you know, the storm didn' t bother them. They knew their track. B ut he had a young horse and he wasn't watching his driving very good.... The horse veered off and he got out in the rough ice off the Point. I guess the sleigh went in some kind of a hole or something, but he had to unhitch the horse. It was snowing, not what you'd call a blizzard, but a southeast, pretty heavy.... The moon came up so he followed [it] and he landed down on the Point.... Rory MacRae and the wife were living there and he put in his horse and had breakfast there. And they went out several days, different people, looking, but they never found the sleigh or anything after that. Mail Driving It was a rural mail; the post office was at Eldon. Bella MacDonald kept the post office. It was night-time work, you know, evening. The mail., .used to come out on the Murray Harbour train. Well, the postmaster would open the bag and she'd give us our mail. She'd sort all the letters out. But we'd get our own papers, the bundle of Guardians. There'd be a bundle for Point Prim , there'd be a bundle for Mount Buchanan , and then the Eldon bunch. Then we used to take the doctor's. Perhaps the doctor'd be down visiting somebody and he'd want some medicine. He'd meet you. We used to take medicine around too.... Say the doctor went down here and visited a sick person, you know what I mean, and he wouldn't have the medicine. He'd go home, perhaps, he'd mix up the medicine...and you'd take that down with the mail... . Then the telephone came and made a difference. Them days, they'd all be out. There was no radios or anything much then. They'd be sitting in talking or reading; they'd look at the clock. "Well, the mailman should be coming." They'd get on their boots and out with the lanterns. And as you'd be coming you'd see them out. You'd be late or something; they'd go to meet one another. They'd be talking. Now, around Glashvin there, there'd by Angus William Docherty and Monty MacLeod. They were far off the road, see? They'd be in the woods there in shelter waiting for you. They'd say, "Gosh, you're late tonight," they'd say. Or if it was dirty, they'd say, "Well, it's not a fit night to be out." But, still they'd be out waiting for the mail. Oh, there was a lot of fun there.... They'd all have a little story. Some, an odd fella'd have a drink. They were all pretty good. Course, it was up to yourself. You had to get along with them. You know what I mean. It means a lot you know. I always got along pretty good with them. John Alex Murchison 151