The boys and Margaret were quite beside themselves with the wonder of it all, and Thomas was little less excited.
"We'll go for un to-morrow or the next day whatever," said Thomas.
There was one box still unopened, and the three boys were eyeing it expectantly, when Doctor Joe exclaimed:
"Here we've left till the last the most important thing of all. Get an axe, David, and we'll knock the cover off this box."
David had the axe in a jiffy, and when Doctor Joe removed the cover the box was found to be filled with books.
"O-h-h!" breathed the boys in unison.
"'Tis fine! Oh, I've been wishin' and wishin' for books t' look at and read!" exclaimed Margaret.
Doctor Joe had taught them all to read and write in the years he had been with them, an accomplishment that not every boy and girl on The Labrador possessed, for there were no schools there.
"There are some books to study and some to read. There are story books and books about birds and flowers and animals. And here is something that I know will please the boys," said Doctor Joe, drawing from the box six paper-bound volumes. "There's an interesting story attached to these books that I must tell you before you look at them, and then we'll go through them together.