The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1945, Page 44

42
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
June 1945
Viking Fisheries
----------Ltd___________
Wholesale Fish Dealers
•
301 Great West Permanent Bldg.
Winnipeg, Man.
•
Phone 96 306-7
J. Werier & Co.
Limited
Wholesale General Jobbers
★
We handle general fishing
supplies for fishermen.
4r
IF YOU NEED IT, WE HAVE IT
Phone 57 311
764 Main St. Winnipeg, Man.
Biggar Bros. Ltd.
Fuel — Cartage
LONG DISTANCE HAULING
425 Gertrude Ave. Phone 42 844
deserted except for one tiny baby in
a basinette over in the corner. The others
had gone down into the dining room for
supper. She stood for a minute looking
at the little round dark head against
the white pillow.
Three month ago the baby had been
brought to the mission, a tiny creature
with shriveled face and hands like
claws. One of the millions born in this
fertile country and destined to die al-
most as quickly as it had learned to
draw the breath of life. Only Bob
hadn’t looked at it that way. He had
set out to save this frail wisp of a
human being and he had done so. It
had meant hard work, constant watch-
fulness and a fight against the igno-
rance of the baby’s mother and the
fanaticism of his grand-father who was
one of the high priests of the village.
Bob had won, and here was the baby,
plump and healthy with a skin free
from sores, as sweet and sturdy as their
own baby.
A movement at the other end of the
nursery made her turn. The baby’s mo-
ther was standing there, a young thing,
scarcely more than a child herself. She
looked strangely out of place in the
hygienic atmosphere of the nursery with
her scarlet dress, her black sash and
her golden necklace and earrings. She
was trembling, so frightened she could
scarcely speak. Bit by bit the story came
out. The priests in the temple had found
out what the white doctors were doing
with the bodies of some of the pestilence
victims, they knew about the hidden
laboratory. Tonight the white doctors
would be punished. The girl was sobbing
on the floor. No she couldn’t tell how
she knew but she did. With one breath
she implored Ruth to believe her, with
the next she begged her never to tell
who had betrayed the plot against the
doctors. The story fitted in so perfectly
with what Bob had written in his letter
that Ruth knew the girl spoke the truth.
The sun was setting and there was
no time to lose. Ruth hurried down to
the office. Fortunately Caroline was
alone. Someone must carry the warning