The Icelandic connection - 01.09.2010, Blaðsíða 15

Vol. 63 #2
ICELANDIC CONNECTION
65
Then it was time to go back to the island,
courtesy of the boys and their dog teams.
They now travelled north of the area
where the ice had broken away a few days
before. Shortly after noon they arrived
back on their little island and were wel-
comed heartily by everyone there.
“Where are Einar and Bergur?”
Johann asked.
The fishermen told them the story of
what had happened when they realized
that the ice had broken apart. They were
all sure that Johann and Laurence had
most certainly been killed in the ensuing
breakup. His brothers, along with several
others, had formed a search party and
gone immediately to the east shore on the
unbroken ice.
They were hoping to meet Johann
and Laurence somewhere along the shore
or perhaps find their bodies thrown up by
the high winds. The search party had not
been seen since.
While Johann and Laurence had been
at the Poplar River store, Einar and
Bergur and the other searchers had turned
south along the lakeshore to look for
them, so their paths never crossed. Later
that day the party came to where the bro-
ken ice was piled up on the shore, having
been driven there by the high winds. In
some places it had completely covered
the trees on the shoreline.
It was obvious to them that no one
could have survived the devastation that
they observed. So, with heavy hearts they
made themselves ready for the return trip
to the island.
Because they had two excellent dog
teams, the trip home to the island took
only a few hours. The dogs knew that
they were heading home, so they kept up
a rapid pace and seemed quite willing to
get to the island in a hurry. As the party
approached the island the heaviness in the
men’s hearts became unbearable. They
would have to tell everyone the sad news
that they had found no sign of Johann and
Laurence and presumed that they had
died somewhere along the east shore
where their bodies most certainly would
have been thrown up by the storm.
As they neared the cabins, they were
met by some of the fishermen who happi-
ly informed them of the arrival, earlier
that day of Johann and Laurence and
how, three days before, they had escaped
almost certain death.
They also told them of their rescuers,
the boy trappers from Poplar River who
had helped them get back to the island.
When they entered the main cabin
there were many tears of joy shed and
everyone listened to Johann and Laurence
tell of their adventure on the lake. Later,
the cooks happily prepared a very fine
meal in celebration of their escape from
the claws of the storm.
It was getting very late when the men
went to their beds. The excitement of the
past few days and how fortunately every-
thing had turned out left all the fishermen
in high spirits.
Before everyone fell asleep they
thanked God for his mercy on their
friends Johann and Laurence.
The next few weeks were a bit more
normal, weatherwise, and the island fish-
ermen began fishing in earnest as the ice
thickened and became more stable. As the
winter dragged on, some of the men
became tired of the isolation and hitched
a ride south to civilization with the fish
freighters, whose horse-drawn sleighs
moved the winters’ catch south to the
nearest railhead, Riverton.
Often, these men would then find
employment in the districts adjoining the
lake or simply go back to their families’
farms for the rest of the winter. Some of
the others stayed on even after the fishing
ceased and worked at filling the ice hous-
es for the summer season when the catch
was packed in ice and moved south by
boat. They also cut firewood for next
winter’s fishing season.