and pigs, and horses as well, which was their only mode of transportation.

With no money and no barn, Jimmy was disheartened, but he did not give up. Instead, he went to Debert, Nova Scotia, where he worked as a carpenter on an army barracks. His job was to nail lathes to studs to support the plaster. He was one of the few who occasionally swallowed nails. He used to fill his mouth with nails, and take them out, one at a time, as he needed them. Occasionally, he swallowed a few, and was quite concerned. He mentioned it to a fellow—worker, who replied, “Don’t be‘concerned; I never feel right unless I swallow one or two every week.”

Christmas that year was a very lonesome one for Jimmy and Marion, because they couldn’t celebrate the festive season together. Transportation wasn’t readily available for him to make the trip to the Island for Christmas. So, he had to stay in Debert, alone, away from his family for the first time since their marriage. It was a Christmas that he would never forget.

In Jimmy’s absence, Marion was kept busy looking after the two heifers that survived the fire, and were housed in a building on a nearby farm. One morning, when she went to feed the animals she found that a hatch had blown open during the night, and one of the heifers had caught a cold and was sick. There were no phones, and fearing that she might lose the animal, she went to Souris on the mid-morning train, and went to see the veterinarian. Realizing the problem, the veterinarian came out on the train with her and treated the animal for pneumonia. He was able to save the animal before returning to Souris on the evening train. However, her troubles did not end there. One of the heifers was having difficulty while calving. Marion walked through the mud to a neighbour’s farm for help, and they were successful in saving the calf.

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