two above six feet in his moccasins. He
was a broad-shouldered, strong-limbed man of the wilderness and the
sea. His face was kindly and gentle, but at the same time reflected
firmness, strength and thoughtfulness. When he spoke you were sure to
listen, for there was always the conviction that he was about to utter
some word of wisdom, or tell you something of importance. The moment
you looked at him and heard his voice you said to yourself: "Here is a
man upon whom I can rely and in whom I can place absolute confidence."

If Skipper Tom promised to do anything, he did it, unless Providence
intervened. If he said he would not do a thing, he would not do it,
and you could depend on it. He was a man of his word. That was Skipper
Tom--big, straight spoken, and as square as any man that ever lived.
That is what his neighbors said of him, and that is the way Doctor
Grenfell found him.

Now and again the Methodist missionary visited Red Bay in his circuit
of the settlements, and when he came he made his headquarters in the
home of Skipper Tom. On the occasion of these visits he conducted
services in the chapel on Sunday, and on week days visited every home
in Red Bay. Skipper Tom was class leader, and looked after the
religious welfare of the little community, presiding over his class in
the chapel, on the great majority of Sundays, when the missionary was
engaged elsewhere.

The people looked up to Skipper Tom. The folk of Red Bay, like most
people who live much in the open and close to nature, have a deep
religious reverence and a wholesome fear of God. As their class leader
Skipper Tom guided them in their worship, and they looked upon him as
an example of upright living. So it was that he had a great burden of
responsibility, with the morals of the community thrust upon him.

In one respect Skipper Tom was fortunate. He did not inherit a debt,
and all his life he had kept free from the truck system under which
his neighbors toiled hopelessly, year in and year out.

He had, in one way or another, picked up enough education to read and
write and figure. He could read and interpret his Bible and he could
calculate his accounts. He knew that two times two make four. If he
sold two hundred quintals[C] of fish at $2.25 a quintal, he knew that
$450.00 were due him. No trader had a mortgage upon the product of
_his_ labor, as they had upon that of his neighbors, and he was free
to sell his fur and fish to whoever would pay h