“HE TRIED TO GRASP THE SAIL—MISSED IT—AND REALIZED THAT HE WAS FALLING!”
What doctoring he did get was of an exceedingly rough and ready description, and was provided by one of the fo’c’s’le hands who had at one time had his own leg fractured, and on the strength of this claimed to know all about broken bones. It may have been that he was specially gifted in this respect, or it may have been sheer luck, but he certainly made a very fair job of it, all things considered.
Three weeks later, when Her Majesty reached St. Pierre, after an exceptionally long passage out of ninety-eight days, a medical man was sent for at once, who was not at all satisfied with the methods of his unprofessional rival. In fact, he announced that Mr. Hodgson would never be able to walk again, and advised the immediate amputation of his injured limb. Mr. Hodgson, however, decided that if he was to return home at all he would do so as a whole man, and flatly refused his consent. Fearing that the operation would be performed against his will, he declined, for days together, to touch any of the food offered him, in case it should have been “doctored” and he would wake up minus his leg. After Her Majesty had unloaded her cargo and taken another on board she sailed for home, and Mr. Hodgson went with her, but his troubles were by no means over, as the ship foundered in a gale and the crew took to the boats. As may well be imagined, Mr. Hodgson, in his enfeebled state, was in no fit condition for such an experience, and during the eight days’ journey in open boats that followed until the island of Santa Cruz was reached his sufferings were beyond description.
Mr. Hodgson went to sea for a year or two after his accident, but as the unskilled treatment of his amateur doctor was not entirely successful the bones of his leg were never properly set. Although the limb was sound enough for all ordinary purposes it was not strong enough to stand the continual strain of a seafaring career, and he accordingly made a fresh start in life as an artist, with what success is well known to our readers.
Mr. Hodgson says, “Until you have known me quite a long time you would not think that I was any the worse for my accident,” and as he fell over a hundred feet the wonder is that he was not killed on the spot. His escape from death was, in fact, little short of miraculous.
Mr. Norman H. Hardy’s record of travel is certainly as extensive as that of any artist whose work appears in the pages of The Wide World—or of any other magazine, for that matter. He was for seven years in Australia as the special artist of the Sydney Mail, and in the course of his wanderings has visited the South Sea Islands, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New Britain, China, Siam, India, and Egypt. His latest trip was on a roving commission to Central Africa during the early part of this year.
MR. NORMAN H. HARDY, WHO WAS ATTACKED BY A MOB OF INFURIATED SHEEP-SHEARERS ON STRIKE IN AUSTRALIA.
From a Photograph.