“I had no idea that you had a mail service in the winter,” remarked Phil, innocently, “nor that there was a paper published in this part of the world.”
“Oh, dear, no! It isn’t published here,” laughed the missionary’s wife. “It is a New York paper, and only a weekly at that; still it is better than none, and being of this week’s date its news is quite recent. See?”
So saying she held out the paper for Phil’s inspection, and to his amazement he saw that it was indeed a New York paper bearing the date of October 20th. Not until Serge, to whom this harmless deception was an old story, broke out with the laughter he could no longer restrain did it flash into Phil’s mind that the paper was a year old, and then he could have thumped himself for his stupidity.
“You see,” explained the missionary’s wife, “we only receive mail once or twice a year, and then we get such a quantity of papers that we cannot possibly read them all at once. So we lay them aside, and have them delivered one at a time on their regular dates, by which means we receive two or three newspapers every week during the year.”
“What a capital idea!” exclaimed Phil.
“Isn’t it? And it is such good training for the boys, who are allowed to act as postmen. Then, too, we use the papers in school in place of reading-books, and so have fresh topics with which to interest the scholars every week. On this account our reading-class is so popular that it has nearly outgrown the capacity of our school-room; but, thanks to Captain Hamer, we are to have a new one in the spring.”
“Indeed! Is he going to build you one?”
“He is already having it built, and it is to serve as your winter-quarters so long as you remain with us, after which it is to be presented to the mission.”
This was so interesting a bit of news that the boys must visit the hospital at once and learn what plans the leader of their expedition had made. They found him so far recovered as already to take an interest in his surroundings, and able to talk freely with them. He told them that with a view to the future needs of the school the new building was to be forty feet long by twenty wide, though for the sake of present warmth and comfort it was to be divided into several small sleeping-rooms, a large living-room for the use of the Chimo’s crew, and a store-room for such goods as it was deemed best to remove from the steamer for safer keeping.