There John's
feet proved to be in such bad condition that it was necessary to send
him to the hospital, and, as gangrene had set in, a portion of each foot
was amputated. He was "queer" for several weeks, but, with returning
physical health, gradually recovered his mental equilibrium. After a few
days in Halifax, I was sent on by steamer to Boston, bringing the first
news of either our loss or our rescue.
On reaching my home town I did not go to a boarding house; there was
plenty of room for me in the home and I was contented to stay there for
a while. The old salts received me as a long-lost brother, and while the
official notice was never handed me, I was made to feel that somewhere
in their inner consciousness I had been elected a regular member of the
Amalgamated Society of Sea Dogs, and was entitled to an inside seat, if
I could find one, about the stove of any shoemaker's shop in the Cove.
The Banks were revisited in memory, and all the old fog experiences were
brought out, amplified and elongated as far as possible, but it was
conceded that we had established a new record in the nautical traditions
of the Cove.
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