got back and Freddy was anxious to get over to the Island so we 
     
     didn’t stop at our house but went straight to the shore. If we had, 
     
     Momma would never have let Freddy go. She knew the ice was 
     
     ready to leave the Bay. it needed a combination of high tide and the 
     
     wind in the right quarter and that was the story that evening. 
     
    

    
     When we got to the shore there was a few inches of water in the 
     
     landwash on the edge of the shore and some feet out before you 
     
     hit solid ice. I backed the horse up until his hind feet were almost 
     
     in the water so that the woodsleigh made a bridge. Jimmy landed 
     
     on the ice with his hand sleigh of supplies and took off into the 
     
     snowstorm. 
     
    

    
     Back up at the house, the women went aboard of me, Kaddy 
     
     and Momma. 
     
    

    
     ‘You didn’t let him go?’ Momma said. 
     
    

    
     ’The ice is going out tonight for sure.’ 
     
    

    
     I hardly dared look out in the morning and when I did, the whole 
     
     Bay was open water. The ice was gone. I pictured Freddy and his 
     
     hand-sleigh half-way to Cape Breton on an ice cake. And there was 
     
     a dory coming over from the Island. I thought they were coming to 
     
     ask about Freddy. The hardest thing I ever did was to walk down 
     
     to the shore to meet it. Then the first person to jump out when 
     
     the dory touched bottom was Freddy. Here am | pounding him 
     
     on the back and shouting. “You little son of a so and so. I was 
     
     never so glad to see your ugly mug beforel’" 
     
    

    
     Uncle Billy was quiet for a few seconds, savoring the 
     
     feeling of relief. “That’s the way it was then; now, they’d have 
     
     snowmobiles and be over in half a minute. Come on down and 
     
     look at my jogging track and then we’ll get a cup of the best tea 
     
     in the world from Kaddy. Did I ever tell you about the ....... ”.? 
     
    
   
   
    
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