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THE STORY OF ADA BLACKJACK 347

through such tragic experiences in the World War. They did not
want to talk—they wanted to forget—if they could. It was like
that with Ada.

She was happy to be back—to her boy—and her mother and her
sister, to talk about Wrangel was to remember the men who had
been kind to her—and who were—dead. But she dreams of
Wrangel—and wakes up—frightened.

Piecing together her story is like laying an intricate mosaic
pattern—a bit of color here and there until the design comes out
—the building of a personality through actions and reactions.

From time to time she would make some comment or tell some
incident that had to do with her care of Lorne Knight during his
last illness. One thing in particular that she offered to do for him
seems important because it typifies her attitude toward the men
in charge of the expedition. They were alone on Wrangel. Maurer,
Crawford and Galle had left for Siberia. Knight was already at
the stage where he was in bed continuously. The food they had
to eat did not satisfy him—hard biscuit—and fox soup. His
stomach had gone back on him. Ada herself was ill. She said
she could scarcely drag herself to the traps in the short time that
daylight lasted. She remembered that a little soda and salt put in
water was good for a sick stomach—she drank this herself and
it helped her, so she told Knight about it. He did not want to
take it. “Did you insist on his taking it, Ada?” she was asked.
“Oh, no—but I thought that some time Mr. Knight he would say
to me—‘Ada, bring me some soda water’—but he never did it.”
Later she repeated this story. “Why didn’t you insist on his
taking it since you knew it was a good remedy?” “Oh, no. I
could not tell white man what to do—so I just said nothing, but I
would like to have him drink it—for it helps me.”

Knight would not eat fox or take fox soup. Early in the
fall before he was ill and when other men of the expedition had
trapped fox and ate it saying they liked it—‘It smells too strong’
is what Knight says—‘I can’t eat it’.”

One day in the Fall, Ada had overheard Knight tell Crawford
he thought he had a touch of scurvy, long before he was really
ill and before the men went to Siberia. He had large blue spots
on his limbs and on his gums—before the end all his teeth fell

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