The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1946, Blaðsíða 55

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
53
took place in the settlement, for the men
mentioned were all prominent in the
colony.
At the beginning of March, 1879, Valdis
left for Winnipeg for work, travelling
with Old Jon of Laufas. During his ab-
sence, I attended to his stock. This en-
tailed two trips a day for me. On his re-
turn, Jon brought me a sack of flour as
recompense for my work. This was most
acceptable, for frequently one had to be
very saving on flour.
When Valdis left, we placed our GuS-
run with SigriSur, who lived a good mile
away, to the north of Kristjan Kernested.
I had to take her milk over every day,
and soon I began to tire of doing this.
What I felt more keenly was that every
time I took leave of the child, the tears
would come to her eyes. After a month or
this, I decided to take her home. Well
do I remember how, on starting out with
my burden in my arms I was at the
same time both happy and unhappy;
happy in having my little child with me
(she was then a year old and quite
promising) and unhappy because I could
not hope to give her all the care she
ought to have. I travelled south along
the road with my burden in my arms,
and then rested in the shade of an oak,
for the day was hot. Then I cut straight
through the woods, along an opening
where I was wont to cut hay, and so
home.
Things turned out better than I had
expected. My boy and I took turns at
minding GuSrun. Nevertheless, our task
was often difficult. Although GuSmund-
ur helped me all that could be expect-
ed, the burden of the work, inside and
outside, fell on me. My neighbors offered
to do the washing and the baking, but
I soon discovered that to take things
over and to call for them took more time
than if I did the work myself. Then
there was the gratuity to consider. Con-
sequently, I undertook to do all the
work myself.
About midsummer, I went to Winni-
peg, to bring Valdis home. She had been
working on a steamer plying to Brandon.
While I was away, Ingibjorg, Erlendur’s
wife, looked after things. Valdis had
earned but little.
When I was in Winnipeg, there was
an extremely violent thunderstorm, with
a vivid display of lightning.
I found it difficult to secure sufficient
hay for my few cattle. My fields were
continually being overrun by cattle, who
cropped the grass and cut up the ground.
That fall, Jon Magnusson and I set
out for Winnipeg, travelling by road.
Cold weather had set in, and the day
was bright and frosty. By the time we
reached Netley Creek, night was closing
in. Indians only lived in that vicinity,
but we decided to ask for lodging. This
was refused, so we continued on our way.
A maze of ponds and runnels extend-
ed out from the river which made it
difficult for strangers to keep direction.
I was irritated by the refusal of lodging,
and strode ahead recklessly. I had a
good sized stave in my hand, secured
from the woods, and we carried our
packs on our backs. Suddenly, I found
myself sinking through soft mush. I
floundered on about the length of a
house, and the mush began to thin out.
Then I took a back-stroke to the edge
where I had broken through. Meanwhile,
Jon had lost his head completely and
was shouting. I told him shouting was
of no use since everybody was asleep;
he should try to crawl to the edge and
grab hold of my stick. This he succeed-
ed in doing, but as he took hold I lost
mine — then regained it. With God’s
grace, I succeeded in inching my way
up on the ice, Jon crawling backwards
until the ice was sufficiently strong to
support the two of us.
Much can escape one’s mind in a
moment of panic. Jon had a long cord
in his bag which he could so easily
have thrown to me. As for me, I felt
no fear while I was in; my mind simply
turned to my little Gunna, with the
thought that she was too young to loose
me there in the water.
Then we returned to the house where
previously we had been refused admiss-
ion. Jon thew his weight about and said
that we should force entrance, if nec-