " Stay where you are, Rena," he 

 jumped into the water. Exactly what was in his 

 mind we never knew. One thing is certain he saw 

 the danger. If both stayed upon the ice it would 

 upset and both would be in the water; he could 

 swim a little, but Rena could not do a stroke. Did 

 he think to reach the safety of the icefield by swim- 

 ming, or did he say, " Better one to be drowned than 

 both " ? Whatever the explanation, all that Rena 

 could say was that he felt the ice-pan rolling over ; 

 he heard the shout of " Stay where you are," and saw 

 his brother leap into the waves. And that was all. 

 The raft righted itself with a lurch that nearly flung 

 him off; but he managed to hold on and paddled 

 frantically to and fro in a vain search for his brother. 

 Poor Rena paddled and paddled and paddled until 

 his brain reeled and his hands were stiff, but never 

 a sign did he see of Jakko. Folks do not get drowned 

 in water like that; it was the Atlantic, two or three 

 degrees below freezing point, cold enough to numb 

 the brain and paralyse the heart of the strongest ; 

 and so poor Jakko met his death. Like a flash he 

 had sunk in the dark water, dazed and helpless. 

 Hours after the catastrophe Rena scrambled from 

 his frail island on to the safe icefield and flung 

 himself on to the sledge and let the dogs take him 

 home. 



This is the true story of two boys that I knew, 

 Jakko and Rena Mellik, one of whom threw his life 



away to save the other. It gives the Eskimo a lift 



220 



