stefansson-wrangel-09-25-008-018

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who can shoot ducks with a rifle, there is scarcely more danger in a bear
than there is in a duck. Unless cornered, a bear will always flee when
wounded. Furthermore, one who is not frightened and who has the skill to
hit a duck can place a bullet where one shot is fatal. But Ada not only did
not look for bears; she fled when she saw them. But for this defect of
training, she could have saved Knight with fresh meat as we had saved him
in 1917 (see "The Friendly Arctic," pp. 618 ff.)

All this is on the assumption that Knight died of scurvy.
But this is not quite clear. He himself mentions frequently that the
symptoms were different from the scurvy he had before. It seems as likely
that the disease was nephritis, in which case a polar bear more or less
might not have made any difference.

When the Donaldson arrived at Wrangell Island August 20th,
1923, Ada Blackjack had mastered her environment so far that it seems likely
she could have lived there another year, although the isolation would have
been a dreadful experience. Almost certainly, she would eventually have
killed one of the polar bears instead of fleeing from them. The first victory
would have led to the killing of several - enough to see her through, for the
summer of 1923 seems to have been as good for bears as the summer of 1921.
Her living alone a year would have made a wonderful story, but it would have
been for her a terrible experience. While I believe in her probable success,
I am more grateful than any person unconcerned could be that she did not have
to try it.

Ada Blackjack’s experiences after Lorne Knight became
ill are a story in themselves too long to be told here. Neither can we go
into the plans which are now being carried out to continue the imaginative
and public-spirited work for which our four young men died. Success does
lessen the sting of tragedy and their work is being carried to success.