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Show 119 Like the spruce-needle tea. Caribou made us drink a cup every Sunday to prevent scurvy. He went to great trouble to get fresh spruce, and he always returned victorious, pulling a sprig from his pocket or from under his cap. For two months during midwinter, he used the Christmas tree, I told him I had two pounds of citrus extract tablets expressly for the prevention of scurvy. He nibbled a tablet and said it wasn't potent enough to prevent a head cold. He always remembered the tea on Sunday because it was a different day, when we did things other than digging. Besides drinking the tea, we slept late, read the Bible, and told jokes. I wasn't too good with the jokes, since my best one-Pa's dentist story-I could not tell to Caribou with no teeth at all. But after some of those Bible stories, the jokes were an absolute necessity. Our daily routine was more practical: burn, scrape, dig. Feed the stove. Cook the beans. Drop into bed. On Saturday nights we walked down to Belinda Mulroney's hotel for moose steaks and applesauce. Belinda made a big fuss over Tipsy the Princess, I suppose because she was a girl. She often sent things home- with her like sheet music, bottles of French perfume, and oilcloth for the table. Once she gave Tip one of her old hats-a giant purple and |