{"product_id":"2940149106721","title":"Harbor Jim of Newfoundland (Illustrated)","description":"Bob McCartney was spreading cod on the flakes and I was watching him and estimating the chances of better weather. The sun had not succeeded in rolling back the fog and St. John's was still half asleep in blankets of mist. Signal Hill was altogether hidden and the harbor entrance could not be seen. In the water-soaked atmosphere the flakes were merged together and the tiny houses of the fishers were almost joined into one long rambling house. The air was heavy with the smell of fish and the morning was not conducive to enthusiastic conversation.\u003cbr\u003eBob McCartney was a Newfoundlander born and bred and had left with his ancestors in Ireland the gift of blarney. This morning in particular he contented himself with monosyllabic answers, that occasionally did not come even to the estate words, but ended only in an effective grunt. Finally he condescended to speak a whole sentence with some little life in his voice.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Yes, I guess she's agoin' to lift, fer there goes Harbor Jim.\"\"\u003cbr\u003eI strained my eyes to see thru the fog and could just discern a sail boat headed toward what I supposed[2] was the harbor entrance.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"And who is Harbor Jim?\"\" I asked.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Why, he's my friend and he can knock spalls off'n any Lander in the Dominion,\"\" replied Bob and then lapsed into silence as he went on slowly laying out his cod on the flakes.\u003cbr\u003eJust then the sun made a gain and succeeded in piercing thru the fog and I saw, suddenly, a little boat some seventy-five yards out from the shore, and standing out near the bow stood a man as erect as the mast behind him, and looking straight out to sea.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"There's Harbor Jim!\"\" and Bob pointed over his shoulder in the direction of the boat as he spoke the words.\u003cbr\u003eIt gave me a thrill, as the light brought him sharply to my attention, to see him standing there, intently looking toward the harbor entrance. I looked from the shore even as he looked from his boat and the sun at that moment uncovered the rocks on both sides. He lifted his hand and the helper behind him brought the sail to the faint breeze that was springing up, and the boat headed for the harbor entrance and the open sea.\u003cbr\u003eThe sun seemed to lift Bob's spirit and the sight of Harbor Jim to warm the cockles of his heart, for he began in a good-natured drawl to tell me of the finding of his friend.\u003cbr\u003e[3]\u003cbr\u003e\"\"It was the third week in March, eleven years ago, come next spring, that we were sealing down North. Harbor Jim and I were then on Cap'en Boynton's ship. I didn't know Jim then more'n any other fellow. It was an odd kind of a trip. For days it hung nasty and we couldn't have seen a seal if he had been within shot of us.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Then, one day, I think it was a Friday, but that doesn't matter, it come bright and sparkling and grew cold. By noon our ship was frozen in the ice, and we were waiting and hoping the look-out would see seals. The ice had been piled up in some places and just south it looked like a town, a little village with houses and meeting house and school, all a sparklin' pretty. I never seed bluer sky, deep as chicory flowers and you could see fer miles, seems though you was a-goin' to see thru it almost to 'tother side o' the world.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Long about two o'clock the look-out yelled: 'Seals to the nor-east!'\u003cbr\u003e\"\"No sooner did he yell than the Cap'en shouted: 'Look alive men! Over and after!'\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Then with gaffs and guns and ropes we went over the ship's side and after the seals. The ice was uncertain and some of the men went thru the crust into the sea, but we quickly pulled them out and were off agin.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Now in the days before we had decided to make a contest of it, as we often did. It made good sport and we would get more seals. Harbor[4] Jim and I had chosen up, like they do in a spellin' bee, and all the men had been divided into two sides to see which one on'em would bring the biggest load o' seals back to the ship.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Unfortunately the seals were some distance from the ship and it was after two when we started. We were so intent on getting the catch that we failed to note it was not only beginning to snow, but also getting on toward the end o' the day.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"At the moment when we should have turned back, I saw an old hood, that's an old seal that pulls a visor over his eyes and fights to a finish. I'd been tender-hearted and passed by just then a young seal that looked kinder pitiful at me and begged for life and I resolved that I'd get the old hood, come what would. He lured me away from the crowd, and when I finally succeeded in silencing him, the men were gone, and thru the snow I could not see the ship.\u003cbr\u003e\"\"Worse luck still the ice-pan on which I stood was beginning to shake and break up. I thought of the woman at home and the boy, and I thought of freezing to death out to sea and I guess, too, I thought o' my sins. The other fellows had gone back to the ship and I was alone, facing the cold, the storm and the night.","brand":"Lost Leaf Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47073030799600,"sku":"2940149106721","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940149106721_p0.jpg?v=1763719327","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940149106721","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}