What a pitiable group it
was! Could a situation more desolate or deplorable be imagined? Mr.
Breen, as has been heretofore mentioned, was feeble, sickly, and almost
as helpless as the children. Upon Mrs. Breen devolved the care, not only
of her husband, but of all who remained in the fatal camp, for all
others were children. John Breen, their eldest son, was the strongest
and most vigorous in the family, yet the following incident shows how
near he was to death's door. It must have occurred the morning the
relief party left. The heat of the fire had melted a deep, round hole in
the snow. At the bottom of the pit was the fire. The men were able to
descend the sides of this cavity, and frequently did so to attend to the
fire. At one time, while William McCutchen was down by the fire, John
Breen was sitting on the end of one of the logs on which the fire had
originally been kindled. Several logs had been laid side by side, and
the fire had been built in the middle of the floor thus constructed.
While the central logs had burned out and let the fire descend, the
outer logs remained with their ends on the firm snow. On one of these
logs John Breen was sitting. Suddenly overcome by fatigue and hunger, he
fainted and dropped headlong into the fire-pit. Fortunately, Mr.
McCutchen caught the falling boy, and thus saved him from a horrible
death.
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