assured Thomas, no less excited at the news than was Margaret. "But
'tis strange that he's comin' back so soon!"

Of course Margaret, who was laying the table for supper, must needs
follow the boys; and Thomas, who was leaning over the wash basin
removing the grime of the day's toil, snatched the towel from its peg
behind the door and, drying his hands as he ran, sacrificing dignity
to haste, followed Margaret, who had joined the three boys at the end
of the jetty which served as a boat landing.

A skiff had just entered the narrow channel which connected The Jug,
as the bight where the Anguses lived was called, with the wider waters
of Eskimo Bay. There could be no doubt, even at that distance, that
the tall man standing aft and manipulating the long sculling oar, was
Doctor Joe. As the little group gathered on the jetty he took off his
hat and waved it high above his head. It was Doctor Joe beyond a
doubt! The boys waved their caps and shouted at the top of their lusty
young lungs, Margaret, undoing her apron, waved it and added her voice
to the chorus, and Thomas, quite carried away by the excitement, waved
the towel and in a great bellowing voice shouted a louder welcome than
any of them.

There was no happier or better contented family on all The Labrador
than the family of Thomas Angus, though they had their trials and ups
and downs and worries like any other family in or out of Labrador.

"Everybody must expect a bit o' trouble and worry now and again,"
Thomas would say when things did not go as they should. "If we never
had un, and livin' were always fine and clear, we'd forget to be
thankful for our blessin's. We has t' have a share o' trouble in our