not going to be gobbled up immediately his blood ran
cold again for he heard the growls of a grown-up bear
approaching. Though so petrified with terror that he
could never remember afterwards what his thoughts
were, with some intuitive instinct for self—preserva tion
he thought of his father’s jacknife when the bear’s
body loomed over the entrance. Johnny was surpris-
ed to see her coming in to the lair hind quarters first.
He seized the tail with his left hand, struck blindly with
his knife at the fur-covered flanks of the descending
animal and simultaneously yelled with all the might
ofhis lusty young lungs. With a tremendous leap and
an awful roar the bear bounded out of the tree, pull—
ing after her the small mortal who had applied his right
hand also to holding on with all his strength once he
had projected the knife. Johnny landed safely on
Mother Earth and away went the wounded bear into
the woods without ever once looking behind.

Johnny saw with dismay that she carried the knife
with her. All though ts of the danger of a few minutes
ago vanished as he wondered how he would ever face
home without that knife so cherished by his father as
a parting gift from a sailor he met on his way out from
the Old Country.

But there was Brindle’s bell and home he had to go
for twilight was falling; the cows were anxious to get
to the farmyard, even the black cow was not at all
refractory. The evening before Johnny had crossed the
river riding one of the cows, and had nearly lost his
head when the cow with her unwonted burden went
careening through the alders. That next nigh t, dejected
Johnny had no thought for new means of navigating
but went soberly round by the footstick. It was a cry—
ing boy his mother saw when she came out to meet

h1m.

96

“Ma, Ma, I’ll be killed this nigh t. I lost Da’s knife.”
He sobbed out the whole story, and was amazed
beyond words when at its conclusion his mother, with
the corner of her apron to her eyes, stooped down and
kissed his tear-streaked face, then took him by the hand

to his father to tell him about it.

It was many years afterwards before Johnny
understood why his father made no fuss about that lost
knife, only said in a curiously solemn voice, “Mary, it
was Providence drew the lad ’5 eyes to that chimney cor-
ner fore he lef .”

Believe it or not—’tis true. I turned and walked back
to hear more twilight tales from my venerable grand-
father who was not “killed” that night. 26

Notes and References for Chapter 9:

1.

2.
3.
4.

Guardian, September 8, 1932 p. 8.
Guardian, September 12, 1932, p. 8.
Interview with Joe Trainor, Kinkora, 1985.

Interview with Mrs. Annie Duffy, Charlottetown,
1986.

Price of potatoes given in the Guardian, December 14,
1934, p. 11. The cost of production for 1936 was given
in “Stresses Seriousness of Farm Problems in Prince
Edward Island? Guardian, February 24, 1937, p. 2, col.
4.

“Farmers at Kinkora Adopt Scheme? Guardian,

November 29, 1934, p. 6. and, “Pegged Prices for
Potatoes? Guardian, February 2, 1935, p. 1.

Handbook of Agricultural Statistics, 1959, Part I,
“Potatoes — Prince Edward Island? p. 117. (Dominion
Bureau of Statistics, now, Statistics Canada, Ottawa).