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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16596-8.txt b/16596-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..486217e --- /dev/null +++ b/16596-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7929 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ungava Bob, by Dillon Wallace, Illustrated by +Samuel M. Palmer + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ungava Bob + A Winter's Tale + + +Author: Dillon Wallace + + + +Release Date: August 25, 2005 [eBook #16596] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB*** + + +E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Jeannie Howse, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 16596-h.htm or 16596-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596/16596-h/16596-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596/16596-h.zip) + + Much of the dialogue is dialect. The few spelling mistakes have + been retained, including St. Johns for St. John's (Newfoundland). + + + + + +Every Boy's Library--Boy Scout Edition + +UNGAVA BOB + +A Winter's Tale + +by + +DILLON WALLACE + +Author of _The Lure of the Labrador Wild_ + +Illustrated by Samuel M. Palmer + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers + +1907 + +Third Edition + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Three of the men hauled, the other with a pole, kept +it clear of the rocks (_See page 45_)] + + + + + _To My Sisters + Annie and Jessie_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. HOW BOB GOT HIS "TRAIL" 9 + +II. OFF TO THE BUSH 26 + +III. AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR 37 + +IV. SWEPT AWAY IN THE RAPIDS 50 + +V. THE TRAILS ARE REACHED 56 + +VI. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS 68 + +VII. A STREAK OF GOOD LUCK 76 + +VIII. MICMAC JOHN'S REVENGE 87 + +IX. LOST IN THE SNOW 96 + +X. THE PENALTY 108 + +XI. THE TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL 115 + +XII. IN THE HANDS OF THE NASCAUPEES 129 + +XIII. A FOREBODING OF EVIL 140 + +XIV. THE SHADOW OF DEATH 153 + +XV. IN THE WIGWAM OF SISHETAKUSHIN 171 + +XVI. ONE OF THE TRIBE 187 + +XVII. STILL FARTHER NORTH 199 + +XVIII. A MISSION OF TRUST 206 + +XIX. AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND 226 + +XX. PRISONERS OF THE SEA 240 + +XXI. ADRIFT ON THE ICE 254 + +XXII. THE MAID OF THE NORTH 269 + +XXIII. THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE 280 + +XXIV. THE ESCAPE 290 + +XXV. THE BREAK-UP 304 + +XXVI. BACK AT WOLF BIGHT 315 + +XXVII. THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHN'S 333 + +XXVIII. IN AFTER YEARS 341 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACING PAGE + +THREE OF THE MEN HAULED, THE OTHER WITH + A POLE, KEPT IT CLEAR OF THE ROCKS Title + +"BOB JUMPED OUT WITH THE PAINTER IN HIS HAND." 21 + +CHART OF THE TRAILS. 64 + +"MICMAC JOHN KNEW HIS END HAD COME." 114 + +"IT WAS DANGEROUS WORK." 173 + +"SAW HER STANDING IN THE BRIGHT MOONLIGHT." 197 + +"HE HELD THE VESSEL STEADILY TO HER COURSE." 298 + + + + +UNGAVA BOB + + +I + +HOW BOB GOT HIS "TRAIL" + + +It was an evening in early September twenty years ago. The sun was +just setting in a radiance of glory behind the dark spruce forest that +hid the great unknown, unexplored Labrador wilderness which stretched +away a thousand miles to the rocky shores of Hudson's Bay and the +bleak desolation of Ungava. With their back to the forest and the +setting sun, drawn up in martial line stood the eight or ten +whitewashed log buildings of the Hudson's Bay Company Post, just as +they had stood for a hundred years, and just as they stand to-day, +looking out upon the wide waters of Eskimo Bay, which now, reflecting +the glow of the setting sun, shone red and sparkling like a sea of +rubies. + +On a clearing to the eastward of the post between the woods and water +was an irregular cluster of deerskin wigwams, around which loitered +dark-hued Indians puffing quietly at their pipes, while Indian women +bent over kettles steaming at open fires, cooking the evening meal, +and little Indian boys with bows shot harmless arrows at soaring gulls +overhead, and laughed joyously at their sport as each arrow fell short +of its mark. Big wolf dogs skulked here and there, looking for bits of +refuse, snapping and snarling ill-temperedly at each other. + +A group of stalwart, swarthy-faced men, dressed in the garb of +northern hunters--light-coloured moleskin trousers tucked into the +tops of long-legged sealskin moccasins, short jackets and peakless +caps--stood before the post kitchen or lounged upon the rough board +walk which extended the full length of the reservation in front of the +servants' quarters and storehouses. They were watching a small +sailboat that, half a mile out upon the red flood, was bowling in +before a smart breeze, and trying to make out its single occupant. +Finally some one spoke. + +"'Tis Bob Gray from Wolf Bight, for that's sure Bob's punt." + +"Yes," said another, "'tis sure Bob." + +Their curiosity satisfied, all but two strolled into the kitchen, +where supper had been announced. + +Douglas Campbell, the older of the two that remained, was a short, +stockily built man with a heavy, full, silver-white beard, and skin +tanned dark as an Indian's by the winds and storms of more than sixty +years. A pair of kindly blue eyes beneath shaggy white eyebrows gave +his face an appearance at once of strength and gentleness, and an +erect bearing and well-poised head stamped him a leader and a man of +importance. + +The other was a tall, wiry, half-breed Indian, with high cheek bones +and small, black, shifting eyes that were set very close together and +imparted to the man a look of craftiness and cunning. He was known as +"Micmac John," but said his real name was John Sharp. He had drifted +to the coast a couple of years before on a fishing schooner from +Newfoundland, whence he had come from Nova Scotia. From the coast he +had made his way the hundred and fifty miles to the head of Eskimo +Bay, and there took up the life of a trapper. Rumour had it that he +had committed murder at home and had run away to escape the penalty; +but this rumour was unverified, and there was no means of learning +the truth of it. Since his arrival here the hunters had lost, now and +again, martens and foxes from their traps, and it was whispered that +Micmac John was responsible for their disappearance. Nevertheless, +without any tangible evidence that he had stolen them, he was treated +with kindness, though he had made no real friends amongst the natives. + +When the last of the men had closed the kitchen door behind him, +Micmac John approached Douglas, who had been standing somewhat apart, +evidently lost in his thoughts as he watched the approaching boat, and +asked: + +"Have ye decided about the Big Hill trail, sir?" + +"Yes, John." + +"And am I to hunt it this year, sir?" + +"No, John, I can't let ye have un. I told Bob Gray th' day I'd let him +hunt un. Bob's a smart lad, and I wants t' give he th' chance." + +Micmac John cast a malicious glance at old Douglas. Then with an +assumed indifference, and shrug of his shoulders as he started to walk +away, remarked: + +"All right if you've made yer mind up, but you'll be sorry fer it." + +Douglas turned fiercely upon him. + +"What mean you, man? Be that a threat? Speak now!" + +"I make no threats, but boys can't hunt, and he'll bring ye no fur. +Ye'll get nothin' fer yer pains. Ye'll be sorry fer it." + +"Well," said Douglas as Micmac John walked away to join the others in +the kitchen, "I've promised th' lad, an' what I promises I does, an' +I'll stand by it." + +Bob Gray, sitting at the tiller of his little punt, _The Rover_, was +very happy--happy because the world was so beautiful, happy because he +lived, and especially happy because of the great good fortune that had +come to him this day when Douglas Campbell granted his request to let +him hunt the Big Hill trail, with its two hundred good marten and fox +traps. + +It had been a year of misfortune for the Grays. The previous winter +when Bob's father started out upon his trapping trail a wolverine +persistently and systematically followed him, destroying almost every +fox and marten that he had caught. All known methods to catch or kill +the animal were resorted to, but with the cunning that its prehistoric +ancestors had handed down to it, it avoided every pitfall. The fox is +a poor bungler compared with the wolverine. The result of all this was +that Richard Gray had no fur in the spring with which to pay his debt +at the trading store. + +Then came the greatest misfortune of all. Emily, Bob's little sister, +ventured too far out upon a cliff one day to pluck a vagrant wild +flower that had found lodgment in a crevice, and in reaching for it, +slipped to the rocks below. Bob heard her scream as she fell, and ran +to her assistance. He found her lying there, quite still and white, +clutching the precious blossom, and at first he thought she was dead. +He took her in his arms and carried her tenderly to the cabin. After a +while she opened her eyes and came back to consciousness, but she had +never walked since. Everything was done for the child that could be +done. Every man and woman in the Bay offered assistance and +suggestions, and every one of them tried a remedy; but no relief came. + +All the time things kept going from bad to worse with Richard Gray. +Few seals came in the bay that year and he had no fat to trade at the +post. The salmon fishing was a flat failure. + +As the weeks went on and Emily showed no improvement Douglas Campbell +came over to Wolf Bight with the suggestion, + +"Take th' maid t' th' mail boat doctor. He'll sure fix she up." And +then they took her--Bob and his mother--ninety miles down the bay to +the nearest port of call of the coastal mail boat, while the father +remained at home to watch his salmon nets. Here they waited until +finally the steamer came and the doctor examined Emily. + +"There's nothing I can do for her," he said. "You'll have to send her +to St. Johns to the hospital. They'll fix her all right there with a +little operation." + +"An' how much will that cost?" asked Mrs. Gray. + +"Oh," he replied, "not over fifty dollars--fifty dollars will cover +it." + +"An' if she don't go?" + +"She'll never get well." Then, as a dismissal of the subject, the +doctor, turning to Bob, asked: "Well, youngster, what's the outlook +for fur next season?" + +"We hopes there'll be some, sir." + +"Get some silver foxes. Good silvers are worth five hundred dollars +cash in St. Johns." + +The mail boat steamed away with the doctor, and Bob and his mother, +with Emily made as comfortable as possible in the bottom of the boat, +turned homeward. + +It was hard to realize that Emily would never be well again, that she +would never romp over the rocks with Bob in the summer or ride with +him on the sledge when he took the dogs to haul wood in the winter. +There would be no more merry laughter as she played about the cabin. +This was before the days when the mission doctors with their ships and +hospitals came to the Labrador to give back life to the sick and dying +of the coast. Fifty dollars was more money than any man of the bay +save Douglas Campbell had ever seen, and to expect to get such a sum +was quite hopeless, for in those days the hunters were always in debt +to the company, and all they ever received for their labours were the +actual necessities of life, and not always these. + +Emily was the only cheerful one now of the three. When she saw her +mother crying, she took her hand and stroked it, and said: "Mother, +dear, don't be cryin' now. 'Tis not so bad. If God wants that I get +well He'll make me well. An' I wants to stay home with you an' see +you an' father an' Bob, an' I'd be _dreadful_ homesick to go off so +far." + +Emily and Bob had always been great chums and the blow to him seemed +almost more than he could bear. His heart lay in his bosom like a +stone. At first he could not think, but finally he found himself +repeating what the doctor had said about silver foxes,--"five hundred +dollars cash." This was more money than he could imagine, but he knew +it was a great deal. The company gave sixty dollars _in trade_ for the +finest silver foxes. That was supposed a liberal price--but five +hundred dollars in _cash_! + +He looked longingly towards the blue hills that held their heads +against the distant sky line. Behind those hills was a great +wilderness rich in foxes and martens--but no man of the coast had ever +dared to venture far within it. It was the land of the dreaded +Nascaupees, the savage red men of the North, who it was said would +torture to a horrible death any who came upon their domain. + +The Mountaineer Indians who visited the bay regularly and camped in +summer near the post, told many tales of the treachery of their +northern neighbours, and warned the trappers that they had already +blazed their trails as far inland as it was safe for them to go. Any +hunter encroaching upon the Nascaupee territory, they insisted, would +surely be slaughtered. + +Bob had often heard this warning, and did not forget it now; but in +spite of it he felt that circumstances demanded risks, and for Emily's +sake he was willing to take them. If he could only get traps, _he_ +would make the venture, with his parents' consent, and blaze a new +trail there, for it would be sure to yield a rich reward. But to get +traps needed money or credit, and he had neither. + +Then he remembered that Douglas Campbell had said one day that he +would not go to the hills again if he could get a hunter to take the +Big Hill trail to hunt on shares. That was an inspiration. He would +ask Douglas to let him hunt it on the usual basis--two-thirds of the +fur caught to belong to the hunter and one-third to the owner. With +this thought Bob's spirits rose. + +"'Twill be fine--'twill be a grand chance," said he to himself, "an +Douglas lets me hunt un, an father lets me go." + +He decided to speak to Douglas first, for if Douglas was agreeable to +the plan his parents would give their consent more readily. Otherwise +they might withhold it, for the trail was dangerously close to the +forbidden grounds of the Nascaupees, and anyway it was a risky +undertaking for a boy--one that many of the experienced trappers would +shrink from. + +The more Bob considered his plan with all its great possibilities, the +more eager he became. He found himself calculating the number of pelts +he would secure, and amongst them perhaps a silver fox. He would let +the mail boat doctor sell them for him, and then they would be rich, +and Emily would go to the hospital, and be his merry, laughing little +chum again. How happy they would all be! Bob was young and an +optimist, and no thought of failure entered his head. + +It was too late the night they reached home to see Douglas but the +next morning he hurried through his breakfast, which was eaten by +candle-light, and at break of day was off for Kenemish, where Douglas +Campbell lived. He found the old man at home, and, with some fear of +refusal, but still bravely, for he knew the kind-hearted old trapper +would grant the request if he thought it were wise, explained his +plan. + +"You're a stalwart lad, Bob," said Douglas, looking at the boy +critically from under his shaggy eyebrows. "An' how old may you be +now? I 'most forgets--young folks grows up so fast." + +"Just turned sixteen, sir." + +"An' that's a young age for a lad to be so far in th' bush alone. But +you'll be havin' somethin' happen t' you." + +"I'll be rare careful, sir, an' you lets me ha' th' trail." + +"An' what says your father?" + +"I's said nothin' to he, sir, about it yet." + +"Well, go ask he, an' he says yes, meet me at the post th' evenin' an' +I'll speak wi' Mr. MacDonald t' give ye debt for your grub. Micmac +John's wantin' th' trail, but I'm not thinkin' t' let he have un." + +At first Bob's parents both opposed the project. The dangers were so +great that his mother asserted that if he were to go she would not +have an easy hour until she saw her boy again. But he put forth such +strong arguments and plead so vigorously, and his disappointment was +so manifest, that finally she withdrew her objections and his father +said: + +"Well, you may go, my son, an Douglas lets you have th' trail." + +[Illustration: "Bob jumped out with the painter in his hand"] + +So Bob, scarcely sixteen years of age, was to do a man's work and +shoulder a man's burden, and he was glad that God had given him +stature beyond his years, that he might do it. He could not remember +when he had not driven dogs and cut wood and used a gun. He had done +these things always. But now he was to rise to the higher plane of a +full-fledged trapper and the spruce forest and the distant hills +beyond the post seemed a great empire over which he was to rule. Those +trackless fastnesses, with their wealth of fur, were to pay tribute to +him, and he was happy in the thought that he had found a way to save +little Emily from the lifelong existence of a poor crippled invalid. +His buoyant spirit had stepped out of the old world of darkness and +despair into a new world filled with light and love and beauty, in +which the present troubles were but a passing cloud. + +"Ho, lad! so your father let ye come. I's glad t' see ye, lad. An' now +we're t' make a great hunt," greeted Douglas when the punt ground its +nose upon the sandy beach, and Bob jumped out with the painter in his +hand to make it fast. + +"Aye, sir," said Bob, "he an' mother says I may go." + +"Well, come, b'y, an' we'll ha' supper an' bide here th' night an' in +th' mornin' you'll get your fit out," said Douglas when they had +pulled the punt up well away from the tide. + +Entering the kitchen they found the others still at table. Greetings +were exchanged, and a place was made for Douglas and Bob. + +It was a good-sized room, furnished in the simple, primitive style of +the country: an uncarpeted floor, benches and chests in lieu of +chairs, a home-made table, a few shelves for the dishes, two or three +bunks like ship bunks built in the end opposite the door to serve the +post servant and his family for beds, and a big box stove, capable of +taking huge billets of wood, crackling cheerily, for the nights were +already frosty. Resting upon crosspieces nailed to the rough beams +overhead were half a dozen muzzle loading guns, and some dog harness +hung on the wall at one side. Everything was spotlessly clean. The +floor, the table--innocent of a cloth--the shelves, benches and chests +were scoured to immaculate whiteness with sand and soap, and, despite +its meagre furnishings the room was very snug and cozy and possessed +an atmosphere of homeliness and comfort. + +A single window admitted the fading evening light and a candle was +brought, though Douglas said to the young girl who placed it in the +centre of the table: + +"So long as there's plenty a' grub, Bessie, I thinks we can find a way +t' get he t' our mouths without ere a light." + +The meal was a simple one--boiled fresh trout with pork grease to pour +over it for sauce, bread, tea, and molasses for "sweetening." Butter +and sugar were luxuries to be used only upon rare festal occasions. + +After the men had eaten they sat on the floor with their backs against +the rough board wall and their knees drawn up, and smoked and chatted +about the fishing season just closed and the furring season soon to +open, while Margaret Black, wife of Tom Black, the post servant, their +daughter Bessie and a couple of young girl visitors of Bessie's from +down the bay, ate and afterwards cleared the table. Then some one +proposed a dance, as it was their last gathering before going to their +winter trails, which would hold them prisoners for months to come in +the interior wilderness. A fiddle was brought out, and Dick Blake +tuned up its squeaky strings, and, keeping time with one foot, struck +up the Virginia reel. + +The men discarded their jackets, displaying their rough flannel shirts +and belts, in which were carried sheath knives, chose their partners +and went at it with a will, to Dick's music, while he fiddled and +shouted such directions as "Sashay down th' middle,--swing yer +pardners,--promenade." + +Bob led out Bessie, for whom he had always shown a decided preference, +and danced like any man of them. Douglas did not dance--not because he +was too old, for no man is too old to dance in Labrador, nor because +it was beneath his dignity--but because, as he said: "There's not +enough maids for all th' lads, an' I's had my turn a many a time. I'll +smoke an' look on." + +Neither did Micmac John dance, for he seemed in ill humour, and was +silent and morose, nursing his discontent that a mere boy should have +been given the Big Hill trail in preference to him, and he sat moody +and silent, taking no apparent interest in the fun. The dance was +nearly finished when Bob, wheeling around the end, warm with the +excitement and pleasure of it all, inadvertently stepped on one of the +half-breed's feet. Micmac John rose like a flash and struck Bob a +stinging blow on the face. Bob turned upon him full of the quick anger +of the moment, then, remembering his surroundings, restrained the hand +that was about to return the blow, simply saying: + +"'Twas an accident, John, an' you has no right to strike me." + +The half-breed, vicious, sinister and alert, stood glowering for a +moment, then deliberately hit Bob again. The others fell back, Bob +faced his opponent, and, goaded now beyond the power of +self-restraint, struck with all the power of his young arm at Micmac +John. The latter was on his guard, however, and warded the blow. Quick +as a flash he drew his knife, and before the others realized what he +was about to do, made a vicious lunge at Bob's breast. + + + + +II + +OFF TO THE BUSH + + +On the left breast of Bob's woollen shirt there was a pocket, and in +this pocket was a small metal box of gun caps, which Bob always +carried there when he was away from home, for he seldom left home +without his gun. It was fortunate for him that it was there now, for +the point of the knife struck squarely over the place where the box +lay. It was driven with such force by the half-breed's strong arm that +it passed clear through the metal, which, however, so broke the blow +that the steel scarcely scratched the skin beneath. Before another +plunge could be made with the knife the men sprang in and seized +Micmac John, who submitted at once without a struggle to the +overpowering force, and permitted himself to be disarmed. Then he was +released and stood back, sullen and defiant. For several moments not a +word was spoken. + +Finally Dick Blake took a threatening step towards the Indian, and +shaking his fist in the latter's face exclaimed: + +"Ye dirty coward! Ye'd do murder, would ye? Ye'd kill un, would ye?" + +"Hold on," said Douglas, "'bide a bit. 'Twill do no good t' beat un, +though he's deservin' of it." Then to the half-breed: "An' what's +ailin' of ye th' evenin', John? 'Twas handy t' doin' murder ye were." + +John saw the angry look in the men's eyes, and the cool judgment of +Douglas standing between him and bodily harm, and deciding that tact +was the better part of valour, changed his attitude of defiance to one +of reconciliation. He could not take revenge now for his fancied +wrong. His Indian cunning told him to wait for a better time. So he +extended his hand to Bob, who, dazed by the suddenness of the +unexpected attack, had not moved. "Shake hands, Bob, an' call it +square. I was hot with anger an' didn't know what I was doin'. We +won't quarrel." + +Bob, acting upon the motto his mother had taught him--"Be slow to +anger and quick to forgive," took the outstretched hand with the +remark, + +"'Twere a mighty kick I gave ye, John, an' enough t' anger ye, an' no +harm's done." + +Big Dick Blake would not have it so at first, and invited the +half-breed outside to take a "licking" at his hands. But the others +soon pacified him, the trouble was forgotten and dancing resumed as +though nothing had happened to disturb it. + +As soon as attention was drawn from him Micmac John, unobserved, +slipped out of the door and a few moments later placed some things in +a canoe that had been turned over on the beach, launched it and +paddled away in the ghostly light of the rising moon. + +The dancing continued until eleven o'clock, then the men lit their +pipes, and after a short smoke and chat rolled into their blankets +upon the floor, Mrs. Black and the girls retired to the bunks, and, +save for a long, weird howl that now and again came from the wolf dogs +outside, and the cheery crackling of the stove within, not a sound +disturbed the silence of the night. + +As has been intimated, Douglas Campbell was a man of importance in +Eskimo Bay. When a young fellow he had come here from the Orkney +Islands as a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company. A few years later +he married a native girl, and then left the company's service to +become a hunter. + +He had been careful of his wages, and as he blazed new hunting trails +into the wilderness, used his savings to purchase steel traps with +which to stock the trails. Other trappers, too poor to buy traps for +themselves, were glad to hunt on shares the trails Douglas made, and +now he was reaping a good income from them. He was in fact the richest +man in the Bay. + +He was kind, generous and fatherly. The people of the Bay looked up to +him and came to him when they were in trouble, for his advice and +help. Many a poor family had Douglas Campbell's flour barrel saved +from starvation in a bad winter, and God knows bad winters come often +enough on the Labrador. Many an ambitious youngster had he started in +life, as he was starting Bob Gray now. + +The Big Hill trail, far up the Grand River, was the newest and deepest +in the wilderness of all the trails Douglas owned--deeper in the +wilderness than that of any other hunter. Just below it and adjoining +it was William Campbell's--a son of Douglas--a young man of nineteen +who had made his first winter's hunt the year before our story +begins; below that, Dick Blake's, and below Dick's was Ed Matheson's. + +In preparing for the winter hunt it was more convenient for these men +to take their supplies to their tilts by boat up the Grand River than +to haul them in on toboggans on the spring ice, as nearly every other +hunter, whose trapping ground was not upon so good a waterway, was +compelled to do, and so it was that they were now at the trading post +selecting their outfits preparatory to starting inland before the very +cold winter should bind the river in its icy shackles. + +The men were up early in the morning, and Douglas went with Bob to the +office of Mr. Charles McDonald, the factor, where it was arranged that +Bob should be given on credit such provisions and goods as he needed +for his winter's hunt, to be paid for with fur when he returned in the +spring. Douglas gave his verbal promise to assume the debt should +Bob's catch of fur be insufficient to enable him to pay it, but Bob's +reputation for energy and honesty was so good that Mr. McDonald said +he had no fear as to the payment by the lad himself. + +The provisions that Bob selected in the store, or shop, as they +called it, were chiefly flour, a small bag of hardtack, fat pork, tea, +molasses, baking soda and a little coarse salt, while powder, shot, +bullets, gun caps, matches, a small axe and clothing completed the +outfit. He already had a gray cotton wedge-tent. When these things +were selected and put aside, Douglas bought a pipe and some plugs of +black tobacco, and presented them to Bob as a gift from himself. + +"But I never smokes, sir, an' I 'lows he'd be makin' me sick," said +Bob, as he fingered the pipe. + +"Just a wee bit when you tries t' get acquainted," answered Douglas +with a chuckle, "just a wee bit; but ye'll come t' he soon enough an' +right good company ye'll find he of a long evenin'. Take un along, an' +there's no harm done if ye don't smoke un--but ye'll be makin' good +friends wi' un soon enough." + +So Bob pocketed the pipe and packed the tobacco carefully away with +his purchases. + +After a consultation it was decided that the men should all meet the +next evening, which would be Sunday, at Bob's home at Wolf Bight, near +the mouth of the Grand River, and from there make an early start on +Monday morning for their trapping grounds. "I'll have William over +wi' one o' my boats that's big enough for all hands," said Douglas. +"No use takin' more'n one boat. It's easier workin' one than two over +the portages an' up the rapids." + +When Bob's punt was loaded and he was ready to start for home, he ran +to the kitchen to say good-bye to Mrs. Black and the girls, for he was +not to see them again for many months. + +"Bide in th' tilt when it storms, Bob, an' have a care for the wolves, +an' keep clear o' th' Nascaupees," warned Bessie as she shook Bob's +hand. + +"Aye," said he. "I'll bide in th' tilt o' stormy days, an' not go +handy t' th' Nascaupees. I'm not fearful o' th' wolves, for they's +always so afraid they never gives un a chance for a shot." + +"But _do_ have a care, Bob. An'--an'--I wants to tell you how glad I +is o' your good luck, an' I hopes you'll make a grand hunt--I _knows_ +you will. An'--Bob, we'll miss you th' winter." + +"Thank you, Bessie. An' I'll think o' th' fine time I'm missin' at +Christmas an' th' New Year. Good-bye, Bessie." + +"Good-bye, Bob." + +The fifteen miles across the Bay to Wolf Bight with a fair wind was +soon run. Bob ate a late dinner, and then made everything snug for the +journey. His flour was put into small, convenient sacks, his cooking +utensils consisting of a frying pan, a tin pail in which to make tea, +a tin cup and a spoon were placed in a canvas bag by themselves, and +in another bag was packed a Hudson's Bay Company four-point blanket, +two suits of underwear, a pair of buckskin mittens with a pair of +duffel ones inside them, and an extra piece of the duffel for an +emergency, six pairs of knit woollen socks, four pairs of duffel socks +or slippers (which his mother had made for him out of heavy +blanket-like woollen cloth), three pairs of buckskin moccasins for the +winter and an extra pair of sealskin boots (long legged moccasins) for +wet weather in the spring. + +He also laid aside, for daily use on the journey, an adikey made of +heavy white woollen cloth, with a fur trimmed hood, and a lighter one, +to be worn outside of the other, and made of gray cotton. The adikey +or "dikey," as Bob called it, was a seamless garment to be drawn on +over the head and worn instead of a coat. The underclothing and knit +socks had been purchased at the trading post, but every other article +of clothing, including boots, moccasins and mitts, his mother had +made. + +A pair of snow-shoes, a file for sharpening axes, a "wedge" tent of +gray cotton cloth and a sheet iron tent stove about twelve inches +square and eighteen inches long with a few lengths of pipe placed +inside of it were likewise put in readiness. The stove and pipe Bob's +father had manufactured. + +No packing was left to be done Sunday, for though there was no church +to go to, the Grays, and for that matter all of the Bay people, were +close observers of the Sabbath, and left no work to be done on that +day that could be done at any other time. + +Early on Sunday evening, Dick and Ed and Bill Campbell came over in +their boat from Kenemish, where they had spent the previous night. It +had been a short day for Bob, the shortest it seemed to him he had +ever known, for though he was anxious to be away and try his mettle +with the wilderness, these were the last hours for many long weary +months that he should have at home with his father and mother and +Emily. How the child clung to him! She kept him by her side the +livelong day, and held his hand as though she were afraid that he +would slip away from her. She stroked his cheek and told him how +proud she was of her big brother, and warned him over and over again, + +"Now, Bob, do be wonderful careful an' not go handy t' th' Nascaupees +for they be dreadful men, fierce an' murderous." + +Over and over again they planned the great things they would do when +he came back with a big lot of fur--as they were both quite sure he +would--and how she would go away to the doctor's to be made well and +strong again as she used to be and the romps they were to have when +that happy time came. + +"An' Bob," said Emily, "every night before I goes to sleep when I says +my 'Now I lay me down to sleep' prayer, I'll say to God 'an' keep Bob +out o' danger an' bring he home safe.'" + +"Aye, Emily," answered Bob, "an' I'll say to God, 'Make Emily fine an' +strong again.'" + +Before daybreak on Monday morning breakfast was eaten, and the boat +loaded for a start at dawn. Emily was not yet awake when the time came +to say farewell and Bob kissed her as she slept. Poor Mrs. Gray could +not restrain the tears, and Bob felt a great choking in his +throat--but he swallowed it bravely. + +"Don't be feelin' bad, mother. I'm t' be rare careful in th' bush, and +you'll see me well and hearty wi' a fine hunt, wi' th' open water," +said he, as he kissed her. + +"I knows you'll be careful, an' I'll try not t' worry, but I has a +forebodin' o' somethin' t' happen--somethin' that's t' happen t' you, +Bob--oh, I feels that somethin's t' happen. Emily'll be missin' you +dreadful, Bob. An'--'twill be sore lonesome for your father an' me +without our boy." + +"Ready, Bob!" shouted Dick from the boat. + +"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember that your mother's +prayin' for you every mornin' an' every night." + +"Yes, mother, I'll remember all you said." + +She watched him from the door as he walked down to the shore with his +father, and the boat, heavily laden, pushed out into the Bay, and she +watched still, until it disappeared around the point, above. Then she +turned back into the room and had a good cry before she went about her +work again. + +If she had known what those distant hills held for her boy--if her +intuition had been knowledge--she would never have let him go. + + + + +III + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR + + +The boat turned out into the broad channel and into Goose Bay. There +was little or no wind, and when the sun broke gloriously over the +white-capped peaks of the Mealy Mountains it shone upon a sea as +smooth as a mill pond, with scarcely a ripple to disturb it. The men +worked laboriously and silently at their oars. A harbour seal pushed +its head above the water, looked at the toiling men curiously for a +moment, then disappeared below the surface, leaving an eddy where it +had been. Gulls soared overhead, their white wings and bodies looking +very pure and beautiful in the sunlight. High in the air a flock of +ducks passed to the southward. From somewhere in the distance came the +honk of a wild goose. The air was laden with the scent of the great +forest of spruce and balsam fir, whose dark green barrier came down +from the rock-bound, hazy hills in the distance to the very water's +edge, where tamarack groves, turned yellow by the early frosts, +reflected the sunlight like settings of rich gold. + +"'Tis fine! 'tis grand!" exclaimed Bob at last, as he rested a moment +on his oars to drink in the scene and breathe deeply the rare, +fragrant atmosphere. "'Tis sure a fine world we're in." + +"Aye, 'tis fine enough now," remarked Ed, stopping to cut pieces from +a plug of tobacco, and then cramming them into his pipe. "But," he +continued, prophetically, as he struck a match and held it between his +hands for the sulphur to burn off, "bide a bit, an' you'll find it +ugly enough when th' snows blow t' smother ye, an' yer racquets sink +with ye t' yer knees, and th' frost freezes yer face and the ice +sticks t' yer very eyelashes until ye can't see--then," continued he, +puffing vigorously at his pipe, "then 'tis a sorry world--aye, a sorry +an' a hard world for folks t' make a livin' in." + +It was mid-forenoon when they reached Rabbit Island--a small wooded +island where the passing dog drivers always stop in winter to make tea +and snatch a mouthful of hard biscuit while the dogs have a half +hour's rest. + +"An' here we'll boil th' kettle," suggested Dick. "I'm fair starved +with an early breakfast and the pull at the oars." + +"We're ready enough for that," assented Bill. "Th' wind's prickin' up +a bit from th' east'rd, an' when we starts I thinks we may hoist the +sails." + +"Yes, th' wind's prickin' up an' we'll have a fair breeze t' help us +past th' Traverspine, I hopes." + +The landing was made. Bob and Ed each took an axe to cut into suitable +lengths some of the plentiful dead wood lying right to hand, while +Dick whittled some shavings and started the fire. Bill brought a +kettle (a tin pail) of water. Then he cut a green sapling about five +feet in length, sharpened one end of it, and stuck it firmly into the +earth, slanting the upper end into position over the fire. On this he +hung the kettle of water, so that the blaze shot up around it. In a +little while the water boiled, and with a stick for a lifter he set it +on the ground and threw in a handful of tea. This they sweetened with +molasses and drank out of tin cups while they munched hardtack. + +Bill's prophecy as to the wind proved a true one, and in the half hour +while they were at their luncheon so good a breeze had sprang up that +when they left Rabbit Island both sails were hoisted. + +Early in the afternoon they passed the Traverspine River, and now with +some current to oppose made slower, though with the fair wind, good +progress, and when the sun dipped behind the western hills and they +halted to make their night camp they were ten miles above the +Traverspine. + +To men accustomed to travelling in the bush, camp is quickly made. The +country here was well wooded, and the forest beneath covered with a +thick carpet of white moss. Bob and Bill selected two trees between +which they stretched the ridge pole of a tent, and a few moments +sufficed to cut pegs and pin down the canvas. Then spruce boughs were +broken and spread over the damp moss and their shelter was ready for +occupancy. Meanwhile Ed had cut fire-wood while Dick started the fire, +using for kindlings a handful of dry, dead sprigs from the branches of +a spruce tree, and by the time Bob and Bill had the tent pitched it +was blazing cheerily, and the appetizing smell of fried pork and hot +tea was in the air. When supper was cooked Ed threw on some more +sticks, for the evening was frosty, and then they sat down to +luxuriate in its genial warmth and eat their simple meal. + +For an hour they chatted, while the fire burned low, casting a +narrowing circle of light upon the black wilderness surrounding the +little camp. Some wild thing of the forest stole noiselessly to the +edge of the outer darkness, its eyes shining like two balls of fire, +then it quietly slunk away unobserved. Above the fir tops the blue +dome of heaven seemed very near and the million stars that glittered +there almost close enough to pluck from their azure setting. With a +weird, uncanny light the aurora flashed its changing colours +restlessly across the sky. No sound save the low voices of the men as +they talked, disturbed the great silence of the wilderness. + +Many a time had Bob camped and hunted with his father near the coast, +in the forest to the south of Wolf Bight, but he had never been far +from home and with this his first long journey into the interior, a +new world and new life were opening to him. The solitude had never +impressed him before as it did now. The smoke of the camp-fire and +the perfume of the forest had never smelled so sweet. The romance of +the trail was working its way into his soul, and to him the land +seemed filled with wonderful things that he was to search out and +uncover for himself. The harrowing tales that the men were telling of +winter storms and narrow escapes from wild animals had no terror for +him. He only looked forward to meeting and conquering these obstacles +for himself. Young blood loves adventure, and Bob's blood was strong +and red and active. + +When the fire died away and only a heap of glowing red coals remained, +Dick knocked the ashes from his pipe, and rising with a yawn, +suggested: + +"I 'lows it's time t' turn in. We'll have t' be movin' early in th' +mornin' an' we makes th' Muskrat Portage." + +Then they went to the tent and rolled into their blankets and were +soon sleeping as only men can sleep who breathe the pure, free air of +God's great out-of-doors. + +Before noon the next day they reached the Muskrat Falls, where the +torrent, with a great roar, pours down seventy feet over the solid +rocks. An Indian portage trail leads around the falls and meets the +river again half a mile farther up. At its beginning it ascends a +steep incline two hundred feet, then it runs away, comparatively +level, to its upper end where it drops abruptly to the water's edge. +To pull a heavy boat up this incline and over the half mile to the +launching place above, was no small undertaking. + +Everything was unloaded, the craft brought ashore, and ropes which +were carried for the purpose attached to the bow. Then round sticks of +wood, for rollers, were placed under it, and while Dick and Ed hauled, +Bob and Bill pushed and lifted and kept the rollers straight. In this +manner, with infinite labour, it was worked to the top of the hill and +step by step hauled over the portage to the place where it was to +enter the water again. It was nearly sunset when they completed their +task and turned back to bring up their things from below. + +They had retraced their steps but a few yards when Dick, who was +ahead, darted off to the left of the trail with the exclamation: + +"An' here's some fresh meat for supper." + +It was a porcupine lumbering awkwardly away. He easily killed it with +a stick, and picking it up by its tail, was about to turn back into +the trail when a fresh axe cutting caught his eye. + +"Now who's been here, lads?" said he, looking at it closely. "None o' +th' planters has been inside of th' Traverspine, an' no Mountaineers +has left th' post yet." + +The others joined him and scrutinized the cutting, then looked for +other human signs. Near by they found the charred wood of a recent +fire and some spruce boughs that had served for a bed within a day or +two, which was proved by their freshly broken ends. It had been the +couch of a single man. + +"Micmac John, sure!" said Ed. + +"An' what's he doin' here?" asked Bill. "He has no traps or huntin' +grounds handy t' this." + +"I'm thinkin' 'tis no good he's after," said Dick. "'Tis sure he, an' +he'll be givin' us trouble, stealin' our fur an' maybe worse. But if +_I_ gets hold o' he, he'll be sorry for his meddlin', if meddlin' he's +after, an' it's sure all he's here for." + +They hurried back to pitch camp, and when the fire was made the +porcupine was thrown upon the blaze, and allowed to remain there until +its quills and hair were scorched to a cinder. Then Dick, who +superintended the cooking, pulled it out, scraped it and dressed it. +On either side of the fire he drove a stake and across the tops of +these stakes tied a cross pole. From the centre of this pole the +porcupine was suspended by a string, so that it hung low and near +enough to the fire to roast nicely, while it was twirled around on the +string. It was soon sending out a delicious odour, and in an hour was +quite done, and ready to be served. A dainty morsel it was to the +hungry voyageurs, resembling in some respects roast pig, and every +scrap of it they devoured. + +The next morning all the goods were carried over the portage, and a +wearisome fight began against the current of the river, which was so +swift above this point as to preclude sailing or even rowing. A rope +was tied to the bow of the boat and on this three of the men hauled, +while the other stood in the craft and with a pole kept it clear of +rocks and other obstructions. For several days this method of travel +continued--tracking it is called. Sometimes the men were forced along +the sides of almost perpendicular banks, often they waded in the water +and frequently met obstacles like projecting cliffs, around which +they passed with the greatest difficulty. + +At the Porcupine Rapids everything was lashed securely into the boat, +as a precaution in case of accident, but they overcame the rapid +without mishap, and finally they reached Gull Island Lake, a +broadening of the river in safety, and were able to resume their oars +again. It was a great relief after the long siege of tracking, and Ed +voiced the feelings of all in the remark: + +"Pullin' at th' oars is hard when ye has nothin' harder t' do, but +trackin's so much harder, pullin' seems easy alongside un." + +"Aye," said Dick, "th' thing a man's doin's always the hardest work un +ever done. 'Tis because ye forgets how hard th' things is that ye've +done afore." + +"An' it's just the same in winter. When a frosty spell comes folks +thinks 'tis th' frostiest time they ever knew. If '_twere_, th' +winters, I 'lows'd be gettin' so cold folks couldn't stand un. I +recollects one frosty spell----" + +"Now none o' yer yarns, Ed. Th' Lord'll be strikin' ye dead in His +anger _some day_ when ye're tellin' what ain't so." + +"I tells no yarns as ain't so, an' I can prove un all--leastways I +could a proved this un, only it so happens as I were alone. As I was +sayin', 'twere so cold one night last winter that when I was boilin' +o' my kettle an' left th' door o' th' tilt open for a bit while I +steps outside, th' wind blowin' in on th' kettle all th' time hits th' +steam at th' spout--an' what does ye think I sees when I comes in?" + +"Ye sees steam, o' course, an' what else could ye see, now?" + +"'Twere so cold--that wind--blowin' right on th' spout where th' steam +comes out, when I comes in I looks an' I can't believe what I sees +myself. Well, now, I sees th' steam froze solid, an' a string o' ice +hangin' from th' spout right down t' th' floor o' th' tilt, an' th' +kettle boilin' merry all th' time. That's what I sees, an'----" + +"Now stop yer lyin', Ed. Ye knows no un----" + +"A bear! A bear!" interrupted Bob, excitedly. "See un! See un there +comin' straight to that rock!" + +Sure enough, a couple Of hundred yards away a big black bear was +lumbering right down towards them, and if it kept its course would +pass a large boulder standing some fifty yards back from the river +bank. The animal had not seen the boat nor scented the men, for the +wind was blowing from it towards them. + +"Run her in here," said Bob, indicating a bit of bank out of the +bear's range of vision, "an' let me ashore t' have a chance at un." + +The instant the boat touched land he grabbed his gun--a +single-barrelled, muzzle loader--bounded noiselessly ashore, and +stooping low gained the shelter of the boulder unobserved. + +The unsuspecting bear came leisurely on, bent, no doubt, upon securing +a drink of water to wash down a feast of blueberries of which it had +just partaken, and seemingly occupied by the pleasant reveries that +follow a good meal and go with a full stomach. Bob could hear it +coming now, and raised his gun ready to give it the load the moment it +passed the rock. Then, suddenly, he remembered that he had loaded the +gun that morning with shot, when hunting a flock of partridges, and +had failed to reload with ball. To kill a bear with a partridge load +of shot was out of the question, and to wound the bear at close +quarters was dangerous, for a wounded bear with its enemy within reach +is pretty sure to retaliate. + +Just at the instant this thought flashed through Bob's mind the big +black side of the bear appeared not ten feet from the muzzle of his +gun, and before the lad realized it he had pulled the trigger. + +Bob did not stop to see the result of the shot, but ran at full speed +towards the boat. The bear gave an angry growl, and for a moment bit +at the wound in its side, then in a rage took after him. + +It was not over fifty yards to the boat, and though Bob had a few +seconds the start, the bear seemed likely to catch him before he could +reach it, for clumsy though they are in appearance, they are fast +travellers when occasion demands. Half the distance was covered in a +jiffy, but the bear was almost at his heels. A few more leaps and he +would be within reach of safety. He could fairly feel the bear's +breath. Then his foot caught a projecting branch and he fell at full +length directly in front of the infuriated animal. + + + + +IV + +SWEPT AWAY IN THE RAPIDS + + +When Bob went ashore Dick followed as far as a clump of bushes at the +top of the bank below which the boat was concealed, and crouching +there witnessed Bob's flight from the bear, and was very close to him +when he fell. Dick had already drawn a bead on the animal's head, and +just at the moment Bob stumbled fired. The bear made one blind strike +with his paw and then fell forward, its momentum sending it upon Bob's +sprawling legs, Dick laughed uproariously at the boy as he extricated +himself. + +"Well, now," he roared, "'twere as fine a race as I ever see--as I +_ever_ see--an' ye were handy t' winnin' but for th' tumble. A rare +fine race." + +Bob was rather shamefaced, for an old hunter would scarcely have +forgotten himself to such an extent as to go bear hunting with a +partridge load in his gun, and he did not like to be laughed at. + +"Anyhow," said he, "I let un have un first. An' I led un down where +you could shoot un. An' he's a good fat un," he commented kicking the +carcass. + +Ed and Bill had arrived now and all hands went to work at once +skinning the bear. + +"Speakin' o' bein' chased by bears," remarked Ed as they worked, "onct +I were chased pretty hard myself an' that time I come handy t' bein' +done for sure enough." + +"An' how were that?" asked Bob. + +"'Twere one winter an' I were tendin' my trail. I stops at noon t' +boil th' kettle, an' just has th' fire goin' fine an' th' water over +when all t' a sudden I hears a noise behind me and turnin' sees a +black bear right handy t' me--th' biggest black bear I ever seen--an' +makin' fer me. I jumps up an' grabs my gun an' lets un have it, but +wi' th' suddenness on it I misses, an' away I starts an' 'twere lucky +I has my racquets on." + +"Were this in _winter_?" asked Dick. + +"It _were_ in winter." + +"Th' bears as _I_ knows don't travel in winter. They sleeps then, +leastways all but white bears." + +"Well, this were in winter an' this bear weren't sleepin' much. As I +was sayin'----" + +"An' he took after ye without bein' provoked?" + +"An' he did an' right smart." + +"Well he _were_ a queer bear--a _queer_ un--th' _queerest_ I ever hear +tell about. Awake in _winter_ an' takin' after folks without bein' +_provoked_. 'Tis th' first black bear _I_ ever heard tell about that +done that. I knows bears pretty well an' they alus takes tother way +about as fast as their legs 'll carry un." + +"Now, if you wants me t' tell about this bear ye'll ha' t' stop +interruptin'." + +"No one said as they wanted ye to." + +"Now I'm goin' t' tell un whatever." + +"As I were sayin', th' bear he takes after me wi' his best licks an' I +takes off an' tries t' load my gun as I runs. I drops in a han'ful o' +powder an' then finds I gone an' left my ball pouch at th' fire. It +were pretty hard runnin' wi' my racquets sinkin' in th' snow, which +were new an' soft an' I were losin' ground an' gettin' winded an' +'twere lookin' like un's goin' t' cotch me sure. All t' onct I see a +place where the snow's drifted up three fathoms deep agin a ledge an' +even wi' th' top of un. I makes for un an' runs right over th' upper +side an' th' bear he comes too, but he has no racquets and th' snow's +soft, bein' fresh drift an' down he goes sinkin' most out o' sight an' +th' more un wallers th' worse off un is." + +"An' what does you do?" asks Bob. + +"What does I do? I stops an' laughs at un a bit. Then I lashes my +sheath knife on th' end o' a pole spear-like, an' sticks th' bear back +o' th' fore leg an' kills un, an' then I has bear's meat wi' my tea, +an' in th' spring gets four dollars from th' company for the skin." + +In twenty minutes they had the pelt removed from the bear and Dick +generously insisted upon Bob taking it as the first-fruits of his +inland hunt, saying: "Ye earned he wi' yer runnin'." + +The best of the meat was cut from the carcass, and that night thick, +luscious steaks were broiled for supper, and the remainder packed for +future use on the journey. + +Fine weather had attended the voyageurs thus far but that night the +sky clouded heavily and when they emerged from the tent the next +morning a thick blanket of snow covered the earth and weighted down +the branches of the spruce trees. The storm had spent itself in the +night, however, and the day was clear and sparkling. Very beautiful +the white world looked when the sun came to light it up; but the snow +made tracking less easy, and warned the travellers that no time must +be lost in reaching their destination, for it was a harbinger of the +winter blasts and blizzards soon to blow. + +Early that afternoon they came in view of the rushing waters of the +Gull Island Rapids, with their big foam crested waves angrily +assailing the rocks that here and there raised their ominous heads +above the torrent. The greater length of these rapids can be tracked, +with some short portages around the worst places. Before entering them +everything was lashed securely into the boat, as at the Porcupine +Rapids, and the tracking line fastened a few inches back of the bow +leaving enough loose end to run to the stern and this was tied +securely there to relieve the unusual strain on the bow fastening. Ed +took the position of steersman in the boat, while the other three were +to haul upon the line. + +When all was made ready and secure, they started forward, bringing the +craft into the heavy water, which opposed its progress so vigorously +that it seemed as though the rope must surely snap. Stronger and +stronger became the strain and harder and harder pulled the men. All +of Ed's skill was required to keep the boat straight in the +treacherous cross current eddies where the water swept down past the +half-hidden rocks in the river bed. + +They were pushing on tediously but surely when suddenly and without +warning the fastening at the bow broke loose, the boat swung away into +the foam, and in a moment was swallowed up beneath the waves. The rear +fastening held however and the boat was thrown in against the bank. + +But Ed had disappeared in the fearful flood of rushing white water. +The other three stood appalled. It seemed to them that no power on +earth could save him. He must certainly be dashed to death upon the +rocks or smothered beneath the onrushing foam. + +For a moment all were inert, paralyzed. Then Dick, accustomed to act +quickly in every emergency, slung the line around a boulder, took a +half hitch to secure it and, without stopping to see whether it would +hold or not, ran down stream at top speed with Bob and Bill at his +heels. + + + + +V + +THE TRAILS ARE REACHED + + +Ed had been cast away in rapids before, and when he found himself in +the water, with the wilderness traveller's quick appreciation of the +conditions, he lay limp, without a struggle. If he permitted the +current to carry him in its own way on its course, he might be swept +past the rocks uninjured to the still water below. If one struggle was +made it might throw him out of the current's course against a boulder, +where he would be pounded to death or rendered unconscious and surely +drowned. He was swept on much more rapidly than his companions could +run and quite hidden from them by the big foam-crested waves. + +It seemed ages to the helpless man before he felt his speed slacken +and finally found himself in the eddy where they had begun to track. +Here he struck out for the river bank only a few yards distant, and, +half drowned, succeeded in pulling himself ashore. A few minutes +later, when the others came running down, they found him, to their +great relief, sitting on the bank quite safe, wringing the water from +his clothing, and their fear that he was injured was quickly dispelled +by his looking up as they approached and remarking, as though nothing +unusual had occurred, + +"Bathin's chilly this time o' year. Let's put on a fire an' boil +th'kettle." + +"I don't know as we got a kettle or anythin' else," said Dick, +laughing at Ed's bedraggled appearance and matter-of-fact manner. "We +better go back an' see. I hitched th' trackin' line to a rock, but I +don't know's she's held." + +"Well, let's look. I'm a bit damp, an' thinkin' _I_ wants a fire, +whatever." + +A cold northwest wind had sprung up in the afternoon and the snow was +drifting unpleasantly and before the boat was reached Ed's wet +garments were frozen stiff as a coat of mail and he was so chilled +through that he could scarcely walk. The line had held and they found +the boat in an eddy below a high big boulder. It was submerged, but +quite safe, with everything, thanks to the careful lashings, in its +place, save a shoulder of bear's meat that had loosened and washed +away. + +"I thinks, lads, we'll be makin' camp here. Whilst I puts a fire on +an' boils th' kettle t' warm Ed up, you pitch camp. 'Twill be nigh +sun-down afore Ed gets dried out, an' too late t' go any farther," +suggested Dick. + +In a few minutes the fire was roaring and Ed thawing out and drinking +hot tea as he basked in the blaze, while Dick chopped fire-wood and +Bob and Bill unloaded the boat and put up the tent and made it snug +for the night. + +Heretofore they had found the outside camp-fire quite sufficient for +their needs, and had not gone to the trouble of setting up the stove, +but it was yet some time before dark, and as the wet clothing and +outfit could be much more easily and quickly dried under the shelter +of the heated tent than in the drifting snow by the open fire, it was +decided to put the stove in use on this occasion. Bob selected a flat +stone upon which to rest it, for without this protection the moss +beneath, coming into contact with the hot metal, would have dried +quickly and taken fire. + +When everything was brought in and distributed in the best place to +dry, Bob took some birch bark, thrust it into the stove and lighted +it. Instantly it flared up as though it had been oil soaked. This +made excellent kindling for the wood that was piled on top, and in an +incredibly short time the tent was warm and snug as any house. Ed left +the open fire and joined Bob and Bill, and in a few minutes Dick came +in with an armful of wood. + +"Well, un had a good wettin' an' a cold souse," said he, as he piled +the wood neatly behind the stove, addressing himself to Ed, who, now +quite recovered from his chill, stood with his back to the stove, +puffing contentedly at his pipe, with the steam pouring out of his wet +clothes. + +"'Twere just a fine time wi' th' dip I had ten year ago th' winter +comin'," said Ed, ruminatively. "'Twere _nothin'_ to that un." + +"An' where were that?" asked Dick. + +"I were out o' tea in March, an' handy to havin' no tobaccy, an' I +says t' myself, 'Ed, ye can't stay in th' bush till th' break up wi' +nary a bit o' tea, and ye'd die wi'out tobaccy. Now ye got t' make th' +cruise t' th' Post.' Well, I fixes up my traps, an' packs grub for a +week on my flat sled (toboggan) an' off I goes. 'Twere fair goin' wi' +good hard footin' an' I makes fine time. Below th' Gull Rapids, just +above where I come ashore th' day, I takes t' th' ice thinkin' un +good, an' 'twere lucky I has my racquets lashed on th' flat sled an' +not walkin' wi' un, for I never could a swum wi' un on. Two fathoms +from th' shore I steps on bad ice an' in I goes, head an' all, an' th' +current snatches me off'n my feet an' carries me under th' ice, an' +afore I knows un I finds th' water carryin' me along as fast as a deer +when he gets th' wind." + +"An' how did un get out?" asked Bob in open-mouthed wonder. + +"'Twere sure a hard fix _under_ th' ice," remarked Bill, equally +interested. + +"A wonderful hard fix, a _wonderful_ hard fix, _under_ th' ice, an' I +were handy t' stayin' under un," said Ed, taking evident delight in +keeping his auditors in suspense. "Aye, a _wonderful_ hard fix," +continued he, while he hacked pieces from his tobacco plug and filled +his pipe. + +"An' where were I?" asked Dick, making a quick calculation of past +events. "I were huntin' wi' un ten year ago, an' I don't mind ye're +gettin' in th' ice." + +"'Twere th' winter un were laid up wi' th' lame leg, an' poor Frank +Morgan were huntin' along wi' me. Frank were lost th' same spring in +th' Bay. Does un mind that?" + +"'Twere only _nine_ year ago I were laid up an' Frank were huntin' my +trail," said Dick. + +"Well, maybe 'twere only nine year; 'twere _nine_ or _ten_ year ago," +Ed continued, with some show of impatience at Dick's questioning. +"Leastways 'twere thereabouts. Well, I finds myself away off from th' +hole I'd dropped into, an' no way o' findin' he. The river were low +an' had settled a foot below th' ice, which were four or five feet +thick over my head, an' no way o' cuttin' out. So what does I do?" + +"An' what does un do?" asked Dick. + +"What does I do? I keeps shallow water near th' shore an' holdin' my +head betwixt ice an' water makes down t' th' Porcupine Rapids. 'Twere +a long an' wearisome pull, an' thinks I, 'Tis too much--un's done for +now.' After a time I sees light an' I goes for un. 'Twere a place near +a rock where th' water swingin' around had kept th' ice thin. I gets +t' un an' makes a footin' on th' rock. I gets out my knife an' finds +th' ice breaks easy, an' cuts a hole an' crawls out. By th' time I +gets on th' ice I were pretty handy t' givin' up wi' th' cold." + +"'Twere a close call," assented Dick, as he puffed at his pipe +meditatively. + +"How far did un go under th' ice?" asked Bill, who had been much +interested in the narrative. + +"Handy t' two mile." + +For several days after this the men worked very hard from early dawn +until the evening darkness drove them into camp. The current was swift +and the rapids great surging torrents of angry water that seemed bent +upon driving them back. One after another the Horseshoe, the Ninipi, +and finally, after much toil, the Mouni Rapids were met and conquered. + +The weather was stormy and disagreeable. Nearly every day the air was +filled with driving snow or beating cold rain that kept them wet to +the skin and would have sapped the courage and broken the spirit of +less determined men. But they did not mind it. It was the sort of +thing they had been accustomed to all their life. + +With each morning, Bob, full of the wilderness spirit, took up the +work with as much enthusiasm as on the day he left Wolf Bight. At +night when he was very tired and just a bit homesick, he would try to +picture to himself the little cabin that now seemed far, far away, and +he would say to himself, + +"If I could spend th' night there now, an' be back here in th' +mornin', 'twould be fine. But when I _does_ go back, the goin' home'll +be fine, an' pay for all th' bein' away. An' the Lard lets me, I'll +have th' fur t' send Emily t' th' doctors an' make she well." + +One day the clouds grew tired of sending forth snow and rain, and the +wind forgot to blow, and the waters became weary of their rushing. The +morning broke clear and beautiful, and the sun, in a blaze of red and +orange grandeur, displayed the world in all its rugged primeval +beauty. The travellers had reached Lake Wonakapow, a widening of the +river, where the waters were smooth and no current opposed their +progress. For the first time in many days the sails were hoisted, and, +released from the hard work, the men sat back to enjoy the rest, while +a fair breeze sent them up the lake. + +"'Tis fine t' have a spell from th' trackin'," remarked Ed as he +lighted his pipe. + +"Aye, 'tis that," assented Dick, "an' we been makin' rare good time +wi' this bad weather. We're three days ahead o' my reckonin'." + +How beautiful it was! The water, deep and dark, leading far away, +every rugged hill capped with snow, and the white peaks sparkling in +the sunshine. A loon laughed at them as they passed, and an invisible +wolf on a mountainside sent forth its long weird cry of defiance. + +They sailed quietly on for an hour or two. Finally Ed pointed out to +Bob a small log shack standing a few yards back from the shore, +saying: + +"An' there's my tilt. Here I leaves un." + +Bill Campbell was at the tiller, and the boat was headed to a strip of +sandy beach near the tilt. Presently they landed. Ed's things were +separated from the others and taken ashore, and all hands helped him +carry them up to the tilt. + +There was no window in the shack and the doorway was not over four +feet high. Within was a single room about six by eight feet in size, +with a rude couch built of saplings, running along two sides, upon +which spruce boughs, used the previous year and now dry and dead, were +strewn for a bed. The floor was of earth. The tilt contained a sheet +iron stove similar to the one Bob had brought, but no other furniture +save a few cooking utensils. The round logs of which the rough +building was constructed, were well chinked between them with moss, +making it snug and warm. + +[Illustration] + +This was where Ed kept his base of supplies. His trail began here and +ran inland and nearly northward for some distance to a lake whose +shores it skirted, and then, taking a swing to the southwest, came +back to the river again and ended where Dick's began, and the two +trappers had a tilt there which they used in common. Between these +tilts were four others at intervals of twelve to fifteen miles, for +night shelters, the distance between them constituting a day's work, +the trail from end to end being about seventy miles long. + +The trails which the other three were to hunt led off, one from the +other--Dick's, Bill's and then the Big Hill trail, with tilts at the +juncture points and along them in a similar manner to the arrangement +of Ed's, and each trail covering about the same number of miles as +his. Each man could therefore walk the length of his trail in five +days, if the weather were good, and, starting from one end on Monday +morning have a tilt to sleep in each night and reach his last tilt on +the other end Friday night. This gave him Saturday in which to do odd +jobs like mending, and Sunday for rest, before taking up the round +again on Monday. + +It was yet too early by three weeks to begin the actual trapping, but +much in the way of preparation had to be done in the meantime. This +was Tuesday, and it was agreed that two weeks from the following +Saturday Ed and Dick should be at the tilt where their trails met and +Bill and Bob at the junction of their trails, ready to start their +work on the next Monday. This would bring Dick and Bill together on +the following Friday night and Bob and Ed would each be alone, one at +either end of the series of trails and more than a hundred miles from +his nearest neighbour. + +"I hopes your first cruise'll be a good un, an' you'll be doin' fine +th' winter, Bob. Have a care now for th' Nascaupees," said Ed as they +shook hands at parting. + +"Thanks," answered Bob, "an' I hopes you'll be havin' a fine hunt +too." + +Then they were off, and Ed's long winter's work began. + +The next afternoon Dick's first tilt was reached, and a part of his +provisions and some of Ed's that they had brought on for him, were +unloaded there. Dick, however, decided to go with the young men to the +tilt at the beginning of the Big Hill trail, to help them haul the +boat up and make it snug for the winter, saying, "I'm thinkin' you +might find her too heavy, an' I'll go on an' give a hand, an' cut +across to my trail, which I can do handy enough in a day, havin' no +pack." + +An hour before dark on Friday evening they reached the tilt. Dick was +the first to enter it, and as he pushed open the door he stopped with +the exclamation: + +"That rascal Micmac!" + + + + +VI + +ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS + + +The stove and stovepipe were gone, and fresh, warm ashes on the floor +gave conclusive proof that the theft had been perpetrated that very +day. Some one had been occupying the tilt, too, as new boughs spread +for a bed made evident. + +"More o' Micmac John's work," commented Dick as he kicked the ashes. +"He's been takin' th' stove an' he'll be takin' th' fur too, an' he +gets a chance." + +"Maybe 'twere Mountaineers," suggested Bill. + +"No, 'twere no Mountaineers--_them_ don't steal. No un ever heard o' a +Mountaineer takin' things as belongs to _other_ folks. _Injuns_ be +honest--leastways all but half-breeds." + +"Nascaupees might a been here," offered Bob, having in mind the +stories he had heard of them, and feeling now that he was almost +amongst them. + +"No, Nascaupees 'd have no use for a _stove_. They'd ha' burned th' +tilt. 'Tis Micmac John, an' he be here t' steal fur. 'Tis t' steal +fur's what _he_ be after. But let me ketch un, an' he won't steal much +more fur," insisted Dick, worked up to a very wrathful pitch. + +They looked outside for indications of the course the marauder had +taken, and discovered that he had returned to the river, where his +canoe had been launched a little way above the tilt, and had either +crossed to the opposite side or gone higher up stream. In either case +it was useless to attempt to follow him, as, if they caught him at +all, it would be after a chase of several days, and they could not +well afford the time. There was nothing to do, therefore, but make the +best of it. Bob's tent stove was set up in place of the one that had +been stolen. Then everything was stowed away in the tilt. + +The next morning came cold and gray, with heavy, low-hanging clouds, +threatening an early storm. The boat was hauled well up on the shore, +and a log protection built over it to prevent the heavy snows that +were soon to come from breaking it down. + +Before noon the first flakes of the promised storm fell lazily to the +earth and in half an hour it was coming so thickly that the river +twenty yards away could not be seen, and the wind was rising. The +three cut a supply of dry wood and piled what they could in the tilt, +placing the rest within reach of the door. Then armfuls of boughs were +broken for their bed. All the time the storm was increasing in power +and by nightfall a gale was blowing and a veritable blizzard raging. + +When all was made secure, a good fire was started in the stove, a +candle lighted, and some partridges that had been killed in the +morning put over with a bit of pork to boil for supper. While these +were cooking Bill mixed some flour with water, using baking soda for +leaven--"risin'" he called it--into a dough which he formed into cakes +as large in circumference as the pan would accommodate and a quarter +of an inch thick. These cakes he fried in pork grease. This was the +sort of bread that they were to eat through the winter. + +The meal was a cozy one. Outside the wind shrieked angrily and swirled +the snow in smothering clouds around the tilt, and rattled the +stovepipe, threatening to shake it down. It was very pleasant to be +out of it all in the snug, warm shack with the stove crackling +contentedly and the place filled with the mingled odours of the +steaming kettle of partridges and tea and spruce boughs. To the +hunters it seemed luxurious after their tedious fight against the +swift river. Times like this bring ample recompense to the wilderness +traveller for the most strenuous hardships that he is called upon to +endure. The memory of one such night will make men forget a month of +suffering. Herein lies one of the secret charms of the wilds. + +When supper was finished Dick and Bill filled their pipes, and with +coals from the stove lighted them. Then they lounged back and puffed +with an air of such perfect, speechless bliss that for the first time +in his life Bob felt a desire to smoke. He drew from his pocket the +pipe Douglas had given him and filled it from a plug of the tobacco. +When he reached for a firebrand to light it Dick noticed what he was +doing and asked good naturedly,-- + +"Think t' smoke with us, eh?" + +"Yes, thinks I'll try un." + +"An' be gettin' sick before un knows it," volunteered Bill. + +Disregarding the suggestion Bob fired his pipe and lay back with the +air of an old veteran. He soon found that he did not like it very +much, and in a little while he felt a queer sensation in his stomach, +but it was not in Bob's nature to acknowledge himself beaten so +easily, and he puffed on doggedly. Pretty soon beads of perspiration +stood out upon his forehead and he grew white. Then he quietly laid +aside the pipe and groped his way unsteadily out of doors, for he was +very dizzy and faint. When he finally returned he was too sick to pay +any attention to the banter of his companions, who unsympathetically +made fun of him, and he lay down with the inward belief that smoking +was not the pleasure it was said to be, and as for himself he would +never touch a pipe again. + +All day Sunday and Monday the storm blew with unabated fury and the +three were held close prisoners in the tilt. On Monday night it +cleared, and Tuesday morning came clear and rasping cold. + +Long before daylight breakfast was eaten and preparations made for +travelling. Bob lashed his tent, cooking utensils, some traps and a +supply of provisions upon one of two toboggans that leaned against the +tilt outside. The other one was for Bill when he should need it. Dick +did up his blanket and a few provisions into a light pack, new slings +were adjusted to their snow-shoes and finally they were ready to +strike the trails. + +The steel-gray dawn was just showing when Dick shouldered his pack, +took his axe and gun and shook hands with the boys. + +"Good-bye Bob. Have a care o' nasty weather an' don't be losin' +yourself. I'll see you in a fortnight, Bill. Good-bye." + +With long strides he turned down the river bend and in a few moments +the immeasurable white wilderness had swallowed him up. + +The Big Hill trail was so called from a high, barren hill around whose +base it swung to follow a series of lakes leading to the northwest. Of +course as Bob had never been over the trail he did not know its +course, or where to find the traps that Douglas had left hanging in +the trees or lying on rocks the previous spring at the end of the +hunting season. Bill was to go with him to the farthest tilt on this +first journey to point these out to him and show him the way, then +leave him and hurry back to his own path, while Bob set the traps and +worked his way back to the junction tilt. + +Shortly after Dick left them they started, Bill going ahead and +breaking the trail with his snow-shoes while Bob behind hauled the +loaded toboggan. On they pushed through trees heavily laden with snow, +out upon wide, frozen marshes, skirting lakes deep hidden beneath the +ice and snow which covered them like a great white blanket. The only +halts were for a moment now and again to note the location of traps as +they passed, which Bob with his keen memory of the woods could easily +find again when he returned to set them. Once they came upon some +ptarmigans, white as the snow upon which they stood. Their "grub bag" +received several of the birds, which were very tame and easily shot. A +hurried march brought them to the first tilt at noon, where they had +dinner, and that night, shortly after dark, they reached the second +tilt, thirty miles from their starting point. At midday on Thursday +they came to the end of the trail. + +When they had had dinner of fried ptarmigan and tea, Bill announced: +"I'll be leavin' ye now, Bob. In two weeks from Friday we'll be +meetin' in th' river tilt." + +"All right, an' I'll be there." + +"An' don't be gettin' lonesome, now I leaves un." + +"I'll be no gettin' lonesome. There be some traps t' mend before I +starts back an' a chance bit o' other work as'll keep me busy." + +Then Bill turned down the trail, and Bob for the first time in his +life was quite alone in the heart of the great wilderness. + + + + +VII + +A STREAK OF GOOD LUCK + + +When Bill was gone Bob went to work at once getting some traps that +were hanging in the tilt in good working order. He set them and sprang +them one after another, testing every one critically. They were +practically all new ones, and Douglas, after his careful, painstaking +manner, had left them in thorough repair. These were some additional +traps that no place had been found for on the trail. There were only +about twenty of them and Bob decided that he would set them along the +shores of a lake beyond the tilt, where there were none, and look +after them on the Saturday mornings that he would be lying up there. +The next morning he put them on his toboggan, and shouldering his gun +he started out. + +Not far away he saw the first marten track in the edge of the spruce +woods near the lake. Farther on there were more. This was very +satisfactory indeed, and he observed to himself, + +"The's a wonderful lot o' footin', and 'tis sure a' fine place for +martens." + +He went to work at once, and one after another the traps were set, +some of them in a little circular enclosure made by sticking spruce +boughs in the snow, to which a narrow entrance was left, and in this +entrance the trap placed and carefully concealed under loose snow and +the chain fastened to a near-by sapling. In the centre of each of the +enclosures a bit of fresh partridge was placed for bait, to reach +which the animal would have to pass over the trap. Where a tree of +sufficient size was found in a promising place he chopped it down, a +few feet above the snow, cut a notch in the top, and placed the trap +in the notch, and arranged the bait over it in such a way that the +animal climbing the stump would be compelled to stand upon the trap to +secure the meat. + +All the marten traps were soon set, but there still remained two fox +traps. These he took to a marsh some distance beyond the lake, as the +most likely place for foxes to be, for while the marten stays amongst +the trees, the fox prefers marshes or barrens. Here, in a place where +the snow was hard, he carefully cut out a cube, making a hole deep +enough for the trap to set below the surface. A square covering of +crust was trimmed thin with his sheath knife, and fitted over the trap +in such a way as to completely conceal it. The chain was fastened to a +stump and also carefully concealed. Then over and around the trap +pieces of ptarmigan were scattered. This he knew was not good fox +bait, but it was the best he had. + +"Now if I were only havin' a bit o' scent 'twould help me," he +commented as he surveyed his work. + +Foxes prefer meat or fish that is tainted and smells bad, and the more +decomposed it is, the better it suits them. Bob had no tainted meat +now, so he used what he had, in the hope that it might prove +effective. A few drops of perfumery, or "scent," as he called it, +would have made the fresh meat that he used more attractive to the +animals, but unfortunately he had none of that either. + +As he left the marsh and crossed from a neck of woods to the lake +shore he saw two moving objects far out upon the ice. He dropped +behind a clump of bushes. They were caribou. + +His gun would not reach them at that distance, and he picked up a +dried stick and broke it. They heard the noise and looked towards +him. He stood up, exposing himself for the fraction of a second, then +concealed himself behind the bushes again. Caribou are very +inquisitive animals, and these walked towards him, for they wanted to +ascertain what the strange object was that they had seen. When they +had come within easy range he selected the smaller one, a young buck, +aimed carefully at a spot behind the shoulders, and fired. The animal +fell and its mate stood stupidly still and looked at it, and then +advanced and smelled of it. Even the report of the gun had not +satisfied its curiosity. + +It would have been an easy matter for Bob to shoot this second +caribou, but the one he had killed was quite sufficient for his needs, +and to kill the other would have been ruthless slaughter, little short +of murder, and something that Bob, who was a true sportsman, would not +stoop to. He therefore stepped out from his cover and revealed +himself. Then when the animal saw him clearly, a living enemy, it +turned and fled. + +Bob removed the skin and quartered the carcass. These he loaded upon +his toboggan and hauled to his tilt. The meat was suspended from the +limb of a tree outside, where animals could not reach it and where it +would freeze and keep sweet until needed. A small piece was taken into +the tilt for immediate use, and some portions of the neck placed in +the corner of the tilt where they would decompose somewhat and thus be +rendered into desirable fox bait. The skin was stretched against the +logs of the side of the shack farthest from the stove, to dry. This +would make an excellent cover for Bob's couch and be warm and +comfortable to sleep upon. The sinew, taken from the back of the +animal, was scraped and hung from the roof to season, for he would +need it later to use as thread with which to repair moccasins. + +Now there was little to do for two or three days, and Bob began for +the first time to understand the true loneliness of his new life. The +wilderness was working its mysterious influence upon him. It seemed a +long, long while since Bill had left him, and he recalled his last +Sunday at Wolf Bight as one recalls an event years after it has +happened. Sometimes he longed passionately for home and human +companionship. At other times he was quite content with his day to day +existence, and almost forgot that the world contained any one else. + +Early the next week he visited the traps. In one he found a Canada jay +that had tried to filch the bait. In another a big white rabbit which +had been caught while nibbling the young tops of the spruce boughs +with which the trap was enclosed. A single marten rewarded him. The +pelt was not prime, as it was yet early in the season, but still it +was fairly good and Bob was delighted with it. + +The fox traps had not been disturbed, but a fox had been feeding upon +the caribou head and entrails, where they had been left upon the ice, +and one of the traps was taken up and reset here. The others he also +put in order, and returned to the tilt with the rabbit and marten. The +former, boiled with small bits of pork, made a splendid stew, and the +skin was hung to dry, for, with others it could be fashioned into +warm, light slippers to wear inside his moccasins when the colder +weather came. + +The marten pelt was removed from the body by splitting it down the +inside of the hind legs to the trunk, and then pulling it down over +the head, turning it inside out in the process. In the tilt were a +number of stretching boards, that Douglas had provided, tapered down +from several inches wide at one end until they were narrow enough at +the other end to slip snugly into the nose of the pelt. Over one of +these, with the flesh side out, the skin was tightly drawn and +fastened. Then with his knife Bob scraped it carefully, removing such +fat and flesh as had adhered to it, after which he placed it in a +convenient place to dry. + +Bob felt very much elated over this first catch of fur, and was +anxious to get at the real trapping. It was only Tuesday, and Bill +would not be at the river tilt until Friday of the following week, but +he decided to start back the next morning and set all his traps. So on +Wednesday morning, with a quarter of venison on his flat sled, he +turned down over the trail. + +Everything went well. Signs of fur were good and Bob was brimming over +with anticipation when a week later he reached the river. + +Bill did not arrive until after dark the next evening, and when he +pushed the tilt door open he found Bob frying venison steak and a +kettle of tea ready for supper. + +"Ho, Bob, back ahead o' me, be un? Where'd ye get th' deer's meat?" + +"Knocked un over after you left me. 'Tis fine t' be back an' see you, +Bill. I've been wonderful lonesome, and wantin' t' see you wonderful +bad." + +"An' I was thinkin' ye'd be gettin' lonesome by now. You'll not be +mindin' bein' alone when you gets used to un. It's all gettin' used t' +un." + +"An' what's th' signs o' fur? Be there much marten signs?" + +"Aye, some. Looks like un goin' t' be some. An' be there much signs on +th' Big Hill trail? Dick says there's a lot o' footin' his way." + +"I _has_ one marten," said Bob proudly, "an' finds good signs." + +"Un _has_ one a'ready! An' be un a good un?" + +"Not so bad." + +"Well, you be startin' fine, gettin' th' first marten an' th' first +deer." + +Bill had taken off his adikey and disposed of his things, and they sat +down to eat and enjoy a long evening's chat. + +With every week the cold grew in intensity, and with every storm the +snow grew deeper, hiding the smaller trees entirely and reaching up +towards the lower limbs of the larger ones. The little tilts were +covered to the roof, and only a hole in the white mass showed where +the door was. + +The sun now described a daily narrowing arc in the heavens, and the +hours of light were so few that the hunters found it difficult to +cover the distance between their tilts in the little while from dawn +to dark. On moonlight mornings Bob started long before day, and on +starlight evenings finished his day's work after night. His cheeks and +nose were frost-bitten and black, but he did not mind that for he was +doing well. Two weeks before Christmas he brought to the river tilt +the fur that he had accumulated. There were twenty-eight martens, one +mink, two red foxes, one cross fox, a lynx and a wolf. These last two +animals he had shot. Bill was already in the tilt when he arrived, and +complimented him on his good showing. + +Christmas fell on Wednesday that year, and Bill brought word that Dick +and Ed were coming up to spend the day with him and Bob. They would +reach the tilt on Tuesday night and use the remainder of the week in a +caribou hunt, as there were good signs of the animals a little way +back in the marshes and they were in need of fresh meat. + +"An' I'll not try t' be gettin' here on Friday," said Bill. "I'll be +waitin' till Tuesday." + +"I'll be doin' th' same, but I'll be here sure on a Tuesday, an' maybe +Monday," answered Bob. + +So it was arranged that they should have a holiday, and all be +together again. It gave Bob a thrill of pleasure when he thought of +meeting Dick and Ed and proudly exhibiting his fur to have them +examine and criticise the skins and compliment him. It would make a +break in the monotonous life. + +The day after Bob left the river tilt on his return round, the great +dream with which he had started out from Wolf Bight became a reality. +He caught a silver fox. It was almost evening when he turned into a +marsh where the trap was set. He had caught nothing in it before, and +he was thinking seriously of taking it up and placing it farther along +the trail. But now in the half dusk, as he approached, something +moved. "Sure 'tis a cross," said he. When he came closer and saw that +it was really a silver he could not for a moment believe his good +fortune. It was too good to be true. When he had killed it and taken +it out of the trap he hurried to the tilt hugging it closely to his +breast as though afraid it would get away. + +In the tilt he lighted a candle and examined it. It was a beauty! It +was worth a lot of money! He patted it and turned it over. Then--there +was no one to see him and question his manhood or jibe at his +weakness--he cried--cried for pure joy. "Tis th' savin' o' Emily an' +makin' she well--an' makin' she well!" He had prayed that he would get +a silver, but his faith had been weak and he had never really believed +he should. Now he had it and his cup of joy was full. "Sure th' Lard +be good," he repeated to himself. + +It was starlight two evenings later when he neared his last tilt. +Clear and beautiful and intensely cold was the silent white wilderness +and Bob's heart was as clear and light as the frosty air. When the +black spot that marked the roof of the almost hidden shack met his +view he stopped. A thin curl of smoke was rising from the stovepipe. +Some one was in the tilt! He hesitated for only a moment, then hurried +forward and pushed the door open. There, smoking his pipe sat Micmac +John. + + + + +VIII + +MICMAC JOHN'S REVENGE + + +"Evenin', Bob," said Micmac. + +"Evenin', John. An' where'd you be comin' from now?" + +"Been huntin' t' th' suth'ard. Thought I'd drop in an' see ye." + +"Glad t' see ye, John." + +After an awkward pause Bob asked: + +"What un do wi' th' stove, John?" + +"What stove?" + +"From th' river tilt. Ye took un, didn't ye?" + +"No, I didn't take no stove. I weren't in th' river tilt, an' don't +know what yer talkin' about," lied the half-breed. + +"Some one took un an' we was layin' it t' you. Now I wonders who +'twere." + +"Well, _I_ wouldn't take it. Ye ought t' known _I_ wouldn't do a thing +like that," insisted Micmac, with an air of injured innocence. "Maybe +th' Mingen Injuns took it. There's been some around an' they says +they'll take anything they find, an' fur too, if they find any in th' +tilts. These are their huntin' grounds an' outsiders has no right on +'em. They gave me right t' hunt down t' th' suth'ard." + +"Who may th' Mingen Injuns be, now?" + +"Mountaineers as belong Mingen way up south, an' hunts between this +an' th' Straits." + +"I were thinkin' 'twere th' Nascaupees took th' stove if you didn't +take un." + +"Th' Nascaupees are back here a bit t' th' west'ard. I saw some of 'em +one day when I was cruisin' that way an' I made tracks back fer I +didn't want t' die so quick. They'll kill anybody they see in here, +an' burn th' tilts if they happen over this way an' see 'em. Ye have +t' be on th' watch fer 'em all th' time." + +"I'll be watchin' out fer un an' keep clear if I sees their footin'," +said Bob as he went out to bring in his things. + +What Micmac said about the Nascaupees disturbed him not a little. Bob +was brave, but every man, no matter how brave he may be, fears an +unseen danger when he believes that danger is real and is apt to come +upon him unexpectedly and at a time when no opportunity will be +offered for defense. It was evident that these Indians were close at +hand, and that he was in daily and imminent danger of being captured, +which meant, he was sure, being killed. But he was here for a +purpose--to catch all the fur he could--and he must not lose his +courage now, before that purpose was accomplished. He must remain on +his trail until the hunting season closed. He must be constantly upon +his guard, he thought, and perhaps after all would not be discovered. +No, he would _not_ let himself be afraid. + +When he returned to the tilt Micmac John asked: + +"Gettin' much fur?" + +"Not so bad," he replied. "I has one silver, an' a fine un, too." + +The half-breed showed marked interest at once. + +"Let's see him. Got him here?" + +"No, I left un in th' third tilt. That's where I caught un." + +"Where's yer other fur?" + +"I took un all down t' th' river tilt There's a cross among un an' +twenty-eight martens." + +"Um-m." + +Micmac John knew well enough the fur had been taken to some other +tilt, for when he arrived here early in the afternoon his first care +was to look for it, but not a skin had he found, and he was +disappointed, for it was the purpose of his visit. Bob, absolutely +honest and guileless himself, in spite of Dick's constant assertion +that Micmac was a thief and worse, was easily deceived by the +half-breed's bland manner. Unfortunately he had not learned that every +one else was not as honest and straightforward as himself. Micmac's +attempt upon his life he had ascribed to a sudden burst of anger, and +it was forgiven and forgotten. The selfish enmity, the blackness of +heart, the sinister nature that will never overlook and will go to any +length to avenge a real or fancied wrong--the characteristics of a +half-breed Indian--were wholly beyond his comprehension. He had never +dissembled himself, and he did not know that the smiling face and +smooth tongue are often screens of deception. + +"We'll be havin' supper now," suggested Bob, lifting the boiling +kettle off the stove and throwing in some tea. "I'm fair starved." + +After they had eaten Micmac filled his pipe and lounged back, smoking +in silence for some time, apparently deep in thought. Finally he +asked, "When ye goin' back t' th' river, Bob?" + +"I'm not thinkin t' start back till Wednesday an' maybe Thursday, an' +reach un Monday or Tuesday after. Bill won't be gettin' there till +Tuesday, an' Dick an' Ed expects t' be there then t' spend Christmas +an' hunt deer." + +"Hunt deer?" + +"They're needin' fresh meat, an' deer footin's good in th' meshes." + +"The's fine signs to th' nuth'ard from th' second lake in, 'bout +twenty mile from here. You could get some there. If ye ain't goin' +back till Wednesday why don't ye try 'em? Ye'd get as many as ye +wanted," volunteered Micmac. + +"Where now be that?" + +"Why just 'cross th' first mesh up here, an' through th' bush straight +over ye'll come to a lake. Cross that t' where a dead tree hangs out +over th' ice. Cut in there an' ye'll see my footin'; foller it over t' +th' next lake, then turn right t' th' nuth'ard. The's some meshes in +there where th' deer's feedin'. I seen fifteen or twenty, but I didn't +want 'em so I let 'em be." + +"An' could I make un now in a day?" + +"If ye walk sharp an' start early." + +"I thinks I'll be startin' in th' mornin' an' campin' over there +Sunday, an' Monday I'll be there t' hunt. Can't un come 'long, John?" + +"No, I'd like t' go but I got t' see my traps. I'll have t' be leavin' +ye now," said Micmac, rising. + +"Not t'-night?" + +"Yes, it's fine moonlight an' I can make it all right." + +"Ye better stay th' night wi' me, John. There'll be no difference in a +day." + +"No. I planned t' be goin' right back I seen ye. Good evenin'." + +"Good evenin', John." + +Micmac John started directly south, but when well out of sight of the +tilt suddenly swung around to the eastward and, with the long +half-running stride of the Indian, made a straight line for the tilt +where Bob had left his silver fox. The moon was full, and the frost +that clung to the trees and bushes sparkled like flakes of silver. The +aurora faintly searched the northern sky. A rabbit, white and +spectre-like, scurried across the half-breed's path, but he did not +notice it. Hour after hour his never tiring feet swung the wide +snow-shoes in and out with a rhythmic chug-chug as he ran on. + +It was nearly morning when at length he slackened his pace, and with +the caution of the lifelong hunter approached the tilt as he would +have stalked an animal. He made quite certain that the shack was +untenanted, then entered boldly. He struck a match and found a candle, +which he lighted. There was the silver fox, where Bob had left it. It +was dry enough to remove from the board and he loosened it and pulled +it off. He examined it critically and gloated over it. + +"As black an' fine a one as I ever seen!" he exclaimed. "It'll bring a +big price at Mingen. That boy'll never see it again, an' I'll clean +out th' rest o' th' fur too, at th' river. Old Campbell'll be sorry +when I get through with 'em, he let that feller hunt th' path. He's a +fool, an' if he gives me th' slip he'll go back an' say th' Mingen +Injuns took his fur. I fixed that wi' my story all right. I'll take +th' lot t' Mingen an' get cash fer 'em, an' be back t' th' Bay with +open water with 'nuff martens so's they won't suspect me." + +He started a fire and slept until shortly after daylight. Then had +breakfast and started down the trail towards the river at the same +rapid pace that he had held before. + +It was not quite dark when he glimpsed the tilt, and approached it +with even more caution than he had observed above. + +"He don't know enough to lie," said he to himself, referring to Bob, +"but it's best t' take care, fer one o' th' others might be here." + +When he was satisfied that the tilt was unoccupied he entered boldly +and appropriated every skin of fur he found--not only all of Bob's, +but also a few martens Bill had left there. No time was lost, for any +accident might send Bill or one of the others here at an unexpected +moment. The pelts were packed quickly but carefully into his hunting +bag and within twenty minutes after his arrival he was retreating up +the trail at a half run. + +Some time after dark he reached the first tilt above the river, where +he spent the night. Short cuts and fast travelling brought him on +Sunday night to the tilt at the end of the trail where he had left +Bob. He made quite certain that the lad had really gone on his caribou +hunt, and then went boldly in and made himself as comfortable as he +could for the night without a stove, for Bob had taken the stove with +him, to heat his tent. + +"If he comes back t'-night and finds me here," he said, "I'll just +tell him I changed my mind an' came back t' go on th' deer hunt. I'll +lie t' him about what I got in my bag an' he'll never suspicion; he +don't know enough." + +Micmac John's work was not yet finished. He had arranged a full and +complete revenge. Bob's hunt for caribou would carry him far away from +the tilt and into a section where no searching party would be likely +to go. The half-breed's plan was now to follow and shoot the lad from +ambush. If by chance any one ever should find the body--which seemed a +quite improbable happening--Bob's death would no doubt be laid at the +door of the Nascaupee Indians. + +Micmac John deposited the bag of stolen pelts in a safe place in the +tilt, intending to return for them after his bloody mission was +accomplished, and several hours before daylight on Monday morning +started out in the ghostly moonlight to trail Bob to his death. + + + + +IX + +LOST IN THE SNOW + + +The trail that Bob had made lay open and well-defined in the snow, and +hour after hour the half-breed followed it, like a hound follows its +prey. + +Early in the morning the sky clouded heavily and towards noon snow +began to fall. It was a bitterly cold day. Micmac John increased his +pace for the trail would soon be hidden and he was not quite sure when +he should find the camp. From the lakes the trail turned directly +north and for several miles ran through a flat, wooded country. After +a while there were wide open marshes, with narrow timbered strips +between. An hour after noon he crossed a two mile stretch of this +marsh and in a little clump of trees on the farther side of it came so +suddenly upon the tent that he almost ran against it. + +The snow was by this time falling thickly and a rising westerly wind +was sweeping the marsh making travelling exceedingly difficult, and +completely hiding the trail beyond the trees. + +The tent flaps were fastened on the outside, and Bob was away, as +Micmac John expected he would be, searching for caribou. + +"There's no use tryin' t' foller him in this snow," said he to +himself, "I'd be sure t' miss him. But I'll take the tent an' outfit +away on his flat sled an' if he don't have cover th' cold'll fix him +before mornin'. There'll be no livin' in it over night with th' wind +blowin' a gale as it's goin' to do with dark. My footin' 'll soon be +hid an' he can't foller me. I can shoot him easy enough if he does." + +It was the work of only a few minutes to strike the tent and pack it +and the other things, which included the stove, an axe, blanket and +food, on the toboggan. + +The half-breed was highly elated when he started off with his booty. +The storm had come at just the right time. The elements would work a +slower but just as sure a revenge as his gun and at the same time +cover every trace of his villainy. He laughed as he pictured to +himself Bob's look of mystification and alarm when he returned and +failed to find the tent, and how the lad would think he had made a +mistake in the location and the desperate search for the camp that +would follow, only to end finally in the snow and cold conquering him, +as they were sure to do, and the wolves perhaps scattering his bones. + +"That's a fine end t' him an' he'll never be takin' trails away from +_me_ again," he chuckled. + +The whole picture as he imagined it was food for his black heart and +he forgot his own uncomfortable position in the delight that he felt +at the horrible death that he had so cleverly and cruelly arranged for +Bob. + +Micmac John retraced his steps some eight miles to the wide stretch of +timber land. There he halted and pitched camp. The wind shrieked +through the tree tops and swept the marshes in its untamed fury, but +he was quite warm and contented in the tent. The storm was working his +revenge for him, and he was quite satisfied that it would do the work +well. + +The men that Bob Gray had come in contact with and associated with all +his life were the honest, upright people of the Bay. He had never +known a man that would dishonestly take a farthing's worth of +another's property or that would knowingly harm a fellow being. The +Bay folk were constantly helping their more needy neighbours and lived +almost as intimately as brothers. When any one was in trouble the +others came to offer sympathy and frequently deprived themselves of +the actual necessaries of life that their neighbours might not suffer. +Sometimes they had their misunderstandings and quarrels, but these +were all of a momentary character and quickly forgotten. + +There was little wonder then that Bob had failed to read Micmac John's +true character, and it could hardly be expected that he would suspect +the half-breed of trying to injure him. Children of these far-off, +thinly populated lands in many respects develop judgment and mature in +thought at a much younger age than in more thickly settled and more +favoured countries. One reason for this is the constant fight for +existence that is being waged and the necessity for them to take up +their share of the burden of life early. Another reason is doubtless +the fact that their isolated homes cut them off from the companionship +of children of their own age and their associates are almost wholly +men and women grown. This was the case with Bob and in courage, +thoughtfulness of the comfort of others and physical endurance he was +a man, while in guile he was a mere baby. He believed that Micmac +John was like every other man he knew and was a good neighbour. + +When men have lived long in the wilderness without fresh meat they +have a tremendous longing for it. Bob knew that neither Dick nor Ed +had tasted venison since they reached their hunting grounds, for they +had not been as fortunate as he, and that some of the fresh-killed +meat would be a great treat to them and one they would appreciate. +Therefore when Micmac John told him how easily caribou could be killed +a day's journey to the northward, he thought that it would make a nice +Christmas surprise for his friends if he hauled a toboggan load of +venison down to the river tilt with him. True they had planned a hunt, +but that would take place after Christmas and he wanted to make them +happy on that day. + +So after Micmac John left him on Friday night he prepared for an early +start to the caribou feeding grounds on Saturday morning. + +We have seen the route he took across the lakes and timbered flats and +marshes to the place where he pitched his camp in the little clump of +diminutive fir trees almost twenty miles from his tilt. It was evening +when he reached there and up to this time, to his astonishment, he +had seen no signs of caribou. A few miles beyond the marsh he saw a +ridge of low hills running east and west and decided that the feeding +grounds of the animals must lie the other side of them. + +He banked the snow around the tent to keep out the wind, broke an +abundant supply of green boughs for a bed, and cut a good stock of +wood for the day of rest. Two logs were placed in a parallel position +in the tent upon which to rest the stove that it might not sink in the +deep snow with the heat. Then it was put up, and a fire started, and +he was very comfortably settled for the night. + +The unfamiliar and unusually bleak character of the country gave him a +feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction when he arose on Sunday +morning and viewed his surroundings. It was quite different from +anything he had ever experienced before and he had a strong desire to +go out at once and look for the caribou, and if no signs of them were +found to turn back on Monday to the tilt. But then he asked himself, +would his mother approve of this? He decided that she would not, and, +said he: "'Twould be huntin' just as much as t' go shootin' and th' +Lard would be gettin' angry wi' me too." + +That kept him from going, and he spent the day in the tent drawing +mind pictures of the little cabin home that he longed so much to see +and the loved ones that were there. The thought of little Emily, lying +helpless but still so patient, brought tears to his eyes. But all +would be well in the end, he told himself, for God was good and had +given him the silver fox he had prayed for that Emily might go and be +cured. + +What a proud and happy day it would be for him when with his greatest +hopes fulfilled, the boat ground her nose again upon the beach below +the cabin from which he had started so full of ambition that long ago +morning in September. How his father would come down to shake his hand +and say: "My stalwart lad has done bravely, an' I'm proud o' un." His +mother, all smiles, would run out to meet him and take him in her arms +and praise and pet him, and then he would hurry in to see dear, +patient little Emily on her couch, and her face would light up at +sight of him and she would hold out her hands to him in an ecstasy of +delight and call: "Oh, Bob! Bob! my fine big brother has come back to +me at last!" Then he would bring in his furs and proudly exhibit the +silver fox and hear their praises, and perhaps he would have another +silver fox by that time. After a while Douglas Campbell would come +over and tell him how wonderfully well he had done. With his share of +the martens he would pay his debt to the company, and he and Douglas +would let the mail boat doctor sell the silver fox and other skins for +them, and Emily would go to the hospital and after a little while come +back her old gay little self again, to romp and play and laugh and +tease him as she used to do. With fancy making for him these dreams of +happiness, the day passed after all much less tediously than he had +expected. + +On Monday morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, Bob started +out to look for the caribou, leaving the tent as Micmac John found it. +He made the great mistake of not taking with him his axe, for an axe +is often a life saver in the northern wilderness, and a hunter should +never be without one. He crossed the marsh and then the ridge of low +hills to the northward, finally coming out upon a large lake. It was +now midday, the snow had commenced falling, and to continue the hunt +further was useless. + +"'Tis goin' t' be nasty weather an' I'll have t' be gettin' back t' +th' tent," said he regretfully as he realized that a severe storm was +upon him. + +Reluctantly he retraced his steps. In a little while his tracks were +all covered, and not a landmark that he had noted on his inward +journey was visible through the blinding snow. He reached the ridge in +safety, however, and crossed it and then took the direction that he +believed would carry him to the camp, using the wind, which had been +blowing from the westward all day, as his guide. Towards dark he came +to what he supposed was the clump of trees where he had left his tent +in the morning, but no tent was there. + +"'Tis wonderful strange!" he exclaimed as he stood for a moment in +uncertainty. + +He was quite positive it was the right place, and he looked for axe +cuttings, where he had chopped down trees for fire-wood, and found +them. So, this was the place, but where was the tent? He was +mystified. He searched up and down every corner of the grove, but +found no clue. Could the Nascaupees have found his camp and carried +his things away? There was no other solution. + +"'Th' Nascaupees has took un. The Nascaupees has sure took un," he +said dejectedly, when he realized that the tent was really gone. + +His situation was now desperate. He had no axe with which to build a +temporary shelter or cut wood for a fire. The nearest cover was his +tilt, and to reach it in the blinding, smothering snow-storm seemed +hopeless. Already the cold was eating to his bones and he knew he must +keep moving or freeze to death. + +With the wind on his right he turned towards the south in the +gathering darkness. He could not see two yards ahead. Blindly he +plodded along hour after hour. As the time dragged on it seemed to him +that he had been walking for ages. His motion became mechanical. He +was faint from hunger and his mouth parched with thirst. The bitter +wind was reaching to his very vitals in spite of the exertion, and at +last he did not feel it much. He stumbled and fell now and again and +each time it was more difficult to rise. + +There was always a strong inclination to lie a little where he fell +and rest, but his benumbed brain told him that to stop walking meant +death, and urged him up again to further action. + +Finally the snow ceased but he did not notice it. With his head held +back and staring straight before him at nothing he stalked on throwing +his feet ahead like an automaton. The stars came out one after another +and looked down pitilessly upon the tragedy that was being enacted +before their very eyes. + +Many hours had passed; morning was close at hand. The cold grew more +intensely bitter but Bob did not know it. He was quite insensible to +sensations now. Vaguely he imagined himself going home to Wolf Bight. +It was not far--he was almost there. In a little while he would see +his father and mother and Emily--Emily--Emily was sick. He had +something to make her her well--make her well--a silver fox--that +would do it--yes, that would do it--a silver fox would make her +well--dear little Emily. + +From the distance there came over the frozen world a wolf's howl, +followed by another and another. The wolves were giving the cry of +pursuit. There must be many of them and they were after caribou or +game of some sort. This was the only impression the sound made upon +his numbed senses. + +Daylight was coming. He was very sleepy--very, very sleepy. Why not go +to sleep? There was no reason for walking when it was so nice and warm +here--and he was so weary and sleepy. There were trees all around and +a nice white bed spread under them. He stumbled and fell and did not +try to get up. Why should he? There was plenty of time to go home. It +was so comfortable and soft here and he was so sleepy. + +Then he imagined that he was in the warm tilt with the fire crackling +in the stove. He cuddled down in the snow, and said the little prayer +that he never forgot at night. + + "Now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep, + I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-keep, + If-I-should-die-before-I-wake + I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-take. + An'-God-make-Emily-well." + +The wolves were clamouring in the distance. They had caught the game +that they were chasing. He could just hear them as he fell asleep. + +The sun broke with the glory of a new world over the white wilderness. +The wolf howls ceased--and all was still. + + + + +X + +THE PENALTY + + +For some reason Micmac John could not sleep. A little while he lay +awake voluntarily, trying to contrive a plan to follow should he be +found out. If, after he returned to the tilt for the pelts, there +should not be sufficient snow to cover his trail, for instance, before +the searching party came to look for Bob--and it surely would come, +headed by Dick Blake--he would be in grave danger of being discovered. +Why had he not thought of all this before? He was afraid of Dick +Blake, and Dick was the one man in the world, perhaps, that he was +afraid of. Would Dick shoot him? he asked himself. Probably. If he +were found he would have to die. + +Life is sweet to a strong, healthy man brought face to face with the +reality of death. In his more than half savage existence Micmac John +had faced death frequently, and sometimes daily, and had never shrunk +from it or felt a tremour of fear. He had held neither his own nor the +life of other men as a thing of much value. The fact was that never +before had he given one serious thought to what it meant to die. Like +the foxes and the wolves, he had been an animal of prey and had looked +upon life and death with hardly more consideration than they, and with +the stoical indifference of his savage Indian ancestors. + +But for some inexplicable reason this night the white half of his +nature had been awakened and he found himself thinking of what it +meant to die--to cease to be, with the world going on and on +afterwards just as though nothing had happened. Then the teachings of +a missionary whom he had heard preach in Nova Scotia came to him. He +remembered what had been said of eternal happiness or eternal +torment--that one or the other state awaited the soul of every one +after death. Then a great terror took possession of him. If Bob Gray +died, as he certainly must in this storm, _he_ would be responsible +for it, and _his_ soul would be consigned to eternal torment--the +terrible torment to last forever and forever, depicted by the +missionary. He had committed many sins in his life, but they were of +the past and forgotten. This was of the present. He could already, in +his frenzied imagination see Dick Blake, the avenger. Dick would +shoot him. That was certain--and then--eternal torment. + +The wind moaned outside, and then rose to a shriek. He sprang up and +looked wildly about him. It was the shriek of a damned soul! No, he +had been dozing and it was only a dream, and he lay back trembling. + +For a long while he could not go to sleep again. Fear had taken +absolute and complete possession of him--the fear of the eternal +damnation that the missionary had so vividly pictured. It was a +picture that had been received at the time without being seen and +through all these years had remained in his brain, covered and hidden. +This day's work had suddenly and for the first time drawn aside the +screen and left it bare before his eyes displaying to him every +fearful minute outline. He was a murderer and he would be punished. +There was no thought of repentance for sins committed--only fear of a +fate that he shrunk from but which confronted him as a reality and a +certainty--as great a certainty as his rising in the morning and so +near at hand. He got up and looked out. The wind blew clouds of snow +into his face. He could not see the tree that he knew was ten feet +away. It was an awful night for a man to be out without shelter. + +Micmac John lay down again and after a time the tired brain and body +yielded to nature and he slept. + +The instincts of the half-breed, keen even in slumber, felt rather +than heard the diminishing of wind and snow as the storm subsided with +the approach of morning, and he arose at once. The rest had quieted +his nerves, and he was the stolid, revengeful Indian again. After a +meagre breakfast of tea and jerked venison he took down the tent and +lashed the things securely upon the toboggan and ere the first stars +began to glimmer through the cloud rifts he was hurrying away in the +stillness of the night. + +When the sky finally cleared and the moon came out, cold and +brilliant, there was something uncanny and weird in its light lying +upon earth's white shroud rent here and there by long, dark shadows +across the trail. There was an indefinable mystery in the atmosphere. +Micmac John, accustomed as he was to the wilderness, felt an +uneasiness in his soul, the reflex perhaps of the previous night's +awakening, that he could not quite throw off--a sense of impending +danger--of a calamity about to happen. The trees became mighty men +ready to strike at him as he approached and behind every bush crouched +a waiting enemy. His guilty conscience was at work. The little spirit +that God had placed within his bosom, to tell him when he was doing +wrong, was not quite dead. + +He increased his speed as daylight approached travelling almost at a +run. Suddenly he stopped to listen. From somewhere in the distance +behind him a wolf cry broke the morning silence. In a little while +there were more wolf cries, and they were coming nearer and nearer. +The animals were doubtless following some quarry. Was it Bob they were +after? A momentary qualm at the thought was quickly replaced by a +feeling of satisfaction. That, he tried to argue with himself, would +cover every clue to what had happened and was what he had hoped for. +He hurried on. + +All at once a spasm of fear brought him to a halt. Could it be himself +the wolves were trailing! The old horror of the night came back with +all its reality and force. A clammy sweat broke out upon his body. He +looked wildly about him for a retreat, but there was none. The wolves +were gaining upon him rapidly and were very close now. There was no +longer any doubt that _he_ was their quarry. They were trailing _him_. +Micmac John was in a narrow, open marsh, and the wolves were already +at the edge of the woods that skirted it a hundred yards behind. A +little distance ahead of him was a big boulder, and he ran for it. At +that moment the pack came into view. He stopped and stood paralyzed +until they were within thirty yards of him, then he turned +mechanically, from force of habit, and fired at the leader, which +fell. This held them in check for an instant and roused him to action. +He grabbed an axe from the toboggan and had time to gain the rock and +take a stand with his back against it. + +As the animals rushed upon the half breed he swung the axe and split +the head of one. This temporarily repulsed them. He held them at bay +for a time, swinging his axe at every attempted approach. They formed +themselves into a half circle just beyond his reach, snapping and +snarling at him and showing their ugly fangs. Another big gray +creature, bolder than the rest, made a rush, but the swinging axe +split its head, just as it had the others. They retreated a few +paces, but they were not to be kept back for long. Micmac John knew +that his end had come. His face was drawn and terrified, and in spite +of the fearful cold and biting frost, perspiration stood out upon his +forehead. + +It was broad daylight now. Another wolf attacked from the front and +fell under the axe. A little longer they parleyed. They were gradually +growing more bold and narrowing the circle--coming so close that they +were almost within reach of the swinging weapon. Finally a wolf on the +right, and one on the left, charged at the same time, and in an +instant those in front, as though acting upon a prearranged signal, +closed in, and the pack became one snarling, fighting, clamouring +mass. + +When the sun broke over the eastern horizon a little later it looked +upon a circle of flat-tramped, blood-stained snow, over which were +scattered bare picked human bones and pieces of torn clothing. A pack +of wolves trotted leisurely away over the marsh. + +In the woods not a mile distant two Indian hunters were following the +trail that led to Bob's unconscious body. + +[Illustration: "Micmac John knew his end had come"] + + + + +XI + +THE TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL + + +A week passed and Christmas eve came. The weather continued clear and +surpassingly fine. It was ideal weather for trapping, with no new snow +to clog the traps and interfere with the hunters in their work. The +atmosphere was transparent and crisp, and as it entered the lungs +stimulated the body like a tonic, giving new life and buoyancy and +action to the limbs. The sun never ventured far from the horizon now +and the cold grew steadily more intense and penetrating. The river had +long ago been chained by the mighty Frost King and over the earth the +snow lay fully six feet deep where the wind had not drifted it away. + +A full hour before sunset Dick and Ed, in high good humour at the +prospect of the holiday they had planned, arrived at the river tilt. +They came together expecting to find Bob and Bill awaiting them there, +but the shack was empty. + +"We'll be havin' th' tilt snug an' warm for th' lads when they comes," +said Dick, as he went briskly to work to build a fire in the stove +"You get some ice t' melt for th' tea, Ed. Th' lads'll be handy t' +gettin' in now, an' when they comes supper'll be pipin' hot for un." + +Ed took an axe and a pail to the river where he chopped out pieces of +fine, clear ice with which to fill the kettle. When he came back Dick +had a roaring fire and was busy preparing partridges to boil. + +Pretty soon Bill arrived, and they gave him an uproarious greeting. It +was the first time Bill and Ed had met since they came to their trails +in the fall, and the two friends were as glad to see each other as +though they had been separated for years. + +"An' how be un now, Bill, an' how's th' fur?" asked Ed when they were +seated. + +"Fine," replied Bill. "Fur's been fine th' year. I has more by now 'an +I gets all o' last season, an' one silver too." + +"A silver? An' be he a good un?" + +"Not so bad. He's a little gray on th' rump, but not enough t' hurt un +much." + +"Well, now, you be doin' fine. I finds un not so bad, too--about th' +best year I ever has, but one. That were twelve year ago, an' I gets +a rare lot o' fur that year--a rare lot--but I'm not catchin' all of +un myself. I gets most of un from th' Injuns." + +"An' how were un doin' that now?" asked Bill. + +"Now don't be tellin' that yarn agin," broke in Dick. "Sure Bill's +heard un--leastways he must 'a' heard un." + +"No, I never heard un," said Bill. + +"An' ain't been missin' much then. 'Tis just one o' Ed's yarns, an' no +truth in un." + +"'Tis no yarn. 'Tis true, an' I could prove un by th' Injuns. +Leastways I could if I knew where un were, but none o' that crowd o' +Injuns comes this way these days." + +"What were the yarn, now?" asked Bill. + +"I says 'tis no yarn. 'Tis what happened t' me," asserted Ed, assuming +a much injured air. "As I were sayin', 'twere a frosty evenin' twelve +year ago. I were comin' t' my lower tilt, an' when I gets handy t' un +what does I see but a big band o' mountaineers around th' tilt. Th' +mountaineers was not always friendly in those times as they be now, +an' I makes up my mind for trouble. I comes up t' un an' speaks t' un +pleasant, an' goes right in th' tilt t' see if un be takin' things. I +finds a whole barrel o' flour missin' an' comes out at un. They owns +up t' eatin' th' flour, an' they had eat th' hull barrel t' _one_ +meal--now ye mind, _one_ meal. When un eats a _barrel_ o' flour t' +_one_ meal there be a big band o' un. They was so many o' un I never +counted. They was like t' be ugly at first, but I looks fierce like, +an' tells un they must gi' me fur t' pay for un. I was so fierce like +I scares un--scares un bad. I were _one_ man alone, an' wi' a bold +face I had th' whole band so scared they each gives me a marten, an' I +has a flat sled load o' martens from un--handy t' a hundred an' +fifty--an' if I hadn't 'a' been bold an' scared un I'd 'a' had none. +Injuns be easy scared if un knows how t' go about it." + +Bill laughed and remarked, + +"'Tis sure a fine yarn, Ed. How does un look t' be fierce an' scare +folk?" + +"A fine yarn! An' I tells un 'tis a gospel truth, an' no yarn," +asserted Ed, apparently very indignant at the insinuation. + +"Bob's late comin'," remarked Dick. "'Tis gettin' dark." + +"He be, now," said Bill, "an' he were sayin' he'd be gettin' here th' +night an' maybe o' Monday night. 'Tis strange." + +They ate supper and the evening wore on, and no Bob. Bill went out +several times to listen for the click of snow-shoes, but always came +back to say, "No sign o' un yet." Finally it became quite certain that +Bob was not coming that night. + +"'Tis wonderful queer now, an' he promised," Bill remarked, at length. +"An' he brought down his fur last trip--a fine lot." + +"Where be un?" asked Dick. + +Bill looked for the fur. It was nowhere to be found, and, mystified +and astounded, he exclaimed: "Sure th' fur be gone! Bob's an' mine +too!" + +"Gone!" Dick and Ed both spoke together. "An' where now?" + +"Gone! His an' mine! 'Twere here when we leaves th' tilt, an' 'tis +gone now!" + +The three had risen to their feet and stood looking at each other for +awhile in silence. Finally Dick spoke: + +"'Tis what I was fearin'. 'Tis some o' Micmac John's work. Now where +be Bob? Somethin's been happenin' t' th' lad. Micmac John's been doin' +somethin' wi' un, an' we must find un." + +"We must find un an' run that devil Injun down," exclaimed Ed, +reaching for his adikey. "We mustn't be losin' time about un, +neither." + +"'Twill be no use goin' now," said Dick, with better judgment. "Th' +moon's down an' we'd be missin' th' trail in th' dark, but wi' +daylight we must be goin'." + +Ed hung his adikey up again. "I were forgettin' th' moon were down. +We'll have t' bide here for daylight," he assented. Then he gritted +his teeth. "That Injun'll have t' suffer for un if he's done foul wi' +Bob." + +The remainder of the evening was spent in putting forth conjectures as +to what had possibly befallen Bob. They were much concerned but tried +to reassure themselves with the thought that he might have been +delayed one tilt back for the night, and that Micmac John had done +nothing worse than steal the fur. Nevertheless their evening was +spoiled--the evening they had looked forward to with so much pleasure +and their minds were filled with anxious thoughts when finally they +rolled into their blankets for the night. + +Christmas morning came with a dead, searching cold that made the three +men shiver as they stepped out of the warm tilt long before dawn and +strode off in single file into the silent, dark forest. After a while +daylight came, and then the sun, beautiful but cheerless, appeared +above the eastern hills to reveal the white splendour of the world and +make the frost-hung fir trees and bushes scintillate and sparkle like +a gem-hung fairy-land. But the three men saw none of this. Before them +lay a black, unknown horror that they dreaded, yet hurried on to meet. +The air breathed a mystery that they could not fathom. Their hearts +were weighted with a nameless dread. + +Their pace never once slackened and not a word was spoken until after +several hours the first tilt came suddenly into view, when Dick said +laconically: + +"No smoke. He's not here." + +"An' no signs o' his bein' on th' trail since th' storm," added Ed. + +"No footin' t' mark un at all," assented Dick. "What's happened has +happened before th' last snow." + +"Aye, before th' last snow. 'Twas before th' storm it happened." + +Here they took a brief half hour to rest and boil the kettle, and the +remainder of that day and all the next day kept up their tireless, +silent march. Not a track in the unbroken white was there to give them +a ray of hope, and every step they took made more certain the tragedy +they dreaded. + +At noon on the third day they reached the last tilt. Bill was ahead, +and when he pushed the door open he exclaimed: "Th' stove's gone!" +Then they found the bag that Micmac John had left there with the fur +in it. + +"Now that's Micmac John's bag," said Ed. "What devilment has th' Injun +been doin'? Now why did he _leave_ th' fur? 'Tis strange--wonderful +strange." + +Dick noted the evidences of an open fire having been kindled upon the +earthen floor. "That fire were made since th' stove were taken," he +said. "Micmac John left th' fur an' made th' fire. He's been stoppin' +here a night after Bob left wi' th' stove. But why were Bob leavin' +wi' th' stove? An' where has he gone? An' why has th' Injun been +leavin' th' fur here an' not comin' for un again? We'll have t' be +findin' out." + +They started immediately to search for some clue of the missing lad, +each taking a different direction and agreeing to meet at night in +the tilt. Everywhere they looked, but nothing was discovered, and, +weary and disheartened, they turned back with dusk. Dick returned +across the first lake above the tilt. As he strode along one of his +snow-shoes pressed upon something hard, and he stopped to kick the +snow away from it. It was a deer's antler. He uncovered it farther and +found a chain, which he pulled up, disclosing a trap and in it a +silver fox, dead and frozen stiff. He straightened up and looked at +it. + +"A Christmas present for Bob an' he never got un," he said aloud. "Th' +lad's sure perished not t' be findin' his silver." + +Here was a discovery that meant something. Bob had been setting traps +in that direction, and might have a string of traps farther on. +Possibly he had gone to put them in order when the storm came, and had +been caught in it farther up, and perished. Anyway it was worth +investigation. When Dick returned with the fox and the trap to the +tilt he told the others of his theory and it was decided to +concentrate their efforts in that direction in the morning. + +Accordingly the next day they pushed farther to the westward across +the second lake, and at a point where a dead tree hung out over the +ice found fresh axe cuttings. A little farther on they saw one or two +sapling tops chopped off. These were in a line to the northward, and +they took that direction. Finally they came upon a marsh, and heading +in the same northerly course across it, came upon the tracks of a pack +of wolves. Looking in the direction from which these led, Dick stopped +and pointed towards a high boulder half a mile to the eastward. + +"Now what be that black on th' snow handy t' th' rock?" he asked. + +"'Tis lookin' t' me like a flat sled," said Ed. + +"We'll have a look at un," suggested Dick, who hurried forward with +the others at his heels. Suddenly he stopped, and pointed at the +beaten snow and scattered bones and torn clothing, where Micmac John +had fought so desperately for his life. The three men stood horror +stricken, their faces drawn and tense. This, then, was the solution of +the mystery! This was what had happened to Bob! Pretty soon Dick +spoke: + +"Th' poor lad! Th' poor lad! An' th' wolves got un!" + +"An' his poor mother," said Ed, choking. "'Twill break her heart, she +were countin' so on Bob. An' th' little maid as is sick--'twill kill +she." + +"Yes," said Bill, "Emily'll be mournin' herself t' death wi'out Bob." + +These big, soft-hearted trappers were all crying now like women. No +other thought occurred to them than that these ghastly remains were +Bob's, for the toboggan and things on it were his. + +After a while they tenderly gathered up the human remains and placed +them upon the toboggan. Then they picked up the gun and blood +spattered axe. + +"Now here be another axe on th' flat sled," said Dick. "What were Bob +havin' two axes for?" + +"'Tis strange," said Ed. + +"He must ha' had one cached in here, an' were bringin' un back," +suggested Bill, and this seemed a satisfactory explanation. + +"I'll take some pieces o' th' clothes. His mother'll be wantin' +somethin' that he wore when it happened," said Dick, as he gathered +some of the larger fragments of cloth from the snow. + +Then with bowed heads and heavy hearts they silently retraced their +steps to the tilt, hauling the toboggan after them. + +At the tilt they halted to arrange their future course of action. + +"Now," said Dick, "what's t' be done? 'Twill only give pain th' sooner +t' th' family t' go out an' tell un, an' 'twill do no good. I'm +thinkin' 'tis best t' take th' remains t' th' river tilt an' not go +out with un till we goes home wi' open water." + +"No, I'm not thinkin' that way," dissented Ed. "Bob's mother 'll be +wantin' t' know right off. 'Tis not right t' keep it from she, an' +she'll never be forgivin' us if we're doin' it." + +"They's trouble enough down there that they _knows_ of," argued Dick. +"They'll be thinkin' Bob safe 'an not expectin' he till th' open water +an' we don't tell un, an' between now an' then have so much less t' +worry un, and be so much happier 'an if they were knowin'. Folks lives +only so long anyways an' troubles they has an' don't know about is +troubles they don't have, or th' same as not havin' un, an' their +lives is that much happier." + +"I'm still thinkin' they'll be wantin' t' know," insisted Ed. "They'll +be plannin' th' whole winter for Bob's comin' an' when they's +expectin' him an' hears he's dead, 'twill be worse'n hearin' before +they expects un. Leastways, they'll be gettin' over un th' sooner +they hears, for trouble always wears off some wi' passin' time. 'Tis +our duty t' go an' tell un _now_, I'm thinkin'." + +"What's un think, Bill?" asked Dick. + +"I'm thinkin with Ed, 'tis best t' go," said Bill, positively. + +"Well, maybe 'tis--maybe 'tis," Dick finally assented. "Now, who'll be +goin'? 'Twill be a wonderful hard task t' break th' news. I'm thinkin' +my heart'd be failin' me when I gets there. Ed, would un _mind_ +goin'?" + +Ed hesitated a moment, then he said: + +"I'm fearin' t' tell th' mother, but 'tis for some one t' do. 'Tis my +duty t' do un--an' I'll be goin'." + +It was finally arranged that Ed should begin his journey the following +morning, drawing the remains on a toboggan, and taking otherwise only +the tent, a tent stove, and enough food to see him through, leaving +the remainder of Bob's things to be carried out in the boat in the +spring. Dick undertook the charge of them as well as Bob's fur. Ed was +to take the short cut to the river tilt and thence follow the river +ice while Dick and Bill sprang Bob's traps on the upper end of his +path. + +"But," said Bill, after this arrangement was made, "Bob's folks be in +sore need o' th' fur he'd be gettin' an' when Ed comes back, I'm +thinkin' 'twould be fine for us not t' be takin' rest o' Saturdays but +turnin' right back in th' trails. Ed can be doin' one tilt o' your +trail, Dick, an' so shortenin' your trail one tilt so you can do two +o' mine an' I'll shorten Ed two tilts an' do _three_ o' Bob's. I'd be +willin' t' work _Sundays_ an' I'm thinkin' th' Lard wouldn't be +findin' fault o' me for doin' un seem' Emily's needin' th' fur t' go +t' th' doctor. 'Tis sure th' Lard wouldn't be gettin' angry wi' me for +_that_, for He knows how bad off Emily is." + +This generous proposal met with the approval of all, and details were +arranged accordingly that evening as to just what each was to do until +the furring season closed in the spring. + +This was Saturday, December the twenty-eighth. On Sunday morning Ed +bade good-bye to his companions and began the long and lonely journey +to Wolf Bight with his ghastly charge in tow. + + + + +XII + +IN THE HANDS OF THE NASCAUPEES + + +Late on the afternoon of the day that Bob fell asleep in the snow, he +awoke to new and strange surroundings. His first conscious moments +brought with them a sense of comfortable security. His mind had thrown +off every feeling of responsibility and he knew only that he was warm +and snugly tucked into bed and that the odour of spruce forest and +wood smoke that he breathed was very pleasant. He lay quiet for a +time, with his eyes closed, in a state of blissful, half +consciousness, vaguely realizing these things, but not possessing +sufficient energy to open his eyes and investigate them or question +where he was. + +Slowly his mind awoke from its lethargy and then he began to remember +as a dim, uncertain dream, his experience of the night before. +Gradually it became more real but he recalled his failure to find the +tent, the fearful groping in the snow, and his struggle for life +against the storm as something that had happened in the long distant +past. + +"But how could all this ha' been happenin' t' me now?" he asked +himself, for here he was snug in the tent--or perhaps he had reached +the tilt and did not remember. + +He opened his eyes now for the first time to see and satisfy himself +as to whether it was the tent or the tilt he was in, and what he saw +astonished and brought him to his senses very quickly. + +He recognized at once the interior of an Indian wigwam. In the centre +a fire was burning and an Indian woman was leaning over it stirring +the contents of a kettle. On the opposite side of the fire from her +sat a young Indian maiden of about Bob's own age netting the babiche +in a snow-shoe, her fingers plying deftly in and out. The woman and +girl wore deerskin garments of peculiar design. The former was fat and +ugly, the latter slender, and very comely, he thought, from her sleek +black hair to her feet encased in daintily worked little moccasins. At +that moment she glanced towards him and said something to her +companion, who turned in his direction also. + +"Where am I?" he asked wonderingly and with some alarm. + +They both laughed and jabbered then in their Indian tongue but he +could not understand a word they said. The girl lay aside the +snow-shoe and babiche and, taking up a tin cup, dipped some hot broth +from the kettle and offered it to him. He accepted it gladly for he +was thirsty and felt unaccountably weak. The broth contained no salt +or flavouring of any kind, but was very refreshing. When he had +finished it he put the cup down and attempted to rise but this +movement brought forth a flood of Indian expostulations and he was +forced to lie quiet again. + +It was very evident that he was either considered an invalid too ill +to move or was held in bondage. He had never heard that Indian +captives were tucked into soft deerskin robes and fed broth by comely +Indian maidens, however, and if he were a prisoner it did not promise +to be so very disagreeable a captivity. + +On the whole it was very pleasant and restful lying there on the soft +skins of which his bed was composed, for he still felt tired and weak. +He took in every detail of his surroundings. The wigwam was circular +in form and of good size. It was made of reindeer skins stretched over +poles very dingy and black, with an opening at the top to permit the +smoke from the fire in the centre to escape. Flat stones raised +slightly above the ground served as a fireplace, and around it were +thickly laid spruce boughs. Some strips of jerked venison hung from +the poles above, and near his feet he glimpsed his own gun and powder +horn. + +Bob could see at once that these Indians were much more primitive than +those he knew at the Bay and, unfamiliar as he was with the Indian +language, he noticed a marked difference in the intonation and +inflection when the woman spoke. + +"Now," said Bob to himself, "th' Nascaupees must ha' found me an' +these be Nascaupees. But Mountaineers an' every one says Nascaupees be +savage an' cruel, an' I'm not knowin' what un be. 'Tis queer--most +wonderful queer." + +He had no recollection of lying down in the snow. The last he could +definitely recall was his fearful battling with the storm. There was a +sort of hazy remembrance of something that he could not quite +grasp--of having gone to sleep somewhere in a snug, warm bed spread +with white sheets. Try as he would he could not explain his presence +in this Indian wigwam, nor could he tell how long he had been here. It +seemed to him years since the morning he left the tilt to go on the +caribou hunt. + +So he lay for a good while trying to account for his strange +surroundings until at last he became drowsy and was on the point of +going to sleep when suddenly the entrance flap of the wigwam opened +and two Indians entered--the most savage looking men Bob had ever +seen--and he felt a thrill of fear as he beheld them. They were very +tall, slender, sinewy fellows, dressed in snug fitting deerskin coats +reaching half way to the knees and decorated with elaborately painted +designs in many colours. Their heads were covered with hairy hoods, +and the ears of the animal from which they were made gave a grotesque +and savage appearance to the wearers. Light fitting buckskin leggings, +fringed on the outer side, encased their legs, and a pair of deerskin +mittens dangled from the ends of a string which was slung around the +neck. One of the men was past middle age, the other a young fellow of +perhaps twenty. + +The older woman said something to them and they began to jabber in so +high a tone of voice that Bob would have thought they were quarrelling +but for the fact that they laughed good-naturedly all the time and +came right over to where he lay to shake his hand. They had a good +deal to say to him, but he could not understand one word of their +language. After greeting him both men removed their outer coats and +hoods, and Bob could not but admire the graceful, muscular forms that +the buckskin undergarments displayed. Their hair was long, black and +straight and around their foreheads was tied a thong of buckskin to +keep it from falling over their faces. + +They laughed at Bob's inability to understand them, and were much +amused when he tried to talk with them. Every effort was made to put +him at ease. + +When the men were finally seated, the girl dipped out a cup of broth +and a dish of venison stew from the kettle which she handed to Bob; +then the others helped themselves from what remained. There was no +bread nor tea, and nothing to eat but the unflavoured meat. + +It was quite dark now and the fire cast weird, uncanny shadows on the +dimly-lighted interior walls of the wigwam. The Indians sitting around +it in their peculiar dress seemed like unreal inhabitants of some +spirit world. Bob's coming to himself in this place and amongst these +people appealed to him as miraculous--supernatural. He could not +understand it at all. He began to plan an escape. When they were all +asleep he could steal quietly out and make his way back to the tilt. +But, then, he reasoned, if they wished to detain him they could easily +track him in the snow in the morning; and, besides, he did not know +where his snow-shoes were and without them he could not go far. +Neither did he know how far he was from the tilt. After the Indians +had found him they may have carried him several days' journey to their +camp and whether they had gone west or north he had no way of finding +out. + +It was, therefore, he realized, an unquestionably hopeless undertaking +for him to attempt to reach his tilt alone, and he finally dismissed +the idea as impracticable. Perhaps in the morning he could induce them +to take him there. That, he concluded, was the only plan for him to +follow. So far they had been very kind and he could see no reason why +they should wish to detain him against his will. + +The Indians were indeed Nascaupee Indians, but instead of being the +ruthless cut-throats that the Mountaineers and the legends of the +coast had painted them, they were human and hospitable, as all our +eastern Indians were before white men taught them to be thieves and +drove and goaded them--by the white man's own treachery--to acts of +reprisal and revenge. + +These Nascaupees, living as they did in a country inaccessible to the +white ravishers, had none but kindly motives in their treatment of Bob +and had no desire to do him harm. On the morning that Bob fell in the +snow Shish-e-tá-ku-shin--Loud-voice--and his son Moó-koo-mahn--Big +Knife--had left their wigwam early to hunt. Not far away they crossed +Bob's trail. Their practiced eye told them that the traveller was not +an Indian, for the snow-shoes he wore were not of Indian make, and +also, from the uncertain, wobbly trail, they decided that he was far +spent. So they followed the tracks and within a few minutes after Bob +had fallen found him. They carried him to the wigwam and rubbed his +frosted limbs and face until it was quite safe to wrap him in the +deerskins in the warm wigwam. + +They did not know who he was nor where he came from, but they did know +that he needed care and several days of quiet. He was a stranger and +they took him in. These poor heathens had never heard of Christ or His +teachings, but their hearts were human. And so it was that Bob found +himself amongst friends and was rescued from what seemed certain +death. + +When morning came Bob tried in every conceivable way to make them +understand that he wished to be taken back, but he found it a quite +hopeless task. No signs or pantomime could make them comprehend his +meaning, and it appeared that he was doomed to remain with them. The +shock of exposure had been so great that he was still very weak and +not able to walk, as he quickly realized when he tried to move about, +and he was compelled to remain within in the company of the women, in +spite of his desire to go out and reconnoitre. + +Ma-ni-ka-wan, the maiden, took it upon herself to be his nurse. She +brought him water to bathe his face, which was very sore from +frostbite, and gave him the choicest morsels from the kettle, and made +him as comfortable as possible. + +At first he held a faint hope that when Bill missed him at the tilt, a +search would be made for him and his friends would find the wigwam. +But as the days slipped by he realized that he would probably never be +discovered. There came a fear that the news of his disappearance would +be carried to Wolf Bight and he dreaded the effect upon his mother and +Emily. + +But there was one consolation. Emily could go to the hospital now and +be cured. Bill would find the silver fox skin and his share of that +and the other furs would pay not only his own but his father's debts, +he felt sure, as well as all the expense of Emily's treatment by the +doctor--and a good surplus of cash--how much he could not imagine and +did not try to calculate--for the doctor had said that silver foxes +were worth five hundred dollars in cash. This thought gave him a +degree of satisfaction that towered so far above his troubles that he +almost forgot them. + +In a little while he was quite strong and active again. Finally a day +came when the Indians made preparations to move. The wigwam was taken +down and with all their belongings packed upon toboggans, and under +the cold stars of a January morning, they turned to the northward, and +Bob had no other course than to go with them even farther from the +loved ones and the home that his heart so longed to see. + + + + +XIII + +A FOREBODING OF EVIL + + +Never before had Bob been away from home for more than a week at a +time, and his mother and Emily were very lonely after his departure in +September. They missed his rough good-natured presence with the noise +and confusion that always followed him no less than his little +thoughtful attentions. They forgot the pranks that the overflow of his +young blood sometimes led him into, remembering only his gentler side. +He had helped Emily to pass the time less wearily, often sitting for +hours at a time by her couch, telling her stories or joking with her, +or making plans for the future, and she felt his absence now perhaps +more than even his mother. Many times during the first week or so +after his going she found herself turning wistfully towards the door +half expecting to see him enter, at the hours when he used to come +back from the fishing, and then she would realize that he was really +gone away, and would turn her face to the wall, that her mother might +not see her, and cry quietly in her loneliness. + +Without Bob's help, Richard Gray was very busy now. The fishing season +was ended, but there was wood to be cut and much to be done in +preparation for the long winter close at hand. He went early each +morning to his work, and only returned to the cabin with the dusk of +evening. This home-coming of the father was the one bright period of +the day for Emily, and during the dreary hours that preceded it, she +looked forward with pleasure and longing to the moment when he should +open the door, and call out to her, + +"An' how's my little maid been th'day? Has she been lonesome without +her daddy?" + +And she would always answer, "I's been fine, but dreadful lonesome +without daddy." + +Then he would kiss her, and sit down for a little while by her couch, +before he ate his supper, to tell her of the trivial happenings out of +doors, while he caressed her by stroking her hair gently back from her +forehead. After the meal the three would chat for an hour or so while +he smoked his pipe and Mrs. Gray washed the dishes. Then before they +went to their rest he would laboriously read a selection from the +Bible, and afterwards, on his knees by Emily's couch, thank God for +His goodness to them and ask for His protection, always ending with +the petition, + +"An', Lard, look after th' lad an' keep he safe from th' Nascaupees +an' all harm; an' heal th' maid an' make she well, for, Lard, you must +be knowin' what a good little maid she is." + +Emily never heard this prayer without feeling an absolute confidence +that it would be answered literally, for God was very real to her, and +she had the complete, unshattered faith of childhood. + +Late in October the father went to his trapping trail, and after that +was only home for a couple of days each fortnight. There was no +pleasant evening hour now for Emily and her mother to look forward to. +The men of the bay were all away at their hunting trails, and no +callers ever came to break the monotony of their life, save once in a +while Douglas Campbell would tramp over the ice the eight miles from +Kenemish to spend an afternoon and cheer them up. + +Emily missed Bob more than ever, since her father had gone, but she +was usually very patient and cheerful. For hours at a time she would +think of his home-coming, and thrill with the joy of it. In her fancy +she would see him as he would look when he came in after his long +absence, and in her imagination picture the days and days of happiness +that would follow while he sat by her couch and told her of his +adventures in the far off wilderness. Once, late in November, she +called her mother to her and asked: + +"Mother, how long will it be now an' Bob comes home?" + +"'Tis many months till th' open water, but I were hopin', dear, that +mayhap he'd be comin' at th' New Year." + +"An' how long may it be to th' New Year, mother?" + +"A bit more than a month, but 'tis not certain he'll be comin' then." + +"'Tis a long while t' wait--a _terrible_ long while t' be waitin'--t' +th' New Year." + +"Not so long, Emily. Th' time'll be slippin' by before we knows. But +don't be countin' on his comin' th' New Year, for 'tis a rare long +cruise t' th' Big Hill trail an' he may be waitin' till th' break-up. +But I'm thinkin' my lad'll be wantin' t' see how th' little maid +is,--an' see his mother--an' mayhap be takin' th' cruise." + +"An Bob knew how lonesome we were--how _wonderful_ lonesome we +were--he'd be comin' at th' New Year sure. An' he'll be gettin' +lonesome hisself. He must be gettin' _dreadful_ lonesome away off in +th' bush this long time! He'll _sure_ be comin' at th' New Year!" + +After this Emily began to keep account of the days as they passed. She +had her mother reckon for her the actual number until New Year's Eve, +and each morning she would say, "only so many days now an' Bob'll be +comin' home." Her mother warned her that it was not at all certain he +would come then--only a hope. But it grew to be a settled fact for +Emily, and a part of her daily life, to expect and plan for the happy +time when she should see him. + +Mrs. Gray had not been able to throw off entirely the foreboding of +calamity that she had voiced at the time Bob left home. Every morning +she awoke with a heavy heart, like one bearing a great weight of +sorrow. Before going about her daily duties she would pray for the +preservation of her son and the healing of her daughter, and it would +relieve her burden somewhat, but never wholly. The strange Presence +was always with her. + +One day when Douglas Campbell came over he found her very despondent, +and he asked: + +"Now what's troublin' you, Mary? There's some trouble on yer mind. +Don't be worryin' about th' lad. He's as safe as you be. He'll be +comin' home as fine an' hearty as ever you see him, an' with a fine +hunt." + +"I knows the's no call for th' worry," she answered, "but someways I +has a forebodin' o' somethin' evil t' happen an' I can't shake un off. +I can't tell what an be. Mayhap 'tis th' maid. She's no better, an' +th' Lard's not answerin' my prayer yet t' give back strength t' she +an' make she walk." + +"'Twill be all right wi' th' maid, now. Th' doctor said they'd be +makin' she well at th' hospital." + +"But the's no money t' send she t' th' hospital--an' if she don't +go--th' doctor said she'd never be gettin' well." + +"Now don't be lettin' _that_ worry ye, Mary. Th' Lard'll be findin' a +way t' send she t' St. Johns when th' mail boat comes back in th' +spring, if that be His way o' curin she--I _knows_ He will. Th' Lard +always does things right an' He'll be fixin' it right for th' maid. +He'd not be lettin' a pretty maid like Emily go all her life wi'out +walkin'--He _never_ would do that. I'm thinkin' He'd a' found a way +afore _now_ if th' mail boat had been makin' another trip before th' +freeze up." + +"I'm lackin' in faith, I'm fearin'. I'm always forgettin' that th' +Lard does what's best for us an' don't always do un th' way we wants +He to. He's bidin' His own time I'm thinkin', an' answerin' my prayers +th' way as is best." + +This talk with Douglas made her feel better, but still there was that +burden on her heart--a burden that would not be shaken off. + +All the Bay was frozen now, and white, like the rest of the world, +with drifted snow. The great box stove in the cabin was kept well +filled with wood night and day to keep out the searching cold. An +inch-thick coat of frost covered the inner side of the glass panes of +the two windows and shut out the morning sunbeams that used to steal +across the floor to brighten the little room. December was fast +drawing to a close. + +Richard Gray's luck had changed. Fur was plentiful--more plentiful +than it had been for years--and he was hopeful that by spring he would +have enough to pay all his back debt at the company store and be on +his feet again. Two days before Christmas he reached home in high good +humour, with the pelts he had caught, and displayed them with +satisfaction to Mrs. Gray and Emily--beautiful black otters, martens, +minks and beavers with a few lynx and a couple of red foxes. + +"I'll be stayin' home for a fortnight t' get some more wood cut," he +announced. "How'll that suit th' maid?" + +"Oh! Tis fine!" cried the child, clapping her hands with delight. "An' +Bob'll be home for the New Year an' we'll all be havin' a fine time +together before you an' Bob goes away again." + +"In th' mornin' I'll have t' be goin' t' th' Post wi' th' dogs an' +komatik t' get some things. Is there anything yer wantin', Mary?" he +asked his wife. + +"We has plenty o' flour an' molasses an' tea; but," she suggested, +"th' next day's Christmas, Richard." + +"Aye, I'm thinkin' o' un an' I may be seein' Santa Claus t' tell un +what a rare fine maid Emily's been an' ask un not t' be forgettin' +she. He's been wonderful forgetful not t' be comin' round last +Christmas an' th' Christmas before I'll have t' be remindin' he." + +Emily looked up wistfully. + +"An' you are thinkin' he'll have _time_ t' come here wi' all th' +places t' go to? Oh, I'm wishin' he would!" + +"I'll just make un--I'll just _make_ un," said her father. "I'll not +let un pass my maid _every_ time." + +Emily was awake early the next morning--before daybreak. Her father +was about to start for the Post, and the dogs were straining and +jumping in the traces. She knew this because she could hear their +expectant howls,--and the dogs never howled just like that under any +other circumstances. Then she heard "hoo-ett--hoo-ett" as he gave them +the word to be off and, in the distance, as he turned them down the +brook to the right his shouts of "ouk! ouk! ouk!--ouk! ouk! ouk!" + +It was a day of delightful expectancy. Tomorrow would be Christmas and +perhaps--perhaps--Santa Claus would come! She chattered all day to her +mother about it, wondering if he would really come and what he would +bring her. + +Finally, just at nightfall she heard her father shouting at the dogs +outside and presently he came in carrying his komatik box, his beard +weighted with ice and his clothing white with hoar frost. + +"Well," announced he, as he put down the box and pulled his adikey +over his head, "I were seein' Santa Claus th' day an' givin' he a rare +scoldin' for passin' my maid by these two year--a _rare_ scoldin'--an' +I'm thinkin' he'll not be passin' un by _this_ Christmas. He'll not be +wantin' _another_ such scoldin'." + +"Oh!" said Emily, "'twere too bad t' scold un. He must be havin' a +wonderful lot o' places t' go to an' he's not deservin' t' be scolded +now. He's sure doin' th' best he can--I _knows_ he's doin' th' best he +can." + +"He were deservin' of un, an' more. He were passin' my maid _two_ year +runnin' an' I can't be havin' that," insisted the father as he hung up +his adikey and stooped to open the komatik box, from which he +extracted a small package which he handed to Emily saying, "Somethin' +Bessie were sendin'." + +"Look! Look, mother!" Emily cried excitedly as she undid the package +and discovered a bit of red ribbon; "a hair ribbon an'--an' a paper +with some writin'!" + +Mrs. Gray duly examined and admired the gift while Emily spelled out +the message. + +[Illustration (handwriting): to dear emily Wishin mery Crismus from +Bessie] + +"Oh, an' Bessie's fine t' be rememberin' me!" said she, adding +regretfully, "I'm wishin' I'd been sendin' she somethin' but I hasn't +a thing t' send." + +"Aye, Bessie's a fine lass," said her father. "She sees me comin' an' +runs down t' meet me, an' asks how un be, an' if we're hearin' e'er a +word from Bob. An' I tells she Emily's fine an' we're not hearin' from +Bob, but are thinkin' un may be comin' home for th' New Year. An' then +Bessie says as she's wantin' t' come over at th' New Year t' visit +Emily." + +"An' why weren't you askin' she t' come back with un th' day?" asked +Mrs. Gray. + +"Oh, I wish she had!" exclaimed Emily. + +"I were askin' she," he explained, "but she were thinkin' she'd wait +till th' New Year. Her mother's rare busy th' week wi' th' men all in +from th' bush, an' needin' Bessie's help." + +"An' how's th' folk findin' th' fur?" asked Mrs. Gray as she poured +the tea. + +"Wonderful fine. Wonderful fine with all un as be in." + +"An' I'm glad t' hear un. 'Twill be givin' th' folk a chance t' pay +th' debts. Th' two bad seasons must ha' put most of un in a bad way +for debt." + +"Aye, 'twill that. An' now we're like t' have two fine seasons. 'Tis +th' way un always runs." + +"'Tis th' Lard's way," said Mrs. Gray reverently. + +"The's a band o' Injuns come th' day," added Richard Gray, "an' they +reports fur rare plenty inside, as 'tis about here. An' I'm thinkin' +Bob'll be doin' fine his first year in th' bush." + +"Oh, I'm hopin'--I'm hopin' so--for th' lad's sake an' Emily's. 'Tis +how th' Lard's makin' a way for th' brave lad t' send Emily t' th' +doctor--an' he comes back safe." + +"I were askin' th' Mountaineers had they seen Nascaupee footin', an' +they seen none. They're sayin' th' Nascaupees has been keepin' t' th' +nuth'ard th' winter, an' we're not t' fear for th' lad." + +"Thank th' Lard!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray. "Thank th' Lard! An' now that's +relievin' my mind wonderful--relievin'--it--wonderful." + +There was an added earnestness to Richard Gray's expressions of +thanksgiving when he knelt with his wife by their child's couch for +family worship that Christmas eve, and there was an unwonted happiness +in their hearts when they went to their night's rest. + + + + +XIV + +THE SHADOW OF DEATH + + +The kettle was singing merrily on the stove, and Mrs. Gray was setting +the breakfast table, when Emily awoke on Christmas morning. Her father +was just coming in from out-of-doors bringing a breath of the fresh +winter air with him. + +"A Merry Christmas," he called to her. "A Merry Christmas t' my maid!" + +"And did Santa Claus come?" she asked, looking around expectantly. + +"Santa Claus? There now!" he exclaimed, "an' has th' old rascal been +forgettin' t' come again? Has you seen any signs o' Santa Claus bein' +here?" he asked of Mrs. Gray, as though thinking of it for the first +time. Then, turning towards the wall back of the stove, he exclaimed, +"Ah! Ah! an' what's _this_?" + +Emily looked, and there, sitting upon the shelf, was a doll! + +"Oh! Oh, th' dear little thing!" she cried. "Oh, let me have un!" + +Mrs. Gray took it down and handed it to her, and she hugged it to her +in an ecstasy of delight. Then she held it off and looked at it, and +hugged again, and for very joy she wept. It was only a poor little rag +doll with face and hair grotesquely painted upon the cloth, and +dressed in printed calico--but it was a doll--a _real_ one--the first +that Emily had ever owned. It had been the dream of her life that some +day she might have one, and now the dream was a blessed reality. Her +happiness was quite beyond expression as she lay there on her bed that +Christmas morning pressing the doll to her breast and crying. Poverty +has its seasons of recompense that more than counterbalance all the +pleasures that wealth can buy, and this was one of those seasons for +the family of Richard Gray. + +Presently Emily stopped crying, and through the tears came laughter, +and she held the toy out for her father and mother to take and examine +and admire. + +A little later Mrs. Gray came from the closet holding a mysterious +package in her hand. + +"Now what be _this_? 'Twere in th' closet an' looks like somethin' +more Santa Claus were leavin'." + +"Well now!" exclaimed Richard, "what may _that_ be? Open un an' we'll +see." + +An investigation of its contents revealed a couple of pounds of sugar, +some currants, raisins and a small can of butter. + +"Santa Claus were wantin' us t' have a plum puddin' _I'm_ thinkin'," +said Mrs. Gray, as she examined each article and showed it to Emily. +"An' we're t' have sugar for th' tea and butter for th' bread. But th' +puddin's not t' get _all_ th' raisins. Emily's t' have some t' eat +after we has breakfast." + +Dinner was a great success. There were roast ptarmigans stuffed with +fine-chopped pork and bread, and the unwonted luxuries of butter and +sugar--and then the plum pudding served with molasses for sauce. That +was fine, and Emily had to have two helpings of it. If Bob had been +with them their cup of happiness would have been filled quite to the +brim, and more than once Emily exclaimed: + +"Now if _Bob_ was only here!" And several times during the day she +said, "I'm just _wishin'_ t' show Bob my pretty doll--an' won't he be +glad t' see un!" + +The report from the Mountaineer Indians that no Nascaupees had been +seen had set at rest their fears for the lad's safety. The +apprehension that he might get into the hands of the Nascaupees had +been the chief cause of worry, for they felt full confidence in Bob's +ability to cope with the wilderness itself. + +The day was so full of surprises and new sensations that when bedtime +came Emily was quite tired out with the excitement of it all, and was +hardly able to keep awake until the family worship was closed. Then +she went to sleep with the doll in her arms. + +The week from Christmas till New Year passed quickly. Richard Gray was +at home, and this was a great treat for Mrs. Gray and Emily, and with +several of their neighbours who lived within ten to twenty miles of +Wolf Bight driving over with dogs to spend a few hours--for most of +the men were home from their traps for the holidays--the time was +pretty well filled up. Emily's doll was a never failing source of +amusement to her, and she always slept with it in her arms. + +Over at the Post it was a busy week for Mr. MacDonald and his people, +for all the Bay hunters and Indians had trading to do, and most of +them remained at least one night to gossip and discuss their various +prospects and enjoy the hospitality of the kitchen; and then there was +a dance nearly every night, for this was their season of amusement and +relaxation in the midst of the months of bitter hardships on the +trail. + +Bessie and her mother had not a moment to themselves, with all the +extra cooking and cleaning to be done, for it fell upon them to +provide for every one; and it became quite evident to Bessie that she +could not get away for her proposed visit to Wolf Bight until the last +of the hunters was gone. This would not be until the day after New +Year's, so she postponed her request to her father, to take her over, +until New Year's day. Then she watched for a favourable opportunity +when she was alone with him and her mother. Finally it came late in +the afternoon, when he stepped into the house for something, and she +asked him timidly: + +"Father, I'm wantin' t' go on a cruise t' Wolf Bight--t' see +Emily--can't you take me over with th dogs an' komatik?" + +"When you wantin' t' go, lass?" he asked. + +"I'm wishin' t' be goin' to-morrow." + +"I'm t' be wonderful busy for a few days. Can't un wait a week or +two?" + +"I'm wantin' t' go now, father, if I goes. I'm not wantin' t' wait." + +"Bob's t' be home," suggested Mrs. Blake. + +"Oh, ho! I see!" he exclaimed. "'Tisn't Bob instead o' Emily you're +wantin' so wonderful bad t' see now, is un?" + +"'Tis--Emily--I'm wantin'--t'--see," faltered Bessie, blushing +prettily and fingering the hem of her apron in which she was suddenly +very much interested. + +"Bob's a fine lad--a fine lad--an' I'm not wonderin'," said her father +teasingly. + +"Now, Tom," interceded Mrs. Black, "don't be tormentin' Bessie. O' +course 'tis just Emily she's wantin' t' see. She's not thinkin' o' th' +lads yet." + +"Oh, aye," said he, looking slyly out of the corner of his eye at +Bessie, who was blushing now to the very roots of her hair, "I'm not +blamin' she for likin' Bob. I likes he myself." + +"Well, Tom, be tellin' th' lass you'll take she over. She's been kept +wonderful close th' winter, an' the cruise'll be doin' she good," +urged Mrs. Black. + +"I wants t' go _so_ much," Bessie pleaded. + +"Well, I'll ask Mr. MacDonald can he spare me th' day. I'm thinkin' +'twill be all right," he finally assented. + +And it was all right. When the last hunter had disappeared the next +morning, the komatik was got ready. A box made for the purpose was +lashed on the back end of it, and warm reindeer skins spread upon the +bottom for Bessie to sit upon. Then the nine big dogs were called by +shouting "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to them, and were caught and harnessed, after +which Tom cracked a long walrus-hide whip over their heads, and made +them lie quiet until Bessie was tucked snugly in the box, and wrapped +well in deerskin robes. + +When at last all was ready the father stepped aside with his whip, and +immediately the dogs were up jumping and straining in their harness +and giving short impatient howls, over eager to be away. Tom grasped +the front end of the komatik runners, pulled them sharply to one side +to break them loose from the snow to which they were frozen, and +instantly the dogs were off at a gallop running like mad over the ice +with the trailing komatik in imminent danger of turning over when it +struck the ice hummocks that the tide had scattered for some distance +out from the shore. + +Presently they calmed down, however, to a jog trot, and Tom got off +the komatik and ran by its side, guiding the team by calling out "ouk" +when he wanted to turn to the right and "rudder" to turn to the left, +repeating the words many times in rapid succession as though trying to +see how fast he could say them. The head dog, or leader, always turned +quickly at the word of command, and the others followed. + +It was a very cold day--fifty degrees below zero Mr. MacDonald had +said before they started--and Bessie's father looked frequently to see +that her nose and cheeks were not freezing, for a traveller in the +northern country when not exercising violently will often have these +parts of the face frozen without knowing it or even feeling cold, and +if the wind is blowing in the face is pretty sure to have them frosted +anyway. + +Most of the snow had drifted off the ice, and the dogs had a good hard +surface to travel upon, and were able to keep up a steady trot. They +made such good time that in two hours they turned into Wolf Bight, and +as they approached the Grays' cabin broke into a gallop, for dogs +always like to begin a journey and end it with a flourish of speed +just to show how fast they _can_ go, no matter how slowly they may jog +along between places. + +The dogs at Wolf Bight were out to howl defiance at them as they +approached and to indulge in a free fight with the newcomers when they +arrived, until the opposing ones were beaten apart with clubs and +whips. It is a part of a husky dog's religion to fight whenever an +excuse offers, and often when there is no excuse. + +Richard and Mrs. Gray came running out to meet Tom and Bessie, and +Bessie was hurried into the cabin where Emily was waiting in excited +expectancy to greet her. Mrs. Gray bustled about at once and brewed +some hot tea for the visitors and set out a luncheon of bread for +them. + +"Now set in an' have a hot drink t' warm un up," said she when it was +ready. "You must be most froze, Bessie, this frosty day." + +"I were warm wrapped in th' deerskins, an' not so cold," Bessie +answered. + +"We were lookin' for Bob these three days," remarked Mrs. Gray as she +poured the tea. "We were thinkin' he'd sure be gettin' lonesome by +now, an' be makin' a cruise out." + +"'Tis a long cruise from th' Big Hill trail unless he were needing +somethin'," suggested Tom, taking his seat at the table. + +"Aye," assented Richard, "an' I'm thinkin' th' lad'll not be wantin' +t' lose th' time 'twill take t' come out. He'll be biding inside t' +make th' most o' th' huntin', an' th' fur be plenty." + +"That un will," agreed Tom, "an' 'twould not be wise for un t' be +losin' a good three weeks o' huntin'. Bob's a workin' lad, an' I'm not +thinkin' you'll see he till open water comes." + +"Oh," broke in Emily, "an' don't un _really_ think Bob's t' come? I +been wishin' _so_ for un, an' 'twould be grand t' have he come while +Bessie's here." + +"Bessie's thinkin' 'twould too," said Tom, who could not let pass an +opportunity to tease his daughter. + +They all looked at Bessie, who blushed furiously, but said nothing, +realizing that silence was the best means of diverting her father's +attention from the subject, and preventing his further remarks. + +"Well I'll have t' be goin'," said Tom presently, pushing back from +the table. + +"Oh, sit down, man, an' bide a bit. There's nothin' t' take un back so +soon. Bide here th' night, can't un?" urged Richard. + +"I were sayin' t' Mr. MacDonald as I'd be back t' th' post th' day, so +promisin' I has t' go." + +"Aye, an' un promised, though I were hopin' t' have un bide th' +night." + +"When'll I be comin' for un, Bessie?" asked Tom. + +"Oh, Bessie must be bidin' a _long_ time," plead Emily. "I've been +wishin' t' have she _so_ much. Please be leavin' she a _long_ time." + +"Mother'll be needin' me I'm thinkin' in a week," said Bessie, "though +I'd like t' bide longer." + +"Your mother'll not be needin' un, now th' men's gone. Bide wi' Emily +a fortnight," her father suggested. + +"I'll take th' lass over when she's wantin' t' go," said Richard. +"'Tis a rare treat t' Emily t' have she here, an' th' change'll be +doin' your lass good." + +So it was agreed, and Tom drove away. + +It was a terrible disappointment to Emily and her mother that Bob did +not come, but Bessie's visit served to mitigate it to some extent, and +her presence brightened the cabin very much. + +No one knew whether or not Bob's failure to appear was regretted by +Bessie. That was her secret. However it may have been, she had a +splendid visit with Mrs. Gray and Emily, and the days rolled by very +pleasantly, and when Richard Gray left for his trail again on the +Monday morning following her arrival the thought that Bessie was with +"th' little maid" gave him a sense of quiet satisfaction and security +that he had not felt when he was away from them earlier in the winter. + +When Douglas Campbell came over one morning a week after Bessie's +arrival he found the atmosphere of gloom that he had noticed on his +earlier visits had quite disappeared. Mrs. Gray seemed contented now, +and Emily was as happy as could be. + +Douglas remained to have dinner with them. They had just finished +eating and he had settled back to have a smoke before going home, +admiring a new dress that Bessie had made for Emily's doll, and +talking to the child, while Mrs. Gray and Bessie cleared away the +dishes, when the door opened and Ed Matheson appeared on the +threshold. + +Ed stood in the open door speechless, his face haggard and drawn, and +his tall thin form bent slightly forward like a man carrying a heavy +burden upon his shoulders. + +It was not necessary for Ed to speak. The moment Mrs. Gray saw him she +knew that he was the bearer of evil news. She tottered as though she +would fall, then recovering herself she extended her arms towards him +and cried in agony: + +"Oh, my lad! My lad! What has happened to my lad!" + +"Bob--Bob"--faltered Ed, "th'--wolves--got--un." + +He had nerved himself for this moment, and now the spell was broken he +sat down upon a bench, and with his elbows upon his knees and his face +in his big weather-browned hands, cried like a child. + +Emily lay white and wild-eyed. She could not realize it all or +understand it. It seemed for a moment as though Mrs. Gray would faint, +and Bessie, pale but self-possessed, supported her to a seat and tried +gently to soothe her. + +Douglas, too, did what he could to comfort, though there was little +that he could do or say to relieve the mother's grief. + +At first Mrs. Gray simply moaned, "My lad--my lad--my lad----" +upbraiding herself for ever letting him go away from home; but finally +tears--the blessed safety-valve of grief--came and washed away the +first effects of the shock. + +Then she became quite calm, and insisted upon hearing every smallest +detail of Ed's story, and he related what had happened step by step, +beginning with the arrival of himself and Dick at the river tilt on +Christmas eve and the discovery that Bob's furs had been removed, and +passed on to the finding of the remains by the big boulder in the +marsh, Mrs. Gray interrupting now and again to ask a fuller +explanation here and there. + +When Ed told of gathering up the fragments of torn clothing, she asked +to see them at once. Ed hesitated, and Douglas suggested that she wait +until a later time when her nerves were steadier; but she was +determined, and insisted upon seeing them without delay, and there was +nothing to do but produce them. Contrary to their expectations, she +made no scene when they were placed before her, and though her hand +trembled a little was quite collected as she took up the blood-stained +pieces of cloth and examined them critically one by one. Finally she +raised her head and announced: + +"None o' _them_ were ever a part o' Bob's clothes." + +"Whose now may un be if not Bob's?" asked Ed, sceptical of her +decision. + +"None of un were _Bob's_. I were makin' all o' Bob's clothes, +an'--I--_knows_: I _knows_," she insisted. + +"But th' flat sled were Bob's, an' th' tent an' other things," said +Ed. + +"Th' _clothes_ were not Bob's--an' Bob were not killed by wolves--my +lad is livin'--somewheres--I _feels_ my lad is livin'," she asserted. + +Then Ed told of the two axes found--one on the toboggan and the other +on the snow--and Mrs. Gray raised another question. + +"Why," she asked, "had he two axes?" + +It was explained that he had probably taken one in on a previous trip +and cached it. But she argued that if he needed an axe going in on the +previous trip he must have needed it coming out too, and it was not +likely that he would have cached it. Besides, she was quite sure that +he had but one axe with him in the bush, as there was no extra axe for +him to take when he was leaving home; and Douglas said that when he +left the trail at the close of the previous season he had left no axe +in any of the tilts. + +"Richard 'll know un when he comes," said she. "Richard'll know Bob's +axe." + +The mother was still more positive now that the remains they had found +were not Bob's remains, and Ed and Douglas, though equally positive +that she was mistaken, let her hold the hope--or rather belief--that +Bob still lived. She asserted that he was alive as one states a fact +that one knows is beyond question. The circumstantial evidence against +her theory was strong, but a woman's intuition stands not for reason, +and her conclusions she will hold against the world. + +"I must be takin' th' word in t' Richard though 'tis a sore trial t' +do it," said Douglas, preparing at once to go. "I'll be findin' un on +th' trail. Keep courage, Mary, until we comes. 'Twill be but four days +at furthest," he added as he was going out of the door. + +Ed left immediately after for his home, to spend a day or two before +returning to his inland trail, and Mrs. Gray and Emily and Bessie +were left alone again in a gloom of sorrow that approached despair. + +That night long after the light was out and they had gone to bed, Mrs. +Gray, who was still lying awake with her trouble, heard Emily softly +speak: + +"Mother." + +She stole over to Emily's couch and kissed the child's cheek. + +"Mother, an' th' wolves killed Bob, won't he be an angel now?" + +"Bob's livin'--somewheres--child, an' I'm prayin' th' Lard in His +mercy t' care of th' lad. Th' Lard knows where un is, lass, an' th' +Lard'll sure not be forgettin' he." + +"But," she insisted, "he's an angel now _if_ th' wolves killed un?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"An' th' Lard lets angels come sometimes t' see th' ones they loves, +don't He, mother?" + +"Be quiet now, lass." + +"But He does?" persisted the child. + +"Aye, He does." + +"Then if Bob were killed, mother, he'll sure be comin' t' see us. His +angel'd never be restin' easy in heaven wi'out comin' t' see us, for +he knows how sore we longs t' see un." + +The mother drew the child to her heart and sobbed. + + + + +XV + +IN THE WIGWAM OF SISHETAKUSHIN + + +Day after day the Indians travelled to the northward, drawing their +goods after them on toboggans, over frozen rivers and lakes, or +through an ever scantier growth of trees. With every mile they +traversed Bob's heart grew heavier in his bosom, for he was constantly +going farther from home, and the prospect of return was fading away +with each sunset. He knew that they were moving northward, for always +the North Star lay before them when they halted for the night, and +always a wilder, more unnatural country surrounded them. Finally a +westerly turn was taken, and he wondered what their goal might be. + +Cold and bitter was the weather. The great limitless wilderness was +frozen into a deathlike silence, and solemn and awful was the vast +expanse of white that lay everywhere around them. They, they alone, it +seemed, lived in all the dreary world. The icy hand of January had +crushed all other creatures into oblivion. No deer, no animals of any +kind crossed their trail. Their food was going rapidly, and they were +now reduced to a scanty ration of jerked venison. + +At last they halted one day by the side of a brook and pitched their +wigwam. Then leaving the women to cut wood and put the camp in order, +the two Indians shouldered their guns and axes, and made signs to Bob +to follow them, which he gladly did. + +They ascended the frozen stream for several miles, when suddenly they +came upon a beaver dam and the dome-shaped house of the animals +themselves, nearly hidden under the deep covering of snow. The house +had apparently been located earlier in the season, for now the Indians +went directly to it as a place they were familiar with. + +Here they began at once to clear away the snow from the ice at one +side of the house, using their snow-shoes as shovels. When this was +done, a pole was cut, and to the end of the pole a long iron spike was +fastened. With this improvised implement Sishetakushin began to pick +away the ice where the snow had been cleared from it, while Mookoomahn +cut more poles. + +[Illustration: "It was dangerous work"] + +Though the ice was fully four feet thick Sishetakushin soon reached +the water. Then the other poles that Mookoomahn had cut were driven in +close to the house. + +Bob understood that this was done to prevent the escape of the +animals, and that they were closing the door, which was situated so +far down that it would always be below the point where ice would form, +so that the beavers could go in and out at will. + +After these preparations were completed the Indians cleared the snow +from the top of the beaver house, and then broke an opening into the +house itself. Into this aperture Sishetakushin peered for a moment, +then his hand shot down, and like a flash reappeared holding a beaver +by the hind legs, and before the animal had recovered sufficiently +from its surprise to bring its sharp teeth into action in +self-defense, the Indian struck it a stinging blow over the head and +killed it. Then in like manner another animal was captured and killed. +It was dangerous work and called for agility and self-possession, for +had the Indian made a miscalculation or been one second too slow the +beaver's teeth, which crush as well as cut, would have severed his +wrist or arm. + +There were two more beavers--a male and a female--in the house, but +these were left undisturbed to raise a new family, and the stakes that +had closed the door were removed. + +This method of catching beavers was quite new to Bob, who had always +seen his father and the other hunters of the Bay capture them in steel +traps. It was his first lesson in the Indian method of hunting. + +That evening the flesh of the beavers went into the kettle, and their +oily tails--the greatest tidbit of all--were fried in a pan. The +Indians made a feast time of it, and never ceased eating the livelong +night. This day of plenty came in cheerful contrast to the cheerless +nights with scanty suppers following the weary days of plodding that +had preceded. The glowing fire in the centre, the appetizing smell of +the kettle and sizzling fat in the pan, and the relaxation and mellow +warmth as they reclined upon the boughs brought a sense of real +comfort and content. + +The next day they remained in camp and rested, but the following +morning resumed the dreary march to the westward. + +After many more days of travelling--Bob had lost all measure of +time--they reached the shores of a great lake that stretched away +until in the far distance its smooth white surface and the sky were +joined. The Indians pointed at the expanse of snow-covered ice, and +repeated many times, "Petitsikapau--Petitsikapau," and Bob decided +that this must be what they called the lake; but the name was wholly +unfamiliar to him. In like manner they had indicated that a river they +had travelled upon for some distance farther back, after crossing a +smaller lake, was called "Ashuanipi," but he had never heard of it +before. + +The wigwam was pitched upon the shores of Petitsikapau Lake, where +there was a thick growth of willows upon the tender tops of which +hundreds of ptarmigans--the snow-white grouse of the arctic--were +feeding; and rabbits had the snow tramped flat amongst the underbrush, +offering an abundance of fresh food to the hunters, a welcome change +from the unvaried fare of dried venison. + +Bob drew from the elaborate preparations that were made that they were +to stop here for a considerable time. Snow was banked high against the +skin covering of the wigwam to keep out the wind more effectually, an +unusually thick bed of spruce boughs was spread within, and a good +supply of wood was cut and neatly piled outside. + +The women did all the heavy work and drudgery about camp, and it +troubled Bob not a little to see them working while the men were idle. +Several times he attempted to help them, but his efforts were met with +such a storm of protestations and disapproval, not only from the men, +but the women also, that he finally refrained. + +"'Tis strange now th' women isn't wantin' t' be helped," Bob remarked +to himself. "Mother's always likin' t' have me help she." + +It was quite evident that the men considered this camp work beneath +their dignity as hunters, and neither did they wish Bob, to whom they +had apparently taken a great fancy, to do the work of a squaw. They +had, to all appearances, accepted him as one of the family and treated +him in all respects as such, and, he noted this with growing +apprehension, as though he were always to remain with them. + +They began now to initiate him into the mysteries of their +trapping methods, which were quite different from those with +which he was accustomed. Instead of the steel trap they used the +deadfall--wa-neé-gan--and the snare--nug-wah-gun--and Bob won the +quick commendation and plainly shown admiration of the Indians by the +facility with which he learned to make and use them, and his prompt +success in capturing his fair share of martens, which were fairly +numerous in the woods back of the lake. + +But when he took his gun and shot some ptarmigans one day, they gave +him to understand that this was a wasteful use of ammunition, and +showed him how they killed the birds with bow and arrow. To shoot the +arrows straight, however, was an art that he could not acquire +readily, and his efforts afforded Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn much +amusement. + +"The's no shootin' straight wi' them things," Bob declared to himself, +after several unsuccessful attempts to hit a ptarmigan. "Leastways I'm +not knowin' how. But th' Injuns is shootin' un fine, an' I'm wonderin' +now how they does un." + +With no one that could understand him Bob had unconsciously dropped +into the habit of talking a great deal to himself. It was not very +satisfactory, however, and there were always questions arising that +he wished to ask. He had, therefore, devoted himself since his advent +amongst the Indians to learning their language, and every day he +acquired new words and phrases. Manikawan would pronounce the names of +objects for him and have him repeat them after her until he could +speak them correctly, laughing merrily at his blunders. + +It does not require a large vocabulary to make oneself understood, and +in an indescribably short time Bob had picked up enough Indian to +converse brokenly, and one day, shortly after the arrival at +Petitsikapau he found he was able to explain to Sishetakushin where he +came from and his desire to return to the Big Hill trail and the Grand +River country. + +"It is not good to dwell on the great river of the evil spirits" (the +Grand River), said the Indian. "Be contented in the wigwam of your +brothers." + +Bob parleyed and plead with them, and when he finally insisted that +they take him back to the place where they had found him, he was met +with the objection that it was "many sleeps towards the rising sun," +that the deer had left the land as he had seen for himself, and if +they turned back their kettle would have no flesh and their stomachs +would be empty. + +"We are going," said Sishetakushin, "where the deer shall be found +like the trees of the forest, and there our brother shall feast and be +happy." + +So Bob's last hope of reaching home vanished. + +Manikawan's kindness towards him grew, and she was most attentive to +his comfort. She gave him the first helping of "nab-wi"--stew--from +the kettle, and kept his clothing in good repair. His old moccasins +she replaced with new ones fancifully decorated with beads, and his +much-worn duffel socks with warm ones made of rabbit skins. Everything +that the wilderness provided he had from her hand. But still he was +not happy. There was an always present longing for the loved ones in +the little cabin at Wolf Bight. He never could get out of his mind his +mother's sad face on the morning he left her, dear patient little +Emily on her couch, and his father, who needed his help so much, +working alone about the house or on the trail. And sometimes he +wondered if Bessie ever thought of him, and if she would be sorry when +she heard he was lost. + +"Manikawan an' all th' Injuns be wonderful kind, but 'tis not like +bein' home," he would often say sadly to himself when he lay very +lonely at night upon his bed of boughs and skins. + +At first Manikawan's attentions were rather agreeable to Bob, but he +was not accustomed to being waited upon, and in a little while they +began to annoy him and make him feel ill at ease, and finally to +escape from them he rarely ever remained in the wigwam during daylight +hours. + +"I'm wishin' she'd not be troublin' wi' me so--I'm not wantin' un," he +declared almost petulantly at times when the girl did something for +him that he preferred to do himself. + +Mornings he would wander down through the valley attending to his +deadfalls and snares, and afternoons tramp over the hills in the hope +of seeing caribou. + +One afternoon two weeks after the arrival at Petitsikapau he was +skirting a precipitous hill not far from camp, when suddenly the snow +gave way under his feet and he slipped over a low ledge. He did not +fall far, and struck a soft drift below, and though startled at the +unexpected descent was not injured. When he got upon his feet again he +noticed what seemed a rather peculiar opening in the rock near the +foot of the ledge, where his fall had broken away the snow, and upon +examining it found that the crevice extended back some eight or ten +feet and then broadened into a sort of cavern. + +"'Tis a strange place t' be in th' rocks," he commented. "I'm thinkin' +I'll have a look at un." + +Kicking off his snow-shoes and standing his gun outside he proceeded +to crawl in on all fours. When he reached the point of broadening he +found the cavern within so dark that he could see nothing of its +interior, and he advanced cautiously, extending one arm in front of +him that he might not strike his head against protruding rocks. All at +once his hand came in contact with something soft and warm. He drew it +back with a jerk, and his heart stood still. He had touched the shaggy +coat of a bear. He was in a bear's den and within two feet of the +sleeping animal. He expected the next moment to be crushed under the +paws of the angry beast, and was quite astonished when he found that +it had not been aroused. + +Cautiously and noiselessly Bob backed quickly out of the dangerous +place. The moment he was out and found himself on his feet again with +his gun in his hands his courage returned, and he began to make plans +for the capture of the animal. + +"'Twould be fine now t' kill un an' 'twould please th' Injuns +wonderful t' get th' meat," he said. "I'm wonderin' could I get un--if +'tis a bear." + +He stooped and looked into the cave again, but it was as dark as night +in there, and he could see nothing of the bear. Then he cut a long +pole with his knife and reached in with it until he felt the soft +body. A strong prod brought forth a protesting growl. Bruin did not +like to have his slumbers disturbed. + +"Sure '_tis_ a bear an' that's wakenin' un," he commented. + +Bob prodded harder and the growls grew louder and angrier. + +"He's not wantin' t' get out o' bed," said Bob prodding vigorously. + +Finally there was a movement within the den, and Bob sprang back and +made ready with his gun. He had barely time to get into position when +the head of an enormous black bear appeared in the cave entrance, its +eyes flashing fire and showing fight. Bob's heart beat excitedly, but +he kept his nerve and took a steady aim. The animal was not six feet +away from him when he fired. Then he turned and ran down the hill, +never looking behind until he was fully two hundred yards from the den +and realized that there was no sound in the rear. + +The bear was not in sight and he cautiously retraced his steps until +he saw the animal lying where it had fallen. The bullet had taken it +squarely between the eyes and killed it instantly. This was the first +bear that Bob had ever killed unaided and he was highly elated at his +success. + +It was not an easy task to get the carcass out of the rock crevice, +but he finally accomplished it and outside quickly skinned the bear +and cut the meat into pieces of convenient size to haul away on a +toboggan when he should return for it. Then, with the skin as a +trophy, he triumphantly turned towards camp. + +Night had fallen when he reached the wigwam and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn had already arrived after their day's hunt. It was a proud +moment for Bob when he entered the lodge and threw down the bear skin +for their inspection. They spread it out and examined it, and a great +deal of talking ensued. Bob, in the best Indian he could command, +explained where he had found the "mushku" and how he had killed it, +and his story was listened to with intense interest. When he was +through Sishetakushin said that the "Snow Brother," as they called +Bob, was a great hunter, and should be an Indian; for only an Indian +would have the courage to attack a bear in its den single handed. Bob +had risen very perceptibly in their estimation. All doubt of his skill +and prowess as a hunter had been removed. He had won a new place, and +was now to be considered as their equal in the chase. + +The following morning the two Indians assisted Bob to haul the bear's +meat to camp. No part of it was allowed to waste. In the wigwam it was +thawed and then the flesh stripped from the bones, and that not +required for immediate use was permitted to freeze again that it might +keep sweet until needed. The skull was thoroughly cleaned and fastened +to a high branch of a tree as an offering to the Manitou. +Sishetakushin explained to Bob that unless this was done the Great +Spirit would punish them by driving all other bears beyond the reach +of their guns and traps in future. + +For several days a storm had been threatening, and that night it broke +with all the terrifying fury of the north. The wind shrieked through +the forest and shook the wigwam as though it would tear it away. The +air was filled with a swirling, blinding mass of snow and any one +venturing a dozen paces from the lodge could hardly have found his way +back to it again. For three days the storm lasted, and the Indians +turned these three days into a period of feasting. A big kettle of +bear's meat always hung over the fire, and surrounding it pieces of +the meat were impaled upon sticks to roast. It seemed to Bob as though +the Indians would never have enough to eat. + +Finally the storm cleared, and then it was discovered that the +ptarmigans and rabbits, which had been so plentiful and constituted +their chief source of food supply, had disappeared as if by magic. Not +a ptarmigan fluttered before the hunter, and no rabbit tracks broke +the smooth white snow beneath the bushes. + +The jerked venison was gone and the only food remaining was the bear +meat. A hurried consultation was held, and it was decided to push on +still farther to the northward in the hope of meeting the invisible +herds of caribou that somewhere in those limitless, frozen barrens +were wandering unmolested. + + + + +XVI + +ONE OF THE TRIBE + + +If Bob Gray had held any secret hope that the Indians would eventually +listen to his plea to guide him back to the Big Hill trail it was +mercilessly swept away by the next move, for again they faced steadily +towards the north. Whenever he thought of home a lump came into his +throat, but he always swallowed it bravely and said to himself: + +"'Tis wrong now t' be grievin' when I has so much t' be thankful for. +Bill'll be takin' th' silver fox an' other fur out, and when father +sells un 'twill pay for Emily's goin' t' th' doctor. Th' Lard saved me +from freezin', an' I'm well an' th' Injuns be wonderful good t' me. +Maybe some time they'll be goin' back th' Big Hill way--maybe 'twill +be next winter--an' then I'll be gettin' home." + +In this manner the hope of youth always conquered, and his desperate +situation was to some extent forgotten in the pictures he drew for +himself of his reunion with the loved ones in the uncertain "Sometime" +of the future. + +On and on they travelled through the endless, boundless white, over +wind-swept rocky hills so inhospitably barren that even the snow could +not find a lodgment on them, or over wide plains where the few trees +that grew had been stunted and gnarled into mere shrubs by winter +blasts. On every hand the mountains began to raise their ragged +austere heads like grim giant sentinels placed there to guard the way. +Finally they turned into a pass, which brought them, on the other side +of the ridge it led through, to a comparatively well-wooded valley +down which a wide river wound its way northward. The trees were larger +than any Bob had seen since leaving the Big Hill trail, and this new +valley seemed almost familiar to him. + +As they emerged from the pass a wolf cry, long and weird, came from a +distant mountainside and broke the wilderness stillness, which had +become almost insufferable, and to the lad even this wild cry held a +note of companionship that was pleasant to hear after the long and +deathlike quiet that had prevailed. + +They took to the river ice and travelled on it for several miles +when, rounding a bend, they suddenly came upon a cluster of half a +dozen deerskin wigwams standing in the spruce trees just above the +river bank. An Indian from one of the lodges discovered their +approach, and gave a shout. Instantly men, women and children sprang +into view and came running out to welcome them. It was a curious, +medley crowd. The men were clad in long, decorated deerskin coats such +as Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn wore, and the women in deerskin skirts +reaching a little way below the knees, and all wearing the fringed +buckskin leggings. + +The greeting was cordial and noisy, everybody shaking hands with the +new arrivals, talking in the high key characteristic of them, and +laughing a great deal. Two of the men embraced Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn and shed copious tears of joy over them. These two men it +appeared were Mookoomahn's brothers. The women were not so +demonstrative, but showed their delight in a ceaseless flow of words. + +When the first greetings were over Sishetakushin told the assembled +Indians how Bob had been found sleeping in the snow, and that the +Great Spirit had sent the White Snow Brother to dwell in their lodges +as one of them. After this introduction and a rather magnified +description of his accomplishments as a hunter they all shook Bob's +hand and welcomed him as one of the tribe. + +A few caribou had been killed, and the travellers received gifts of +the frozen meat with a good proportion of fat, and that night a great +feast was held in their behalf. + +With plenty to eat there was no occasion to hunt and the Indians were +living in idleness during the intensely cold months of January and +February, rarely venturing out of the wigwams. This was not only for +their comfort, but because the fur bearing animals lie quiet during +this cold period of the winter and the hunt would therefore yield +small reward for the exposure and suffering it would entail. + +They had an abundance of tobacco and tea. Sishetakushin and his family +had been without these luxuries, and it seemed to Bob that he had +never tasted anything half so delicious as the first cup of tea he +drank. His Indian friends could not understand at first his refusal of +their proffered gifts of "stemmo"--tobacco--but he told them finally +that it would make him sick, and then they accepted his excuse and +laughed at him good naturedly. + +Manikawan had never ceased her attentions to Bob, and the others of +her family seemed to have come to an understanding that it was her +especial duty to look after his comfort. From the first she had been +much troubled that he had only his cloth adikey instead of a deerskin +coat such as her father and Mookoomahn wore, and she often expressed +her regret that there was no deerskin with which to make him one. He +insisted at these times that his adikey was quite warm enough, but she +always shook her head in dissent, for she could not believe it, and +would say, + +"No, the Snow Brother is cold. Manikawan will make him warm clothes +when the deer are found." + +On the very night of their arrival at the camp she went amongst the +wigwams and begged from the women some skins of the fall killing, +tanned with the hair on, with the flesh side as fine and white and +soft as chamois. In two days she had manufactured these into a coat +and had it ready for decoration. It was a very handsome garment, sewn +with sinew instead of thread, and having a hood attached to it +similar to the hoods worn by Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn. + +With brushes made from pointed sticks she painted around the bottom of +the coat a foot-wide border in intricate design, introducing red, +blue, brown and yellow colours that she had compounded herself the +previous summer from fish roe, minerals and oil. Other decorations and +ornamentations were drawn upon the front and arms of the garment +before she considered it quite complete. Then she surveyed her work +with commendable pride, and with a great show of satisfaction +presented it and a pair of the regulation buckskin leggings to Bob. +She was quite delighted when he put his new clothes on, and made no +secret of her admiration of his improved appearance. + +"Now," she said, "the brother is dressed as becomes him and looks very +fine and brave." + +"'Tis fine an' warm," Bob assented, "an' I'm thinkin' I'm lookin' like +an Injun sure enough." + +Bob's aversion to Manikawan's attentions was wearing off, and he was +taking a new interest in her. He very often found himself looking at +her and admiring her dark, pretty face and tall, supple form. +Sometimes she would glance up quickly and catch him at it, and smile, +for it pleased her. Then he would feel a bit foolish and blush through +the tan on his face; for he knew that she read his thoughts. But +neither he nor Manikawan ever voiced the admiration that they felt for +each other. + +Bob was lounging in the wigwam one day a week or so after the arrival +at the camp when he heard some one excitedly shouting, + +"Atuk! Atuk!" + +He grabbed his gun and ran outside where he met Sishetakushin rushing +in from an adjoining wigwam. The Indian called to him to leave his gun +behind and get a spear and follow. He could see that something of +great moment had occurred and he obeyed. + +The Indians from the lodges, all armed with spears, were running +towards a knoll just below the camp, and Bob and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn joined them. When they reached the top of the knoll Bob +halted for a moment in astonishment. Never before had he beheld +anything to compare with what he saw below. A herd of caribou +containing hundreds--yes thousands--like a great living sea, was +moving to the eastward. + +Some of the Indians were already running ahead on their snow-shoes to +turn the animals into the deep snowdrifts of a ravine, while the other +attacked the herd with their spears from the side. The caribou changed +their course when they saw their enemies, and plunged into the ravine, +those behind crowding those in front, which sank into the drifts until +they were quite helpless. From every side the Indians rushed upon the +deer and the slaughter began. Bob was carried away with the excitement +of the hunt, and many of the deer fell beneath his spear thrusts. The +killing went on blindly, indiscriminately, without regard to the age +or sex or number killed, until finally the main herd extricated itself +and ran in wild panic over the river ice and out of reach of the +pursuers. + +In the brief interval between the discovery of the deer and the escape +of the herd over four hundred animals had fallen under the ruthless +spears. When Bob realized the extent of the wicked slaughter he was +disgusted with himself for having taken part in it. + +"'Twas wicked t' kill so many of un when we're not needin' un, an' I +hopes th' Lard'll forgive me for helpin'," he said contritely. + +[Illustration: "Saw her standing in the bright moonlight"] + +Aside from the inhumanity of the thing, it was a terrible waste of +food, for it would only be possible to utilize a comparatively small +proportion of the meat of the slaughtered animals. Perhaps +seventy-five of the carcasses were skinned, after which the flesh was +stripped from the bones and hung in thin slabs from the poles inside +the wigwams to dry. The tongues were removed from all the slaughtered +animals, for they are considered a great delicacy by the Indians; and +some of the leg bones were taken for the marrow they contained. The +great bulk of the meat, however, was left for the wolves and foxes, or +to rot in the sun when summer came. + +The deer killing was followed by a season of feasting, as is always +the case amongst the Indians after a successful hunt. In every wigwam +a kettle of stewing venison was constantly hanging, night and day over +the fire, and marrow bones roasting in the coals, and for several days +the men did nothing but eat and smoke and drink tea. + +It was, however, a busy time for the women. Besides curing the meat +and tongues, they rendered marrow grease from the bones and put it up +neatly in bladders for future use; and it fell to their lot, also, to +dress and tan the hides into buckskin. + +The passing deer herds brought in their wake packs of big gray and +black timber wolves, and the country was soon infested with these +animals. At night their howls were heard, and they came boldly to the +scene of the caribou slaughter and fattened upon the discarded +carcasses of the animals. Now and again one was shot. With plenty to +eat, they were, however, comparatively harmless, and never molested +the camp. + +February was drawing to a close when one day Sishetakushin, Mookoomahn +and two other Indians packed their toboggans preparatory to going on +an excursion. Bob noticed the preparations with interest, and inquired +the meaning of them. + +"The tea and tobacco are nearly gone, and we are in need of powder and +ball," Sishetakushin answered. + +To get these things Bob knew they must go to a trading post, and here, +he decided, was a possible opportunity for him to find a means of +reaching home. He asked the Indians at once for permission to +accompany them. There was no objection to this from any of them, +though they told him it would be a tiresome journey, that they would +travel fast, and be back in a few days. + +But Bob did not propose to let any chance of meeting white men pass +him, and he hurriedly got his things together for the expedition. He +had no intimation of the name or location of the post they were going +to further than that the Indians told him they were going to Mr. +MacPherson, who was, he felt sure, a Hudson's Bay Company Factor, and +he believed that if he could once reach one of the company's forts a +way would be shown him to get to Eskimo Bay. That night was one of +excitement and anticipation for Bob. + +Manikawan seemed to read his thoughts, for the whole evening she +looked troubled, and her eyes were wet when Bob said good-bye to her +in the morning. As the little party turned down upon the river ice, he +looked back once and saw her standing near the wigwam, in the bright +moonlight, her slender figure outlined against the snow, and he waved +his hand to her. + +He never knew that for many days afterwards, when the dusk of evening +came, she stole alone out of the wigwam and down the trail where he +had disappeared to watch for his return, nor how lonely she was and +how she brooded over his loss when she knew that she should never see +her White Brother of the Snow again. + + + + +XVII + +STILL FARTHER NORTH + + +Bob and the Indians travelled in single file, with Mookoomahn leading, +and kept to the wide, smooth pathway that marked the place where the +river lay imprisoned beneath ice a fathom thick. The wind had swept +away the loose snow and beaten down that which remained into a hard +and compact mass upon the frozen river bed, making snow-shoeing here +much easier than in the spruce forest that lay behind the willow brush +along the banks. The Indians walked with the long rapid stride that is +peculiar to them, and which the white man finds hard to simulate, and +good traveller though he was Bob had to adopt a half run to keep their +pace. They drew but two lightly loaded toboggans, and unencumbered by +the wigwam and other heavy camp equipment, and with no trailing squaws +to hamper their speed, an even, unbroken gait was maintained as mile +after mile slipped behind them. + +Not a breath of air was stirring, and the absolute quiet that +prevailed was broken only by the moving men and the rhythmic creak, +creak of the snow-shoes as they came in contact with the hard packed +snow. + +The very atmosphere seemed frozen, so intense was the cold. The moon +like a disk of burnished silver set in a steel blue sky cast a weird, +metallic light over the congealed wilderness. The hoar frost that lay +upon the bushes along the river bank sparkled like filmy draperies of +spun silver, and transformed the bushes into an unearthly multitude of +shining spirits that had gathered there from the dark, mysterious +forest which lay behind them, to watch the passing strangers. +Presently the light of dawn began to diffuse itself upon the world, +and the spirit creations were replaced by substantial banks of +frost-encrusted willows. In a little while the sun peeped timorously +over the eastern hills, but, half obscured by a haze of frost flakes +which hung suspended in the air, gave out no warmth to the frozen +earth. + +No halt was made until noon. Then a fire was built and a kettle of ice +was melted and tea brewed. Bob was hungry, and the jerked venison, +with its delicate nutty flavour, and the hot tea, were delicious. The +latter, poured boiling from the kettle, left a sediment of ice in the +bottom of the tin cup before it was drained, so great was the cold. + +After an hour's rest they hit the trail again and never relaxed their +speed for a moment until sunset. Then they sought the shelter of the +spruce woods behind the river bank, and in a convenient spot for a +fire cleared a circular space, several feet in circumference, by +shovelling the snow back with their snow-shoes, forming a high bank +around their bivouac as a protection from the wind, should it rise. At +one side a fire was built, and in front of the fire a thick bed of +boughs spread. While the others were engaged in these preparations Bob +and Sishetakushin cut a supply of wood for the night. + +It was quite dark before they all settled themselves around the fire +for supper. Two frying pans were now produced, and from a haunch of +venison, frozen as hard as a block of wood, thin chips were cut with +an axe, and with ample pieces of fat were soon sizzling in the pans +and filling the air with an appetizing odour, and in spite of the +bleak surroundings the place assumed a degree of comfort and +hospitality. + +After supper the Indians squatted around the fire on deerskins spread +upon the boughs, smoking their pipes and telling stories, while Bob +reclined upon the soft robes that Manikawan had thoughtfully provided +him with, watching the light play over their dark faces framed in long +black hair, and thought of the Indian girl and wondered if he was +always to live amongst them, and if he would ever become accustomed to +their wild, rude life. + +Finally they lay down close together, with their feet towards the +fire, and wrapped their heads and shoulders closely in the skins, +leaving their moccasined feet uncovered, to be warmed by the blaze, +and the lad was soon lost in dreams of the snug cabin at Wolf Bight. +Once during the night he awoke and arose to replenish the fire. The +stars were looking down upon them, cold and distant, and the +wilderness seemed very solemn and quiet when he resumed his place +amongst the sleeping Indians. + +They were on their way again by moonlight the following morning. +Shortly after daybreak they turned out of the river bed and towards +noon came upon some snow-shoe tracks. A little later they passed a +steel trap, in which a white arctic fox straggled for freedom. They +halted a moment for Sishetakushin to press his knee upon its side to +kill it and then went on. The fox he left in the trap, however, for +the hunter to whom it belonged. This was the first steel trap that Bob +had seen since coming amongst the Indians and he drew from its +presence here that they must be approaching a trading station where +traps were obtainable and in use by the hunters. + +In the middle of the afternoon they turned into a komatik track, and +Bob's heart gave a bound of joy. + +"Sure we're gettin' handy t' th' coast!" he exclaimed. + +They would soon find white men, he was sure. The track led them on for +a mile or so, and then they heard a dog's howl and a moment later came +out upon two snow igloos. Eskimo men, women, and children emerged on +their hands and knees from the low, snow-tunnel entrance of the igloos +at their approach, but when they saw that the travellers were a party +of Indians, gave no invitation to them to enter, and said nothing +until Bob called "Oksunie" to them--a word of greeting that he had +learned from the Bay folk. Then they called to him "Oksunie, oksunie," +and began to talk amongst themselves. + +"They're rare wild lookin' huskies," thought Bob. + +As much as Bob would have liked to stop, he did not do so, for the +Indians stalked past at a rapid pace, never by word or look showing +that they had seen the igloos or the Eskimos. + +These new people, particularly the women, who wore trousers and +carried babies in large hoods hanging on their backs, did not dress +like any Eskimos that Bob had ever seen before. Nor had he ever before +seen the snow houses, though he had heard of them and knew what they +were. The dogs, too, were large, and more like wolves in appearance +than those the Bay folk used, and the komatik was narrower but much +longer and heavier than those he was accustomed to. He was surely in a +new and strange land. + +More igloos were seen during the afternoon, but they were passed as +the first had been, and at night the party bivouacked in the open as +they had done the night before. + +On the morning of the third day they passed into a stretch of barren, +treeless, rolling country, and before midday turned upon a well-beaten +komatik trail, which they followed for a couple of miles, when it +swung sharply to the left towards the river, and as they turned +around a ledge of rocks at the top of a low ridge a view met Bob that +made him shout with joy, and hasten his pace. + +At his feet, in the field of snow, lay a post of the Hudson's Bay +Company. + + + + +XVIII + +A MISSION OF TRUST + + +As Bob looked down upon the whitewashed buildings of the Post, his +sensation was very much like that of a shipwrecked sailor who has for +a long time been drifting hopelessly about upon a trackless sea in a +rudderless boat, and suddenly finds himself safe in harbour. The lad +had never seen anything in his whole life that looked so comfortable +as that little cluster of log buildings with the smoke curling from +the chimney tops, and the general air of civilization that surrounded +them. He did not know where he was, nor how far from home; but he did +know that this was the habitation of white men, and the cloud of utter +helplessness that had hung over him for so long was suddenly swept +away and his sky was clear and bright again. + +A man clad in a white adikey and white moleskin trousers emerged from +one of the buildings, paused for a moment to gaze at Bob and his +companions as they approached, and then reentered the building. + +As they descended the hill the Indians turned to an isolated cabin +which stood somewhat apart from the main group of buildings and to the +eastward of them, but Bob ran down to the one into which the man had +disappeared. His heart was all aflutter with excitement and +expectancy. As he approached the door, it suddenly opened, and there +appeared before him a tall, middle-aged man with full, sandy beard and +a kindly face. Bob felt intuitively that this was the factor of the +Post, and he said very respectfully, + +"Good day, sir." + +"Good day, good day," said the man. "I thought at first you were an +Indian. Come in." + +Bob entered and found himself in the trader's office. At one side were +two tables that served as desks, and on a shelf against the wall +behind them rested a row of musty ledgers and account books. Benches +in lieu of chairs surrounded a large stove in the centre. + +"Take off your skin coat and sit down," invited the trader, who was, +indeed, Mr. MacPherson of whom the Indians had told. + +"Thank you, sir," said Bob. + +When he was finally seated Mr. McPherson asked: + +"That was Sishetakushin's crowd you came with, wasn't it?" + +"Yes, sir," Bob answered. + +"Where did you hail from? It's something new to see a white man come +out of the bush with the Indians." + +"From Eskimo Bay, sir, an' what place may this be?" + +"Eskimo Bay! Eskimo Bay! Why, this is Ungava! How in the world did you +ever get across the country? What's your name?" + +"My name's Bob Gray, sir, an' I lives at Wolf Bight." Then Bob went +on, prompted now and again by the factor's questions, to tell the +story of his adventures. + +"Well," said Mr. MacPherson, "you've had a wonderful escape from +freezing and death and a remarkable experience. You'd better go over +to the men's house and they'll put you up there. Come back after +you've had dinner and we'll talk your case over. The dinner bell is +ringing now," he added, as the big bell began to clang. "Perhaps I'd +better go over with you and show you the way." + +The men's house, as the servants' quarters were called, was a +one-story log house but a few steps from the office. As Bob and Mr. +MacPherson entered it, a big man with a bushy red beard, and a tall +brawny man with clean shaven face, both perhaps twenty-five or thirty +years of age, and both with "Scot" written all over their +countenances, were in the act of sitting down to an uncovered table, +while an ugly old Indian hag was dishing up a savory stew of +ptarmigan. + +Bob's eye took in a plate heaped high with white bread in the centre +of the table and he mentally resolved that it should not be there when +he had finished dinner. + +"Here's some company for you," announced the factor. "Ungava Bob just +ran over from Eskimo Bay to pay us a visit. Take care of him. This," +continued he by way of introduction, indicating the red-headed man, +"is Eric the Red, our carpenter, and this," turning to the other, "is +the Duke of Wellington, our blacksmith. Fill up, Ungava Bob, and come +over to the office and have a talk when you've finished dinner." + +"Sit doon, sit doon," said the red-whiskered man, adding, as Mr. +MacPherson closed the door behind him, "my true name's Sandy Craig +and th' blacksmith here is Jamie Lunan. Th' boss ha' a way o' namin' +every mon t' suit hisself. Now, what's your true name, lad? 'Tis not +Ungava Bob." + +"Bob Gray, an' I comes from Wolf Bight." + +"Now, where can Wolf Bight be?" asked Sandy. + +"In Eskimo Bay, sir." + +"Aye, aye, Eskimo Bay. 'Tis a lang way ye are from Eskimo Bay! Th' +ship folk tell o' Eskimo Bay a many hundred miles t' th' suthard. An' +Jamie an' me be a lang way fra' Petherhead. Be helpin' yesel' now, +lad. Ha' some partridge an' ye maun be starvin' for bread, eatin' only +th' grub o' th' heathen Injuns this lang while," said he, passing the +plate, and adding in apology, "'Tis na' such bread as we ha' in auld +Scotland. Injun women canna make bread wi' th' Scotch lassies an' we +ne'er ha' a bit o' oatmeal or oat-cake. 'Tis bread, though. An' how +could ye live wi' th' Injuns? 'Tis bad enough t' bide here wi' na' +neighbours but th' greasy huskies an' durty Injuns comin' now an' +again, but we has some civilized grub t' eat--sugar an' molasses an' +butter, such as 'tis." + +Sandy and Jamie plied Bob with all sorts of questions about Eskimo Bay +and his life with the Indians, and they did not fail to tell him a +good deal about Peterhead, their Scotland home, and both bewailed +loudly the foolish desire for adventure that had induced them to leave +it to be exiled in Ungava amongst the heathen Eskimos and Indians in a +land where "nine minths o' th' year be winter an' th' ither three +remainin' minths infested wi' th' worst plagues o' Egypt, referrin' t' +th' flies an' nippers (mosquitoes)." + +Strange and new it all was, and while he ate and talked, Bob took in +his surroundings. The room was not unlike the Post kitchen at Eskimo +Bay, though not so spotlessly clean. Besides the table there were two +benches, four rough, home-made chairs and a big box stove that +crackled cheerily. At one side three bunks were built against the wall +and were spread with heavy woollen blankets. Two chests stood near the +bunks and several guns rested upon pegs against the wall. Upon ropes +stretched above the stove numerous duffel socks and mittens hung to +dry. The Indian woman passed in and out through a passageway that led +from the side of the room opposite the door at which he had entered +and her kitchen was evidently on the other side of the passageway. + +Bob did not forget his resolution as to the bread, to which was added +the luxury of butter, and more than once the Indian woman had to +replenish the plate. When they arose from the table Jamie pointed out +to Bob the bunk that he was to occupy. Then, while they smoked their +pipes, they gossiped about the Post doings until the bell warned them +that it was time to return to their work. + +In accordance with Mr. MacPherson's instructions Bob walked over to +the factor's office where he found a young man of eighteen or nineteen +years of age writing at one of the desks. + +"Sit down," said he, looking up. "Mr. MacPherson will be in shortly. +You're the young fellow just arrived, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bob. + +"You've had a long journey, I hear, and must be glad to get out. When +did you leave home?" + +"In September, sir, when I goes t' my trail." + +"I came here on the _Eric_ in September, and if you want to see home +as badly as I do you're pretty anxious to get back there. But there +isn't any chance of getting away from here till the ship comes. This +is the last place God ever made and the loneliest. What did you say +your name is?" + +"Bob Gray, sir." + +"Well, Mr. MacPherson will call you something else, but don't mind +that. He has a new name for every one. He calls Sishetakushin, one of +the Indians you came in with, Abraham Lincoln because he's so tall, +and one of the stout Eskimos is Grover Cleveland. That's the name of +an American president. Mr. MacPherson gets the papers every year and +keeps posted. He received, on the ship, all last year's issues of a +New York paper called the _Sun_ besides a great packet of Scotch and +English papers. But this _Sun_ he thinks more of than any of them and +every morning he picks out the paper for that date the year before and +reads it as though it had just been delivered. One year behind, but +just as fresh here. He finds a lot of new names in 'em to give the +Eskimos and Indians and the rest of us that way. I'm Secretary Bayard, +whoever he may be. I don't read the American papers much. The chief +clerk is Lord Salisbury, the new premier. You know the Conservatives +downed the Liberals, and Gladstone is out. Good enough for him, too, +for meddling in the Irish question. I'm a conservative, or I would be +if I was home. We don't have a chance to be anything here. Now, I +suppose you----" + +Here Mr. MacPherson entered and the loquacious Secretary Bayard became +suddenly engrossed in his work. The factor opened a door leading into +a small room to the right. + +"Come in here, Ungava Bob," said he, "and we'll have a talk. Now," he +continued when they were seated, "what do you think you'll do?" + +"I don't know, sir. I wants t' get home wonderful bad," said Bob. + +"Yes, yes, I suppose you do. But you're a long way from home. It looks +as though you'll have to stay here till the ship comes next summer. I +can send you back with it." + +"'Tis a long while t' be bidin' here, sir, an' I'm fearin' as +mother'll be worryin'." + +"There's no way out of it that I can see, though. I'll give you work +to do to pay for your keep, and I'm afraid that's the best we can do +unless," continued the factor, thoughtfully "unless you go with the +mail. I find I've got to send some letters to Fort Pelican. How far is +that from Eskimo Bay,--a hundred miles?" + +"Ninety, sir." + +"Do you speak Eskimo?" + +"No, sir." + +"Well, the dog drivers will be Eskimos. The men that leave here will +go east to the coast. They will meet other Eskimos there who will go +to Pelican. It's a hard and dangerous journey. Are you a good +traveller?" + +"Not so bad, sir, an' I drives dogs." + +Mr. MacPherson was silent for a few moments, then he spoke. + +"These Eskimos are careless scallawags with letters and they lose them +sometimes. The letters I am sending are very important ones or I +wouldn't be sending them. I think you would take better care of them +than they. Will you keep them safe if I let you go with the Eskimos?" + +"Yes, sir, I'd be rare careful." + +"Well, we'll see. I think I'll let you take the letters. I can't say +yet just when I'll have you start but within the month." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"In the meantime make yourself useful about the place here. There'll +be nothing for you to do to-day. Look around and get acquainted. You +may go now. Come to the office in the morning and one of the clerks +will tell you what to do." + +"All right, sir." + +When Bob passed out of doors he was fairly treading upon air. A way +was opening up for him to return home and in all probability he should +reach there by the time Dick and Ed and Bill came out from the trails +in the spring and if they had not, in the meantime, taken the news of +his disappearance to Wolf Bight, the folks at home would know nothing +of it until he told them himself and would have no unusual cause for +worry in the meantime. He felt a considerable sense of importance, +too, at the confidence Mr. MacPherson reposed in him in suggesting +that he might place him in charge of an important mail. And what a +tale he would have to tell! Bessie would think him quite a hero. After +all it had turned out well. He had caught a silver fox and all the +other fur--quite enough, he was sure, to send Emily to the hospital. +God had been very good to him and he cast his eyes to heaven and +breathed a little prayer of thanksgiving. + +Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn had been quite forgotten by Bob in the +excitement of the arrival at the Fort. Now he saw them and the two +other Indians coming over from the cabin to which they had gone when +he left them to meet Mr. MacPherson, and he hurried down to meet them +and tell them that he had found a way to reach home. It was plain that +they did not approve of the turn matters had taken, for they only +grunted and said nothing. + +They turned to a building where the door stood open and Bob +accompanied them and entered with them. This was the Post shop, and a +young man, whom Bob had not seen before, presumably "Lord Salisbury," +the chief clerk of whom the talkative "Secretary Bayard" had spoken, +was behind the counter attending to the wants of an Eskimo and his +wife, the latter with a black-eyed, round-faced baby which sat +contentedly in her hood sucking a stick of black tobacco. The clerk +spoke to the Indians in their language, said "good day" to Bob in +English, and then continued his dickering in the Eskimo language with +his customers, who had deposited before them on the counter a number +of arctic fox pelts. + +When the clerk had finished with the Eskimos he turned to the Indians +in a very businesslike way and asked to see the furs they had brought. +They produced some marten skins which, after a great deal of +wrangling, were bartered for tobacco, tea, powder, shot, bullets, gun +caps, beads, three-cornered needles and a few trinkets. Much time was +consumed in this, for the Indians insisted upon handling and +discussing at length each individual article purchased. + +Bob had brought with him the marten skins that he had trapped during +his stay with the Indians and he exchanged them for a red shawl and a +little box of beads for Manikawan, a trinket for the old woman, +Manikawan's mother, and a small gift each for Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn, besides some much needed clothing for himself. + +These tokens of his gratitude he presented to the two Indians, who had +indicated their intention of returning to the interior camp the next +morning. They had not fully realized until now that Bob was actually +going to leave them and attempt to reach home with the Eskimos, and +they protested vigorously against the plan. Sishetakushin told him the +Eskimos were bad people and would never guide him safely to his +friends. Indeed, he asserted, they might kill him when they had him +alone with them. On the other hand, the Indians were kind and true. +They had recognized his worth and had adopted him into the tribe. With +them he had been happy and with them he would be safe. He could have +his own wigwam and take Manikawan for his wife; and sometimes, if he +wished, he could go to visit his people. + +The failure of their arguments to impress Bob was a great +disappointment to the Indians, and Bob, on his part, felt a keen sense +of sorrow when, the following morning, he saw his benefactors go. They +had saved his life and had done all they could in their rude, +primitive way for his comfort, and he appreciated their kindness and +hospitality. + +Ungava Bob, as every one at the Post called him, made himself +generally useful about the fort and was soon quite at home in his new +surroundings. He cut wood and helped the Eskimo servants feed the +dogs, and did any jobs that presented themselves and soon became a +general favourite, not only with Mr. MacPherson but with the clerks +and servants also. + +His quarters with Sandy and Jamie seemed luxurious in contrast with +the rough life of the interior to which he had so long been +accustomed, and when the three gathered around the red hot stove those +cold evenings after the day's work was done and supper eaten, the +Scotchmen held him enthralled with stories they told of their native +land and the wonderful and magnificent things they had seen there. + +Besides the factor and the two clerks these were the only white people +at the Fort, and naturally they grew to be close companions. The white +men, too, were the only ones of the Post folk that could speak +English, for the few Eskimos and Indians that lived on the reservation +knew only their respective native tongue. + +And so the time passed until, at last, the middle of March came, with +its lengthening days and stormy weather, and Bob was beginning to fear +that Mr. MacPherson had abandoned the project of sending him out with +a mail, for nothing further had been said about his going since the +conversation on the day of his arrival. For two or three days he had +been upon the lookout for a favourable opportunity to ask whether or +not he was to go, and was thinking about it one Friday morning as he +worked at the wood-pile, when "Secretary Bayard" hailed him: + +"Hey, there, Bob! The boss wants you." + +This was auspicious, and Bob hurried over to the factor's inner +office, where he found Mr. MacPherson waiting for him. + +"Well, Ungava Bob," the factor greeted, "are you getting tired of +Ungava and anxious to get away?" + +"I'm likin' un fine, sir, but wantin' t' be goin' home wonderful bad," +answered Bob. + +"I suppose you are. I suppose you are. I remember when I was young and +first left home, how badly I wanted to go back," he said, +reminiscently. "That was a long while ago and there's no one for me to +go home to now--they're all dead--all dead--and it's too late." + +He was silent for a little in meditation, and seemed to have quite +forgotten Bob. Then suddenly bringing himself from the past to the +present again, he continued: + +"Yes, yes, you want to go home, and I'm going to start you on Monday +morning. I'll give you a packet of very important letters that you +will deliver to Mr. Forbes, the factor at Fort Pelican, and I shall +hold you responsible for their safe delivery. Akonuk and Matuk will go +with you as far as Kangeva, where they will try to get two other +Eskimos with a good team of dogs to take you on to Rigolet. But it may +be they'll have to go farther, to find drivers that know the way, and +that will delay you some. You'll have time to reach Rigolet, however, +before the break-up if you push on. The Eskimos will lose some time +visiting with their friends when they meet them on the way, and I've +allowed for that. Now, be ready to start on Monday. The clerks will +fix you up with what supplies you will need for the journey." + +"Yes, sir. I'll be ready, an' thank you, sir." + +"Hold on," said the factor as Bob turned to go. "Here's a rifle that +I'm going to let you take with you, for you may need it." He picked up +a gun that had been leaning against the wall beside him. "It's a 44 +repeating Winchester that I've used for three or four years, and it's +a good one. I've got a heavier one now for seals and white whales, and +I'll give you this if you take the letters through safely. Is that a +bargain?" + +Bob's eyes bulged and his pleasure was manifest. + +"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll not be losin' th' letters." + +It was the first repeating rifle--the first rifle, in fact, of any +kind--that he had ever seen, and as Mr. MacPherson explained and +illustrated to him its manipulation, he thought it the most marvellous +piece of mechanism in the world. + +"Now be careful how you handle it," cautioned the factor after the arm +had been thoroughly described. "You see that when you throw a +cartridge into the barrel by the lever action it cocks the gun, and if +you're not going to discharge it again immediately you must let the +hammer down. It shoots a good many times farther, too, than your old +gun, so be sure there are no Eskimos within half a mile of its muzzle +or you'll be killing some of them, and I don't want that to happen, +for I need them all to hunt. Besides, if you killed one of them his +friends would be putting you out of the way so you'd kill no more, and +then my packet of letters wouldn't be delivered. Now look out." + +"I'll be rare careful of un, sir." + +"Very well, see that you are. Be ready to start, now, at daylight, +Monday." + +"I'll be ready, sir." + +Bob's delight was little short of ecstatic as he strode out of the +office with his rifle. + +The next day (Saturday) "Secretary Bayard," with voluminous comments +and cautions in reference to the undertaking, the Eskimos and things +in general, helped him and the two Eskimos that were to accompany him +put in readiness his supplies, which consisted of hardtack, jerked +venison, fat pork--the only provisions they had which would not +freeze--tea, two kettles, sulphur matches, ammunition, and a reindeer +skin sleeping bag. The Eskimos possessed sleeping bags of their own. +Blubber and white whale meat, frozen very hard, were packed for dog +food. + +An axe, a small jack plane and two snow knives were the only tools to +be carried. This knife had a blade about two feet in length and +resembled a small, broad-bladed sword. It was to be used in the +construction of snow igloos. The jack plane was needed to keep the +komatik runners smooth. + +Instead of the runners being shod with whale-bone, as in many places +in the North, the Eskimos of Ungava apply a turf--which is stored for +the purpose in the short summer season--and mixed with water to the +consistency of mud. This is moulded on the runners with the hands in a +thick, broad, semicircular shape, and freezes as hard as glass. Then +its irregularities are planed smooth, and it slips easily over the +snow and ice. + +Finally, all the preparations were completed, and Bob looked forward +in a high state of excited anticipation to the great journey of new +experiences and adventures that lay before him to be crowned by the +joy of his home-coming. + +But a thousand miles separated Bob from his home and danger and death +lurked by the way. Human plans and day-dreams are not considered by +the Providence that moulds man's fortune, and it is a blessed thing +that human eyes cannot look into the future. + + + + +XIX + +AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND + + +In the starlight of Monday morning Akonuk and Matuk harnessed their +twelve big dogs. Fierce creatures these animals were, scarcely less +wild than the wolves that prowled over the hills behind the Fort, of +which they were the counterpart, and more than once the Eskimos had to +beat them with the butt end of a whip to stop their fighting and bring +them to submission. + +The load had already been lashed upon the komatik and the mud on the +runners rubbed over with lukewarm water which had frozen into a thin +glaze of ice that would slip easily over the snow. + +Mr. MacPherson gave Bob the package of letters, with a final +injunction not to lose them when at length the dogs were harnessed and +all was ready. Good-byes were said and Bob and his two Eskimo +companions were off. + +The snow was packed hard and firm, so that neither the dogs nor the +komatik broke through, and the animals, fresh and eager, started at a +fast pace and maintained an even, steady trot throughout the day. + +Occasionally there were hills to climb, and some of these were so +steep that it was necessary for Bob and the Eskimos to haul upon the +traces with the dogs, and now and then they had to lift the komatik +over rocky places, and on one river that they crossed they were forced +to cut in several places a passage around ice hills, where the tide +had piled the ice blocks thirty or forty feet high. But for the most +part the route lay over a rolling country near the coast. + +Only at long intervals were trees to be seen, and these were very +small and stunted, and grew in sheltered hollows. At noon they halted +in one of these hollows to build a fire, over which they melted snow +in one of the kettles and made tea, with which they washed down some +hardtack and jerked venison. + +That night when they stopped to make their camp, sixty miles lay +behind them. The going had been good and they had done a splendid +day's work. + +Before unharnessing the dogs, which would have immediately attacked +and destroyed the goods upon the sledge had they been released, the +Eskimos went about building an igloo. + +A good bank of snow was selected and out of this Akonuk cut blocks as +large as he could lift and placed them on edge in a circle about seven +feet in diameter in the interior. As each block was placed it was +trimmed and fitted closely to its neighbour. Then while Matuk cut more +blocks and handed them to Akonuk as they were needed, the latter +standing in the centre of the structure placed them upon edge upon the +other blocks, building them up in spiral form, and narrowing in each +upper round until the igloo assumed the form of a dome. When it was +nearly as high as his head, the upper tier of blocks was so close +together that a single large block was sufficient to close the +aperture at the top. This block was like the keystone in an arch, and +held the others firmly in place. Akonuk now cut a round hole through +the side of the igloo close to the bottom, and large enough for him to +crawl through on his hands and knees. + +When the Eskimos began building the snow house Bob commenced unloading +the komatik, but Matuk called "Chuly, chuly,"--wait a little--to him, +and said "tamaany,"--here--a suggestion that he would be more useful +in helping to chink up the crevices between the blocks of snow on the +igloo after Akonuk placed them This he did, and in half an hour from +the time they halted the igloo was completed and was so strongly built +a man could have stood on its top without fear of breaking it down. + +The tops of spruce boughs were now cut and spread within, after which +they unlashed the komatik, and, covering the bed of boughs with +deerskins, stored everything that the dogs would be likely to destroy +safely inside the igloo. This done the dogs were unharnessed and fed, +the men standing over the animals with stout sticks to prevent their +fighting while they ravenously gulped down the chunks of frozen whale +meat. + +This function completed, a fire was made outside the igloo and tea +brewed. With the kettle of hot tea the three crawled into the igloo, +dragging after them a block of snow which Akonuk fitted neatly into +the entrance and chinked the edges with loose snow. + +Matuk now brought forth an Eskimo lamp into which he squeezed the oil +from a piece of seal blubber, first pounding the blubber with the axe +head, and with moss to serve the purpose of a wick, the lamp was +lighted. This lamp, which was made of stone cut in the shape of a half +moon, was about ten inches long, four inches wide and an inch deep. +The moss that served as a wick was arranged along the straight side, +and gave out a strong, fishy odour as it burned. + +Besides the tea, hardtack and jerked venison, Bob ate pieces of the +frozen fat pork which had been boiled before starting, and found it +very delicious, as fat always is to a traveller in the far North. The +Eskimos each accepted a small piece of it from him, but when he +offered them a second portion they both said "Taemet,"--Thank you, +enough--and instead helped themselves liberally to raw seal blubber, +which they ate with an evident relish and gusto along with the jerked +venison and hardtack. + +Akonuk, the older of these men, was perhaps thirty-five years of age, +nearly six feet in height and well proportioned. Matuk was not so +tall, but like Akonuk was well formed. Both were muscular and powerful +men physically, and both had round, fat faces that were full of good +nature. + +Intense as was the cold out of doors, the stone lamp soon made the +igloo so warm within that all were compelled to remove their outer +skin garments. The snow, however, was not melted, but remained quite +hard and firm. + +The Eskimos talked and smoked for a whole hour after supper, before +stretching in their sleeping bags, but Bob crawled into his almost +immediately, for he was very weary after his long day's travel. His +knowledge of their language was not sufficient for him to take part in +the conversation, or, indeed, to understand much they said, and the +constant talk soon became tiresome to him, though he kept his ears +open with a view to adding to his Eskimo vocabulary whenever an +opportunity offered. + +"'Tis a strange language an' I'm wonderin' how they understands un," +he observed as he turned over to go to sleep. + +Very early the next morning he heard Akonuk calling to Matuk to wake +up. Then for a little while the two Eskimos conversed together and +finally the lamp was lighted. Over this a snow knife was stuck into +the side of the igloo and the kettle hung upon the knife in such a +position that it was directly over the flame, and snow, cut from the +side of the igloo near the bottom, was melted for tea, and thus the +simple breakfast was prepared without going out of doors. + +When Bob came out of his bag to eat he realized that a storm was +raging outside, for he could hear the wind roaring around the igloo, +and Akonuk made him understand that a heavy snow-storm was in progress +and a continuation of the journey that day quite out of the question. +When daylight finally filtered dimly through the igloo roof, he +removed the snow block that closed the entrance, and crawled to the +outer world, where he verified Akonuk's statement. + +The air was so filled with snow that it would be quite useless to +attempt to move in it. The previous night the dogs had dug holes for +themselves in the bank and were now completely covered with the drift, +and invisible, and the komatik, too, was quite hidden. The aspect was +dreary in the extreme, and he returned to spend the day dozing in his +sleeping bag. + +For two days they were held prisoners by the storm, and when finally +the third morning dawned clear and cold, a deep covering of soft snow +had spoiled the good going and they found travelling much slower and +more difficult than the day they started. + +Akonuk and Bob ran ahead on their snow-shoes to break the way for the +dogs, which Matuk drove, and found it necessary to constantly urge the +animals on with shouts of "Oo-isht! Oo-isht! Ok-suit! Ok-suit!" and +sometimes with stinging cuts of his long whip. This whip was made of +braided strands of walrus hide, and tapered from a thickness of two +inches at the butt to one long single strand at the tip. Its handle +was a piece of wood about a foot long and the whole whip was perhaps +thirty-five feet in length. When not in use a loop on the handle was +dropped over the end of one of the forward crosspieces of the komatik, +and its lash trailed behind in the snow. Here it could be readily +reached and brought into instant service. Matuk was an expert in the +manipulation of this cruel instrument, and the dogs were in deadly +fear of it. When he cracked it over their heads they would plunge +madly forward and whine piteously for mercy. When he wished to punish +a dog he could cut it with the lash tip even to the extent of breaking +the skin, if he desired, and he never missed the animal he aimed at. + +Each dog had an individual trace which was fastened to a long, single +thong of sealskin attached to the front of the komatik. These traces +were of varying length, the leader, or dog trained to the Eskimos' +calls, having the longest trace, which permitted it to go well in +advance of the others. + +For several days the journey was monotonous and uneventful. Gradually +as they advanced the travelling improved again, as the March winds +drifted away the soft, loose snow and left the bottom solid and firm +for the dogs. + +Ptarmigans were plentiful, as were also arctic hares, and a white fox +and one or two white owls were killed. The flesh of all these they +ate, and were thus enabled to keep in reserve the provisions they had +brought with them. Bob was rather disgusted than amused to see the +Eskimos eat the flesh of animals and birds raw. They appeared to +esteem as a particular delicacy the freshly killed ptarmigans, still +warm with the life blood, eating even the entrails uncooked. + +One afternoon they turned the komatik from the land to the far +stretching ice of a wide bay directing their course towards a cove on +the farther side, where the Eskimos said they expected to find +igloos. + +All day a stiff wind had been blowing from the southwest and as the +day grew old it increased in velocity. The komatik was taking an +almost easterly course and therefore the wind did not seriously hamper +their progress, though it was bitter cold and searching and made +travelling extremely uncomfortable. + +Less than half-way across the bay, which was some twelve miles wide, a +crack in the ice was passed over. Presently cracks became numerous, +and glancing behind him Bob noticed a wide black space along the shore +at the point where they had taken to the ice, and could see in the +distance farther to the northwest, as it reflected the light, a white +streak of foam where the angry sea was assailing the ice barrier. He +realized at once that the wind and sea were smashing the ice. + +They were far from land and in grave peril. The Eskimos urged the dogs +to renewed efforts, and the poor brutes themselves, seeming to realize +the danger, pulled desperately at the traces. + +After a time the ice beneath them began to undulate, moving up and +down in waves and giving an uncertain footing. Between them and the +cove they were heading for, but a little outside of their course, was +a bare, rocky island and the Eskimos suddenly turned the dogs towards +it. The whole body of ice was now separated from the mainland and this +island was the only visible refuge open to them. Behind them the sea +was booming and thundering in a terrifying manner as it drove gigantic +ice blocks like mighty battering rams against the main mass, which +crumbled steadily away before the onslaught. + +It had become a race for life now, and it was a question whether the +sea or the men would win. Once a crack was reached that they could not +cross and they had to make a considerable detour to find a passage +around it, and it looked for a little while as though this sealed +their fate, but with a desperate effort they presently found +themselves within a few yards of the island. + +Here a new danger awaited them. The ice upon the shore was rising and +falling and crumbling against the rocks with each incoming and +receding sea. To successfully land it would be necessary to make a +dash at the very instant that the ice came in contact with the shore. +A moment too soon or a moment too late and they would inevitably be +crushed to death. It was their only way of escape, however. The +howling dogs were held in leash until the proper moment, and all +prepared for the run. + +Akonuk gave the word. The dogs leaped forward, the men jumped, and +they found themselves ashore. The three grabbed the traces and helped +the dogs jerk the komatik clear of the next sea, and all were at last +safe. + +Five minutes later a landing would have been impossible, and two hours +later the entire bay surrounding their island was swept clear of ice +by the gale and outgoing tide. + +During the whole adventure the Eskimos had conducted themselves with +the utmost coolness and gave Bob confidence and courage. Dangers of +this kind had no terrors for them for they had met them all their +lives. + +They had landed upon the windward side of the island at a point where +they were exposed to the full sweep of the gale. + +"Peungeatuk"--very bad--said Akonuk. + +Then he told Bob to remain by the dogs while he and Matuk looked for a +sheltered camping place. In half an hour Matuk returned, his face +wreathed in smiles, with the information, + +"Innuit, igloo." + +Then he and Bob drove the dogs to the lee side of the island, where +they found four large snow igloos and several men, women and children, +standing outside waiting to see the white traveller. + +The Eskimos received Bob kindly, and they asked him inside while some +of the men helped Akonuk and Matuk erect an igloo and fix up their +camp. + +The several igloos were all connected by snow tunnels, which permitted +of an easy passage from one to the other without the necessity of +going out of doors. A piece of clear ice, like glass, was set into the +roof of each to answer for a window. They were all filled with a +stench so sickening that Bob soon made an excuse to go outside and +lend a hand in unpacking and helping Akonuk and Matuk make their own +snow house ready. + +There were no boughs here for a bed, as the island sustained no growth +whatever, and in place of the boughs the dog harness was spread about +before the deerskins were put down. In a little while the place was +made quite comfortable. + +It was not until they sat down to supper that Bob realized fully the +serious position they were in. Akonuk and Matuk, after much +difficulty, for he could understand their Eskimo tongue so +imperfectly, explained to him that there was no means of reaching the +mainland as there were no boats on the island, and that after the food +they had was eaten there would be no means of procuring more, as the +island had no game upon it. They also told him that no one would be +passing the island until summer and that there was therefore no hope +of outside rescue. + +But one chance of escape was possible. If the wind were to shift to +the northward and hold there long enough it would probably drive the +ice back into the bay and then it would quickly freeze and they could +reach the mainland. This their only hope, at this season of the year, +for March was nearly spent, was a scant one. + + + + +XX + +PRISONERS OF THE SEA + + +The party of Eskimos that Bob and his companions found encamped upon +the island had come from the Kangeva mainland to spear seals through +the animals' breathing holes in the ice, which in this part of the bay +were more numerous than on the mainland side. In the few days since +they had established themselves here they had met with some success, +and had accumulated a sufficient store of meat and blubber to keep +them and their dogs for a month or so, but further seal hunting, or +hunting of any kind, was now out of the question, as no animal life +existed on the island itself, and without boats with which to go upon +the water the people were quite helpless in this respect. + +Limited as was their supply of provisions, however, they unselfishly +offered to share with Bob and his two companions the little they had, +as is the custom with people who have not learned the harder ways of +civilization and therefore live pretty closely to the Golden Rule. +This hospitality was a considerable strain upon their resources, for +the twelve dogs in addition to their own would require no small amount +of flesh and fat to keep them even half-way fed; and the whale meat +that had been brought for the dogs from Ungava Post was nearly all +gone. + +Akonuk had been instructed by Mr. MacPherson to discover the +whereabouts of these very Eskimos and arrange with two of them to go +on with Bob, after which he and Matuk were to secure from them food +for themselves and their team and return to Ungava. + +A good part of the hardtack, boiled pork and venison still remained, +for, as we have seen, the game they had killed on the way had pretty +nearly been enough for their wants. It was fortunate for Bob that they +had these provisions, which required no cooking, for otherwise he +would have had to eat the raw seal as the Eskimos did. They understood +his aversion to doing this, and generously, and at the same time +preferably, perhaps, ate the uncooked meat themselves, and left the +other for him. + +March passed into April, and daily the situation grew more desperate, +as the provisions diminished with each sunset. Bob was worried. It +began to look as though he and the Eskimos were doomed to perish on +this miserable island. He was sorry now that he had not waited at +Ungava for the ship, and been more patient, for then he would have +reached Eskimo Bay in safety. At first the Eskimos were very cheerful +and apparently quite unconcerned, and this consoled him somewhat and +made him more confident; but finally even they were showing signs of +restlessness. + +Every day he was becoming more familiar with their language and could +understand more and more of their conversation, and he drew from it +and their actions that they considered the situation most critical. +Back of the igloos was a hill a couple of hundred feet high, and many +times each day the men of the camp would climb it and look long and +earnestly to the north, where the heaving billows of Hudson Straits +and the sky line met, broken only here and there by huge icebergs that +towered like great crystal mountains above the water. They were +watching for the ice field that they hoped would drift down with each +tide to bridge the sea that separated them from the distant mainland. + +The early April days were growing long and the sun's rays shining more +directly upon the world were gaining power, though not yet enough to +bring the temperature up to zero even at high noon, but enough to +remind the men that winter was aging, and the ice hourly less likely +to come back. + +One of the Eskimos, Tuavituk by name, was an Angakok, or conjurer, and +claimed to possess special powers which permitted him to communicate +with Torngak, the Great Spirit who ruled their fortunes just as the +Manitou rules the fortunes of the Indians. Tuavituk one day announced +to the assembled Eskimos that something had been done to displease +Torngak, and to punish them he had caused the storm to come that had +so suddenly carried away the ice and left them marooned upon this +desolate island, and here they would all perish eventually of +starvation unless Torngak were appeased. + +This announcement occasioned a long discussion as to what the cause of +their trouble could have been. One old Eskimo suggested that the ice +had broken up at the very moment that the kablunok--stranger--arrived, +and that his presence was undoubtedly the disturbing influence. White +men, he said, showed no respect for Torngak, and it was quite +reasonable, therefore, that Torngak should resent it and wish not only +to destroy the white men, but punish the innuit who gave the kablunok +shelter or assistance. If this were the case they could only hope for +relief after first driving Bob from their camp. When once purged of +his presence Torngak would be satisfied, he would send the ice back +into the bay and they would be enabled to return to the mainland and +to renew their hunting. + +A long discussion followed this harangue in which all the men took +part with the exception of Tuavituk, who as Angakok reserved his +opinion until it should be called for in a professional way; and all +agreed with the first speaker save Akonuk and Matuk, who, being +visitors, spoke last. + +Akonuk asserted that he and Matuk had travelled with the kablunok all +the way from Ungava and had enjoyed during that time not only perfect +safety and comfort, but had made an unusually quick and lucky journey, +killing all the ptarmigans and small game they wanted, and +experiencing with the exception of one snow-storm excellent weather +until they approached Kangeva. Then the ill wind blew upon them and +brought disaster as they came to the camp on the island; therefore it +seemed quite certain that not the kablunok but some of the innuit in +the camp had offended the great Torngak, and amongst themselves they +must look for the cause of their misfortune. + +Matuk followed this speech with an address in which he bore out +Akonuk's statements, and, doubtless having in mind Bob's plentiful +supply of tea, of which beverage Matuk was passionately fond and +partook freely, he stated it as his opinion that the presence of the +kablunok had actually been the source of the good luck they had had +previous to their arrival at Kangeva. Then he wound up with the +startling announcement that he believed he knew the cause of Torngak's +anger: that on the very day of their arrival he had seen Chealuk--one +of the old women--sewing a netsek--sealskin adikey--_with the sinew of +the tukto_--reindeer. + +Every one turned to Chealuk for confirmation and she said simply, + +"It is true." + +The Eskimos were struck dumb with horror. This, then, was the cause +of their trouble. For the women to work with any part of the reindeer +while the men were hunting seals was one of the greatest affronts that +could be offered the Great Spirit. Torngak had been insulted and +angered. He must be appeased and mollified at any cost. + +Tuavituk, the Angakok, it was decided, must do some conjuring. He must +get into immediate communication with Torngak and learn the spirit's +wishes and demands and what must be done to dispel the evil charm that +Chealuk had worked by her thoughtlessness. Tauvituk was quite +willing--indeed anxious--to do this, but he demanded to be well paid +for it, and every man had to contribute some valuable pelt or article +of clothing. + +When all preparations for the seance had been made the Angakok's head +was covered and in a few moments he began to utter untelligible +exclamations, which were shortly punctuated by shouts and screams and +ravings. He fell to the floor and seemed stricken with a fit, and Bob +thought the man had gone stark mad. He struck out and grasped those +within his reach, and they were glad to escape from his iron clutch. +For several minutes this wild frenzy lasted before he said an +intelligible word. + +"The deer! The deer! The deer's sinew! Chealuk! Chealuk! Chealuk! +Torngak! The evil spirit is in Chealuk! She must go! Must go! Send +Chealuk away! Send her away! Send her away! Send her away!" + +Finally from sheer exhaustion he quieted down and came out of his +trance. He probably thought that he had given them their value's worth +and what they had wanted, and that they should be satisfied. + +It was now decreed that, this being the direct command of Torngak, +Chealuk must be expelled from the camp. Some even asserted that she +should be killed, but the majority decided that as Torngak had said +merely that "Chealuk must go" that meant only that she must be sent +away. If this did not prove sufficient to counteract their ill luck, +why she could, after a reasonable time, be sought out and dispatched, +if she had not in the meantime perished. + +The feeble old woman heard it all with outward stoic indifference. It +was a part of her religion and she probably thought the punishment +quite just, and whatever shrinking of spirit she felt, she hid it +heroically from the others. To have been killed immediately would have +been more humane than banishment, for the latter only meant a slower +but just as sure a death, from exposure and starvation. + +To Bob, who had listened intently and was able to grasp the situation +in a general way, it seemed heartless in the extreme; but his protests +would not only have been powerless to move the Eskimos from their +purpose, but in all probability would have worked harm for himself and +to no avail. These people that at first had seemed so amiable and +hospitable, and almost childlike in their nature, had been by their +heathen superstitions suddenly transformed into cruel, unsympathetic +savages. + +"Oh," thought Bob, "if I had but heeded Sishetakushin's warning!" + +But it was too late now to repent of the course he had taken and he +had only to abide by it. It seemed to him that his own life hung by a +mere thread and that at any moment some fancy might strike them to +sacrifice him too. He had indeed but barely escaped Chealuk's fate, +and the next time he might not be so fortunate. + +In this disturbed state of mind he withdrew from the igloos and +climbed the hill, where he stood and gazed longingly at the mainland +hills to the southward, wondering where, beyond those cold, white +ranges, lay Wolf Bight and his little cabin home, warm and clean and +tidy, and whether his mother and father and Emily thought him safe or +had heard of his disappearance and were mourning him as dead. And here +he was far, far away in the north and hopelessly--apparently--stranded +upon a desolate island from which he would probably never escape and +never see them again. + +Oh, how lonely and disconsolate he felt. Every day since he left home +he had prayed God to keep the loved ones safe and to take him back to +them. + +"I hopes they're safe an' Emily's better, but th' Lard's been losin' +track o' me," he said to himself with a wavering faith. + +"But th' Lard took me safe t' Ungava, an' He must be watchin' me," he +exclaimed after further thought. "An' He's been rare good t' me." + +Then like a bulwark to lean against there came to him the words of his +mother as they parted that beautiful September morning: + +"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember your mother's prayin' +for you every night an' every mornin'." + +And Emily had said, too, that she would ask God every night to keep +him safe. This brought him a renewal of his faith and he argued, + +"Th' Lard'll sure not be denyin' mother an' Emily, an' they askin' He +every day t' bring me back. He sure would not be denyin' they for He +knows how bad 'twould be makin' they feel if I were not comin' home. +An' He wouldn't be wantin' _that_, for they never does nothin' t' make +He cross with un." + +This thought comforted him and he said confidently to himself, + +"Th' Lard'll be showin' th' way when th' right time comes an' I'll try +t' bide content till then." + +But there was little in the surroundings to warrant Bob's faith. +Looking about him from the hilltop he could see nothing but open sea +around the island with an expanse of desolation beyond--snow, snow +everywhere, from the water's edge to where the rugged mountains to the +south and east held their cold heads into the gray clouds that hid the +sky and sun. The sea was sombre and black. Not a breath of air +stirred, not a sound broke the silence, and it seemed almost as +though Nature in anxious suspense watched the outcome of it all. But +Bob's faith was renewed--the simple, childlike faith of his +people--and he felt better and more content with himself and his +fortune. + +It was growing dusk when he returned to the igloos. As he descended +the hill a flake of snow struck his face and it was followed by +others. A breath of wind like a blast from a bellows swirled the +flakes abroad. The elements were awakening. + +In the igloos Akonuk and Matuk were brewing tea for supper and the +three ate in silence. + +Bob asked once, + +"What's to be done with Chealuk?" + +"Nothing," they answered laconically. + +This relieved the anxiety he felt for her, and he crawled into his +sleeping bag and went to sleep, thinking that after all the judgment +of the Angakok was a mere form, not to be executed literally. + +After some hours Bob awoke. The wind was blowing a gale outside. He +could hear it quite distinctly. From what direction it came he could +not tell, and after lying awake for a long while he decided to arise +and see. + +When he removed the block of snow from the igloo entrance and crawled +outside he was all but smothered by the swirling snow of a terrific, +raging blizzard. He turned his back to the blast, and realized that it +came from the north-east. The cold was piercing and awful. The +elements which had been held in subjection for so long were unleashed +and were venting themselves with all the untamed fury of the North +upon the world. + +As he turned to reënter the igloo an apparition brushed past him +rushing off into the night. + +"Who is it?" he shouted. + +But the wind brought back no answer and overcome with a feeling of +trepidation and a sense of impending tragedy, half believing that he +had seen a ghost, he crawled back to his cover and warm sleeping bag +to wonder. + +There was no cessation in the storm or change in the conditions the +next day. In the morning while they were drinking their hot tea Bob +told Akonuk and Matuk of the apparition he had seen in the night. + +"That," they said in awe, "was the spirit of Torngak," and Bob was +duly impressed. + +Upon a visit later to the other igloos he missed Chealuk. She had +always sat in one corner plying her needle, and had always had a word +for him when he came in to pay a visit. Her absence was therefore +noticeable and Bob asked one of the Eskimos where she was. + +"Gone," said the Eskimo. + +And this was all he could learn from them. Poor old Chealuk had been +sent away, and it must have been she, then, that he had seen in the +darkness. + +That night Bob was aroused again, and he immediately realized that +something of moment had occurred. Akonuk and Matuk were awake and +talking excitedly, and through the shrieking of the gale outside came +a distinct and unusual sound. It was like the roar of distant thunder, +but still it was not thunder. He sat up sharply to learn the meaning +of it all. + + + + +XXI + +ADRIFT ON THE ICE + + +The unusual sound that Bob heard was the pounding of ice driven by the +mighty force of wind and tide against the island rocks. This the +Eskimos verified with many exclamations of delight. The hoped for had +happened and release from their imprisonment was at hand. Bob thanked +God for remembering them. + +"I were thinkin' th' Lard would not be losin' sight o' me now He's +been so watchful in all th' other times I were needin' help," said he +as he lay down. + +To the Eskimos it was a proof of the efficacy of the appeal to the +Angakok. + +During the next day the high wind and snow continued until dusk. Then +the weather began to calm and before morning the sky was clear and the +stars shining cold and brilliant, and the sun rose clear and +beautiful. Kangeva Bay, a solid held of ice again, as it was when Bob +first saw it, stretched away unbroken and white to the northward. + +No time was lost in making preparations for their escape. The komatiks +were packed at once with the camp goods and the little food that still +remained, the dogs were harnessed and a quick march took them safely +to the mainland. + +Here the Eskimos had an ample cache of seal and walrus meat killed +earlier in the season. New igloos were built, as the old ones in use +before they transferred to the island were not considered comfortable, +the previous occupancy having softened the interior snow, which was +now encrusted with a thin glaze of ice and this glaze prevented a free +circulation of air. + +Bob wanted to go on without delay but Akonuk and Matuk had found none +of the Eskimos willing to proceed with him. It was therefore necessary +for them to go with him until another camp was reached, and they +insisted upon delaying the start a day in order as they said to give +the dogs a good feed and get them in better shape for the journey, as +they for some time had been fed only each alternate day instead of +every day as was customary, and even then had received but half their +usual portion. This seemed quite reasonable, but when Bob saw his +friends a little later consuming raw seal meat themselves in enormous +quantities, he concluded that the dogs were not the only object of +their consideration. + +They were still busily engaged arranging their new quarters when one +of the Eskimos called the attention of the others to a black object +far out upon the ice in the direction from which they had come. Slowly +it tottered towards them and in a little while it was made out to be +old Chealuk, who had been in hiding somewhere on the island. The poor +old woman, nearly starved and with frozen hands and feet, was barely +able to drag herself into camp. Some of the men protested against +receiving her but she was finally permitted to enter the igloos and +take up her old place, though with the understanding that she should +leave again immediately at the first indication of Torngak's +displeasure. + +It was a great relief to Bob to know that she had not perished. The +old woman had only been able to keep from freezing to death, as he +learned, by hollowing out a place in a snow-bank in which to lie and +letting the snow drift thickly over her and remaining there until the +storm had spent itself. + +"Sure I'm glad t' see she back again," thought Bob, and he voiced the +sentiment to Matuk. + +"Atsuk"--I don't know--said the Eskimo with a shrug of the shoulders. + +While, as we have seen, none of the Eskimos would take the place of +Akonuk and Matuk, they gave them sufficient seal meat and blubber for +a two weeks' journey, and early the next morning the march eastward +was resumed. + +Bob was now driven to eating seal meat, as all his other provisions +were exhausted, though, fortunately, he still had an abundance of tea. +He had often eaten seal meat at home and was rather fond of it when it +was properly cooked, but now no wood with which to make a fire was to +be had. The land was absolutely barren, and even the moss was so +deeply hidden beneath the snow it could not be resorted to for this +purpose. Evenings in the igloo he boiled some meat over the stone +lamp--enough to last him through the following day--but at best he +could get it but partially cooked. However, he soon learned not to +mind this much, for hunger is the best imaginable sauce, and in the +cold of the Arctic north one can eat with a relish what could not be +endured in a milder climate. + +For several days they traversed mountain passes where they were shut +in by towering, rugged peaks which seemed to reach to the very +heavens. Bleak and desolate as the landscape was it possessed a +magnificence and grandeur that demanded admiration and called forth +Bob's constant wonder. He would gaze up at the mysterious white +summits and ejaculate, + +"'Tis grand! 'Tis wonderful grand!" + +Such mountains he had never seen before, and like all wilderness +dwellers he was a lover of Nature's beauties and a close observer of +her wonders. + +It was near the middle of April now and the sun's rays, reflected by +the snow, were growing dazzlingly bright and beginning to affect their +eyes. Goggles should have been worn as a protection against this glare +but they had none and did not trouble to make them until one night +Matuk found that he was overtaken by a slight attack of +snow-blindness. This is an extremely painful affliction which does not +permit the sufferer to approach the light or, in fact, so much as open +his eyes without experiencing agony. The sensation is that of having +innumerable splinters driven into the eyeballs with the lids when +opened and closed grating over the splinters. + +While they were waiting for Matuk to recover his eyesight Akonuk and +Bob removed one of the wooden cross-bars from the komatik and with +their knives cut from it three pieces each long enough to fit over the +eyes for a pair of goggles. These were rounded to fit the face and a +place whittled out for the nose to fit into. Then hollow places were +cut large enough to permit the eyelids to open and close in them, and +opposite each eye hollow a narrow slit for the wearer to look through. +Then the interior of the eye places were blackened with smoke from the +stone lamp, and a thong of sealskin was fastened to each end of the +goggles with which to tie them in place upon the head. + +Thus a pair of goggles was ready for each when, after a three days' +rest Matuk's eyes were well enough for him to continue the journey, +and by constantly wearing them on days when the sun shone, further +danger of snow-blindness was averted. + +Two days later, upon emerging from a mountain pass, they suddenly saw +stretching far away to the eastward the great ocean ice. The sight +sent the blood tingling through Bob's veins. Nearly half the journey +from Ungava to Eskimo Bay had been accomplished! + +"Th' coast! Th' coast!" shouted Bob. "Now I'll be gettin' home inside +a month!" + +He began at once to plan the surprise he had in store for the folk and +an early trip that he would make over to the Post, when he would tell +Bessie about his great "cruise" and hear her say that she was glad to +see him back again. But Fortune does not wait upon human plans and +Bob's fortitude was yet to be tried as it never had been tried before. + +That afternoon an Eskimo village of snow igloos was reached. The +Eskimos swarmed out to meet the visitors and gave them a whole-souled +welcome, and in an hour they were quite settled for a brief stay in +the new quarters. + +Akonuk told Bob that now after the dogs, which were very badly spent, +had a few days in which to rest, he and Matuk would turn back to +Ungava. They would try to arrange for two more Eskimos with a fresh +team to go on with him, but as for themselves, even were the dogs in +condition to travel, they did not know the trail beyond this point. + +The Eskimos here, like those they had met on the island at Kangeva, +were engaged in seal hunting, and none of the men seemed to care to +leave their work for a long, hard journey south. They did not say, +however, that they would not go. When they were asked their answer +was: + +"In a little while--perhaps." + +This was very unsatisfactory to Bob in his anxious frame of mind. But +he had learned that Eskimos must be left to bide their time, and that +no amount of coaxing would hurry them, so he tried to await their +moods in patience. He understood the reluctance of the men to go away +during one of the best hunting seasons of the year and could not find +fault with them for it. + +The seals were the mainstay of their living and to lose the hunt might +mean privation. They were in need of the skins for clothing, kayaks +and summer tents, and the flesh and blubber for food for themselves +and their dogs, and the oil for their stone lamps. + +Later in the season they would harpoon the animals from their kayaks, +but this was the great harvest time when they killed them by spearing +through holes in the ice where the seals came at intervals to breathe, +for a seal will die unless it can get fresh air occasionally. Early in +the morning each Eskimo would take up his position near one of these +breathing holes, and there, with spear poised, not moving so much as a +foot, sometimes for hours at a time, await patiently the appearance of +a seal, which, having many similar holes, might not chance to come to +this particular one the whole day. + +The spear used had a long, wooden handle, with a barbed point made of +metal or ivory, and so arranged that the barbed point came off the +handle after it had been driven into the animal. To the point was +fastened one end of a long sealskin line, the other end of which the +hunter tied about his waist. + +The moment a seal's nose made its appearance at the breathing hole the +watchful Eskimo drove the spear into its body. Then began a tug of war +between man and seal, and sometimes the Eskimos had narrow escapes +from being pulled into the holes. + +The seals of Labrador, it should be explained, are the hair, and not +the fur seals such as are found in the Alaskan waters and the South +Sea. There are five varieties of them, the largest of which is the +hood seal and the smallest the doter or harbour seal. The square +flipper also grows to a very large size. The other two kinds are the +jar and the harp. + +These all have different names applied to them according to their age. +Thus a new-born harp is a "puppy," then a "white coat"; when it is old +enough to take to the water, which is within a fortnight after birth, +it becomes a "paddler," a little later a "bedlamer," then a "young +harp" and finally a harp. The handsomest of them all is the "ranger," +as the young doter is called. + +Finally, one evening when all the men were assembled in the igloos +after their day's hunt, Akonuk announced that he and Matuk were to +return home the next morning. This renewed the discussion as to who +should go on with Bob, and the upshot of it was that two young +fellows--Netseksoak and Aluktook--with the promise that Mr. Forbes +would reward them for aiding to bring the letters which Bob carried, +volunteered to make the journey. + +This settled the matter to Bob's satisfaction and it was agreed that, +as the season was far advanced, it would be necessary to start at once +in order to give the two men time to reach home again before the +spring break-up of the ice. + +Long before daylight the next morning the Eskimos were lashing the +load on the komatik and at dawn the dogs were harnessed and everything +ready. Bob said good-bye to Akonuk and Matuk and the two teams took +different directions and were soon lost to each other's view. + +"'Twill not be long now," said Bob to himself, "an' we gets t' th' +Bay." + +The sun at midday was now so warm that it softened the snow, which, +freezing towards evening, made a hard ice crust over which the komatik +slipped easily and permitted of very fast travelling until the snow +began to soften again towards noon. Therefore the early part of the +day was to be taken advantage of. + +The new team, containing eleven dogs, was really made up of two small +teams, one of six dogs belonging to Netseksoak and the other of five +dogs the property of Aluktook. At first the two sets of dogs were +inclined to be quarrelsome and did not work well together. At the very +start they had a pitched battle which resulted in the crippling of +Aluktook's leader to such an extent that for two days it was almost +useless. + +However, with the good going fast time was made. Usually they kept to +the sea ice, but sometimes took short cuts across necks of land where, +as had been the case near Ungava, the men had to haul on the traces +with the dogs. + +The new drivers were much younger men than Akonuk and Matuk and they +were in many respects more companionable. But Bob missed a sort of +fatherly interest that the others had shown in him and did not rely so +implicitly upon their judgment. + +Able now as he was to understand very much of their conversation, he +took part in the discussion of various routes and expressed his +opinion as to them; and the Eskimos, who at first had looked upon him +as a more or less inexperienced kablunok, soon began to feel that he +knew nearly as much about dog and komatik travelling as they did +themselves. Thus a sort of good fellowship developed at once. + +One evening after a hard day's travelling as they came over the crest +of a hill the first grove of trees that Bob had seen since shortly +after leaving Ungava came in sight. It was the most welcome thing that +had met his view in weeks, and when the dogs were turned to its edge +and he saw a small shack, he knew that he was nearing again the white +man's country. + +The shack was found to have no occupants, but it contained a sheet +iron stove such as he had used in his tilts, and that night he +revelled in the warmth of a fire and a feast of boiled ptarmigan and +tea. + +"'Tis like gettin' back t' th' Bay," said Bob, and he asked the +Eskimos, "Will there be igloosoaks (shacks) all the way?" + +"Igloosoaks every night," answered Aluktook. + +The following morning a westerly breeze was blowing and the Eskimos +were uncertain whether to keep to the land or follow the sea ice along +the shore. The former route, they explained to Bob, passed over high +hills and was much the harder and longer one of the two, but safer. +The ice route along the shore was smooth and could be accomplished +much more quickly, but at this season of the year was fraught with +more or less danger. For many miles the shore rose in precipitous +rocks, and should a westerly gale arise while they were passing this +point, the ice was likely to break away and no escape could be made to +the shore. The wind blowing then from the West was not strong enough +yet, they said, to cause any trouble, and they did not think it would +rise, but still it was uncertain. + +"Which way should they go?" + +Bob's experience at Kangeva made him hesitate for a moment, but his +impatience to reach home quickly got the better of his judgment; and, +especially as the Eskimos seemed inclined to prefer the outside route, +he joined them in their preference and answered, + +"We'll be goin' outside." + +And the outside route they took. + +All went well for a time, but hourly the wind increased. The dogs were +urged on, but the wind kept blowing them to leeward and they began to +show signs of giving out. Finally a veritable gale was blowing and the +Eskimos' faces grew serious. + +They were now opposite that part of the shore where it rose a +perpendicular wall of rock towering a hundred feet above the sea, and +offered no place of refuge. So they hurried on as best they could in +the hope of rounding the walls and making land before the inevitable +break came. Presently Aluktook shouted, + +"Emuk! Emuk!"--the water! the water! + +Bob and Netseksoak looked, and a ribbon of black water lay between +them and the shore. + +They lashed the dogs and shouted at them until they were hoarse, in a +vain effort to urge them on. The poor brutes lay to the ice and did +their best, but it was quite hopeless. In an incredibly short time the +ribbon had widened into a gulf a quarter of a mile wide. Then it grew +to a mile, and presently the shore became a thin black line that was +soon lost to view entirely. They were adrift on the wide Atlantic! + +They stopped the dogs when they realized that further effort was +useless and sat down on the komatik in impotent dismay. + +The weather had grown intensely cold and the perspiration that the +excitement and exertion had brought out upon their faces was freezing. +Snow squalls were already beginning and before nightfall a blizzard +was raging in all its awful fury and at any moment the ice pack was +liable to go to pieces. + + + + +XXII + +THE MAID OF THE NORTH + + +"The's no profit in this trade any more," said Captain Sam Hanks, as +he sat down to supper with his mate, Jack Simmons, in the little cabin +of his schooner, _Maid of the North_. "I won't get a seaman's wages +out o' th' cruise, an' I'm sick o' workin' fer nothin'. Now there was +a time before th' free traders done th' business t' death that a man +could make good money on th' Labrador, but that time's past They pays +so much fer th' fur they's spoiled it fer everybody, an' I'm goin' t' +quit." + +"Th' free traders don't go north o' th' Straits much. Why don't ye try +it there, sir?" suggested the mate. + +"Ice. Too much ice. I've been thinkin' it over. Th' trouble is we +couldn't get through th' ice in th' spring until after th' Hudson's +Bay people had gobbled up everything. Th' natives down that coast is +poor as Job's turkey, an' they has t' sell their fur soon's th' +furrin' season's over. I hears th' company gets th' fur from 'em fer +a song. Them natives'll give ye a silver fox fer a jackknife an' a +barrel o' flour, an' a marten fer a gallon o' molasses. But the's +money in it if a feller could get there in time," he added +thoughtfully. + +"What's th' matter with goin' down in th' fall before th' ice blocks +th' coast? Th' _Maid o' th' North_ is sheathed fer ice, an' we could +freeze her in, some place down th' coast, an' be on hand t' sail when +th' ice clears in th' spring, We could let th' folks know where we +were t' freeze up, an' we'd pick up a lot o' fur before th' ice +breaks, an' th' natives'd hold th' rest until we calls comin' south. +The's a big chanct there," said the mate, conclusively. + +"I dunno but yer right. I hadn't thought o' goin' down in th' fall t' +freeze up. We'd have t' be gettin' t' our anchorage by th' first o' +October." + +"The's plenty o' time t' do that, sir. 'Twon't take more'n ten days t' +fit out." + +"Then the's th' cost o' shippin' th' crew t' be taken into account, 'n +havin' 'em doin' nothin' th' hull winter. I don't know's the'd be much +in it after everythin's counted out." + +"That's easy 'nuff fixed. Take a lot o' traps an' let th' crew hunt in +th' winter. Ye wouldn't have t' pay 'em then when ye wasn't afloat. Ye +could give 'em their keep an' let 'em hunt with th' traps on shore an' +make a little outen 'em. The's always fools 'nuff as thinks they'll +get rich if they has a chanct t' try their hand doin' somethin' they +ain't been doin' before, an' you kin get a crew o' fellers like that +easy 'nuff." + +"I dunno. Maybe I kin an' maybe I can't. Sounds like it's worth tryin' +an' I'll think about it." + +Every spring for ten years Captain Hanks--Skipper Sam he was generally +called--had sailed out of Halifax Harbour with his schooner _Maid of +the North_ to work his way into the Gulf of St. Lawrence when the +waters were clear of ice, and trade a general cargo of merchandise for +furs with the Indians and white trappers along the north shore and the +Straits of Belle Isle--the southern Labrador. + +At first he found the trade extremely lucrative, and during the first +four or five years in which he was engaged in it accumulated a snug +sum of money, the income of which would have been quite sufficient to +keep him comfortably the remainder of his life in the modest way in +which he lived. + +But Skipper Sam was much like other people, and the more he had the +more he wanted, so he continued in the fur trade. The fact that he had +purchased some city real estate for the purpose of speculation became +known, and other skippers sailing schooners of their own, with an eye +to lucrative, trade, decided that "Skipper Sam must be havin' a darn +good thing on th' Labrador," and when the _Maid of the North_ made her +fifth voyage she had another schooner to keep her company, and another +skipper was on hand to compete with Skipper Sam. + +Each year had brought additions to the trading fleet, and competition +had raised the price of fur until now the trappers, with a ready +market, were growing quite independent, and Skipper Sam, instead of +paying what he pleased for the pelts, which, when he had a monopoly of +the trade, was a merely nominal price as compared with their value, +was forced in order to get them at all to pay more nearly their true +worth. + +Even now he was making a fair profit, but his mind constantly reverted +to the "good old days" when his returns were from five hundred to a +thousand per cent. on his investment, and he felt injured and +dissatisfied. At the end of every voyage he declared solemnly that he +was no longer making more than seamen's wages and would quit the +trade, and the mate, who was well aware of the captain's comfortable +financial position, always believed he meant it. + +It should be said to Captain Hanks' credit that he paid his mate and +crew of five men the highest going wages, and treated them well and +kindly. So long as they attended strictly to their duties he was their +friend. They were provided with the best of food and they appreciated +the good treatment and were loyal to Captain Hanks' interest and very +much attached to the _Maid of the North_, as seamen are to a good ship +that for several voyages has been their home. + +So it was that the mate made his suggestions so freely. If Captain +Hanks were to quit the trade he knew that it would be many a day +before he secured another such berth, and his solicitude was therefore +not alone in the captain's interests but was largely a matter of +looking out for himself. + +The voyage just completed had not, in fact, been a very profitable +one, for the previous winter had been a poor year for the trappers +that they dealt with, just as it had been farther north in Eskimo Bay, +and Skipper Sam had good reason for feeling discouraged. + +It was early in August now, and the _Maid of the North_ was entering +Halifax Harbour with the expectation of tying up at her berth the next +morning. If she were to go north it would be necessary for her to be +fitted out for the voyage immediately in order to reach her winter +quarters before the ice began to form in the bays. + +The two men ate their supper and both went on deck to smoke their +pipes. Skipper Sam had no more to say about the proposed undertaking +until late in the evening, when he called the mate to his cabin, where +he had retired after his smoke, and there the mate found him poring +over a chart. + +"D'ye know anything about this coast?" the skipper asked, without +looking up. + +The mate glanced over his shoulder. + +"Not much, sir. I was down on a fishin' cruise once when I was a lad." + +"Well, how far down ought we t' go, d' ye think, before we lays up?" + +"I think, sir, we should go north o' Indian Harbour. Th' farther north +we gets, th' more fur we'll pick up." + +"Well," said the skipper, standing up, "I'm goin' t' sail just as +quick as I can fit out. Ship th' crew on th' best terms ye can. We got +t' move smart, fer I wants time t' run well down before th' ice +catches us." + +"All right, sir." + +Thus it happened that the _Maid of the North_, spick and span, with a +new coat of paint on the outside, and a good stock of provisions and +articles of trade in her hold, sailed out of Halifax Harbour and +turned her prow to the northward on the first day of September, and +was plowing her way to the Labrador at the very time that Bob Gray +with his mother and Emily were returning so disconsolate to Wolf Bight +after hearing the verdict of the mail boat doctor, and Bob was making +the plans that carried him into the interior. + +The _Maid of the North_ called at many harbours by the way and the +fame of Captain Hanks spread amongst the livyeres, as the native +Labradormen are called. He told them what fabulous prices he would pay +them for their furs in the spring when he came south, with open +water, and they promised him to a man to reserve the bulk of their +catch for him, and all had visions of coming wealth. + +It was decided that they winter in the Harbour of God's Hope, just +north of Cape Harrigan, and after passing Indian Harbour the natives +were notified that if they wished any supplies during the winter they +could bring their furs there and get what they needed. + +The Harbour of God's Hope was found to be a deep, narrow inlet, not as +well protected from the sea as might be desired, but still +comparatively well sheltered, and particularly advantageous from the +fact that the shores of the upper end of the inlet were wooded, an +essential feature, as it provided an abundance of good fuel, and the +supply on board was far from adequate for their needs. + +The _Maid of the North_ was made as snug as possible for the +freeze-up, but could not be brought as close to shore as desirable, +because of shoals. However, her position was deemed quite safe, and +Skipper Sam experienced a sense of supreme satisfaction at his +achievements and the prospects for a profitable trade in the spring. + +The crew were put at work immediately to build a log shack for shore +quarters, which was shortly accomplished. This shack was of ample size +and was furnished with a stove brought from Halifax for the purpose, +some chairs, a table and a kitchen outfit. + +The skipper, the mate and the cook remained on board at first, but the +crew were given permission to go ashore and hunt and trap in the hills +back of the harbour, an opportunity of which they promptly took +advantage. + +As the cold weather came on and the ice formed thick and hard around +the vessel it seemed unnecessary to keep a watch aboard, and as the +shack was much more roomy than the cabin, and therefore more +comfortable, all hands finally took up their quarters in it. + +As the winter wore on livyeres began to pay frequent visits to Skipper +Sam from up and down the coast, and they all brought furs to trade. +With the approach of spring the skipper found to his satisfaction that +he had already collected more pelts than he had been able to purchase +on his previous spring's voyage in the South, and at prices that even +to him seemed ridiculously low. These furs were duly stored aboard the +_Maid of the North_, and by the first of May she had a cargo that +could have been disposed of in Halifax or Montreal for several +thousand dollars. + +It was at this time that the skipper suggested to the mate one +evening, + +"Jack, les go caribou huntin' t'-morrer. I'm gettin' stiff hangin' +'round here." + +"All right, sir," acquiesced the mate, "but," he asked, "th' crew's +all away exceptin' th' cook, an' who'll look after things here if we +both goes t' once?" + +"We kin leave the cook alone fer one day I guess. If any o' th' +livyeres come he kin keep 'em till we comes back in th' evenin'." + +The arrangements were therefore made for the hunt, and the following +morning bright and early they were off. + +At sunrise there was a slight westerly breeze blowing, and the skipper +suggested, + +"Th' wind might stiffen up a bit an' we better keep an eye to it." + +They were well back in the hills before the predicted stiffening came +to such an extent that they decided it was wise to return to the +shack. + +Skipper Sam and his mate were not accustomed to land travelling and +the hurried retreat soon winded them and they were held down to so +slow a walk that the afternoon was half spent and the wind had grown +to a gale when they finally came in view of the harbour. Skipper Sam +was ahead, and when he looked towards the place where the _Maid of the +North_ had been snugly held in the ice in the morning he rubbed his +eyes. Then he looked again, and exclaimed: + +"By gum!" + +The harbour was clear of ice and nowhere on the horizon was the _Maid +of the North_ to be seen. The gale had swept the ice to sea and +carried with it the _Maid of the North_ and all her valuable cargo. +The cook, asleep in his bunk in the shack, was quite unconscious of +the calamity when the skipper roused him to demand explanations. + +But there were no explanations to be given. The schooner was gone, +that was all, and Captain Sam Hanks and his crew were stranded upon +the coast of Labrador. + + + + +XXIII + +THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE + + +Bob and his companions were indeed in a most desperate situation, and +even they, accustomed and inured as they were to the vicissitudes and +rigours of the North, could see no possible way of escape. Men of less +courage or experience would probably have resigned themselves to their +fate at once, without one further effort to preserve their lives, and +in an hour or two have succumbed to the bitter cold of the storm. But +these men had learned to take events as they came largely as a matter +of course, and they did not for a moment lose heart or self-control. + +The dogs were driven a little farther towards the interior of the ice, +for if the pack were to break up the outer edge would be the first to +go. Here immediate preparations were made to camp. + +There was no bank from which snow blocks could be cut for an igloo, +and the blinding snow so obscured their surroundings that they could +not so much as find a friendly ice hummock to take refuge behind. The +gale, in fact, was so fierce that they could scarce hold their feet +against it, and had they released their hold of the komatik even for +an instant, it is doubtful if they could have found it again. + +The deerskin sleeping bags were unlashed and the sledge turned upon +its side. In the lee of this the bags were stretched upon the ice and +with their skin clothes on they crawled into them. Each called +"Oksunae"--be strong--have courage--to the others, and then drew his +head within the folds of his skin covering. + +Bob wore the long, warm coat that Manikawan had made for him, and as +he snuggled close into the bag he thought of her kindness to him, and +he dreamed that night that he had gone back and found her waiting for +him and looking just as she did the morning she waved him farewell, as +she stood in the light of the cold winter moon--tall and graceful and +comely, with the tears glistening in her eyes. + +The dogs, still in harness, lay down where they stood, and in a little +while the snow, which found lodgment against the komatik, covered men +and dogs alike in one big drift and the weary travellers slept warm +and well regardless of the fact that at any moment the ice might part +and they be swallowed up by the sea. + +The storm was one of those sudden outbursts of anger that winter in +his waning power inflicts upon the world in protest against the coming +spring supplanting him, and as a reminder that he still lives and +carries with him his withering rod of chastisement and breath of +destruction. But he was now so old and feeble that in a single night +his strength was spent, and when morning dawned the sun arose with a +new warmth and the wind had ceased to blow. + +The men beneath the snow did not move. It was quite useless for them +to get up. There was nothing that they could do, and they might as +well be sleeping as wandering aimlessly about the ice field. + +The dogs, however, thought differently. They had not been fed the +previous night, and bright and early they were up, nosing about within +the limited area afforded them by the length of their traces. One of +them began to dig away the snow around the komatik. He paused, held +his nose into the drift a moment and sniffed, then went vigorously to +work again with his paws. Soon he grabbed something in his fangs. The +others joined him, and the snarling and fighting that ensued aroused +Bob and the sleeping Eskimos. + +Aluktook was the first to throw off the snow and look out to see what +the trouble was about Then he shouted and jumped to his feet, kicking +the dogs with all his power. Bob and Netseksoak sprang to his aid, but +they were too late. + +The dogs had devoured every scrap of food they had, save some tea that +Bob kept in a small bag in which he carried his few articles of +dunnage. + +This was a terrible condition of affairs, for though they were +doubtless doomed to drown with the first wind strong enough to shatter +the ice, still the love of living was strong within them, and they +must eat to live. + +Separating and going in different directions, the three hunted about +in the vain hope that somewhere on the ice there might be seals that +they could kill, but nowhere was there to be seen a living +thing--nothing but one vast field of ice reaching to the horizon on +the north, east and south. To the west the water sparkled in the +sunlight, but no land and no life, human or otherwise, was within the +range of vision. + +After a time they returned to their bivouac and then drove the dogs a +little farther into the ice pack to a high hummock that Aluktook had +found, and with an axe and snow knives cut blocks of ice from the +hummock and snow from a drift on its lee side, and finally had a +fairly substantial igloo built. This they made as comfortable as +possible, and settled in it as the last shelter they should ever have +in the world, as they all firmly believed it would prove. + +They were now driven to straits by thirst, but there was not a drop of +water, save the salt sea water, to be had. + +"We'll have to burn the komatik," said Aluktook. + +Netseksoak knocked two or three cross-bars from it and built a +miniature fire, using the wood with the greatest possible economy, and +by this means melted a kettle of ice, and Bob brewed some tea. + +The warm drink was stimulating, and gave them renewed ambition. They +separated again in search of game, but again returned, towards +evening, empty handed. + +"Too late for seals," the Eskimos remarked laconically. + +All were weak from lack of food, and when they gathered at the igloo +it was decided that one of the dogs must be killed. + +"We'll eat Amulik, he's too old to work anyway," suggested Netseksoak. + +Amulik, the dog thus chosen for the sacrifice, was a fine old fellow, +one of Netseksoak's dogs that had braved the storms of many winters. +The poor brute seemed to understand the fate in store for him, for he +slunk away when he saw Netseksoak loading his gun. But his retreat was +useless, and in a little while his flesh was stored in the igloo and +the Eskimos were dining upon it uncooked. + +Though Bob was, of course, very hungry, he declined to eat raw dog +meat, and to cook it was quite out of the question, for the little +wood contained in the komatik he realized must be reserved for melting +ice, as otherwise they would have nothing to drink. Another day, +however, and he was so driven to the extremes of hunger that he was +glad to take his share of the raw meat which to his astonishment he +found not only most palatable but delicious, for there is a time that +comes to every starving man when even the most vile and putrid refuse +can be eaten with a relish. + +The dog meat was carefully divided into daily portions for each man. +Some of it, of course, had to go to the remaining animals, to keep +them alive to be butchered later, if need be, for this was the only +source of food the destitute men had. + +Every day Bob and the Eskimos wandered over the ice, hoping against +hope that some means of escape might be found. Bob realized that +nothing but the hand of Providence, by some supernatural means, could +save him now. Again, he said, + +"Th' Lard this time has sure been losin' track o' me. Maybe 'tis +because when He were showin' me a safe trail over th' hills I were not +willin' t' bide His time an' go that way, but were comin' by th' ice +after th' warnin' at Kangeva." + +But he always ended his musings with the comfortable recollection of +his mother's prayers. Which had helped him so much before, and this +did more than anything else to keep him courageous and brave. + +The days came and went, each as empty as its predecessor, and each +night brought less probability of escape than the night before. + +Another dog was killed, and a week passed. + +The komatik wood was nearly gone, although but one small fire was +built each day, and the end of their tea was in sight. + +This was the state of affairs when Bob wandered one day farther to the +southward over the pack ice than usual, and suddenly saw in the +distance a moving object. At first he imagined that it was a bit of +moving ice, so near was it to the colour of the field. This was quite +impossible, however, and approaching it stealthily, he soon discovered +that it was a polar bear. + +The animal was wandering leisurely to the south. Bob carried the rifle +that Mr. MacPherson had given him, as he always did on these +occasions, and keeping in the lee of ice hummocks, that he might not +be seen by the bear, ran noiselessly forward. Finally he was within +shooting distance and, raising the gun, took aim and fired. + +Perhaps it was because of weakness through improper food, or possibly +as the result of too much eagerness, but the aim was unsteady and the +bullet only grazed and slightly wounded the bear. + +The brute growled and turned to see what it was that had struck him. +When it discovered its enemy it rose on its haunches and offered +battle. + +Bob was for a moment paralyzed by the immense proportions that the +bear displayed, and almost forgot that he had more bullets at his +disposal. But he quickly recalled himself and throwing a cartridge +into the chamber, aimed the rifle more carefully and fired again. This +time the bullet went true to the mark, and the great body fell limp to +the ice. + +As he surveyed the carcass a moment later he patted his rifle, and +said; + +"'Tis sure a rare fine gun. I ne'er could ha' killed un wi' my old +un.". "Now th' Lard _must_ be watchin' me or He wouldn't ha' sent th' +bear, an' He wouldn't ha' sent un if He weren't wantin' us t' live. +Th' Lard must be hearin' mother's an' Emily's prayers now, after +all--He must be." + +The bear was a great windfall. It would give Bob and the Eskimos food +for themselves and oil for their lamp, and the lad was imbued with +new hope as he hurried off to summon Netseksoak and Aluktook to aid +him in bringing the carcass to the igloo. + +The afternoon was well advanced before he found the two Eskimos, and +when he told them of his good fortune they were very much elated, and +all three started back immediately to the scene of the bear hunt. As +they approached it Aluktook shouted an exclamation and pointed towards +the south. Bob and Netseksoak looked, and there, dimly outlined in the +distance but still plainly distinguishable, was the black hull of a +vessel with two masts glistening in the sunshine. + +"Tis th' hand o' Providence!" exclaimed Bob. + +The three shook hands and laughed and did everything to show their +delight short of hugging each other, and then ran towards the vessel, +suddenly possessed of a vague fear that it might sail away before they +were seen. Bob fired several shots out of his rifle as he ran, to +attract the attention of the crew, but as they approached they could +see no sign of life, and they soon found that it was a schooner frozen +tight and fast in the ice pack. + +When they at last reached it Bob read, painted in bold letters, the +name, "Maid of the North." + + + + +XXIV + +THE ESCAPE + + +They lost no time in climbing on deck, and what was their astonishment +when they reached there to find the vessel quite deserted. Everything +was in spick and span order both in the cabin and above decks. It was +now nearly dark and an examination of her hold had to be deferred +until the following day. One thing was certain, however. No one had +occupied the cabin for some time, and no one had boarded or left the +vessel since the last snow-storm, for no footprints were to be found +on the ice near her. + +It was truly a great mystery, and the only solution that occurred to +Bob was that the ice pack had "pinched" the schooner and opened her up +below, and the crew had made a hurried escape in one of the boats. +This he knew sometimes occurred on the coast, and if it were the case, +and her hull had been crushed below the water line, it was of course +only a question of the ice breaking up, which might occur at any time, +when she would go to the bottom. There was one small boat on deck, +and if an examination in the morning disclosed the unseaworthiness of +the craft, this small boat would at least serve them as a means of +escape from the ice pack. + +Whatever the condition of the vessel, the night was calm and the ice +was hard, and there was no probability of a break-up that would +release her from her firm fastenings before morning; and they decided, +therefore, to make themselves comfortable aboard. There was a stove in +the cabin and another in the forecastle, plenty of blankets were in +the berths, and provisions--actual luxuries--down forward. Bob was +afraid that it was a dream and that he would wake up presently to the +realities of the igloo and raw dog meat, and the hopelessness of it +all. + +He and the Eskimos lighted the lamps, started a fire in the galley +stove, put the kettle over, fried some bacon, and finally sat down to +a feast of bacon, tea, ship's biscuit, butter, sugar, and even jam to +top off with. It was the best meal, Bob declared, that he had ever +eaten in all his life. + +"An' if un turns out t' be a dream, 'twill be th' finest kind o' one," +was his emphatic decision. + +How the three laughed and talked and enjoyed themselves over their +supper, and how Bob revelled in the soft, warm blankets of Captain +Hanks' berth when he finally, for the first time in weeks, was enabled +to undress and crawl into bed, can better be imagined than described. + +After an early breakfast the next morning the first care was to +examine the hold, and very much to their satisfaction, and at the same +time mystification, for they could not now understand why the schooner +had been abandoned, they found the hull quite sound and the schooner +to all appearances perfectly seaworthy. + +Another astonishment awaited Bob, too, when he came upon the +quantities of fur, and the stock of provisions and other goods that he +found below decks. + +"'Tis enough t' stock a company's post!" he exclaimed. But its real +intrinsic value was quite beyond his comprehension. + +When it was settled, beyond doubt, that the _Maid of the North_ was +entirely worthy of their confidence and in no danger of sinking, the +three returned to the igloo and transferred their sleeping bags and +few belongings, as well as the dogs, to their new quarters on board of +her. + +After this was done they skinned and dressed the polar bear, which +still lay upon the ice where it had been killed, and some of the flesh +was fed to the half famished dogs. Bob insisted upon giving them an +additional allowance, after the two Eskimos had fed them, for he said +that they, too, should share in the good fortune, though Netseksoak +expressed the opinion that the dogs ought to have been quite satisfied +to escape being eaten. + +The choicest cuts of the bear's meat the men kept for their own +consumption, and Bob rescued the liver also, when Aluktook was about +to throw it to the dogs, for he was very fond of caribou liver and saw +no reason why that of the polar bear should not prove just as +palatable. He fried some of it for supper, but when he placed it on +the table both Aluktook and Netseksoak refused to touch it, declaring +it unfit to eat, and warned Bob against it. + +"There's an evil spirit in it," they said with conviction, "and it +makes men sick." + +This was very amusing to Bob, and disregarding their warning he ate +heartily of it himself, wondering all the time what heathen +superstition it was that prejudiced Eskimos against such good food, +for, as he had observed, they would usually eat nearly anything in the +way of flesh, and a great many things that he would not eat. + +In a little while Bob began to realize that something was wrong. He +felt queerly, and was soon attacked with nausea and vomiting. For two +or three days he was very sick indeed and the Eskimos both told him +that it was the effect of the evil spirit in the liver, and that he +would surely die, and for a day or so he believed that he really +should. + +Whether the bear liver was under the curse of evil spirits or was in +itself poisonous were questions that did not interest Bob. He knew it +had made him sick and that was enough for him, and what remained of +the liver went to the dogs, when he was able to be about again. + +The days passed wearily enough for the men in their floating prison, +impatient as they were at their enforced inactivity, but still +helpless to do anything to quicken their release. May was dragging to +an end and June was at hand, and still the ice pack, firm and +unbroken, refused to loose its bands. Slowly--imperceptibly to the +watchers on board the _Maid of the North_--it was drifting to the +southward on the bosom of the Arctic current. But the sun, constantly +gaining more power, was rotting the ice, and it was inevitable that +sooner or later the pack must fall to pieces and release the schooner +and its occupants from their bondage. Then would come another danger. +If the wind blew strong and the seas ran high, the heavy pans of ice +pounding against the hull might crush it in and send the vessel to the +bottom. Therefore, while longing for release, there was at the same +time an element of anxiety connected with it. + +Finally the looked for happened. One afternoon a heavy bank of clouds, +black and ominous, appeared in the western sky. A light puff of wind +presaged the blow that was to follow, and in a little while the gale +was on. + +The _Maid of the North_, it will be understood, lay in bay ice, and +all the ice to the south of her was bay ice. This was much lighter +than that coming from more northerly points, and when the open sea +which skirted the western edge of the field began to rise and sweep in +upon this rotten ice the waves crumbled and crumpled it up before +their mighty force like a piece of cardboard. It was a time of the +most intense anxiety for the three men. + +Just at dusk, amid the roar of wind and smashing ice, the vessel gave +a lurch, and suddenly she was free. Fortunately her rudder was not +carried away, as they had feared it would be, and when she answered +the helm, Bob whispered, + +"Thank th' Lard." + +They were at the mercy of the wind during the next few hours, and +there was little that could be done to help themselves until towards +morning, when the gale subsided. Then, with daylight, under short sail +they began working the vessel out of the "slob" ice that surrounded +it, and before dark that night were in the open sea, with now only a +moderate breeze blowing, which fortunately had shifted to the +northward. + +Here they found themselves beset by a new peril. Icebergs, great, +towering, fearsome masses, lay all about them, and to make matters +worse a thick gray fog settled over the ocean, obscuring everything +ten fathoms distant. They brought the vessel about and lay to in the +wind, but even then drifted dangerously near one towering ice mass, +and once a berg that could not have been half a mile away turned over +with a terrifying roar. It seemed as though a collision was +inevitable before daylight, but the night passed without mishap, and +when the morning sun lifted the fog the ship was still unharmed. + +There was no land anywhere to be seen. What position they were in Bob +did not know, and had no way of finding out. He did know, however, +that somewhere to the westward lay the Labrador coast, and this they +must try to reach. + +Fortunately he could read the compass, and by its aid took as nearly +as possible a due westerly course. + +Alutook and Netseksoak, expert as they were in the handling of kayaks, +had no knowledge of the management of larger craft like the _Maid of +the North_, and without question accepted Bob as commander and +followed his directions implicitly and faithfully; and he handled the +vessel well, for he was a good sailor, as all lads of the Labrador +are. + +They made excellent headway, and were favoured with a season of good +weather, and like the barometer Bob's spirits rose. But he dared to +plan nothing beyond the present action. A hundred times he had planned +and pictured the home-coming, but each time Fate, or the will of a +Providence that he could not understand, had intervened, and with the +crushing of each new hope and the wiping out of each delightful +picture that his imagination drew, he decided to look not into the +future, but do his best in the present and trust to Providence for the +rest, for, as he expressed it, + +"Th' Lard's makin' His own plans an' He's not wantin' me t' be +meddlin' wi' un, an' so He's not lettin' me do th' way I lays out t' +do, an' I'll be makin' no more plans, but takin' things as they comes +along." + +In this frame of mind he held the vessel steadily to her course and +kept a constant lookout for land or a sail, and on the morning of the +third day after the release from the ice pack was rewarded by a shout +from Netseksoak announcing land at last. Eagerly he looked, and in the +distance, dimly, but still there, appeared the shore in low, dark +outline against the horizon. + +Towards noon a sail was sighted, and late in the afternoon they passed +within hailing distance of a fishing schooner bound down north. He +shouted to the fishermen who, at the rail, were curiously watching the +_Maid of the North_, as she plowed past them. + +[Illustration: "He held the vessel steadily to her course"] + +"What land may that be?" pointing at a high, rocky head that jutted +out into the water two miles away. + +"Th' Devil's Head," came the reply. + +"An' what's th' day o' th' month?" + +"Th' fifteenth o' June," rang out the answer. "Where un hail from?" + +"Ungava," Bob shouted to the astonished skipper, who was now almost +out of hearing. + +The information that the land was the Devil's Head came as joyful news +to Bob. He had often heard of the Devil's Head, and knew that it lay +not far from the entrance to Eskimo Bay, and therefore in a little +while he believed he should see some familiar landmarks. + +Bob's hopes were confirmed, and before dark the Twin Rocks near Scrag +Island were sighted, and as they came into view his heart swelled and +his blood tingled. He was almost home! + +That night they lay behind Scrag Island, and with the first dawn of +the morning were under way again. The wind was fair, and before sunset +the _Maid of the North_ sailed into Fort Pelican Harbour and anchored. + +Bob's heart beat high as he stepped into the small boat to row ashore, +for the whitewashed buildings of the Post, the air redolent with the +perfume of the forest, and the howling dogs told him that at last the +dangers of the trail and sea were all behind him and of the past, and +that he would soon be at home again. + +Mr. Forbes was at the wharf when Bob landed, and when he saw who it +was exclaimed in astonishment: + +"Why it's Bob Gray! Where in the world, or what spirit land did you +come from? Why Ed Matheson brought your remains out of the bush last +winter and I hear they were buried the other day." + +"I comes from Ungava, sir, with some letters Mr. MacPherson were +sendin'," answered Bob, as he made the painter fast. + +"Letters from Ungava! Well, come to the office and we'll see them. I +want to hear how you got here from Ungava." + +In the office Bob told briefly the story of his adventures, while he +ripped the letters from his shirt, where he had sewed them in a +sealskin covering for safe keeping. + +"Has un heard, sir, how mother an' Emily an' father is?" he asked as +he handed over the mail. + +"Mr. MacDonald sent his man down the other day, and he told me your +mother took it pretty hard, when they buried you last week, although +she has stuck to it all along that the remains Ed brought out were not +yours and you were alive somewhere. Emily don't seem to change. Your +father and nearly every one else in the Bay has had a good hunt. Go +out to the men's kitchen for your supper now and when you've eaten +come back again and we'll talk things over." + +In the kitchen he heard some exaggerated details of Ed's journey out, +and something of the happenings up the bay during the winter. When he +had finished his meal he returned to the office, where Mr. Forbes was +waiting for him. + +"Well, Ungava Bob, as Mr. MacPherson calls you in his letter," said +Mr. Forbes, "you've earned the rifle he gave you, and you're to keep +it. Now tell me more of your adventures since you left Ungava." + +Little by little he drew from Bob pretty complete details of the +journey, and then told him that he had better sail the _Maid of the +North_ up to Kenemish, where Douglas Campbell and his father would see +that he secured the salvage due him for bringing out the schooner. + +"An' what may salvage be, sir?" asked Bob. + +"Why," answered Mr. Forbes, "you found the schooner a derelict at sea +and you brought her into port. When you give her back to the owner he +will have to pay you whatever amount the court decides is due you for +the service, and it may be as much as one-half the value of the vessel +and cargo. You'll get enough out of it to settle you comfortably for +life." + +Bob heard this in open-mouthed astonishment. It was too good for him +to quite believe at first, but Mr. Forbes assured him that it was +usual and within his rights. + +They arranged that Netseksoak and Aluktook should go with him to +Kenemish and later return to Fort Pelican to be paid by Mr. Forbes for +their services and to be sent home by him on the company's ship, the +_Eric_, on its annual voyage north. + +Then Bob, after thanking Mr. Forbes, rowed back to the _Maid of the +North_, too full of excitement and anticipation to sleep. + +With the first ray of morning light the anchor was weighed, the sails +hoisted and but two days lay between Bob and home. + +As he stood on the deck of the _Maid of the North_ and drank in the +wild, rugged beauty of the scene around him Bob thought of that day, +which seemed so long, long ago, when he and his mother, broken hearted +and disconsolate were going home with little Emily, and how he had +looked away at those very hills and the inspiration had come to him +that led to the journey from which he was now returning. Tears came to +his eyes and he said to himself, + +"Sure th' Lard be good. 'Twere He put un in my head t' go, an' He were +watchin' over me an' carin' for me all th' time when I were thinkin' +He were losin' track o' me. I'll never doubt th' Lard again." + + + + +XXV + +THE BREAK-UP + + +One evening a month after Ed Matheson started out with his gruesome +burden to Wolf Bight, Dick Blake was sitting alone in the tilt at the +junction of his and Ed's trails, smoking his after supper pipe and +meditating on the happenings of the preceding weeks. There were some +things in connection with the tragedy that he had never been able to +quite clear up. Why, for instance, he asked himself, did Micmac John +steal the furs and then leave them in the tilt where they were found? +Had the half-breed been suddenly smitten by his conscience? That +seemed most unlikely, for Dick had never discovered any indication +that Micmac possessed a conscience. No possible solution of the +problem presented itself. A hundred times he had probed the question, +and always ended by saying, as he did now, + +"'Tis strange--wonderful strange, an' I can't make un out." + +He arose and knocked the ashes out of his pipe, filled the stove with +wood, and then looked out into the night before going to his bunk. It +was snowing thick and fast. + +"'Tis well to-morrow's Sunday," he remarked. "The's nasty weather +comin'." + +"That they is," said a voice so close to his elbow that he started +back in surprise, + +"Why, hello, Ed. You were givin' me a rare start, sneakin' in as +quiet's a rabbit. How is un?" + +"Fine," said Ed, who had just come around the corner of the tilt in +time to hear Dick's remark in reference to the weather. "Who un +talkin' to?" + +"To a sensible man as agrees wi' me," answered Dick facetiously. "A +feller does get wonderful lonesome seem' no one an' has t' talk t' +hisself sometimes." + +The two entered the tilt and Ed threw off his adikey while Dick put +the kettle over. + +"Well," asked Dick, when Ed was finally seated, "how'd th' mother take +un?" + +"Rare hard on th' start off," said Ed. "'Twere th' hardest thing I +ever done, tellin' she, an' 'twere all I could do t' keep from +breakin' down myself. I 'most cried, I were feelin so bad for un. + +"Douglas were there an' Bessie were visitin' th' sick maid, which were +a blessin', fer Richard were away on his trail. + +"I goes in an' finds un happy an' thinkin' maybe Bob'd be comin'. I +finds th' bones gettin' weak in my legs, soon's I sees un, an' th' +mother, soon's she sees me up an' says she's knowin' somethin' +happened t' Bob, an' I has t' tell she wi'out waitin' t' try t' make +un easy's I'd been plannin' t' do. She 'most faints, but after a while +she asks me t' tell she how Bob were killed, an' I tells. + +"Then she's wantin' t' see a bit o' the clothes we found, an' when she +looks un over she raises her head an' says, '_Them_ weren't Bob's. I +knows Bob's clothes, an' them weren't _his_! When I tells 'bout +findin' _two_ axes she says Bob were havin' only one axe, an' then +she's believin' Bob wasn't got by th' wolves, an' is livin' +somewheres. + +"Douglas goes for Richard, an' when Richard comes he says th' +clothes's Bob's an' th' gun _ain't_, an' Bob were havin' only one axe. + +"Richard's not doubtin' th' remains was Bob's though, an' o' course +the's no doubtin' _that_. Th' clothes's gettin' so stained up I'm +thinkin' th' mother'd not be knowin' un. But Richard sure would be +knowin' th' gun, an' that's what _I'm_ wonderin' at." + +"'Tis rare strange," assented Dick. "An' _I'm_ wonderin' why Micmac +John were leavin' th' fur in th' 'tilt after stealin' un. That's what +_I'm_ wonderin' at." + +The whole evening was thus spent in discussing the pros and cons of +the affair. They both decided that while the gun and axe question were +beyond explanation, there was no doubt that Bob had been destroyed by +wolves and the remains that they found were his. + +The plan that Bill had suggested for hunting the trails without taking +Sunday rest, thus enabling them to attend to a part of Bob's Big Hill +trail, was resorted to, and the winter's work was the hardest, they +all agreed, that they had ever put in. + +January and February were excessively cold months and during that +period, when the fur bearing animals keep very close to their lairs, +the catch was indifferent. But with the more moderate weather that +began with March and continued until May the harvest was a rich one, +for it was one of those seasons, after a year of unusual scarcity, as +the previous two years had been, when the fur bearing animals come in +some inexplicable way in great numbers, and food game also is +plentiful. + +At length the hunting season closed, when the mild weather with daily +thaws arrived. The fur that was now caught was deteriorating to such +an extent that it was not wise to continue catching it. The traps on +the various trails were sprung and hung upon trees or placed upon +rocks, where they could be readily found again, and Dick and Ed joined +Bill at the river tilt, where the boat had been cached to await the +breaking up of the river, and here enjoyed a respite from their +labours. + +Ptarmigans in flocks of hundreds fed upon the tender tops of the +willows that lined the river banks, and these supplied them with an +abundance of fresh meat, varied occasionally by rabbits, two or three +porcupines and a lynx that Dick shot one day near the tilt. This lynx +meat they roasted by an open fire outside the tilt, and considered it +a great treat. It may be said that the roasted lynx resembles in +flavour and texture prime veal, and it is indeed, when properly +cooked, delicious; and the hunter knows how to cook it properly. +Trout, too, which they caught through the ice, were plentiful. They +had brought with them when coming to the trails in the autumn, tackle +for the purpose of securing fish at this time. The lines were very +stout, thick ones, and the hooks were large. A good-sized piece of +lead, melted and moulded around the stem of the hook near the eye, +weighted it heavily, and it was baited with a piece of fat pork and a +small piece of red cloth or yarn, tied below the lead. The rod was a +stout stick three feet in length and an inch thick. + +With this equipment the hook was dropped into the hole and moved up +and down slowly, until a fish took hold, when it was immediately +pulled out. The trout were very sluggish at this season of the year +and made no fight, and were therefore readily landed. The most of them +weighed from two to five pounds each, and indeed any smaller than that +were spurned and thrown back into the hole "t' grow up," as Ed put it. + +One evening a rain set in and for four days and nights it never +ceased. It poured down as if the gates of the eternal reservoirs of +heaven had been opened and the flood let loose to drown the world. The +snow became a sea of slush and miniature rivers ran down to join +forces with the larger stream. + +At first the waters overflowed the ice, but at last it gave way to the +irresistible force that assailed it, and giving way began to move upon +the current in great unwieldly masses. + +The river rose to its brim and burst its banks. Trees were uprooted, +and mingling with the ice surged down towards the sea upon the crest +of the unleashed, untamed torrent. The break-up that the men were +awaiting had come. + +"'Tis sure a fearsome sight," remarked Bill one day when the storm was +at its height, as he returned from "a look outside" to join Dick and +Ed, who sat smoking their pipes in silence in the tilt. + +"An' how'd un like t' be ridin' one o' them cakes o' ice out there, +an' no way o' reachin' shore?" asked Ed. + +"I wouldn't be ridin' un from choice, an' if I were ridin' un I'm +thinkin' 'twould be my last ride," answered Bill. + +"Once I were ridin' un, an' ridin' un from choice," said Ed, with the +air of one who had a story to tell. + +"No you weren't never ridin' un. What un tell such things for, Ed?" +broke in Dick. "Un has dreams an' tells un for happenin's, I'm +thinkin'." + +Ed ignored the interruption as though he had not heard it, and +proceeded to relate to Bill his wonderful adventure. + +"Once," said he,--"'twere five year ago--I were waitin' at my lower +tilt for th' break-up t' come, an' has my boat hauled up t' what I +thinks is a safe place, when I gets up one mornin' t' find th' water +come up extra high in th' night an' th' boat gone wi' th' ice. That +leaves me in a rare bad fix, wi' nothin' t' do, seems t' me, but wait +for th' water t' settle, an' cruise down th' river afoot. + +"I'm not fancyin' th' cruise, an' I watches th' ice an' wonders, when +I marks chance cakes o' ice driftin' down close t' shore an' touchin' +land now an' agin as un goes, could I ride un. Th' longer I watches un +th' more I thinks 'twould be a fine way t' ride on un, an' at last I +makes up my pack an' cuts a good pole, an' watches my chance, which +soon comes. A big cake comes rollin' down an' I steps aboard un an' +away I goes. + +"'Twere fine for a little while, an' I says, 'Ed, now _you_ knows th' +thing t' do in a tight place.' + +"'Twere a rare pretty sight watchin' th' shore slippin' past, an' I +forgets as 'tis a piece o' ice I'm ridin' till I happens t' look +around an' finds th' cake o' ice, likewise myself, in th' middle o' +th' river, an' no way o' gettin' ashore. The's nothin' t' do but hang +on, an' I hangs. + +"Then I sees th' Gull Island Rapids an' I 'most loses my nerve. 'Tis a +fearsome torrent at best, as un knows, but now wi' high flood 'tis +like ten o' unself at low water. Th' waves beats up twenty foot high." + +Ed paused here to light his pipe which had a way of always going out +when he reached the most dramatic point in his stories. When it was +finally going again, he continued: + +"Lucky 'twere for me th' rocks were all covered. In we goes, me an' +th' ice, an' I hangs on an' shuts my eyes. When I opens un we're +floatin' peaceful an' steady below th' rapids, an' I feels like +breathin' agin. + +"Then we runs th' Porcupine Rapids, an' I begins t' think I has th' +Muskrat Falls t' run too which would be th' endin' o' me, sure. But I +ain't. I uses my pole, an' works up t' shore, an' just as we gets th' +rush o' th' water above th' falls, I lands. + +"That were how I rid th' river on a' ice cake." + +"Where'd ye land, now?" asked Dick. "This side o' th' river or t' +other?" + +"This side o' un," answered Ed, complacently. + +"'Tis sheer rock this side, an' no holt t' land on," said Dick, +triumphantly. + +"'Th' water were t' th' top o' th' rock," explained Ed. + +"Then," said Dick, with the air of one who has trapped another, "th' +hull country were flooded an' there were no falls." + +Ed looked at him for a moment disdainfully. + +"I were on th' ice six days, an' _I knows_." + +The men were held in waiting for several days after the storm ceased +for the river to clear of debris and sink again to something like its +normal volume, before it was considered safe for them to begin the +voyage out. Then on a fair June morning the boat was laden with the +outfit and fur. + +"Poor Bob," said Dick, as Bob's things were placed in the boat. "Th' +poor lad were so hopeful when we were comin' in t' th' trails, an' +now un's gone. 'Twill be hard t' meet his mother an Richard." + +"Aye, 'twill be hard," assented Ed. "She'll be takin' un rare hard. +Our comin' home'll be bringin' his goin' away plain t' she again." + +"An' Emily, too," spoke up Bill. "They were thinkin' so much o' each +other." + +Then the journey was begun, full of danger and excitement as they shot +through rushing rapids and on down the river towards Eskimo Bay, where +great and unexpected tidings awaited them. + + + + +XXVI + +BACK AT WOLF BIGHT + + +Bob's apparent death was a sore shock to Richard Gray. When Douglas +found him on the trail and broke the news to him as gently as +possible, he seemed at first hardly to comprehend it. He was stunned. +He said little, but followed Douglas back to the cabin like one in a +mesmeric sleep. A few days before he had gone away happy and buoyant, +now he shuffled back like an old man. + +Mechanically he looked at the remains and examined the gun and the +axe--Ed had brought out but one of the axes found by the rock with the +remains--and said, "Th' gun's not Bob's. Th' axe were his." + +"Th' gun's not Bob's!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray "Th' clothes is not Bob's! +Now I knows 'tis not my boy we've found." + +"Yes, Mary," said he broken-heartedly. "Tis Bob th' wolves got. Our +poor lad is gone. No one else could ha' had his things." + +He and Douglas made a coffin into which the remains were tenderly +placed, and it was put upon a high platform near the house, out of +reach of animals, there to rest until the spring, when the snow would +be gone and it could be buried. + +For a whole week after this sad duty was performed the father sat by +the cabin stove and brooded, a broken-hearted, dispirited counterpart +of what he had been at the Christmas time. It was the man's nature to +be silent in seasons of misfortune. During the previous year, when +luck had been so against him, this characteristic of silent brooding +had shown itself markedly, but then he did not remain in the house and +neglect his work as he did now. He seemed to have lost all heart and +all ambition. He scarcely troubled to feed the dogs, and the few tasks +that he did perform were evidently irksome and unpleasant to him, as +things that interfered with his reveries. + +From morning until night Richard Gray nursed the grief in his bosom, +but never referred to the tragedy unless it was first mentioned by +another; and at such times he said as little as possible about it, +answering questions briefly, offering nothing himself, and plainly +showing that he did not wish to converse upon the subject. + +Over and over again he reviewed to himself every phase of Bob's life, +from the time when, a wee lad, Bob climbed on his knee of an evening +to beg for stories of bear hunts, and great gray wolves that harried +the hunters, and how the animals were captured on the trail; and +through the years into which the little lad grew into youth and +approached manhood, down to the day that he left home, looking so +noble and stalwart, to brave, for the sake of those he loved, the +unknown dangers that lurked in the rude, wild wastes beyond the line +of blue mysterious hills to the northward. And now the poor remains +enclosed in the rough box that rested upon the scaffold outside were +all that remained of him. And that was the end of all the plans that +he and the mother had made for their son's future, of all their hopes +and fine pictures. + +Mrs. Gray had never seen her husband in so downcast and despondent a +mood, and as the days passed she began to worry about him and finally +became alarmed. He had lost all interest in everything, and had a +strange, unnatural look in his eyes that she did not like. + +One evening she sat down by his aide, and, taking his hand, said: + +"Be a brave man, Richard, and bear up. Th' Lard's never let Bob die +so. That were _not_ Bob as th' wolves got. I'm knowin' our lad's +somewheres alive. I were dreamin' last night o' seem' he--an'--I feels +it--I feels it--an' I can't go agin my feelin'." + +"No, Mary, 'twere Bob," he answered. + +"I feels 'tweren't, but if 'twere 'tis th' Lard's will, an' 'tis our +duty t' be brave an' bear up. Tis hard--rare hard--but bear up, +Richard--an' bear un like a man. Remember, Richard, we has th' maid +spared to us." + +And so, heart-broken though she was herself, she comforted and +encouraged him, as is the way of women, for in times of great +misfortune they are often the braver of the sexes. Her husband did not +know the hours of wakeful uncertainty and helplessness and despair +that Mrs. Gray spent, as she lay long into the nights thinking and +thinking, until sometimes it seemed that she would go mad. + +Bessie, gentle and sympathetic, was the pillar upon which they all +leaned during those first days after the dreadful tidings came. It was +her presence that made life possible. Like a good angel she moved +about the house, unobtrusively ministering to them, and Mrs. Gray +more than once said, + +"I'm not knowin' what we'd do, Bessie, if 'twere not for you." + +After a week of silent despondency the father roused himself to some +extent from the lethargy into which he had fallen, and returned to his +trail. The work brought back life and energy, and when, a fortnight +later, he came back, he had resumed somewhat his old bearing and +manner, though not all of the buoyancy. He entered the cabin with the +old greeting--"An' how's my maid been wi'out her daddy?" It made the +others feel better and happier; and he was almost his natural self +again when he left them for another period. + +The report of Bob's death did not appear to affect Emily as greatly as +her mother feared it would. She was silent, and took less interest in +her doll, and seemed to be constantly expecting something to occur. +One day after her father had left them she called her mother to her, +and, taking her hand to draw her to a seat on the couch, asked: + +"Mother, do angels ever come by day, or be it always by night?" + +"I'm--I'm--not knowin', dear. They comes both times, I'm thinkin'--but +mostly by night--I'm--not knowin'," faltered the mother. + +"Does un think Bob's angel ha' been comin' by night while we sleeps, +mother? I been watchin', an' he've never come while I wakes--an' I'm +wonderin' an' wonderin'." + +"No--not while we sleeps--no--I'm not knowin'," and then she buried +her face in Emily's pillow and wept. + +"Bob's knowin', mother, how we longs t' see he," continued Emily, as +she stroked her mother's hair, "an' he'd sure be comin' if he were +killed. He'd sure be doin' that so we could see un. But he's not been +comin', an' I'm thinkin' he's livin', just as you were sayin'. Bob'll +be home wi' th' break-up, mother, I'm thinkin'--wi' th' break-up, +mother, for his angel ha' never come, as un sure would if he were +dead." + +On two or three other occasions after this--once in the night--Emily +called Mrs. Gray to her to reiterate this belief. She would not accept +even the possibility of Bob's death without first seeing his angel, +which she was so positive would come to visit them if he were really +dead; and it was this that kept back the grief that she would have +felt had she believed that she was never to see him again. + +Bessie remained with them until the last of February, when her father +drove the dogs over to take her home, as many of the trappers were +expected in from their trails about the first of March to spend a few +days at the Post, and her mother needed her help with the additional +work that this entailed. Emily was loath to part from her, but her +father promised that she should return again for a visit as soon as +the break-up came and before the fishing commenced. + +Douglas Campbell was very good to the Grays, and at least once each +week, and sometimes oftener, walked over to spend the day and cheer +them up. Often he brought some little delicacy for Emily, and she +looked forward to his visits with much pleasure. + +One day towards the last of May he asked Emily: + +"How'd un like t' go t' St. Johns an' have th' doctors make a fine, +strong maid of un again? I'm thinkin' th' mother's needin' her maid t' +help her now." + +"Oh, I'd like un fine, sir!" exclaimed Emily. + +"I'm thinkin' we'll have t' send un. 'Twill be a long while away from +home. You won't be gettin' lonesome now?" + +"I'm fearin' I'll be gettin' lonesome for mother, but I'll stand un t' +get well an' walk again." + +"Now does un hear that," said Douglas to Mrs. Gray, who at that moment +came in from out of doors. "Your little maid's goin' t' St. Johns t' +have th' doctors make she walk again, so she can be helpin' wi' th' +housekeepin'." + +"The's no money t' send she," said Mrs. Gray sadly. "'Tis troublin' me +wonderful, an' I'm not knowin' what t' do--'tis troublin' me so." + +"I'm thinkin' th' money'll be found t' send she--I'm _knowin'_ +'twill," Douglas prophesied convincingly. "Ed were sayin' Bob had a +rare lot o' fur that he'd caught before th'--before th' New Year--a +fine lot o' martens an' th' silver foxes. Them'll pay Bob's debt an' +pay for th' maid's goin' too. That's what Bob were wantin'." + +"Did Ed say now as Bob were gettin' all that fur?" she asked. "I were +feelin' so sore bad over Bob's goin' I were never hearin' un--I were +not thinkin' about th' lad's fur--I were thinkin' o' he." + +"Aye, Ed were sayin' that. Emily must be ready t' go on th' cruise t' +meet th' first trip o' th' mail boat. Th' maid must be leavin' here +by th' last o' June," planned Douglas. + +"But we'll not be havin' th' money then--not till th' men comes out, +an' then we has t' sell th' fur first t' get th' money," Mrs. Gray +explained. "Then--then I hopes th' maid may go. 'Tis what Bob were +goin' t' th' bush for--an' takin' all th' risks for--my poor lad--he +were countin' on un so----" + +"We'll not be waitin'. We'll not be waitin'. _I_ has th' money now an' +th' maid must be goin' th' _first_ trip o' th' mail boat," said +Douglas, in an authoritative manner. + +"Oh, Douglas, you be wonderful good--so wonderful good." And Mrs. Gray +began to cry. + +"Now! Now!" exclaimed the soft-hearted old trapper, "'Tis nothin' t' +be cryin' about. What un cryin' for, now?" + +"I'm--not--knowin'--only you be so good--an' I were wantin' so bad t' +have Emily go--I were wantin' so wonderful bad--an' 'twill save +she--'twill save she!" + +"'Tis no kindness. 'Tis no kindness. 'Tis Bob's fur pays for un--no +kindness o' mine," he insisted. + +Emily took Douglas' hand and drew him to her until she could reach his +face. Then with a palm on each cheek she kissed his lips, and with her +arms about his neck buried her face for a moment in his white beard. + +"There! There!" he exclaimed when she had released him. "Now what un +makin' love t' me for?" + +Richard returned that evening from his last trip over his trail for +the season, and he was much pleased with the arrangement as to Emily. + +"Your daddy'll be lonesome wi'out un," said he, "but 'twill be fine t' +think o' my maid comin' back walkin' again--rare fine." + +"An' 'twill be rare hard t' be goin'," she said. "I'm 'most wishin' I +weren't havin' t' go." + +"But when you comes back, maid, you'll be well, an' think, now, how +happy that'll make un," Mrs. Gray encouraged. "Th' Lard's good t' be +providin' th' way. 'Twill be hard for un an' for us all, but th' Lard +always pays us for th' hard times an' th' sorrow He brings us, wi' +good times an' a rare lot o' happiness after, if we only waits wi' +patience an' faith for un." + +"Aye, mother, I knows, an' I _is_ glad--oh, _so_ glad t' know I's t' +be well again," said Emily very earnestly. "But," she added, "I'm +thinkin' 'twould be so fine if you or daddy were goin' wi' me. Bob +were countin' on un so--I minds how Bob were countin' on my goin'--an' +he's not here t' know about un--an' I feels wonderful bad when I +thinks of un." + +Of course it was quite out of the question for either the father or +the mother to go with her, for that would more than double the expense +and could not be afforded. There was no certainty as to how much would +be coming to them after Bob's share of the furs were sold. This could +not be estimated even approximately for they had not so much as seen +the pelts yet. Richard, grown somewhat pessimistic with the years of +ill fortune, even doubted if, after Bob's debt to Mr. MacDonald was +paid, there would be sufficient left to reimburse Douglas for the +money he had agreed to advance to meet Emily's expenses. "But then," +he said, "I suppose 'twill work out somehow." + +At last the great storm came that opened the rivers and smashed the +bay ice into bits, and when the fury of the wind was spent and the +rain ceased the sun came out with a new warmth that bespoke the summer +close at hand. The tide carried the splintered ice to the open sea, +wild geese honked overhead in their northern flight, seals played in +the open water, and the loon's weird laugh broke the wilderness +silence. The world was awakening from its long slumber, and summer was +at hand. + +Tom Black kept his word, and when the ice was gone brought Bessie over +in his boat to stay with Emily until she should go to the hospital. It +was a beautiful, sunny afternoon when they arrived and Bessie brought +a good share of the sunshine into the cabin with her. + +"Oh, Bessie!" cried Emily, as her friend burst into the room. "I were +thinkin' you'd not be comin', Bessie! Oh, 'tis fine t' have you come!" + +Tom remained the night, and he and Bessie cheered up the Grays, for it +had been a lonely, monotonous period since their last visit, and never +a caller save Douglas had they had. + +Time, the great healer of sorrow, had somewhat mitigated the shock of +Bob's disappearance, and had reconciled them to some extent to his +loss. But now the sore was opened again when, one day, a grave was dug +in the spruce woods behind the cabin, and the coffin, which had been +resting upon the scaffold since January, was taken down and +reverently lowered into the earth by Richard and Douglas. Mrs. Gray, +though still firm in the intuitive belief that her boy lived, wept +piteously when the earth clattered down upon the box and hid it +forever from view. + +"I knows 'tis not Bob," she sobbed, "but where is my lad? What has +become o' my brave lad?" + +Bessie, with wet eyes, comforted her with soothing words and gentle +caresses. + +Richard and Douglas did their work silently, both certain beyond a +doubt that it was Bob they had laid to rest. + +Nothing was said to Emily of the burial. That would have done her no +good and they did not wish to give her the pain that it would have +caused. + +The days were rapidly lengthening, and the sun coming boldly nearer +the earth was tempering and mellowing the atmosphere, and every +pleasant afternoon a couch was made for Emily out of doors, where she +could bask in the sunshine, and breathe the air charged with the +perfume of the spruce and balsam forest above, and drink in the wild +beauties of the wilderness about her. + +Here she lay, alone, one day late in June while her mother and Bessie +washed the dinner dishes before Bessie came out to join her, and her +father and Douglas, who had come over to dinner, smoked their pipes +and chatted in the house. She was listening to the joyous song of a +robin, that had just returned from its far-off southland pilgrimage, +and was thinking as she listened of the long, long journey that she +was soon to take. Her heart was sad, for it was a sore trial to be +separated all the summer from her father and mother and never see them +once. + +She looked down the bight out towards the broader waters of the bay, +for that was the way she was to go. Suddenly as she looked a boat +turned the point into the bight. It was a strange boat and she could +not see who was in it, but it held her attention as it approached, for +a visitor was quite unusual at this time of the year. Presently the +single occupant stood up in the boat, to get a better view of the +cabin. + +"Bob! _Bob!_ BOB!" shouted Emily, quite wild and beside +herself. "Mother! Father! Bob is coming! _Bob_ is coming!" + +Those in the house rushed out in alarm, for they thought the child had +gone quite mad, but when they reached her they, too, seemed to lose +their reason. Mrs. Gray ran wildly to the sandy shore where the boat +would land, extending her arms towards it and fairly screaming, + +"My lad! Oh, my lad!" + +Bessie was at her heels and Richard and Douglas followed. + +When Bob stepped ashore his mother clasped him to her arms and wept +over him and fondled him, and he, taller by an inch than when he left +her, bronzed and weather-beaten and ragged, drew her close to him and +hugged her again and again, and stroked her hair, and cried too, while +Richard and Douglas stood by, blowing their noses on their red bandana +handkerchiefs and trying to took very self-composed. + +When his mother let him go Bob greeted the others, forgetting himself +so far as to kiss Bessie, who blushed and did not resent his boldness. + +Emily simply would not let him go. She held him tight to her, and +called him her "big, brave brother," and said many times: + +"I were knowin' you'd come back to us, Bob. I were just _knowin'_ +you'd come back." + +An hour passed in a babble of talk and exchange of explanations almost +before they were aware, and then Mrs. Gray suddenly realized that Bob +had had no dinner. + +"Now un must be rare hungry, Bob," she explained. "Richard, carry +Emily in with un now, an' we'll have a cup o' tea wi' Bob, while he +has his dinner." + +"Let me carry un," said Bob, gathering Emily into his arms. + +In the house they were all so busy talking and laughing, while Mrs. +Gray prepared the meal for Bob, that no one noticed a boat pull into +the bight and three men land upon the beach below the cabin; and so, +just as they were about to sit down to the table, they were taken +completely by surprise when the door opened and in walked Dick Blake, +Ed Matheson and Bill Campbell. + +The three stopped short in open-mouthed astonishment. + +"'Tis Bob's ghost!" finally exclaimed Ed. + +They were soon convinced, however, that Bob's hand grasp was much more +real than that of any ghost, and the greetings that followed were +uproarious. + +Nearly the whole afternoon they sat around the table while Bob told +the story of his adventures. A comparison of experiences made it +quite certain that the remains they had supposed to have been Bob's +were the remains of Micmac John and the mystery of the half-breed's +failure to return to the tilt for the pelts he had stolen was +therefore cleared up. + +"An' th' Nascaupees," said Bob, "be not fearsome murderous folk as we +was thinkin' un, but like other folks, an' un took rare fine care o' +me. I'm thinkin' they'd not be hurtin' white folks an' white folk +don't hurt _they_." + +Finally the men sat back from the table for a smoke and chat while the +dishes were being cleared away by Mrs. Gray and Bessie. + +"Now I were sure thinkin' Bob were a ghost," said Ed, as he lighted +his pipe with a brand from the stove, "and 'twere scarin' me a bit. I +never seen but one ghost in my life and that were----" + +"We're not wantin' t' hear that ghost yarn, Ed," broke in Dick, and Ed +forgot his story in the good-natured laughter that followed. + +The home-coming was all that Bob had hoped and desired it to be and +the arrival of his three friends from the trail made it complete. His +heart was full that evening when he stepped out of doors to watch the +setting sun. As he gazed at the spruce-clad hills that hid the great, +wild north from which he had so lately come, the afterglow blazed up +with all its wondrous colour, glorifying the world and lighting the +heavens and the water and the hills beyond with the radiance and +beauty of a northern sunset. The spirit of it was in Bob's soul, and +he said to himself, + +"'Tis wonderful fine t' be livin', an' 'tis a wonderful fine world t' +live in, though 'twere seemin' hard sometimes, in the winter. An' th' +comin' home has more than paid for th' trouble I were havin' gettin' +here." + + + + +XXVII + +THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHNS + + +When Bob and the two Eskimos sailed the _Maid of the North_ up the bay +from Fort Pelican it was found advisable to run the schooner to an +anchorage at Kenemish where she could lie with less exposure to the +wind than at Wolf Bight. The moment she was made snug and safe Bob +went ashore to Douglas Campbell's cabin, where he learned that his old +friend had gone to Wolf Bight early that morning to spend the day. + +The lad's impatience to reach home would brook no waiting, and so, +leaving Netseksoak and Aluktook in charge of the vessel, he proceeded +alone in a small boat, reaching there as we have seen early in the +afternoon. + +What to do with the schooner now that she had brought him safely to +his destination was a problem that Bob had not been able to solve. The +vessel was not his, and it was plainly his duty to find her owner and +deliver the schooner to him, but how to go about it he did not know. +That evening when the candles were lighted and all were gathered +around the stove, he put the question to the others. + +"I'm not knowin' now who th' schooner belongs to," said he, "an' I'm +not knowin' how t' find th' owner, I'm wonderin' what t' do with un." + +"Tis some trader owns un I'm thinkin'," Mrs. Gray suggested. + +"'Tis sure some trader," agreed Bob, "and the's a rare lot o' fur +aboard she an' the's enough trader's goods t' stock a Post. Mr. Forbes +were tellin' me I should be gettin' salvage for bringin' she t' port +safe." + +"Aye," confirmed Douglas, "you should be gettin' salvage. 'Tis th' law +o' th' sea an' but right. We'll ha' t' be lookin' t' th' salvage for +un lad." + +"But how'll we be gettin' un now?" Bob asked, much puzzled. "An' +how'll we be findin' th' owner?" + +"Th' owner," explained Douglas, "will be doin' th' findin' hisself I'm +thinkin'. But t' get th' salvage th' schooner'll ha' t' be took t' St. +Johns. Now I'm not knowin' but I could pilot she over. 'Tis a many a +long year since I were there but I'm thinkin' I could manage un, and +we'll make up a crew an' sail she over." + +"We'll be needin' five t' handle she right," said Bob. "'Twere +wonderful hard gettin' on wi' just me an' th' two huskies. We'll sure +need five." + +"Aye, 'twill need five of us," assented Douglas, "I'm thinkin' now +Dick an' Ed an' Bill would like t' be makin' th' cruise an' seein' St. +Johns, an' we has th' crew right here." + +The three men were not only willing to go but delighted with the +prospect of the journey. They had never in their lives been outside +the bay and the voyage offered them an opportunity to see something of +the great world of which they had heard so much. + +"I'll be wantin' t' go home first," said Dick, "an' so will Ed, but +we'll be t' Kenemish an' ready t' start in three days." + +"'Twill be a fine way t' take th' maid t' th' mail boat so th' doctor +can take she with un," suggested Richard. + +"An' father an' mother an' Bessie can go t' th' mail boat with us," +spoke up Emily, from her couch. "Oh, 'twill be fine t' have you all go +t' th' mail boat with me!" + +And so this arrangement was made and carried out. On the appointed day +every one was aboard the _Maid of the North_, and with light hearts +the voyage was begun. + +Two days later they reached Fort Pelican, when Netseksoak and Aluktook +went ashore to await the arrival of the ship that was to take them to +their far northern home, and Bob said good-bye to the two faithful +friends with whom he had braved so many dangers and suffered so many +hardships. + +The following morning the mail boat steamed in, and Emily was +transferred to her in charge of the doctor, who greeted her kindly and +promised, + +"You'll be going home a new girl in the fall, and your father and +mother won't know you." + +Nevertheless the parting from her friends was very hard for Emily, and +the mother and child, and Bessie too, shed a good many tears, though +the fact that she was to see Bob in a little while in St. Johns +comforted Emily somewhat. + +When the mail boat was finally gone, Richard Gray, with his wife and +Bessie, turned homeward in their dory, which had been brought down in +tow of the _Maid of the North_, and the schooner spread her sails to +the breeze and passed to the southward. + +With some delays caused by bad weather, three weeks elapsed before the +_Maid of the North_ one day, late in July, sailed through the narrows +past the towering cliffs of Signal Hill, and anchored in the +land-locked harbour of St. Johns. + +In the interim the mail boat had made another voyage to the north, and +brought back with her Captain Hanks and his crew, who had worked their +way to Indian Harbour in their open boat to await the steamer there. +Of course Skipper Sam had heard that Bob was coming with the _Maid of +the North_, and when the schooner finally reached her anchorage he was +on the lookout for her, and at once came aboard with much blustering, +to demand her immediate delivery. He believed he had some +unsophisticated livyeres to deal with, whom he could easily browbeat +out of their rights. What was his surprise, then, when Douglas stepped +forward, and said very authoritatively: + +"Bide a bit, now, skipper. When 'tis decided how much salvage you pays +th' lad, an' after you pays un, you'll be havin' th' schooner an' her +cargo, an' not till then." + +Bob's first thought upon going ashore was of Emily, and he went +immediately to the hospital to see her. The operation had been +performed nearly two weeks previously and she was recovering rapidly. +When he was admitted to the ward, and she glimpsed him as he entered +the door, her delight was almost beyond bounds. + +"Oh! Oh!" she exclaimed, when he kissed her. "Tis fine t' see un, +Bob--'tis _so_ fine. An' now I'll be gettin' well wonderful quick." + +And she did. She was discharged from the hospital quite cured a month +later. At first she was a little weak, but youth and a naturally +strong constitution were in her favour, and she regained her strength +with remarkable rapidity. + +Finally a settlement was arranged with Captain Hanks. The furs on +board the _Maid of the North_ were appraised at market value, and when +Bob received his salvage he found himself possessed of fifteen +thousand dollars. + +He reimbursed Douglas the amount advanced for Emily's hospital +expenses, but the kind old trapper would not accept another cent, +though the lad wished to pay him for his services in piloting the +vessel to St. Johns. + +"Put un in th' bank. You'll be needin' un some day t' start un in +life. Hold on t' un," was the good advice that Douglas gave, and +accordingly the money was deposited in the bank. + +Bob's share of the furs that he had trapped himself he very generously +insisted upon giving to Dick and Ed and Bill. They were diffident +about accepting them at first, saying: + +"We were doin' nothin' for un." + +But Bob pressed the furs upon them, and finally they accepted them. +The silver fox which he wept over that cold December evening sold for +four hundred and fifty dollars, and the one Dick found frozen in the +trap by the deer's antlers for three hundred dollars. + +Neither did Bob forget Netseksoak and Aluktook. Money would have been +quite useless to the Eskimos as he well knew, so he sent them rifles +and many things which they could use and would value. + +Laden with gifts for the home folks, and satiated with looking at the +shops and great buildings and wonders of St. Johns, they were a very +happy party when at last the mail boat steamed northward with them. + +Bob Gray was very proud of his little chum when, one beautiful +September day, his boat ground its prow upon the sands at Wolf Bight, +and with all the strength and vigour of youth she bounded ashore and +ran to meet the expectant and happy parents. + +As, with full hearts, the reunited family of Richard Gray walked up +the path to the cabin, Bob said reverently: + +"Th' Lard has ways o' doin' things that seem strange an' wonderful +hard sometimes when He's doin' un; but He always does un right, an' a +rare lot better'n _we_ could plan." + + + + +XXVIII + +IN AFTER YEARS + + +During the twenty years that have elapsed since the incidents +transpired that are here recorded, the mission doctors and the mission +hospitals have come to The Labrador to give back life and health to +the unfortunate sick and injured folk of the coast, who in the old +days would have been doomed to die or to go through life helpless +cripples or invalids for the lack of medical or surgical care, as +would have been the case with little Emily but for the efforts of her +noble brother. New people, too, have come into Eskimo Bay, though on +the whole few changes have taken place and most of the characters met +with in the preceding pages still live. + +Douglas Campbell in the fullness of years has passed away. But he is +not forgotten, and in the spring-time loving hands gather the wild +flowers, which grow so sparsely there, and scatter them upon the mossy +mound that marks his resting place. + +Ed Matheson to this day tells the story of the adventures of Ungava +Bob--as Bob Gray has thenceforth been called--not forgetting to +embellish the tale with flights of fancy; and of course Dick Blake +warns the listeners that these imaginative variations are "just some +o' Ed's yarns," and Bob laughs at them good-naturedly. + +It may be asked to what use Bob put his newly acquired wealth, and the +reader's big sister should this book fall into her hands, will surely +wish to know whether Bob and Bessie married, and what became of +Manikawan. But these are matters that belong to another story that +perhaps some day it may seem worth while to tell. + +For the present, adieu to Ungava Bob. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB*** + + +******* This file should be named 16596-8.txt or 16596-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Palmer</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Ungava Bob</p> +<p> A Winter's Tale</p> +<p>Author: Dillon Wallace</p> +<p>Release Date: August 25, 2005 [eBook #16596]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Jeannie Howse,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (https://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<div class="tr"> +<p class="noin">Transcriber's Note: +Much of the dialogue is dialect. The few spelling +mistakes have been kept, including St. Johns for St. John's +(Newfoundland).</p> +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade="noshade" size="4" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"><a name="imagep1" id="imagep1"></a><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a> +<a href="images/imagep001.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep001.jpg" width="70%" alt="Three of the men hauled..." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Three of the men hauled, the other with a pole, kept it clear of the rocks +(<i><a href="#Page_45">See page 45</a></i>)</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>EVERY BOY'S LIBRARY—BOY SCOUT EDITION</h3> +<a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>UNGAVA BOB</h1> +<h2>A WINTER'S TALE</h2> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h2>DILLON WALLACE</h2> +<br /> +<h4>AUTHOR OF<br /> +THE LURE OF THE LABRADOR WILD</h4> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4>ILLUSTRATED BY</h4> +<h3>SAMUEL M. PALMER</h3> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h5>NEW YORK<br /> +GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> +PUBLISHERS</h5> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h5><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>1907<br /> +<i>THIRD EDITION</i></h5> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<p> </p> +<h4><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a><i>To My Sisters<br /> +Annie and Jessie</i></h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr /> +<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a> +<br /> + +<h2><i>CONTENTS</i></h2> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="70%" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td width="10%" class="tdl"><a href="#I">I.</a></td> +<td width="80%" class="tdlsc">How Bob Got His "Trail"</td> +<td width="10%" class="tdr">9</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#II">II.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Off to the Bush</td> +<td class="tdr">26</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#III">III.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">An Adventure With a Bear</td> +<td class="tdr">37</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Swept Away in the Rapids</td> +<td class="tdr">50</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#V">V.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Trails are Reached</td> +<td class="tdr">56</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#VI">VI.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Alone in the Wilderness</td> +<td class="tdr">68</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#VII">VII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">A Streak of Good Luck</td> +<td class="tdr">76</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Micmac John's Revenge</td> +<td class="tdr">87</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#IX">IX.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Lost in the Snow</td> +<td class="tdr">96</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#X">X.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Penalty</td> +<td class="tdr">108</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XI">XI.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Tragedy of the Trail</td> +<td class="tdr">115</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XII">XII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">In the Hands of the Nascaupees</td> +<td class="tdr">129</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XIII">XIII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">A Foreboding of Evil</td> +<td class="tdr">140</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XIV">XIV.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Shadow of Death</td> +<td class="tdr">153</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XV">XV.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">In the Wigwam of Sishetakushin</td> +<td class="tdr">171</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XVI">XVI.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">One of the Tribe</td> +<td class="tdr">187</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XVII">XVII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Still Farther North</td> +<td class="tdr">199</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XVIII">XVIII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">A Mission of Trust</td> +<td class="tdr">206</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a><a href="#XIX">XIX.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">At the Mercy of the Wind</td> +<td class="tdr">226</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XX">XX.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Prisoners of the Sea</td> +<td class="tdr">240</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXI">XXI.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Adrift on the Ice</td> +<td class="tdr">254</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXII">XXII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Maid of the North</td> +<td class="tdr">269</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXIII">XXIII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Hand of Providence</td> +<td class="tdr">280</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXIV">XXIV.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Escape</td> +<td class="tdr">290</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXV">XXV.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Break-Up</td> +<td class="tdr">304</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXVI">XXVI.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">Back at Wolf Bight</td> +<td class="tdr">315</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXVII">XXVII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">The Cruise to St. John's</td> +<td class="tdr">333</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"><a href="#XXVIII">XXVIII.</a></td> +<td class="tdlsc">In After Years</td> +<td class="tdr">341</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Illustrations"> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="tdrsc">Facing<br />Page</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc" width="90%">Three of the men hauled, the other with a pole, kept it clear of the rocks</td> +<td class="tdr" width="10%"><a href="#imagep1">Title</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">"Bob jumped out with the painter in his hand."</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep21">21</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">Chart of the Trails.</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep64">64</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">"Micmac John knew his end had come."</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep114">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">"It was dangerous work."</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep173">173</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">"Saw her standing in the bright moonlight."</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep197">197</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdlsc">"He held the vessel steadily to her course."</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#imagep298">298</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="I" id="I"></a><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h2>UNGAVA BOB</h2> + +<h3>I<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>HOW BOB GOT HIS "TRAIL"</h3> +<br /> + +<p>It was an evening in early September twenty years ago. The sun was +just setting in a radiance of glory behind the dark spruce forest that +hid the great unknown, unexplored Labrador wilderness which stretched +away a thousand miles to the rocky shores of Hudson's Bay and the +bleak desolation of Ungava. With their back to the forest and the +setting sun, drawn up in martial line stood the eight or ten +whitewashed log buildings of the Hudson's Bay Company Post, just as +they had stood for a hundred years, and just as they stand to-day, +looking out upon the wide waters of Eskimo Bay, which now, reflecting +the glow of the setting sun, shone red and sparkling like a sea of +rubies.</p> + +<p>On a clearing to the eastward of the post between the woods and water +was an irregular cluster of deerskin wigwams, around which <a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>loitered +dark-hued Indians puffing quietly at their pipes, while Indian women +bent over kettles steaming at open fires, cooking the evening meal, +and little Indian boys with bows shot harmless arrows at soaring gulls +overhead, and laughed joyously at their sport as each arrow fell short +of its mark. Big wolf dogs skulked here and there, looking for bits of +refuse, snapping and snarling ill-temperedly at each other.</p> + +<p>A group of stalwart, swarthy-faced men, dressed in the garb of +northern hunters—light-coloured moleskin trousers tucked into the +tops of long-legged sealskin moccasins, short jackets and peakless +caps—stood before the post kitchen or lounged upon the rough board +walk which extended the full length of the reservation in front of the +servants' quarters and storehouses. They were watching a small +sailboat that, half a mile out upon the red flood, was bowling in +before a smart breeze, and trying to make out its single occupant. +Finally some one spoke.</p> + +<p>"'Tis Bob Gray from Wolf Bight, for that's sure Bob's punt."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said another, "'tis sure Bob."</p> + +<p>Their curiosity satisfied, all but two strolled <a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>into the kitchen, +where supper had been announced.</p> + +<p>Douglas Campbell, the older of the two that remained, was a short, +stockily built man with a heavy, full, silver-white beard, and skin +tanned dark as an Indian's by the winds and storms of more than sixty +years. A pair of kindly blue eyes beneath shaggy white eyebrows gave +his face an appearance at once of strength and gentleness, and an +erect bearing and well-poised head stamped him a leader and a man of +importance.</p> + +<p>The other was a tall, wiry, half-breed Indian, with high cheek bones +and small, black, shifting eyes that were set very close together and +imparted to the man a look of craftiness and cunning. He was known as +"Micmac John," but said his real name was John Sharp. He had drifted +to the coast a couple of years before on a fishing schooner from +Newfoundland, whence he had come from Nova Scotia. From the coast he +had made his way the hundred and fifty miles to the head of Eskimo +Bay, and there took up the life of a trapper. Rumour had it that he +had committed murder at home and had run away to escape the penalty; +but this rumour was unverified, and there was no means of learning +the <a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>truth of it. Since his arrival here the hunters had lost, now and +again, martens and foxes from their traps, and it was whispered that +Micmac John was responsible for their disappearance. Nevertheless, +without any tangible evidence that he had stolen them, he was treated +with kindness, though he had made no real friends amongst the natives.</p> + +<p>When the last of the men had closed the kitchen door behind him, +Micmac John approached Douglas, who had been standing somewhat apart, +evidently lost in his thoughts as he watched the approaching boat, and +asked:</p> + +<p>"Have ye decided about the Big Hill trail, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, John."</p> + +<p>"And am I to hunt it this year, sir?"</p> + +<p>"No, John, I can't let ye have un. I told Bob Gray th' day I'd let him +hunt un. Bob's a smart lad, and I wants t' give he th' chance."</p> + +<p>Micmac John cast a malicious glance at old Douglas. Then with an +assumed indifference, and shrug of his shoulders as he started to walk +away, remarked:</p> + +<p>"All right if you've made yer mind up, but you'll be sorry fer it."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>Douglas turned fiercely upon him.</p> + +<p>"What mean you, man? Be that a threat? Speak now!"</p> + +<p>"I make no threats, but boys can't hunt, and he'll bring ye no fur. +Ye'll get nothin' fer yer pains. Ye'll be sorry fer it."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Douglas as Micmac John walked away to join the others in +the kitchen, "I've promised th' lad, an' what I promises I does, an' +I'll stand by it."</p> + +<p>Bob Gray, sitting at the tiller of his little punt, <i>The Rover</i>, was +very happy—happy because the world was so beautiful, happy because he +lived, and especially happy because of the great good fortune that had +come to him this day when Douglas Campbell granted his request to let +him hunt the Big Hill trail, with its two hundred good marten and fox +traps.</p> + +<p>It had been a year of misfortune for the Grays. The previous winter +when Bob's father started out upon his trapping trail a wolverine +persistently and systematically followed him, destroying almost every +fox and marten that he had caught. All known methods to catch or kill +the animal were resorted to, but with the cunning that its prehistoric +ancestors had handed down to <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>it, it avoided every pitfall. The fox is +a poor bungler compared with the wolverine. The result of all this was +that Richard Gray had no fur in the spring with which to pay his debt +at the trading store.</p> + +<p>Then came the greatest misfortune of all. Emily, Bob's little sister, +ventured too far out upon a cliff one day to pluck a vagrant wild +flower that had found lodgment in a crevice, and in reaching for it, +slipped to the rocks below. Bob heard her scream as she fell, and ran +to her assistance. He found her lying there, quite still and white, +clutching the precious blossom, and at first he thought she was dead. +He took her in his arms and carried her tenderly to the cabin. After a +while she opened her eyes and came back to consciousness, but she had +never walked since. Everything was done for the child that could be +done. Every man and woman in the Bay offered assistance and +suggestions, and every one of them tried a remedy; but no relief came.</p> + +<p>All the time things kept going from bad to worse with Richard Gray. +Few seals came in the bay that year and he had no fat to trade at the +post. The salmon fishing was a flat failure.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>As the weeks went on and Emily showed no improvement Douglas Campbell +came over to Wolf Bight with the suggestion,</p> + +<p>"Take th' maid t' th' mail boat doctor. He'll sure fix she up." And +then they took her—Bob and his mother—ninety miles down the bay to +the nearest port of call of the coastal mail boat, while the father +remained at home to watch his salmon nets. Here they waited until +finally the steamer came and the doctor examined Emily.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing I can do for her," he said. "You'll have to send her +to St. Johns to the hospital. They'll fix her all right there with a +little operation."</p> + +<p>"An' how much will that cost?" asked Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he replied, "not over fifty dollars—fifty dollars will cover +it."</p> + +<p>"An' if she don't go?"</p> + +<p>"She'll never get well." Then, as a dismissal of the subject, the +doctor, turning to Bob, asked: "Well, youngster, what's the outlook +for fur next season?"</p> + +<p>"We hopes there'll be some, sir."</p> + +<p>"Get some silver foxes. Good silvers are worth five hundred dollars +cash in St. Johns."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>The mail boat steamed away with the doctor, and Bob and his mother, +with Emily made as comfortable as possible in the bottom of the boat, +turned homeward.</p> + +<p>It was hard to realize that Emily would never be well again, that she +would never romp over the rocks with Bob in the summer or ride with +him on the sledge when he took the dogs to haul wood in the winter. +There would be no more merry laughter as she played about the cabin. +This was before the days when the mission doctors with their ships and +hospitals came to the Labrador to give back life to the sick and dying +of the coast. Fifty dollars was more money than any man of the bay +save Douglas Campbell had ever seen, and to expect to get such a sum +was quite hopeless, for in those days the hunters were always in debt +to the company, and all they ever received for their labours were the +actual necessities of life, and not always these.</p> + +<p>Emily was the only cheerful one now of the three. When she saw her +mother crying, she took her hand and stroked it, and said: "Mother, +dear, don't be cryin' now. 'Tis not so bad. If God wants that I get +well He'll make me well. An' I wants to stay home with you an' see +you <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>an' father an' Bob, an' I'd be <i>dreadful</i> homesick to go off so +far."</p> + +<p>Emily and Bob had always been great chums and the blow to him seemed +almost more than he could bear. His heart lay in his bosom like a +stone. At first he could not think, but finally he found himself +repeating what the doctor had said about silver foxes,—"five hundred +dollars cash." This was more money than he could imagine, but he knew +it was a great deal. The company gave sixty dollars <i>in trade</i> for the +finest silver foxes. That was supposed a liberal price—but five +hundred dollars in <i>cash</i>!</p> + +<p>He looked longingly towards the blue hills that held their heads +against the distant sky line. Behind those hills was a great +wilderness rich in foxes and martens—but no man of the coast had ever +dared to venture far within it. It was the land of the dreaded +Nascaupees, the savage red men of the North, who it was said would +torture to a horrible death any who came upon their domain.</p> + +<p>The Mountaineer Indians who visited the bay regularly and camped in +summer near the post, told many tales of the treachery of their +northern neighbours, and warned the trappers that they <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>had already +blazed their trails as far inland as it was safe for them to go. Any +hunter encroaching upon the Nascaupee territory, they insisted, would +surely be slaughtered.</p> + +<p>Bob had often heard this warning, and did not forget it now; but in +spite of it he felt that circumstances demanded risks, and for Emily's +sake he was willing to take them. If he could only get traps, <i>he</i> +would make the venture, with his parents' consent, and blaze a new +trail there, for it would be sure to yield a rich reward. But to get +traps needed money or credit, and he had neither.</p> + +<p>Then he remembered that Douglas Campbell had said one day that he +would not go to the hills again if he could get a hunter to take the +Big Hill trail to hunt on shares. That was an inspiration. He would +ask Douglas to let him hunt it on the usual basis—two-thirds of the +fur caught to belong to the hunter and one-third to the owner. With +this thought Bob's spirits rose.</p> + +<p>"'Twill be fine—'twill be a grand chance," said he to himself, "an +Douglas lets me hunt un, an father lets me go."</p> + +<p>He decided to speak to Douglas first, for if Douglas was agreeable to +the plan his parents <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>would give their consent more readily. Otherwise +they might withhold it, for the trail was dangerously close to the +forbidden grounds of the Nascaupees, and anyway it was a risky +undertaking for a boy—one that many of the experienced trappers would +shrink from.</p> + +<p>The more Bob considered his plan with all its great possibilities, the +more eager he became. He found himself calculating the number of pelts +he would secure, and amongst them perhaps a silver fox. He would let +the mail boat doctor sell them for him, and then they would be rich, +and Emily would go to the hospital, and be his merry, laughing little +chum again. How happy they would all be! Bob was young and an +optimist, and no thought of failure entered his head.</p> + +<p>It was too late the night they reached home to see Douglas but the +next morning he hurried through his breakfast, which was eaten by +candle-light, and at break of day was off for Kenemish, where Douglas +Campbell lived. He found the old man at home, and, with some fear of +refusal, but still bravely, for he knew the kind-hearted old trapper +would grant the request if he thought it were wise, explained his +plan.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>"You're a stalwart lad, Bob," said Douglas, looking at the boy +critically from under his shaggy eyebrows. "An' how old may you be +now? I 'most forgets—young folks grows up so fast."</p> + +<p>"Just turned sixteen, sir."</p> + +<p>"An' that's a young age for a lad to be so far in th' bush alone. But +you'll be havin' somethin' happen t' you."</p> + +<p>"I'll be rare careful, sir, an' you lets me ha' th' trail."</p> + +<p>"An' what says your father?"</p> + +<p>"I's said nothin' to he, sir, about it yet."</p> + +<p>"Well, go ask he, an' he says yes, meet me at the post th' evenin' an' +I'll speak wi' Mr. MacDonald t' give ye debt for your grub. Micmac +John's wantin' th' trail, but I'm not thinkin' t' let he have un."</p> + +<p>At first Bob's parents both opposed the project. The dangers were so +great that his mother asserted that if he were to go she would not +have an easy hour until she saw her boy again. But he put forth such +strong arguments and plead so vigorously, and his disappointment was +so manifest, that finally she withdrew her objections and his father +said:</p> + +<p><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>"Well, you may go, my son, an Douglas lets you have th' trail."</p> + + +<div class="img" style="width: 65%;"><a name="imagep21" id="imagep21"></a> +<a href="images/imagep021.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep021.jpg" width="74%" alt=""Bob jumped out with the painter in his hand"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">"Bob jumped out with the painter in his hand"</p> +</div> + +<p>So Bob, scarcely sixteen years of age, was to do a man's work and +shoulder a man's burden, and he was glad that God had given him +stature beyond his years, that he might do it. He could not remember +when he had not driven dogs and cut wood and used a gun. He had done +these things always. But now he was to rise to the higher plane of a +full-fledged trapper and the spruce forest and the distant hills +beyond the post seemed a great empire over which he was to rule. Those +trackless fastnesses, with their wealth of fur, were to pay tribute to +him, and he was happy in the thought that he had found a way to save +little Emily from the lifelong existence of a poor crippled invalid. +His buoyant spirit had stepped out of the old world of darkness and +despair into a new world filled with light and love and beauty, in +which the present troubles were but a passing cloud.</p> + +<p>"Ho, lad! so your father let ye come. I's glad t' see ye, lad. An' now +we're t' make a great hunt," greeted Douglas when the punt ground its +nose upon the sandy beach, and Bob jumped out with the painter in his +hand to make it fast.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>"Aye, sir," said Bob, "he an' mother says I may go."</p> + +<p>"Well, come, b'y, an' we'll ha' supper an' bide here th' night an' in +th' mornin' you'll get your fit out," said Douglas when they had +pulled the punt up well away from the tide.</p> + +<p>Entering the kitchen they found the others still at table. Greetings +were exchanged, and a place was made for Douglas and Bob.</p> + +<p>It was a good-sized room, furnished in the simple, primitive style of +the country: an uncarpeted floor, benches and chests in lieu of +chairs, a home-made table, a few shelves for the dishes, two or three +bunks like ship bunks built in the end opposite the door to serve the +post servant and his family for beds, and a big box stove, capable of +taking huge billets of wood, crackling cheerily, for the nights were +already frosty. Resting upon crosspieces nailed to the rough beams +overhead were half a dozen muzzle loading guns, and some dog harness +hung on the wall at one side. Everything was spotlessly clean. The +floor, the table—innocent of a cloth—the shelves, benches and chests +were scoured to immaculate whiteness with sand and soap, and, despite +its meagre furnishings the room was <a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>very snug and cozy and possessed +an atmosphere of homeliness and comfort.</p> + +<p>A single window admitted the fading evening light and a candle was +brought, though Douglas said to the young girl who placed it in the +centre of the table:</p> + +<p>"So long as there's plenty a' grub, Bessie, I thinks we can find a way +t' get he t' our mouths without ere a light."</p> + +<p>The meal was a simple one—boiled fresh trout with pork grease to pour +over it for sauce, bread, tea, and molasses for "sweetening." Butter +and sugar were luxuries to be used only upon rare festal occasions.</p> + +<p>After the men had eaten they sat on the floor with their backs against +the rough board wall and their knees drawn up, and smoked and chatted +about the fishing season just closed and the furring season soon to +open, while Margaret Black, wife of Tom Black, the post servant, their +daughter Bessie and a couple of young girl visitors of Bessie's from +down the bay, ate and afterwards cleared the table. Then some one +proposed a dance, as it was their last gathering before going to their +winter trails, which would hold them prisoners for months to come in +the interior <a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>wilderness. A fiddle was brought out, and Dick Blake +tuned up its squeaky strings, and, keeping time with one foot, struck +up the Virginia reel.</p> + +<p>The men discarded their jackets, displaying their rough flannel shirts +and belts, in which were carried sheath knives, chose their partners +and went at it with a will, to Dick's music, while he fiddled and +shouted such directions as "Sashay down th' middle,—swing yer +pardners,—promenade."</p> + +<p>Bob led out Bessie, for whom he had always shown a decided preference, +and danced like any man of them. Douglas did not dance—not because he +was too old, for no man is too old to dance in Labrador, nor because +it was beneath his dignity—but because, as he said: "There's not +enough maids for all th' lads, an' I's had my turn a many a time. I'll +smoke an' look on."</p> + +<p>Neither did Micmac John dance, for he seemed in ill humour, and was +silent and morose, nursing his discontent that a mere boy should have +been given the Big Hill trail in preference to him, and he sat moody +and silent, taking no apparent interest in the fun. The dance was +nearly finished when Bob, wheeling around the end, warm with the +excitement and pleasure of it all, inadvertently stepped on one of the +half-breed's <a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>feet. Micmac John rose like a flash and struck Bob a +stinging blow on the face. Bob turned upon him full of the quick anger +of the moment, then, remembering his surroundings, restrained the hand +that was about to return the blow, simply saying:</p> + +<p>"'Twas an accident, John, an' you has no right to strike me."</p> + +<p>The half-breed, vicious, sinister and alert, stood glowering for a +moment, then deliberately hit Bob again. The others fell back, Bob +faced his opponent, and, goaded now beyond the power of +self-restraint, struck with all the power of his young arm at Micmac +John. The latter was on his guard, however, and warded the blow. Quick +as a flash he drew his knife, and before the others realized what he +was about to do, made a vicious lunge at Bob's breast.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="II" id="II"></a><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>OFF TO THE BUSH</h3> +<br /> + + +<p>On the left breast of Bob's woollen shirt there was a pocket, and in +this pocket was a small metal box of gun caps, which Bob always +carried there when he was away from home, for he seldom left home +without his gun. It was fortunate for him that it was there now, for +the point of the knife struck squarely over the place where the box +lay. It was driven with such force by the half-breed's strong arm that +it passed clear through the metal, which, however, so broke the blow +that the steel scarcely scratched the skin beneath. Before another +plunge could be made with the knife the men sprang in and seized +Micmac John, who submitted at once without a struggle to the +overpowering force, and permitted himself to be disarmed. Then he was +released and stood back, sullen and defiant. For several moments not a +word was spoken.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>Finally Dick Blake took a threatening step towards the Indian, and +shaking his fist in the latter's face exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Ye dirty coward! Ye'd do murder, would ye? Ye'd kill un, would ye?"</p> + +<p>"Hold on," said Douglas, "'bide a bit. 'Twill do no good t' beat un, +though he's deservin' of it." Then to the half-breed: "An' what's +ailin' of ye th' evenin', John? 'Twas handy t' doin' murder ye were."</p> + +<p>John saw the angry look in the men's eyes, and the cool judgment of +Douglas standing between him and bodily harm, and deciding that tact +was the better part of valour, changed his attitude of defiance to one +of reconciliation. He could not take revenge now for his fancied +wrong. His Indian cunning told him to wait for a better time. So he +extended his hand to Bob, who, dazed by the suddenness of the +unexpected attack, had not moved. "Shake hands, Bob, an' call it +square. I was hot with anger an' didn't know what I was doin'. We +won't quarrel."</p> + +<p>Bob, acting upon the motto his mother had taught him—"Be slow to +anger and quick to forgive," took the outstretched hand with the +remark,</p> + +<p><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>"'Twere a mighty kick I gave ye, John, an' enough t' anger ye, an' no +harm's done."</p> + +<p>Big Dick Blake would not have it so at first, and invited the +half-breed outside to take a "licking" at his hands. But the others +soon pacified him, the trouble was forgotten and dancing resumed as +though nothing had happened to disturb it.</p> + +<p>As soon as attention was drawn from him Micmac John, unobserved, +slipped out of the door and a few moments later placed some things in +a canoe that had been turned over on the beach, launched it and +paddled away in the ghostly light of the rising moon.</p> + +<p>The dancing continued until eleven o'clock, then the men lit their +pipes, and after a short smoke and chat rolled into their blankets +upon the floor, Mrs. Black and the girls retired to the bunks, and, +save for a long, weird howl that now and again came from the wolf dogs +outside, and the cheery crackling of the stove within, not a sound +disturbed the silence of the night.</p> + +<p>As has been intimated, Douglas Campbell was a man of importance in +Eskimo Bay. When a young fellow he had come here from the Orkney +Islands as a servant of the Hudson's Bay <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>Company. A few years later +he married a native girl, and then left the company's service to +become a hunter.</p> + +<p>He had been careful of his wages, and as he blazed new hunting trails +into the wilderness, used his savings to purchase steel traps with +which to stock the trails. Other trappers, too poor to buy traps for +themselves, were glad to hunt on shares the trails Douglas made, and +now he was reaping a good income from them. He was in fact the richest +man in the Bay.</p> + +<p>He was kind, generous and fatherly. The people of the Bay looked up to +him and came to him when they were in trouble, for his advice and +help. Many a poor family had Douglas Campbell's flour barrel saved +from starvation in a bad winter, and God knows bad winters come often +enough on the Labrador. Many an ambitious youngster had he started in +life, as he was starting Bob Gray now.</p> + +<p>The Big Hill trail, far up the Grand River, was the newest and deepest +in the wilderness of all the trails Douglas owned—deeper in the +wilderness than that of any other hunter. Just below it and adjoining +it was William Campbell's—a son of Douglas—a young man of nineteen +who <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>had made his first winter's hunt the year before our story +begins; below that, Dick Blake's, and below Dick's was Ed Matheson's.</p> + +<p>In preparing for the winter hunt it was more convenient for these men +to take their supplies to their tilts by boat up the Grand River than +to haul them in on toboggans on the spring ice, as nearly every other +hunter, whose trapping ground was not upon so good a waterway, was +compelled to do, and so it was that they were now at the trading post +selecting their outfits preparatory to starting inland before the very +cold winter should bind the river in its icy shackles.</p> + +<p>The men were up early in the morning, and Douglas went with Bob to the +office of Mr. Charles McDonald, the factor, where it was arranged that +Bob should be given on credit such provisions and goods as he needed +for his winter's hunt, to be paid for with fur when he returned in the +spring. Douglas gave his verbal promise to assume the debt should +Bob's catch of fur be insufficient to enable him to pay it, but Bob's +reputation for energy and honesty was so good that Mr. McDonald said +he had no fear as to the payment by the lad himself.</p> + +<p>The provisions that Bob selected in the store, <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>or shop, as they +called it, were chiefly flour, a small bag of hardtack, fat pork, tea, +molasses, baking soda and a little coarse salt, while powder, shot, +bullets, gun caps, matches, a small axe and clothing completed the +outfit. He already had a gray cotton wedge-tent. When these things +were selected and put aside, Douglas bought a pipe and some plugs of +black tobacco, and presented them to Bob as a gift from himself.</p> + +<p>"But I never smokes, sir, an' I 'lows he'd be makin' me sick," said +Bob, as he fingered the pipe.</p> + +<p>"Just a wee bit when you tries t' get acquainted," answered Douglas +with a chuckle, "just a wee bit; but ye'll come t' he soon enough an' +right good company ye'll find he of a long evenin'. Take un along, an' +there's no harm done if ye don't smoke un—but ye'll be makin' good +friends wi' un soon enough."</p> + +<p>So Bob pocketed the pipe and packed the tobacco carefully away with +his purchases.</p> + +<p>After a consultation it was decided that the men should all meet the +next evening, which would be Sunday, at Bob's home at Wolf Bight, near +the mouth of the Grand River, and from there make an early start on +Monday morning <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>for their trapping grounds. "I'll have William over +wi' one o' my boats that's big enough for all hands," said Douglas. +"No use takin' more'n one boat. It's easier workin' one than two over +the portages an' up the rapids."</p> + +<p>When Bob's punt was loaded and he was ready to start for home, he ran +to the kitchen to say good-bye to Mrs. Black and the girls, for he was +not to see them again for many months.</p> + +<p>"Bide in th' tilt when it storms, Bob, an' have a care for the wolves, +an' keep clear o' th' Nascaupees," warned Bessie as she shook Bob's +hand.</p> + +<p>"Aye," said he. "I'll bide in th' tilt o' stormy days, an' not go +handy t' th' Nascaupees. I'm not fearful o' th' wolves, for they's +always so afraid they never gives un a chance for a shot."</p> + +<p>"But <i>do</i> have a care, Bob. An'—an'—I wants to tell you how glad I +is o' your good luck, an' I hopes you'll make a grand hunt—I <i>knows</i> +you will. An'—Bob, we'll miss you th' winter."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Bessie. An' I'll think o' th' fine time I'm missin' at +Christmas an' th' New Year. Good-bye, Bessie."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Bob."</p> + +<p>The fifteen miles across the Bay to Wolf Bight <a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>with a fair wind was +soon run. Bob ate a late dinner, and then made everything snug for the +journey. His flour was put into small, convenient sacks, his cooking +utensils consisting of a frying pan, a tin pail in which to make tea, +a tin cup and a spoon were placed in a canvas bag by themselves, and +in another bag was packed a Hudson's Bay Company four-point blanket, +two suits of underwear, a pair of buckskin mittens with a pair of +duffel ones inside them, and an extra piece of the duffel for an +emergency, six pairs of knit woollen socks, four pairs of duffel socks +or slippers (which his mother had made for him out of heavy +blanket-like woollen cloth), three pairs of buckskin moccasins for the +winter and an extra pair of sealskin boots (long legged moccasins) for +wet weather in the spring.</p> + +<p>He also laid aside, for daily use on the journey, an adikey made of +heavy white woollen cloth, with a fur trimmed hood, and a lighter one, +to be worn outside of the other, and made of gray cotton. The adikey +or "dikey," as Bob called it, was a seamless garment to be drawn on +over the head and worn instead of a coat. The underclothing and knit +socks had been purchased at the trading post, but every other article +of <a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>clothing, including boots, moccasins and mitts, his mother had +made.</p> + +<p>A pair of snow-shoes, a file for sharpening axes, a "wedge" tent of +gray cotton cloth and a sheet iron tent stove about twelve inches +square and eighteen inches long with a few lengths of pipe placed +inside of it were likewise put in readiness. The stove and pipe Bob's +father had manufactured.</p> + +<p>No packing was left to be done Sunday, for though there was no church +to go to, the Grays, and for that matter all of the Bay people, were +close observers of the Sabbath, and left no work to be done on that +day that could be done at any other time.</p> + +<p>Early on Sunday evening, Dick and Ed and Bill Campbell came over in +their boat from Kenemish, where they had spent the previous night. It +had been a short day for Bob, the shortest it seemed to him he had +ever known, for though he was anxious to be away and try his mettle +with the wilderness, these were the last hours for many long weary +months that he should have at home with his father and mother and +Emily. How the child clung to him! She kept him by her side the +livelong day, and held his hand as though she were afraid that he +would slip away from her. <a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>She stroked his cheek and told him how +proud she was of her big brother, and warned him over and over again,</p> + +<p>"Now, Bob, do be wonderful careful an' not go handy t' th' Nascaupees +for they be dreadful men, fierce an' murderous."</p> + +<p>Over and over again they planned the great things they would do when +he came back with a big lot of fur—as they were both quite sure he +would—and how she would go away to the doctor's to be made well and +strong again as she used to be and the romps they were to have when +that happy time came.</p> + +<p>"An' Bob," said Emily, "every night before I goes to sleep when I says +my 'Now I lay me down to sleep' prayer, I'll say to God 'an' keep Bob +out o' danger an' bring he home safe.'"</p> + +<p>"Aye, Emily," answered Bob, "an' I'll say to God, 'Make Emily fine an' +strong again.'"</p> + +<p>Before daybreak on Monday morning breakfast was eaten, and the boat +loaded for a start at dawn. Emily was not yet awake when the time came +to say farewell and Bob kissed her as she slept. Poor Mrs. Gray could +not restrain the tears, and Bob felt a great choking in his +throat—but he swallowed it bravely.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>"Don't be feelin' bad, mother. I'm t' be rare careful in th' bush, and +you'll see me well and hearty wi' a fine hunt, wi' th' open water," +said he, as he kissed her.</p> + +<p>"I knows you'll be careful, an' I'll try not t' worry, but I has a +forebodin' o' somethin' t' happen—somethin' that's t' happen t' you, +Bob—oh, I feels that somethin's t' happen. Emily'll be missin' you +dreadful, Bob. An'—'twill be sore lonesome for your father an' me +without our boy."</p> + +<p>"Ready, Bob!" shouted Dick from the boat.</p> + +<p>"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember that your mother's +prayin' for you every mornin' an' every night."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother, I'll remember all you said."</p> + +<p>She watched him from the door as he walked down to the shore with his +father, and the boat, heavily laden, pushed out into the Bay, and she +watched still, until it disappeared around the point, above. Then she +turned back into the room and had a good cry before she went about her +work again.</p> + +<p>If she had known what those distant hills held for her boy—if her +intuition had been knowledge—she would never have let him go.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="III" id="III"></a><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR</h3> +<br /> + + +<p>The boat turned out into the broad channel and into Goose Bay. There +was little or no wind, and when the sun broke gloriously over the +white-capped peaks of the Mealy Mountains it shone upon a sea as +smooth as a mill pond, with scarcely a ripple to disturb it. The men +worked laboriously and silently at their oars. A harbour seal pushed +its head above the water, looked at the toiling men curiously for a +moment, then disappeared below the surface, leaving an eddy where it +had been. Gulls soared overhead, their white wings and bodies looking +very pure and beautiful in the sunlight. High in the air a flock of +ducks passed to the southward. From somewhere in the distance came the +honk of a wild goose. The air was laden with the scent of the great +forest of spruce and balsam fir, whose dark green barrier came down +from the rock-bound, hazy hills in the distance to the very water's +edge, where tamarack groves, turned <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>yellow by the early frosts, +reflected the sunlight like settings of rich gold.</p> + +<p>"'Tis fine! 'tis grand!" exclaimed Bob at last, as he rested a moment +on his oars to drink in the scene and breathe deeply the rare, +fragrant atmosphere. "'Tis sure a fine world we're in."</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'tis fine enough now," remarked Ed, stopping to cut pieces from +a plug of tobacco, and then cramming them into his pipe. "But," he +continued, prophetically, as he struck a match and held it between his +hands for the sulphur to burn off, "bide a bit, an' you'll find it +ugly enough when th' snows blow t' smother ye, an' yer racquets sink +with ye t' yer knees, and th' frost freezes yer face and the ice +sticks t' yer very eyelashes until ye can't see—then," continued he, +puffing vigorously at his pipe, "then 'tis a sorry world—aye, a sorry +an' a hard world for folks t' make a livin' in."</p> + +<p>It was mid-forenoon when they reached Rabbit Island—a small wooded +island where the passing dog drivers always stop in winter to make tea +and snatch a mouthful of hard biscuit while the dogs have a half +hour's rest.</p> + +<p>"An' here we'll boil th' kettle," suggested <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>Dick. "I'm fair starved +with an early breakfast and the pull at the oars."</p> + +<p>"We're ready enough for that," assented Bill. "Th' wind's prickin' up +a bit from th' east'rd, an' when we starts I thinks we may hoist the +sails."</p> + +<p>"Yes, th' wind's prickin' up an' we'll have a fair breeze t' help us +past th' Traverspine, I hopes."</p> + +<p>The landing was made. Bob and Ed each took an axe to cut into suitable +lengths some of the plentiful dead wood lying right to hand, while +Dick whittled some shavings and started the fire. Bill brought a +kettle (a tin pail) of water. Then he cut a green sapling about five +feet in length, sharpened one end of it, and stuck it firmly into the +earth, slanting the upper end into position over the fire. On this he +hung the kettle of water, so that the blaze shot up around it. In a +little while the water boiled, and with a stick for a lifter he set it +on the ground and threw in a handful of tea. This they sweetened with +molasses and drank out of tin cups while they munched hardtack.</p> + +<p>Bill's prophecy as to the wind proved a true one, and in the half hour +while they were at their <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>luncheon so good a breeze had sprang up that +when they left Rabbit Island both sails were hoisted.</p> + +<p>Early in the afternoon they passed the Traverspine River, and now with +some current to oppose made slower, though with the fair wind, good +progress, and when the sun dipped behind the western hills and they +halted to make their night camp they were ten miles above the +Traverspine.</p> + +<p>To men accustomed to travelling in the bush, camp is quickly made. The +country here was well wooded, and the forest beneath covered with a +thick carpet of white moss. Bob and Bill selected two trees between +which they stretched the ridge pole of a tent, and a few moments +sufficed to cut pegs and pin down the canvas. Then spruce boughs were +broken and spread over the damp moss and their shelter was ready for +occupancy. Meanwhile Ed had cut fire-wood while Dick started the fire, +using for kindlings a handful of dry, dead sprigs from the branches of +a spruce tree, and by the time Bob and Bill had the tent pitched it +was blazing cheerily, and the appetizing smell of fried pork and hot +tea was in the air. When supper was <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>cooked Ed threw on some more +sticks, for the evening was frosty, and then they sat down to +luxuriate in its genial warmth and eat their simple meal.</p> + +<p>For an hour they chatted, while the fire burned low, casting a +narrowing circle of light upon the black wilderness surrounding the +little camp. Some wild thing of the forest stole noiselessly to the +edge of the outer darkness, its eyes shining like two balls of fire, +then it quietly slunk away unobserved. Above the fir tops the blue +dome of heaven seemed very near and the million stars that glittered +there almost close enough to pluck from their azure setting. With a +weird, uncanny light the aurora flashed its changing colours +restlessly across the sky. No sound save the low voices of the men as +they talked, disturbed the great silence of the wilderness.</p> + +<p>Many a time had Bob camped and hunted with his father near the coast, +in the forest to the south of Wolf Bight, but he had never been far +from home and with this his first long journey into the interior, a +new world and new life were opening to him. The solitude had never +impressed him before as it did now. The smoke <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>of the camp-fire and +the perfume of the forest had never smelled so sweet. The romance of +the trail was working its way into his soul, and to him the land +seemed filled with wonderful things that he was to search out and +uncover for himself. The harrowing tales that the men were telling of +winter storms and narrow escapes from wild animals had no terror for +him. He only looked forward to meeting and conquering these obstacles +for himself. Young blood loves adventure, and Bob's blood was strong +and red and active.</p> + +<p>When the fire died away and only a heap of glowing red coals remained, +Dick knocked the ashes from his pipe, and rising with a yawn, +suggested:</p> + +<p>"I 'lows it's time t' turn in. We'll have t' be movin' early in th' +mornin' an' we makes th' Muskrat Portage."</p> + +<p>Then they went to the tent and rolled into their blankets and were +soon sleeping as only men can sleep who breathe the pure, free air of +God's great out-of-doors.</p> + +<p>Before noon the next day they reached the Muskrat Falls, where the +torrent, with a great roar, pours down seventy feet over the solid +<a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>rocks. An Indian portage trail leads around the falls and meets the +river again half a mile farther up. At its beginning it ascends a +steep incline two hundred feet, then it runs away, comparatively +level, to its upper end where it drops abruptly to the water's edge. +To pull a heavy boat up this incline and over the half mile to the +launching place above, was no small undertaking.</p> + +<p>Everything was unloaded, the craft brought ashore, and ropes which +were carried for the purpose attached to the bow. Then round sticks of +wood, for rollers, were placed under it, and while Dick and Ed hauled, +Bob and Bill pushed and lifted and kept the rollers straight. In this +manner, with infinite labour, it was worked to the top of the hill and +step by step hauled over the portage to the place where it was to +enter the water again. It was nearly sunset when they completed their +task and turned back to bring up their things from below.</p> + +<p>They had retraced their steps but a few yards when Dick, who was +ahead, darted off to the left of the trail with the exclamation:</p> + +<p>"An' here's some fresh meat for supper."</p> + +<p>It was a porcupine lumbering awkwardly away. He easily killed it with +a stick, and <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>picking it up by its tail, was about to turn back into +the trail when a fresh axe cutting caught his eye.</p> + +<p>"Now who's been here, lads?" said he, looking at it closely. "None o' +th' planters has been inside of th' Traverspine, an' no Mountaineers +has left th' post yet."</p> + +<p>The others joined him and scrutinized the cutting, then looked for +other human signs. Near by they found the charred wood of a recent +fire and some spruce boughs that had served for a bed within a day or +two, which was proved by their freshly broken ends. It had been the +couch of a single man.</p> + +<p>"Micmac John, sure!" said Ed.</p> + +<p>"An' what's he doin' here?" asked Bill. "He has no traps or huntin' +grounds handy t' this."</p> + +<p>"I'm thinkin' 'tis no good he's after," said Dick. "'Tis sure he, an' +he'll be givin' us trouble, stealin' our fur an' maybe worse. But if +<i>I</i> gets hold o' he, he'll be sorry for his meddlin', if meddlin' he's +after, an' it's sure all he's here for."</p> + +<p>They hurried back to pitch camp, and when the fire was made the +porcupine was thrown upon the blaze, and allowed to remain there until +its quills and hair were scorched to a cinder. <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>Then Dick, who +superintended the cooking, pulled it out, scraped it and dressed it. +On either side of the fire he drove a stake and across the tops of +these stakes tied a cross pole. From the centre of this pole the +porcupine was suspended by a string, so that it hung low and near +enough to the fire to roast nicely, while it was twirled around on the +string. It was soon sending out a delicious odour, and in an hour was +quite done, and ready to be served. A dainty morsel it was to the +hungry voyageurs, resembling in some respects roast pig, and every +scrap of it they devoured.</p> + +<p>The next morning all the goods were carried over the portage, and a +wearisome fight began against the current of the river, which was so +swift above this point as to preclude sailing or even rowing. A rope +was tied to the bow of the boat and on this three of the men hauled, +while the other stood in the craft and with a pole kept it clear of +rocks and other obstructions. For several days this method of travel +continued—tracking it is called. Sometimes the men were forced along +the sides of almost perpendicular banks, often they waded in the water +and frequently met obstacles like projecting cliffs, <a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>around which +they passed with the greatest difficulty.</p> + +<p>At the Porcupine Rapids everything was lashed securely into the boat, +as a precaution in case of accident, but they overcame the rapid +without mishap, and finally they reached Gull Island Lake, a +broadening of the river in safety, and were able to resume their oars +again. It was a great relief after the long siege of tracking, and Ed +voiced the feelings of all in the remark:</p> + +<p>"Pullin' at th' oars is hard when ye has nothin' harder t' do, but +trackin's so much harder, pullin' seems easy alongside un."</p> + +<p>"Aye," said Dick, "th' thing a man's doin's always the hardest work un +ever done. 'Tis because ye forgets how hard th' things is that ye've +done afore."</p> + +<p>"An' it's just the same in winter. When a frosty spell comes folks +thinks 'tis th' frostiest time they ever knew. If '<i>twere</i>, th' +winters, I 'lows'd be gettin' so cold folks couldn't stand un. I +recollects one frosty spell——"</p> + +<p>"Now none o' yer yarns, Ed. Th' Lord'll be strikin' ye dead in His +anger <i>some day</i> when ye're tellin' what ain't so."</p> + +<p>"I tells no yarns as ain't so, an' I can prove <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>un all—leastways I +could a proved this un, only it so happens as I were alone. As I was +sayin', 'twere so cold one night last winter that when I was boilin' +o' my kettle an' left th' door o' th' tilt open for a bit while I +steps outside, th' wind blowin' in on th' kettle all th' time hits th' +steam at th' spout—an' what does ye think I sees when I comes in?"</p> + +<p>"Ye sees steam, o' course, an' what else could ye see, now?"</p> + +<p>"'Twere so cold—that wind—blowin' right on th' spout where th' steam +comes out, when I comes in I looks an' I can't believe what I sees +myself. Well, now, I sees th' steam froze solid, an' a string o' ice +hangin' from th' spout right down t' th' floor o' th' tilt, an' th' +kettle boilin' merry all th' time. That's what I sees, an'——"</p> + +<p>"Now stop yer lyin', Ed. Ye knows no un——"</p> + +<p>"A bear! A bear!" interrupted Bob, excitedly. "See un! See un there +comin' straight to that rock!"</p> + +<p>Sure enough, a couple Of hundred yards away a big black bear was +lumbering right down towards them, and if it kept its course would +pass a large boulder standing some fifty yards <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>back from the river +bank. The animal had not seen the boat nor scented the men, for the +wind was blowing from it towards them.</p> + +<p>"Run her in here," said Bob, indicating a bit of bank out of the +bear's range of vision, "an' let me ashore t' have a chance at un."</p> + +<p>The instant the boat touched land he grabbed his gun—a +single-barrelled, muzzle loader—bounded noiselessly ashore, and +stooping low gained the shelter of the boulder unobserved.</p> + +<p>The unsuspecting bear came leisurely on, bent, no doubt, upon securing +a drink of water to wash down a feast of blueberries of which it had +just partaken, and seemingly occupied by the pleasant reveries that +follow a good meal and go with a full stomach. Bob could hear it +coming now, and raised his gun ready to give it the load the moment it +passed the rock. Then, suddenly, he remembered that he had loaded the +gun that morning with shot, when hunting a flock of partridges, and +had failed to reload with ball. To kill a bear with a partridge load +of shot was out of the question, and to wound the bear at close +quarters was dangerous, for a wounded bear with its enemy within reach +is pretty sure to retaliate.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>Just at the instant this thought flashed through Bob's mind the big +black side of the bear appeared not ten feet from the muzzle of his +gun, and before the lad realized it he had pulled the trigger.</p> + +<p>Bob did not stop to see the result of the shot, but ran at full speed +towards the boat. The bear gave an angry growl, and for a moment bit +at the wound in its side, then in a rage took after him.</p> + +<p>It was not over fifty yards to the boat, and though Bob had a few +seconds the start, the bear seemed likely to catch him before he could +reach it, for clumsy though they are in appearance, they are fast +travellers when occasion demands. Half the distance was covered in a +jiffy, but the bear was almost at his heels. A few more leaps and he +would be within reach of safety. He could fairly feel the bear's +breath. Then his foot caught a projecting branch and he fell at full +length directly in front of the infuriated animal.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="IV" id="IV"></a><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>SWEPT AWAY IN THE RAPIDS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When Bob went ashore Dick followed as far as a clump of bushes at the +top of the bank below which the boat was concealed, and crouching +there witnessed Bob's flight from the bear, and was very close to him +when he fell. Dick had already drawn a bead on the animal's head, and +just at the moment Bob stumbled fired. The bear made one blind strike +with his paw and then fell forward, its momentum sending it upon Bob's +sprawling legs, Dick laughed uproariously at the boy as he extricated +himself.</p> + +<p>"Well, now," he roared, "'twere as fine a race as I ever see—as I +<i>ever</i> see—an' ye were handy t' winnin' but for th' tumble. A rare +fine race."</p> + +<p>Bob was rather shamefaced, for an old hunter would scarcely have +forgotten himself to such an extent as to go bear hunting with a +partridge load in his gun, and he did not like to be laughed at.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>"Anyhow," said he, "I let un have un first. An' I led un down where +you could shoot un. An' he's a good fat un," he commented kicking the +carcass.</p> + +<p>Ed and Bill had arrived now and all hands went to work at once +skinning the bear.</p> + +<p>"Speakin' o' bein' chased by bears," remarked Ed as they worked, "onct +I were chased pretty hard myself an' that time I come handy t' bein' +done for sure enough."</p> + +<p>"An' how were that?" asked Bob.</p> + +<p>"'Twere one winter an' I were tendin' my trail. I stops at noon t' +boil th' kettle, an' just has th' fire goin' fine an' th' water over +when all t' a sudden I hears a noise behind me and turnin' sees a +black bear right handy t' me—th' biggest black bear I ever seen—an' +makin' fer me. I jumps up an' grabs my gun an' lets un have it, but +wi' th' suddenness on it I misses, an' away I starts an' 'twere lucky +I has my racquets on."</p> + +<p>"Were this in <i>winter</i>?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"It <i>were</i> in winter."</p> + +<p>"Th' bears as <i>I</i> knows don't travel in winter. They sleeps then, +leastways all but white bears."</p> + +<p>"Well, this were in winter an' this bear weren't sleepin' much. As I +was sayin'——"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>"An' he took after ye without bein' provoked?"</p> + +<p>"An' he did an' right smart."</p> + +<p>"Well he <i>were</i> a queer bear—a <i>queer</i> un—th' <i>queerest</i> I ever hear +tell about. Awake in <i>winter</i> an' takin' after folks without bein' +<i>provoked</i>. 'Tis th' first black bear <i>I</i> ever heard tell about that +done that. I knows bears pretty well an' they alus takes tother way +about as fast as their legs 'll carry un."</p> + +<p>"Now, if you wants me t' tell about this bear ye'll ha' t' stop +interruptin'."</p> + +<p>"No one said as they wanted ye to."</p> + +<p>"Now I'm goin' t' tell un whatever."</p> + +<p>"As I were sayin', th' bear he takes after me wi' his best licks an' I +takes off an' tries t' load my gun as I runs. I drops in a han'ful o' +powder an' then finds I gone an' left my ball pouch at th' fire. It +were pretty hard runnin' wi' my racquets sinkin' in th' snow, which +were new an' soft an' I were losin' ground an' gettin' winded an' +'twere lookin' like un's goin' t' cotch me sure. All t' onct I see a +place where the snow's drifted up three fathoms deep agin a ledge an' +even wi' th' top of un. I makes for un an' runs right over th' upper +side an' th' bear he comes too, but he <a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>has no racquets and th' snow's +soft, bein' fresh drift an' down he goes sinkin' most out o' sight an' +th' more un wallers th' worse off un is."</p> + +<p>"An' what does you do?" asks Bob.</p> + +<p>"What does I do? I stops an' laughs at un a bit. Then I lashes my +sheath knife on th' end o' a pole spear-like, an' sticks th' bear back +o' th' fore leg an' kills un, an' then I has bear's meat wi' my tea, +an' in th' spring gets four dollars from th' company for the skin."</p> + +<p>In twenty minutes they had the pelt removed from the bear and Dick +generously insisted upon Bob taking it as the first-fruits of his +inland hunt, saying: "Ye earned he wi' yer runnin'."</p> + +<p>The best of the meat was cut from the carcass, and that night thick, +luscious steaks were broiled for supper, and the remainder packed for +future use on the journey.</p> + +<p>Fine weather had attended the voyageurs thus far but that night the +sky clouded heavily and when they emerged from the tent the next +morning a thick blanket of snow covered the earth and weighted down +the branches of the spruce trees. The storm had spent itself in the +night, however, and the day was clear and sparkling. Very beautiful +the white world looked when the sun <a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>came to light it up; but the snow +made tracking less easy, and warned the travellers that no time must +be lost in reaching their destination, for it was a harbinger of the +winter blasts and blizzards soon to blow.</p> + +<p>Early that afternoon they came in view of the rushing waters of the +Gull Island Rapids, with their big foam crested waves angrily +assailing the rocks that here and there raised their ominous heads +above the torrent. The greater length of these rapids can be tracked, +with some short portages around the worst places. Before entering them +everything was lashed securely into the boat, as at the Porcupine +Rapids, and the tracking line fastened a few inches back of the bow +leaving enough loose end to run to the stern and this was tied +securely there to relieve the unusual strain on the bow fastening. Ed +took the position of steersman in the boat, while the other three were +to haul upon the line.</p> + +<p>When all was made ready and secure, they started forward, bringing the +craft into the heavy water, which opposed its progress so vigorously +that it seemed as though the rope must surely snap. Stronger and +stronger became the strain and harder and harder pulled the men. All +of <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>Ed's skill was required to keep the boat straight in the +treacherous cross current eddies where the water swept down past the +half-hidden rocks in the river bed.</p> + +<p>They were pushing on tediously but surely when suddenly and without +warning the fastening at the bow broke loose, the boat swung away into +the foam, and in a moment was swallowed up beneath the waves. The rear +fastening held however and the boat was thrown in against the bank.</p> + +<p>But Ed had disappeared in the fearful flood of rushing white water. +The other three stood appalled. It seemed to them that no power on +earth could save him. He must certainly be dashed to death upon the +rocks or smothered beneath the onrushing foam.</p> + +<p>For a moment all were inert, paralyzed. Then Dick, accustomed to act +quickly in every emergency, slung the line around a boulder, took a +half hitch to secure it and, without stopping to see whether it would +hold or not, ran down stream at top speed with Bob and Bill at his +heels.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a><a name="V" id="V"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE TRAILS ARE REACHED</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Ed had been cast away in rapids before, and when he found himself in +the water, with the wilderness traveller's quick appreciation of the +conditions, he lay limp, without a struggle. If he permitted the +current to carry him in its own way on its course, he might be swept +past the rocks uninjured to the still water below. If one struggle was +made it might throw him out of the current's course against a boulder, +where he would be pounded to death or rendered unconscious and surely +drowned. He was swept on much more rapidly than his companions could +run and quite hidden from them by the big foam-crested waves.</p> + +<p>It seemed ages to the helpless man before he felt his speed slacken +and finally found himself in the eddy where they had begun to track. +Here he struck out for the river bank only a few yards distant, and, +half drowned, succeeded in pulling himself ashore. A few minutes +later, when the others came running <a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>down, they found him, to their +great relief, sitting on the bank quite safe, wringing the water from +his clothing, and their fear that he was injured was quickly dispelled +by his looking up as they approached and remarking, as though nothing +unusual had occurred,</p> + +<p>"Bathin's chilly this time o' year. Let's put on a fire an' boil +th'kettle."</p> + +<p>"I don't know as we got a kettle or anythin' else," said Dick, +laughing at Ed's bedraggled appearance and matter-of-fact manner. "We +better go back an' see. I hitched th' trackin' line to a rock, but I +don't know's she's held."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's look. I'm a bit damp, an' thinkin' <i>I</i> wants a fire, +whatever."</p> + +<p>A cold northwest wind had sprung up in the afternoon and the snow was +drifting unpleasantly and before the boat was reached Ed's wet +garments were frozen stiff as a coat of mail and he was so chilled +through that he could scarcely walk. The line had held and they found +the boat in an eddy below a high big boulder. It was submerged, but +quite safe, with everything, thanks to the careful lashings, in its +place, save a shoulder of bear's meat that had loosened and washed +away.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>"I thinks, lads, we'll be makin' camp here. Whilst I puts a fire on +an' boils th' kettle t' warm Ed up, you pitch camp. 'Twill be nigh +sun-down afore Ed gets dried out, an' too late t' go any farther," +suggested Dick.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes the fire was roaring and Ed thawing out and drinking +hot tea as he basked in the blaze, while Dick chopped fire-wood and +Bob and Bill unloaded the boat and put up the tent and made it snug +for the night.</p> + +<p>Heretofore they had found the outside camp-fire quite sufficient for +their needs, and had not gone to the trouble of setting up the stove, +but it was yet some time before dark, and as the wet clothing and +outfit could be much more easily and quickly dried under the shelter +of the heated tent than in the drifting snow by the open fire, it was +decided to put the stove in use on this occasion. Bob selected a flat +stone upon which to rest it, for without this protection the moss +beneath, coming into contact with the hot metal, would have dried +quickly and taken fire.</p> + +<p>When everything was brought in and distributed in the best place to +dry, Bob took some birch bark, thrust it into the stove and lighted +it. Instantly it flared up as though it had been oil <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>soaked. This +made excellent kindling for the wood that was piled on top, and in an +incredibly short time the tent was warm and snug as any house. Ed left +the open fire and joined Bob and Bill, and in a few minutes Dick came +in with an armful of wood.</p> + +<p>"Well, un had a good wettin' an' a cold souse," said he, as he piled +the wood neatly behind the stove, addressing himself to Ed, who, now +quite recovered from his chill, stood with his back to the stove, +puffing contentedly at his pipe, with the steam pouring out of his wet +clothes.</p> + +<p>"'Twere just a fine time wi' th' dip I had ten year ago th' winter +comin'," said Ed, ruminatively. "'Twere <i>nothin'</i> to that un."</p> + +<p>"An' where were that?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"I were out o' tea in March, an' handy to havin' no tobaccy, an' I +says t' myself, 'Ed, ye can't stay in th' bush till th' break up wi' +nary a bit o' tea, and ye'd die wi'out tobaccy. Now ye got t' make th' +cruise t' th' Post.' Well, I fixes up my traps, an' packs grub for a +week on my flat sled (toboggan) an' off I goes. 'Twere fair goin' wi' +good hard footin' an' I makes fine time. Below th' Gull Rapids, just +above where I come ashore th' day, I takes t' th' ice thinkin' un +<a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>good, an' 'twere lucky I has my racquets lashed on th' flat sled an' +not walkin' wi' un, for I never could a swum wi' un on. Two fathoms +from th' shore I steps on bad ice an' in I goes, head an' all, an' th' +current snatches me off'n my feet an' carries me under th' ice, an' +afore I knows un I finds th' water carryin' me along as fast as a deer +when he gets th' wind."</p> + +<p>"An' how did un get out?" asked Bob in open-mouthed wonder.</p> + +<p>"'Twere sure a hard fix <i>under</i> th' ice," remarked Bill, equally +interested.</p> + +<p>"A wonderful hard fix, a <i>wonderful</i> hard fix, <i>under</i> th' ice, an' I +were handy t' stayin' under un," said Ed, taking evident delight in +keeping his auditors in suspense. "Aye, a <i>wonderful</i> hard fix," +continued he, while he hacked pieces from his tobacco plug and filled +his pipe.</p> + +<p>"An' where were I?" asked Dick, making a quick calculation of past +events. "I were huntin' wi' un ten year ago, an' I don't mind ye're +gettin' in th' ice."</p> + +<p>"'Twere th' winter un were laid up wi' th' lame leg, an' poor Frank +Morgan were huntin' along wi' me. Frank were lost th' same spring in +th' Bay. Does un mind that?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>"'Twere only <i>nine</i> year ago I were laid up an' Frank were huntin' my +trail," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe 'twere only nine year; 'twere <i>nine</i> or <i>ten</i> year ago," +Ed continued, with some show of impatience at Dick's questioning. +"Leastways 'twere thereabouts. Well, I finds myself away off from th' +hole I'd dropped into, an' no way o' findin' he. The river were low +an' had settled a foot below th' ice, which were four or five feet +thick over my head, an' no way o' cuttin' out. So what does I do?"</p> + +<p>"An' what does un do?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"What does I do? I keeps shallow water near th' shore an' holdin' my +head betwixt ice an' water makes down t' th' Porcupine Rapids. 'Twere +a long an' wearisome pull, an' thinks I, 'Tis too much—un's done for +now.' After a time I sees light an' I goes for un. 'Twere a place near +a rock where th' water swingin' around had kept th' ice thin. I gets +t' un an' makes a footin' on th' rock. I gets out my knife an' finds +th' ice breaks easy, an' cuts a hole an' crawls out. By th' time I +gets on th' ice I were pretty handy t' givin' up wi' th' cold."</p> + +<p>"'Twere a close call," assented Dick, as he puffed at his pipe +meditatively.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>"How far did un go under th' ice?" asked Bill, who had been much +interested in the narrative.</p> + +<p>"Handy t' two mile."</p> + +<p>For several days after this the men worked very hard from early dawn +until the evening darkness drove them into camp. The current was swift +and the rapids great surging torrents of angry water that seemed bent +upon driving them back. One after another the Horseshoe, the Ninipi, +and finally, after much toil, the Mouni Rapids were met and conquered.</p> + +<p>The weather was stormy and disagreeable. Nearly every day the air was +filled with driving snow or beating cold rain that kept them wet to +the skin and would have sapped the courage and broken the spirit of +less determined men. But they did not mind it. It was the sort of +thing they had been accustomed to all their life.</p> + +<p>With each morning, Bob, full of the wilderness spirit, took up the +work with as much enthusiasm as on the day he left Wolf Bight. At +night when he was very tired and just a bit homesick, he would try to +picture to himself the little cabin that now seemed far, far away, and +he would say to himself,</p> + +<p><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>"If I could spend th' night there now, an' be back here in th' +mornin', 'twould be fine. But when I <i>does</i> go back, the goin' home'll +be fine, an' pay for all th' bein' away. An' the Lard lets me, I'll +have th' fur t' send Emily t' th' doctors an' make she well."</p> + +<p>One day the clouds grew tired of sending forth snow and rain, and the +wind forgot to blow, and the waters became weary of their rushing. The +morning broke clear and beautiful, and the sun, in a blaze of red and +orange grandeur, displayed the world in all its rugged primeval +beauty. The travellers had reached Lake Wonakapow, a widening of the +river, where the waters were smooth and no current opposed their +progress. For the first time in many days the sails were hoisted, and, +released from the hard work, the men sat back to enjoy the rest, while +a fair breeze sent them up the lake.</p> + +<p>"'Tis fine t' have a spell from th' trackin'," remarked Ed as he +lighted his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'tis that," assented Dick, "an' we been makin' rare good time +wi' this bad weather. We're three days ahead o' my reckonin'."</p> + +<p>How beautiful it was! The water, deep and <a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>dark, leading far away, +every rugged hill capped with snow, and the white peaks sparkling in +the sunshine. A loon laughed at them as they passed, and an invisible +wolf on a mountainside sent forth its long weird cry of defiance.</p> + +<p>They sailed quietly on for an hour or two. Finally Ed pointed out to +Bob a small log shack standing a few yards back from the shore, +saying:</p> + +<p>"An' there's my tilt. Here I leaves un."</p> + +<p>Bill Campbell was at the tiller, and the boat was headed to a strip of +sandy beach near the tilt. Presently they landed. Ed's things were +separated from the others and taken ashore, and all hands helped him +carry them up to the tilt.</p> + +<p>There was no window in the shack and the doorway was not over four +feet high. Within was a single room about six by eight feet in size, +with a rude couch built of saplings, running along two sides, upon +which spruce boughs, used the previous year and now dry and dead, were +strewn for a bed. The floor was of earth. The tilt contained a sheet +iron stove similar to the one Bob had brought, but no other furniture +save a few cooking utensils. The round logs of which the rough +building was constructed, were <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>well chinked between them with moss, +making it snug and warm.</p> + +<a name="imagep64" id="imagep64"></a> +<div class="img" style="width: 80%;"> +<a href="images/imagep065.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep065.jpg" width="100%" alt="Chart of the Trails." /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">Chart of the Trails.</p> +</div> + +<p>This was where Ed kept his base of supplies. His trail began here and +ran inland and nearly northward for some distance to a lake whose +shores it skirted, and then, taking a swing to the southwest, came +back to the river again and ended where Dick's began, and the two +trappers had a tilt there which they used in common. Between these +tilts were four others at intervals of twelve to fifteen miles, for +night shelters, the distance between them constituting a day's work, +the trail from end to end being about seventy miles long.</p> + +<p>The trails which the other three were to hunt led off, one from the +other—Dick's, Bill's and then the Big Hill trail, with tilts at the +juncture points and along them in a similar manner to the arrangement +of Ed's, and each trail covering about the same number of miles as +his. Each man could therefore walk the length of his trail in five +days, if the weather were good, and, starting from one end on Monday +morning have a tilt to sleep in each night and reach his last tilt on +the other end Friday night. This gave him Saturday in which to do odd +jobs like mending, <a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>and Sunday for rest, before taking up the round +again on Monday.</p> + +<p>It was yet too early by three weeks to begin the actual trapping, but +much in the way of preparation had to be done in the meantime. This +was Tuesday, and it was agreed that two weeks from the following +Saturday Ed and Dick should be at the tilt where their trails met and +Bill and Bob at the junction of their trails, ready to start their +work on the next Monday. This would bring Dick and Bill together on +the following Friday night and Bob and Ed would each be alone, one at +either end of the series of trails and more than a hundred miles from +his nearest neighbour.</p> + +<p>"I hopes your first cruise'll be a good un, an' you'll be doin' fine +th' winter, Bob. Have a care now for th' Nascaupees," said Ed as they +shook hands at parting.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," answered Bob, "an' I hopes you'll be havin' a fine hunt +too."</p> + +<p>Then they were off, and Ed's long winter's work began.</p> + +<p>The next afternoon Dick's first tilt was reached, and a part of his +provisions and some of Ed's that they had brought on for him, were +<a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>unloaded there. Dick, however, decided to go with the young men to the +tilt at the beginning of the Big Hill trail, to help them haul the +boat up and make it snug for the winter, saying, "I'm thinkin' you +might find her too heavy, an' I'll go on an' give a hand, an' cut +across to my trail, which I can do handy enough in a day, havin' no +pack."</p> + +<p>An hour before dark on Friday evening they reached the tilt. Dick was +the first to enter it, and as he pushed open the door he stopped with +the exclamation:</p> + +<p>"That rascal Micmac!"</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VI" id="VI"></a><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The stove and stovepipe were gone, and fresh, warm ashes on the floor +gave conclusive proof that the theft had been perpetrated that very +day. Some one had been occupying the tilt, too, as new boughs spread +for a bed made evident.</p> + +<p>"More o' Micmac John's work," commented Dick as he kicked the ashes. +"He's been takin' th' stove an' he'll be takin' th' fur too, an' he +gets a chance."</p> + +<p>"Maybe 'twere Mountaineers," suggested Bill.</p> + +<p>"No, 'twere no Mountaineers—<i>them</i> don't steal. No un ever heard o' a +Mountaineer takin' things as belongs to <i>other</i> folks. <i>Injuns</i> be +honest—leastways all but half-breeds."</p> + +<p>"Nascaupees might a been here," offered Bob, having in mind the +stories he had heard of them, and feeling now that he was almost +amongst them.</p> + +<p>"No, Nascaupees 'd have no use for a <i>stove</i>. They'd ha' burned th' +tilt. 'Tis Micmac John, <a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>an' he be here t' steal fur. 'Tis t' steal +fur's what <i>he</i> be after. But let me ketch un, an' he won't steal much +more fur," insisted Dick, worked up to a very wrathful pitch.</p> + +<p>They looked outside for indications of the course the marauder had +taken, and discovered that he had returned to the river, where his +canoe had been launched a little way above the tilt, and had either +crossed to the opposite side or gone higher up stream. In either case +it was useless to attempt to follow him, as, if they caught him at +all, it would be after a chase of several days, and they could not +well afford the time. There was nothing to do, therefore, but make the +best of it. Bob's tent stove was set up in place of the one that had +been stolen. Then everything was stowed away in the tilt.</p> + +<p>The next morning came cold and gray, with heavy, low-hanging clouds, +threatening an early storm. The boat was hauled well up on the shore, +and a log protection built over it to prevent the heavy snows that +were soon to come from breaking it down.</p> + +<p>Before noon the first flakes of the promised storm fell lazily to the +earth and in half an hour it was coming so thickly that the river +twenty <a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>yards away could not be seen, and the wind was rising. The +three cut a supply of dry wood and piled what they could in the tilt, +placing the rest within reach of the door. Then armfuls of boughs were +broken for their bed. All the time the storm was increasing in power +and by nightfall a gale was blowing and a veritable blizzard raging.</p> + +<p>When all was made secure, a good fire was started in the stove, a +candle lighted, and some partridges that had been killed in the +morning put over with a bit of pork to boil for supper. While these +were cooking Bill mixed some flour with water, using baking soda for +leaven—"risin'" he called it—into a dough which he formed into cakes +as large in circumference as the pan would accommodate and a quarter +of an inch thick. These cakes he fried in pork grease. This was the +sort of bread that they were to eat through the winter.</p> + +<p>The meal was a cozy one. Outside the wind shrieked angrily and swirled +the snow in smothering clouds around the tilt, and rattled the +stovepipe, threatening to shake it down. It was very pleasant to be +out of it all in the snug, warm shack with the stove crackling +contentedly and the place filled with the mingled odours of the +<a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>steaming kettle of partridges and tea and spruce boughs. To the +hunters it seemed luxurious after their tedious fight against the +swift river. Times like this bring ample recompense to the wilderness +traveller for the most strenuous hardships that he is called upon to +endure. The memory of one such night will make men forget a month of +suffering. Herein lies one of the secret charms of the wilds.</p> + +<p>When supper was finished Dick and Bill filled their pipes, and with +coals from the stove lighted them. Then they lounged back and puffed +with an air of such perfect, speechless bliss that for the first time +in his life Bob felt a desire to smoke. He drew from his pocket the +pipe Douglas had given him and filled it from a plug of the tobacco. +When he reached for a firebrand to light it Dick noticed what he was +doing and asked good naturedly,—</p> + +<p>"Think t' smoke with us, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thinks I'll try un."</p> + +<p>"An' be gettin' sick before un knows it," volunteered Bill.</p> + +<p>Disregarding the suggestion Bob fired his pipe and lay back with the +air of an old veteran. He soon found that he did not like it very +much, and <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>in a little while he felt a queer sensation in his stomach, +but it was not in Bob's nature to acknowledge himself beaten so +easily, and he puffed on doggedly. Pretty soon beads of perspiration +stood out upon his forehead and he grew white. Then he quietly laid +aside the pipe and groped his way unsteadily out of doors, for he was +very dizzy and faint. When he finally returned he was too sick to pay +any attention to the banter of his companions, who unsympathetically +made fun of him, and he lay down with the inward belief that smoking +was not the pleasure it was said to be, and as for himself he would +never touch a pipe again.</p> + +<p>All day Sunday and Monday the storm blew with unabated fury and the +three were held close prisoners in the tilt. On Monday night it +cleared, and Tuesday morning came clear and rasping cold.</p> + +<p>Long before daylight breakfast was eaten and preparations made for +travelling. Bob lashed his tent, cooking utensils, some traps and a +supply of provisions upon one of two toboggans that leaned against the +tilt outside. The other one was for Bill when he should need it. Dick +did up his blanket and a few provisions into <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>a light pack, new slings +were adjusted to their snow-shoes and finally they were ready to +strike the trails.</p> + +<p>The steel-gray dawn was just showing when Dick shouldered his pack, +took his axe and gun and shook hands with the boys.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye Bob. Have a care o' nasty weather an' don't be losin' +yourself. I'll see you in a fortnight, Bill. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>With long strides he turned down the river bend and in a few moments +the immeasurable white wilderness had swallowed him up.</p> + +<p>The Big Hill trail was so called from a high, barren hill around whose +base it swung to follow a series of lakes leading to the northwest. Of +course as Bob had never been over the trail he did not know its +course, or where to find the traps that Douglas had left hanging in +the trees or lying on rocks the previous spring at the end of the +hunting season. Bill was to go with him to the farthest tilt on this +first journey to point these out to him and show him the way, then +leave him and hurry back to his own path, while Bob set the traps and +worked his way back to the junction tilt.</p> + +<p>Shortly after Dick left them they started, Bill <a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>going ahead and +breaking the trail with his snow-shoes while Bob behind hauled the +loaded toboggan. On they pushed through trees heavily laden with snow, +out upon wide, frozen marshes, skirting lakes deep hidden beneath the +ice and snow which covered them like a great white blanket. The only +halts were for a moment now and again to note the location of traps as +they passed, which Bob with his keen memory of the woods could easily +find again when he returned to set them. Once they came upon some +ptarmigans, white as the snow upon which they stood. Their "grub bag" +received several of the birds, which were very tame and easily shot. A +hurried march brought them to the first tilt at noon, where they had +dinner, and that night, shortly after dark, they reached the second +tilt, thirty miles from their starting point. At midday on Thursday +they came to the end of the trail.</p> + +<p>When they had had dinner of fried ptarmigan and tea, Bill announced: +"I'll be leavin' ye now, Bob. In two weeks from Friday we'll be +meetin' in th' river tilt."</p> + +<p>"All right, an' I'll be there."</p> + +<p>"An' don't be gettin' lonesome, now I leaves un."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>"I'll be no gettin' lonesome. There be some traps t' mend before I +starts back an' a chance bit o' other work as'll keep me busy."</p> + +<p>Then Bill turned down the trail, and Bob for the first time in his +life was quite alone in the heart of the great wilderness.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VII" id="VII"></a><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>A STREAK OF GOOD LUCK</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When Bill was gone Bob went to work at once getting some traps that +were hanging in the tilt in good working order. He set them and sprang +them one after another, testing every one critically. They were +practically all new ones, and Douglas, after his careful, painstaking +manner, had left them in thorough repair. These were some additional +traps that no place had been found for on the trail. There were only +about twenty of them and Bob decided that he would set them along the +shores of a lake beyond the tilt, where there were none, and look +after them on the Saturday mornings that he would be lying up there. +The next morning he put them on his toboggan, and shouldering his gun +he started out.</p> + +<p>Not far away he saw the first marten track in the edge of the spruce +woods near the lake. Farther on there were more. This was very +satisfactory indeed, and he observed to himself,</p> + +<p><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>"The's a wonderful lot o' footin', and 'tis sure a' fine place for +martens."</p> + +<p>He went to work at once, and one after another the traps were set, +some of them in a little circular enclosure made by sticking spruce +boughs in the snow, to which a narrow entrance was left, and in this +entrance the trap placed and carefully concealed under loose snow and +the chain fastened to a near-by sapling. In the centre of each of the +enclosures a bit of fresh partridge was placed for bait, to reach +which the animal would have to pass over the trap. Where a tree of +sufficient size was found in a promising place he chopped it down, a +few feet above the snow, cut a notch in the top, and placed the trap +in the notch, and arranged the bait over it in such a way that the +animal climbing the stump would be compelled to stand upon the trap to +secure the meat.</p> + +<p>All the marten traps were soon set, but there still remained two fox +traps. These he took to a marsh some distance beyond the lake, as the +most likely place for foxes to be, for while the marten stays amongst +the trees, the fox prefers marshes or barrens. Here, in a place where +the snow was hard, he carefully cut out a cube, <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>making a hole deep +enough for the trap to set below the surface. A square covering of +crust was trimmed thin with his sheath knife, and fitted over the trap +in such a way as to completely conceal it. The chain was fastened to a +stump and also carefully concealed. Then over and around the trap +pieces of ptarmigan were scattered. This he knew was not good fox +bait, but it was the best he had.</p> + +<p>"Now if I were only havin' a bit o' scent 'twould help me," he +commented as he surveyed his work.</p> + +<p>Foxes prefer meat or fish that is tainted and smells bad, and the more +decomposed it is, the better it suits them. Bob had no tainted meat +now, so he used what he had, in the hope that it might prove +effective. A few drops of perfumery, or "scent," as he called it, +would have made the fresh meat that he used more attractive to the +animals, but unfortunately he had none of that either.</p> + +<p>As he left the marsh and crossed from a neck of woods to the lake +shore he saw two moving objects far out upon the ice. He dropped +behind a clump of bushes. They were caribou.</p> + +<p>His gun would not reach them at that distance, and he picked up a +dried stick and broke it. <a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>They heard the noise and looked towards +him. He stood up, exposing himself for the fraction of a second, then +concealed himself behind the bushes again. Caribou are very +inquisitive animals, and these walked towards him, for they wanted to +ascertain what the strange object was that they had seen. When they +had come within easy range he selected the smaller one, a young buck, +aimed carefully at a spot behind the shoulders, and fired. The animal +fell and its mate stood stupidly still and looked at it, and then +advanced and smelled of it. Even the report of the gun had not +satisfied its curiosity.</p> + +<p>It would have been an easy matter for Bob to shoot this second +caribou, but the one he had killed was quite sufficient for his needs, +and to kill the other would have been ruthless slaughter, little short +of murder, and something that Bob, who was a true sportsman, would not +stoop to. He therefore stepped out from his cover and revealed +himself. Then when the animal saw him clearly, a living enemy, it +turned and fled.</p> + +<p>Bob removed the skin and quartered the carcass. These he loaded upon +his toboggan and hauled to his tilt. The meat was suspended from the +limb of a tree outside, where animals <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>could not reach it and where it +would freeze and keep sweet until needed. A small piece was taken into +the tilt for immediate use, and some portions of the neck placed in +the corner of the tilt where they would decompose somewhat and thus be +rendered into desirable fox bait. The skin was stretched against the +logs of the side of the shack farthest from the stove, to dry. This +would make an excellent cover for Bob's couch and be warm and +comfortable to sleep upon. The sinew, taken from the back of the +animal, was scraped and hung from the roof to season, for he would +need it later to use as thread with which to repair moccasins.</p> + +<p>Now there was little to do for two or three days, and Bob began for +the first time to understand the true loneliness of his new life. The +wilderness was working its mysterious influence upon him. It seemed a +long, long while since Bill had left him, and he recalled his last +Sunday at Wolf Bight as one recalls an event years after it has +happened. Sometimes he longed passionately for home and human +companionship. At other times he was quite content with his day to day +existence, and almost forgot that the world contained any one else.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>Early the next week he visited the traps. In one he found a Canada jay +that had tried to filch the bait. In another a big white rabbit which +had been caught while nibbling the young tops of the spruce boughs +with which the trap was enclosed. A single marten rewarded him. The +pelt was not prime, as it was yet early in the season, but still it +was fairly good and Bob was delighted with it.</p> + +<p>The fox traps had not been disturbed, but a fox had been feeding upon +the caribou head and entrails, where they had been left upon the ice, +and one of the traps was taken up and reset here. The others he also +put in order, and returned to the tilt with the rabbit and marten. The +former, boiled with small bits of pork, made a splendid stew, and the +skin was hung to dry, for, with others it could be fashioned into +warm, light slippers to wear inside his moccasins when the colder +weather came.</p> + +<p>The marten pelt was removed from the body by splitting it down the +inside of the hind legs to the trunk, and then pulling it down over +the head, turning it inside out in the process. In the tilt were a +number of stretching boards, that Douglas had provided, tapered down +from several <a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>inches wide at one end until they were narrow enough at +the other end to slip snugly into the nose of the pelt. Over one of +these, with the flesh side out, the skin was tightly drawn and +fastened. Then with his knife Bob scraped it carefully, removing such +fat and flesh as had adhered to it, after which he placed it in a +convenient place to dry.</p> + +<p>Bob felt very much elated over this first catch of fur, and was +anxious to get at the real trapping. It was only Tuesday, and Bill +would not be at the river tilt until Friday of the following week, but +he decided to start back the next morning and set all his traps. So on +Wednesday morning, with a quarter of venison on his flat sled, he +turned down over the trail.</p> + +<p>Everything went well. Signs of fur were good and Bob was brimming over +with anticipation when a week later he reached the river.</p> + +<p>Bill did not arrive until after dark the next evening, and when he +pushed the tilt door open he found Bob frying venison steak and a +kettle of tea ready for supper.</p> + +<p>"Ho, Bob, back ahead o' me, be un? Where'd ye get th' deer's meat?"</p> + +<p>"Knocked un over after you left me. 'Tis <a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>fine t' be back an' see you, +Bill. I've been wonderful lonesome, and wantin' t' see you wonderful +bad."</p> + +<p>"An' I was thinkin' ye'd be gettin' lonesome by now. You'll not be +mindin' bein' alone when you gets used to un. It's all gettin' used t' +un."</p> + +<p>"An' what's th' signs o' fur? Be there much marten signs?"</p> + +<p>"Aye, some. Looks like un goin' t' be some. An' be there much signs on +th' Big Hill trail? Dick says there's a lot o' footin' his way."</p> + +<p>"I <i>has</i> one marten," said Bob proudly, "an' finds good signs."</p> + +<p>"Un <i>has</i> one a'ready! An' be un a good un?"</p> + +<p>"Not so bad."</p> + +<p>"Well, you be startin' fine, gettin' th' first marten an' th' first +deer."</p> + +<p>Bill had taken off his adikey and disposed of his things, and they sat +down to eat and enjoy a long evening's chat.</p> + +<p>With every week the cold grew in intensity, and with every storm the +snow grew deeper, hiding the smaller trees entirely and reaching up +towards the lower limbs of the larger ones. The little tilts were +covered to the roof, and only a <a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>hole in the white mass showed where +the door was.</p> + +<p>The sun now described a daily narrowing arc in the heavens, and the +hours of light were so few that the hunters found it difficult to +cover the distance between their tilts in the little while from dawn +to dark. On moonlight mornings Bob started long before day, and on +starlight evenings finished his day's work after night. His cheeks and +nose were frost-bitten and black, but he did not mind that for he was +doing well. Two weeks before Christmas he brought to the river tilt +the fur that he had accumulated. There were twenty-eight martens, one +mink, two red foxes, one cross fox, a lynx and a wolf. These last two +animals he had shot. Bill was already in the tilt when he arrived, and +complimented him on his good showing.</p> + +<p>Christmas fell on Wednesday that year, and Bill brought word that Dick +and Ed were coming up to spend the day with him and Bob. They would +reach the tilt on Tuesday night and use the remainder of the week in a +caribou hunt, as there were good signs of the animals a little way +back in the marshes and they were in need of fresh meat.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>"An' I'll not try t' be gettin' here on Friday," said Bill. "I'll be +waitin' till Tuesday."</p> + +<p>"I'll be doin' th' same, but I'll be here sure on a Tuesday, an' maybe +Monday," answered Bob.</p> + +<p>So it was arranged that they should have a holiday, and all be +together again. It gave Bob a thrill of pleasure when he thought of +meeting Dick and Ed and proudly exhibiting his fur to have them +examine and criticise the skins and compliment him. It would make a +break in the monotonous life.</p> + +<p>The day after Bob left the river tilt on his return round, the great +dream with which he had started out from Wolf Bight became a reality. +He caught a silver fox. It was almost evening when he turned into a +marsh where the trap was set. He had caught nothing in it before, and +he was thinking seriously of taking it up and placing it farther along +the trail. But now in the half dusk, as he approached, something +moved. "Sure 'tis a cross," said he. When he came closer and saw that +it was really a silver he could not for a moment believe his good +fortune. It was too good to be true. When he had killed it and taken +it out of the trap he hurried to the <a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>tilt hugging it closely to his +breast as though afraid it would get away.</p> + +<p>In the tilt he lighted a candle and examined it. It was a beauty! It +was worth a lot of money! He patted it and turned it over. Then—there +was no one to see him and question his manhood or jibe at his +weakness—he cried—cried for pure joy. "Tis th' savin' o' Emily an' +makin' she well—an' makin' she well!" He had prayed that he would get +a silver, but his faith had been weak and he had never really believed +he should. Now he had it and his cup of joy was full. "Sure th' Lard +be good," he repeated to himself.</p> + +<p>It was starlight two evenings later when he neared his last tilt. +Clear and beautiful and intensely cold was the silent white wilderness +and Bob's heart was as clear and light as the frosty air. When the +black spot that marked the roof of the almost hidden shack met his +view he stopped. A thin curl of smoke was rising from the stovepipe. +Some one was in the tilt! He hesitated for only a moment, then hurried +forward and pushed the door open. There, smoking his pipe sat Micmac +John.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>VIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>MICMAC JOHN'S REVENGE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>"Evenin', Bob," said Micmac.</p> + +<p>"Evenin', John. An' where'd you be comin' from now?"</p> + +<p>"Been huntin' t' th' suth'ard. Thought I'd drop in an' see ye."</p> + +<p>"Glad t' see ye, John."</p> + +<p>After an awkward pause Bob asked:</p> + +<p>"What un do wi' th' stove, John?"</p> + +<p>"What stove?"</p> + +<p>"From th' river tilt. Ye took un, didn't ye?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't take no stove. I weren't in th' river tilt, an' don't +know what yer talkin' about," lied the half-breed.</p> + +<p>"Some one took un an' we was layin' it t' you. Now I wonders who +'twere."</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>I</i> wouldn't take it. Ye ought t' known <i>I</i> wouldn't do a thing +like that," insisted Micmac, with an air of injured innocence. "Maybe +th' Mingen Injuns took it. There's been some around an' they says +they'll take anything they find, an' fur too, if they find any in th' +tilts. <a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>These are their huntin' grounds an' outsiders has no right on +'em. They gave me right t' hunt down t' th' suth'ard."</p> + +<p>"Who may th' Mingen Injuns be, now?"</p> + +<p>"Mountaineers as belong Mingen way up south, an' hunts between this +an' th' Straits."</p> + +<p>"I were thinkin' 'twere th' Nascaupees took th' stove if you didn't +take un."</p> + +<p>"Th' Nascaupees are back here a bit t' th' west'ard. I saw some of 'em +one day when I was cruisin' that way an' I made tracks back fer I +didn't want t' die so quick. They'll kill anybody they see in here, +an' burn th' tilts if they happen over this way an' see 'em. Ye have +t' be on th' watch fer 'em all th' time."</p> + +<p>"I'll be watchin' out fer un an' keep clear if I sees their footin'," +said Bob as he went out to bring in his things.</p> + +<p>What Micmac said about the Nascaupees disturbed him not a little. Bob +was brave, but every man, no matter how brave he may be, fears an +unseen danger when he believes that danger is real and is apt to come +upon him unexpectedly and at a time when no opportunity will be +offered for defense. It was evident that these Indians were close at +hand, and that he was <a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>in daily and imminent danger of being captured, +which meant, he was sure, being killed. But he was here for a +purpose—to catch all the fur he could—and he must not lose his +courage now, before that purpose was accomplished. He must remain on +his trail until the hunting season closed. He must be constantly upon +his guard, he thought, and perhaps after all would not be discovered. +No, he would <i>not</i> let himself be afraid.</p> + +<p>When he returned to the tilt Micmac John asked:</p> + +<p>"Gettin' much fur?"</p> + +<p>"Not so bad," he replied. "I has one silver, an' a fine un, too."</p> + +<p>The half-breed showed marked interest at once.</p> + +<p>"Let's see him. Got him here?"</p> + +<p>"No, I left un in th' third tilt. That's where I caught un."</p> + +<p>"Where's yer other fur?"</p> + +<p>"I took un all down t' th' river tilt There's a cross among un an' +twenty-eight martens."</p> + +<p>"Um-m."</p> + +<p>Micmac John knew well enough the fur had been taken to some other +tilt, for when he arrived here early in the afternoon his first care +was <a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>to look for it, but not a skin had he found, and he was +disappointed, for it was the purpose of his visit. Bob, absolutely +honest and guileless himself, in spite of Dick's constant assertion +that Micmac was a thief and worse, was easily deceived by the +half-breed's bland manner. Unfortunately he had not learned that every +one else was not as honest and straightforward as himself. Micmac's +attempt upon his life he had ascribed to a sudden burst of anger, and +it was forgiven and forgotten. The selfish enmity, the blackness of +heart, the sinister nature that will never overlook and will go to any +length to avenge a real or fancied wrong—the characteristics of a +half-breed Indian—were wholly beyond his comprehension. He had never +dissembled himself, and he did not know that the smiling face and +smooth tongue are often screens of deception.</p> + +<p>"We'll be havin' supper now," suggested Bob, lifting the boiling +kettle off the stove and throwing in some tea. "I'm fair starved."</p> + +<p>After they had eaten Micmac filled his pipe and lounged back, smoking +in silence for some time, apparently deep in thought. Finally he +asked, "When ye goin' back t' th' river, Bob?"</p> + +<p>"I'm not thinkin t' start back till Wednesday <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>an' maybe Thursday, an' +reach un Monday or Tuesday after. Bill won't be gettin' there till +Tuesday, an' Dick an' Ed expects t' be there then t' spend Christmas +an' hunt deer."</p> + +<p>"Hunt deer?"</p> + +<p>"They're needin' fresh meat, an' deer footin's good in th' meshes."</p> + +<p>"The's fine signs to th' nuth'ard from th' second lake in, 'bout +twenty mile from here. You could get some there. If ye ain't goin' +back till Wednesday why don't ye try 'em? Ye'd get as many as ye +wanted," volunteered Micmac.</p> + +<p>"Where now be that?"</p> + +<p>"Why just 'cross th' first mesh up here, an' through th' bush straight +over ye'll come to a lake. Cross that t' where a dead tree hangs out +over th' ice. Cut in there an' ye'll see my footin'; foller it over t' +th' next lake, then turn right t' th' nuth'ard. The's some meshes in +there where th' deer's feedin'. I seen fifteen or twenty, but I didn't +want 'em so I let 'em be."</p> + +<p>"An' could I make un now in a day?"</p> + +<p>"If ye walk sharp an' start early."</p> + +<p>"I thinks I'll be startin' in th' mornin' an' campin' over there +Sunday, an' Monday I'll be there t' hunt. Can't un come 'long, John?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>"No, I'd like t' go but I got t' see my traps. I'll have t' be leavin' +ye now," said Micmac, rising.</p> + +<p>"Not t'-night?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's fine moonlight an' I can make it all right."</p> + +<p>"Ye better stay th' night wi' me, John. There'll be no difference in a +day."</p> + +<p>"No. I planned t' be goin' right back I seen ye. Good evenin'."</p> + +<p>"Good evenin', John."</p> + +<p>Micmac John started directly south, but when well out of sight of the +tilt suddenly swung around to the eastward and, with the long +half-running stride of the Indian, made a straight line for the tilt +where Bob had left his silver fox. The moon was full, and the frost +that clung to the trees and bushes sparkled like flakes of silver. The +aurora faintly searched the northern sky. A rabbit, white and +spectre-like, scurried across the half-breed's path, but he did not +notice it. Hour after hour his never tiring feet swung the wide +snow-shoes in and out with a rhythmic chug-chug as he ran on.</p> + +<p>It was nearly morning when at length he slackened his pace, and with +the caution of the lifelong hunter approached the tilt as he would +have <a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>stalked an animal. He made quite certain that the shack was +untenanted, then entered boldly. He struck a match and found a candle, +which he lighted. There was the silver fox, where Bob had left it. It +was dry enough to remove from the board and he loosened it and pulled +it off. He examined it critically and gloated over it.</p> + +<p>"As black an' fine a one as I ever seen!" he exclaimed. "It'll bring a +big price at Mingen. That boy'll never see it again, an' I'll clean +out th' rest o' th' fur too, at th' river. Old Campbell'll be sorry +when I get through with 'em, he let that feller hunt th' path. He's a +fool, an' if he gives me th' slip he'll go back an' say th' Mingen +Injuns took his fur. I fixed that wi' my story all right. I'll take +th' lot t' Mingen an' get cash fer 'em, an' be back t' th' Bay with +open water with 'nuff martens so's they won't suspect me."</p> + +<p>He started a fire and slept until shortly after daylight. Then had +breakfast and started down the trail towards the river at the same +rapid pace that he had held before.</p> + +<p>It was not quite dark when he glimpsed the tilt, and approached it +with even more caution than he had observed above.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>"He don't know enough to lie," said he to himself, referring to Bob, +"but it's best t' take care, fer one o' th' others might be here."</p> + +<p>When he was satisfied that the tilt was unoccupied he entered boldly +and appropriated every skin of fur he found—not only all of Bob's, +but also a few martens Bill had left there. No time was lost, for any +accident might send Bill or one of the others here at an unexpected +moment. The pelts were packed quickly but carefully into his hunting +bag and within twenty minutes after his arrival he was retreating up +the trail at a half run.</p> + +<p>Some time after dark he reached the first tilt above the river, where +he spent the night. Short cuts and fast travelling brought him on +Sunday night to the tilt at the end of the trail where he had left +Bob. He made quite certain that the lad had really gone on his caribou +hunt, and then went boldly in and made himself as comfortable as he +could for the night without a stove, for Bob had taken the stove with +him, to heat his tent.</p> + +<p>"If he comes back t'-night and finds me here," he said, "I'll just +tell him I changed my mind an' came back t' go on th' deer hunt. I'll +lie t' him <a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>about what I got in my bag an' he'll never suspicion; he +don't know enough."</p> + +<p>Micmac John's work was not yet finished. He had arranged a full and +complete revenge. Bob's hunt for caribou would carry him far away from +the tilt and into a section where no searching party would be likely +to go. The half-breed's plan was now to follow and shoot the lad from +ambush. If by chance any one ever should find the body—which seemed a +quite improbable happening—Bob's death would no doubt be laid at the +door of the Nascaupee Indians.</p> + +<p>Micmac John deposited the bag of stolen pelts in a safe place in the +tilt, intending to return for them after his bloody mission was +accomplished, and several hours before daylight on Monday morning +started out in the ghostly moonlight to trail Bob to his death.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="IX" id="IX"></a><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>IX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>LOST IN THE SNOW</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The trail that Bob had made lay open and well-defined in the snow, and +hour after hour the half-breed followed it, like a hound follows its +prey.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning the sky clouded heavily and towards noon snow +began to fall. It was a bitterly cold day. Micmac John increased his +pace for the trail would soon be hidden and he was not quite sure when +he should find the camp. From the lakes the trail turned directly +north and for several miles ran through a flat, wooded country. After +a while there were wide open marshes, with narrow timbered strips +between. An hour after noon he crossed a two mile stretch of this +marsh and in a little clump of trees on the farther side of it came so +suddenly upon the tent that he almost ran against it.</p> + +<p>The snow was by this time falling thickly and a rising westerly wind +was sweeping the marsh making travelling exceedingly difficult, and +completely hiding the trail beyond the trees.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>The tent flaps were fastened on the outside, and Bob was away, as +Micmac John expected he would be, searching for caribou.</p> + +<p>"There's no use tryin' t' foller him in this snow," said he to +himself, "I'd be sure t' miss him. But I'll take the tent an' outfit +away on his flat sled an' if he don't have cover th' cold'll fix him +before mornin'. There'll be no livin' in it over night with th' wind +blowin' a gale as it's goin' to do with dark. My footin' 'll soon be +hid an' he can't foller me. I can shoot him easy enough if he does."</p> + +<p>It was the work of only a few minutes to strike the tent and pack it +and the other things, which included the stove, an axe, blanket and +food, on the toboggan.</p> + +<p>The half-breed was highly elated when he started off with his booty. +The storm had come at just the right time. The elements would work a +slower but just as sure a revenge as his gun and at the same time +cover every trace of his villainy. He laughed as he pictured to +himself Bob's look of mystification and alarm when he returned and +failed to find the tent, and how the lad would think he had made a +mistake in the location and the desperate search for the camp <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>that +would follow, only to end finally in the snow and cold conquering him, +as they were sure to do, and the wolves perhaps scattering his bones.</p> + +<p>"That's a fine end t' him an' he'll never be takin' trails away from +<i>me</i> again," he chuckled.</p> + +<p>The whole picture as he imagined it was food for his black heart and +he forgot his own uncomfortable position in the delight that he felt +at the horrible death that he had so cleverly and cruelly arranged for +Bob.</p> + +<p>Micmac John retraced his steps some eight miles to the wide stretch of +timber land. There he halted and pitched camp. The wind shrieked +through the tree tops and swept the marshes in its untamed fury, but +he was quite warm and contented in the tent. The storm was working his +revenge for him, and he was quite satisfied that it would do the work +well.</p> + +<p>The men that Bob Gray had come in contact with and associated with all +his life were the honest, upright people of the Bay. He had never +known a man that would dishonestly take a farthing's worth of +another's property or that would knowingly harm a fellow being. The +Bay folk were constantly helping their more needy neighbours and lived +almost as intimately <a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>as brothers. When any one was in trouble the +others came to offer sympathy and frequently deprived themselves of +the actual necessaries of life that their neighbours might not suffer. +Sometimes they had their misunderstandings and quarrels, but these +were all of a momentary character and quickly forgotten.</p> + +<p>There was little wonder then that Bob had failed to read Micmac John's +true character, and it could hardly be expected that he would suspect +the half-breed of trying to injure him. Children of these far-off, +thinly populated lands in many respects develop judgment and mature in +thought at a much younger age than in more thickly settled and more +favoured countries. One reason for this is the constant fight for +existence that is being waged and the necessity for them to take up +their share of the burden of life early. Another reason is doubtless +the fact that their isolated homes cut them off from the companionship +of children of their own age and their associates are almost wholly +men and women grown. This was the case with Bob and in courage, +thoughtfulness of the comfort of others and physical endurance he was +a man, while in guile he was a mere baby. He believed that <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>Micmac +John was like every other man he knew and was a good neighbour.</p> + +<p>When men have lived long in the wilderness without fresh meat they +have a tremendous longing for it. Bob knew that neither Dick nor Ed +had tasted venison since they reached their hunting grounds, for they +had not been as fortunate as he, and that some of the fresh-killed +meat would be a great treat to them and one they would appreciate. +Therefore when Micmac John told him how easily caribou could be killed +a day's journey to the northward, he thought that it would make a nice +Christmas surprise for his friends if he hauled a toboggan load of +venison down to the river tilt with him. True they had planned a hunt, +but that would take place after Christmas and he wanted to make them +happy on that day.</p> + +<p>So after Micmac John left him on Friday night he prepared for an early +start to the caribou feeding grounds on Saturday morning.</p> + +<p>We have seen the route he took across the lakes and timbered flats and +marshes to the place where he pitched his camp in the little clump of +diminutive fir trees almost twenty miles from his tilt. It was evening +when he reached there and <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>up to this time, to his astonishment, he +had seen no signs of caribou. A few miles beyond the marsh he saw a +ridge of low hills running east and west and decided that the feeding +grounds of the animals must lie the other side of them.</p> + +<p>He banked the snow around the tent to keep out the wind, broke an +abundant supply of green boughs for a bed, and cut a good stock of +wood for the day of rest. Two logs were placed in a parallel position +in the tent upon which to rest the stove that it might not sink in the +deep snow with the heat. Then it was put up, and a fire started, and +he was very comfortably settled for the night.</p> + +<p>The unfamiliar and unusually bleak character of the country gave him a +feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction when he arose on Sunday +morning and viewed his surroundings. It was quite different from +anything he had ever experienced before and he had a strong desire to +go out at once and look for the caribou, and if no signs of them were +found to turn back on Monday to the tilt. But then he asked himself, +would his mother approve of this? He decided that she would not, and, +said he: "'Twould be <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>huntin' just as much as t' go shootin' and th' +Lard would be gettin' angry wi' me too."</p> + +<p>That kept him from going, and he spent the day in the tent drawing +mind pictures of the little cabin home that he longed so much to see +and the loved ones that were there. The thought of little Emily, lying +helpless but still so patient, brought tears to his eyes. But all +would be well in the end, he told himself, for God was good and had +given him the silver fox he had prayed for that Emily might go and be +cured.</p> + +<p>What a proud and happy day it would be for him when with his greatest +hopes fulfilled, the boat ground her nose again upon the beach below +the cabin from which he had started so full of ambition that long ago +morning in September. How his father would come down to shake his hand +and say: "My stalwart lad has done bravely, an' I'm proud o' un." His +mother, all smiles, would run out to meet him and take him in her arms +and praise and pet him, and then he would hurry in to see dear, +patient little Emily on her couch, and her face would light up at +sight of him and she would hold out her hands to him in an ecstasy of +delight and call: "Oh, Bob! Bob! my fine big brother has come back <a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>to +me at last!" Then he would bring in his furs and proudly exhibit the +silver fox and hear their praises, and perhaps he would have another +silver fox by that time. After a while Douglas Campbell would come +over and tell him how wonderfully well he had done. With his share of +the martens he would pay his debt to the company, and he and Douglas +would let the mail boat doctor sell the silver fox and other skins for +them, and Emily would go to the hospital and after a little while come +back her old gay little self again, to romp and play and laugh and +tease him as she used to do. With fancy making for him these dreams of +happiness, the day passed after all much less tediously than he had +expected.</p> + +<p>On Monday morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, Bob started +out to look for the caribou, leaving the tent as Micmac John found it. +He made the great mistake of not taking with him his axe, for an axe +is often a life saver in the northern wilderness, and a hunter should +never be without one. He crossed the marsh and then the ridge of low +hills to the northward, finally coming out upon a large lake. It was +now midday, the snow had commenced <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>falling, and to continue the hunt +further was useless.</p> + +<p>"'Tis goin' t' be nasty weather an' I'll have t' be gettin' back t' +th' tent," said he regretfully as he realized that a severe storm was +upon him.</p> + +<p>Reluctantly he retraced his steps. In a little while his tracks were +all covered, and not a landmark that he had noted on his inward +journey was visible through the blinding snow. He reached the ridge in +safety, however, and crossed it and then took the direction that he +believed would carry him to the camp, using the wind, which had been +blowing from the westward all day, as his guide. Towards dark he came +to what he supposed was the clump of trees where he had left his tent +in the morning, but no tent was there.</p> + +<p>"'Tis wonderful strange!" he exclaimed as he stood for a moment in +uncertainty.</p> + +<p>He was quite positive it was the right place, and he looked for axe +cuttings, where he had chopped down trees for fire-wood, and found +them. So, this was the place, but where was the tent? He was +mystified. He searched up and down every corner of the grove, but +found <a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>no clue. Could the Nascaupees have found his camp and carried +his things away? There was no other solution.</p> + +<p>"'Th' Nascaupees has took un. The Nascaupees has sure took un," he +said dejectedly, when he realized that the tent was really gone.</p> + +<p>His situation was now desperate. He had no axe with which to build a +temporary shelter or cut wood for a fire. The nearest cover was his +tilt, and to reach it in the blinding, smothering snow-storm seemed +hopeless. Already the cold was eating to his bones and he knew he must +keep moving or freeze to death.</p> + +<p>With the wind on his right he turned towards the south in the +gathering darkness. He could not see two yards ahead. Blindly he +plodded along hour after hour. As the time dragged on it seemed to him +that he had been walking for ages. His motion became mechanical. He +was faint from hunger and his mouth parched with thirst. The bitter +wind was reaching to his very vitals in spite of the exertion, and at +last he did not feel it much. He stumbled and fell now and again and +each time it was more difficult to rise.</p> + +<p>There was always a strong inclination to lie a <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>little where he fell +and rest, but his benumbed brain told him that to stop walking meant +death, and urged him up again to further action.</p> + +<p>Finally the snow ceased but he did not notice it. With his head held +back and staring straight before him at nothing he stalked on throwing +his feet ahead like an automaton. The stars came out one after another +and looked down pitilessly upon the tragedy that was being enacted +before their very eyes.</p> + +<p>Many hours had passed; morning was close at hand. The cold grew more +intensely bitter but Bob did not know it. He was quite insensible to +sensations now. Vaguely he imagined himself going home to Wolf Bight. +It was not far—he was almost there. In a little while he would see +his father and mother and Emily—Emily—Emily was sick. He had +something to make her her well—make her well—a silver fox—that +would do it—yes, that would do it—a silver fox would make her +well—dear little Emily.</p> + +<p>From the distance there came over the frozen world a wolf's howl, +followed by another and another. The wolves were giving the cry of +pursuit. There must be many of them and they were after caribou or +game of some sort. This <a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>was the only impression the sound made upon +his numbed senses.</p> + +<p>Daylight was coming. He was very sleepy—very, very sleepy. Why not go +to sleep? There was no reason for walking when it was so nice and warm +here—and he was so weary and sleepy. There were trees all around and +a nice white bed spread under them. He stumbled and fell and did not +try to get up. Why should he? There was plenty of time to go home. It +was so comfortable and soft here and he was so sleepy.</p> + +<p>Then he imagined that he was in the warm tilt with the fire crackling +in the stove. He cuddled down in the snow, and said the little prayer +that he never forgot at night.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-keep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If-I-should-die-before-I-wake<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-take.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An'-God-make-Emily-well."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The wolves were clamouring in the distance. They had caught the game +that they were chasing. He could just hear them as he fell asleep.</p> + +<p>The sun broke with the glory of a new world over the white wilderness. +The wolf howls ceased—and all was still.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="X" id="X"></a><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>X<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE PENALTY</h3> +<br /> + +<p>For some reason Micmac John could not sleep. A little while he lay +awake voluntarily, trying to contrive a plan to follow should he be +found out. If, after he returned to the tilt for the pelts, there +should not be sufficient snow to cover his trail, for instance, before +the searching party came to look for Bob—and it surely would come, +headed by Dick Blake—he would be in grave danger of being discovered. +Why had he not thought of all this before? He was afraid of Dick +Blake, and Dick was the one man in the world, perhaps, that he was +afraid of. Would Dick shoot him? he asked himself. Probably. If he +were found he would have to die.</p> + +<p>Life is sweet to a strong, healthy man brought face to face with the +reality of death. In his more than half savage existence Micmac John +had faced death frequently, and sometimes daily, and had never shrunk +from it or felt a tremour of fear. He had held neither his own nor the +life of other men as a thing of much value. The fact <a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>was that never +before had he given one serious thought to what it meant to die. Like +the foxes and the wolves, he had been an animal of prey and had looked +upon life and death with hardly more consideration than they, and with +the stoical indifference of his savage Indian ancestors.</p> + +<p>But for some inexplicable reason this night the white half of his +nature had been awakened and he found himself thinking of what it +meant to die—to cease to be, with the world going on and on +afterwards just as though nothing had happened. Then the teachings of +a missionary whom he had heard preach in Nova Scotia came to him. He +remembered what had been said of eternal happiness or eternal +torment—that one or the other state awaited the soul of every one +after death. Then a great terror took possession of him. If Bob Gray +died, as he certainly must in this storm, <i>he</i> would be responsible +for it, and <i>his</i> soul would be consigned to eternal torment—the +terrible torment to last forever and forever, depicted by the +missionary. He had committed many sins in his life, but they were of +the past and forgotten. This was of the present. He could already, in +his frenzied imagination see <a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>Dick Blake, the avenger. Dick would +shoot him. That was certain—and then—eternal torment.</p> + +<p>The wind moaned outside, and then rose to a shriek. He sprang up and +looked wildly about him. It was the shriek of a damned soul! No, he +had been dozing and it was only a dream, and he lay back trembling.</p> + +<p>For a long while he could not go to sleep again. Fear had taken +absolute and complete possession of him—the fear of the eternal +damnation that the missionary had so vividly pictured. It was a +picture that had been received at the time without being seen and +through all these years had remained in his brain, covered and hidden. +This day's work had suddenly and for the first time drawn aside the +screen and left it bare before his eyes displaying to him every +fearful minute outline. He was a murderer and he would be punished. +There was no thought of repentance for sins committed—only fear of a +fate that he shrunk from but which confronted him as a reality and a +certainty—as great a certainty as his rising in the morning and so +near at hand. He got up and looked out. The wind blew clouds of snow +into his face. He could not see the tree that he knew was ten feet +away. It <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>was an awful night for a man to be out without shelter.</p> + +<p>Micmac John lay down again and after a time the tired brain and body +yielded to nature and he slept.</p> + +<p>The instincts of the half-breed, keen even in slumber, felt rather +than heard the diminishing of wind and snow as the storm subsided with +the approach of morning, and he arose at once. The rest had quieted +his nerves, and he was the stolid, revengeful Indian again. After a +meagre breakfast of tea and jerked venison he took down the tent and +lashed the things securely upon the toboggan and ere the first stars +began to glimmer through the cloud rifts he was hurrying away in the +stillness of the night.</p> + +<p>When the sky finally cleared and the moon came out, cold and +brilliant, there was something uncanny and weird in its light lying +upon earth's white shroud rent here and there by long, dark shadows +across the trail. There was an indefinable mystery in the atmosphere. +Micmac John, accustomed as he was to the wilderness, felt an +uneasiness in his soul, the reflex perhaps of the previous night's +awakening, that he could not quite throw off—a sense of impending +<a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>danger—of a calamity about to happen. The trees became mighty men +ready to strike at him as he approached and behind every bush crouched +a waiting enemy. His guilty conscience was at work. The little spirit +that God had placed within his bosom, to tell him when he was doing +wrong, was not quite dead.</p> + +<p>He increased his speed as daylight approached travelling almost at a +run. Suddenly he stopped to listen. From somewhere in the distance +behind him a wolf cry broke the morning silence. In a little while +there were more wolf cries, and they were coming nearer and nearer. +The animals were doubtless following some quarry. Was it Bob they were +after? A momentary qualm at the thought was quickly replaced by a +feeling of satisfaction. That, he tried to argue with himself, would +cover every clue to what had happened and was what he had hoped for. +He hurried on.</p> + +<p>All at once a spasm of fear brought him to a halt. Could it be himself +the wolves were trailing! The old horror of the night came back with +all its reality and force. A clammy sweat broke out upon his body. He +looked wildly about him for a retreat, but there was none. The wolves +<a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>were gaining upon him rapidly and were very close now. There was no +longer any doubt that <i>he</i> was their quarry. They were trailing <i>him</i>. +Micmac John was in a narrow, open marsh, and the wolves were already +at the edge of the woods that skirted it a hundred yards behind. A +little distance ahead of him was a big boulder, and he ran for it. At +that moment the pack came into view. He stopped and stood paralyzed +until they were within thirty yards of him, then he turned +mechanically, from force of habit, and fired at the leader, which +fell. This held them in check for an instant and roused him to action. +He grabbed an axe from the toboggan and had time to gain the rock and +take a stand with his back against it.</p> + +<p>As the animals rushed upon the half breed he swung the axe and split +the head of one. This temporarily repulsed them. He held them at bay +for a time, swinging his axe at every attempted approach. They formed +themselves into a half circle just beyond his reach, snapping and +snarling at him and showing their ugly fangs. Another big gray +creature, bolder than the rest, made a rush, but the swinging axe +split its head, just as it had the others. They <a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>retreated a few +paces, but they were not to be kept back for long. Micmac John knew +that his end had come. His face was drawn and terrified, and in spite +of the fearful cold and biting frost, perspiration stood out upon his +forehead.</p> + +<p>It was broad daylight now. Another wolf attacked from the front and +fell under the axe. A little longer they parleyed. They were gradually +growing more bold and narrowing the circle—coming so close that they +were almost within reach of the swinging weapon. Finally a wolf on the +right, and one on the left, charged at the same time, and in an +instant those in front, as though acting upon a prearranged signal, +closed in, and the pack became one snarling, fighting, clamouring +mass.</p> + +<p>When the sun broke over the eastern horizon a little later it looked +upon a circle of flat-tramped, blood-stained snow, over which were +scattered bare picked human bones and pieces of torn clothing. A pack +of wolves trotted leisurely away over the marsh.</p> + +<p>In the woods not a mile distant two Indian hunters were following the +trail that led to Bob's unconscious body.</p> + + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"><a name="imagep114" id="imagep114"></a> +<a href="images/imagep114.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep114.jpg" width="70%" alt=""Micmac John knew his end had come"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">"Micmac John knew his end had come"</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XI" id="XI"></a><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL</h3> +<br /> + +<p>A week passed and Christmas eve came. The weather continued clear and +surpassingly fine. It was ideal weather for trapping, with no new snow +to clog the traps and interfere with the hunters in their work. The +atmosphere was transparent and crisp, and as it entered the lungs +stimulated the body like a tonic, giving new life and buoyancy and +action to the limbs. The sun never ventured far from the horizon now +and the cold grew steadily more intense and penetrating. The river had +long ago been chained by the mighty Frost King and over the earth the +snow lay fully six feet deep where the wind had not drifted it away.</p> + +<p>A full hour before sunset Dick and Ed, in high good humour at the +prospect of the holiday they had planned, arrived at the river tilt. +They came together expecting to find Bob and Bill awaiting them there, +but the shack was empty.</p> + +<p>"We'll be havin' th' tilt snug an' warm for th' lads when they comes," +said Dick, as he went <a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>briskly to work to build a fire in the stove +"You get some ice t' melt for th' tea, Ed. Th' lads'll be handy t' +gettin' in now, an' when they comes supper'll be pipin' hot for un."</p> + +<p>Ed took an axe and a pail to the river where he chopped out pieces of +fine, clear ice with which to fill the kettle. When he came back Dick +had a roaring fire and was busy preparing partridges to boil.</p> + +<p>Pretty soon Bill arrived, and they gave him an uproarious greeting. It +was the first time Bill and Ed had met since they came to their trails +in the fall, and the two friends were as glad to see each other as +though they had been separated for years.</p> + +<p>"An' how be un now, Bill, an' how's th' fur?" asked Ed when they were +seated.</p> + +<p>"Fine," replied Bill. "Fur's been fine th' year. I has more by now 'an +I gets all o' last season, an' one silver too."</p> + +<p>"A silver? An' be he a good un?"</p> + +<p>"Not so bad. He's a little gray on th' rump, but not enough t' hurt un +much."</p> + +<p>"Well, now, you be doin' fine. I finds un not so bad, too—about th' +best year I ever has, but one. That were twelve year ago, an' I gets +a <a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>rare lot o' fur that year—a rare lot—but I'm not catchin' all of +un myself. I gets most of un from th' Injuns."</p> + +<p>"An' how were un doin' that now?" asked Bill.</p> + +<p>"Now don't be tellin' that yarn agin," broke in Dick. "Sure Bill's +heard un—leastways he must 'a' heard un."</p> + +<p>"No, I never heard un," said Bill.</p> + +<p>"An' ain't been missin' much then. 'Tis just one o' Ed's yarns, an' no +truth in un."</p> + +<p>"'Tis no yarn. 'Tis true, an' I could prove un by th' Injuns. +Leastways I could if I knew where un were, but none o' that crowd o' +Injuns comes this way these days."</p> + +<p>"What were the yarn, now?" asked Bill.</p> + +<p>"I says 'tis no yarn. 'Tis what happened t' me," asserted Ed, assuming +a much injured air. "As I were sayin', 'twere a frosty evenin' twelve +year ago. I were comin' t' my lower tilt, an' when I gets handy t' un +what does I see but a big band o' mountaineers around th' tilt. Th' +mountaineers was not always friendly in those times as they be now, +an' I makes up my mind for trouble. I comes up t' un an' speaks t' un +pleasant, an' goes right in th' tilt t' see if un be takin' things. I +finds a whole barrel o' flour <a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>missin' an' comes out at un. They owns +up t' eatin' th' flour, an' they had eat th' hull barrel t' <i>one</i> +meal—now ye mind, <i>one</i> meal. When un eats a <i>barrel</i> o' flour t' +<i>one</i> meal there be a big band o' un. They was so many o' un I never +counted. They was like t' be ugly at first, but I looks fierce like, +an' tells un they must gi' me fur t' pay for un. I was so fierce like +I scares un—scares un bad. I were <i>one</i> man alone, an' wi' a bold +face I had th' whole band so scared they each gives me a marten, an' I +has a flat sled load o' martens from un—handy t' a hundred an' +fifty—an' if I hadn't 'a' been bold an' scared un I'd 'a' had none. +Injuns be easy scared if un knows how t' go about it."</p> + +<p>Bill laughed and remarked,</p> + +<p>"'Tis sure a fine yarn, Ed. How does un look t' be fierce an' scare +folk?"</p> + +<p>"A fine yarn! An' I tells un 'tis a gospel truth, an' no yarn," +asserted Ed, apparently very indignant at the insinuation.</p> + +<p>"Bob's late comin'," remarked Dick. "'Tis gettin' dark."</p> + +<p>"He be, now," said Bill, "an' he were sayin' he'd be gettin' here th' +night an' maybe o' Monday night. 'Tis strange."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>They ate supper and the evening wore on, and no Bob. Bill went out +several times to listen for the click of snow-shoes, but always came +back to say, "No sign o' un yet." Finally it became quite certain that +Bob was not coming that night.</p> + +<p>"'Tis wonderful queer now, an' he promised," Bill remarked, at length. +"An' he brought down his fur last trip—a fine lot."</p> + +<p>"Where be un?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>Bill looked for the fur. It was nowhere to be found, and, mystified +and astounded, he exclaimed: "Sure th' fur be gone! Bob's an' mine +too!"</p> + +<p>"Gone!" Dick and Ed both spoke together. "An' where now?"</p> + +<p>"Gone! His an' mine! 'Twere here when we leaves th' tilt, an' 'tis +gone now!"</p> + +<p>The three had risen to their feet and stood looking at each other for +awhile in silence. Finally Dick spoke:</p> + +<p>"'Tis what I was fearin'. 'Tis some o' Micmac John's work. Now where +be Bob? Somethin's been happenin' t' th' lad. Micmac John's been doin' +somethin' wi' un, an' we must find un."</p> + +<p>"We must find un an' run that devil Injun <a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>down," exclaimed Ed, +reaching for his adikey. "We mustn't be losin' time about un, +neither."</p> + +<p>"'Twill be no use goin' now," said Dick, with better judgment. "Th' +moon's down an' we'd be missin' th' trail in th' dark, but wi' +daylight we must be goin'."</p> + +<p>Ed hung his adikey up again. "I were forgettin' th' moon were down. +We'll have t' bide here for daylight," he assented. Then he gritted +his teeth. "That Injun'll have t' suffer for un if he's done foul wi' +Bob."</p> + +<p>The remainder of the evening was spent in putting forth conjectures as +to what had possibly befallen Bob. They were much concerned but tried +to reassure themselves with the thought that he might have been +delayed one tilt back for the night, and that Micmac John had done +nothing worse than steal the fur. Nevertheless their evening was +spoiled—the evening they had looked forward to with so much pleasure +and their minds were filled with anxious thoughts when finally they +rolled into their blankets for the night.</p> + +<p>Christmas morning came with a dead, searching cold that made the three +men shiver as they stepped out of the warm tilt long before dawn <a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>and +strode off in single file into the silent, dark forest. After a while +daylight came, and then the sun, beautiful but cheerless, appeared +above the eastern hills to reveal the white splendour of the world and +make the frost-hung fir trees and bushes scintillate and sparkle like +a gem-hung fairy-land. But the three men saw none of this. Before them +lay a black, unknown horror that they dreaded, yet hurried on to meet. +The air breathed a mystery that they could not fathom. Their hearts +were weighted with a nameless dread.</p> + +<p>Their pace never once slackened and not a word was spoken until after +several hours the first tilt came suddenly into view, when Dick said +laconically:</p> + +<p>"No smoke. He's not here."</p> + +<p>"An' no signs o' his bein' on th' trail since th' storm," added Ed.</p> + +<p>"No footin' t' mark un at all," assented Dick. "What's happened has +happened before th' last snow."</p> + +<p>"Aye, before th' last snow. 'Twas before th' storm it happened."</p> + +<p>Here they took a brief half hour to rest and boil the kettle, and the +remainder of that day <a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>and all the next day kept up their tireless, +silent march. Not a track in the unbroken white was there to give them +a ray of hope, and every step they took made more certain the tragedy +they dreaded.</p> + +<p>At noon on the third day they reached the last tilt. Bill was ahead, +and when he pushed the door open he exclaimed: "Th' stove's gone!" +Then they found the bag that Micmac John had left there with the fur +in it.</p> + +<p>"Now that's Micmac John's bag," said Ed. "What devilment has th' Injun +been doin'? Now why did he <i>leave</i> th' fur? 'Tis strange—wonderful +strange."</p> + +<p>Dick noted the evidences of an open fire having been kindled upon the +earthen floor. "That fire were made since th' stove were taken," he +said. "Micmac John left th' fur an' made th' fire. He's been stoppin' +here a night after Bob left wi' th' stove. But why were Bob leavin' +wi' th' stove? An' where has he gone? An' why has th' Injun been +leavin' th' fur here an' not comin' for un again? We'll have t' be +findin' out."</p> + +<p>They started immediately to search for some clue of the missing lad, +each taking a different direction and agreeing to meet at night in +the <a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>tilt. Everywhere they looked, but nothing was discovered, and, +weary and disheartened, they turned back with dusk. Dick returned +across the first lake above the tilt. As he strode along one of his +snow-shoes pressed upon something hard, and he stopped to kick the +snow away from it. It was a deer's antler. He uncovered it farther and +found a chain, which he pulled up, disclosing a trap and in it a +silver fox, dead and frozen stiff. He straightened up and looked at +it.</p> + +<p>"A Christmas present for Bob an' he never got un," he said aloud. "Th' +lad's sure perished not t' be findin' his silver."</p> + +<p>Here was a discovery that meant something. Bob had been setting traps +in that direction, and might have a string of traps farther on. +Possibly he had gone to put them in order when the storm came, and had +been caught in it farther up, and perished. Anyway it was worth +investigation. When Dick returned with the fox and the trap to the +tilt he told the others of his theory and it was decided to +concentrate their efforts in that direction in the morning.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the next day they pushed farther to the westward across +the second lake, and at a <a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>point where a dead tree hung out over the +ice found fresh axe cuttings. A little farther on they saw one or two +sapling tops chopped off. These were in a line to the northward, and +they took that direction. Finally they came upon a marsh, and heading +in the same northerly course across it, came upon the tracks of a pack +of wolves. Looking in the direction from which these led, Dick stopped +and pointed towards a high boulder half a mile to the eastward.</p> + +<p>"Now what be that black on th' snow handy t' th' rock?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"'Tis lookin' t' me like a flat sled," said Ed.</p> + +<p>"We'll have a look at un," suggested Dick, who hurried forward with +the others at his heels. Suddenly he stopped, and pointed at the +beaten snow and scattered bones and torn clothing, where Micmac John +had fought so desperately for his life. The three men stood horror +stricken, their faces drawn and tense. This, then, was the solution of +the mystery! This was what had happened to Bob! Pretty soon Dick +spoke:</p> + +<p>"Th' poor lad! Th' poor lad! An' th' wolves got un!"</p> + +<p>"An' his poor mother," said Ed, choking. "'Twill break her heart, she +were countin' so on <a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>Bob. An' th' little maid as is sick—'twill kill +she."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Bill, "Emily'll be mournin' herself t' death wi'out Bob."</p> + +<p>These big, soft-hearted trappers were all crying now like women. No +other thought occurred to them than that these ghastly remains were +Bob's, for the toboggan and things on it were his.</p> + +<p>After a while they tenderly gathered up the human remains and placed +them upon the toboggan. Then they picked up the gun and blood +spattered axe.</p> + +<p>"Now here be another axe on th' flat sled," said Dick. "What were Bob +havin' two axes for?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis strange," said Ed.</p> + +<p>"He must ha' had one cached in here, an' were bringin' un back," +suggested Bill, and this seemed a satisfactory explanation.</p> + +<p>"I'll take some pieces o' th' clothes. His mother'll be wantin' +somethin' that he wore when it happened," said Dick, as he gathered +some of the larger fragments of cloth from the snow.</p> + +<p>Then with bowed heads and heavy hearts they silently retraced their +steps to the tilt, hauling the toboggan after them.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>At the tilt they halted to arrange their future course of action.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Dick, "what's t' be done? 'Twill only give pain th' sooner +t' th' family t' go out an' tell un, an' 'twill do no good. I'm +thinkin' 'tis best t' take th' remains t' th' river tilt an' not go +out with un till we goes home wi' open water."</p> + +<p>"No, I'm not thinkin' that way," dissented Ed. "Bob's mother 'll be +wantin' t' know right off. 'Tis not right t' keep it from she, an' +she'll never be forgivin' us if we're doin' it."</p> + +<p>"They's trouble enough down there that they <i>knows</i> of," argued Dick. +"They'll be thinkin' Bob safe 'an not expectin' he till th' open water +an' we don't tell un, an' between now an' then have so much less t' +worry un, and be so much happier 'an if they were knowin'. Folks lives +only so long anyways an' troubles they has an' don't know about is +troubles they don't have, or th' same as not havin' un, an' their +lives is that much happier."</p> + +<p>"I'm still thinkin' they'll be wantin' t' know," insisted Ed. "They'll +be plannin' th' whole winter for Bob's comin' an' when they's +expectin' him an' hears he's dead, 'twill be worse'n hearin' before +they expects un. Leastways, they'll be <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>gettin' over un th' sooner +they hears, for trouble always wears off some wi' passin' time. 'Tis +our duty t' go an' tell un <i>now</i>, I'm thinkin'."</p> + +<p>"What's un think, Bill?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinkin with Ed, 'tis best t' go," said Bill, positively.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe 'tis—maybe 'tis," Dick finally assented. "Now, who'll be +goin'? 'Twill be a wonderful hard task t' break th' news. I'm thinkin' +my heart'd be failin' me when I gets there. Ed, would un <i>mind</i> +goin'?"</p> + +<p>Ed hesitated a moment, then he said:</p> + +<p>"I'm fearin' t' tell th' mother, but 'tis for some one t' do. 'Tis my +duty t' do un—an' I'll be goin'."</p> + +<p>It was finally arranged that Ed should begin his journey the following +morning, drawing the remains on a toboggan, and taking otherwise only +the tent, a tent stove, and enough food to see him through, leaving +the remainder of Bob's things to be carried out in the boat in the +spring. Dick undertook the charge of them as well as Bob's fur. Ed was +to take the short cut to the river tilt and thence follow the river +ice while Dick and Bill sprang Bob's traps on the upper end of his +path.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>"But," said Bill, after this arrangement was made, "Bob's folks be in +sore need o' th' fur he'd be gettin' an' when Ed comes back, I'm +thinkin' 'twould be fine for us not t' be takin' rest o' Saturdays but +turnin' right back in th' trails. Ed can be doin' one tilt o' your +trail, Dick, an' so shortenin' your trail one tilt so you can do two +o' mine an' I'll shorten Ed two tilts an' do <i>three</i> o' Bob's. I'd be +willin' t' work <i>Sundays</i> an' I'm thinkin' th' Lard wouldn't be +findin' fault o' me for doin' un seem' Emily's needin' th' fur t' go +t' th' doctor. 'Tis sure th' Lard wouldn't be gettin' angry wi' me for +<i>that</i>, for He knows how bad off Emily is."</p> + +<p>This generous proposal met with the approval of all, and details were +arranged accordingly that evening as to just what each was to do until +the furring season closed in the spring.</p> + +<p>This was Saturday, December the twenty-eighth. On Sunday morning Ed +bade good-bye to his companions and began the long and lonely journey +to Wolf Bight with his ghastly charge in tow.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XII" id="XII"></a><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>IN THE HANDS OF THE NASCAUPEES</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Late on the afternoon of the day that Bob fell asleep in the snow, he +awoke to new and strange surroundings. His first conscious moments +brought with them a sense of comfortable security. His mind had thrown +off every feeling of responsibility and he knew only that he was warm +and snugly tucked into bed and that the odour of spruce forest and +wood smoke that he breathed was very pleasant. He lay quiet for a +time, with his eyes closed, in a state of blissful, half +consciousness, vaguely realizing these things, but not possessing +sufficient energy to open his eyes and investigate them or question +where he was.</p> + +<p>Slowly his mind awoke from its lethargy and then he began to remember +as a dim, uncertain dream, his experience of the night before. +Gradually it became more real but he recalled his failure to find the +tent, the fearful groping in the snow, and his struggle for life +against the storm <a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>as something that had happened in the long distant +past.</p> + +<p>"But how could all this ha' been happenin' t' me now?" he asked +himself, for here he was snug in the tent—or perhaps he had reached +the tilt and did not remember.</p> + +<p>He opened his eyes now for the first time to see and satisfy himself +as to whether it was the tent or the tilt he was in, and what he saw +astonished and brought him to his senses very quickly.</p> + +<p>He recognized at once the interior of an Indian wigwam. In the centre +a fire was burning and an Indian woman was leaning over it stirring +the contents of a kettle. On the opposite side of the fire from her +sat a young Indian maiden of about Bob's own age netting the babiche +in a snow-shoe, her fingers plying deftly in and out. The woman and +girl wore deerskin garments of peculiar design. The former was fat and +ugly, the latter slender, and very comely, he thought, from her sleek +black hair to her feet encased in daintily worked little moccasins. At +that moment she glanced towards him and said something to her +companion, who turned in his direction also.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>"Where am I?" he asked wonderingly and with some alarm.</p> + +<p>They both laughed and jabbered then in their Indian tongue but he +could not understand a word they said. The girl lay aside the +snow-shoe and babiche and, taking up a tin cup, dipped some hot broth +from the kettle and offered it to him. He accepted it gladly for he +was thirsty and felt unaccountably weak. The broth contained no salt +or flavouring of any kind, but was very refreshing. When he had +finished it he put the cup down and attempted to rise but this +movement brought forth a flood of Indian expostulations and he was +forced to lie quiet again.</p> + +<p>It was very evident that he was either considered an invalid too ill +to move or was held in bondage. He had never heard that Indian +captives were tucked into soft deerskin robes and fed broth by comely +Indian maidens, however, and if he were a prisoner it did not promise +to be so very disagreeable a captivity.</p> + +<p>On the whole it was very pleasant and restful lying there on the soft +skins of which his bed was composed, for he still felt tired and weak. +He took in every detail of his surroundings. The <a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>wigwam was circular +in form and of good size. It was made of reindeer skins stretched over +poles very dingy and black, with an opening at the top to permit the +smoke from the fire in the centre to escape. Flat stones raised +slightly above the ground served as a fireplace, and around it were +thickly laid spruce boughs. Some strips of jerked venison hung from +the poles above, and near his feet he glimpsed his own gun and powder +horn.</p> + +<p>Bob could see at once that these Indians were much more primitive than +those he knew at the Bay and, unfamiliar as he was with the Indian +language, he noticed a marked difference in the intonation and +inflection when the woman spoke.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Bob to himself, "th' Nascaupees must ha' found me an' +these be Nascaupees. But Mountaineers an' every one says Nascaupees be +savage an' cruel, an' I'm not knowin' what un be. 'Tis queer—most +wonderful queer."</p> + +<p>He had no recollection of lying down in the snow. The last he could +definitely recall was his fearful battling with the storm. There was a +sort of hazy remembrance of something that he could not quite +grasp—of having gone to <a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>sleep somewhere in a snug, warm bed spread +with white sheets. Try as he would he could not explain his presence +in this Indian wigwam, nor could he tell how long he had been here. It +seemed to him years since the morning he left the tilt to go on the +caribou hunt.</p> + +<p>So he lay for a good while trying to account for his strange +surroundings until at last he became drowsy and was on the point of +going to sleep when suddenly the entrance flap of the wigwam opened +and two Indians entered—the most savage looking men Bob had ever +seen—and he felt a thrill of fear as he beheld them. They were very +tall, slender, sinewy fellows, dressed in snug fitting deerskin coats +reaching half way to the knees and decorated with elaborately painted +designs in many colours. Their heads were covered with hairy hoods, +and the ears of the animal from which they were made gave a grotesque +and savage appearance to the wearers. Light fitting buckskin leggings, +fringed on the outer side, encased their legs, and a pair of deerskin +mittens dangled from the ends of a string which was slung around the +neck. One of the men was past middle age, the other a young fellow of +perhaps twenty.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>The older woman said something to them and they began to jabber in so +high a tone of voice that Bob would have thought they were quarrelling +but for the fact that they laughed good-naturedly all the time and +came right over to where he lay to shake his hand. They had a good +deal to say to him, but he could not understand one word of their +language. After greeting him both men removed their outer coats and +hoods, and Bob could not but admire the graceful, muscular forms that +the buckskin undergarments displayed. Their hair was long, black and +straight and around their foreheads was tied a thong of buckskin to +keep it from falling over their faces.</p> + +<p>They laughed at Bob's inability to understand them, and were much +amused when he tried to talk with them. Every effort was made to put +him at ease.</p> + +<p>When the men were finally seated, the girl dipped out a cup of broth +and a dish of venison stew from the kettle which she handed to Bob; +then the others helped themselves from what remained. There was no +bread nor tea, and nothing to eat but the unflavoured meat.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark now and the fire cast weird, <a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>uncanny shadows on the +dimly-lighted interior walls of the wigwam. The Indians sitting around +it in their peculiar dress seemed like unreal inhabitants of some +spirit world. Bob's coming to himself in this place and amongst these +people appealed to him as miraculous—supernatural. He could not +understand it at all. He began to plan an escape. When they were all +asleep he could steal quietly out and make his way back to the tilt. +But, then, he reasoned, if they wished to detain him they could easily +track him in the snow in the morning; and, besides, he did not know +where his snow-shoes were and without them he could not go far. +Neither did he know how far he was from the tilt. After the Indians +had found him they may have carried him several days' journey to their +camp and whether they had gone west or north he had no way of finding +out.</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, he realized, an unquestionably hopeless undertaking +for him to attempt to reach his tilt alone, and he finally dismissed +the idea as impracticable. Perhaps in the morning he could induce them +to take him there. That, he concluded, was the only plan for him to +follow. So far they had been very kind and he <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>could see no reason why +they should wish to detain him against his will.</p> + +<p>The Indians were indeed Nascaupee Indians, but instead of being the +ruthless cut-throats that the Mountaineers and the legends of the +coast had painted them, they were human and hospitable, as all our +eastern Indians were before white men taught them to be thieves and +drove and goaded them—by the white man's own treachery—to acts of +reprisal and revenge.</p> + +<p>These Nascaupees, living as they did in a country inaccessible to the +white ravishers, had none but kindly motives in their treatment of Bob +and had no desire to do him harm. On the morning that Bob fell in the +snow Shish-e-tá-ku-shin—Loud-voice—and his son Moó-koo-mahn—Big +Knife—had left their wigwam early to hunt. Not far away they crossed +Bob's trail. Their practiced eye told them that the traveller was not +an Indian, for the snow-shoes he wore were not of Indian make, and +also, from the uncertain, wobbly trail, they decided that he was far +spent. So they followed the tracks and within a few minutes after Bob +had fallen found him. They carried him to the wigwam and rubbed his +frosted limbs and face until it was quite safe to <a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>wrap him in the +deerskins in the warm wigwam.</p> + +<p>They did not know who he was nor where he came from, but they did know +that he needed care and several days of quiet. He was a stranger and +they took him in. These poor heathens had never heard of Christ or His +teachings, but their hearts were human. And so it was that Bob found +himself amongst friends and was rescued from what seemed certain +death.</p> + +<p>When morning came Bob tried in every conceivable way to make them +understand that he wished to be taken back, but he found it a quite +hopeless task. No signs or pantomime could make them comprehend his +meaning, and it appeared that he was doomed to remain with them. The +shock of exposure had been so great that he was still very weak and +not able to walk, as he quickly realized when he tried to move about, +and he was compelled to remain within in the company of the women, in +spite of his desire to go out and reconnoitre.</p> + +<p>Ma-ni-ka-wan, the maiden, took it upon herself to be his nurse. She +brought him water to bathe his face, which was very sore from +<a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>frostbite, and gave him the choicest morsels from the kettle, and made +him as comfortable as possible.</p> + +<p>At first he held a faint hope that when Bill missed him at the tilt, a +search would be made for him and his friends would find the wigwam. +But as the days slipped by he realized that he would probably never be +discovered. There came a fear that the news of his disappearance would +be carried to Wolf Bight and he dreaded the effect upon his mother and +Emily.</p> + +<p>But there was one consolation. Emily could go to the hospital now and +be cured. Bill would find the silver fox skin and his share of that +and the other furs would pay not only his own but his father's debts, +he felt sure, as well as all the expense of Emily's treatment by the +doctor—and a good surplus of cash—how much he could not imagine and +did not try to calculate—for the doctor had said that silver foxes +were worth five hundred dollars in cash. This thought gave him a +degree of satisfaction that towered so far above his troubles that he +almost forgot them.</p> + +<p>In a little while he was quite strong and active again. Finally a day +came when the Indians made preparations to move. The wigwam was <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>taken +down and with all their belongings packed upon toboggans, and under +the cold stars of a January morning, they turned to the northward, and +Bob had no other course than to go with them even farther from the +loved ones and the home that his heart so longed to see.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>A FOREBODING OF EVIL</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Never before had Bob been away from home for more than a week at a +time, and his mother and Emily were very lonely after his departure in +September. They missed his rough good-natured presence with the noise +and confusion that always followed him no less than his little +thoughtful attentions. They forgot the pranks that the overflow of his +young blood sometimes led him into, remembering only his gentler side. +He had helped Emily to pass the time less wearily, often sitting for +hours at a time by her couch, telling her stories or joking with her, +or making plans for the future, and she felt his absence now perhaps +more than even his mother. Many times during the first week or so +after his going she found herself turning wistfully towards the door +half expecting to see him enter, at the hours when he used to come +back from the fishing, and then she would realize that he was really +gone away, and would turn her face to the wall, <a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>that her mother might +not see her, and cry quietly in her loneliness.</p> + +<p>Without Bob's help, Richard Gray was very busy now. The fishing season +was ended, but there was wood to be cut and much to be done in +preparation for the long winter close at hand. He went early each +morning to his work, and only returned to the cabin with the dusk of +evening. This home-coming of the father was the one bright period of +the day for Emily, and during the dreary hours that preceded it, she +looked forward with pleasure and longing to the moment when he should +open the door, and call out to her,</p> + +<p>"An' how's my little maid been th'day? Has she been lonesome without +her daddy?"</p> + +<p>And she would always answer, "I's been fine, but dreadful lonesome +without daddy."</p> + +<p>Then he would kiss her, and sit down for a little while by her couch, +before he ate his supper, to tell her of the trivial happenings out of +doors, while he caressed her by stroking her hair gently back from her +forehead. After the meal the three would chat for an hour or so while +he smoked his pipe and Mrs. Gray washed the dishes. Then before they +went to their rest <a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>he would laboriously read a selection from the +Bible, and afterwards, on his knees by Emily's couch, thank God for +His goodness to them and ask for His protection, always ending with +the petition,</p> + +<p>"An', Lard, look after th' lad an' keep he safe from th' Nascaupees +an' all harm; an' heal th' maid an' make she well, for, Lard, you must +be knowin' what a good little maid she is."</p> + +<p>Emily never heard this prayer without feeling an absolute confidence +that it would be answered literally, for God was very real to her, and +she had the complete, unshattered faith of childhood.</p> + +<p>Late in October the father went to his trapping trail, and after that +was only home for a couple of days each fortnight. There was no +pleasant evening hour now for Emily and her mother to look forward to. +The men of the bay were all away at their hunting trails, and no +callers ever came to break the monotony of their life, save once in a +while Douglas Campbell would tramp over the ice the eight miles from +Kenemish to spend an afternoon and cheer them up.</p> + +<p>Emily missed Bob more than ever, since her father had gone, but she +was usually very patient and cheerful. For hours at a time she would +<a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>think of his home-coming, and thrill with the joy of it. In her fancy +she would see him as he would look when he came in after his long +absence, and in her imagination picture the days and days of happiness +that would follow while he sat by her couch and told her of his +adventures in the far off wilderness. Once, late in November, she +called her mother to her and asked:</p> + +<p>"Mother, how long will it be now an' Bob comes home?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis many months till th' open water, but I were hopin', dear, that +mayhap he'd be comin' at th' New Year."</p> + +<p>"An' how long may it be to th' New Year, mother?"</p> + +<p>"A bit more than a month, but 'tis not certain he'll be comin' then."</p> + +<p>"'Tis a long while t' wait—a <i>terrible</i> long while t' be waitin'—t' +th' New Year."</p> + +<p>"Not so long, Emily. Th' time'll be slippin' by before we knows. But +don't be countin' on his comin' th' New Year, for 'tis a rare long +cruise t' th' Big Hill trail an' he may be waitin' till th' break-up. +But I'm thinkin' my lad'll be wantin' t' see how th' little maid +is,—an' see his mother—an' mayhap be takin' th' cruise."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>"An Bob knew how lonesome we were—how <i>wonderful</i> lonesome we +were—he'd be comin' at th' New Year sure. An' he'll be gettin' +lonesome hisself. He must be gettin' <i>dreadful</i> lonesome away off in +th' bush this long time! He'll <i>sure</i> be comin' at th' New Year!"</p> + +<p>After this Emily began to keep account of the days as they passed. She +had her mother reckon for her the actual number until New Year's Eve, +and each morning she would say, "only so many days now an' Bob'll be +comin' home." Her mother warned her that it was not at all certain he +would come then—only a hope. But it grew to be a settled fact for +Emily, and a part of her daily life, to expect and plan for the happy +time when she should see him.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Gray had not been able to throw off entirely the foreboding of +calamity that she had voiced at the time Bob left home. Every morning +she awoke with a heavy heart, like one bearing a great weight of +sorrow. Before going about her daily duties she would pray for the +preservation of her son and the healing of her daughter, and it would +relieve her burden somewhat, but never wholly. The strange Presence +was always with her.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>One day when Douglas Campbell came over he found her very despondent, +and he asked:</p> + +<p>"Now what's troublin' you, Mary? There's some trouble on yer mind. +Don't be worryin' about th' lad. He's as safe as you be. He'll be +comin' home as fine an' hearty as ever you see him, an' with a fine +hunt."</p> + +<p>"I knows the's no call for th' worry," she answered, "but someways I +has a forebodin' o' somethin' evil t' happen an' I can't shake un off. +I can't tell what an be. Mayhap 'tis th' maid. She's no better, an' +th' Lard's not answerin' my prayer yet t' give back strength t' she +an' make she walk."</p> + +<p>"'Twill be all right wi' th' maid, now. Th' doctor said they'd be +makin' she well at th' hospital."</p> + +<p>"But the's no money t' send she t' th' hospital—an' if she don't +go—th' doctor said she'd never be gettin' well."</p> + +<p>"Now don't be lettin' <i>that</i> worry ye, Mary. Th' Lard'll be findin' a +way t' send she t' St. Johns when th' mail boat comes back in th' +spring, if that be His way o' curin she—I <i>knows</i> He will. Th' Lard +always does things right an' He'll be fixin' it right for th' maid. +He'd not be <a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>lettin' a pretty maid like Emily go all her life wi'out +walkin'—He <i>never</i> would do that. I'm thinkin' He'd a' found a way +afore <i>now</i> if th' mail boat had been makin' another trip before th' +freeze up."</p> + +<p>"I'm lackin' in faith, I'm fearin'. I'm always forgettin' that th' +Lard does what's best for us an' don't always do un th' way we wants +He to. He's bidin' His own time I'm thinkin', an' answerin' my prayers +th' way as is best."</p> + +<p>This talk with Douglas made her feel better, but still there was that +burden on her heart—a burden that would not be shaken off.</p> + +<p>All the Bay was frozen now, and white, like the rest of the world, +with drifted snow. The great box stove in the cabin was kept well +filled with wood night and day to keep out the searching cold. An +inch-thick coat of frost covered the inner side of the glass panes of +the two windows and shut out the morning sunbeams that used to steal +across the floor to brighten the little room. December was fast +drawing to a close.</p> + +<p>Richard Gray's luck had changed. Fur was plentiful—more plentiful +than it had been for years—and he was hopeful that by spring he would +have enough to pay all his back debt at <a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>the company store and be on +his feet again. Two days before Christmas he reached home in high good +humour, with the pelts he had caught, and displayed them with +satisfaction to Mrs. Gray and Emily—beautiful black otters, martens, +minks and beavers with a few lynx and a couple of red foxes.</p> + +<p>"I'll be stayin' home for a fortnight t' get some more wood cut," he +announced. "How'll that suit th' maid?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Tis fine!" cried the child, clapping her hands with delight. "An' +Bob'll be home for the New Year an' we'll all be havin' a fine time +together before you an' Bob goes away again."</p> + +<p>"In th' mornin' I'll have t' be goin' t' th' Post wi' th' dogs an' +komatik t' get some things. Is there anything yer wantin', Mary?" he +asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"We has plenty o' flour an' molasses an' tea; but," she suggested, +"th' next day's Christmas, Richard."</p> + +<p>"Aye, I'm thinkin' o' un an' I may be seein' Santa Claus t' tell un +what a rare fine maid Emily's been an' ask un not t' be forgettin' +she. He's been wonderful forgetful not t' be comin' <a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>round last +Christmas an' th' Christmas before I'll have t' be remindin' he."</p> + +<p>Emily looked up wistfully.</p> + +<p>"An' you are thinkin' he'll have <i>time</i> t' come here wi' all th' +places t' go to? Oh, I'm wishin' he would!"</p> + +<p>"I'll just make un—I'll just <i>make</i> un," said her father. "I'll not +let un pass my maid <i>every</i> time."</p> + +<p>Emily was awake early the next morning—before daybreak. Her father +was about to start for the Post, and the dogs were straining and +jumping in the traces. She knew this because she could hear their +expectant howls,—and the dogs never howled just like that under any +other circumstances. Then she heard "hoo-ett—hoo-ett" as he gave them +the word to be off and, in the distance, as he turned them down the +brook to the right his shouts of "ouk! ouk! ouk!—ouk! ouk! ouk!"</p> + +<p>It was a day of delightful expectancy. Tomorrow would be Christmas and +perhaps—perhaps—Santa Claus would come! She chattered all day to her +mother about it, wondering if he would really come and what he would +bring her.</p> + +<p>Finally, just at nightfall she heard her father shouting at the dogs +outside and presently he <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>came in carrying his komatik box, his beard +weighted with ice and his clothing white with hoar frost.</p> + +<p>"Well," announced he, as he put down the box and pulled his adikey +over his head, "I were seein' Santa Claus th' day an' givin' he a rare +scoldin' for passin' my maid by these two year—a <i>rare</i> scoldin'—an' +I'm thinkin' he'll not be passin' un by <i>this</i> Christmas. He'll not be +wantin' <i>another</i> such scoldin'."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Emily, "'twere too bad t' scold un. He must be havin' a +wonderful lot o' places t' go to an' he's not deservin' t' be scolded +now. He's sure doin' th' best he can—I <i>knows</i> he's doin' th' best he +can."</p> + +<p>"He were deservin' of un, an' more. He were passin' my maid <i>two</i> year +runnin' an' I can't be havin' that," insisted the father as he hung up +his adikey and stooped to open the komatik box, from which he +extracted a small package which he handed to Emily saying, "Somethin' +Bessie were sendin'."</p> + +<p>"Look! Look, mother!" Emily cried excitedly as she undid the package +and discovered a bit of red ribbon; "a hair ribbon an'—an' a paper +with some writin'!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>Mrs. Gray duly examined and admired the gift while Emily spelled out +the message.</p> + +<a name="imagep150" id="imagep150"></a> +<br /> + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep150.jpg" width="80%" +alt="Letter to Emily. "to dear emily. Wishin mery Chrismas from Bessie"" /><br /> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>"Oh, an' Bessie's fine t' be rememberin' me!" said she, adding +regretfully, "I'm wishin' I'd been sendin' she somethin' but I hasn't +a thing t' send."</p> + +<p>"Aye, Bessie's a fine lass," said her father. "She sees me comin' an' +runs down t' meet me, an' asks how un be, an' if we're hearin' e'er a +word from Bob. An' I tells she Emily's fine an' we're not hearin' from +Bob, but are thinkin' un may be comin' home for th' New Year. An' then +Bessie says as she's wantin' t' come over at th' New Year t' visit +Emily."</p> + +<p>"An' why weren't you askin' she t' come back with un th' day?" asked +Mrs. Gray.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I wish she had!" exclaimed Emily.</p> + +<p>"I were askin' she," he explained, "but she were thinkin' she'd wait +till th' New Year. Her mother's rare busy th' week wi' th' men all in +from th' bush, an' needin' Bessie's help."</p> + +<p>"An' how's th' folk findin' th' fur?" asked Mrs. Gray as she poured +the tea.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>"Wonderful fine. Wonderful fine with all un as be in."</p> + +<p>"An' I'm glad t' hear un. 'Twill be givin' th' folk a chance t' pay +th' debts. Th' two bad seasons must ha' put most of un in a bad way +for debt."</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'twill that. An' now we're like t' have two fine seasons. 'Tis +th' way un always runs."</p> + +<p>"'Tis th' Lard's way," said Mrs. Gray reverently.</p> + +<p>"The's a band o' Injuns come th' day," added Richard Gray, "an' they +reports fur rare plenty inside, as 'tis about here. An' I'm thinkin' +Bob'll be doin' fine his first year in th' bush."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm hopin'—I'm hopin' so—for th' lad's sake an' Emily's. 'Tis +how th' Lard's makin' a way for th' brave lad t' send Emily t' th' +doctor—an' he comes back safe."</p> + +<p>"I were askin' th' Mountaineers had they seen Nascaupee footin', an' +they seen none. They're sayin' th' Nascaupees has been keepin' t' th' +nuth'ard th' winter, an' we're not t' fear for th' lad."</p> + +<p>"Thank th' Lard!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray. "Thank th' Lard! An' now that's +relievin' my mind wonderful—relievin'—it—wonderful."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>There was an added earnestness to Richard Gray's expressions of +thanksgiving when he knelt with his wife by their child's couch for +family worship that Christmas eve, and there was an unwonted happiness +in their hearts when they went to their night's rest.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE SHADOW OF DEATH</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The kettle was singing merrily on the stove, and Mrs. Gray was setting +the breakfast table, when Emily awoke on Christmas morning. Her father +was just coming in from out-of-doors bringing a breath of the fresh +winter air with him.</p> + +<p>"A Merry Christmas," he called to her. "A Merry Christmas t' my maid!"</p> + +<p>"And did Santa Claus come?" she asked, looking around expectantly.</p> + +<p>"Santa Claus? There now!" he exclaimed, "an' has th' old rascal been +forgettin' t' come again? Has you seen any signs o' Santa Claus bein' +here?" he asked of Mrs. Gray, as though thinking of it for the first +time. Then, turning towards the wall back of the stove, he exclaimed, +"Ah! Ah! an' what's <i>this</i>?"</p> + +<p>Emily looked, and there, sitting upon the shelf, was a doll!</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh, th' dear little thing!" she cried. "Oh, let me have un!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>Mrs. Gray took it down and handed it to her, and she hugged it to her +in an ecstasy of delight. Then she held it off and looked at it, and +hugged again, and for very joy she wept. It was only a poor little rag +doll with face and hair grotesquely painted upon the cloth, and +dressed in printed calico—but it was a doll—a <i>real</i> one—the first +that Emily had ever owned. It had been the dream of her life that some +day she might have one, and now the dream was a blessed reality. Her +happiness was quite beyond expression as she lay there on her bed that +Christmas morning pressing the doll to her breast and crying. Poverty +has its seasons of recompense that more than counterbalance all the +pleasures that wealth can buy, and this was one of those seasons for +the family of Richard Gray.</p> + +<p>Presently Emily stopped crying, and through the tears came laughter, +and she held the toy out for her father and mother to take and examine +and admire.</p> + +<p>A little later Mrs. Gray came from the closet holding a mysterious +package in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Now what be <i>this</i>? 'Twere in th' closet an' looks like somethin' +more Santa Claus were leavin'."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>"Well now!" exclaimed Richard, "what may <i>that</i> be? Open un an' we'll +see."</p> + +<p>An investigation of its contents revealed a couple of pounds of sugar, +some currants, raisins and a small can of butter.</p> + +<p>"Santa Claus were wantin' us t' have a plum puddin' <i>I'm</i> thinkin'," +said Mrs. Gray, as she examined each article and showed it to Emily. +"An' we're t' have sugar for th' tea and butter for th' bread. But th' +puddin's not t' get <i>all</i> th' raisins. Emily's t' have some t' eat +after we has breakfast."</p> + +<p>Dinner was a great success. There were roast ptarmigans stuffed with +fine-chopped pork and bread, and the unwonted luxuries of butter and +sugar—and then the plum pudding served with molasses for sauce. That +was fine, and Emily had to have two helpings of it. If Bob had been +with them their cup of happiness would have been filled quite to the +brim, and more than once Emily exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Now if <i>Bob</i> was only here!" And several times during the day she +said, "I'm just <i>wishin'</i> t' show Bob my pretty doll—an' won't he be +glad t' see un!"</p> + +<p>The report from the Mountaineer Indians that <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>no Nascaupees had been +seen had set at rest their fears for the lad's safety. The +apprehension that he might get into the hands of the Nascaupees had +been the chief cause of worry, for they felt full confidence in Bob's +ability to cope with the wilderness itself.</p> + +<p>The day was so full of surprises and new sensations that when bedtime +came Emily was quite tired out with the excitement of it all, and was +hardly able to keep awake until the family worship was closed. Then +she went to sleep with the doll in her arms.</p> + +<p>The week from Christmas till New Year passed quickly. Richard Gray was +at home, and this was a great treat for Mrs. Gray and Emily, and with +several of their neighbours who lived within ten to twenty miles of +Wolf Bight driving over with dogs to spend a few hours—for most of +the men were home from their traps for the holidays—the time was +pretty well filled up. Emily's doll was a never failing source of +amusement to her, and she always slept with it in her arms.</p> + +<p>Over at the Post it was a busy week for Mr. MacDonald and his people, +for all the Bay hunters and Indians had trading to do, and most of +<a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>them remained at least one night to gossip and discuss their various +prospects and enjoy the hospitality of the kitchen; and then there was +a dance nearly every night, for this was their season of amusement and +relaxation in the midst of the months of bitter hardships on the +trail.</p> + +<p>Bessie and her mother had not a moment to themselves, with all the +extra cooking and cleaning to be done, for it fell upon them to +provide for every one; and it became quite evident to Bessie that she +could not get away for her proposed visit to Wolf Bight until the last +of the hunters was gone. This would not be until the day after New +Year's, so she postponed her request to her father, to take her over, +until New Year's day. Then she watched for a favourable opportunity +when she was alone with him and her mother. Finally it came late in +the afternoon, when he stepped into the house for something, and she +asked him timidly:</p> + +<p>"Father, I'm wantin' t' go on a cruise t' Wolf Bight—t' see +Emily—can't you take me over with th dogs an' komatik?"</p> + +<p>"When you wantin' t' go, lass?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I'm wishin' t' be goin' to-morrow."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>"I'm t' be wonderful busy for a few days. Can't un wait a week or +two?"</p> + +<p>"I'm wantin' t' go now, father, if I goes. I'm not wantin' t' wait."</p> + +<p>"Bob's t' be home," suggested Mrs. Blake.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho! I see!" he exclaimed. "'Tisn't Bob instead o' Emily you're +wantin' so wonderful bad t' see now, is un?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis—Emily—I'm wantin'—t'—see," faltered Bessie, blushing +prettily and fingering the hem of her apron in which she was suddenly +very much interested.</p> + +<p>"Bob's a fine lad—a fine lad—an' I'm not wonderin'," said her father +teasingly.</p> + +<p>"Now, Tom," interceded Mrs. Black, "don't be tormentin' Bessie. O' +course 'tis just Emily she's wantin' t' see. She's not thinkin' o' th' +lads yet."</p> + +<p>"Oh, aye," said he, looking slyly out of the corner of his eye at +Bessie, who was blushing now to the very roots of her hair, "I'm not +blamin' she for likin' Bob. I likes he myself."</p> + +<p>"Well, Tom, be tellin' th' lass you'll take she over. She's been kept +wonderful close th' winter, an' the cruise'll be doin' she good," +urged Mrs. Black.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>"I wants t' go <i>so</i> much," Bessie pleaded.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll ask Mr. MacDonald can he spare me th' day. I'm thinkin' +'twill be all right," he finally assented.</p> + +<p>And it was all right. When the last hunter had disappeared the next +morning, the komatik was got ready. A box made for the purpose was +lashed on the back end of it, and warm reindeer skins spread upon the +bottom for Bessie to sit upon. Then the nine big dogs were called by +shouting "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to them, and were caught and harnessed, after +which Tom cracked a long walrus-hide whip over their heads, and made +them lie quiet until Bessie was tucked snugly in the box, and wrapped +well in deerskin robes.</p> + +<p>When at last all was ready the father stepped aside with his whip, and +immediately the dogs were up jumping and straining in their harness +and giving short impatient howls, over eager to be away. Tom grasped +the front end of the komatik runners, pulled them sharply to one side +to break them loose from the snow to which they were frozen, and +instantly the dogs were off at a gallop running like mad over the ice +with the trailing komatik in imminent danger of <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>turning over when it +struck the ice hummocks that the tide had scattered for some distance +out from the shore.</p> + +<p>Presently they calmed down, however, to a jog trot, and Tom got off +the komatik and ran by its side, guiding the team by calling out "ouk" +when he wanted to turn to the right and "rudder" to turn to the left, +repeating the words many times in rapid succession as though trying to +see how fast he could say them. The head dog, or leader, always turned +quickly at the word of command, and the others followed.</p> + +<p>It was a very cold day—fifty degrees below zero Mr. MacDonald had +said before they started—and Bessie's father looked frequently to see +that her nose and cheeks were not freezing, for a traveller in the +northern country when not exercising violently will often have these +parts of the face frozen without knowing it or even feeling cold, and +if the wind is blowing in the face is pretty sure to have them frosted +anyway.</p> + +<p>Most of the snow had drifted off the ice, and the dogs had a good hard +surface to travel upon, and were able to keep up a steady trot. They +made such good time that in two hours they turned into Wolf Bight, and +as they approached <a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>the Grays' cabin broke into a gallop, for dogs +always like to begin a journey and end it with a flourish of speed +just to show how fast they <i>can</i> go, no matter how slowly they may jog +along between places.</p> + +<p>The dogs at Wolf Bight were out to howl defiance at them as they +approached and to indulge in a free fight with the newcomers when they +arrived, until the opposing ones were beaten apart with clubs and +whips. It is a part of a husky dog's religion to fight whenever an +excuse offers, and often when there is no excuse.</p> + +<p>Richard and Mrs. Gray came running out to meet Tom and Bessie, and +Bessie was hurried into the cabin where Emily was waiting in excited +expectancy to greet her. Mrs. Gray bustled about at once and brewed +some hot tea for the visitors and set out a luncheon of bread for +them.</p> + +<p>"Now set in an' have a hot drink t' warm un up," said she when it was +ready. "You must be most froze, Bessie, this frosty day."</p> + +<p>"I were warm wrapped in th' deerskins, an' not so cold," Bessie +answered.</p> + +<p>"We were lookin' for Bob these three days," remarked Mrs. Gray as she +poured the tea. <a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>"We were thinkin' he'd sure be gettin' lonesome by +now, an' be makin' a cruise out."</p> + +<p>"'Tis a long cruise from th' Big Hill trail unless he were needing +somethin'," suggested Tom, taking his seat at the table.</p> + +<p>"Aye," assented Richard, "an' I'm thinkin' th' lad'll not be wantin' +t' lose th' time 'twill take t' come out. He'll be biding inside t' +make th' most o' th' huntin', an' th' fur be plenty."</p> + +<p>"That un will," agreed Tom, "an' 'twould not be wise for un t' be +losin' a good three weeks o' huntin'. Bob's a workin' lad, an' I'm not +thinkin' you'll see he till open water comes."</p> + +<p>"Oh," broke in Emily, "an' don't un <i>really</i> think Bob's t' come? I +been wishin' <i>so</i> for un, an' 'twould be grand t' have he come while +Bessie's here."</p> + +<p>"Bessie's thinkin' 'twould too," said Tom, who could not let pass an +opportunity to tease his daughter.</p> + +<p>They all looked at Bessie, who blushed furiously, but said nothing, +realizing that silence was the best means of diverting her father's +attention from the subject, and preventing his further remarks.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>"Well I'll have t' be goin'," said Tom presently, pushing back from +the table.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sit down, man, an' bide a bit. There's nothin' t' take un back so +soon. Bide here th' night, can't un?" urged Richard.</p> + +<p>"I were sayin' t' Mr. MacDonald as I'd be back t' th' post th' day, so +promisin' I has t' go."</p> + +<p>"Aye, an' un promised, though I were hopin' t' have un bide th' +night."</p> + +<p>"When'll I be comin' for un, Bessie?" asked Tom.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bessie must be bidin' a <i>long</i> time," plead Emily. "I've been +wishin' t' have she <i>so</i> much. Please be leavin' she a <i>long</i> time."</p> + +<p>"Mother'll be needin' me I'm thinkin' in a week," said Bessie, "though +I'd like t' bide longer."</p> + +<p>"Your mother'll not be needin' un, now th' men's gone. Bide wi' Emily +a fortnight," her father suggested.</p> + +<p>"I'll take th' lass over when she's wantin' t' go," said Richard. +"'Tis a rare treat t' Emily t' have she here, an' th' change'll be +doin' your lass good."</p> + +<p>So it was agreed, and Tom drove away.</p> + +<p>It was a terrible disappointment to Emily and <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>her mother that Bob did +not come, but Bessie's visit served to mitigate it to some extent, and +her presence brightened the cabin very much.</p> + +<p>No one knew whether or not Bob's failure to appear was regretted by +Bessie. That was her secret. However it may have been, she had a +splendid visit with Mrs. Gray and Emily, and the days rolled by very +pleasantly, and when Richard Gray left for his trail again on the +Monday morning following her arrival the thought that Bessie was with +"th' little maid" gave him a sense of quiet satisfaction and security +that he had not felt when he was away from them earlier in the winter.</p> + +<p>When Douglas Campbell came over one morning a week after Bessie's +arrival he found the atmosphere of gloom that he had noticed on his +earlier visits had quite disappeared. Mrs. Gray seemed contented now, +and Emily was as happy as could be.</p> + +<p>Douglas remained to have dinner with them. They had just finished +eating and he had settled back to have a smoke before going home, +admiring a new dress that Bessie had made for Emily's doll, and +talking to the child, while Mrs. Gray and Bessie cleared away the +dishes, when the <a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>door opened and Ed Matheson appeared on the +threshold.</p> + +<p>Ed stood in the open door speechless, his face haggard and drawn, and +his tall thin form bent slightly forward like a man carrying a heavy +burden upon his shoulders.</p> + +<p>It was not necessary for Ed to speak. The moment Mrs. Gray saw him she +knew that he was the bearer of evil news. She tottered as though she +would fall, then recovering herself she extended her arms towards him +and cried in agony:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my lad! My lad! What has happened to my lad!"</p> + +<p>"Bob—Bob"—faltered Ed, "th'—wolves—got—un."</p> + +<p>He had nerved himself for this moment, and now the spell was broken he +sat down upon a bench, and with his elbows upon his knees and his face +in his big weather-browned hands, cried like a child.</p> + +<p>Emily lay white and wild-eyed. She could not realize it all or +understand it. It seemed for a moment as though Mrs. Gray would faint, +and Bessie, pale but self-possessed, supported her to a seat and tried +gently to soothe her.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>Douglas, too, did what he could to comfort, though there was little +that he could do or say to relieve the mother's grief.</p> + +<p>At first Mrs. Gray simply moaned, "My lad—my lad—my lad——" +upbraiding herself for ever letting him go away from home; but finally +tears—the blessed safety-valve of grief—came and washed away the +first effects of the shock.</p> + +<p>Then she became quite calm, and insisted upon hearing every smallest +detail of Ed's story, and he related what had happened step by step, +beginning with the arrival of himself and Dick at the river tilt on +Christmas eve and the discovery that Bob's furs had been removed, and +passed on to the finding of the remains by the big boulder in the +marsh, Mrs. Gray interrupting now and again to ask a fuller +explanation here and there.</p> + +<p>When Ed told of gathering up the fragments of torn clothing, she asked +to see them at once. Ed hesitated, and Douglas suggested that she wait +until a later time when her nerves were steadier; but she was +determined, and insisted upon seeing them without delay, and there was +nothing to do but produce them. Contrary to their expectations, she +made no scene when they <a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>were placed before her, and though her hand +trembled a little was quite collected as she took up the blood-stained +pieces of cloth and examined them critically one by one. Finally she +raised her head and announced:</p> + +<p>"None o' <i>them</i> were ever a part o' Bob's clothes."</p> + +<p>"Whose now may un be if not Bob's?" asked Ed, sceptical of her +decision.</p> + +<p>"None of un were <i>Bob's</i>. I were makin' all o' Bob's clothes, +an'—I—<i>knows</i>: I <i>knows</i>," she insisted.</p> + +<p>"But th' flat sled were Bob's, an' th' tent an' other things," said +Ed.</p> + +<p>"Th' <i>clothes</i> were not Bob's—an' Bob were not killed by wolves—my +lad is livin'—somewheres—I <i>feels</i> my lad is livin'," she asserted.</p> + +<p>Then Ed told of the two axes found—one on the toboggan and the other +on the snow—and Mrs. Gray raised another question.</p> + +<p>"Why," she asked, "had he two axes?"</p> + +<p>It was explained that he had probably taken one in on a previous trip +and cached it. But she argued that if he needed an axe going in on the +previous trip he must have needed it coming out too, and it was not +likely that he would have <a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>cached it. Besides, she was quite sure that +he had but one axe with him in the bush, as there was no extra axe for +him to take when he was leaving home; and Douglas said that when he +left the trail at the close of the previous season he had left no axe +in any of the tilts.</p> + +<p>"Richard 'll know un when he comes," said she. "Richard'll know Bob's +axe."</p> + +<p>The mother was still more positive now that the remains they had found +were not Bob's remains, and Ed and Douglas, though equally positive +that she was mistaken, let her hold the hope—or rather belief—that +Bob still lived. She asserted that he was alive as one states a fact +that one knows is beyond question. The circumstantial evidence against +her theory was strong, but a woman's intuition stands not for reason, +and her conclusions she will hold against the world.</p> + +<p>"I must be takin' th' word in t' Richard though 'tis a sore trial t' +do it," said Douglas, preparing at once to go. "I'll be findin' un on +th' trail. Keep courage, Mary, until we comes. 'Twill be but four days +at furthest," he added as he was going out of the door.</p> + +<p>Ed left immediately after for his home, to spend a day or two before +returning to his <a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>inland trail, and Mrs. Gray and Emily and Bessie +were left alone again in a gloom of sorrow that approached despair.</p> + +<p>That night long after the light was out and they had gone to bed, Mrs. +Gray, who was still lying awake with her trouble, heard Emily softly +speak:</p> + +<p>"Mother."</p> + +<p>She stole over to Emily's couch and kissed the child's cheek.</p> + +<p>"Mother, an' th' wolves killed Bob, won't he be an angel now?"</p> + +<p>"Bob's livin'—somewheres—child, an' I'm prayin' th' Lard in His +mercy t' care of th' lad. Th' Lard knows where un is, lass, an' th' +Lard'll sure not be forgettin' he."</p> + +<p>"But," she insisted, "he's an angel now <i>if</i> th' wolves killed un?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear."</p> + +<p>"An' th' Lard lets angels come sometimes t' see th' ones they loves, +don't He, mother?"</p> + +<p>"Be quiet now, lass."</p> + +<p>"But He does?" persisted the child.</p> + +<p>"Aye, He does."</p> + +<p>"Then if Bob were killed, mother, he'll sure be comin' t' see us. His +angel'd never be restin' <a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>easy in heaven wi'out comin' t' see us, for +he knows how sore we longs t' see un."</p> + +<p>The mother drew the child to her heart and sobbed.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XV" id="XV"></a><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>IN THE WIGWAM OF SISHETAKUSHIN</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Day after day the Indians travelled to the northward, drawing their +goods after them on toboggans, over frozen rivers and lakes, or +through an ever scantier growth of trees. With every mile they +traversed Bob's heart grew heavier in his bosom, for he was constantly +going farther from home, and the prospect of return was fading away +with each sunset. He knew that they were moving northward, for always +the North Star lay before them when they halted for the night, and +always a wilder, more unnatural country surrounded them. Finally a +westerly turn was taken, and he wondered what their goal might be.</p> + +<p>Cold and bitter was the weather. The great limitless wilderness was +frozen into a deathlike silence, and solemn and awful was the vast +expanse of white that lay everywhere around them. They, they alone, it +seemed, lived in all the dreary world. The icy hand of January had +crushed all other creatures into oblivion. No <a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>deer, no animals of any +kind crossed their trail. Their food was going rapidly, and they were +now reduced to a scanty ration of jerked venison.</p> + +<p>At last they halted one day by the side of a brook and pitched their +wigwam. Then leaving the women to cut wood and put the camp in order, +the two Indians shouldered their guns and axes, and made signs to Bob +to follow them, which he gladly did.</p> + +<p>They ascended the frozen stream for several miles, when suddenly they +came upon a beaver dam and the dome-shaped house of the animals +themselves, nearly hidden under the deep covering of snow. The house +had apparently been located earlier in the season, for now the Indians +went directly to it as a place they were familiar with.</p> + +<p>Here they began at once to clear away the snow from the ice at one +side of the house, using their snow-shoes as shovels. When this was +done, a pole was cut, and to the end of the pole a long iron spike was +fastened. With this improvised implement Sishetakushin began to pick +away the ice where the snow had been cleared from it, while Mookoomahn +cut more poles.</p> + + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"><a name="imagep173" id="imagep173"></a> +<a href="images/imagep173.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep173.jpg" width="70%" alt=""It was dangerous work"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">"It was dangerous work"</p> +</div> + +<p>Though the ice was fully four feet thick <a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>Sishetakushin soon reached +the water. Then the other poles that Mookoomahn had cut were driven in +close to the house.</p> + +<p>Bob understood that this was done to prevent the escape of the +animals, and that they were closing the door, which was situated so +far down that it would always be below the point where ice would form, +so that the beavers could go in and out at will.</p> + +<p>After these preparations were completed the Indians cleared the snow +from the top of the beaver house, and then broke an opening into the +house itself. Into this aperture Sishetakushin peered for a moment, +then his hand shot down, and like a flash reappeared holding a beaver +by the hind legs, and before the animal had recovered sufficiently +from its surprise to bring its sharp teeth into action in +self-defense, the Indian struck it a stinging blow over the head and +killed it. Then in like manner another animal was captured and killed. +It was dangerous work and called for agility and self-possession, for +had the Indian made a miscalculation or been one second too slow the +beaver's teeth, which crush as well as cut, would have severed his +wrist or arm.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>There were two more beavers—a male and a female—in the house, but +these were left undisturbed to raise a new family, and the stakes that +had closed the door were removed.</p> + +<p>This method of catching beavers was quite new to Bob, who had always +seen his father and the other hunters of the Bay capture them in steel +traps. It was his first lesson in the Indian method of hunting.</p> + +<p>That evening the flesh of the beavers went into the kettle, and their +oily tails—the greatest tidbit of all—were fried in a pan. The +Indians made a feast time of it, and never ceased eating the livelong +night. This day of plenty came in cheerful contrast to the cheerless +nights with scanty suppers following the weary days of plodding that +had preceded. The glowing fire in the centre, the appetizing smell of +the kettle and sizzling fat in the pan, and the relaxation and mellow +warmth as they reclined upon the boughs brought a sense of real +comfort and content.</p> + +<p>The next day they remained in camp and rested, but the following +morning resumed the dreary march to the westward.</p> + +<p>After many more days of travelling—Bob had lost all measure of +time—they reached the shores <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>of a great lake that stretched away +until in the far distance its smooth white surface and the sky were +joined. The Indians pointed at the expanse of snow-covered ice, and +repeated many times, "Petitsikapau—Petitsikapau," and Bob decided +that this must be what they called the lake; but the name was wholly +unfamiliar to him. In like manner they had indicated that a river they +had travelled upon for some distance farther back, after crossing a +smaller lake, was called "Ashuanipi," but he had never heard of it +before.</p> + +<p>The wigwam was pitched upon the shores of Petitsikapau Lake, where +there was a thick growth of willows upon the tender tops of which +hundreds of ptarmigans—the snow-white grouse of the arctic—were +feeding; and rabbits had the snow tramped flat amongst the underbrush, +offering an abundance of fresh food to the hunters, a welcome change +from the unvaried fare of dried venison.</p> + +<p>Bob drew from the elaborate preparations that were made that they were +to stop here for a considerable time. Snow was banked high against the +skin covering of the wigwam to keep out the wind more effectually, an +unusually thick <a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>bed of spruce boughs was spread within, and a good +supply of wood was cut and neatly piled outside.</p> + +<p>The women did all the heavy work and drudgery about camp, and it +troubled Bob not a little to see them working while the men were idle. +Several times he attempted to help them, but his efforts were met with +such a storm of protestations and disapproval, not only from the men, +but the women also, that he finally refrained.</p> + +<p>"'Tis strange now th' women isn't wantin' t' be helped," Bob remarked +to himself. "Mother's always likin' t' have me help she."</p> + +<p>It was quite evident that the men considered this camp work beneath +their dignity as hunters, and neither did they wish Bob, to whom they +had apparently taken a great fancy, to do the work of a squaw. They +had, to all appearances, accepted him as one of the family and treated +him in all respects as such, and, he noted this with growing +apprehension, as though he were always to remain with them.</p> + +<p>They began now to initiate him into the mysteries of their trapping +methods, which were quite different from those with which he was +<a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>accustomed. Instead of the steel trap they used the +deadfall—wa-neé-gan—and the snare—nug-wah-gun—and Bob won the +quick commendation and plainly shown admiration of the Indians by the +facility with which he learned to make and use them, and his prompt +success in capturing his fair share of martens, which were fairly +numerous in the woods back of the lake.</p> + +<p>But when he took his gun and shot some ptarmigans one day, they gave +him to understand that this was a wasteful use of ammunition, and +showed him how they killed the birds with bow and arrow. To shoot the +arrows straight, however, was an art that he could not acquire +readily, and his efforts afforded Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn much +amusement.</p> + +<p>"The's no shootin' straight wi' them things," Bob declared to himself, +after several unsuccessful attempts to hit a ptarmigan. "Leastways I'm +not knowin' how. But th' Injuns is shootin' un fine, an' I'm wonderin' +now how they does un."</p> + +<p>With no one that could understand him Bob had unconsciously dropped +into the habit of talking a great deal to himself. It was not very +satisfactory, however, and there were always <a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>questions arising that +he wished to ask. He had, therefore, devoted himself since his advent +amongst the Indians to learning their language, and every day he +acquired new words and phrases. Manikawan would pronounce the names of +objects for him and have him repeat them after her until he could +speak them correctly, laughing merrily at his blunders.</p> + +<p>It does not require a large vocabulary to make oneself understood, and +in an indescribably short time Bob had picked up enough Indian to +converse brokenly, and one day, shortly after the arrival at +Petitsikapau he found he was able to explain to Sishetakushin where he +came from and his desire to return to the Big Hill trail and the Grand +River country.</p> + +<p>"It is not good to dwell on the great river of the evil spirits" (the +Grand River), said the Indian. "Be contented in the wigwam of your +brothers."</p> + +<p>Bob parleyed and plead with them, and when he finally insisted that +they take him back to the place where they had found him, he was met +with the objection that it was "many sleeps towards the rising sun," +that the deer had left the land as he had seen for himself, and if +they <a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>turned back their kettle would have no flesh and their stomachs +would be empty.</p> + +<p>"We are going," said Sishetakushin, "where the deer shall be found +like the trees of the forest, and there our brother shall feast and be +happy."</p> + +<p>So Bob's last hope of reaching home vanished.</p> + +<p>Manikawan's kindness towards him grew, and she was most attentive to +his comfort. She gave him the first helping of "nab-wi"—stew—from +the kettle, and kept his clothing in good repair. His old moccasins +she replaced with new ones fancifully decorated with beads, and his +much-worn duffel socks with warm ones made of rabbit skins. Everything +that the wilderness provided he had from her hand. But still he was +not happy. There was an always present longing for the loved ones in +the little cabin at Wolf Bight. He never could get out of his mind his +mother's sad face on the morning he left her, dear patient little +Emily on her couch, and his father, who needed his help so much, +working alone about the house or on the trail. And sometimes he +wondered if Bessie ever thought of him, and if she would be sorry when +she heard he was lost.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>"Manikawan an' all th' Injuns be wonderful kind, but 'tis not like +bein' home," he would often say sadly to himself when he lay very +lonely at night upon his bed of boughs and skins.</p> + +<p>At first Manikawan's attentions were rather agreeable to Bob, but he +was not accustomed to being waited upon, and in a little while they +began to annoy him and make him feel ill at ease, and finally to +escape from them he rarely ever remained in the wigwam during daylight +hours.</p> + +<p>"I'm wishin' she'd not be troublin' wi' me so—I'm not wantin' un," he +declared almost petulantly at times when the girl did something for +him that he preferred to do himself.</p> + +<p>Mornings he would wander down through the valley attending to his +deadfalls and snares, and afternoons tramp over the hills in the hope +of seeing caribou.</p> + +<p>One afternoon two weeks after the arrival at Petitsikapau he was +skirting a precipitous hill not far from camp, when suddenly the snow +gave way under his feet and he slipped over a low ledge. He did not +fall far, and struck a soft drift below, and though startled at the +unexpected descent was not injured. When he got upon his feet again he +noticed what seemed a <a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>rather peculiar opening in the rock near the +foot of the ledge, where his fall had broken away the snow, and upon +examining it found that the crevice extended back some eight or ten +feet and then broadened into a sort of cavern.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a strange place t' be in th' rocks," he commented. "I'm thinkin' +I'll have a look at un."</p> + +<p>Kicking off his snow-shoes and standing his gun outside he proceeded +to crawl in on all fours. When he reached the point of broadening he +found the cavern within so dark that he could see nothing of its +interior, and he advanced cautiously, extending one arm in front of +him that he might not strike his head against protruding rocks. All at +once his hand came in contact with something soft and warm. He drew it +back with a jerk, and his heart stood still. He had touched the shaggy +coat of a bear. He was in a bear's den and within two feet of the +sleeping animal. He expected the next moment to be crushed under the +paws of the angry beast, and was quite astonished when he found that +it had not been aroused.</p> + +<p>Cautiously and noiselessly Bob backed quickly out of the dangerous +place. The moment he <a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>was out and found himself on his feet again with +his gun in his hands his courage returned, and he began to make plans +for the capture of the animal.</p> + +<p>"'Twould be fine now t' kill un an' 'twould please th' Injuns +wonderful t' get th' meat," he said. "I'm wonderin' could I get un—if +'tis a bear."</p> + +<p>He stooped and looked into the cave again, but it was as dark as night +in there, and he could see nothing of the bear. Then he cut a long +pole with his knife and reached in with it until he felt the soft +body. A strong prod brought forth a protesting growl. Bruin did not +like to have his slumbers disturbed.</p> + +<p>"Sure '<i>tis</i> a bear an' that's wakenin' un," he commented.</p> + +<p>Bob prodded harder and the growls grew louder and angrier.</p> + +<p>"He's not wantin' t' get out o' bed," said Bob prodding vigorously.</p> + +<p>Finally there was a movement within the den, and Bob sprang back and +made ready with his gun. He had barely time to get into position when +the head of an enormous black bear appeared in the cave entrance, its +eyes flashing fire <a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>and showing fight. Bob's heart beat excitedly, but +he kept his nerve and took a steady aim. The animal was not six feet +away from him when he fired. Then he turned and ran down the hill, +never looking behind until he was fully two hundred yards from the den +and realized that there was no sound in the rear.</p> + +<p>The bear was not in sight and he cautiously retraced his steps until +he saw the animal lying where it had fallen. The bullet had taken it +squarely between the eyes and killed it instantly. This was the first +bear that Bob had ever killed unaided and he was highly elated at his +success.</p> + +<p>It was not an easy task to get the carcass out of the rock crevice, +but he finally accomplished it and outside quickly skinned the bear +and cut the meat into pieces of convenient size to haul away on a +toboggan when he should return for it. Then, with the skin as a +trophy, he triumphantly turned towards camp.</p> + +<p>Night had fallen when he reached the wigwam and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn had already arrived after their day's hunt. It was a proud +moment for Bob when he entered the lodge and threw down the bear skin +for their <a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>inspection. They spread it out and examined it, and a great +deal of talking ensued. Bob, in the best Indian he could command, +explained where he had found the "mushku" and how he had killed it, +and his story was listened to with intense interest. When he was +through Sishetakushin said that the "Snow Brother," as they called +Bob, was a great hunter, and should be an Indian; for only an Indian +would have the courage to attack a bear in its den single handed. Bob +had risen very perceptibly in their estimation. All doubt of his skill +and prowess as a hunter had been removed. He had won a new place, and +was now to be considered as their equal in the chase.</p> + +<p>The following morning the two Indians assisted Bob to haul the bear's +meat to camp. No part of it was allowed to waste. In the wigwam it was +thawed and then the flesh stripped from the bones, and that not +required for immediate use was permitted to freeze again that it might +keep sweet until needed. The skull was thoroughly cleaned and fastened +to a high branch of a tree as an offering to the Manitou. +Sishetakushin explained to Bob that unless this was done the Great +Spirit would punish them by <a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>driving all other bears beyond the reach +of their guns and traps in future.</p> + +<p>For several days a storm had been threatening, and that night it broke +with all the terrifying fury of the north. The wind shrieked through +the forest and shook the wigwam as though it would tear it away. The +air was filled with a swirling, blinding mass of snow and any one +venturing a dozen paces from the lodge could hardly have found his way +back to it again. For three days the storm lasted, and the Indians +turned these three days into a period of feasting. A big kettle of +bear's meat always hung over the fire, and surrounding it pieces of +the meat were impaled upon sticks to roast. It seemed to Bob as though +the Indians would never have enough to eat.</p> + +<p>Finally the storm cleared, and then it was discovered that the +ptarmigans and rabbits, which had been so plentiful and constituted +their chief source of food supply, had disappeared as if by magic. Not +a ptarmigan fluttered before the hunter, and no rabbit tracks broke +the smooth white snow beneath the bushes.</p> + +<p>The jerked venison was gone and the only food remaining was the bear +meat. A hurried consultation was held, and it was decided to push on +still <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>farther to the northward in the hope of meeting the invisible +herds of caribou that somewhere in those limitless, frozen barrens +were wandering unmolested.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XVI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ONE OF THE TRIBE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>If Bob Gray had held any secret hope that the Indians would eventually +listen to his plea to guide him back to the Big Hill trail it was +mercilessly swept away by the next move, for again they faced steadily +towards the north. Whenever he thought of home a lump came into his +throat, but he always swallowed it bravely and said to himself:</p> + +<p>"'Tis wrong now t' be grievin' when I has so much t' be thankful for. +Bill'll be takin' th' silver fox an' other fur out, and when father +sells un 'twill pay for Emily's goin' t' th' doctor. Th' Lard saved me +from freezin', an' I'm well an' th' Injuns be wonderful good t' me. +Maybe some time they'll be goin' back th' Big Hill way—maybe 'twill +be next winter—an' then I'll be gettin' home."</p> + +<p>In this manner the hope of youth always conquered, and his desperate +situation was to some extent forgotten in the pictures he drew for +<a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>himself of his reunion with the loved ones in the uncertain "Sometime" +of the future.</p> + +<p>On and on they travelled through the endless, boundless white, over +wind-swept rocky hills so inhospitably barren that even the snow could +not find a lodgment on them, or over wide plains where the few trees +that grew had been stunted and gnarled into mere shrubs by winter +blasts. On every hand the mountains began to raise their ragged +austere heads like grim giant sentinels placed there to guard the way. +Finally they turned into a pass, which brought them, on the other side +of the ridge it led through, to a comparatively well-wooded valley +down which a wide river wound its way northward. The trees were larger +than any Bob had seen since leaving the Big Hill trail, and this new +valley seemed almost familiar to him.</p> + +<p>As they emerged from the pass a wolf cry, long and weird, came from a +distant mountainside and broke the wilderness stillness, which had +become almost insufferable, and to the lad even this wild cry held a +note of companionship that was pleasant to hear after the long and +deathlike quiet that had prevailed.</p> + +<p>They took to the river ice and travelled on it for <a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>several miles +when, rounding a bend, they suddenly came upon a cluster of half a +dozen deerskin wigwams standing in the spruce trees just above the +river bank. An Indian from one of the lodges discovered their +approach, and gave a shout. Instantly men, women and children sprang +into view and came running out to welcome them. It was a curious, +medley crowd. The men were clad in long, decorated deerskin coats such +as Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn wore, and the women in deerskin skirts +reaching a little way below the knees, and all wearing the fringed +buckskin leggings.</p> + +<p>The greeting was cordial and noisy, everybody shaking hands with the +new arrivals, talking in the high key characteristic of them, and +laughing a great deal. Two of the men embraced Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn and shed copious tears of joy over them. These two men it +appeared were Mookoomahn's brothers. The women were not so +demonstrative, but showed their delight in a ceaseless flow of words.</p> + +<p>When the first greetings were over Sishetakushin told the assembled +Indians how Bob had been found sleeping in the snow, and that the +Great Spirit had sent the White Snow Brother <a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>to dwell in their lodges +as one of them. After this introduction and a rather magnified +description of his accomplishments as a hunter they all shook Bob's +hand and welcomed him as one of the tribe.</p> + +<p>A few caribou had been killed, and the travellers received gifts of +the frozen meat with a good proportion of fat, and that night a great +feast was held in their behalf.</p> + +<p>With plenty to eat there was no occasion to hunt and the Indians were +living in idleness during the intensely cold months of January and +February, rarely venturing out of the wigwams. This was not only for +their comfort, but because the fur bearing animals lie quiet during +this cold period of the winter and the hunt would therefore yield +small reward for the exposure and suffering it would entail.</p> + +<p>They had an abundance of tobacco and tea. Sishetakushin and his family +had been without these luxuries, and it seemed to Bob that he had +never tasted anything half so delicious as the first cup of tea he +drank. His Indian friends could not understand at first his refusal of +their proffered gifts of "stemmo"—tobacco—but he told them finally +that it would make him sick, <a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>and then they accepted his excuse and +laughed at him good naturedly.</p> + +<p>Manikawan had never ceased her attentions to Bob, and the others of +her family seemed to have come to an understanding that it was her +especial duty to look after his comfort. From the first she had been +much troubled that he had only his cloth adikey instead of a deerskin +coat such as her father and Mookoomahn wore, and she often expressed +her regret that there was no deerskin with which to make him one. He +insisted at these times that his adikey was quite warm enough, but she +always shook her head in dissent, for she could not believe it, and +would say,</p> + +<p>"No, the Snow Brother is cold. Manikawan will make him warm clothes +when the deer are found."</p> + +<p>On the very night of their arrival at the camp she went amongst the +wigwams and begged from the women some skins of the fall killing, +tanned with the hair on, with the flesh side as fine and white and +soft as chamois. In two days she had manufactured these into a coat +and had it ready for decoration. It was a very handsome garment, sewn +with sinew instead of thread, and <a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>having a hood attached to it +similar to the hoods worn by Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn.</p> + +<p>With brushes made from pointed sticks she painted around the bottom of +the coat a foot-wide border in intricate design, introducing red, +blue, brown and yellow colours that she had compounded herself the +previous summer from fish roe, minerals and oil. Other decorations and +ornamentations were drawn upon the front and arms of the garment +before she considered it quite complete. Then she surveyed her work +with commendable pride, and with a great show of satisfaction +presented it and a pair of the regulation buckskin leggings to Bob. +She was quite delighted when he put his new clothes on, and made no +secret of her admiration of his improved appearance.</p> + +<p>"Now," she said, "the brother is dressed as becomes him and looks very +fine and brave."</p> + +<p>"'Tis fine an' warm," Bob assented, "an' I'm thinkin' I'm lookin' like +an Injun sure enough."</p> + +<p>Bob's aversion to Manikawan's attentions was wearing off, and he was +taking a new interest in her. He very often found himself looking at +her and admiring her dark, pretty face and tall, supple form. +Sometimes she would glance <a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>up quickly and catch him at it, and smile, +for it pleased her. Then he would feel a bit foolish and blush through +the tan on his face; for he knew that she read his thoughts. But +neither he nor Manikawan ever voiced the admiration that they felt for +each other.</p> + +<p>Bob was lounging in the wigwam one day a week or so after the arrival +at the camp when he heard some one excitedly shouting,</p> + +<p>"Atuk! Atuk!"</p> + +<p>He grabbed his gun and ran outside where he met Sishetakushin rushing +in from an adjoining wigwam. The Indian called to him to leave his gun +behind and get a spear and follow. He could see that something of +great moment had occurred and he obeyed.</p> + +<p>The Indians from the lodges, all armed with spears, were running +towards a knoll just below the camp, and Bob and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn joined them. When they reached the top of the knoll Bob +halted for a moment in astonishment. Never before had he beheld +anything to compare with what he saw below. A herd of caribou +containing hundreds—yes thousands—like a great living sea, was +moving to the eastward.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>Some of the Indians were already running ahead on their snow-shoes to +turn the animals into the deep snowdrifts of a ravine, while the other +attacked the herd with their spears from the side. The caribou changed +their course when they saw their enemies, and plunged into the ravine, +those behind crowding those in front, which sank into the drifts until +they were quite helpless. From every side the Indians rushed upon the +deer and the slaughter began. Bob was carried away with the excitement +of the hunt, and many of the deer fell beneath his spear thrusts. The +killing went on blindly, indiscriminately, without regard to the age +or sex or number killed, until finally the main herd extricated itself +and ran in wild panic over the river ice and out of reach of the +pursuers.</p> + +<p>In the brief interval between the discovery of the deer and the escape +of the herd over four hundred animals had fallen under the ruthless +spears. When Bob realized the extent of the wicked slaughter he was +disgusted with himself for having taken part in it.</p> + +<p>"'Twas wicked t' kill so many of un when we're not needin' un, an' I +hopes th' Lard'll forgive me for helpin'," he said contritely.</p> + + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"><a name="imagep197" id="imagep197"></a> +<a href="images/imagep197.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep197.jpg" width="70%" alt=""Saw her standing in the bright moonlight"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">"Saw her standing in the bright moonlight"</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>Aside from the inhumanity of the thing, it was a terrible waste of +food, for it would only be possible to utilize a comparatively small +proportion of the meat of the slaughtered animals. Perhaps +seventy-five of the carcasses were skinned, after which the flesh was +stripped from the bones and hung in thin slabs from the poles inside +the wigwams to dry. The tongues were removed from all the slaughtered +animals, for they are considered a great delicacy by the Indians; and +some of the leg bones were taken for the marrow they contained. The +great bulk of the meat, however, was left for the wolves and foxes, or +to rot in the sun when summer came.</p> + +<p>The deer killing was followed by a season of feasting, as is always +the case amongst the Indians after a successful hunt. In every wigwam +a kettle of stewing venison was constantly hanging, night and day over +the fire, and marrow bones roasting in the coals, and for several days +the men did nothing but eat and smoke and drink tea.</p> + +<p>It was, however, a busy time for the women. Besides curing the meat +and tongues, they rendered marrow grease from the bones and put it up +neatly in bladders for future use; and it fell <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>to their lot, also, to +dress and tan the hides into buckskin.</p> + +<p>The passing deer herds brought in their wake packs of big gray and +black timber wolves, and the country was soon infested with these +animals. At night their howls were heard, and they came boldly to the +scene of the caribou slaughter and fattened upon the discarded +carcasses of the animals. Now and again one was shot. With plenty to +eat, they were, however, comparatively harmless, and never molested +the camp.</p> + +<p>February was drawing to a close when one day Sishetakushin, Mookoomahn +and two other Indians packed their toboggans preparatory to going on +an excursion. Bob noticed the preparations with interest, and inquired +the meaning of them.</p> + +<p>"The tea and tobacco are nearly gone, and we are in need of powder and +ball," Sishetakushin answered.</p> + +<p>To get these things Bob knew they must go to a trading post, and here, +he decided, was a possible opportunity for him to find a means of +reaching home. He asked the Indians at once for permission to +accompany them. There was <a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>no objection to this from any of them, +though they told him it would be a tiresome journey, that they would +travel fast, and be back in a few days.</p> + +<p>But Bob did not propose to let any chance of meeting white men pass +him, and he hurriedly got his things together for the expedition. He +had no intimation of the name or location of the post they were going +to further than that the Indians told him they were going to Mr. +MacPherson, who was, he felt sure, a Hudson's Bay Company Factor, and +he believed that if he could once reach one of the company's forts a +way would be shown him to get to Eskimo Bay. That night was one of +excitement and anticipation for Bob.</p> + +<p>Manikawan seemed to read his thoughts, for the whole evening she +looked troubled, and her eyes were wet when Bob said good-bye to her +in the morning. As the little party turned down upon the river ice, he +looked back once and saw her standing near the wigwam, in the bright +moonlight, her slender figure outlined against the snow, and he waved +his hand to her.</p> + +<p>He never knew that for many days afterwards, when the dusk of evening +came, she stole alone <a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>out of the wigwam and down the trail where he +had disappeared to watch for his return, nor how lonely she was and +how she brooded over his loss when she knew that she should never see +her White Brother of the Snow again.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XVII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>STILL FARTHER NORTH</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Bob and the Indians travelled in single file, with Mookoomahn leading, +and kept to the wide, smooth pathway that marked the place where the +river lay imprisoned beneath ice a fathom thick. The wind had swept +away the loose snow and beaten down that which remained into a hard +and compact mass upon the frozen river bed, making snow-shoeing here +much easier than in the spruce forest that lay behind the willow brush +along the banks. The Indians walked with the long rapid stride that is +peculiar to them, and which the white man finds hard to simulate, and +good traveller though he was Bob had to adopt a half run to keep their +pace. They drew but two lightly loaded toboggans, and unencumbered by +the wigwam and other heavy camp equipment, and with no trailing squaws +to hamper their speed, an even, unbroken gait was maintained as mile +after mile slipped behind them.</p> + +<p>Not a breath of air was stirring, and the <a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>absolute quiet that +prevailed was broken only by the moving men and the rhythmic creak, +creak of the snow-shoes as they came in contact with the hard packed +snow.</p> + +<p>The very atmosphere seemed frozen, so intense was the cold. The moon +like a disk of burnished silver set in a steel blue sky cast a weird, +metallic light over the congealed wilderness. The hoar frost that lay +upon the bushes along the river bank sparkled like filmy draperies of +spun silver, and transformed the bushes into an unearthly multitude of +shining spirits that had gathered there from the dark, mysterious +forest which lay behind them, to watch the passing strangers. +Presently the light of dawn began to diffuse itself upon the world, +and the spirit creations were replaced by substantial banks of +frost-encrusted willows. In a little while the sun peeped timorously +over the eastern hills, but, half obscured by a haze of frost flakes +which hung suspended in the air, gave out no warmth to the frozen +earth.</p> + +<p>No halt was made until noon. Then a fire was built and a kettle of ice +was melted and tea brewed. Bob was hungry, and the jerked venison, +with its delicate nutty flavour, and the hot tea, were delicious. The +latter, poured boiling from <a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>the kettle, left a sediment of ice in the +bottom of the tin cup before it was drained, so great was the cold.</p> + +<p>After an hour's rest they hit the trail again and never relaxed their +speed for a moment until sunset. Then they sought the shelter of the +spruce woods behind the river bank, and in a convenient spot for a +fire cleared a circular space, several feet in circumference, by +shovelling the snow back with their snow-shoes, forming a high bank +around their bivouac as a protection from the wind, should it rise. At +one side a fire was built, and in front of the fire a thick bed of +boughs spread. While the others were engaged in these preparations Bob +and Sishetakushin cut a supply of wood for the night.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark before they all settled themselves around the fire +for supper. Two frying pans were now produced, and from a haunch of +venison, frozen as hard as a block of wood, thin chips were cut with +an axe, and with ample pieces of fat were soon sizzling in the pans +and filling the air with an appetizing odour, and in spite of the +bleak surroundings the place assumed a degree of comfort and +hospitality.</p> + +<p>After supper the Indians squatted around the <a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>fire on deerskins spread +upon the boughs, smoking their pipes and telling stories, while Bob +reclined upon the soft robes that Manikawan had thoughtfully provided +him with, watching the light play over their dark faces framed in long +black hair, and thought of the Indian girl and wondered if he was +always to live amongst them, and if he would ever become accustomed to +their wild, rude life.</p> + +<p>Finally they lay down close together, with their feet towards the +fire, and wrapped their heads and shoulders closely in the skins, +leaving their moccasined feet uncovered, to be warmed by the blaze, +and the lad was soon lost in dreams of the snug cabin at Wolf Bight. +Once during the night he awoke and arose to replenish the fire. The +stars were looking down upon them, cold and distant, and the +wilderness seemed very solemn and quiet when he resumed his place +amongst the sleeping Indians.</p> + +<p>They were on their way again by moonlight the following morning. +Shortly after daybreak they turned out of the river bed and towards +noon came upon some snow-shoe tracks. A little later they passed a +steel trap, in which a white arctic fox straggled for freedom. They +halted a <a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>moment for Sishetakushin to press his knee upon its side to +kill it and then went on. The fox he left in the trap, however, for +the hunter to whom it belonged. This was the first steel trap that Bob +had seen since coming amongst the Indians and he drew from its +presence here that they must be approaching a trading station where +traps were obtainable and in use by the hunters.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the afternoon they turned into a komatik track, and +Bob's heart gave a bound of joy.</p> + +<p>"Sure we're gettin' handy t' th' coast!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>They would soon find white men, he was sure. The track led them on for +a mile or so, and then they heard a dog's howl and a moment later came +out upon two snow igloos. Eskimo men, women, and children emerged on +their hands and knees from the low, snow-tunnel entrance of the igloos +at their approach, but when they saw that the travellers were a party +of Indians, gave no invitation to them to enter, and said nothing +until Bob called "Oksunie" to them—a word of greeting that he had +learned from the Bay folk. Then they called to him "Oksunie, oksunie," +and began to talk amongst themselves.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>"They're rare wild lookin' huskies," thought Bob.</p> + +<p>As much as Bob would have liked to stop, he did not do so, for the +Indians stalked past at a rapid pace, never by word or look showing +that they had seen the igloos or the Eskimos.</p> + +<p>These new people, particularly the women, who wore trousers and +carried babies in large hoods hanging on their backs, did not dress +like any Eskimos that Bob had ever seen before. Nor had he ever before +seen the snow houses, though he had heard of them and knew what they +were. The dogs, too, were large, and more like wolves in appearance +than those the Bay folk used, and the komatik was narrower but much +longer and heavier than those he was accustomed to. He was surely in a +new and strange land.</p> + +<p>More igloos were seen during the afternoon, but they were passed as +the first had been, and at night the party bivouacked in the open as +they had done the night before.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the third day they passed into a stretch of barren, +treeless, rolling country, and before midday turned upon a well-beaten +komatik trail, which they followed for a couple of miles, when it +swung sharply to the left towards <a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>the river, and as they turned +around a ledge of rocks at the top of a low ridge a view met Bob that +made him shout with joy, and hasten his pace.</p> + +<p>At his feet, in the field of snow, lay a post of the Hudson's Bay +Company.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XVIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>A MISSION OF TRUST</h3> +<br /> + +<p>As Bob looked down upon the whitewashed buildings of the Post, his +sensation was very much like that of a shipwrecked sailor who has for +a long time been drifting hopelessly about upon a trackless sea in a +rudderless boat, and suddenly finds himself safe in harbour. The lad +had never seen anything in his whole life that looked so comfortable +as that little cluster of log buildings with the smoke curling from +the chimney tops, and the general air of civilization that surrounded +them. He did not know where he was, nor how far from home; but he did +know that this was the habitation of white men, and the cloud of utter +helplessness that had hung over him for so long was suddenly swept +away and his sky was clear and bright again.</p> + +<p>A man clad in a white adikey and white moleskin trousers emerged from +one of the buildings, paused for a moment to gaze at Bob and his +<a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>companions as they approached, and then reentered the building.</p> + +<p>As they descended the hill the Indians turned to an isolated cabin +which stood somewhat apart from the main group of buildings and to the +eastward of them, but Bob ran down to the one into which the man had +disappeared. His heart was all aflutter with excitement and +expectancy. As he approached the door, it suddenly opened, and there +appeared before him a tall, middle-aged man with full, sandy beard and +a kindly face. Bob felt intuitively that this was the factor of the +Post, and he said very respectfully,</p> + +<p>"Good day, sir."</p> + +<p>"Good day, good day," said the man. "I thought at first you were an +Indian. Come in."</p> + +<p>Bob entered and found himself in the trader's office. At one side were +two tables that served as desks, and on a shelf against the wall +behind them rested a row of musty ledgers and account books. Benches +in lieu of chairs surrounded a large stove in the centre.</p> + +<p>"Take off your skin coat and sit down," invited the trader, who was, +indeed, Mr. MacPherson of whom the Indians had told.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," said Bob.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>When he was finally seated Mr. McPherson asked:</p> + +<p>"That was Sishetakushin's crowd you came with, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," Bob answered.</p> + +<p>"Where did you hail from? It's something new to see a white man come +out of the bush with the Indians."</p> + +<p>"From Eskimo Bay, sir, an' what place may this be?"</p> + +<p>"Eskimo Bay! Eskimo Bay! Why, this is Ungava! How in the world did you +ever get across the country? What's your name?"</p> + +<p>"My name's Bob Gray, sir, an' I lives at Wolf Bight." Then Bob went +on, prompted now and again by the factor's questions, to tell the +story of his adventures.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. MacPherson, "you've had a wonderful escape from +freezing and death and a remarkable experience. You'd better go over +to the men's house and they'll put you up there. Come back after +you've had dinner and we'll talk your case over. The dinner bell is +ringing now," he added, as the big bell began to clang. "Perhaps I'd +better go over with you and show you the way."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>The men's house, as the servants' quarters were called, was a +one-story log house but a few steps from the office. As Bob and Mr. +MacPherson entered it, a big man with a bushy red beard, and a tall +brawny man with clean shaven face, both perhaps twenty-five or thirty +years of age, and both with "Scot" written all over their +countenances, were in the act of sitting down to an uncovered table, +while an ugly old Indian hag was dishing up a savory stew of +ptarmigan.</p> + +<p>Bob's eye took in a plate heaped high with white bread in the centre +of the table and he mentally resolved that it should not be there when +he had finished dinner.</p> + +<p>"Here's some company for you," announced the factor. "Ungava Bob just +ran over from Eskimo Bay to pay us a visit. Take care of him. This," +continued he by way of introduction, indicating the red-headed man, +"is Eric the Red, our carpenter, and this," turning to the other, "is +the Duke of Wellington, our blacksmith. Fill up, Ungava Bob, and come +over to the office and have a talk when you've finished dinner."</p> + +<p>"Sit doon, sit doon," said the red-whiskered man, adding, as Mr. +MacPherson closed the door <a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>behind him, "my true name's Sandy Craig +and th' blacksmith here is Jamie Lunan. Th' boss ha' a way o' namin' +every mon t' suit hisself. Now, what's your true name, lad? 'Tis not +Ungava Bob."</p> + +<p>"Bob Gray, an' I comes from Wolf Bight."</p> + +<p>"Now, where can Wolf Bight be?" asked Sandy.</p> + +<p>"In Eskimo Bay, sir."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, Eskimo Bay. 'Tis a lang way ye are from Eskimo Bay! Th' +ship folk tell o' Eskimo Bay a many hundred miles t' th' suthard. An' +Jamie an' me be a lang way fra' Petherhead. Be helpin' yesel' now, +lad. Ha' some partridge an' ye maun be starvin' for bread, eatin' only +th' grub o' th' heathen Injuns this lang while," said he, passing the +plate, and adding in apology, "'Tis na' such bread as we ha' in auld +Scotland. Injun women canna make bread wi' th' Scotch lassies an' we +ne'er ha' a bit o' oatmeal or oat-cake. 'Tis bread, though. An' how +could ye live wi' th' Injuns? 'Tis bad enough t' bide here wi' na' +neighbours but th' greasy huskies an' durty Injuns comin' now an' +again, but we has some civilized grub t' eat—sugar an' molasses an' +butter, such as 'tis."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>Sandy and Jamie plied Bob with all sorts of questions about Eskimo Bay +and his life with the Indians, and they did not fail to tell him a +good deal about Peterhead, their Scotland home, and both bewailed +loudly the foolish desire for adventure that had induced them to leave +it to be exiled in Ungava amongst the heathen Eskimos and Indians in a +land where "nine minths o' th' year be winter an' th' ither three +remainin' minths infested wi' th' worst plagues o' Egypt, referrin' t' +th' flies an' nippers (mosquitoes)."</p> + +<p>Strange and new it all was, and while he ate and talked, Bob took in +his surroundings. The room was not unlike the Post kitchen at Eskimo +Bay, though not so spotlessly clean. Besides the table there were two +benches, four rough, home-made chairs and a big box stove that +crackled cheerily. At one side three bunks were built against the wall +and were spread with heavy woollen blankets. Two chests stood near the +bunks and several guns rested upon pegs against the wall. Upon ropes +stretched above the stove numerous duffel socks and mittens hung to +dry. The Indian woman passed in and out through a passageway that led +from the side of the room opposite the door at which he had <a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>entered +and her kitchen was evidently on the other side of the passageway.</p> + +<p>Bob did not forget his resolution as to the bread, to which was added +the luxury of butter, and more than once the Indian woman had to +replenish the plate. When they arose from the table Jamie pointed out +to Bob the bunk that he was to occupy. Then, while they smoked their +pipes, they gossiped about the Post doings until the bell warned them +that it was time to return to their work.</p> + +<p>In accordance with Mr. MacPherson's instructions Bob walked over to +the factor's office where he found a young man of eighteen or nineteen +years of age writing at one of the desks.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said he, looking up. "Mr. MacPherson will be in shortly. +You're the young fellow just arrived, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Bob.</p> + +<p>"You've had a long journey, I hear, and must be glad to get out. When +did you leave home?"</p> + +<p>"In September, sir, when I goes t' my trail."</p> + +<p>"I came here on the <i>Eric</i> in September, and if you want to see home +as badly as I do you're <a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>pretty anxious to get back there. But there +isn't any chance of getting away from here till the ship comes. This +is the last place God ever made and the loneliest. What did you say +your name is?"</p> + +<p>"Bob Gray, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. MacPherson will call you something else, but don't mind +that. He has a new name for every one. He calls Sishetakushin, one of +the Indians you came in with, Abraham Lincoln because he's so tall, +and one of the stout Eskimos is Grover Cleveland. That's the name of +an American president. Mr. MacPherson gets the papers every year and +keeps posted. He received, on the ship, all last year's issues of a +New York paper called the <i>Sun</i> besides a great packet of Scotch and +English papers. But this <i>Sun</i> he thinks more of than any of them and +every morning he picks out the paper for that date the year before and +reads it as though it had just been delivered. One year behind, but +just as fresh here. He finds a lot of new names in 'em to give the +Eskimos and Indians and the rest of us that way. I'm Secretary Bayard, +whoever he may be. I don't read the American papers much. The chief +clerk is Lord Salisbury, <a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>the new premier. You know the Conservatives +downed the Liberals, and Gladstone is out. Good enough for him, too, +for meddling in the Irish question. I'm a conservative, or I would be +if I was home. We don't have a chance to be anything here. Now, I +suppose you——"</p> + +<p>Here Mr. MacPherson entered and the loquacious Secretary Bayard became +suddenly engrossed in his work. The factor opened a door leading into +a small room to the right.</p> + +<p>"Come in here, Ungava Bob," said he, "and we'll have a talk. Now," he +continued when they were seated, "what do you think you'll do?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, sir. I wants t' get home wonderful bad," said Bob.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I suppose you do. But you're a long way from home. It looks +as though you'll have to stay here till the ship comes next summer. I +can send you back with it."</p> + +<p>"'Tis a long while t' be bidin' here, sir, an' I'm fearin' as +mother'll be worryin'."</p> + +<p>"There's no way out of it that I can see, though. I'll give you work +to do to pay for your keep, and I'm afraid that's the best we can do +unless," continued the factor, thoughtfully <a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>"unless you go with the +mail. I find I've got to send some letters to Fort Pelican. How far is +that from Eskimo Bay,—a hundred miles?"</p> + +<p>"Ninety, sir."</p> + +<p>"Do you speak Eskimo?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"Well, the dog drivers will be Eskimos. The men that leave here will +go east to the coast. They will meet other Eskimos there who will go +to Pelican. It's a hard and dangerous journey. Are you a good +traveller?"</p> + +<p>"Not so bad, sir, an' I drives dogs."</p> + +<p>Mr. MacPherson was silent for a few moments, then he spoke.</p> + +<p>"These Eskimos are careless scallawags with letters and they lose them +sometimes. The letters I am sending are very important ones or I +wouldn't be sending them. I think you would take better care of them +than they. Will you keep them safe if I let you go with the Eskimos?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I'd be rare careful."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll see. I think I'll let you take the letters. I can't say +yet just when I'll have you start but within the month."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>"In the meantime make yourself useful about the place here. There'll +be nothing for you to do to-day. Look around and get acquainted. You +may go now. Come to the office in the morning and one of the clerks +will tell you what to do."</p> + +<p>"All right, sir."</p> + +<p>When Bob passed out of doors he was fairly treading upon air. A way +was opening up for him to return home and in all probability he should +reach there by the time Dick and Ed and Bill came out from the trails +in the spring and if they had not, in the meantime, taken the news of +his disappearance to Wolf Bight, the folks at home would know nothing +of it until he told them himself and would have no unusual cause for +worry in the meantime. He felt a considerable sense of importance, +too, at the confidence Mr. MacPherson reposed in him in suggesting +that he might place him in charge of an important mail. And what a +tale he would have to tell! Bessie would think him quite a hero. After +all it had turned out well. He had caught a silver fox and all the +other fur—quite enough, he was sure, to send Emily to the hospital. +God had been very good to him and he cast his eyes to <a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>heaven and +breathed a little prayer of thanksgiving.</p> + +<p>Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn had been quite forgotten by Bob in the +excitement of the arrival at the Fort. Now he saw them and the two +other Indians coming over from the cabin to which they had gone when +he left them to meet Mr. MacPherson, and he hurried down to meet them +and tell them that he had found a way to reach home. It was plain that +they did not approve of the turn matters had taken, for they only +grunted and said nothing.</p> + +<p>They turned to a building where the door stood open and Bob +accompanied them and entered with them. This was the Post shop, and a +young man, whom Bob had not seen before, presumably "Lord Salisbury," +the chief clerk of whom the talkative "Secretary Bayard" had spoken, +was behind the counter attending to the wants of an Eskimo and his +wife, the latter with a black-eyed, round-faced baby which sat +contentedly in her hood sucking a stick of black tobacco. The clerk +spoke to the Indians in their language, said "good day" to Bob in +English, and then continued his dickering in the Eskimo language with +his customers, who had deposited <a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>before them on the counter a number +of arctic fox pelts.</p> + +<p>When the clerk had finished with the Eskimos he turned to the Indians +in a very businesslike way and asked to see the furs they had brought. +They produced some marten skins which, after a great deal of +wrangling, were bartered for tobacco, tea, powder, shot, bullets, gun +caps, beads, three-cornered needles and a few trinkets. Much time was +consumed in this, for the Indians insisted upon handling and +discussing at length each individual article purchased.</p> + +<p>Bob had brought with him the marten skins that he had trapped during +his stay with the Indians and he exchanged them for a red shawl and a +little box of beads for Manikawan, a trinket for the old woman, +Manikawan's mother, and a small gift each for Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn, besides some much needed clothing for himself.</p> + +<p>These tokens of his gratitude he presented to the two Indians, who had +indicated their intention of returning to the interior camp the next +morning. They had not fully realized until now that Bob was actually +going to leave them and attempt to reach home with the Eskimos, and +<a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>they protested vigorously against the plan. Sishetakushin told him the +Eskimos were bad people and would never guide him safely to his +friends. Indeed, he asserted, they might kill him when they had him +alone with them. On the other hand, the Indians were kind and true. +They had recognized his worth and had adopted him into the tribe. With +them he had been happy and with them he would be safe. He could have +his own wigwam and take Manikawan for his wife; and sometimes, if he +wished, he could go to visit his people.</p> + +<p>The failure of their arguments to impress Bob was a great +disappointment to the Indians, and Bob, on his part, felt a keen sense +of sorrow when, the following morning, he saw his benefactors go. They +had saved his life and had done all they could in their rude, +primitive way for his comfort, and he appreciated their kindness and +hospitality.</p> + +<p>Ungava Bob, as every one at the Post called him, made himself +generally useful about the fort and was soon quite at home in his new +surroundings. He cut wood and helped the Eskimo servants feed the +dogs, and did any jobs that presented themselves and soon became a +general <a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>favourite, not only with Mr. MacPherson but with the clerks +and servants also.</p> + +<p>His quarters with Sandy and Jamie seemed luxurious in contrast with +the rough life of the interior to which he had so long been +accustomed, and when the three gathered around the red hot stove those +cold evenings after the day's work was done and supper eaten, the +Scotchmen held him enthralled with stories they told of their native +land and the wonderful and magnificent things they had seen there.</p> + +<p>Besides the factor and the two clerks these were the only white people +at the Fort, and naturally they grew to be close companions. The white +men, too, were the only ones of the Post folk that could speak +English, for the few Eskimos and Indians that lived on the reservation +knew only their respective native tongue.</p> + +<p>And so the time passed until, at last, the middle of March came, with +its lengthening days and stormy weather, and Bob was beginning to fear +that Mr. MacPherson had abandoned the project of sending him out with +a mail, for nothing further had been said about his going since the +conversation on the day of his arrival. For two or three days he had +been upon the lookout <a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>for a favourable opportunity to ask whether or +not he was to go, and was thinking about it one Friday morning as he +worked at the wood-pile, when "Secretary Bayard" hailed him:</p> + +<p>"Hey, there, Bob! The boss wants you."</p> + +<p>This was auspicious, and Bob hurried over to the factor's inner +office, where he found Mr. MacPherson waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ungava Bob," the factor greeted, "are you getting tired of +Ungava and anxious to get away?"</p> + +<p>"I'm likin' un fine, sir, but wantin' t' be goin' home wonderful bad," +answered Bob.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you are. I suppose you are. I remember when I was young and +first left home, how badly I wanted to go back," he said, +reminiscently. "That was a long while ago and there's no one for me to +go home to now—they're all dead—all dead—and it's too late."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a little in meditation, and seemed to have quite +forgotten Bob. Then suddenly bringing himself from the past to the +present again, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, you want to go home, and I'm going to start you on Monday +morning. I'll give you a packet of very important letters that you +<a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>will deliver to Mr. Forbes, the factor at Fort Pelican, and I shall +hold you responsible for their safe delivery. Akonuk and Matuk will go +with you as far as Kangeva, where they will try to get two other +Eskimos with a good team of dogs to take you on to Rigolet. But it may +be they'll have to go farther, to find drivers that know the way, and +that will delay you some. You'll have time to reach Rigolet, however, +before the break-up if you push on. The Eskimos will lose some time +visiting with their friends when they meet them on the way, and I've +allowed for that. Now, be ready to start on Monday. The clerks will +fix you up with what supplies you will need for the journey."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I'll be ready, an' thank you, sir."</p> + +<p>"Hold on," said the factor as Bob turned to go. "Here's a rifle that +I'm going to let you take with you, for you may need it." He picked up +a gun that had been leaning against the wall beside him. "It's a 44 +repeating Winchester that I've used for three or four years, and it's +a good one. I've got a heavier one now for seals and white whales, and +I'll give you this if you take the letters through safely. Is that a +bargain?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>Bob's eyes bulged and his pleasure was manifest.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll not be losin' th' letters."</p> + +<p>It was the first repeating rifle—the first rifle, in fact, of any +kind—that he had ever seen, and as Mr. MacPherson explained and +illustrated to him its manipulation, he thought it the most marvellous +piece of mechanism in the world.</p> + +<p>"Now be careful how you handle it," cautioned the factor after the arm +had been thoroughly described. "You see that when you throw a +cartridge into the barrel by the lever action it cocks the gun, and if +you're not going to discharge it again immediately you must let the +hammer down. It shoots a good many times farther, too, than your old +gun, so be sure there are no Eskimos within half a mile of its muzzle +or you'll be killing some of them, and I don't want that to happen, +for I need them all to hunt. Besides, if you killed one of them his +friends would be putting you out of the way so you'd kill no more, and +then my packet of letters wouldn't be delivered. Now look out."</p> + +<p>"I'll be rare careful of un, sir."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>"Very well, see that you are. Be ready to start, now, at daylight, +Monday."</p> + +<p>"I'll be ready, sir."</p> + +<p>Bob's delight was little short of ecstatic as he strode out of the +office with his rifle.</p> + +<p>The next day (Saturday) "Secretary Bayard," with voluminous comments +and cautions in reference to the undertaking, the Eskimos and things +in general, helped him and the two Eskimos that were to accompany him +put in readiness his supplies, which consisted of hardtack, jerked +venison, fat pork—the only provisions they had which would not +freeze—tea, two kettles, sulphur matches, ammunition, and a reindeer +skin sleeping bag. The Eskimos possessed sleeping bags of their own. +Blubber and white whale meat, frozen very hard, were packed for dog +food.</p> + +<p>An axe, a small jack plane and two snow knives were the only tools to +be carried. This knife had a blade about two feet in length and +resembled a small, broad-bladed sword. It was to be used in the +construction of snow igloos. The jack plane was needed to keep the +komatik runners smooth.</p> + +<p>Instead of the runners being shod with whale-bone, as in many places +in the North, the <a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>Eskimos of Ungava apply a turf—which is stored for +the purpose in the short summer season—and mixed with water to the +consistency of mud. This is moulded on the runners with the hands in a +thick, broad, semicircular shape, and freezes as hard as glass. Then +its irregularities are planed smooth, and it slips easily over the +snow and ice.</p> + +<p>Finally, all the preparations were completed, and Bob looked forward +in a high state of excited anticipation to the great journey of new +experiences and adventures that lay before him to be crowned by the +joy of his home-coming.</p> + +<p>But a thousand miles separated Bob from his home and danger and death +lurked by the way. Human plans and day-dreams are not considered by +the Providence that moulds man's fortune, and it is a blessed thing +that human eyes cannot look into the future.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XIX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND</h3> +<br /> + +<p>In the starlight of Monday morning Akonuk and Matuk harnessed their +twelve big dogs. Fierce creatures these animals were, scarcely less +wild than the wolves that prowled over the hills behind the Fort, of +which they were the counterpart, and more than once the Eskimos had to +beat them with the butt end of a whip to stop their fighting and bring +them to submission.</p> + +<p>The load had already been lashed upon the komatik and the mud on the +runners rubbed over with lukewarm water which had frozen into a thin +glaze of ice that would slip easily over the snow.</p> + +<p>Mr. MacPherson gave Bob the package of letters, with a final +injunction not to lose them when at length the dogs were harnessed and +all was ready. Good-byes were said and Bob and his two Eskimo +companions were off.</p> + +<p>The snow was packed hard and firm, so that neither the dogs nor the +komatik broke through, <a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>and the animals, fresh and eager, started at a +fast pace and maintained an even, steady trot throughout the day.</p> + +<p>Occasionally there were hills to climb, and some of these were so +steep that it was necessary for Bob and the Eskimos to haul upon the +traces with the dogs, and now and then they had to lift the komatik +over rocky places, and on one river that they crossed they were forced +to cut in several places a passage around ice hills, where the tide +had piled the ice blocks thirty or forty feet high. But for the most +part the route lay over a rolling country near the coast.</p> + +<p>Only at long intervals were trees to be seen, and these were very +small and stunted, and grew in sheltered hollows. At noon they halted +in one of these hollows to build a fire, over which they melted snow +in one of the kettles and made tea, with which they washed down some +hardtack and jerked venison.</p> + +<p>That night when they stopped to make their camp, sixty miles lay +behind them. The going had been good and they had done a splendid +day's work.</p> + +<p>Before unharnessing the dogs, which would have immediately attacked +and destroyed the <a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>goods upon the sledge had they been released, the +Eskimos went about building an igloo.</p> + +<p>A good bank of snow was selected and out of this Akonuk cut blocks as +large as he could lift and placed them on edge in a circle about seven +feet in diameter in the interior. As each block was placed it was +trimmed and fitted closely to its neighbour. Then while Matuk cut more +blocks and handed them to Akonuk as they were needed, the latter +standing in the centre of the structure placed them upon edge upon the +other blocks, building them up in spiral form, and narrowing in each +upper round until the igloo assumed the form of a dome. When it was +nearly as high as his head, the upper tier of blocks was so close +together that a single large block was sufficient to close the +aperture at the top. This block was like the keystone in an arch, and +held the others firmly in place. Akonuk now cut a round hole through +the side of the igloo close to the bottom, and large enough for him to +crawl through on his hands and knees.</p> + +<p>When the Eskimos began building the snow house Bob commenced unloading +the komatik, but Matuk called "Chuly, chuly,"—wait a <a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>little—to him, +and said "tamaany,"—here—a suggestion that he would be more useful +in helping to chink up the crevices between the blocks of snow on the +igloo after Akonuk placed them This he did, and in half an hour from +the time they halted the igloo was completed and was so strongly built +a man could have stood on its top without fear of breaking it down.</p> + +<p>The tops of spruce boughs were now cut and spread within, after which +they unlashed the komatik, and, covering the bed of boughs with +deerskins, stored everything that the dogs would be likely to destroy +safely inside the igloo. This done the dogs were unharnessed and fed, +the men standing over the animals with stout sticks to prevent their +fighting while they ravenously gulped down the chunks of frozen whale +meat.</p> + +<p>This function completed, a fire was made outside the igloo and tea +brewed. With the kettle of hot tea the three crawled into the igloo, +dragging after them a block of snow which Akonuk fitted neatly into +the entrance and chinked the edges with loose snow.</p> + +<p>Matuk now brought forth an Eskimo lamp into which he squeezed the oil +from a piece of seal <a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>blubber, first pounding the blubber with the axe +head, and with moss to serve the purpose of a wick, the lamp was +lighted. This lamp, which was made of stone cut in the shape of a half +moon, was about ten inches long, four inches wide and an inch deep. +The moss that served as a wick was arranged along the straight side, +and gave out a strong, fishy odour as it burned.</p> + +<p>Besides the tea, hardtack and jerked venison, Bob ate pieces of the +frozen fat pork which had been boiled before starting, and found it +very delicious, as fat always is to a traveller in the far North. The +Eskimos each accepted a small piece of it from him, but when he +offered them a second portion they both said "Taemet,"—Thank you, +enough—and instead helped themselves liberally to raw seal blubber, +which they ate with an evident relish and gusto along with the jerked +venison and hardtack.</p> + +<p>Akonuk, the older of these men, was perhaps thirty-five years of age, +nearly six feet in height and well proportioned. Matuk was not so +tall, but like Akonuk was well formed. Both were muscular and powerful +men physically, and both had round, fat faces that were full of good +nature.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>Intense as was the cold out of doors, the stone lamp soon made the +igloo so warm within that all were compelled to remove their outer +skin garments. The snow, however, was not melted, but remained quite +hard and firm.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos talked and smoked for a whole hour after supper, before +stretching in their sleeping bags, but Bob crawled into his almost +immediately, for he was very weary after his long day's travel. His +knowledge of their language was not sufficient for him to take part in +the conversation, or, indeed, to understand much they said, and the +constant talk soon became tiresome to him, though he kept his ears +open with a view to adding to his Eskimo vocabulary whenever an +opportunity offered.</p> + +<p>"'Tis a strange language an' I'm wonderin' how they understands un," +he observed as he turned over to go to sleep.</p> + +<p>Very early the next morning he heard Akonuk calling to Matuk to wake +up. Then for a little while the two Eskimos conversed together and +finally the lamp was lighted. Over this a snow knife was stuck into +the side of the igloo and the kettle hung upon the knife in such a +position that it was directly over the flame, and snow, cut <a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>from the +side of the igloo near the bottom, was melted for tea, and thus the +simple breakfast was prepared without going out of doors.</p> + +<p>When Bob came out of his bag to eat he realized that a storm was +raging outside, for he could hear the wind roaring around the igloo, +and Akonuk made him understand that a heavy snow-storm was in progress +and a continuation of the journey that day quite out of the question. +When daylight finally filtered dimly through the igloo roof, he +removed the snow block that closed the entrance, and crawled to the +outer world, where he verified Akonuk's statement.</p> + +<p>The air was so filled with snow that it would be quite useless to +attempt to move in it. The previous night the dogs had dug holes for +themselves in the bank and were now completely covered with the drift, +and invisible, and the komatik, too, was quite hidden. The aspect was +dreary in the extreme, and he returned to spend the day dozing in his +sleeping bag.</p> + +<p>For two days they were held prisoners by the storm, and when finally +the third morning dawned clear and cold, a deep covering of soft snow +had spoiled the good going and they found travelling <a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>much slower and +more difficult than the day they started.</p> + +<p>Akonuk and Bob ran ahead on their snow-shoes to break the way for the +dogs, which Matuk drove, and found it necessary to constantly urge the +animals on with shouts of "Oo-isht! Oo-isht! Ok-suit! Ok-suit!" and +sometimes with stinging cuts of his long whip. This whip was made of +braided strands of walrus hide, and tapered from a thickness of two +inches at the butt to one long single strand at the tip. Its handle +was a piece of wood about a foot long and the whole whip was perhaps +thirty-five feet in length. When not in use a loop on the handle was +dropped over the end of one of the forward crosspieces of the komatik, +and its lash trailed behind in the snow. Here it could be readily +reached and brought into instant service. Matuk was an expert in the +manipulation of this cruel instrument, and the dogs were in deadly +fear of it. When he cracked it over their heads they would plunge +madly forward and whine piteously for mercy. When he wished to punish +a dog he could cut it with the lash tip even to the extent of breaking +the skin, if he desired, and he never missed the animal he aimed at.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>Each dog had an individual trace which was fastened to a long, single +thong of sealskin attached to the front of the komatik. These traces +were of varying length, the leader, or dog trained to the Eskimos' +calls, having the longest trace, which permitted it to go well in +advance of the others.</p> + +<p>For several days the journey was monotonous and uneventful. Gradually +as they advanced the travelling improved again, as the March winds +drifted away the soft, loose snow and left the bottom solid and firm +for the dogs.</p> + +<p>Ptarmigans were plentiful, as were also arctic hares, and a white fox +and one or two white owls were killed. The flesh of all these they +ate, and were thus enabled to keep in reserve the provisions they had +brought with them. Bob was rather disgusted than amused to see the +Eskimos eat the flesh of animals and birds raw. They appeared to +esteem as a particular delicacy the freshly killed ptarmigans, still +warm with the life blood, eating even the entrails uncooked.</p> + +<p>One afternoon they turned the komatik from the land to the far +stretching ice of a wide bay directing their course towards a cove on +the <a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>farther side, where the Eskimos said they expected to find +igloos.</p> + +<p>All day a stiff wind had been blowing from the southwest and as the +day grew old it increased in velocity. The komatik was taking an +almost easterly course and therefore the wind did not seriously hamper +their progress, though it was bitter cold and searching and made +travelling extremely uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>Less than half-way across the bay, which was some twelve miles wide, a +crack in the ice was passed over. Presently cracks became numerous, +and glancing behind him Bob noticed a wide black space along the shore +at the point where they had taken to the ice, and could see in the +distance farther to the northwest, as it reflected the light, a white +streak of foam where the angry sea was assailing the ice barrier. He +realized at once that the wind and sea were smashing the ice.</p> + +<p>They were far from land and in grave peril. The Eskimos urged the dogs +to renewed efforts, and the poor brutes themselves, seeming to realize +the danger, pulled desperately at the traces.</p> + +<p>After a time the ice beneath them began to <a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>undulate, moving up and +down in waves and giving an uncertain footing. Between them and the +cove they were heading for, but a little outside of their course, was +a bare, rocky island and the Eskimos suddenly turned the dogs towards +it. The whole body of ice was now separated from the mainland and this +island was the only visible refuge open to them. Behind them the sea +was booming and thundering in a terrifying manner as it drove gigantic +ice blocks like mighty battering rams against the main mass, which +crumbled steadily away before the onslaught.</p> + +<p>It had become a race for life now, and it was a question whether the +sea or the men would win. Once a crack was reached that they could not +cross and they had to make a considerable detour to find a passage +around it, and it looked for a little while as though this sealed +their fate, but with a desperate effort they presently found +themselves within a few yards of the island.</p> + +<p>Here a new danger awaited them. The ice upon the shore was rising and +falling and crumbling against the rocks with each incoming and +receding sea. To successfully land it would be necessary to make a +dash at the very instant <a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>that the ice came in contact with the shore. +A moment too soon or a moment too late and they would inevitably be +crushed to death. It was their only way of escape, however. The +howling dogs were held in leash until the proper moment, and all +prepared for the run.</p> + +<p>Akonuk gave the word. The dogs leaped forward, the men jumped, and +they found themselves ashore. The three grabbed the traces and helped +the dogs jerk the komatik clear of the next sea, and all were at last +safe.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later a landing would have been impossible, and two hours +later the entire bay surrounding their island was swept clear of ice +by the gale and outgoing tide.</p> + +<p>During the whole adventure the Eskimos had conducted themselves with +the utmost coolness and gave Bob confidence and courage. Dangers of +this kind had no terrors for them for they had met them all their +lives.</p> + +<p>They had landed upon the windward side of the island at a point where +they were exposed to the full sweep of the gale.</p> + +<p>"Peungeatuk"—very bad—said Akonuk.</p> + +<p>Then he told Bob to remain by the dogs while he and Matuk looked for a +sheltered <a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>camping place. In half an hour Matuk returned, his face +wreathed in smiles, with the information,</p> + +<p>"Innuit, igloo."</p> + +<p>Then he and Bob drove the dogs to the lee side of the island, where +they found four large snow igloos and several men, women and children, +standing outside waiting to see the white traveller.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos received Bob kindly, and they asked him inside while some +of the men helped Akonuk and Matuk erect an igloo and fix up their +camp.</p> + +<p>The several igloos were all connected by snow tunnels, which permitted +of an easy passage from one to the other without the necessity of +going out of doors. A piece of clear ice, like glass, was set into the +roof of each to answer for a window. They were all filled with a +stench so sickening that Bob soon made an excuse to go outside and +lend a hand in unpacking and helping Akonuk and Matuk make their own +snow house ready.</p> + +<p>There were no boughs here for a bed, as the island sustained no growth +whatever, and in place of the boughs the dog harness was spread about +before the deerskins were put down. In a <a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>little while the place was +made quite comfortable.</p> + +<p>It was not until they sat down to supper that Bob realized fully the +serious position they were in. Akonuk and Matuk, after much +difficulty, for he could understand their Eskimo tongue so +imperfectly, explained to him that there was no means of reaching the +mainland as there were no boats on the island, and that after the food +they had was eaten there would be no means of procuring more, as the +island had no game upon it. They also told him that no one would be +passing the island until summer and that there was therefore no hope +of outside rescue.</p> + +<p>But one chance of escape was possible. If the wind were to shift to +the northward and hold there long enough it would probably drive the +ice back into the bay and then it would quickly freeze and they could +reach the mainland. This their only hope, at this season of the year, +for March was nearly spent, was a scant one.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XX" id="XX"></a><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>PRISONERS OF THE SEA</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The party of Eskimos that Bob and his companions found encamped upon +the island had come from the Kangeva mainland to spear seals through +the animals' breathing holes in the ice, which in this part of the bay +were more numerous than on the mainland side. In the few days since +they had established themselves here they had met with some success, +and had accumulated a sufficient store of meat and blubber to keep +them and their dogs for a month or so, but further seal hunting, or +hunting of any kind, was now out of the question, as no animal life +existed on the island itself, and without boats with which to go upon +the water the people were quite helpless in this respect.</p> + +<p>Limited as was their supply of provisions, however, they unselfishly +offered to share with Bob and his two companions the little they had, +as is the custom with people who have not learned the harder ways of +civilization and <a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>therefore live pretty closely to the Golden Rule. +This hospitality was a considerable strain upon their resources, for +the twelve dogs in addition to their own would require no small amount +of flesh and fat to keep them even half-way fed; and the whale meat +that had been brought for the dogs from Ungava Post was nearly all +gone.</p> + +<p>Akonuk had been instructed by Mr. MacPherson to discover the +whereabouts of these very Eskimos and arrange with two of them to go +on with Bob, after which he and Matuk were to secure from them food +for themselves and their team and return to Ungava.</p> + +<p>A good part of the hardtack, boiled pork and venison still remained, +for, as we have seen, the game they had killed on the way had pretty +nearly been enough for their wants. It was fortunate for Bob that they +had these provisions, which required no cooking, for otherwise he +would have had to eat the raw seal as the Eskimos did. They understood +his aversion to doing this, and generously, and at the same time +preferably, perhaps, ate the uncooked meat themselves, and left the +other for him.</p> + +<p>March passed into April, and daily the situation grew more desperate, +as the provisions <a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>diminished with each sunset. Bob was worried. It +began to look as though he and the Eskimos were doomed to perish on +this miserable island. He was sorry now that he had not waited at +Ungava for the ship, and been more patient, for then he would have +reached Eskimo Bay in safety. At first the Eskimos were very cheerful +and apparently quite unconcerned, and this consoled him somewhat and +made him more confident; but finally even they were showing signs of +restlessness.</p> + +<p>Every day he was becoming more familiar with their language and could +understand more and more of their conversation, and he drew from it +and their actions that they considered the situation most critical. +Back of the igloos was a hill a couple of hundred feet high, and many +times each day the men of the camp would climb it and look long and +earnestly to the north, where the heaving billows of Hudson Straits +and the sky line met, broken only here and there by huge icebergs that +towered like great crystal mountains above the water. They were +watching for the ice field that they hoped would drift down with each +tide to bridge the sea that separated them from the distant mainland.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>The early April days were growing long and the sun's rays shining more +directly upon the world were gaining power, though not yet enough to +bring the temperature up to zero even at high noon, but enough to +remind the men that winter was aging, and the ice hourly less likely +to come back.</p> + +<p>One of the Eskimos, Tuavituk by name, was an Angakok, or conjurer, and +claimed to possess special powers which permitted him to communicate +with Torngak, the Great Spirit who ruled their fortunes just as the +Manitou rules the fortunes of the Indians. Tuavituk one day announced +to the assembled Eskimos that something had been done to displease +Torngak, and to punish them he had caused the storm to come that had +so suddenly carried away the ice and left them marooned upon this +desolate island, and here they would all perish eventually of +starvation unless Torngak were appeased.</p> + +<p>This announcement occasioned a long discussion as to what the cause of +their trouble could have been. One old Eskimo suggested that the ice +had broken up at the very moment that the kablunok—stranger—arrived, +and that his presence was undoubtedly the disturbing influence. <a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>White +men, he said, showed no respect for Torngak, and it was quite +reasonable, therefore, that Torngak should resent it and wish not only +to destroy the white men, but punish the innuit who gave the kablunok +shelter or assistance. If this were the case they could only hope for +relief after first driving Bob from their camp. When once purged of +his presence Torngak would be satisfied, he would send the ice back +into the bay and they would be enabled to return to the mainland and +to renew their hunting.</p> + +<p>A long discussion followed this harangue in which all the men took +part with the exception of Tuavituk, who as Angakok reserved his +opinion until it should be called for in a professional way; and all +agreed with the first speaker save Akonuk and Matuk, who, being +visitors, spoke last.</p> + +<p>Akonuk asserted that he and Matuk had travelled with the kablunok all +the way from Ungava and had enjoyed during that time not only perfect +safety and comfort, but had made an unusually quick and lucky journey, +killing all the ptarmigans and small game they wanted, and +experiencing with the exception of one <a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>snow-storm excellent weather +until they approached Kangeva. Then the ill wind blew upon them and +brought disaster as they came to the camp on the island; therefore it +seemed quite certain that not the kablunok but some of the innuit in +the camp had offended the great Torngak, and amongst themselves they +must look for the cause of their misfortune.</p> + +<p>Matuk followed this speech with an address in which he bore out +Akonuk's statements, and, doubtless having in mind Bob's plentiful +supply of tea, of which beverage Matuk was passionately fond and +partook freely, he stated it as his opinion that the presence of the +kablunok had actually been the source of the good luck they had had +previous to their arrival at Kangeva. Then he wound up with the +startling announcement that he believed he knew the cause of Torngak's +anger: that on the very day of their arrival he had seen Chealuk—one +of the old women—sewing a netsek—sealskin adikey—<i>with the sinew of +the tukto</i>—reindeer.</p> + +<p>Every one turned to Chealuk for confirmation and she said simply,</p> + +<p>"It is true."</p> + +<p>The Eskimos were struck dumb with horror. <a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>This, then, was the cause +of their trouble. For the women to work with any part of the reindeer +while the men were hunting seals was one of the greatest affronts that +could be offered the Great Spirit. Torngak had been insulted and +angered. He must be appeased and mollified at any cost.</p> + +<p>Tuavituk, the Angakok, it was decided, must do some conjuring. He must +get into immediate communication with Torngak and learn the spirit's +wishes and demands and what must be done to dispel the evil charm that +Chealuk had worked by her thoughtlessness. Tauvituk was quite +willing—indeed anxious—to do this, but he demanded to be well paid +for it, and every man had to contribute some valuable pelt or article +of clothing.</p> + +<p>When all preparations for the seance had been made the Angakok's head +was covered and in a few moments he began to utter untelligible +exclamations, which were shortly punctuated by shouts and screams and +ravings. He fell to the floor and seemed stricken with a fit, and Bob +thought the man had gone stark mad. He struck out and grasped those +within his reach, and they were glad to escape from his iron clutch. +<a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>For several minutes this wild frenzy lasted before he said an +intelligible word.</p> + +<p>"The deer! The deer! The deer's sinew! Chealuk! Chealuk! Chealuk! +Torngak! The evil spirit is in Chealuk! She must go! Must go! Send +Chealuk away! Send her away! Send her away! Send her away!"</p> + +<p>Finally from sheer exhaustion he quieted down and came out of his +trance. He probably thought that he had given them their value's worth +and what they had wanted, and that they should be satisfied.</p> + +<p>It was now decreed that, this being the direct command of Torngak, +Chealuk must be expelled from the camp. Some even asserted that she +should be killed, but the majority decided that as Torngak had said +merely that "Chealuk must go" that meant only that she must be sent +away. If this did not prove sufficient to counteract their ill luck, +why she could, after a reasonable time, be sought out and dispatched, +if she had not in the meantime perished.</p> + +<p>The feeble old woman heard it all with outward stoic indifference. It +was a part of her religion and she probably thought the punishment +quite just, and whatever shrinking of spirit she <a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>felt, she hid it +heroically from the others. To have been killed immediately would have +been more humane than banishment, for the latter only meant a slower +but just as sure a death, from exposure and starvation.</p> + +<p>To Bob, who had listened intently and was able to grasp the situation +in a general way, it seemed heartless in the extreme; but his protests +would not only have been powerless to move the Eskimos from their +purpose, but in all probability would have worked harm for himself and +to no avail. These people that at first had seemed so amiable and +hospitable, and almost childlike in their nature, had been by their +heathen superstitions suddenly transformed into cruel, unsympathetic +savages.</p> + +<p>"Oh," thought Bob, "if I had but heeded Sishetakushin's warning!"</p> + +<p>But it was too late now to repent of the course he had taken and he +had only to abide by it. It seemed to him that his own life hung by a +mere thread and that at any moment some fancy might strike them to +sacrifice him too. He had indeed but barely escaped Chealuk's fate, +and the next time he might not be so fortunate.</p> + +<p>In this disturbed state of mind he withdrew <a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>from the igloos and +climbed the hill, where he stood and gazed longingly at the mainland +hills to the southward, wondering where, beyond those cold, white +ranges, lay Wolf Bight and his little cabin home, warm and clean and +tidy, and whether his mother and father and Emily thought him safe or +had heard of his disappearance and were mourning him as dead. And here +he was far, far away in the north and hopelessly—apparently—stranded +upon a desolate island from which he would probably never escape and +never see them again.</p> + +<p>Oh, how lonely and disconsolate he felt. Every day since he left home +he had prayed God to keep the loved ones safe and to take him back to +them.</p> + +<p>"I hopes they're safe an' Emily's better, but th' Lard's been losin' +track o' me," he said to himself with a wavering faith.</p> + +<p>"But th' Lard took me safe t' Ungava, an' He must be watchin' me," he +exclaimed after further thought. "An' He's been rare good t' me."</p> + +<p>Then like a bulwark to lean against there came to him the words of his +mother as they parted that beautiful September morning:</p> + +<p>"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember <a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>your mother's prayin' +for you every night an' every mornin'."</p> + +<p>And Emily had said, too, that she would ask God every night to keep +him safe. This brought him a renewal of his faith and he argued,</p> + +<p>"Th' Lard'll sure not be denyin' mother an' Emily, an' they askin' He +every day t' bring me back. He sure would not be denyin' they for He +knows how bad 'twould be makin' they feel if I were not comin' home. +An' He wouldn't be wantin' <i>that</i>, for they never does nothin' t' make +He cross with un."</p> + +<p>This thought comforted him and he said confidently to himself,</p> + +<p>"Th' Lard'll be showin' th' way when th' right time comes an' I'll try +t' bide content till then."</p> + +<p>But there was little in the surroundings to warrant Bob's faith. +Looking about him from the hilltop he could see nothing but open sea +around the island with an expanse of desolation beyond—snow, snow +everywhere, from the water's edge to where the rugged mountains to the +south and east held their cold heads into the gray clouds that hid the +sky and sun. The sea was sombre and black. Not a breath of air +stirred, not a sound broke the silence, and it <a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>seemed almost as +though Nature in anxious suspense watched the outcome of it all. But +Bob's faith was renewed—the simple, childlike faith of his +people—and he felt better and more content with himself and his +fortune.</p> + +<p>It was growing dusk when he returned to the igloos. As he descended +the hill a flake of snow struck his face and it was followed by +others. A breath of wind like a blast from a bellows swirled the +flakes abroad. The elements were awakening.</p> + +<p>In the igloos Akonuk and Matuk were brewing tea for supper and the +three ate in silence.</p> + +<p>Bob asked once,</p> + +<p>"What's to be done with Chealuk?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," they answered laconically.</p> + +<p>This relieved the anxiety he felt for her, and he crawled into his +sleeping bag and went to sleep, thinking that after all the judgment +of the Angakok was a mere form, not to be executed literally.</p> + +<p>After some hours Bob awoke. The wind was blowing a gale outside. He +could hear it quite distinctly. From what direction it came he could +not tell, and after lying awake for a long while he decided to arise +and see.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>When he removed the block of snow from the igloo entrance and crawled +outside he was all but smothered by the swirling snow of a terrific, +raging blizzard. He turned his back to the blast, and realized that it +came from the north-east. The cold was piercing and awful. The +elements which had been held in subjection for so long were unleashed +and were venting themselves with all the untamed fury of the North +upon the world.</p> + +<p>As he turned to reënter the igloo an apparition brushed past him +rushing off into the night.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>But the wind brought back no answer and overcome with a feeling of +trepidation and a sense of impending tragedy, half believing that he +had seen a ghost, he crawled back to his cover and warm sleeping bag +to wonder.</p> + +<p>There was no cessation in the storm or change in the conditions the +next day. In the morning while they were drinking their hot tea Bob +told Akonuk and Matuk of the apparition he had seen in the night.</p> + +<p>"That," they said in awe, "was the spirit of Torngak," and Bob was +duly impressed.</p> + +<p>Upon a visit later to the other igloos he <a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>missed Chealuk. She had +always sat in one corner plying her needle, and had always had a word +for him when he came in to pay a visit. Her absence was therefore +noticeable and Bob asked one of the Eskimos where she was.</p> + +<p>"Gone," said the Eskimo.</p> + +<p>And this was all he could learn from them. Poor old Chealuk had been +sent away, and it must have been she, then, that he had seen in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>That night Bob was aroused again, and he immediately realized that +something of moment had occurred. Akonuk and Matuk were awake and +talking excitedly, and through the shrieking of the gale outside came +a distinct and unusual sound. It was like the roar of distant thunder, +but still it was not thunder. He sat up sharply to learn the meaning +of it all.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>ADRIFT ON THE ICE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>The unusual sound that Bob heard was the pounding of ice driven by the +mighty force of wind and tide against the island rocks. This the +Eskimos verified with many exclamations of delight. The hoped for had +happened and release from their imprisonment was at hand. Bob thanked +God for remembering them.</p> + +<p>"I were thinkin' th' Lard would not be losin' sight o' me now He's +been so watchful in all th' other times I were needin' help," said he +as he lay down.</p> + +<p>To the Eskimos it was a proof of the efficacy of the appeal to the +Angakok.</p> + +<p>During the next day the high wind and snow continued until dusk. Then +the weather began to calm and before morning the sky was clear and the +stars shining cold and brilliant, and the sun rose clear and +beautiful. Kangeva Bay, a solid held of ice again, as it was when Bob +first <a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>saw it, stretched away unbroken and white to the northward.</p> + +<p>No time was lost in making preparations for their escape. The komatiks +were packed at once with the camp goods and the little food that still +remained, the dogs were harnessed and a quick march took them safely +to the mainland.</p> + +<p>Here the Eskimos had an ample cache of seal and walrus meat killed +earlier in the season. New igloos were built, as the old ones in use +before they transferred to the island were not considered comfortable, +the previous occupancy having softened the interior snow, which was +now encrusted with a thin glaze of ice and this glaze prevented a free +circulation of air.</p> + +<p>Bob wanted to go on without delay but Akonuk and Matuk had found none +of the Eskimos willing to proceed with him. It was therefore necessary +for them to go with him until another camp was reached, and they +insisted upon delaying the start a day in order as they said to give +the dogs a good feed and get them in better shape for the journey, as +they for some time had been fed only each alternate day instead of +every day as was customary, and even then had <a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>received but half their +usual portion. This seemed quite reasonable, but when Bob saw his +friends a little later consuming raw seal meat themselves in enormous +quantities, he concluded that the dogs were not the only object of +their consideration.</p> + +<p>They were still busily engaged arranging their new quarters when one +of the Eskimos called the attention of the others to a black object +far out upon the ice in the direction from which they had come. Slowly +it tottered towards them and in a little while it was made out to be +old Chealuk, who had been in hiding somewhere on the island. The poor +old woman, nearly starved and with frozen hands and feet, was barely +able to drag herself into camp. Some of the men protested against +receiving her but she was finally permitted to enter the igloos and +take up her old place, though with the understanding that she should +leave again immediately at the first indication of Torngak's +displeasure.</p> + +<p>It was a great relief to Bob to know that she had not perished. The +old woman had only been able to keep from freezing to death, as he +learned, by hollowing out a place in a snow-bank in which to lie and +letting the snow drift thickly <a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>over her and remaining there until the +storm had spent itself.</p> + +<p>"Sure I'm glad t' see she back again," thought Bob, and he voiced the +sentiment to Matuk.</p> + +<p>"Atsuk"—I don't know—said the Eskimo with a shrug of the shoulders.</p> + +<p>While, as we have seen, none of the Eskimos would take the place of +Akonuk and Matuk, they gave them sufficient seal meat and blubber for +a two weeks' journey, and early the next morning the march eastward +was resumed.</p> + +<p>Bob was now driven to eating seal meat, as all his other provisions +were exhausted, though, fortunately, he still had an abundance of tea. +He had often eaten seal meat at home and was rather fond of it when it +was properly cooked, but now no wood with which to make a fire was to +be had. The land was absolutely barren, and even the moss was so +deeply hidden beneath the snow it could not be resorted to for this +purpose. Evenings in the igloo he boiled some meat over the stone +lamp—enough to last him through the following day—but at best he +could get it but partially cooked. However, he soon learned not to +mind this much, for hunger is the best imaginable sauce, and in the +cold of the Arctic <a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>north one can eat with a relish what could not be +endured in a milder climate.</p> + +<p>For several days they traversed mountain passes where they were shut +in by towering, rugged peaks which seemed to reach to the very +heavens. Bleak and desolate as the landscape was it possessed a +magnificence and grandeur that demanded admiration and called forth +Bob's constant wonder. He would gaze up at the mysterious white +summits and ejaculate,</p> + +<p>"'Tis grand! 'Tis wonderful grand!"</p> + +<p>Such mountains he had never seen before, and like all wilderness +dwellers he was a lover of Nature's beauties and a close observer of +her wonders.</p> + +<p>It was near the middle of April now and the sun's rays, reflected by +the snow, were growing dazzlingly bright and beginning to affect their +eyes. Goggles should have been worn as a protection against this glare +but they had none and did not trouble to make them until one night +Matuk found that he was overtaken by a slight attack of +snow-blindness. This is an extremely painful affliction which does not +permit the sufferer to approach the light or, in fact, so much as open +his eyes without experiencing agony. <a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>The sensation is that of having +innumerable splinters driven into the eyeballs with the lids when +opened and closed grating over the splinters.</p> + +<p>While they were waiting for Matuk to recover his eyesight Akonuk and +Bob removed one of the wooden cross-bars from the komatik and with +their knives cut from it three pieces each long enough to fit over the +eyes for a pair of goggles. These were rounded to fit the face and a +place whittled out for the nose to fit into. Then hollow places were +cut large enough to permit the eyelids to open and close in them, and +opposite each eye hollow a narrow slit for the wearer to look through. +Then the interior of the eye places were blackened with smoke from the +stone lamp, and a thong of sealskin was fastened to each end of the +goggles with which to tie them in place upon the head.</p> + +<p>Thus a pair of goggles was ready for each when, after a three days' +rest Matuk's eyes were well enough for him to continue the journey, +and by constantly wearing them on days when the sun shone, further +danger of snow-blindness was averted.</p> + +<p>Two days later, upon emerging from a <a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>mountain pass, they suddenly saw +stretching far away to the eastward the great ocean ice. The sight +sent the blood tingling through Bob's veins. Nearly half the journey +from Ungava to Eskimo Bay had been accomplished!</p> + +<p>"Th' coast! Th' coast!" shouted Bob. "Now I'll be gettin' home inside +a month!"</p> + +<p>He began at once to plan the surprise he had in store for the folk and +an early trip that he would make over to the Post, when he would tell +Bessie about his great "cruise" and hear her say that she was glad to +see him back again. But Fortune does not wait upon human plans and +Bob's fortitude was yet to be tried as it never had been tried before.</p> + +<p>That afternoon an Eskimo village of snow igloos was reached. The +Eskimos swarmed out to meet the visitors and gave them a whole-souled +welcome, and in an hour they were quite settled for a brief stay in +the new quarters.</p> + +<p>Akonuk told Bob that now after the dogs, which were very badly spent, +had a few days in which to rest, he and Matuk would turn back to +Ungava. They would try to arrange for two more Eskimos with a fresh +team to go on with him, but as for themselves, even were the dogs in +<a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>condition to travel, they did not know the trail beyond this point.</p> + +<p>The Eskimos here, like those they had met on the island at Kangeva, +were engaged in seal hunting, and none of the men seemed to care to +leave their work for a long, hard journey south. They did not say, +however, that they would not go. When they were asked their answer +was:</p> + +<p>"In a little while—perhaps."</p> + +<p>This was very unsatisfactory to Bob in his anxious frame of mind. But +he had learned that Eskimos must be left to bide their time, and that +no amount of coaxing would hurry them, so he tried to await their +moods in patience. He understood the reluctance of the men to go away +during one of the best hunting seasons of the year and could not find +fault with them for it.</p> + +<p>The seals were the mainstay of their living and to lose the hunt might +mean privation. They were in need of the skins for clothing, kayaks +and summer tents, and the flesh and blubber for food for themselves +and their dogs, and the oil for their stone lamps.</p> + +<p>Later in the season they would harpoon the animals from their kayaks, +but this was the great harvest time when they killed them by spearing +<a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>through holes in the ice where the seals came at intervals to breathe, +for a seal will die unless it can get fresh air occasionally. Early in +the morning each Eskimo would take up his position near one of these +breathing holes, and there, with spear poised, not moving so much as a +foot, sometimes for hours at a time, await patiently the appearance of +a seal, which, having many similar holes, might not chance to come to +this particular one the whole day.</p> + +<p>The spear used had a long, wooden handle, with a barbed point made of +metal or ivory, and so arranged that the barbed point came off the +handle after it had been driven into the animal. To the point was +fastened one end of a long sealskin line, the other end of which the +hunter tied about his waist.</p> + +<p>The moment a seal's nose made its appearance at the breathing hole the +watchful Eskimo drove the spear into its body. Then began a tug of war +between man and seal, and sometimes the Eskimos had narrow escapes +from being pulled into the holes.</p> + +<p>The seals of Labrador, it should be explained, are the hair, and not +the fur seals such as are found in the Alaskan waters and the South +Sea. <a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>There are five varieties of them, the largest of which is the +hood seal and the smallest the doter or harbour seal. The square +flipper also grows to a very large size. The other two kinds are the +jar and the harp.</p> + +<p>These all have different names applied to them according to their age. +Thus a new-born harp is a "puppy," then a "white coat"; when it is old +enough to take to the water, which is within a fortnight after birth, +it becomes a "paddler," a little later a "bedlamer," then a "young +harp" and finally a harp. The handsomest of them all is the "ranger," +as the young doter is called.</p> + +<p>Finally, one evening when all the men were assembled in the igloos +after their day's hunt, Akonuk announced that he and Matuk were to +return home the next morning. This renewed the discussion as to who +should go on with Bob, and the upshot of it was that two young +fellows—Netseksoak and Aluktook—with the promise that Mr. Forbes +would reward them for aiding to bring the letters which Bob carried, +volunteered to make the journey.</p> + +<p>This settled the matter to Bob's satisfaction and it was agreed that, +as the season was far advanced, it would be necessary to start at once +in <a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>order to give the two men time to reach home again before the +spring break-up of the ice.</p> + +<p>Long before daylight the next morning the Eskimos were lashing the +load on the komatik and at dawn the dogs were harnessed and everything +ready. Bob said good-bye to Akonuk and Matuk and the two teams took +different directions and were soon lost to each other's view.</p> + +<p>"'Twill not be long now," said Bob to himself, "an' we gets t' th' +Bay."</p> + +<p>The sun at midday was now so warm that it softened the snow, which, +freezing towards evening, made a hard ice crust over which the komatik +slipped easily and permitted of very fast travelling until the snow +began to soften again towards noon. Therefore the early part of the +day was to be taken advantage of.</p> + +<p>The new team, containing eleven dogs, was really made up of two small +teams, one of six dogs belonging to Netseksoak and the other of five +dogs the property of Aluktook. At first the two sets of dogs were +inclined to be quarrelsome and did not work well together. At the very +start they had a pitched battle which resulted in the crippling of +Aluktook's leader to such an extent that for two days it was almost +useless.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>However, with the good going fast time was made. Usually they kept to +the sea ice, but sometimes took short cuts across necks of land where, +as had been the case near Ungava, the men had to haul on the traces +with the dogs.</p> + +<p>The new drivers were much younger men than Akonuk and Matuk and they +were in many respects more companionable. But Bob missed a sort of +fatherly interest that the others had shown in him and did not rely so +implicitly upon their judgment.</p> + +<p>Able now as he was to understand very much of their conversation, he +took part in the discussion of various routes and expressed his +opinion as to them; and the Eskimos, who at first had looked upon him +as a more or less inexperienced kablunok, soon began to feel that he +knew nearly as much about dog and komatik travelling as they did +themselves. Thus a sort of good fellowship developed at once.</p> + +<p>One evening after a hard day's travelling as they came over the crest +of a hill the first grove of trees that Bob had seen since shortly +after leaving Ungava came in sight. It was the most welcome thing that +had met his view in weeks, and when the dogs were turned to its edge +and <a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>he saw a small shack, he knew that he was nearing again the white +man's country.</p> + +<p>The shack was found to have no occupants, but it contained a sheet +iron stove such as he had used in his tilts, and that night he +revelled in the warmth of a fire and a feast of boiled ptarmigan and +tea.</p> + +<p>"'Tis like gettin' back t' th' Bay," said Bob, and he asked the +Eskimos, "Will there be igloosoaks (shacks) all the way?"</p> + +<p>"Igloosoaks every night," answered Aluktook.</p> + +<p>The following morning a westerly breeze was blowing and the Eskimos +were uncertain whether to keep to the land or follow the sea ice along +the shore. The former route, they explained to Bob, passed over high +hills and was much the harder and longer one of the two, but safer. +The ice route along the shore was smooth and could be accomplished +much more quickly, but at this season of the year was fraught with +more or less danger. For many miles the shore rose in precipitous +rocks, and should a westerly gale arise while they were passing this +point, the ice was likely to break away and no escape could be made to +the shore. The wind blowing then from the West was not strong enough +yet, they <a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>said, to cause any trouble, and they did not think it would +rise, but still it was uncertain.</p> + +<p>"Which way should they go?"</p> + +<p>Bob's experience at Kangeva made him hesitate for a moment, but his +impatience to reach home quickly got the better of his judgment; and, +especially as the Eskimos seemed inclined to prefer the outside route, +he joined them in their preference and answered,</p> + +<p>"We'll be goin' outside."</p> + +<p>And the outside route they took.</p> + +<p>All went well for a time, but hourly the wind increased. The dogs were +urged on, but the wind kept blowing them to leeward and they began to +show signs of giving out. Finally a veritable gale was blowing and the +Eskimos' faces grew serious.</p> + +<p>They were now opposite that part of the shore where it rose a +perpendicular wall of rock towering a hundred feet above the sea, and +offered no place of refuge. So they hurried on as best they could in +the hope of rounding the walls and making land before the inevitable +break came. Presently Aluktook shouted,</p> + +<p>"Emuk! Emuk!"—the water! the water!</p> + +<p>Bob and Netseksoak looked, and a ribbon <a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>of black water lay between +them and the shore.</p> + +<p>They lashed the dogs and shouted at them until they were hoarse, in a +vain effort to urge them on. The poor brutes lay to the ice and did +their best, but it was quite hopeless. In an incredibly short time the +ribbon had widened into a gulf a quarter of a mile wide. Then it grew +to a mile, and presently the shore became a thin black line that was +soon lost to view entirely. They were adrift on the wide Atlantic!</p> + +<p>They stopped the dogs when they realized that further effort was +useless and sat down on the komatik in impotent dismay.</p> + +<p>The weather had grown intensely cold and the perspiration that the +excitement and exertion had brought out upon their faces was freezing. +Snow squalls were already beginning and before nightfall a blizzard +was raging in all its awful fury and at any moment the ice pack was +liable to go to pieces.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXII" id="XXII"></a><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE MAID OF THE NORTH</h3> +<br /> + +<p>"The's no profit in this trade any more," said Captain Sam Hanks, as +he sat down to supper with his mate, Jack Simmons, in the little cabin +of his schooner, <i>Maid of the North</i>. "I won't get a seaman's wages +out o' th' cruise, an' I'm sick o' workin' fer nothin'. Now there was +a time before th' free traders done th' business t' death that a man +could make good money on th' Labrador, but that time's past They pays +so much fer th' fur they's spoiled it fer everybody, an' I'm goin' t' +quit."</p> + +<p>"Th' free traders don't go north o' th' Straits much. Why don't ye try +it there, sir?" suggested the mate.</p> + +<p>"Ice. Too much ice. I've been thinkin' it over. Th' trouble is we +couldn't get through th' ice in th' spring until after th' Hudson's +Bay people had gobbled up everything. Th' natives down that coast is +poor as Job's turkey, an' they has t' sell their fur soon's th' +furrin' season's <a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>over. I hears th' company gets th' fur from 'em fer +a song. Them natives'll give ye a silver fox fer a jackknife an' a +barrel o' flour, an' a marten fer a gallon o' molasses. But the's +money in it if a feller could get there in time," he added +thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"What's th' matter with goin' down in th' fall before th' ice blocks +th' coast? Th' <i>Maid o' th' North</i> is sheathed fer ice, an' we could +freeze her in, some place down th' coast, an' be on hand t' sail when +th' ice clears in th' spring, We could let th' folks know where we +were t' freeze up, an' we'd pick up a lot o' fur before th' ice +breaks, an' th' natives'd hold th' rest until we calls comin' south. +The's a big chanct there," said the mate, conclusively.</p> + +<p>"I dunno but yer right. I hadn't thought o' goin' down in th' fall t' +freeze up. We'd have t' be gettin' t' our anchorage by th' first o' +October."</p> + +<p>"The's plenty o' time t' do that, sir. 'Twon't take more'n ten days t' +fit out."</p> + +<p>"Then the's th' cost o' shippin' th' crew t' be taken into account, 'n +havin' 'em doin' nothin' th' hull winter. I don't know's the'd be much +in it after everythin's counted out."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>"That's easy 'nuff fixed. Take a lot o' traps an' let th' crew hunt in +th' winter. Ye wouldn't have t' pay 'em then when ye wasn't afloat. Ye +could give 'em their keep an' let 'em hunt with th' traps on shore an' +make a little outen 'em. The's always fools 'nuff as thinks they'll +get rich if they has a chanct t' try their hand doin' somethin' they +ain't been doin' before, an' you kin get a crew o' fellers like that +easy 'nuff."</p> + +<p>"I dunno. Maybe I kin an' maybe I can't. Sounds like it's worth tryin' +an' I'll think about it."</p> + +<p>Every spring for ten years Captain Hanks—Skipper Sam he was generally +called—had sailed out of Halifax Harbour with his schooner <i>Maid of +the North</i> to work his way into the Gulf of St. Lawrence when the +waters were clear of ice, and trade a general cargo of merchandise for +furs with the Indians and white trappers along the north shore and the +Straits of Belle Isle—the southern Labrador.</p> + +<p>At first he found the trade extremely lucrative, and during the first +four or five years in which he was engaged in it accumulated a snug +sum of money, the income of which would have been quite sufficient to +keep him comfortably the <a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>remainder of his life in the modest way in +which he lived.</p> + +<p>But Skipper Sam was much like other people, and the more he had the +more he wanted, so he continued in the fur trade. The fact that he had +purchased some city real estate for the purpose of speculation became +known, and other skippers sailing schooners of their own, with an eye +to lucrative, trade, decided that "Skipper Sam must be havin' a darn +good thing on th' Labrador," and when the <i>Maid of the North</i> made her +fifth voyage she had another schooner to keep her company, and another +skipper was on hand to compete with Skipper Sam.</p> + +<p>Each year had brought additions to the trading fleet, and competition +had raised the price of fur until now the trappers, with a ready +market, were growing quite independent, and Skipper Sam, instead of +paying what he pleased for the pelts, which, when he had a monopoly of +the trade, was a merely nominal price as compared with their value, +was forced in order to get them at all to pay more nearly their true +worth.</p> + +<p>Even now he was making a fair profit, but his mind constantly reverted +to the "good old days" when his returns were from five hundred <a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>to a +thousand per cent. on his investment, and he felt injured and +dissatisfied. At the end of every voyage he declared solemnly that he +was no longer making more than seamen's wages and would quit the +trade, and the mate, who was well aware of the captain's comfortable +financial position, always believed he meant it.</p> + +<p>It should be said to Captain Hanks' credit that he paid his mate and +crew of five men the highest going wages, and treated them well and +kindly. So long as they attended strictly to their duties he was their +friend. They were provided with the best of food and they appreciated +the good treatment and were loyal to Captain Hanks' interest and very +much attached to the <i>Maid of the North</i>, as seamen are to a good ship +that for several voyages has been their home.</p> + +<p>So it was that the mate made his suggestions so freely. If Captain +Hanks were to quit the trade he knew that it would be many a day +before he secured another such berth, and his solicitude was therefore +not alone in the captain's interests but was largely a matter of +looking out for himself.</p> + +<p>The voyage just completed had not, in fact, <a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>been a very profitable +one, for the previous winter had been a poor year for the trappers +that they dealt with, just as it had been farther north in Eskimo Bay, +and Skipper Sam had good reason for feeling discouraged.</p> + +<p>It was early in August now, and the <i>Maid of the North</i> was entering +Halifax Harbour with the expectation of tying up at her berth the next +morning. If she were to go north it would be necessary for her to be +fitted out for the voyage immediately in order to reach her winter +quarters before the ice began to form in the bays.</p> + +<p>The two men ate their supper and both went on deck to smoke their +pipes. Skipper Sam had no more to say about the proposed undertaking +until late in the evening, when he called the mate to his cabin, where +he had retired after his smoke, and there the mate found him poring +over a chart.</p> + +<p>"D'ye know anything about this coast?" the skipper asked, without +looking up.</p> + +<p>The mate glanced over his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Not much, sir. I was down on a fishin' cruise once when I was a lad."</p> + +<p>"Well, how far down ought we t' go, d' ye think, before we lays up?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>"I think, sir, we should go north o' Indian Harbour. Th' farther north +we gets, th' more fur we'll pick up."</p> + +<p>"Well," said the skipper, standing up, "I'm goin' t' sail just as +quick as I can fit out. Ship th' crew on th' best terms ye can. We got +t' move smart, fer I wants time t' run well down before th' ice +catches us."</p> + +<p>"All right, sir."</p> + +<p>Thus it happened that the <i>Maid of the North</i>, spick and span, with a +new coat of paint on the outside, and a good stock of provisions and +articles of trade in her hold, sailed out of Halifax Harbour and +turned her prow to the northward on the first day of September, and +was plowing her way to the Labrador at the very time that Bob Gray +with his mother and Emily were returning so disconsolate to Wolf Bight +after hearing the verdict of the mail boat doctor, and Bob was making +the plans that carried him into the interior.</p> + +<p>The <i>Maid of the North</i> called at many harbours by the way and the +fame of Captain Hanks spread amongst the livyeres, as the native +Labradormen are called. He told them what fabulous prices he would pay +them for their furs in the <a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>spring when he came south, with open +water, and they promised him to a man to reserve the bulk of their +catch for him, and all had visions of coming wealth.</p> + +<p>It was decided that they winter in the Harbour of God's Hope, just +north of Cape Harrigan, and after passing Indian Harbour the natives +were notified that if they wished any supplies during the winter they +could bring their furs there and get what they needed.</p> + +<p>The Harbour of God's Hope was found to be a deep, narrow inlet, not as +well protected from the sea as might be desired, but still +comparatively well sheltered, and particularly advantageous from the +fact that the shores of the upper end of the inlet were wooded, an +essential feature, as it provided an abundance of good fuel, and the +supply on board was far from adequate for their needs.</p> + +<p>The <i>Maid of the North</i> was made as snug as possible for the +freeze-up, but could not be brought as close to shore as desirable, +because of shoals. However, her position was deemed quite safe, and +Skipper Sam experienced a sense of supreme satisfaction at his +achievements and the prospects for a profitable trade in the spring.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>The crew were put at work immediately to build a log shack for shore +quarters, which was shortly accomplished. This shack was of ample size +and was furnished with a stove brought from Halifax for the purpose, +some chairs, a table and a kitchen outfit.</p> + +<p>The skipper, the mate and the cook remained on board at first, but the +crew were given permission to go ashore and hunt and trap in the hills +back of the harbour, an opportunity of which they promptly took +advantage.</p> + +<p>As the cold weather came on and the ice formed thick and hard around +the vessel it seemed unnecessary to keep a watch aboard, and as the +shack was much more roomy than the cabin, and therefore more +comfortable, all hands finally took up their quarters in it.</p> + +<p>As the winter wore on livyeres began to pay frequent visits to Skipper +Sam from up and down the coast, and they all brought furs to trade. +With the approach of spring the skipper found to his satisfaction that +he had already collected more pelts than he had been able to purchase +on his previous spring's voyage in the South, and at prices that even +to him seemed ridiculously low. These furs were duly stored aboard the +<i>Maid of <a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>the North</i>, and by the first of May she had a cargo that +could have been disposed of in Halifax or Montreal for several +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the skipper suggested to the mate one +evening,</p> + +<p>"Jack, les go caribou huntin' t'-morrer. I'm gettin' stiff hangin' +'round here."</p> + +<p>"All right, sir," acquiesced the mate, "but," he asked, "th' crew's +all away exceptin' th' cook, an' who'll look after things here if we +both goes t' once?"</p> + +<p>"We kin leave the cook alone fer one day I guess. If any o' th' +livyeres come he kin keep 'em till we comes back in th' evenin'."</p> + +<p>The arrangements were therefore made for the hunt, and the following +morning bright and early they were off.</p> + +<p>At sunrise there was a slight westerly breeze blowing, and the skipper +suggested,</p> + +<p>"Th' wind might stiffen up a bit an' we better keep an eye to it."</p> + +<p>They were well back in the hills before the predicted stiffening came +to such an extent that they decided it was wise to return to the +shack.</p> + +<p>Skipper Sam and his mate were not accustomed to land travelling and +the hurried retreat <a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>soon winded them and they were held down to so +slow a walk that the afternoon was half spent and the wind had grown +to a gale when they finally came in view of the harbour. Skipper Sam +was ahead, and when he looked towards the place where the <i>Maid of the +North</i> had been snugly held in the ice in the morning he rubbed his +eyes. Then he looked again, and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"By gum!"</p> + +<p>The harbour was clear of ice and nowhere on the horizon was the <i>Maid +of the North</i> to be seen. The gale had swept the ice to sea and +carried with it the <i>Maid of the North</i> and all her valuable cargo. +The cook, asleep in his bunk in the shack, was quite unconscious of +the calamity when the skipper roused him to demand explanations.</p> + +<p>But there were no explanations to be given. The schooner was gone, +that was all, and Captain Sam Hanks and his crew were stranded upon +the coast of Labrador.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXIII" id="XXIII"></a><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Bob and his companions were indeed in a most desperate situation, and +even they, accustomed and inured as they were to the vicissitudes and +rigours of the North, could see no possible way of escape. Men of less +courage or experience would probably have resigned themselves to their +fate at once, without one further effort to preserve their lives, and +in an hour or two have succumbed to the bitter cold of the storm. But +these men had learned to take events as they came largely as a matter +of course, and they did not for a moment lose heart or self-control.</p> + +<p>The dogs were driven a little farther towards the interior of the ice, +for if the pack were to break up the outer edge would be the first to +go. Here immediate preparations were made to camp.</p> + +<p>There was no bank from which snow blocks could be cut for an igloo, +and the blinding <a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>snow so obscured their surroundings that they could +not so much as find a friendly ice hummock to take refuge behind. The +gale, in fact, was so fierce that they could scarce hold their feet +against it, and had they released their hold of the komatik even for +an instant, it is doubtful if they could have found it again.</p> + +<p>The deerskin sleeping bags were unlashed and the sledge turned upon +its side. In the lee of this the bags were stretched upon the ice and +with their skin clothes on they crawled into them. Each called +"Oksunae"—be strong—have courage—to the others, and then drew his +head within the folds of his skin covering.</p> + +<p>Bob wore the long, warm coat that Manikawan had made for him, and as +he snuggled close into the bag he thought of her kindness to him, and +he dreamed that night that he had gone back and found her waiting for +him and looking just as she did the morning she waved him farewell, as +she stood in the light of the cold winter moon—tall and graceful and +comely, with the tears glistening in her eyes.</p> + +<p>The dogs, still in harness, lay down where they stood, and in a little +while the snow, which found lodgment against the komatik, covered <a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>men +and dogs alike in one big drift and the weary travellers slept warm +and well regardless of the fact that at any moment the ice might part +and they be swallowed up by the sea.</p> + +<p>The storm was one of those sudden outbursts of anger that winter in +his waning power inflicts upon the world in protest against the coming +spring supplanting him, and as a reminder that he still lives and +carries with him his withering rod of chastisement and breath of +destruction. But he was now so old and feeble that in a single night +his strength was spent, and when morning dawned the sun arose with a +new warmth and the wind had ceased to blow.</p> + +<p>The men beneath the snow did not move. It was quite useless for them +to get up. There was nothing that they could do, and they might as +well be sleeping as wandering aimlessly about the ice field.</p> + +<p>The dogs, however, thought differently. They had not been fed the +previous night, and bright and early they were up, nosing about within +the limited area afforded them by the length of their traces. One of +them began to dig away the snow around the komatik. He paused, held +his nose into the drift a moment and <a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>sniffed, then went vigorously to +work again with his paws. Soon he grabbed something in his fangs. The +others joined him, and the snarling and fighting that ensued aroused +Bob and the sleeping Eskimos.</p> + +<p>Aluktook was the first to throw off the snow and look out to see what +the trouble was about Then he shouted and jumped to his feet, kicking +the dogs with all his power. Bob and Netseksoak sprang to his aid, but +they were too late.</p> + +<p>The dogs had devoured every scrap of food they had, save some tea that +Bob kept in a small bag in which he carried his few articles of +dunnage.</p> + +<p>This was a terrible condition of affairs, for though they were +doubtless doomed to drown with the first wind strong enough to shatter +the ice, still the love of living was strong within them, and they +must eat to live.</p> + +<p>Separating and going in different directions, the three hunted about +in the vain hope that somewhere on the ice there might be seals that +they could kill, but nowhere was there to be seen a living +thing—nothing but one vast field of ice reaching to the horizon on +the north, east and south. To the west the water sparkled in the +<a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>sunlight, but no land and no life, human or otherwise, was within the +range of vision.</p> + +<p>After a time they returned to their bivouac and then drove the dogs a +little farther into the ice pack to a high hummock that Aluktook had +found, and with an axe and snow knives cut blocks of ice from the +hummock and snow from a drift on its lee side, and finally had a +fairly substantial igloo built. This they made as comfortable as +possible, and settled in it as the last shelter they should ever have +in the world, as they all firmly believed it would prove.</p> + +<p>They were now driven to straits by thirst, but there was not a drop of +water, save the salt sea water, to be had.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to burn the komatik," said Aluktook.</p> + +<p>Netseksoak knocked two or three cross-bars from it and built a +miniature fire, using the wood with the greatest possible economy, and +by this means melted a kettle of ice, and Bob brewed some tea.</p> + +<p>The warm drink was stimulating, and gave them renewed ambition. They +separated again in search of game, but again returned, towards +evening, empty handed.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>"Too late for seals," the Eskimos remarked laconically.</p> + +<p>All were weak from lack of food, and when they gathered at the igloo +it was decided that one of the dogs must be killed.</p> + +<p>"We'll eat Amulik, he's too old to work anyway," suggested Netseksoak.</p> + +<p>Amulik, the dog thus chosen for the sacrifice, was a fine old fellow, +one of Netseksoak's dogs that had braved the storms of many winters. +The poor brute seemed to understand the fate in store for him, for he +slunk away when he saw Netseksoak loading his gun. But his retreat was +useless, and in a little while his flesh was stored in the igloo and +the Eskimos were dining upon it uncooked.</p> + +<p>Though Bob was, of course, very hungry, he declined to eat raw dog +meat, and to cook it was quite out of the question, for the little +wood contained in the komatik he realized must be reserved for melting +ice, as otherwise they would have nothing to drink. Another day, +however, and he was so driven to the extremes of hunger that he was +glad to take his share of the raw meat which to his astonishment he +found not only most palatable but delicious, for there is a time <a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>that +comes to every starving man when even the most vile and putrid refuse +can be eaten with a relish.</p> + +<p>The dog meat was carefully divided into daily portions for each man. +Some of it, of course, had to go to the remaining animals, to keep +them alive to be butchered later, if need be, for this was the only +source of food the destitute men had.</p> + +<p>Every day Bob and the Eskimos wandered over the ice, hoping against +hope that some means of escape might be found. Bob realized that +nothing but the hand of Providence, by some supernatural means, could +save him now. Again, he said,</p> + +<p>"Th' Lard this time has sure been losin' track o' me. Maybe 'tis +because when He were showin' me a safe trail over th' hills I were not +willin' t' bide His time an' go that way, but were comin' by th' ice +after th' warnin' at Kangeva."</p> + +<p>But he always ended his musings with the comfortable recollection of +his mother's prayers. Which had helped him so much before, and this +did more than anything else to keep him courageous and brave.</p> + +<p>The days came and went, each as empty as its <a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>predecessor, and each +night brought less probability of escape than the night before.</p> + +<p>Another dog was killed, and a week passed.</p> + +<p>The komatik wood was nearly gone, although but one small fire was +built each day, and the end of their tea was in sight.</p> + +<p>This was the state of affairs when Bob wandered one day farther to the +southward over the pack ice than usual, and suddenly saw in the +distance a moving object. At first he imagined that it was a bit of +moving ice, so near was it to the colour of the field. This was quite +impossible, however, and approaching it stealthily, he soon discovered +that it was a polar bear.</p> + +<p>The animal was wandering leisurely to the south. Bob carried the rifle +that Mr. MacPherson had given him, as he always did on these +occasions, and keeping in the lee of ice hummocks, that he might not +be seen by the bear, ran noiselessly forward. Finally he was within +shooting distance and, raising the gun, took aim and fired.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was because of weakness through improper food, or possibly +as the result of too much eagerness, but the aim was unsteady and <a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>the +bullet only grazed and slightly wounded the bear.</p> + +<p>The brute growled and turned to see what it was that had struck him. +When it discovered its enemy it rose on its haunches and offered +battle.</p> + +<p>Bob was for a moment paralyzed by the immense proportions that the +bear displayed, and almost forgot that he had more bullets at his +disposal. But he quickly recalled himself and throwing a cartridge +into the chamber, aimed the rifle more carefully and fired again. This +time the bullet went true to the mark, and the great body fell limp to +the ice.</p> + +<p>As he surveyed the carcass a moment later he patted his rifle, and +said;</p> + +<p>"'Tis sure a rare fine gun. I ne'er could ha' killed un wi' my old +un.". "Now th' Lard <i>must</i> be watchin' me or He wouldn't ha' sent th' +bear, an' He wouldn't ha' sent un if He weren't wantin' us t' live. +Th' Lard must be hearin' mother's an' Emily's prayers now, after +all—He must be."</p> + +<p>The bear was a great windfall. It would give Bob and the Eskimos food +for themselves and oil for their lamp, and the lad was imbued with +new <a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>hope as he hurried off to summon Netseksoak and Aluktook to aid +him in bringing the carcass to the igloo.</p> + +<p>The afternoon was well advanced before he found the two Eskimos, and +when he told them of his good fortune they were very much elated, and +all three started back immediately to the scene of the bear hunt. As +they approached it Aluktook shouted an exclamation and pointed towards +the south. Bob and Netseksoak looked, and there, dimly outlined in the +distance but still plainly distinguishable, was the black hull of a +vessel with two masts glistening in the sunshine.</p> + +<p>"Tis th' hand o' Providence!" exclaimed Bob.</p> + +<p>The three shook hands and laughed and did everything to show their +delight short of hugging each other, and then ran towards the vessel, +suddenly possessed of a vague fear that it might sail away before they +were seen. Bob fired several shots out of his rifle as he ran, to +attract the attention of the crew, but as they approached they could +see no sign of life, and they soon found that it was a schooner frozen +tight and fast in the ice pack.</p> + +<p>When they at last reached it Bob read, painted in bold letters, the +name, "Maid of the North."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXIV" id="XXIV"></a><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE ESCAPE</h3> +<br /> + +<p>They lost no time in climbing on deck, and what was their astonishment +when they reached there to find the vessel quite deserted. Everything +was in spick and span order both in the cabin and above decks. It was +now nearly dark and an examination of her hold had to be deferred +until the following day. One thing was certain, however. No one had +occupied the cabin for some time, and no one had boarded or left the +vessel since the last snow-storm, for no footprints were to be found +on the ice near her.</p> + +<p>It was truly a great mystery, and the only solution that occurred to +Bob was that the ice pack had "pinched" the schooner and opened her up +below, and the crew had made a hurried escape in one of the boats. +This he knew sometimes occurred on the coast, and if it were the case, +and her hull had been crushed below the water line, it was of course +only a question of the ice breaking up, which might occur at any time, +when she <a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>would go to the bottom. There was one small boat on deck, +and if an examination in the morning disclosed the unseaworthiness of +the craft, this small boat would at least serve them as a means of +escape from the ice pack.</p> + +<p>Whatever the condition of the vessel, the night was calm and the ice +was hard, and there was no probability of a break-up that would +release her from her firm fastenings before morning; and they decided, +therefore, to make themselves comfortable aboard. There was a stove in +the cabin and another in the forecastle, plenty of blankets were in +the berths, and provisions—actual luxuries—down forward. Bob was +afraid that it was a dream and that he would wake up presently to the +realities of the igloo and raw dog meat, and the hopelessness of it +all.</p> + +<p>He and the Eskimos lighted the lamps, started a fire in the galley +stove, put the kettle over, fried some bacon, and finally sat down to +a feast of bacon, tea, ship's biscuit, butter, sugar, and even jam to +top off with. It was the best meal, Bob declared, that he had ever +eaten in all his life.</p> + +<p>"An' if un turns out t' be a dream, 'twill be th' finest kind o' one," +was his emphatic decision.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>How the three laughed and talked and enjoyed themselves over their +supper, and how Bob revelled in the soft, warm blankets of Captain +Hanks' berth when he finally, for the first time in weeks, was enabled +to undress and crawl into bed, can better be imagined than described.</p> + +<p>After an early breakfast the next morning the first care was to +examine the hold, and very much to their satisfaction, and at the same +time mystification, for they could not now understand why the schooner +had been abandoned, they found the hull quite sound and the schooner +to all appearances perfectly seaworthy.</p> + +<p>Another astonishment awaited Bob, too, when he came upon the +quantities of fur, and the stock of provisions and other goods that he +found below decks.</p> + +<p>"'Tis enough t' stock a company's post!" he exclaimed. But its real +intrinsic value was quite beyond his comprehension.</p> + +<p>When it was settled, beyond doubt, that the <i>Maid of the North</i> was +entirely worthy of their confidence and in no danger of sinking, the +three returned to the igloo and transferred their sleeping bags and +few belongings, as well as the dogs, to their new quarters on board of +her.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>After this was done they skinned and dressed the polar bear, which +still lay upon the ice where it had been killed, and some of the flesh +was fed to the half famished dogs. Bob insisted upon giving them an +additional allowance, after the two Eskimos had fed them, for he said +that they, too, should share in the good fortune, though Netseksoak +expressed the opinion that the dogs ought to have been quite satisfied +to escape being eaten.</p> + +<p>The choicest cuts of the bear's meat the men kept for their own +consumption, and Bob rescued the liver also, when Aluktook was about +to throw it to the dogs, for he was very fond of caribou liver and saw +no reason why that of the polar bear should not prove just as +palatable. He fried some of it for supper, but when he placed it on +the table both Aluktook and Netseksoak refused to touch it, declaring +it unfit to eat, and warned Bob against it.</p> + +<p>"There's an evil spirit in it," they said with conviction, "and it +makes men sick."</p> + +<p>This was very amusing to Bob, and disregarding their warning he ate +heartily of it himself, wondering all the time what heathen +superstition it was that prejudiced Eskimos against <a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>such good food, +for, as he had observed, they would usually eat nearly anything in the +way of flesh, and a great many things that he would not eat.</p> + +<p>In a little while Bob began to realize that something was wrong. He +felt queerly, and was soon attacked with nausea and vomiting. For two +or three days he was very sick indeed and the Eskimos both told him +that it was the effect of the evil spirit in the liver, and that he +would surely die, and for a day or so he believed that he really +should.</p> + +<p>Whether the bear liver was under the curse of evil spirits or was in +itself poisonous were questions that did not interest Bob. He knew it +had made him sick and that was enough for him, and what remained of +the liver went to the dogs, when he was able to be about again.</p> + +<p>The days passed wearily enough for the men in their floating prison, +impatient as they were at their enforced inactivity, but still +helpless to do anything to quicken their release. May was dragging to +an end and June was at hand, and still the ice pack, firm and +unbroken, refused to loose its bands. Slowly—imperceptibly to the +watchers on board the <i>Maid of the North</i>—it <a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>was drifting to the +southward on the bosom of the Arctic current. But the sun, constantly +gaining more power, was rotting the ice, and it was inevitable that +sooner or later the pack must fall to pieces and release the schooner +and its occupants from their bondage. Then would come another danger. +If the wind blew strong and the seas ran high, the heavy pans of ice +pounding against the hull might crush it in and send the vessel to the +bottom. Therefore, while longing for release, there was at the same +time an element of anxiety connected with it.</p> + +<p>Finally the looked for happened. One afternoon a heavy bank of clouds, +black and ominous, appeared in the western sky. A light puff of wind +presaged the blow that was to follow, and in a little while the gale +was on.</p> + +<p>The <i>Maid of the North</i>, it will be understood, lay in bay ice, and +all the ice to the south of her was bay ice. This was much lighter +than that coming from more northerly points, and when the open sea +which skirted the western edge of the field began to rise and sweep in +upon this rotten ice the waves crumbled and crumpled it up before +their mighty force like a piece of <a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>cardboard. It was a time of the +most intense anxiety for the three men.</p> + +<p>Just at dusk, amid the roar of wind and smashing ice, the vessel gave +a lurch, and suddenly she was free. Fortunately her rudder was not +carried away, as they had feared it would be, and when she answered +the helm, Bob whispered,</p> + +<p>"Thank th' Lard."</p> + +<p>They were at the mercy of the wind during the next few hours, and +there was little that could be done to help themselves until towards +morning, when the gale subsided. Then, with daylight, under short sail +they began working the vessel out of the "slob" ice that surrounded +it, and before dark that night were in the open sea, with now only a +moderate breeze blowing, which fortunately had shifted to the +northward.</p> + +<p>Here they found themselves beset by a new peril. Icebergs, great, +towering, fearsome masses, lay all about them, and to make matters +worse a thick gray fog settled over the ocean, obscuring everything +ten fathoms distant. They brought the vessel about and lay to in the +wind, but even then drifted dangerously near one towering ice mass, +and once a berg that could not have been half a mile away turned over +with a terrifying <a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>roar. It seemed as though a collision was +inevitable before daylight, but the night passed without mishap, and +when the morning sun lifted the fog the ship was still unharmed.</p> + +<p>There was no land anywhere to be seen. What position they were in Bob +did not know, and had no way of finding out. He did know, however, +that somewhere to the westward lay the Labrador coast, and this they +must try to reach.</p> + +<p>Fortunately he could read the compass, and by its aid took as nearly +as possible a due westerly course.</p> + +<p>Alutook and Netseksoak, expert as they were in the handling of kayaks, +had no knowledge of the management of larger craft like the <i>Maid of +the North</i>, and without question accepted Bob as commander and +followed his directions implicitly and faithfully; and he handled the +vessel well, for he was a good sailor, as all lads of the Labrador +are.</p> + +<p>They made excellent headway, and were favoured with a season of good +weather, and like the barometer Bob's spirits rose. But he dared to +plan nothing beyond the present action. A hundred times he had planned +and pictured the home-coming, but each time Fate, or the will of <a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>a +Providence that he could not understand, had intervened, and with the +crushing of each new hope and the wiping out of each delightful +picture that his imagination drew, he decided to look not into the +future, but do his best in the present and trust to Providence for the +rest, for, as he expressed it,</p> + +<p>"Th' Lard's makin' His own plans an' He's not wantin' me t' be +meddlin' wi' un, an' so He's not lettin' me do th' way I lays out t' +do, an' I'll be makin' no more plans, but takin' things as they comes +along."</p> + +<p>In this frame of mind he held the vessel steadily to her course and +kept a constant lookout for land or a sail, and on the morning of the +third day after the release from the ice pack was rewarded by a shout +from Netseksoak announcing land at last. Eagerly he looked, and in the +distance, dimly, but still there, appeared the shore in low, dark +outline against the horizon.</p> + +<p>Towards noon a sail was sighted, and late in the afternoon they passed +within hailing distance of a fishing schooner bound down north. He +shouted to the fishermen who, at the rail, were curiously watching the +<i>Maid of the North</i>, as she plowed past them.</p> + + +<div class="img" style="width: 68%;"><a name="imagep298" id="imagep298"></a> +<a href="images/imagep298.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep298.jpg" width="70%" alt=""He held the vessel steadily to her course"" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">"He held the vessel steadily to her course"</p> +</div> + +<p><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>"What land may that be?" pointing at a high, rocky head that jutted +out into the water two miles away.</p> + +<p>"Th' Devil's Head," came the reply.</p> + +<p>"An' what's th' day o' th' month?"</p> + +<p>"Th' fifteenth o' June," rang out the answer. "Where un hail from?"</p> + +<p>"Ungava," Bob shouted to the astonished skipper, who was now almost +out of hearing.</p> + +<p>The information that the land was the Devil's Head came as joyful news +to Bob. He had often heard of the Devil's Head, and knew that it lay +not far from the entrance to Eskimo Bay, and therefore in a little +while he believed he should see some familiar landmarks.</p> + +<p>Bob's hopes were confirmed, and before dark the Twin Rocks near Scrag +Island were sighted, and as they came into view his heart swelled and +his blood tingled. He was almost home!</p> + +<p>That night they lay behind Scrag Island, and with the first dawn of +the morning were under way again. The wind was fair, and before sunset +the <i>Maid of the North</i> sailed into Fort Pelican Harbour and anchored.</p> + +<p>Bob's heart beat high as he stepped into the small boat to row ashore, +for the whitewashed <a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>buildings of the Post, the air redolent with the +perfume of the forest, and the howling dogs told him that at last the +dangers of the trail and sea were all behind him and of the past, and +that he would soon be at home again.</p> + +<p>Mr. Forbes was at the wharf when Bob landed, and when he saw who it +was exclaimed in astonishment:</p> + +<p>"Why it's Bob Gray! Where in the world, or what spirit land did you +come from? Why Ed Matheson brought your remains out of the bush last +winter and I hear they were buried the other day."</p> + +<p>"I comes from Ungava, sir, with some letters Mr. MacPherson were +sendin'," answered Bob, as he made the painter fast.</p> + +<p>"Letters from Ungava! Well, come to the office and we'll see them. I +want to hear how you got here from Ungava."</p> + +<p>In the office Bob told briefly the story of his adventures, while he +ripped the letters from his shirt, where he had sewed them in a +sealskin covering for safe keeping.</p> + +<p>"Has un heard, sir, how mother an' Emily an' father is?" he asked as +he handed over the mail.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>"Mr. MacDonald sent his man down the other day, and he told me your +mother took it pretty hard, when they buried you last week, although +she has stuck to it all along that the remains Ed brought out were not +yours and you were alive somewhere. Emily don't seem to change. Your +father and nearly every one else in the Bay has had a good hunt. Go +out to the men's kitchen for your supper now and when you've eaten +come back again and we'll talk things over."</p> + +<p>In the kitchen he heard some exaggerated details of Ed's journey out, +and something of the happenings up the bay during the winter. When he +had finished his meal he returned to the office, where Mr. Forbes was +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ungava Bob, as Mr. MacPherson calls you in his letter," said +Mr. Forbes, "you've earned the rifle he gave you, and you're to keep +it. Now tell me more of your adventures since you left Ungava."</p> + +<p>Little by little he drew from Bob pretty complete details of the +journey, and then told him that he had better sail the <i>Maid of the +North</i> up to Kenemish, where Douglas Campbell and his father would see +that he secured the salvage due him for bringing out the schooner.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>"An' what may salvage be, sir?" asked Bob.</p> + +<p>"Why," answered Mr. Forbes, "you found the schooner a derelict at sea +and you brought her into port. When you give her back to the owner he +will have to pay you whatever amount the court decides is due you for +the service, and it may be as much as one-half the value of the vessel +and cargo. You'll get enough out of it to settle you comfortably for +life."</p> + +<p>Bob heard this in open-mouthed astonishment. It was too good for him +to quite believe at first, but Mr. Forbes assured him that it was +usual and within his rights.</p> + +<p>They arranged that Netseksoak and Aluktook should go with him to +Kenemish and later return to Fort Pelican to be paid by Mr. Forbes for +their services and to be sent home by him on the company's ship, the +<i>Eric</i>, on its annual voyage north.</p> + +<p>Then Bob, after thanking Mr. Forbes, rowed back to the <i>Maid of the +North</i>, too full of excitement and anticipation to sleep.</p> + +<p>With the first ray of morning light the anchor was weighed, the sails +hoisted and but two days lay between Bob and home.</p> + +<p>As he stood on the deck of the <i>Maid of the <a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>North</i> and drank in the +wild, rugged beauty of the scene around him Bob thought of that day, +which seemed so long, long ago, when he and his mother, broken hearted +and disconsolate were going home with little Emily, and how he had +looked away at those very hills and the inspiration had come to him +that led to the journey from which he was now returning. Tears came to +his eyes and he said to himself,</p> + +<p>"Sure th' Lard be good. 'Twere He put un in my head t' go, an' He were +watchin' over me an' carin' for me all th' time when I were thinkin' +He were losin' track o' me. I'll never doubt th' Lard again."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXV" id="XXV"></a><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE BREAK-UP</h3> +<br /> + +<p>One evening a month after Ed Matheson started out with his gruesome +burden to Wolf Bight, Dick Blake was sitting alone in the tilt at the +junction of his and Ed's trails, smoking his after supper pipe and +meditating on the happenings of the preceding weeks. There were some +things in connection with the tragedy that he had never been able to +quite clear up. Why, for instance, he asked himself, did Micmac John +steal the furs and then leave them in the tilt where they were found? +Had the half-breed been suddenly smitten by his conscience? That +seemed most unlikely, for Dick had never discovered any indication +that Micmac possessed a conscience. No possible solution of the +problem presented itself. A hundred times he had probed the question, +and always ended by saying, as he did now,</p> + +<p>"'Tis strange—wonderful strange, an' I can't make un out."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a>He arose and knocked the ashes out of his pipe, filled the stove with +wood, and then looked out into the night before going to his bunk. It +was snowing thick and fast.</p> + +<p>"'Tis well to-morrow's Sunday," he remarked. "The's nasty weather +comin'."</p> + +<p>"That they is," said a voice so close to his elbow that he started +back in surprise,</p> + +<p>"Why, hello, Ed. You were givin' me a rare start, sneakin' in as +quiet's a rabbit. How is un?"</p> + +<p>"Fine," said Ed, who had just come around the corner of the tilt in +time to hear Dick's remark in reference to the weather. "Who un +talkin' to?"</p> + +<p>"To a sensible man as agrees wi' me," answered Dick facetiously. "A +feller does get wonderful lonesome seem' no one an' has t' talk t' +hisself sometimes."</p> + +<p>The two entered the tilt and Ed threw off his adikey while Dick put +the kettle over.</p> + +<p>"Well," asked Dick, when Ed was finally seated, "how'd th' mother take +un?"</p> + +<p>"Rare hard on th' start off," said Ed. "'Twere th' hardest thing I +ever done, tellin' she, an' 'twere all I could do t' keep from +breakin' <a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a>down myself. I 'most cried, I were feelin so bad for un.</p> + +<p>"Douglas were there an' Bessie were visitin' th' sick maid, which were +a blessin', fer Richard were away on his trail.</p> + +<p>"I goes in an' finds un happy an' thinkin' maybe Bob'd be comin'. I +finds th' bones gettin' weak in my legs, soon's I sees un, an' th' +mother, soon's she sees me up an' says she's knowin' somethin' +happened t' Bob, an' I has t' tell she wi'out waitin' t' try t' make +un easy's I'd been plannin' t' do. She 'most faints, but after a while +she asks me t' tell she how Bob were killed, an' I tells.</p> + +<p>"Then she's wantin' t' see a bit o' the clothes we found, an' when she +looks un over she raises her head an' says, '<i>Them</i> weren't Bob's. I +knows Bob's clothes, an' them weren't <i>his</i>! When I tells 'bout +findin' <i>two</i> axes she says Bob were havin' only one axe, an' then +she's believin' Bob wasn't got by th' wolves, an' is livin' +somewheres.</p> + +<p>"Douglas goes for Richard, an' when Richard comes he says th' +clothes's Bob's an' th' gun <i>ain't</i>, an' Bob were havin' only one axe.</p> + +<p>"Richard's not doubtin' th' remains was Bob's <a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a>though, an' o' course +the's no doubtin' <i>that</i>. Th' clothes's gettin' so stained up I'm +thinkin' th' mother'd not be knowin' un. But Richard sure would be +knowin' th' gun, an' that's what <i>I'm</i> wonderin' at."</p> + +<p>"'Tis rare strange," assented Dick. "An' <i>I'm</i> wonderin' why Micmac +John were leavin' th' fur in th' 'tilt after stealin' un. That's what +<i>I'm</i> wonderin' at."</p> + +<p>The whole evening was thus spent in discussing the pros and cons of +the affair. They both decided that while the gun and axe question were +beyond explanation, there was no doubt that Bob had been destroyed by +wolves and the remains that they found were his.</p> + +<p>The plan that Bill had suggested for hunting the trails without taking +Sunday rest, thus enabling them to attend to a part of Bob's Big Hill +trail, was resorted to, and the winter's work was the hardest, they +all agreed, that they had ever put in.</p> + +<p>January and February were excessively cold months and during that +period, when the fur bearing animals keep very close to their lairs, +the catch was indifferent. But with the more moderate weather that +began with March and <a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a>continued until May the harvest was a rich one, +for it was one of those seasons, after a year of unusual scarcity, as +the previous two years had been, when the fur bearing animals come in +some inexplicable way in great numbers, and food game also is +plentiful.</p> + +<p>At length the hunting season closed, when the mild weather with daily +thaws arrived. The fur that was now caught was deteriorating to such +an extent that it was not wise to continue catching it. The traps on +the various trails were sprung and hung upon trees or placed upon +rocks, where they could be readily found again, and Dick and Ed joined +Bill at the river tilt, where the boat had been cached to await the +breaking up of the river, and here enjoyed a respite from their +labours.</p> + +<p>Ptarmigans in flocks of hundreds fed upon the tender tops of the +willows that lined the river banks, and these supplied them with an +abundance of fresh meat, varied occasionally by rabbits, two or three +porcupines and a lynx that Dick shot one day near the tilt. This lynx +meat they roasted by an open fire outside the tilt, and considered it +a great treat. It may be said that the roasted lynx resembles in +flavour and texture <a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a>prime veal, and it is indeed, when properly +cooked, delicious; and the hunter knows how to cook it properly. +Trout, too, which they caught through the ice, were plentiful. They +had brought with them when coming to the trails in the autumn, tackle +for the purpose of securing fish at this time. The lines were very +stout, thick ones, and the hooks were large. A good-sized piece of +lead, melted and moulded around the stem of the hook near the eye, +weighted it heavily, and it was baited with a piece of fat pork and a +small piece of red cloth or yarn, tied below the lead. The rod was a +stout stick three feet in length and an inch thick.</p> + +<p>With this equipment the hook was dropped into the hole and moved up +and down slowly, until a fish took hold, when it was immediately +pulled out. The trout were very sluggish at this season of the year +and made no fight, and were therefore readily landed. The most of them +weighed from two to five pounds each, and indeed any smaller than that +were spurned and thrown back into the hole "t' grow up," as Ed put it.</p> + +<p>One evening a rain set in and for four days and nights it never +ceased. It poured down as if the <a name="Page_312" id="Page_312"></a>gates of the eternal reservoirs of +heaven had been opened and the flood let loose to drown the world. The +snow became a sea of slush and miniature rivers ran down to join +forces with the larger stream.</p> + +<p>At first the waters overflowed the ice, but at last it gave way to the +irresistible force that assailed it, and giving way began to move upon +the current in great unwieldly masses.</p> + +<p>The river rose to its brim and burst its banks. Trees were uprooted, +and mingling with the ice surged down towards the sea upon the crest +of the unleashed, untamed torrent. The break-up that the men were +awaiting had come.</p> + +<p>"'Tis sure a fearsome sight," remarked Bill one day when the storm was +at its height, as he returned from "a look outside" to join Dick and +Ed, who sat smoking their pipes in silence in the tilt.</p> + +<p>"An' how'd un like t' be ridin' one o' them cakes o' ice out there, +an' no way o' reachin' shore?" asked Ed.</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't be ridin' un from choice, an' if I were ridin' un I'm +thinkin' 'twould be my last ride," answered Bill.</p> + +<p>"Once I were ridin' un, an' ridin' un from <a name="Page_313" id="Page_313"></a>choice," said Ed, with the +air of one who had a story to tell.</p> + +<p>"No you weren't never ridin' un. What un tell such things for, Ed?" +broke in Dick. "Un has dreams an' tells un for happenin's, I'm +thinkin'."</p> + +<p>Ed ignored the interruption as though he had not heard it, and +proceeded to relate to Bill his wonderful adventure.</p> + +<p>"Once," said he,—"'twere five year ago—I were waitin' at my lower +tilt for th' break-up t' come, an' has my boat hauled up t' what I +thinks is a safe place, when I gets up one mornin' t' find th' water +come up extra high in th' night an' th' boat gone wi' th' ice. That +leaves me in a rare bad fix, wi' nothin' t' do, seems t' me, but wait +for th' water t' settle, an' cruise down th' river afoot.</p> + +<p>"I'm not fancyin' th' cruise, an' I watches th' ice an' wonders, when +I marks chance cakes o' ice driftin' down close t' shore an' touchin' +land now an' agin as un goes, could I ride un. Th' longer I watches un +th' more I thinks 'twould be a fine way t' ride on un, an' at last I +makes up my pack an' cuts a good pole, an' watches my chance, which +soon comes. A big cake comes <a name="Page_314" id="Page_314"></a>rollin' down an' I steps aboard un an' +away I goes.</p> + +<p>"'Twere fine for a little while, an' I says, 'Ed, now <i>you</i> knows th' +thing t' do in a tight place.'</p> + +<p>"'Twere a rare pretty sight watchin' th' shore slippin' past, an' I +forgets as 'tis a piece o' ice I'm ridin' till I happens t' look +around an' finds th' cake o' ice, likewise myself, in th' middle o' +th' river, an' no way o' gettin' ashore. The's nothin' t' do but hang +on, an' I hangs.</p> + +<p>"Then I sees th' Gull Island Rapids an' I 'most loses my nerve. 'Tis a +fearsome torrent at best, as un knows, but now wi' high flood 'tis +like ten o' unself at low water. Th' waves beats up twenty foot high."</p> + +<p>Ed paused here to light his pipe which had a way of always going out +when he reached the most dramatic point in his stories. When it was +finally going again, he continued:</p> + +<p>"Lucky 'twere for me th' rocks were all covered. In we goes, me an' +th' ice, an' I hangs on an' shuts my eyes. When I opens un we're +floatin' peaceful an' steady below th' rapids, an' I feels like +breathin' agin.</p> + +<p>"Then we runs th' Porcupine Rapids, an' I begins t' think I has th' +Muskrat Falls t' run too <a name="Page_315" id="Page_315"></a>which would be th' endin' o' me, sure. But I +ain't. I uses my pole, an' works up t' shore, an' just as we gets th' +rush o' th' water above th' falls, I lands.</p> + +<p>"That were how I rid th' river on a' ice cake."</p> + +<p>"Where'd ye land, now?" asked Dick. "This side o' th' river or t' +other?"</p> + +<p>"This side o' un," answered Ed, complacently.</p> + +<p>"'Tis sheer rock this side, an' no holt t' land on," said Dick, +triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"'Th' water were t' th' top o' th' rock," explained Ed.</p> + +<p>"Then," said Dick, with the air of one who has trapped another, "th' +hull country were flooded an' there were no falls."</p> + +<p>Ed looked at him for a moment disdainfully.</p> + +<p>"I were on th' ice six days, an' <i>I knows</i>."</p> + +<p>The men were held in waiting for several days after the storm ceased +for the river to clear of debris and sink again to something like its +normal volume, before it was considered safe for them to begin the +voyage out. Then on a fair June morning the boat was laden with the +outfit and fur.</p> + +<p>"Poor Bob," said Dick, as Bob's things were placed in the boat. "Th' +poor lad were so <a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a>hopeful when we were comin' in t' th' trails, an' +now un's gone. 'Twill be hard t' meet his mother an Richard."</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'twill be hard," assented Ed. "She'll be takin' un rare hard. +Our comin' home'll be bringin' his goin' away plain t' she again."</p> + +<p>"An' Emily, too," spoke up Bill. "They were thinkin' so much o' each +other."</p> + +<p>Then the journey was begun, full of danger and excitement as they shot +through rushing rapids and on down the river towards Eskimo Bay, where +great and unexpected tidings awaited them.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXVI" id="XXVI"></a><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXVI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>BACK AT WOLF BIGHT</h3> +<br /> + +<p>Bob's apparent death was a sore shock to Richard Gray. When Douglas +found him on the trail and broke the news to him as gently as +possible, he seemed at first hardly to comprehend it. He was stunned. +He said little, but followed Douglas back to the cabin like one in a +mesmeric sleep. A few days before he had gone away happy and buoyant, +now he shuffled back like an old man.</p> + +<p>Mechanically he looked at the remains and examined the gun and the +axe—Ed had brought out but one of the axes found by the rock with the +remains—and said, "Th' gun's not Bob's. Th' axe were his."</p> + +<p>"Th' gun's not Bob's!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray "Th' clothes is not Bob's! +Now I knows 'tis not my boy we've found."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mary," said he broken-heartedly. "Tis Bob th' wolves got. Our +poor lad is gone. No one else could ha' had his things."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318"></a>He and Douglas made a coffin into which the remains were tenderly +placed, and it was put upon a high platform near the house, out of +reach of animals, there to rest until the spring, when the snow would +be gone and it could be buried.</p> + +<p>For a whole week after this sad duty was performed the father sat by +the cabin stove and brooded, a broken-hearted, dispirited counterpart +of what he had been at the Christmas time. It was the man's nature to +be silent in seasons of misfortune. During the previous year, when +luck had been so against him, this characteristic of silent brooding +had shown itself markedly, but then he did not remain in the house and +neglect his work as he did now. He seemed to have lost all heart and +all ambition. He scarcely troubled to feed the dogs, and the few tasks +that he did perform were evidently irksome and unpleasant to him, as +things that interfered with his reveries.</p> + +<p>From morning until night Richard Gray nursed the grief in his bosom, +but never referred to the tragedy unless it was first mentioned by +another; and at such times he said as little as possible about it, +answering questions briefly, offering nothing himself, and plainly +showing that he did not wish to converse upon the subject.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319"></a>Over and over again he reviewed to himself every phase of Bob's life, +from the time when, a wee lad, Bob climbed on his knee of an evening +to beg for stories of bear hunts, and great gray wolves that harried +the hunters, and how the animals were captured on the trail; and +through the years into which the little lad grew into youth and +approached manhood, down to the day that he left home, looking so +noble and stalwart, to brave, for the sake of those he loved, the +unknown dangers that lurked in the rude, wild wastes beyond the line +of blue mysterious hills to the northward. And now the poor remains +enclosed in the rough box that rested upon the scaffold outside were +all that remained of him. And that was the end of all the plans that +he and the mother had made for their son's future, of all their hopes +and fine pictures.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Gray had never seen her husband in so downcast and despondent a +mood, and as the days passed she began to worry about him and finally +became alarmed. He had lost all interest in everything, and had a +strange, unnatural look in his eyes that she did not like.</p> + +<p>One evening she sat down by his aide, and, taking his hand, said:</p> + +<p><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a>"Be a brave man, Richard, and bear up. Th' Lard's never let Bob die +so. That were <i>not</i> Bob as th' wolves got. I'm knowin' our lad's +somewheres alive. I were dreamin' last night o' seem' he—an'—I feels +it—I feels it—an' I can't go agin my feelin'."</p> + +<p>"No, Mary, 'twere Bob," he answered.</p> + +<p>"I feels 'tweren't, but if 'twere 'tis th' Lard's will, an' 'tis our +duty t' be brave an' bear up. Tis hard—rare hard—but bear up, +Richard—an' bear un like a man. Remember, Richard, we has th' maid +spared to us."</p> + +<p>And so, heart-broken though she was herself, she comforted and +encouraged him, as is the way of women, for in times of great +misfortune they are often the braver of the sexes. Her husband did not +know the hours of wakeful uncertainty and helplessness and despair +that Mrs. Gray spent, as she lay long into the nights thinking and +thinking, until sometimes it seemed that she would go mad.</p> + +<p>Bessie, gentle and sympathetic, was the pillar upon which they all +leaned during those first days after the dreadful tidings came. It was +her presence that made life possible. Like a good angel she moved +about the house, unobtrusively <a name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></a>ministering to them, and Mrs. Gray +more than once said,</p> + +<p>"I'm not knowin' what we'd do, Bessie, if 'twere not for you."</p> + +<p>After a week of silent despondency the father roused himself to some +extent from the lethargy into which he had fallen, and returned to his +trail. The work brought back life and energy, and when, a fortnight +later, he came back, he had resumed somewhat his old bearing and +manner, though not all of the buoyancy. He entered the cabin with the +old greeting—"An' how's my maid been wi'out her daddy?" It made the +others feel better and happier; and he was almost his natural self +again when he left them for another period.</p> + +<p>The report of Bob's death did not appear to affect Emily as greatly as +her mother feared it would. She was silent, and took less interest in +her doll, and seemed to be constantly expecting something to occur. +One day after her father had left them she called her mother to her, +and, taking her hand to draw her to a seat on the couch, asked:</p> + +<p>"Mother, do angels ever come by day, or be it always by night?"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></a>"I'm—I'm—not knowin', dear. They comes both times, I'm thinkin'—but +mostly by night—I'm—not knowin'," faltered the mother.</p> + +<p>"Does un think Bob's angel ha' been comin' by night while we sleeps, +mother? I been watchin', an' he've never come while I wakes—an' I'm +wonderin' an' wonderin'."</p> + +<p>"No—not while we sleeps—no—I'm not knowin'," and then she buried +her face in Emily's pillow and wept.</p> + +<p>"Bob's knowin', mother, how we longs t' see he," continued Emily, as +she stroked her mother's hair, "an' he'd sure be comin' if he were +killed. He'd sure be doin' that so we could see un. But he's not been +comin', an' I'm thinkin' he's livin', just as you were sayin'. Bob'll +be home wi' th' break-up, mother, I'm thinkin'—wi' th' break-up, +mother, for his angel ha' never come, as un sure would if he were +dead."</p> + +<p>On two or three other occasions after this—once in the night—Emily +called Mrs. Gray to her to reiterate this belief. She would not accept +even the possibility of Bob's death without first seeing his angel, +which she was so positive would come to visit them if he were really +dead; and it was this that kept back the grief that she would <a name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></a>have +felt had she believed that she was never to see him again.</p> + +<p>Bessie remained with them until the last of February, when her father +drove the dogs over to take her home, as many of the trappers were +expected in from their trails about the first of March to spend a few +days at the Post, and her mother needed her help with the additional +work that this entailed. Emily was loath to part from her, but her +father promised that she should return again for a visit as soon as +the break-up came and before the fishing commenced.</p> + +<p>Douglas Campbell was very good to the Grays, and at least once each +week, and sometimes oftener, walked over to spend the day and cheer +them up. Often he brought some little delicacy for Emily, and she +looked forward to his visits with much pleasure.</p> + +<p>One day towards the last of May he asked Emily:</p> + +<p>"How'd un like t' go t' St. Johns an' have th' doctors make a fine, +strong maid of un again? I'm thinkin' th' mother's needin' her maid t' +help her now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'd like un fine, sir!" exclaimed Emily.</p> + +<p>"I'm thinkin' we'll have t' send un. 'Twill be <a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a>a long while away from +home. You won't be gettin' lonesome now?"</p> + +<p>"I'm fearin' I'll be gettin' lonesome for mother, but I'll stand un t' +get well an' walk again."</p> + +<p>"Now does un hear that," said Douglas to Mrs. Gray, who at that moment +came in from out of doors. "Your little maid's goin' t' St. Johns t' +have th' doctors make she walk again, so she can be helpin' wi' th' +housekeepin'."</p> + +<p>"The's no money t' send she," said Mrs. Gray sadly. "'Tis troublin' me +wonderful, an' I'm not knowin' what t' do—'tis troublin' me so."</p> + +<p>"I'm thinkin' th' money'll be found t' send she—I'm <i>knowin'</i> +'twill," Douglas prophesied convincingly. "Ed were sayin' Bob had a +rare lot o' fur that he'd caught before th'—before th' New Year—a +fine lot o' martens an' th' silver foxes. Them'll pay Bob's debt an' +pay for th' maid's goin' too. That's what Bob were wantin'."</p> + +<p>"Did Ed say now as Bob were gettin' all that fur?" she asked. "I were +feelin' so sore bad over Bob's goin' I were never hearin' un—I were +not thinkin' about th' lad's fur—I were thinkin' o' he."</p> + +<p>"Aye, Ed were sayin' that. Emily must be ready t' go on th' cruise t' +meet th' first trip o' <a name="Page_325" id="Page_325"></a>th' mail boat. Th' maid must be leavin' here +by th' last o' June," planned Douglas.</p> + +<p>"But we'll not be havin' th' money then—not till th' men comes out, +an' then we has t' sell th' fur first t' get th' money," Mrs. Gray +explained. "Then—then I hopes th' maid may go. 'Tis what Bob were +goin' t' th' bush for—an' takin' all th' risks for—my poor lad—he +were countin' on un so——"</p> + +<p>"We'll not be waitin'. We'll not be waitin'. <i>I</i> has th' money now an' +th' maid must be goin' th' <i>first</i> trip o' th' mail boat," said +Douglas, in an authoritative manner.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Douglas, you be wonderful good—so wonderful good." And Mrs. Gray +began to cry.</p> + +<p>"Now! Now!" exclaimed the soft-hearted old trapper, "'Tis nothin' t' +be cryin' about. What un cryin' for, now?"</p> + +<p>"I'm—not—knowin'—only you be so good—an' I were wantin' so bad t' +have Emily go—I were wantin' so wonderful bad—an' 'twill save +she—'twill save she!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis no kindness. 'Tis no kindness. 'Tis Bob's fur pays for un—no +kindness o' mine," he insisted.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326"></a>Emily took Douglas' hand and drew him to her until she could reach his +face. Then with a palm on each cheek she kissed his lips, and with her +arms about his neck buried her face for a moment in his white beard.</p> + +<p>"There! There!" he exclaimed when she had released him. "Now what un +makin' love t' me for?"</p> + +<p>Richard returned that evening from his last trip over his trail for +the season, and he was much pleased with the arrangement as to Emily.</p> + +<p>"Your daddy'll be lonesome wi'out un," said he, "but 'twill be fine t' +think o' my maid comin' back walkin' again—rare fine."</p> + +<p>"An' 'twill be rare hard t' be goin'," she said. "I'm 'most wishin' I +weren't havin' t' go."</p> + +<p>"But when you comes back, maid, you'll be well, an' think, now, how +happy that'll make un," Mrs. Gray encouraged. "Th' Lard's good t' be +providin' th' way. 'Twill be hard for un an' for us all, but th' Lard +always pays us for th' hard times an' th' sorrow He brings us, wi' +good times an' a rare lot o' happiness after, if we only waits wi' +patience an' faith for un."</p> + +<p>"Aye, mother, I knows, an' I <i>is</i> glad—oh, <i>so</i> glad t' know I's t' +be well again," said Emily <a name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></a>very earnestly. "But," she added, "I'm +thinkin' 'twould be so fine if you or daddy were goin' wi' me. Bob +were countin' on un so—I minds how Bob were countin' on my goin'—an' +he's not here t' know about un—an' I feels wonderful bad when I +thinks of un."</p> + +<p>Of course it was quite out of the question for either the father or +the mother to go with her, for that would more than double the expense +and could not be afforded. There was no certainty as to how much would +be coming to them after Bob's share of the furs were sold. This could +not be estimated even approximately for they had not so much as seen +the pelts yet. Richard, grown somewhat pessimistic with the years of +ill fortune, even doubted if, after Bob's debt to Mr. MacDonald was +paid, there would be sufficient left to reimburse Douglas for the +money he had agreed to advance to meet Emily's expenses. "But then," +he said, "I suppose 'twill work out somehow."</p> + +<p>At last the great storm came that opened the rivers and smashed the +bay ice into bits, and when the fury of the wind was spent and the +rain ceased the sun came out with a new warmth that bespoke the summer +close at hand. The tide <a name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></a>carried the splintered ice to the open sea, +wild geese honked overhead in their northern flight, seals played in +the open water, and the loon's weird laugh broke the wilderness +silence. The world was awakening from its long slumber, and summer was +at hand.</p> + +<p>Tom Black kept his word, and when the ice was gone brought Bessie over +in his boat to stay with Emily until she should go to the hospital. It +was a beautiful, sunny afternoon when they arrived and Bessie brought +a good share of the sunshine into the cabin with her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bessie!" cried Emily, as her friend burst into the room. "I were +thinkin' you'd not be comin', Bessie! Oh, 'tis fine t' have you come!"</p> + +<p>Tom remained the night, and he and Bessie cheered up the Grays, for it +had been a lonely, monotonous period since their last visit, and never +a caller save Douglas had they had.</p> + +<p>Time, the great healer of sorrow, had somewhat mitigated the shock of +Bob's disappearance, and had reconciled them to some extent to his +loss. But now the sore was opened again when, one day, a grave was dug +in the spruce woods behind the cabin, and the coffin, which had been +resting upon the scaffold since January, was <a name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></a>taken down and +reverently lowered into the earth by Richard and Douglas. Mrs. Gray, +though still firm in the intuitive belief that her boy lived, wept +piteously when the earth clattered down upon the box and hid it +forever from view.</p> + +<p>"I knows 'tis not Bob," she sobbed, "but where is my lad? What has +become o' my brave lad?"</p> + +<p>Bessie, with wet eyes, comforted her with soothing words and gentle +caresses.</p> + +<p>Richard and Douglas did their work silently, both certain beyond a +doubt that it was Bob they had laid to rest.</p> + +<p>Nothing was said to Emily of the burial. That would have done her no +good and they did not wish to give her the pain that it would have +caused.</p> + +<p>The days were rapidly lengthening, and the sun coming boldly nearer +the earth was tempering and mellowing the atmosphere, and every +pleasant afternoon a couch was made for Emily out of doors, where she +could bask in the sunshine, and breathe the air charged with the +perfume of the spruce and balsam forest above, and drink in the wild +beauties of the wilderness about her.</p> + +<p>Here she lay, alone, one day late in June <a name="Page_330" id="Page_330"></a>while her mother and Bessie +washed the dinner dishes before Bessie came out to join her, and her +father and Douglas, who had come over to dinner, smoked their pipes +and chatted in the house. She was listening to the joyous song of a +robin, that had just returned from its far-off southland pilgrimage, +and was thinking as she listened of the long, long journey that she +was soon to take. Her heart was sad, for it was a sore trial to be +separated all the summer from her father and mother and never see them +once.</p> + +<p>She looked down the bight out towards the broader waters of the bay, +for that was the way she was to go. Suddenly as she looked a boat +turned the point into the bight. It was a strange boat and she could +not see who was in it, but it held her attention as it approached, for +a visitor was quite unusual at this time of the year. Presently the +single occupant stood up in the boat, to get a better view of the +cabin.</p> + +<p>"Bob! <i>Bob!</i> <span class="smcap">Bob</span>!" shouted Emily, quite wild and beside +herself. "Mother! Father! Bob is coming! <i>Bob</i> is coming!"</p> + +<p>Those in the house rushed out in alarm, for they thought the child had +gone quite mad, but <a name="Page_331" id="Page_331"></a>when they reached her they, too, seemed to lose +their reason. Mrs. Gray ran wildly to the sandy shore where the boat +would land, extending her arms towards it and fairly screaming,</p> + +<p>"My lad! Oh, my lad!"</p> + +<p>Bessie was at her heels and Richard and Douglas followed.</p> + +<p>When Bob stepped ashore his mother clasped him to her arms and wept +over him and fondled him, and he, taller by an inch than when he left +her, bronzed and weather-beaten and ragged, drew her close to him and +hugged her again and again, and stroked her hair, and cried too, while +Richard and Douglas stood by, blowing their noses on their red bandana +handkerchiefs and trying to took very self-composed.</p> + +<p>When his mother let him go Bob greeted the others, forgetting himself +so far as to kiss Bessie, who blushed and did not resent his boldness.</p> + +<p>Emily simply would not let him go. She held him tight to her, and +called him her "big, brave brother," and said many times:</p> + +<p>"I were knowin' you'd come back to us, Bob. I were just <i>knowin'</i> +you'd come back."</p> + +<p>An hour passed in a babble of talk and exchange of explanations almost +before they were <a name="Page_332" id="Page_332"></a>aware, and then Mrs. Gray suddenly realized that Bob +had had no dinner.</p> + +<p>"Now un must be rare hungry, Bob," she explained. "Richard, carry +Emily in with un now, an' we'll have a cup o' tea wi' Bob, while he +has his dinner."</p> + +<p>"Let me carry un," said Bob, gathering Emily into his arms.</p> + +<p>In the house they were all so busy talking and laughing, while Mrs. +Gray prepared the meal for Bob, that no one noticed a boat pull into +the bight and three men land upon the beach below the cabin; and so, +just as they were about to sit down to the table, they were taken +completely by surprise when the door opened and in walked Dick Blake, +Ed Matheson and Bill Campbell.</p> + +<p>The three stopped short in open-mouthed astonishment.</p> + +<p>"'Tis Bob's ghost!" finally exclaimed Ed.</p> + +<p>They were soon convinced, however, that Bob's hand grasp was much more +real than that of any ghost, and the greetings that followed were +uproarious.</p> + +<p>Nearly the whole afternoon they sat around the table while Bob told +the story of his adventures. A comparison of experiences made it +quite <a name="Page_333" id="Page_333"></a>certain that the remains they had supposed to have been Bob's +were the remains of Micmac John and the mystery of the half-breed's +failure to return to the tilt for the pelts he had stolen was +therefore cleared up.</p> + +<p>"An' th' Nascaupees," said Bob, "be not fearsome murderous folk as we +was thinkin' un, but like other folks, an' un took rare fine care o' +me. I'm thinkin' they'd not be hurtin' white folks an' white folk +don't hurt <i>they</i>."</p> + +<p>Finally the men sat back from the table for a smoke and chat while the +dishes were being cleared away by Mrs. Gray and Bessie.</p> + +<p>"Now I were sure thinkin' Bob were a ghost," said Ed, as he lighted +his pipe with a brand from the stove, "and 'twere scarin' me a bit. I +never seen but one ghost in my life and that were——"</p> + +<p>"We're not wantin' t' hear that ghost yarn, Ed," broke in Dick, and Ed +forgot his story in the good-natured laughter that followed.</p> + +<p>The home-coming was all that Bob had hoped and desired it to be and +the arrival of his three friends from the trail made it complete. His +heart was full that evening when he stepped out of doors to watch the +setting sun. As he gazed at the spruce-clad hills that hid the great, +wild <a name="Page_334" id="Page_334"></a>north from which he had so lately come, the afterglow blazed up +with all its wondrous colour, glorifying the world and lighting the +heavens and the water and the hills beyond with the radiance and +beauty of a northern sunset. The spirit of it was in Bob's soul, and +he said to himself,</p> + +<p>"'Tis wonderful fine t' be livin', an' 'tis a wonderful fine world t' +live in, though 'twere seemin' hard sometimes, in the winter. An' th' +comin' home has more than paid for th' trouble I were havin' gettin' +here."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXVII" id="XXVII"></a><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXVII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHNS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>When Bob and the two Eskimos sailed the <i>Maid of the North</i> up the bay +from Fort Pelican it was found advisable to run the schooner to an +anchorage at Kenemish where she could lie with less exposure to the +wind than at Wolf Bight. The moment she was made snug and safe Bob +went ashore to Douglas Campbell's cabin, where he learned that his old +friend had gone to Wolf Bight early that morning to spend the day.</p> + +<p>The lad's impatience to reach home would brook no waiting, and so, +leaving Netseksoak and Aluktook in charge of the vessel, he proceeded +alone in a small boat, reaching there as we have seen early in the +afternoon.</p> + +<p>What to do with the schooner now that she had brought him safely to +his destination was a problem that Bob had not been able to solve. The +vessel was not his, and it was plainly his duty to find her owner and +deliver the schooner to him, but how to go about it he did not know. +<a name="Page_336" id="Page_336"></a>That evening when the candles were lighted and all were gathered +around the stove, he put the question to the others.</p> + +<p>"I'm not knowin' now who th' schooner belongs to," said he, "an' I'm +not knowin' how t' find th' owner, I'm wonderin' what t' do with un."</p> + +<p>"Tis some trader owns un I'm thinkin'," Mrs. Gray suggested.</p> + +<p>"'Tis sure some trader," agreed Bob, "and the's a rare lot o' fur +aboard she an' the's enough trader's goods t' stock a Post. Mr. Forbes +were tellin' me I should be gettin' salvage for bringin' she t' port +safe."</p> + +<p>"Aye," confirmed Douglas, "you should be gettin' salvage. 'Tis th' law +o' th' sea an' but right. We'll ha' t' be lookin' t' th' salvage for +un lad."</p> + +<p>"But how'll we be gettin' un now?" Bob asked, much puzzled. "An' +how'll we be findin' th' owner?"</p> + +<p>"Th' owner," explained Douglas, "will be doin' th' findin' hisself I'm +thinkin'. But t' get th' salvage th' schooner'll ha' t' be took t' St. +Johns. Now I'm not knowin' but I could pilot she over. 'Tis a many a +long year since I were <a name="Page_337" id="Page_337"></a>there but I'm thinkin' I could manage un, and +we'll make up a crew an' sail she over."</p> + +<p>"We'll be needin' five t' handle she right," said Bob. "'Twere +wonderful hard gettin' on wi' just me an' th' two huskies. We'll sure +need five."</p> + +<p>"Aye, 'twill need five of us," assented Douglas, "I'm thinkin' now +Dick an' Ed an' Bill would like t' be makin' th' cruise an' seein' St. +Johns, an' we has th' crew right here."</p> + +<p>The three men were not only willing to go but delighted with the +prospect of the journey. They had never in their lives been outside +the bay and the voyage offered them an opportunity to see something of +the great world of which they had heard so much.</p> + +<p>"I'll be wantin' t' go home first," said Dick, "an' so will Ed, but +we'll be t' Kenemish an' ready t' start in three days."</p> + +<p>"'Twill be a fine way t' take th' maid t' th' mail boat so th' doctor +can take she with un," suggested Richard.</p> + +<p>"An' father an' mother an' Bessie can go t' th' mail boat with us," +spoke up Emily, from her couch. "Oh, 'twill be fine t' have you all go +t' th' mail boat with me!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338"></a>And so this arrangement was made and carried out. On the appointed day +every one was aboard the <i>Maid of the North</i>, and with light hearts +the voyage was begun.</p> + +<p>Two days later they reached Fort Pelican, when Netseksoak and Aluktook +went ashore to await the arrival of the ship that was to take them to +their far northern home, and Bob said good-bye to the two faithful +friends with whom he had braved so many dangers and suffered so many +hardships.</p> + +<p>The following morning the mail boat steamed in, and Emily was +transferred to her in charge of the doctor, who greeted her kindly and +promised,</p> + +<p>"You'll be going home a new girl in the fall, and your father and +mother won't know you."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless the parting from her friends was very hard for Emily, and +the mother and child, and Bessie too, shed a good many tears, though +the fact that she was to see Bob in a little while in St. Johns +comforted Emily somewhat.</p> + +<p>When the mail boat was finally gone, Richard Gray, with his wife and +Bessie, turned homeward in their dory, which had been brought down in +tow of the <i>Maid of the North</i>, and the schooner <a name="Page_339" id="Page_339"></a>spread her sails to +the breeze and passed to the southward.</p> + +<p>With some delays caused by bad weather, three weeks elapsed before the +<i>Maid of the North</i> one day, late in July, sailed through the narrows +past the towering cliffs of Signal Hill, and anchored in the +land-locked harbour of St. Johns.</p> + +<p>In the interim the mail boat had made another voyage to the north, and +brought back with her Captain Hanks and his crew, who had worked their +way to Indian Harbour in their open boat to await the steamer there. +Of course Skipper Sam had heard that Bob was coming with the <i>Maid of +the North</i>, and when the schooner finally reached her anchorage he was +on the lookout for her, and at once came aboard with much blustering, +to demand her immediate delivery. He believed he had some +unsophisticated livyeres to deal with, whom he could easily browbeat +out of their rights. What was his surprise, then, when Douglas stepped +forward, and said very authoritatively:</p> + +<p>"Bide a bit, now, skipper. When 'tis decided how much salvage you pays +th' lad, an' after you pays un, you'll be havin' th' schooner an' her +cargo, an' not till then."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340"></a>Bob's first thought upon going ashore was of Emily, and he went +immediately to the hospital to see her. The operation had been +performed nearly two weeks previously and she was recovering rapidly. +When he was admitted to the ward, and she glimpsed him as he entered +the door, her delight was almost beyond bounds.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh!" she exclaimed, when he kissed her. "Tis fine t' see un, +Bob—'tis <i>so</i> fine. An' now I'll be gettin' well wonderful quick."</p> + +<p>And she did. She was discharged from the hospital quite cured a month +later. At first she was a little weak, but youth and a naturally +strong constitution were in her favour, and she regained her strength +with remarkable rapidity.</p> + +<p>Finally a settlement was arranged with Captain Hanks. The furs on +board the <i>Maid of the North</i> were appraised at market value, and when +Bob received his salvage he found himself possessed of fifteen +thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>He reimbursed Douglas the amount advanced for Emily's hospital +expenses, but the kind old trapper would not accept another cent, +though the lad wished to pay him for his services in piloting the +vessel to St. Johns.</p> + +<p>"Put un in th' bank. You'll be needin' un <a name="Page_341" id="Page_341"></a>some day t' start un in +life. Hold on t' un," was the good advice that Douglas gave, and +accordingly the money was deposited in the bank.</p> + +<p>Bob's share of the furs that he had trapped himself he very generously +insisted upon giving to Dick and Ed and Bill. They were diffident +about accepting them at first, saying:</p> + +<p>"We were doin' nothin' for un."</p> + +<p>But Bob pressed the furs upon them, and finally they accepted them. +The silver fox which he wept over that cold December evening sold for +four hundred and fifty dollars, and the one Dick found frozen in the +trap by the deer's antlers for three hundred dollars.</p> + +<p>Neither did Bob forget Netseksoak and Aluktook. Money would have been +quite useless to the Eskimos as he well knew, so he sent them rifles +and many things which they could use and would value.</p> + +<p>Laden with gifts for the home folks, and satiated with looking at the +shops and great buildings and wonders of St. Johns, they were a very +happy party when at last the mail boat steamed northward with them.</p> + +<p>Bob Gray was very proud of his little chum when, one beautiful +September day, his boat <a name="Page_342" id="Page_342"></a>ground its prow upon the sands at Wolf Bight, +and with all the strength and vigour of youth she bounded ashore and +ran to meet the expectant and happy parents.</p> + +<p>As, with full hearts, the reunited family of Richard Gray walked up +the path to the cabin, Bob said reverently:</p> + +<p>"Th' Lard has ways o' doin' things that seem strange an' wonderful +hard sometimes when He's doin' un; but He always does un right, an' a +rare lot better'n <i>we</i> could plan."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="XXVIII" id="XXVIII"></a><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343"></a><hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>XXVIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h3>IN AFTER YEARS</h3> +<br /> + +<p>During the twenty years that have elapsed since the incidents +transpired that are here recorded, the mission doctors and the mission +hospitals have come to The Labrador to give back life and health to +the unfortunate sick and injured folk of the coast, who in the old +days would have been doomed to die or to go through life helpless +cripples or invalids for the lack of medical or surgical care, as +would have been the case with little Emily but for the efforts of her +noble brother. New people, too, have come into Eskimo Bay, though on +the whole few changes have taken place and most of the characters met +with in the preceding pages still live.</p> + +<p>Douglas Campbell in the fullness of years has passed away. But he is +not forgotten, and in the spring-time loving hands gather the wild +flowers, which grow so sparsely there, and scatter them upon the mossy +mound that marks his resting place.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344"></a>Ed Matheson to this day tells the story of the adventures of Ungava +Bob—as Bob Gray has thenceforth been called—not forgetting to +embellish the tale with flights of fancy; and of course Dick Blake +warns the listeners that these imaginative variations are "just some +o' Ed's yarns," and Bob laughs at them good-naturedly.</p> + +<p>It may be asked to what use Bob put his newly acquired wealth, and the +reader's big sister should this book fall into her hands, will surely +wish to know whether Bob and Bessie married, and what became of +Manikawan. But these are matters that belong to another story that +perhaps some day it may seem worth while to tell.</p> + +<p>For the present, adieu to Ungava Bob.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade="noshade" size="4" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 16596-h.txt or 16596-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/5/9/16596</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Palmer + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ungava Bob + A Winter's Tale + + +Author: Dillon Wallace + + + +Release Date: August 25, 2005 [eBook #16596] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB*** + + +E-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Jeannie Howse, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 16596-h.htm or 16596-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596/16596-h/16596-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596/16596-h.zip) + + Much of the dialogue is dialect. The few spelling mistakes have + been retained, including St. Johns for St. John's (Newfoundland). + + + + + +Every Boy's Library--Boy Scout Edition + +UNGAVA BOB + +A Winter's Tale + +by + +DILLON WALLACE + +Author of _The Lure of the Labrador Wild_ + +Illustrated by Samuel M. Palmer + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers + +1907 + +Third Edition + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Three of the men hauled, the other with a pole, kept +it clear of the rocks (_See page 45_)] + + + + + _To My Sisters + Annie and Jessie_ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. HOW BOB GOT HIS "TRAIL" 9 + +II. OFF TO THE BUSH 26 + +III. AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR 37 + +IV. SWEPT AWAY IN THE RAPIDS 50 + +V. THE TRAILS ARE REACHED 56 + +VI. ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS 68 + +VII. A STREAK OF GOOD LUCK 76 + +VIII. MICMAC JOHN'S REVENGE 87 + +IX. LOST IN THE SNOW 96 + +X. THE PENALTY 108 + +XI. THE TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL 115 + +XII. IN THE HANDS OF THE NASCAUPEES 129 + +XIII. A FOREBODING OF EVIL 140 + +XIV. THE SHADOW OF DEATH 153 + +XV. IN THE WIGWAM OF SISHETAKUSHIN 171 + +XVI. ONE OF THE TRIBE 187 + +XVII. STILL FARTHER NORTH 199 + +XVIII. A MISSION OF TRUST 206 + +XIX. AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND 226 + +XX. PRISONERS OF THE SEA 240 + +XXI. ADRIFT ON THE ICE 254 + +XXII. THE MAID OF THE NORTH 269 + +XXIII. THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE 280 + +XXIV. THE ESCAPE 290 + +XXV. THE BREAK-UP 304 + +XXVI. BACK AT WOLF BIGHT 315 + +XXVII. THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHN'S 333 + +XXVIII. IN AFTER YEARS 341 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + FACING PAGE + +THREE OF THE MEN HAULED, THE OTHER WITH + A POLE, KEPT IT CLEAR OF THE ROCKS Title + +"BOB JUMPED OUT WITH THE PAINTER IN HIS HAND." 21 + +CHART OF THE TRAILS. 64 + +"MICMAC JOHN KNEW HIS END HAD COME." 114 + +"IT WAS DANGEROUS WORK." 173 + +"SAW HER STANDING IN THE BRIGHT MOONLIGHT." 197 + +"HE HELD THE VESSEL STEADILY TO HER COURSE." 298 + + + + +UNGAVA BOB + + +I + +HOW BOB GOT HIS "TRAIL" + + +It was an evening in early September twenty years ago. The sun was +just setting in a radiance of glory behind the dark spruce forest that +hid the great unknown, unexplored Labrador wilderness which stretched +away a thousand miles to the rocky shores of Hudson's Bay and the +bleak desolation of Ungava. With their back to the forest and the +setting sun, drawn up in martial line stood the eight or ten +whitewashed log buildings of the Hudson's Bay Company Post, just as +they had stood for a hundred years, and just as they stand to-day, +looking out upon the wide waters of Eskimo Bay, which now, reflecting +the glow of the setting sun, shone red and sparkling like a sea of +rubies. + +On a clearing to the eastward of the post between the woods and water +was an irregular cluster of deerskin wigwams, around which loitered +dark-hued Indians puffing quietly at their pipes, while Indian women +bent over kettles steaming at open fires, cooking the evening meal, +and little Indian boys with bows shot harmless arrows at soaring gulls +overhead, and laughed joyously at their sport as each arrow fell short +of its mark. Big wolf dogs skulked here and there, looking for bits of +refuse, snapping and snarling ill-temperedly at each other. + +A group of stalwart, swarthy-faced men, dressed in the garb of +northern hunters--light-coloured moleskin trousers tucked into the +tops of long-legged sealskin moccasins, short jackets and peakless +caps--stood before the post kitchen or lounged upon the rough board +walk which extended the full length of the reservation in front of the +servants' quarters and storehouses. They were watching a small +sailboat that, half a mile out upon the red flood, was bowling in +before a smart breeze, and trying to make out its single occupant. +Finally some one spoke. + +"'Tis Bob Gray from Wolf Bight, for that's sure Bob's punt." + +"Yes," said another, "'tis sure Bob." + +Their curiosity satisfied, all but two strolled into the kitchen, +where supper had been announced. + +Douglas Campbell, the older of the two that remained, was a short, +stockily built man with a heavy, full, silver-white beard, and skin +tanned dark as an Indian's by the winds and storms of more than sixty +years. A pair of kindly blue eyes beneath shaggy white eyebrows gave +his face an appearance at once of strength and gentleness, and an +erect bearing and well-poised head stamped him a leader and a man of +importance. + +The other was a tall, wiry, half-breed Indian, with high cheek bones +and small, black, shifting eyes that were set very close together and +imparted to the man a look of craftiness and cunning. He was known as +"Micmac John," but said his real name was John Sharp. He had drifted +to the coast a couple of years before on a fishing schooner from +Newfoundland, whence he had come from Nova Scotia. From the coast he +had made his way the hundred and fifty miles to the head of Eskimo +Bay, and there took up the life of a trapper. Rumour had it that he +had committed murder at home and had run away to escape the penalty; +but this rumour was unverified, and there was no means of learning +the truth of it. Since his arrival here the hunters had lost, now and +again, martens and foxes from their traps, and it was whispered that +Micmac John was responsible for their disappearance. Nevertheless, +without any tangible evidence that he had stolen them, he was treated +with kindness, though he had made no real friends amongst the natives. + +When the last of the men had closed the kitchen door behind him, +Micmac John approached Douglas, who had been standing somewhat apart, +evidently lost in his thoughts as he watched the approaching boat, and +asked: + +"Have ye decided about the Big Hill trail, sir?" + +"Yes, John." + +"And am I to hunt it this year, sir?" + +"No, John, I can't let ye have un. I told Bob Gray th' day I'd let him +hunt un. Bob's a smart lad, and I wants t' give he th' chance." + +Micmac John cast a malicious glance at old Douglas. Then with an +assumed indifference, and shrug of his shoulders as he started to walk +away, remarked: + +"All right if you've made yer mind up, but you'll be sorry fer it." + +Douglas turned fiercely upon him. + +"What mean you, man? Be that a threat? Speak now!" + +"I make no threats, but boys can't hunt, and he'll bring ye no fur. +Ye'll get nothin' fer yer pains. Ye'll be sorry fer it." + +"Well," said Douglas as Micmac John walked away to join the others in +the kitchen, "I've promised th' lad, an' what I promises I does, an' +I'll stand by it." + +Bob Gray, sitting at the tiller of his little punt, _The Rover_, was +very happy--happy because the world was so beautiful, happy because he +lived, and especially happy because of the great good fortune that had +come to him this day when Douglas Campbell granted his request to let +him hunt the Big Hill trail, with its two hundred good marten and fox +traps. + +It had been a year of misfortune for the Grays. The previous winter +when Bob's father started out upon his trapping trail a wolverine +persistently and systematically followed him, destroying almost every +fox and marten that he had caught. All known methods to catch or kill +the animal were resorted to, but with the cunning that its prehistoric +ancestors had handed down to it, it avoided every pitfall. The fox is +a poor bungler compared with the wolverine. The result of all this was +that Richard Gray had no fur in the spring with which to pay his debt +at the trading store. + +Then came the greatest misfortune of all. Emily, Bob's little sister, +ventured too far out upon a cliff one day to pluck a vagrant wild +flower that had found lodgment in a crevice, and in reaching for it, +slipped to the rocks below. Bob heard her scream as she fell, and ran +to her assistance. He found her lying there, quite still and white, +clutching the precious blossom, and at first he thought she was dead. +He took her in his arms and carried her tenderly to the cabin. After a +while she opened her eyes and came back to consciousness, but she had +never walked since. Everything was done for the child that could be +done. Every man and woman in the Bay offered assistance and +suggestions, and every one of them tried a remedy; but no relief came. + +All the time things kept going from bad to worse with Richard Gray. +Few seals came in the bay that year and he had no fat to trade at the +post. The salmon fishing was a flat failure. + +As the weeks went on and Emily showed no improvement Douglas Campbell +came over to Wolf Bight with the suggestion, + +"Take th' maid t' th' mail boat doctor. He'll sure fix she up." And +then they took her--Bob and his mother--ninety miles down the bay to +the nearest port of call of the coastal mail boat, while the father +remained at home to watch his salmon nets. Here they waited until +finally the steamer came and the doctor examined Emily. + +"There's nothing I can do for her," he said. "You'll have to send her +to St. Johns to the hospital. They'll fix her all right there with a +little operation." + +"An' how much will that cost?" asked Mrs. Gray. + +"Oh," he replied, "not over fifty dollars--fifty dollars will cover +it." + +"An' if she don't go?" + +"She'll never get well." Then, as a dismissal of the subject, the +doctor, turning to Bob, asked: "Well, youngster, what's the outlook +for fur next season?" + +"We hopes there'll be some, sir." + +"Get some silver foxes. Good silvers are worth five hundred dollars +cash in St. Johns." + +The mail boat steamed away with the doctor, and Bob and his mother, +with Emily made as comfortable as possible in the bottom of the boat, +turned homeward. + +It was hard to realize that Emily would never be well again, that she +would never romp over the rocks with Bob in the summer or ride with +him on the sledge when he took the dogs to haul wood in the winter. +There would be no more merry laughter as she played about the cabin. +This was before the days when the mission doctors with their ships and +hospitals came to the Labrador to give back life to the sick and dying +of the coast. Fifty dollars was more money than any man of the bay +save Douglas Campbell had ever seen, and to expect to get such a sum +was quite hopeless, for in those days the hunters were always in debt +to the company, and all they ever received for their labours were the +actual necessities of life, and not always these. + +Emily was the only cheerful one now of the three. When she saw her +mother crying, she took her hand and stroked it, and said: "Mother, +dear, don't be cryin' now. 'Tis not so bad. If God wants that I get +well He'll make me well. An' I wants to stay home with you an' see +you an' father an' Bob, an' I'd be _dreadful_ homesick to go off so +far." + +Emily and Bob had always been great chums and the blow to him seemed +almost more than he could bear. His heart lay in his bosom like a +stone. At first he could not think, but finally he found himself +repeating what the doctor had said about silver foxes,--"five hundred +dollars cash." This was more money than he could imagine, but he knew +it was a great deal. The company gave sixty dollars _in trade_ for the +finest silver foxes. That was supposed a liberal price--but five +hundred dollars in _cash_! + +He looked longingly towards the blue hills that held their heads +against the distant sky line. Behind those hills was a great +wilderness rich in foxes and martens--but no man of the coast had ever +dared to venture far within it. It was the land of the dreaded +Nascaupees, the savage red men of the North, who it was said would +torture to a horrible death any who came upon their domain. + +The Mountaineer Indians who visited the bay regularly and camped in +summer near the post, told many tales of the treachery of their +northern neighbours, and warned the trappers that they had already +blazed their trails as far inland as it was safe for them to go. Any +hunter encroaching upon the Nascaupee territory, they insisted, would +surely be slaughtered. + +Bob had often heard this warning, and did not forget it now; but in +spite of it he felt that circumstances demanded risks, and for Emily's +sake he was willing to take them. If he could only get traps, _he_ +would make the venture, with his parents' consent, and blaze a new +trail there, for it would be sure to yield a rich reward. But to get +traps needed money or credit, and he had neither. + +Then he remembered that Douglas Campbell had said one day that he +would not go to the hills again if he could get a hunter to take the +Big Hill trail to hunt on shares. That was an inspiration. He would +ask Douglas to let him hunt it on the usual basis--two-thirds of the +fur caught to belong to the hunter and one-third to the owner. With +this thought Bob's spirits rose. + +"'Twill be fine--'twill be a grand chance," said he to himself, "an +Douglas lets me hunt un, an father lets me go." + +He decided to speak to Douglas first, for if Douglas was agreeable to +the plan his parents would give their consent more readily. Otherwise +they might withhold it, for the trail was dangerously close to the +forbidden grounds of the Nascaupees, and anyway it was a risky +undertaking for a boy--one that many of the experienced trappers would +shrink from. + +The more Bob considered his plan with all its great possibilities, the +more eager he became. He found himself calculating the number of pelts +he would secure, and amongst them perhaps a silver fox. He would let +the mail boat doctor sell them for him, and then they would be rich, +and Emily would go to the hospital, and be his merry, laughing little +chum again. How happy they would all be! Bob was young and an +optimist, and no thought of failure entered his head. + +It was too late the night they reached home to see Douglas but the +next morning he hurried through his breakfast, which was eaten by +candle-light, and at break of day was off for Kenemish, where Douglas +Campbell lived. He found the old man at home, and, with some fear of +refusal, but still bravely, for he knew the kind-hearted old trapper +would grant the request if he thought it were wise, explained his +plan. + +"You're a stalwart lad, Bob," said Douglas, looking at the boy +critically from under his shaggy eyebrows. "An' how old may you be +now? I 'most forgets--young folks grows up so fast." + +"Just turned sixteen, sir." + +"An' that's a young age for a lad to be so far in th' bush alone. But +you'll be havin' somethin' happen t' you." + +"I'll be rare careful, sir, an' you lets me ha' th' trail." + +"An' what says your father?" + +"I's said nothin' to he, sir, about it yet." + +"Well, go ask he, an' he says yes, meet me at the post th' evenin' an' +I'll speak wi' Mr. MacDonald t' give ye debt for your grub. Micmac +John's wantin' th' trail, but I'm not thinkin' t' let he have un." + +At first Bob's parents both opposed the project. The dangers were so +great that his mother asserted that if he were to go she would not +have an easy hour until she saw her boy again. But he put forth such +strong arguments and plead so vigorously, and his disappointment was +so manifest, that finally she withdrew her objections and his father +said: + +"Well, you may go, my son, an Douglas lets you have th' trail." + +[Illustration: "Bob jumped out with the painter in his hand"] + +So Bob, scarcely sixteen years of age, was to do a man's work and +shoulder a man's burden, and he was glad that God had given him +stature beyond his years, that he might do it. He could not remember +when he had not driven dogs and cut wood and used a gun. He had done +these things always. But now he was to rise to the higher plane of a +full-fledged trapper and the spruce forest and the distant hills +beyond the post seemed a great empire over which he was to rule. Those +trackless fastnesses, with their wealth of fur, were to pay tribute to +him, and he was happy in the thought that he had found a way to save +little Emily from the lifelong existence of a poor crippled invalid. +His buoyant spirit had stepped out of the old world of darkness and +despair into a new world filled with light and love and beauty, in +which the present troubles were but a passing cloud. + +"Ho, lad! so your father let ye come. I's glad t' see ye, lad. An' now +we're t' make a great hunt," greeted Douglas when the punt ground its +nose upon the sandy beach, and Bob jumped out with the painter in his +hand to make it fast. + +"Aye, sir," said Bob, "he an' mother says I may go." + +"Well, come, b'y, an' we'll ha' supper an' bide here th' night an' in +th' mornin' you'll get your fit out," said Douglas when they had +pulled the punt up well away from the tide. + +Entering the kitchen they found the others still at table. Greetings +were exchanged, and a place was made for Douglas and Bob. + +It was a good-sized room, furnished in the simple, primitive style of +the country: an uncarpeted floor, benches and chests in lieu of +chairs, a home-made table, a few shelves for the dishes, two or three +bunks like ship bunks built in the end opposite the door to serve the +post servant and his family for beds, and a big box stove, capable of +taking huge billets of wood, crackling cheerily, for the nights were +already frosty. Resting upon crosspieces nailed to the rough beams +overhead were half a dozen muzzle loading guns, and some dog harness +hung on the wall at one side. Everything was spotlessly clean. The +floor, the table--innocent of a cloth--the shelves, benches and chests +were scoured to immaculate whiteness with sand and soap, and, despite +its meagre furnishings the room was very snug and cozy and possessed +an atmosphere of homeliness and comfort. + +A single window admitted the fading evening light and a candle was +brought, though Douglas said to the young girl who placed it in the +centre of the table: + +"So long as there's plenty a' grub, Bessie, I thinks we can find a way +t' get he t' our mouths without ere a light." + +The meal was a simple one--boiled fresh trout with pork grease to pour +over it for sauce, bread, tea, and molasses for "sweetening." Butter +and sugar were luxuries to be used only upon rare festal occasions. + +After the men had eaten they sat on the floor with their backs against +the rough board wall and their knees drawn up, and smoked and chatted +about the fishing season just closed and the furring season soon to +open, while Margaret Black, wife of Tom Black, the post servant, their +daughter Bessie and a couple of young girl visitors of Bessie's from +down the bay, ate and afterwards cleared the table. Then some one +proposed a dance, as it was their last gathering before going to their +winter trails, which would hold them prisoners for months to come in +the interior wilderness. A fiddle was brought out, and Dick Blake +tuned up its squeaky strings, and, keeping time with one foot, struck +up the Virginia reel. + +The men discarded their jackets, displaying their rough flannel shirts +and belts, in which were carried sheath knives, chose their partners +and went at it with a will, to Dick's music, while he fiddled and +shouted such directions as "Sashay down th' middle,--swing yer +pardners,--promenade." + +Bob led out Bessie, for whom he had always shown a decided preference, +and danced like any man of them. Douglas did not dance--not because he +was too old, for no man is too old to dance in Labrador, nor because +it was beneath his dignity--but because, as he said: "There's not +enough maids for all th' lads, an' I's had my turn a many a time. I'll +smoke an' look on." + +Neither did Micmac John dance, for he seemed in ill humour, and was +silent and morose, nursing his discontent that a mere boy should have +been given the Big Hill trail in preference to him, and he sat moody +and silent, taking no apparent interest in the fun. The dance was +nearly finished when Bob, wheeling around the end, warm with the +excitement and pleasure of it all, inadvertently stepped on one of the +half-breed's feet. Micmac John rose like a flash and struck Bob a +stinging blow on the face. Bob turned upon him full of the quick anger +of the moment, then, remembering his surroundings, restrained the hand +that was about to return the blow, simply saying: + +"'Twas an accident, John, an' you has no right to strike me." + +The half-breed, vicious, sinister and alert, stood glowering for a +moment, then deliberately hit Bob again. The others fell back, Bob +faced his opponent, and, goaded now beyond the power of +self-restraint, struck with all the power of his young arm at Micmac +John. The latter was on his guard, however, and warded the blow. Quick +as a flash he drew his knife, and before the others realized what he +was about to do, made a vicious lunge at Bob's breast. + + + + +II + +OFF TO THE BUSH + + +On the left breast of Bob's woollen shirt there was a pocket, and in +this pocket was a small metal box of gun caps, which Bob always +carried there when he was away from home, for he seldom left home +without his gun. It was fortunate for him that it was there now, for +the point of the knife struck squarely over the place where the box +lay. It was driven with such force by the half-breed's strong arm that +it passed clear through the metal, which, however, so broke the blow +that the steel scarcely scratched the skin beneath. Before another +plunge could be made with the knife the men sprang in and seized +Micmac John, who submitted at once without a struggle to the +overpowering force, and permitted himself to be disarmed. Then he was +released and stood back, sullen and defiant. For several moments not a +word was spoken. + +Finally Dick Blake took a threatening step towards the Indian, and +shaking his fist in the latter's face exclaimed: + +"Ye dirty coward! Ye'd do murder, would ye? Ye'd kill un, would ye?" + +"Hold on," said Douglas, "'bide a bit. 'Twill do no good t' beat un, +though he's deservin' of it." Then to the half-breed: "An' what's +ailin' of ye th' evenin', John? 'Twas handy t' doin' murder ye were." + +John saw the angry look in the men's eyes, and the cool judgment of +Douglas standing between him and bodily harm, and deciding that tact +was the better part of valour, changed his attitude of defiance to one +of reconciliation. He could not take revenge now for his fancied +wrong. His Indian cunning told him to wait for a better time. So he +extended his hand to Bob, who, dazed by the suddenness of the +unexpected attack, had not moved. "Shake hands, Bob, an' call it +square. I was hot with anger an' didn't know what I was doin'. We +won't quarrel." + +Bob, acting upon the motto his mother had taught him--"Be slow to +anger and quick to forgive," took the outstretched hand with the +remark, + +"'Twere a mighty kick I gave ye, John, an' enough t' anger ye, an' no +harm's done." + +Big Dick Blake would not have it so at first, and invited the +half-breed outside to take a "licking" at his hands. But the others +soon pacified him, the trouble was forgotten and dancing resumed as +though nothing had happened to disturb it. + +As soon as attention was drawn from him Micmac John, unobserved, +slipped out of the door and a few moments later placed some things in +a canoe that had been turned over on the beach, launched it and +paddled away in the ghostly light of the rising moon. + +The dancing continued until eleven o'clock, then the men lit their +pipes, and after a short smoke and chat rolled into their blankets +upon the floor, Mrs. Black and the girls retired to the bunks, and, +save for a long, weird howl that now and again came from the wolf dogs +outside, and the cheery crackling of the stove within, not a sound +disturbed the silence of the night. + +As has been intimated, Douglas Campbell was a man of importance in +Eskimo Bay. When a young fellow he had come here from the Orkney +Islands as a servant of the Hudson's Bay Company. A few years later +he married a native girl, and then left the company's service to +become a hunter. + +He had been careful of his wages, and as he blazed new hunting trails +into the wilderness, used his savings to purchase steel traps with +which to stock the trails. Other trappers, too poor to buy traps for +themselves, were glad to hunt on shares the trails Douglas made, and +now he was reaping a good income from them. He was in fact the richest +man in the Bay. + +He was kind, generous and fatherly. The people of the Bay looked up to +him and came to him when they were in trouble, for his advice and +help. Many a poor family had Douglas Campbell's flour barrel saved +from starvation in a bad winter, and God knows bad winters come often +enough on the Labrador. Many an ambitious youngster had he started in +life, as he was starting Bob Gray now. + +The Big Hill trail, far up the Grand River, was the newest and deepest +in the wilderness of all the trails Douglas owned--deeper in the +wilderness than that of any other hunter. Just below it and adjoining +it was William Campbell's--a son of Douglas--a young man of nineteen +who had made his first winter's hunt the year before our story +begins; below that, Dick Blake's, and below Dick's was Ed Matheson's. + +In preparing for the winter hunt it was more convenient for these men +to take their supplies to their tilts by boat up the Grand River than +to haul them in on toboggans on the spring ice, as nearly every other +hunter, whose trapping ground was not upon so good a waterway, was +compelled to do, and so it was that they were now at the trading post +selecting their outfits preparatory to starting inland before the very +cold winter should bind the river in its icy shackles. + +The men were up early in the morning, and Douglas went with Bob to the +office of Mr. Charles McDonald, the factor, where it was arranged that +Bob should be given on credit such provisions and goods as he needed +for his winter's hunt, to be paid for with fur when he returned in the +spring. Douglas gave his verbal promise to assume the debt should +Bob's catch of fur be insufficient to enable him to pay it, but Bob's +reputation for energy and honesty was so good that Mr. McDonald said +he had no fear as to the payment by the lad himself. + +The provisions that Bob selected in the store, or shop, as they +called it, were chiefly flour, a small bag of hardtack, fat pork, tea, +molasses, baking soda and a little coarse salt, while powder, shot, +bullets, gun caps, matches, a small axe and clothing completed the +outfit. He already had a gray cotton wedge-tent. When these things +were selected and put aside, Douglas bought a pipe and some plugs of +black tobacco, and presented them to Bob as a gift from himself. + +"But I never smokes, sir, an' I 'lows he'd be makin' me sick," said +Bob, as he fingered the pipe. + +"Just a wee bit when you tries t' get acquainted," answered Douglas +with a chuckle, "just a wee bit; but ye'll come t' he soon enough an' +right good company ye'll find he of a long evenin'. Take un along, an' +there's no harm done if ye don't smoke un--but ye'll be makin' good +friends wi' un soon enough." + +So Bob pocketed the pipe and packed the tobacco carefully away with +his purchases. + +After a consultation it was decided that the men should all meet the +next evening, which would be Sunday, at Bob's home at Wolf Bight, near +the mouth of the Grand River, and from there make an early start on +Monday morning for their trapping grounds. "I'll have William over +wi' one o' my boats that's big enough for all hands," said Douglas. +"No use takin' more'n one boat. It's easier workin' one than two over +the portages an' up the rapids." + +When Bob's punt was loaded and he was ready to start for home, he ran +to the kitchen to say good-bye to Mrs. Black and the girls, for he was +not to see them again for many months. + +"Bide in th' tilt when it storms, Bob, an' have a care for the wolves, +an' keep clear o' th' Nascaupees," warned Bessie as she shook Bob's +hand. + +"Aye," said he. "I'll bide in th' tilt o' stormy days, an' not go +handy t' th' Nascaupees. I'm not fearful o' th' wolves, for they's +always so afraid they never gives un a chance for a shot." + +"But _do_ have a care, Bob. An'--an'--I wants to tell you how glad I +is o' your good luck, an' I hopes you'll make a grand hunt--I _knows_ +you will. An'--Bob, we'll miss you th' winter." + +"Thank you, Bessie. An' I'll think o' th' fine time I'm missin' at +Christmas an' th' New Year. Good-bye, Bessie." + +"Good-bye, Bob." + +The fifteen miles across the Bay to Wolf Bight with a fair wind was +soon run. Bob ate a late dinner, and then made everything snug for the +journey. His flour was put into small, convenient sacks, his cooking +utensils consisting of a frying pan, a tin pail in which to make tea, +a tin cup and a spoon were placed in a canvas bag by themselves, and +in another bag was packed a Hudson's Bay Company four-point blanket, +two suits of underwear, a pair of buckskin mittens with a pair of +duffel ones inside them, and an extra piece of the duffel for an +emergency, six pairs of knit woollen socks, four pairs of duffel socks +or slippers (which his mother had made for him out of heavy +blanket-like woollen cloth), three pairs of buckskin moccasins for the +winter and an extra pair of sealskin boots (long legged moccasins) for +wet weather in the spring. + +He also laid aside, for daily use on the journey, an adikey made of +heavy white woollen cloth, with a fur trimmed hood, and a lighter one, +to be worn outside of the other, and made of gray cotton. The adikey +or "dikey," as Bob called it, was a seamless garment to be drawn on +over the head and worn instead of a coat. The underclothing and knit +socks had been purchased at the trading post, but every other article +of clothing, including boots, moccasins and mitts, his mother had +made. + +A pair of snow-shoes, a file for sharpening axes, a "wedge" tent of +gray cotton cloth and a sheet iron tent stove about twelve inches +square and eighteen inches long with a few lengths of pipe placed +inside of it were likewise put in readiness. The stove and pipe Bob's +father had manufactured. + +No packing was left to be done Sunday, for though there was no church +to go to, the Grays, and for that matter all of the Bay people, were +close observers of the Sabbath, and left no work to be done on that +day that could be done at any other time. + +Early on Sunday evening, Dick and Ed and Bill Campbell came over in +their boat from Kenemish, where they had spent the previous night. It +had been a short day for Bob, the shortest it seemed to him he had +ever known, for though he was anxious to be away and try his mettle +with the wilderness, these were the last hours for many long weary +months that he should have at home with his father and mother and +Emily. How the child clung to him! She kept him by her side the +livelong day, and held his hand as though she were afraid that he +would slip away from her. She stroked his cheek and told him how +proud she was of her big brother, and warned him over and over again, + +"Now, Bob, do be wonderful careful an' not go handy t' th' Nascaupees +for they be dreadful men, fierce an' murderous." + +Over and over again they planned the great things they would do when +he came back with a big lot of fur--as they were both quite sure he +would--and how she would go away to the doctor's to be made well and +strong again as she used to be and the romps they were to have when +that happy time came. + +"An' Bob," said Emily, "every night before I goes to sleep when I says +my 'Now I lay me down to sleep' prayer, I'll say to God 'an' keep Bob +out o' danger an' bring he home safe.'" + +"Aye, Emily," answered Bob, "an' I'll say to God, 'Make Emily fine an' +strong again.'" + +Before daybreak on Monday morning breakfast was eaten, and the boat +loaded for a start at dawn. Emily was not yet awake when the time came +to say farewell and Bob kissed her as she slept. Poor Mrs. Gray could +not restrain the tears, and Bob felt a great choking in his +throat--but he swallowed it bravely. + +"Don't be feelin' bad, mother. I'm t' be rare careful in th' bush, and +you'll see me well and hearty wi' a fine hunt, wi' th' open water," +said he, as he kissed her. + +"I knows you'll be careful, an' I'll try not t' worry, but I has a +forebodin' o' somethin' t' happen--somethin' that's t' happen t' you, +Bob--oh, I feels that somethin's t' happen. Emily'll be missin' you +dreadful, Bob. An'--'twill be sore lonesome for your father an' me +without our boy." + +"Ready, Bob!" shouted Dick from the boat. + +"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember that your mother's +prayin' for you every mornin' an' every night." + +"Yes, mother, I'll remember all you said." + +She watched him from the door as he walked down to the shore with his +father, and the boat, heavily laden, pushed out into the Bay, and she +watched still, until it disappeared around the point, above. Then she +turned back into the room and had a good cry before she went about her +work again. + +If she had known what those distant hills held for her boy--if her +intuition had been knowledge--she would never have let him go. + + + + +III + +AN ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR + + +The boat turned out into the broad channel and into Goose Bay. There +was little or no wind, and when the sun broke gloriously over the +white-capped peaks of the Mealy Mountains it shone upon a sea as +smooth as a mill pond, with scarcely a ripple to disturb it. The men +worked laboriously and silently at their oars. A harbour seal pushed +its head above the water, looked at the toiling men curiously for a +moment, then disappeared below the surface, leaving an eddy where it +had been. Gulls soared overhead, their white wings and bodies looking +very pure and beautiful in the sunlight. High in the air a flock of +ducks passed to the southward. From somewhere in the distance came the +honk of a wild goose. The air was laden with the scent of the great +forest of spruce and balsam fir, whose dark green barrier came down +from the rock-bound, hazy hills in the distance to the very water's +edge, where tamarack groves, turned yellow by the early frosts, +reflected the sunlight like settings of rich gold. + +"'Tis fine! 'tis grand!" exclaimed Bob at last, as he rested a moment +on his oars to drink in the scene and breathe deeply the rare, +fragrant atmosphere. "'Tis sure a fine world we're in." + +"Aye, 'tis fine enough now," remarked Ed, stopping to cut pieces from +a plug of tobacco, and then cramming them into his pipe. "But," he +continued, prophetically, as he struck a match and held it between his +hands for the sulphur to burn off, "bide a bit, an' you'll find it +ugly enough when th' snows blow t' smother ye, an' yer racquets sink +with ye t' yer knees, and th' frost freezes yer face and the ice +sticks t' yer very eyelashes until ye can't see--then," continued he, +puffing vigorously at his pipe, "then 'tis a sorry world--aye, a sorry +an' a hard world for folks t' make a livin' in." + +It was mid-forenoon when they reached Rabbit Island--a small wooded +island where the passing dog drivers always stop in winter to make tea +and snatch a mouthful of hard biscuit while the dogs have a half +hour's rest. + +"An' here we'll boil th' kettle," suggested Dick. "I'm fair starved +with an early breakfast and the pull at the oars." + +"We're ready enough for that," assented Bill. "Th' wind's prickin' up +a bit from th' east'rd, an' when we starts I thinks we may hoist the +sails." + +"Yes, th' wind's prickin' up an' we'll have a fair breeze t' help us +past th' Traverspine, I hopes." + +The landing was made. Bob and Ed each took an axe to cut into suitable +lengths some of the plentiful dead wood lying right to hand, while +Dick whittled some shavings and started the fire. Bill brought a +kettle (a tin pail) of water. Then he cut a green sapling about five +feet in length, sharpened one end of it, and stuck it firmly into the +earth, slanting the upper end into position over the fire. On this he +hung the kettle of water, so that the blaze shot up around it. In a +little while the water boiled, and with a stick for a lifter he set it +on the ground and threw in a handful of tea. This they sweetened with +molasses and drank out of tin cups while they munched hardtack. + +Bill's prophecy as to the wind proved a true one, and in the half hour +while they were at their luncheon so good a breeze had sprang up that +when they left Rabbit Island both sails were hoisted. + +Early in the afternoon they passed the Traverspine River, and now with +some current to oppose made slower, though with the fair wind, good +progress, and when the sun dipped behind the western hills and they +halted to make their night camp they were ten miles above the +Traverspine. + +To men accustomed to travelling in the bush, camp is quickly made. The +country here was well wooded, and the forest beneath covered with a +thick carpet of white moss. Bob and Bill selected two trees between +which they stretched the ridge pole of a tent, and a few moments +sufficed to cut pegs and pin down the canvas. Then spruce boughs were +broken and spread over the damp moss and their shelter was ready for +occupancy. Meanwhile Ed had cut fire-wood while Dick started the fire, +using for kindlings a handful of dry, dead sprigs from the branches of +a spruce tree, and by the time Bob and Bill had the tent pitched it +was blazing cheerily, and the appetizing smell of fried pork and hot +tea was in the air. When supper was cooked Ed threw on some more +sticks, for the evening was frosty, and then they sat down to +luxuriate in its genial warmth and eat their simple meal. + +For an hour they chatted, while the fire burned low, casting a +narrowing circle of light upon the black wilderness surrounding the +little camp. Some wild thing of the forest stole noiselessly to the +edge of the outer darkness, its eyes shining like two balls of fire, +then it quietly slunk away unobserved. Above the fir tops the blue +dome of heaven seemed very near and the million stars that glittered +there almost close enough to pluck from their azure setting. With a +weird, uncanny light the aurora flashed its changing colours +restlessly across the sky. No sound save the low voices of the men as +they talked, disturbed the great silence of the wilderness. + +Many a time had Bob camped and hunted with his father near the coast, +in the forest to the south of Wolf Bight, but he had never been far +from home and with this his first long journey into the interior, a +new world and new life were opening to him. The solitude had never +impressed him before as it did now. The smoke of the camp-fire and +the perfume of the forest had never smelled so sweet. The romance of +the trail was working its way into his soul, and to him the land +seemed filled with wonderful things that he was to search out and +uncover for himself. The harrowing tales that the men were telling of +winter storms and narrow escapes from wild animals had no terror for +him. He only looked forward to meeting and conquering these obstacles +for himself. Young blood loves adventure, and Bob's blood was strong +and red and active. + +When the fire died away and only a heap of glowing red coals remained, +Dick knocked the ashes from his pipe, and rising with a yawn, +suggested: + +"I 'lows it's time t' turn in. We'll have t' be movin' early in th' +mornin' an' we makes th' Muskrat Portage." + +Then they went to the tent and rolled into their blankets and were +soon sleeping as only men can sleep who breathe the pure, free air of +God's great out-of-doors. + +Before noon the next day they reached the Muskrat Falls, where the +torrent, with a great roar, pours down seventy feet over the solid +rocks. An Indian portage trail leads around the falls and meets the +river again half a mile farther up. At its beginning it ascends a +steep incline two hundred feet, then it runs away, comparatively +level, to its upper end where it drops abruptly to the water's edge. +To pull a heavy boat up this incline and over the half mile to the +launching place above, was no small undertaking. + +Everything was unloaded, the craft brought ashore, and ropes which +were carried for the purpose attached to the bow. Then round sticks of +wood, for rollers, were placed under it, and while Dick and Ed hauled, +Bob and Bill pushed and lifted and kept the rollers straight. In this +manner, with infinite labour, it was worked to the top of the hill and +step by step hauled over the portage to the place where it was to +enter the water again. It was nearly sunset when they completed their +task and turned back to bring up their things from below. + +They had retraced their steps but a few yards when Dick, who was +ahead, darted off to the left of the trail with the exclamation: + +"An' here's some fresh meat for supper." + +It was a porcupine lumbering awkwardly away. He easily killed it with +a stick, and picking it up by its tail, was about to turn back into +the trail when a fresh axe cutting caught his eye. + +"Now who's been here, lads?" said he, looking at it closely. "None o' +th' planters has been inside of th' Traverspine, an' no Mountaineers +has left th' post yet." + +The others joined him and scrutinized the cutting, then looked for +other human signs. Near by they found the charred wood of a recent +fire and some spruce boughs that had served for a bed within a day or +two, which was proved by their freshly broken ends. It had been the +couch of a single man. + +"Micmac John, sure!" said Ed. + +"An' what's he doin' here?" asked Bill. "He has no traps or huntin' +grounds handy t' this." + +"I'm thinkin' 'tis no good he's after," said Dick. "'Tis sure he, an' +he'll be givin' us trouble, stealin' our fur an' maybe worse. But if +_I_ gets hold o' he, he'll be sorry for his meddlin', if meddlin' he's +after, an' it's sure all he's here for." + +They hurried back to pitch camp, and when the fire was made the +porcupine was thrown upon the blaze, and allowed to remain there until +its quills and hair were scorched to a cinder. Then Dick, who +superintended the cooking, pulled it out, scraped it and dressed it. +On either side of the fire he drove a stake and across the tops of +these stakes tied a cross pole. From the centre of this pole the +porcupine was suspended by a string, so that it hung low and near +enough to the fire to roast nicely, while it was twirled around on the +string. It was soon sending out a delicious odour, and in an hour was +quite done, and ready to be served. A dainty morsel it was to the +hungry voyageurs, resembling in some respects roast pig, and every +scrap of it they devoured. + +The next morning all the goods were carried over the portage, and a +wearisome fight began against the current of the river, which was so +swift above this point as to preclude sailing or even rowing. A rope +was tied to the bow of the boat and on this three of the men hauled, +while the other stood in the craft and with a pole kept it clear of +rocks and other obstructions. For several days this method of travel +continued--tracking it is called. Sometimes the men were forced along +the sides of almost perpendicular banks, often they waded in the water +and frequently met obstacles like projecting cliffs, around which +they passed with the greatest difficulty. + +At the Porcupine Rapids everything was lashed securely into the boat, +as a precaution in case of accident, but they overcame the rapid +without mishap, and finally they reached Gull Island Lake, a +broadening of the river in safety, and were able to resume their oars +again. It was a great relief after the long siege of tracking, and Ed +voiced the feelings of all in the remark: + +"Pullin' at th' oars is hard when ye has nothin' harder t' do, but +trackin's so much harder, pullin' seems easy alongside un." + +"Aye," said Dick, "th' thing a man's doin's always the hardest work un +ever done. 'Tis because ye forgets how hard th' things is that ye've +done afore." + +"An' it's just the same in winter. When a frosty spell comes folks +thinks 'tis th' frostiest time they ever knew. If '_twere_, th' +winters, I 'lows'd be gettin' so cold folks couldn't stand un. I +recollects one frosty spell----" + +"Now none o' yer yarns, Ed. Th' Lord'll be strikin' ye dead in His +anger _some day_ when ye're tellin' what ain't so." + +"I tells no yarns as ain't so, an' I can prove un all--leastways I +could a proved this un, only it so happens as I were alone. As I was +sayin', 'twere so cold one night last winter that when I was boilin' +o' my kettle an' left th' door o' th' tilt open for a bit while I +steps outside, th' wind blowin' in on th' kettle all th' time hits th' +steam at th' spout--an' what does ye think I sees when I comes in?" + +"Ye sees steam, o' course, an' what else could ye see, now?" + +"'Twere so cold--that wind--blowin' right on th' spout where th' steam +comes out, when I comes in I looks an' I can't believe what I sees +myself. Well, now, I sees th' steam froze solid, an' a string o' ice +hangin' from th' spout right down t' th' floor o' th' tilt, an' th' +kettle boilin' merry all th' time. That's what I sees, an'----" + +"Now stop yer lyin', Ed. Ye knows no un----" + +"A bear! A bear!" interrupted Bob, excitedly. "See un! See un there +comin' straight to that rock!" + +Sure enough, a couple Of hundred yards away a big black bear was +lumbering right down towards them, and if it kept its course would +pass a large boulder standing some fifty yards back from the river +bank. The animal had not seen the boat nor scented the men, for the +wind was blowing from it towards them. + +"Run her in here," said Bob, indicating a bit of bank out of the +bear's range of vision, "an' let me ashore t' have a chance at un." + +The instant the boat touched land he grabbed his gun--a +single-barrelled, muzzle loader--bounded noiselessly ashore, and +stooping low gained the shelter of the boulder unobserved. + +The unsuspecting bear came leisurely on, bent, no doubt, upon securing +a drink of water to wash down a feast of blueberries of which it had +just partaken, and seemingly occupied by the pleasant reveries that +follow a good meal and go with a full stomach. Bob could hear it +coming now, and raised his gun ready to give it the load the moment it +passed the rock. Then, suddenly, he remembered that he had loaded the +gun that morning with shot, when hunting a flock of partridges, and +had failed to reload with ball. To kill a bear with a partridge load +of shot was out of the question, and to wound the bear at close +quarters was dangerous, for a wounded bear with its enemy within reach +is pretty sure to retaliate. + +Just at the instant this thought flashed through Bob's mind the big +black side of the bear appeared not ten feet from the muzzle of his +gun, and before the lad realized it he had pulled the trigger. + +Bob did not stop to see the result of the shot, but ran at full speed +towards the boat. The bear gave an angry growl, and for a moment bit +at the wound in its side, then in a rage took after him. + +It was not over fifty yards to the boat, and though Bob had a few +seconds the start, the bear seemed likely to catch him before he could +reach it, for clumsy though they are in appearance, they are fast +travellers when occasion demands. Half the distance was covered in a +jiffy, but the bear was almost at his heels. A few more leaps and he +would be within reach of safety. He could fairly feel the bear's +breath. Then his foot caught a projecting branch and he fell at full +length directly in front of the infuriated animal. + + + + +IV + +SWEPT AWAY IN THE RAPIDS + + +When Bob went ashore Dick followed as far as a clump of bushes at the +top of the bank below which the boat was concealed, and crouching +there witnessed Bob's flight from the bear, and was very close to him +when he fell. Dick had already drawn a bead on the animal's head, and +just at the moment Bob stumbled fired. The bear made one blind strike +with his paw and then fell forward, its momentum sending it upon Bob's +sprawling legs, Dick laughed uproariously at the boy as he extricated +himself. + +"Well, now," he roared, "'twere as fine a race as I ever see--as I +_ever_ see--an' ye were handy t' winnin' but for th' tumble. A rare +fine race." + +Bob was rather shamefaced, for an old hunter would scarcely have +forgotten himself to such an extent as to go bear hunting with a +partridge load in his gun, and he did not like to be laughed at. + +"Anyhow," said he, "I let un have un first. An' I led un down where +you could shoot un. An' he's a good fat un," he commented kicking the +carcass. + +Ed and Bill had arrived now and all hands went to work at once +skinning the bear. + +"Speakin' o' bein' chased by bears," remarked Ed as they worked, "onct +I were chased pretty hard myself an' that time I come handy t' bein' +done for sure enough." + +"An' how were that?" asked Bob. + +"'Twere one winter an' I were tendin' my trail. I stops at noon t' +boil th' kettle, an' just has th' fire goin' fine an' th' water over +when all t' a sudden I hears a noise behind me and turnin' sees a +black bear right handy t' me--th' biggest black bear I ever seen--an' +makin' fer me. I jumps up an' grabs my gun an' lets un have it, but +wi' th' suddenness on it I misses, an' away I starts an' 'twere lucky +I has my racquets on." + +"Were this in _winter_?" asked Dick. + +"It _were_ in winter." + +"Th' bears as _I_ knows don't travel in winter. They sleeps then, +leastways all but white bears." + +"Well, this were in winter an' this bear weren't sleepin' much. As I +was sayin'----" + +"An' he took after ye without bein' provoked?" + +"An' he did an' right smart." + +"Well he _were_ a queer bear--a _queer_ un--th' _queerest_ I ever hear +tell about. Awake in _winter_ an' takin' after folks without bein' +_provoked_. 'Tis th' first black bear _I_ ever heard tell about that +done that. I knows bears pretty well an' they alus takes tother way +about as fast as their legs 'll carry un." + +"Now, if you wants me t' tell about this bear ye'll ha' t' stop +interruptin'." + +"No one said as they wanted ye to." + +"Now I'm goin' t' tell un whatever." + +"As I were sayin', th' bear he takes after me wi' his best licks an' I +takes off an' tries t' load my gun as I runs. I drops in a han'ful o' +powder an' then finds I gone an' left my ball pouch at th' fire. It +were pretty hard runnin' wi' my racquets sinkin' in th' snow, which +were new an' soft an' I were losin' ground an' gettin' winded an' +'twere lookin' like un's goin' t' cotch me sure. All t' onct I see a +place where the snow's drifted up three fathoms deep agin a ledge an' +even wi' th' top of un. I makes for un an' runs right over th' upper +side an' th' bear he comes too, but he has no racquets and th' snow's +soft, bein' fresh drift an' down he goes sinkin' most out o' sight an' +th' more un wallers th' worse off un is." + +"An' what does you do?" asks Bob. + +"What does I do? I stops an' laughs at un a bit. Then I lashes my +sheath knife on th' end o' a pole spear-like, an' sticks th' bear back +o' th' fore leg an' kills un, an' then I has bear's meat wi' my tea, +an' in th' spring gets four dollars from th' company for the skin." + +In twenty minutes they had the pelt removed from the bear and Dick +generously insisted upon Bob taking it as the first-fruits of his +inland hunt, saying: "Ye earned he wi' yer runnin'." + +The best of the meat was cut from the carcass, and that night thick, +luscious steaks were broiled for supper, and the remainder packed for +future use on the journey. + +Fine weather had attended the voyageurs thus far but that night the +sky clouded heavily and when they emerged from the tent the next +morning a thick blanket of snow covered the earth and weighted down +the branches of the spruce trees. The storm had spent itself in the +night, however, and the day was clear and sparkling. Very beautiful +the white world looked when the sun came to light it up; but the snow +made tracking less easy, and warned the travellers that no time must +be lost in reaching their destination, for it was a harbinger of the +winter blasts and blizzards soon to blow. + +Early that afternoon they came in view of the rushing waters of the +Gull Island Rapids, with their big foam crested waves angrily +assailing the rocks that here and there raised their ominous heads +above the torrent. The greater length of these rapids can be tracked, +with some short portages around the worst places. Before entering them +everything was lashed securely into the boat, as at the Porcupine +Rapids, and the tracking line fastened a few inches back of the bow +leaving enough loose end to run to the stern and this was tied +securely there to relieve the unusual strain on the bow fastening. Ed +took the position of steersman in the boat, while the other three were +to haul upon the line. + +When all was made ready and secure, they started forward, bringing the +craft into the heavy water, which opposed its progress so vigorously +that it seemed as though the rope must surely snap. Stronger and +stronger became the strain and harder and harder pulled the men. All +of Ed's skill was required to keep the boat straight in the +treacherous cross current eddies where the water swept down past the +half-hidden rocks in the river bed. + +They were pushing on tediously but surely when suddenly and without +warning the fastening at the bow broke loose, the boat swung away into +the foam, and in a moment was swallowed up beneath the waves. The rear +fastening held however and the boat was thrown in against the bank. + +But Ed had disappeared in the fearful flood of rushing white water. +The other three stood appalled. It seemed to them that no power on +earth could save him. He must certainly be dashed to death upon the +rocks or smothered beneath the onrushing foam. + +For a moment all were inert, paralyzed. Then Dick, accustomed to act +quickly in every emergency, slung the line around a boulder, took a +half hitch to secure it and, without stopping to see whether it would +hold or not, ran down stream at top speed with Bob and Bill at his +heels. + + + + +V + +THE TRAILS ARE REACHED + + +Ed had been cast away in rapids before, and when he found himself in +the water, with the wilderness traveller's quick appreciation of the +conditions, he lay limp, without a struggle. If he permitted the +current to carry him in its own way on its course, he might be swept +past the rocks uninjured to the still water below. If one struggle was +made it might throw him out of the current's course against a boulder, +where he would be pounded to death or rendered unconscious and surely +drowned. He was swept on much more rapidly than his companions could +run and quite hidden from them by the big foam-crested waves. + +It seemed ages to the helpless man before he felt his speed slacken +and finally found himself in the eddy where they had begun to track. +Here he struck out for the river bank only a few yards distant, and, +half drowned, succeeded in pulling himself ashore. A few minutes +later, when the others came running down, they found him, to their +great relief, sitting on the bank quite safe, wringing the water from +his clothing, and their fear that he was injured was quickly dispelled +by his looking up as they approached and remarking, as though nothing +unusual had occurred, + +"Bathin's chilly this time o' year. Let's put on a fire an' boil +th'kettle." + +"I don't know as we got a kettle or anythin' else," said Dick, +laughing at Ed's bedraggled appearance and matter-of-fact manner. "We +better go back an' see. I hitched th' trackin' line to a rock, but I +don't know's she's held." + +"Well, let's look. I'm a bit damp, an' thinkin' _I_ wants a fire, +whatever." + +A cold northwest wind had sprung up in the afternoon and the snow was +drifting unpleasantly and before the boat was reached Ed's wet +garments were frozen stiff as a coat of mail and he was so chilled +through that he could scarcely walk. The line had held and they found +the boat in an eddy below a high big boulder. It was submerged, but +quite safe, with everything, thanks to the careful lashings, in its +place, save a shoulder of bear's meat that had loosened and washed +away. + +"I thinks, lads, we'll be makin' camp here. Whilst I puts a fire on +an' boils th' kettle t' warm Ed up, you pitch camp. 'Twill be nigh +sun-down afore Ed gets dried out, an' too late t' go any farther," +suggested Dick. + +In a few minutes the fire was roaring and Ed thawing out and drinking +hot tea as he basked in the blaze, while Dick chopped fire-wood and +Bob and Bill unloaded the boat and put up the tent and made it snug +for the night. + +Heretofore they had found the outside camp-fire quite sufficient for +their needs, and had not gone to the trouble of setting up the stove, +but it was yet some time before dark, and as the wet clothing and +outfit could be much more easily and quickly dried under the shelter +of the heated tent than in the drifting snow by the open fire, it was +decided to put the stove in use on this occasion. Bob selected a flat +stone upon which to rest it, for without this protection the moss +beneath, coming into contact with the hot metal, would have dried +quickly and taken fire. + +When everything was brought in and distributed in the best place to +dry, Bob took some birch bark, thrust it into the stove and lighted +it. Instantly it flared up as though it had been oil soaked. This +made excellent kindling for the wood that was piled on top, and in an +incredibly short time the tent was warm and snug as any house. Ed left +the open fire and joined Bob and Bill, and in a few minutes Dick came +in with an armful of wood. + +"Well, un had a good wettin' an' a cold souse," said he, as he piled +the wood neatly behind the stove, addressing himself to Ed, who, now +quite recovered from his chill, stood with his back to the stove, +puffing contentedly at his pipe, with the steam pouring out of his wet +clothes. + +"'Twere just a fine time wi' th' dip I had ten year ago th' winter +comin'," said Ed, ruminatively. "'Twere _nothin'_ to that un." + +"An' where were that?" asked Dick. + +"I were out o' tea in March, an' handy to havin' no tobaccy, an' I +says t' myself, 'Ed, ye can't stay in th' bush till th' break up wi' +nary a bit o' tea, and ye'd die wi'out tobaccy. Now ye got t' make th' +cruise t' th' Post.' Well, I fixes up my traps, an' packs grub for a +week on my flat sled (toboggan) an' off I goes. 'Twere fair goin' wi' +good hard footin' an' I makes fine time. Below th' Gull Rapids, just +above where I come ashore th' day, I takes t' th' ice thinkin' un +good, an' 'twere lucky I has my racquets lashed on th' flat sled an' +not walkin' wi' un, for I never could a swum wi' un on. Two fathoms +from th' shore I steps on bad ice an' in I goes, head an' all, an' th' +current snatches me off'n my feet an' carries me under th' ice, an' +afore I knows un I finds th' water carryin' me along as fast as a deer +when he gets th' wind." + +"An' how did un get out?" asked Bob in open-mouthed wonder. + +"'Twere sure a hard fix _under_ th' ice," remarked Bill, equally +interested. + +"A wonderful hard fix, a _wonderful_ hard fix, _under_ th' ice, an' I +were handy t' stayin' under un," said Ed, taking evident delight in +keeping his auditors in suspense. "Aye, a _wonderful_ hard fix," +continued he, while he hacked pieces from his tobacco plug and filled +his pipe. + +"An' where were I?" asked Dick, making a quick calculation of past +events. "I were huntin' wi' un ten year ago, an' I don't mind ye're +gettin' in th' ice." + +"'Twere th' winter un were laid up wi' th' lame leg, an' poor Frank +Morgan were huntin' along wi' me. Frank were lost th' same spring in +th' Bay. Does un mind that?" + +"'Twere only _nine_ year ago I were laid up an' Frank were huntin' my +trail," said Dick. + +"Well, maybe 'twere only nine year; 'twere _nine_ or _ten_ year ago," +Ed continued, with some show of impatience at Dick's questioning. +"Leastways 'twere thereabouts. Well, I finds myself away off from th' +hole I'd dropped into, an' no way o' findin' he. The river were low +an' had settled a foot below th' ice, which were four or five feet +thick over my head, an' no way o' cuttin' out. So what does I do?" + +"An' what does un do?" asked Dick. + +"What does I do? I keeps shallow water near th' shore an' holdin' my +head betwixt ice an' water makes down t' th' Porcupine Rapids. 'Twere +a long an' wearisome pull, an' thinks I, 'Tis too much--un's done for +now.' After a time I sees light an' I goes for un. 'Twere a place near +a rock where th' water swingin' around had kept th' ice thin. I gets +t' un an' makes a footin' on th' rock. I gets out my knife an' finds +th' ice breaks easy, an' cuts a hole an' crawls out. By th' time I +gets on th' ice I were pretty handy t' givin' up wi' th' cold." + +"'Twere a close call," assented Dick, as he puffed at his pipe +meditatively. + +"How far did un go under th' ice?" asked Bill, who had been much +interested in the narrative. + +"Handy t' two mile." + +For several days after this the men worked very hard from early dawn +until the evening darkness drove them into camp. The current was swift +and the rapids great surging torrents of angry water that seemed bent +upon driving them back. One after another the Horseshoe, the Ninipi, +and finally, after much toil, the Mouni Rapids were met and conquered. + +The weather was stormy and disagreeable. Nearly every day the air was +filled with driving snow or beating cold rain that kept them wet to +the skin and would have sapped the courage and broken the spirit of +less determined men. But they did not mind it. It was the sort of +thing they had been accustomed to all their life. + +With each morning, Bob, full of the wilderness spirit, took up the +work with as much enthusiasm as on the day he left Wolf Bight. At +night when he was very tired and just a bit homesick, he would try to +picture to himself the little cabin that now seemed far, far away, and +he would say to himself, + +"If I could spend th' night there now, an' be back here in th' +mornin', 'twould be fine. But when I _does_ go back, the goin' home'll +be fine, an' pay for all th' bein' away. An' the Lard lets me, I'll +have th' fur t' send Emily t' th' doctors an' make she well." + +One day the clouds grew tired of sending forth snow and rain, and the +wind forgot to blow, and the waters became weary of their rushing. The +morning broke clear and beautiful, and the sun, in a blaze of red and +orange grandeur, displayed the world in all its rugged primeval +beauty. The travellers had reached Lake Wonakapow, a widening of the +river, where the waters were smooth and no current opposed their +progress. For the first time in many days the sails were hoisted, and, +released from the hard work, the men sat back to enjoy the rest, while +a fair breeze sent them up the lake. + +"'Tis fine t' have a spell from th' trackin'," remarked Ed as he +lighted his pipe. + +"Aye, 'tis that," assented Dick, "an' we been makin' rare good time +wi' this bad weather. We're three days ahead o' my reckonin'." + +How beautiful it was! The water, deep and dark, leading far away, +every rugged hill capped with snow, and the white peaks sparkling in +the sunshine. A loon laughed at them as they passed, and an invisible +wolf on a mountainside sent forth its long weird cry of defiance. + +They sailed quietly on for an hour or two. Finally Ed pointed out to +Bob a small log shack standing a few yards back from the shore, +saying: + +"An' there's my tilt. Here I leaves un." + +Bill Campbell was at the tiller, and the boat was headed to a strip of +sandy beach near the tilt. Presently they landed. Ed's things were +separated from the others and taken ashore, and all hands helped him +carry them up to the tilt. + +There was no window in the shack and the doorway was not over four +feet high. Within was a single room about six by eight feet in size, +with a rude couch built of saplings, running along two sides, upon +which spruce boughs, used the previous year and now dry and dead, were +strewn for a bed. The floor was of earth. The tilt contained a sheet +iron stove similar to the one Bob had brought, but no other furniture +save a few cooking utensils. The round logs of which the rough +building was constructed, were well chinked between them with moss, +making it snug and warm. + +[Illustration] + +This was where Ed kept his base of supplies. His trail began here and +ran inland and nearly northward for some distance to a lake whose +shores it skirted, and then, taking a swing to the southwest, came +back to the river again and ended where Dick's began, and the two +trappers had a tilt there which they used in common. Between these +tilts were four others at intervals of twelve to fifteen miles, for +night shelters, the distance between them constituting a day's work, +the trail from end to end being about seventy miles long. + +The trails which the other three were to hunt led off, one from the +other--Dick's, Bill's and then the Big Hill trail, with tilts at the +juncture points and along them in a similar manner to the arrangement +of Ed's, and each trail covering about the same number of miles as +his. Each man could therefore walk the length of his trail in five +days, if the weather were good, and, starting from one end on Monday +morning have a tilt to sleep in each night and reach his last tilt on +the other end Friday night. This gave him Saturday in which to do odd +jobs like mending, and Sunday for rest, before taking up the round +again on Monday. + +It was yet too early by three weeks to begin the actual trapping, but +much in the way of preparation had to be done in the meantime. This +was Tuesday, and it was agreed that two weeks from the following +Saturday Ed and Dick should be at the tilt where their trails met and +Bill and Bob at the junction of their trails, ready to start their +work on the next Monday. This would bring Dick and Bill together on +the following Friday night and Bob and Ed would each be alone, one at +either end of the series of trails and more than a hundred miles from +his nearest neighbour. + +"I hopes your first cruise'll be a good un, an' you'll be doin' fine +th' winter, Bob. Have a care now for th' Nascaupees," said Ed as they +shook hands at parting. + +"Thanks," answered Bob, "an' I hopes you'll be havin' a fine hunt +too." + +Then they were off, and Ed's long winter's work began. + +The next afternoon Dick's first tilt was reached, and a part of his +provisions and some of Ed's that they had brought on for him, were +unloaded there. Dick, however, decided to go with the young men to the +tilt at the beginning of the Big Hill trail, to help them haul the +boat up and make it snug for the winter, saying, "I'm thinkin' you +might find her too heavy, an' I'll go on an' give a hand, an' cut +across to my trail, which I can do handy enough in a day, havin' no +pack." + +An hour before dark on Friday evening they reached the tilt. Dick was +the first to enter it, and as he pushed open the door he stopped with +the exclamation: + +"That rascal Micmac!" + + + + +VI + +ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS + + +The stove and stovepipe were gone, and fresh, warm ashes on the floor +gave conclusive proof that the theft had been perpetrated that very +day. Some one had been occupying the tilt, too, as new boughs spread +for a bed made evident. + +"More o' Micmac John's work," commented Dick as he kicked the ashes. +"He's been takin' th' stove an' he'll be takin' th' fur too, an' he +gets a chance." + +"Maybe 'twere Mountaineers," suggested Bill. + +"No, 'twere no Mountaineers--_them_ don't steal. No un ever heard o' a +Mountaineer takin' things as belongs to _other_ folks. _Injuns_ be +honest--leastways all but half-breeds." + +"Nascaupees might a been here," offered Bob, having in mind the +stories he had heard of them, and feeling now that he was almost +amongst them. + +"No, Nascaupees 'd have no use for a _stove_. They'd ha' burned th' +tilt. 'Tis Micmac John, an' he be here t' steal fur. 'Tis t' steal +fur's what _he_ be after. But let me ketch un, an' he won't steal much +more fur," insisted Dick, worked up to a very wrathful pitch. + +They looked outside for indications of the course the marauder had +taken, and discovered that he had returned to the river, where his +canoe had been launched a little way above the tilt, and had either +crossed to the opposite side or gone higher up stream. In either case +it was useless to attempt to follow him, as, if they caught him at +all, it would be after a chase of several days, and they could not +well afford the time. There was nothing to do, therefore, but make the +best of it. Bob's tent stove was set up in place of the one that had +been stolen. Then everything was stowed away in the tilt. + +The next morning came cold and gray, with heavy, low-hanging clouds, +threatening an early storm. The boat was hauled well up on the shore, +and a log protection built over it to prevent the heavy snows that +were soon to come from breaking it down. + +Before noon the first flakes of the promised storm fell lazily to the +earth and in half an hour it was coming so thickly that the river +twenty yards away could not be seen, and the wind was rising. The +three cut a supply of dry wood and piled what they could in the tilt, +placing the rest within reach of the door. Then armfuls of boughs were +broken for their bed. All the time the storm was increasing in power +and by nightfall a gale was blowing and a veritable blizzard raging. + +When all was made secure, a good fire was started in the stove, a +candle lighted, and some partridges that had been killed in the +morning put over with a bit of pork to boil for supper. While these +were cooking Bill mixed some flour with water, using baking soda for +leaven--"risin'" he called it--into a dough which he formed into cakes +as large in circumference as the pan would accommodate and a quarter +of an inch thick. These cakes he fried in pork grease. This was the +sort of bread that they were to eat through the winter. + +The meal was a cozy one. Outside the wind shrieked angrily and swirled +the snow in smothering clouds around the tilt, and rattled the +stovepipe, threatening to shake it down. It was very pleasant to be +out of it all in the snug, warm shack with the stove crackling +contentedly and the place filled with the mingled odours of the +steaming kettle of partridges and tea and spruce boughs. To the +hunters it seemed luxurious after their tedious fight against the +swift river. Times like this bring ample recompense to the wilderness +traveller for the most strenuous hardships that he is called upon to +endure. The memory of one such night will make men forget a month of +suffering. Herein lies one of the secret charms of the wilds. + +When supper was finished Dick and Bill filled their pipes, and with +coals from the stove lighted them. Then they lounged back and puffed +with an air of such perfect, speechless bliss that for the first time +in his life Bob felt a desire to smoke. He drew from his pocket the +pipe Douglas had given him and filled it from a plug of the tobacco. +When he reached for a firebrand to light it Dick noticed what he was +doing and asked good naturedly,-- + +"Think t' smoke with us, eh?" + +"Yes, thinks I'll try un." + +"An' be gettin' sick before un knows it," volunteered Bill. + +Disregarding the suggestion Bob fired his pipe and lay back with the +air of an old veteran. He soon found that he did not like it very +much, and in a little while he felt a queer sensation in his stomach, +but it was not in Bob's nature to acknowledge himself beaten so +easily, and he puffed on doggedly. Pretty soon beads of perspiration +stood out upon his forehead and he grew white. Then he quietly laid +aside the pipe and groped his way unsteadily out of doors, for he was +very dizzy and faint. When he finally returned he was too sick to pay +any attention to the banter of his companions, who unsympathetically +made fun of him, and he lay down with the inward belief that smoking +was not the pleasure it was said to be, and as for himself he would +never touch a pipe again. + +All day Sunday and Monday the storm blew with unabated fury and the +three were held close prisoners in the tilt. On Monday night it +cleared, and Tuesday morning came clear and rasping cold. + +Long before daylight breakfast was eaten and preparations made for +travelling. Bob lashed his tent, cooking utensils, some traps and a +supply of provisions upon one of two toboggans that leaned against the +tilt outside. The other one was for Bill when he should need it. Dick +did up his blanket and a few provisions into a light pack, new slings +were adjusted to their snow-shoes and finally they were ready to +strike the trails. + +The steel-gray dawn was just showing when Dick shouldered his pack, +took his axe and gun and shook hands with the boys. + +"Good-bye Bob. Have a care o' nasty weather an' don't be losin' +yourself. I'll see you in a fortnight, Bill. Good-bye." + +With long strides he turned down the river bend and in a few moments +the immeasurable white wilderness had swallowed him up. + +The Big Hill trail was so called from a high, barren hill around whose +base it swung to follow a series of lakes leading to the northwest. Of +course as Bob had never been over the trail he did not know its +course, or where to find the traps that Douglas had left hanging in +the trees or lying on rocks the previous spring at the end of the +hunting season. Bill was to go with him to the farthest tilt on this +first journey to point these out to him and show him the way, then +leave him and hurry back to his own path, while Bob set the traps and +worked his way back to the junction tilt. + +Shortly after Dick left them they started, Bill going ahead and +breaking the trail with his snow-shoes while Bob behind hauled the +loaded toboggan. On they pushed through trees heavily laden with snow, +out upon wide, frozen marshes, skirting lakes deep hidden beneath the +ice and snow which covered them like a great white blanket. The only +halts were for a moment now and again to note the location of traps as +they passed, which Bob with his keen memory of the woods could easily +find again when he returned to set them. Once they came upon some +ptarmigans, white as the snow upon which they stood. Their "grub bag" +received several of the birds, which were very tame and easily shot. A +hurried march brought them to the first tilt at noon, where they had +dinner, and that night, shortly after dark, they reached the second +tilt, thirty miles from their starting point. At midday on Thursday +they came to the end of the trail. + +When they had had dinner of fried ptarmigan and tea, Bill announced: +"I'll be leavin' ye now, Bob. In two weeks from Friday we'll be +meetin' in th' river tilt." + +"All right, an' I'll be there." + +"An' don't be gettin' lonesome, now I leaves un." + +"I'll be no gettin' lonesome. There be some traps t' mend before I +starts back an' a chance bit o' other work as'll keep me busy." + +Then Bill turned down the trail, and Bob for the first time in his +life was quite alone in the heart of the great wilderness. + + + + +VII + +A STREAK OF GOOD LUCK + + +When Bill was gone Bob went to work at once getting some traps that +were hanging in the tilt in good working order. He set them and sprang +them one after another, testing every one critically. They were +practically all new ones, and Douglas, after his careful, painstaking +manner, had left them in thorough repair. These were some additional +traps that no place had been found for on the trail. There were only +about twenty of them and Bob decided that he would set them along the +shores of a lake beyond the tilt, where there were none, and look +after them on the Saturday mornings that he would be lying up there. +The next morning he put them on his toboggan, and shouldering his gun +he started out. + +Not far away he saw the first marten track in the edge of the spruce +woods near the lake. Farther on there were more. This was very +satisfactory indeed, and he observed to himself, + +"The's a wonderful lot o' footin', and 'tis sure a' fine place for +martens." + +He went to work at once, and one after another the traps were set, +some of them in a little circular enclosure made by sticking spruce +boughs in the snow, to which a narrow entrance was left, and in this +entrance the trap placed and carefully concealed under loose snow and +the chain fastened to a near-by sapling. In the centre of each of the +enclosures a bit of fresh partridge was placed for bait, to reach +which the animal would have to pass over the trap. Where a tree of +sufficient size was found in a promising place he chopped it down, a +few feet above the snow, cut a notch in the top, and placed the trap +in the notch, and arranged the bait over it in such a way that the +animal climbing the stump would be compelled to stand upon the trap to +secure the meat. + +All the marten traps were soon set, but there still remained two fox +traps. These he took to a marsh some distance beyond the lake, as the +most likely place for foxes to be, for while the marten stays amongst +the trees, the fox prefers marshes or barrens. Here, in a place where +the snow was hard, he carefully cut out a cube, making a hole deep +enough for the trap to set below the surface. A square covering of +crust was trimmed thin with his sheath knife, and fitted over the trap +in such a way as to completely conceal it. The chain was fastened to a +stump and also carefully concealed. Then over and around the trap +pieces of ptarmigan were scattered. This he knew was not good fox +bait, but it was the best he had. + +"Now if I were only havin' a bit o' scent 'twould help me," he +commented as he surveyed his work. + +Foxes prefer meat or fish that is tainted and smells bad, and the more +decomposed it is, the better it suits them. Bob had no tainted meat +now, so he used what he had, in the hope that it might prove +effective. A few drops of perfumery, or "scent," as he called it, +would have made the fresh meat that he used more attractive to the +animals, but unfortunately he had none of that either. + +As he left the marsh and crossed from a neck of woods to the lake +shore he saw two moving objects far out upon the ice. He dropped +behind a clump of bushes. They were caribou. + +His gun would not reach them at that distance, and he picked up a +dried stick and broke it. They heard the noise and looked towards +him. He stood up, exposing himself for the fraction of a second, then +concealed himself behind the bushes again. Caribou are very +inquisitive animals, and these walked towards him, for they wanted to +ascertain what the strange object was that they had seen. When they +had come within easy range he selected the smaller one, a young buck, +aimed carefully at a spot behind the shoulders, and fired. The animal +fell and its mate stood stupidly still and looked at it, and then +advanced and smelled of it. Even the report of the gun had not +satisfied its curiosity. + +It would have been an easy matter for Bob to shoot this second +caribou, but the one he had killed was quite sufficient for his needs, +and to kill the other would have been ruthless slaughter, little short +of murder, and something that Bob, who was a true sportsman, would not +stoop to. He therefore stepped out from his cover and revealed +himself. Then when the animal saw him clearly, a living enemy, it +turned and fled. + +Bob removed the skin and quartered the carcass. These he loaded upon +his toboggan and hauled to his tilt. The meat was suspended from the +limb of a tree outside, where animals could not reach it and where it +would freeze and keep sweet until needed. A small piece was taken into +the tilt for immediate use, and some portions of the neck placed in +the corner of the tilt where they would decompose somewhat and thus be +rendered into desirable fox bait. The skin was stretched against the +logs of the side of the shack farthest from the stove, to dry. This +would make an excellent cover for Bob's couch and be warm and +comfortable to sleep upon. The sinew, taken from the back of the +animal, was scraped and hung from the roof to season, for he would +need it later to use as thread with which to repair moccasins. + +Now there was little to do for two or three days, and Bob began for +the first time to understand the true loneliness of his new life. The +wilderness was working its mysterious influence upon him. It seemed a +long, long while since Bill had left him, and he recalled his last +Sunday at Wolf Bight as one recalls an event years after it has +happened. Sometimes he longed passionately for home and human +companionship. At other times he was quite content with his day to day +existence, and almost forgot that the world contained any one else. + +Early the next week he visited the traps. In one he found a Canada jay +that had tried to filch the bait. In another a big white rabbit which +had been caught while nibbling the young tops of the spruce boughs +with which the trap was enclosed. A single marten rewarded him. The +pelt was not prime, as it was yet early in the season, but still it +was fairly good and Bob was delighted with it. + +The fox traps had not been disturbed, but a fox had been feeding upon +the caribou head and entrails, where they had been left upon the ice, +and one of the traps was taken up and reset here. The others he also +put in order, and returned to the tilt with the rabbit and marten. The +former, boiled with small bits of pork, made a splendid stew, and the +skin was hung to dry, for, with others it could be fashioned into +warm, light slippers to wear inside his moccasins when the colder +weather came. + +The marten pelt was removed from the body by splitting it down the +inside of the hind legs to the trunk, and then pulling it down over +the head, turning it inside out in the process. In the tilt were a +number of stretching boards, that Douglas had provided, tapered down +from several inches wide at one end until they were narrow enough at +the other end to slip snugly into the nose of the pelt. Over one of +these, with the flesh side out, the skin was tightly drawn and +fastened. Then with his knife Bob scraped it carefully, removing such +fat and flesh as had adhered to it, after which he placed it in a +convenient place to dry. + +Bob felt very much elated over this first catch of fur, and was +anxious to get at the real trapping. It was only Tuesday, and Bill +would not be at the river tilt until Friday of the following week, but +he decided to start back the next morning and set all his traps. So on +Wednesday morning, with a quarter of venison on his flat sled, he +turned down over the trail. + +Everything went well. Signs of fur were good and Bob was brimming over +with anticipation when a week later he reached the river. + +Bill did not arrive until after dark the next evening, and when he +pushed the tilt door open he found Bob frying venison steak and a +kettle of tea ready for supper. + +"Ho, Bob, back ahead o' me, be un? Where'd ye get th' deer's meat?" + +"Knocked un over after you left me. 'Tis fine t' be back an' see you, +Bill. I've been wonderful lonesome, and wantin' t' see you wonderful +bad." + +"An' I was thinkin' ye'd be gettin' lonesome by now. You'll not be +mindin' bein' alone when you gets used to un. It's all gettin' used t' +un." + +"An' what's th' signs o' fur? Be there much marten signs?" + +"Aye, some. Looks like un goin' t' be some. An' be there much signs on +th' Big Hill trail? Dick says there's a lot o' footin' his way." + +"I _has_ one marten," said Bob proudly, "an' finds good signs." + +"Un _has_ one a'ready! An' be un a good un?" + +"Not so bad." + +"Well, you be startin' fine, gettin' th' first marten an' th' first +deer." + +Bill had taken off his adikey and disposed of his things, and they sat +down to eat and enjoy a long evening's chat. + +With every week the cold grew in intensity, and with every storm the +snow grew deeper, hiding the smaller trees entirely and reaching up +towards the lower limbs of the larger ones. The little tilts were +covered to the roof, and only a hole in the white mass showed where +the door was. + +The sun now described a daily narrowing arc in the heavens, and the +hours of light were so few that the hunters found it difficult to +cover the distance between their tilts in the little while from dawn +to dark. On moonlight mornings Bob started long before day, and on +starlight evenings finished his day's work after night. His cheeks and +nose were frost-bitten and black, but he did not mind that for he was +doing well. Two weeks before Christmas he brought to the river tilt +the fur that he had accumulated. There were twenty-eight martens, one +mink, two red foxes, one cross fox, a lynx and a wolf. These last two +animals he had shot. Bill was already in the tilt when he arrived, and +complimented him on his good showing. + +Christmas fell on Wednesday that year, and Bill brought word that Dick +and Ed were coming up to spend the day with him and Bob. They would +reach the tilt on Tuesday night and use the remainder of the week in a +caribou hunt, as there were good signs of the animals a little way +back in the marshes and they were in need of fresh meat. + +"An' I'll not try t' be gettin' here on Friday," said Bill. "I'll be +waitin' till Tuesday." + +"I'll be doin' th' same, but I'll be here sure on a Tuesday, an' maybe +Monday," answered Bob. + +So it was arranged that they should have a holiday, and all be +together again. It gave Bob a thrill of pleasure when he thought of +meeting Dick and Ed and proudly exhibiting his fur to have them +examine and criticise the skins and compliment him. It would make a +break in the monotonous life. + +The day after Bob left the river tilt on his return round, the great +dream with which he had started out from Wolf Bight became a reality. +He caught a silver fox. It was almost evening when he turned into a +marsh where the trap was set. He had caught nothing in it before, and +he was thinking seriously of taking it up and placing it farther along +the trail. But now in the half dusk, as he approached, something +moved. "Sure 'tis a cross," said he. When he came closer and saw that +it was really a silver he could not for a moment believe his good +fortune. It was too good to be true. When he had killed it and taken +it out of the trap he hurried to the tilt hugging it closely to his +breast as though afraid it would get away. + +In the tilt he lighted a candle and examined it. It was a beauty! It +was worth a lot of money! He patted it and turned it over. Then--there +was no one to see him and question his manhood or jibe at his +weakness--he cried--cried for pure joy. "Tis th' savin' o' Emily an' +makin' she well--an' makin' she well!" He had prayed that he would get +a silver, but his faith had been weak and he had never really believed +he should. Now he had it and his cup of joy was full. "Sure th' Lard +be good," he repeated to himself. + +It was starlight two evenings later when he neared his last tilt. +Clear and beautiful and intensely cold was the silent white wilderness +and Bob's heart was as clear and light as the frosty air. When the +black spot that marked the roof of the almost hidden shack met his +view he stopped. A thin curl of smoke was rising from the stovepipe. +Some one was in the tilt! He hesitated for only a moment, then hurried +forward and pushed the door open. There, smoking his pipe sat Micmac +John. + + + + +VIII + +MICMAC JOHN'S REVENGE + + +"Evenin', Bob," said Micmac. + +"Evenin', John. An' where'd you be comin' from now?" + +"Been huntin' t' th' suth'ard. Thought I'd drop in an' see ye." + +"Glad t' see ye, John." + +After an awkward pause Bob asked: + +"What un do wi' th' stove, John?" + +"What stove?" + +"From th' river tilt. Ye took un, didn't ye?" + +"No, I didn't take no stove. I weren't in th' river tilt, an' don't +know what yer talkin' about," lied the half-breed. + +"Some one took un an' we was layin' it t' you. Now I wonders who +'twere." + +"Well, _I_ wouldn't take it. Ye ought t' known _I_ wouldn't do a thing +like that," insisted Micmac, with an air of injured innocence. "Maybe +th' Mingen Injuns took it. There's been some around an' they says +they'll take anything they find, an' fur too, if they find any in th' +tilts. These are their huntin' grounds an' outsiders has no right on +'em. They gave me right t' hunt down t' th' suth'ard." + +"Who may th' Mingen Injuns be, now?" + +"Mountaineers as belong Mingen way up south, an' hunts between this +an' th' Straits." + +"I were thinkin' 'twere th' Nascaupees took th' stove if you didn't +take un." + +"Th' Nascaupees are back here a bit t' th' west'ard. I saw some of 'em +one day when I was cruisin' that way an' I made tracks back fer I +didn't want t' die so quick. They'll kill anybody they see in here, +an' burn th' tilts if they happen over this way an' see 'em. Ye have +t' be on th' watch fer 'em all th' time." + +"I'll be watchin' out fer un an' keep clear if I sees their footin'," +said Bob as he went out to bring in his things. + +What Micmac said about the Nascaupees disturbed him not a little. Bob +was brave, but every man, no matter how brave he may be, fears an +unseen danger when he believes that danger is real and is apt to come +upon him unexpectedly and at a time when no opportunity will be +offered for defense. It was evident that these Indians were close at +hand, and that he was in daily and imminent danger of being captured, +which meant, he was sure, being killed. But he was here for a +purpose--to catch all the fur he could--and he must not lose his +courage now, before that purpose was accomplished. He must remain on +his trail until the hunting season closed. He must be constantly upon +his guard, he thought, and perhaps after all would not be discovered. +No, he would _not_ let himself be afraid. + +When he returned to the tilt Micmac John asked: + +"Gettin' much fur?" + +"Not so bad," he replied. "I has one silver, an' a fine un, too." + +The half-breed showed marked interest at once. + +"Let's see him. Got him here?" + +"No, I left un in th' third tilt. That's where I caught un." + +"Where's yer other fur?" + +"I took un all down t' th' river tilt There's a cross among un an' +twenty-eight martens." + +"Um-m." + +Micmac John knew well enough the fur had been taken to some other +tilt, for when he arrived here early in the afternoon his first care +was to look for it, but not a skin had he found, and he was +disappointed, for it was the purpose of his visit. Bob, absolutely +honest and guileless himself, in spite of Dick's constant assertion +that Micmac was a thief and worse, was easily deceived by the +half-breed's bland manner. Unfortunately he had not learned that every +one else was not as honest and straightforward as himself. Micmac's +attempt upon his life he had ascribed to a sudden burst of anger, and +it was forgiven and forgotten. The selfish enmity, the blackness of +heart, the sinister nature that will never overlook and will go to any +length to avenge a real or fancied wrong--the characteristics of a +half-breed Indian--were wholly beyond his comprehension. He had never +dissembled himself, and he did not know that the smiling face and +smooth tongue are often screens of deception. + +"We'll be havin' supper now," suggested Bob, lifting the boiling +kettle off the stove and throwing in some tea. "I'm fair starved." + +After they had eaten Micmac filled his pipe and lounged back, smoking +in silence for some time, apparently deep in thought. Finally he +asked, "When ye goin' back t' th' river, Bob?" + +"I'm not thinkin t' start back till Wednesday an' maybe Thursday, an' +reach un Monday or Tuesday after. Bill won't be gettin' there till +Tuesday, an' Dick an' Ed expects t' be there then t' spend Christmas +an' hunt deer." + +"Hunt deer?" + +"They're needin' fresh meat, an' deer footin's good in th' meshes." + +"The's fine signs to th' nuth'ard from th' second lake in, 'bout +twenty mile from here. You could get some there. If ye ain't goin' +back till Wednesday why don't ye try 'em? Ye'd get as many as ye +wanted," volunteered Micmac. + +"Where now be that?" + +"Why just 'cross th' first mesh up here, an' through th' bush straight +over ye'll come to a lake. Cross that t' where a dead tree hangs out +over th' ice. Cut in there an' ye'll see my footin'; foller it over t' +th' next lake, then turn right t' th' nuth'ard. The's some meshes in +there where th' deer's feedin'. I seen fifteen or twenty, but I didn't +want 'em so I let 'em be." + +"An' could I make un now in a day?" + +"If ye walk sharp an' start early." + +"I thinks I'll be startin' in th' mornin' an' campin' over there +Sunday, an' Monday I'll be there t' hunt. Can't un come 'long, John?" + +"No, I'd like t' go but I got t' see my traps. I'll have t' be leavin' +ye now," said Micmac, rising. + +"Not t'-night?" + +"Yes, it's fine moonlight an' I can make it all right." + +"Ye better stay th' night wi' me, John. There'll be no difference in a +day." + +"No. I planned t' be goin' right back I seen ye. Good evenin'." + +"Good evenin', John." + +Micmac John started directly south, but when well out of sight of the +tilt suddenly swung around to the eastward and, with the long +half-running stride of the Indian, made a straight line for the tilt +where Bob had left his silver fox. The moon was full, and the frost +that clung to the trees and bushes sparkled like flakes of silver. The +aurora faintly searched the northern sky. A rabbit, white and +spectre-like, scurried across the half-breed's path, but he did not +notice it. Hour after hour his never tiring feet swung the wide +snow-shoes in and out with a rhythmic chug-chug as he ran on. + +It was nearly morning when at length he slackened his pace, and with +the caution of the lifelong hunter approached the tilt as he would +have stalked an animal. He made quite certain that the shack was +untenanted, then entered boldly. He struck a match and found a candle, +which he lighted. There was the silver fox, where Bob had left it. It +was dry enough to remove from the board and he loosened it and pulled +it off. He examined it critically and gloated over it. + +"As black an' fine a one as I ever seen!" he exclaimed. "It'll bring a +big price at Mingen. That boy'll never see it again, an' I'll clean +out th' rest o' th' fur too, at th' river. Old Campbell'll be sorry +when I get through with 'em, he let that feller hunt th' path. He's a +fool, an' if he gives me th' slip he'll go back an' say th' Mingen +Injuns took his fur. I fixed that wi' my story all right. I'll take +th' lot t' Mingen an' get cash fer 'em, an' be back t' th' Bay with +open water with 'nuff martens so's they won't suspect me." + +He started a fire and slept until shortly after daylight. Then had +breakfast and started down the trail towards the river at the same +rapid pace that he had held before. + +It was not quite dark when he glimpsed the tilt, and approached it +with even more caution than he had observed above. + +"He don't know enough to lie," said he to himself, referring to Bob, +"but it's best t' take care, fer one o' th' others might be here." + +When he was satisfied that the tilt was unoccupied he entered boldly +and appropriated every skin of fur he found--not only all of Bob's, +but also a few martens Bill had left there. No time was lost, for any +accident might send Bill or one of the others here at an unexpected +moment. The pelts were packed quickly but carefully into his hunting +bag and within twenty minutes after his arrival he was retreating up +the trail at a half run. + +Some time after dark he reached the first tilt above the river, where +he spent the night. Short cuts and fast travelling brought him on +Sunday night to the tilt at the end of the trail where he had left +Bob. He made quite certain that the lad had really gone on his caribou +hunt, and then went boldly in and made himself as comfortable as he +could for the night without a stove, for Bob had taken the stove with +him, to heat his tent. + +"If he comes back t'-night and finds me here," he said, "I'll just +tell him I changed my mind an' came back t' go on th' deer hunt. I'll +lie t' him about what I got in my bag an' he'll never suspicion; he +don't know enough." + +Micmac John's work was not yet finished. He had arranged a full and +complete revenge. Bob's hunt for caribou would carry him far away from +the tilt and into a section where no searching party would be likely +to go. The half-breed's plan was now to follow and shoot the lad from +ambush. If by chance any one ever should find the body--which seemed a +quite improbable happening--Bob's death would no doubt be laid at the +door of the Nascaupee Indians. + +Micmac John deposited the bag of stolen pelts in a safe place in the +tilt, intending to return for them after his bloody mission was +accomplished, and several hours before daylight on Monday morning +started out in the ghostly moonlight to trail Bob to his death. + + + + +IX + +LOST IN THE SNOW + + +The trail that Bob had made lay open and well-defined in the snow, and +hour after hour the half-breed followed it, like a hound follows its +prey. + +Early in the morning the sky clouded heavily and towards noon snow +began to fall. It was a bitterly cold day. Micmac John increased his +pace for the trail would soon be hidden and he was not quite sure when +he should find the camp. From the lakes the trail turned directly +north and for several miles ran through a flat, wooded country. After +a while there were wide open marshes, with narrow timbered strips +between. An hour after noon he crossed a two mile stretch of this +marsh and in a little clump of trees on the farther side of it came so +suddenly upon the tent that he almost ran against it. + +The snow was by this time falling thickly and a rising westerly wind +was sweeping the marsh making travelling exceedingly difficult, and +completely hiding the trail beyond the trees. + +The tent flaps were fastened on the outside, and Bob was away, as +Micmac John expected he would be, searching for caribou. + +"There's no use tryin' t' foller him in this snow," said he to +himself, "I'd be sure t' miss him. But I'll take the tent an' outfit +away on his flat sled an' if he don't have cover th' cold'll fix him +before mornin'. There'll be no livin' in it over night with th' wind +blowin' a gale as it's goin' to do with dark. My footin' 'll soon be +hid an' he can't foller me. I can shoot him easy enough if he does." + +It was the work of only a few minutes to strike the tent and pack it +and the other things, which included the stove, an axe, blanket and +food, on the toboggan. + +The half-breed was highly elated when he started off with his booty. +The storm had come at just the right time. The elements would work a +slower but just as sure a revenge as his gun and at the same time +cover every trace of his villainy. He laughed as he pictured to +himself Bob's look of mystification and alarm when he returned and +failed to find the tent, and how the lad would think he had made a +mistake in the location and the desperate search for the camp that +would follow, only to end finally in the snow and cold conquering him, +as they were sure to do, and the wolves perhaps scattering his bones. + +"That's a fine end t' him an' he'll never be takin' trails away from +_me_ again," he chuckled. + +The whole picture as he imagined it was food for his black heart and +he forgot his own uncomfortable position in the delight that he felt +at the horrible death that he had so cleverly and cruelly arranged for +Bob. + +Micmac John retraced his steps some eight miles to the wide stretch of +timber land. There he halted and pitched camp. The wind shrieked +through the tree tops and swept the marshes in its untamed fury, but +he was quite warm and contented in the tent. The storm was working his +revenge for him, and he was quite satisfied that it would do the work +well. + +The men that Bob Gray had come in contact with and associated with all +his life were the honest, upright people of the Bay. He had never +known a man that would dishonestly take a farthing's worth of +another's property or that would knowingly harm a fellow being. The +Bay folk were constantly helping their more needy neighbours and lived +almost as intimately as brothers. When any one was in trouble the +others came to offer sympathy and frequently deprived themselves of +the actual necessaries of life that their neighbours might not suffer. +Sometimes they had their misunderstandings and quarrels, but these +were all of a momentary character and quickly forgotten. + +There was little wonder then that Bob had failed to read Micmac John's +true character, and it could hardly be expected that he would suspect +the half-breed of trying to injure him. Children of these far-off, +thinly populated lands in many respects develop judgment and mature in +thought at a much younger age than in more thickly settled and more +favoured countries. One reason for this is the constant fight for +existence that is being waged and the necessity for them to take up +their share of the burden of life early. Another reason is doubtless +the fact that their isolated homes cut them off from the companionship +of children of their own age and their associates are almost wholly +men and women grown. This was the case with Bob and in courage, +thoughtfulness of the comfort of others and physical endurance he was +a man, while in guile he was a mere baby. He believed that Micmac +John was like every other man he knew and was a good neighbour. + +When men have lived long in the wilderness without fresh meat they +have a tremendous longing for it. Bob knew that neither Dick nor Ed +had tasted venison since they reached their hunting grounds, for they +had not been as fortunate as he, and that some of the fresh-killed +meat would be a great treat to them and one they would appreciate. +Therefore when Micmac John told him how easily caribou could be killed +a day's journey to the northward, he thought that it would make a nice +Christmas surprise for his friends if he hauled a toboggan load of +venison down to the river tilt with him. True they had planned a hunt, +but that would take place after Christmas and he wanted to make them +happy on that day. + +So after Micmac John left him on Friday night he prepared for an early +start to the caribou feeding grounds on Saturday morning. + +We have seen the route he took across the lakes and timbered flats and +marshes to the place where he pitched his camp in the little clump of +diminutive fir trees almost twenty miles from his tilt. It was evening +when he reached there and up to this time, to his astonishment, he +had seen no signs of caribou. A few miles beyond the marsh he saw a +ridge of low hills running east and west and decided that the feeding +grounds of the animals must lie the other side of them. + +He banked the snow around the tent to keep out the wind, broke an +abundant supply of green boughs for a bed, and cut a good stock of +wood for the day of rest. Two logs were placed in a parallel position +in the tent upon which to rest the stove that it might not sink in the +deep snow with the heat. Then it was put up, and a fire started, and +he was very comfortably settled for the night. + +The unfamiliar and unusually bleak character of the country gave him a +feeling of restlessness and dissatisfaction when he arose on Sunday +morning and viewed his surroundings. It was quite different from +anything he had ever experienced before and he had a strong desire to +go out at once and look for the caribou, and if no signs of them were +found to turn back on Monday to the tilt. But then he asked himself, +would his mother approve of this? He decided that she would not, and, +said he: "'Twould be huntin' just as much as t' go shootin' and th' +Lard would be gettin' angry wi' me too." + +That kept him from going, and he spent the day in the tent drawing +mind pictures of the little cabin home that he longed so much to see +and the loved ones that were there. The thought of little Emily, lying +helpless but still so patient, brought tears to his eyes. But all +would be well in the end, he told himself, for God was good and had +given him the silver fox he had prayed for that Emily might go and be +cured. + +What a proud and happy day it would be for him when with his greatest +hopes fulfilled, the boat ground her nose again upon the beach below +the cabin from which he had started so full of ambition that long ago +morning in September. How his father would come down to shake his hand +and say: "My stalwart lad has done bravely, an' I'm proud o' un." His +mother, all smiles, would run out to meet him and take him in her arms +and praise and pet him, and then he would hurry in to see dear, +patient little Emily on her couch, and her face would light up at +sight of him and she would hold out her hands to him in an ecstasy of +delight and call: "Oh, Bob! Bob! my fine big brother has come back to +me at last!" Then he would bring in his furs and proudly exhibit the +silver fox and hear their praises, and perhaps he would have another +silver fox by that time. After a while Douglas Campbell would come +over and tell him how wonderfully well he had done. With his share of +the martens he would pay his debt to the company, and he and Douglas +would let the mail boat doctor sell the silver fox and other skins for +them, and Emily would go to the hospital and after a little while come +back her old gay little self again, to romp and play and laugh and +tease him as she used to do. With fancy making for him these dreams of +happiness, the day passed after all much less tediously than he had +expected. + +On Monday morning, as soon as it was light enough to see, Bob started +out to look for the caribou, leaving the tent as Micmac John found it. +He made the great mistake of not taking with him his axe, for an axe +is often a life saver in the northern wilderness, and a hunter should +never be without one. He crossed the marsh and then the ridge of low +hills to the northward, finally coming out upon a large lake. It was +now midday, the snow had commenced falling, and to continue the hunt +further was useless. + +"'Tis goin' t' be nasty weather an' I'll have t' be gettin' back t' +th' tent," said he regretfully as he realized that a severe storm was +upon him. + +Reluctantly he retraced his steps. In a little while his tracks were +all covered, and not a landmark that he had noted on his inward +journey was visible through the blinding snow. He reached the ridge in +safety, however, and crossed it and then took the direction that he +believed would carry him to the camp, using the wind, which had been +blowing from the westward all day, as his guide. Towards dark he came +to what he supposed was the clump of trees where he had left his tent +in the morning, but no tent was there. + +"'Tis wonderful strange!" he exclaimed as he stood for a moment in +uncertainty. + +He was quite positive it was the right place, and he looked for axe +cuttings, where he had chopped down trees for fire-wood, and found +them. So, this was the place, but where was the tent? He was +mystified. He searched up and down every corner of the grove, but +found no clue. Could the Nascaupees have found his camp and carried +his things away? There was no other solution. + +"'Th' Nascaupees has took un. The Nascaupees has sure took un," he +said dejectedly, when he realized that the tent was really gone. + +His situation was now desperate. He had no axe with which to build a +temporary shelter or cut wood for a fire. The nearest cover was his +tilt, and to reach it in the blinding, smothering snow-storm seemed +hopeless. Already the cold was eating to his bones and he knew he must +keep moving or freeze to death. + +With the wind on his right he turned towards the south in the +gathering darkness. He could not see two yards ahead. Blindly he +plodded along hour after hour. As the time dragged on it seemed to him +that he had been walking for ages. His motion became mechanical. He +was faint from hunger and his mouth parched with thirst. The bitter +wind was reaching to his very vitals in spite of the exertion, and at +last he did not feel it much. He stumbled and fell now and again and +each time it was more difficult to rise. + +There was always a strong inclination to lie a little where he fell +and rest, but his benumbed brain told him that to stop walking meant +death, and urged him up again to further action. + +Finally the snow ceased but he did not notice it. With his head held +back and staring straight before him at nothing he stalked on throwing +his feet ahead like an automaton. The stars came out one after another +and looked down pitilessly upon the tragedy that was being enacted +before their very eyes. + +Many hours had passed; morning was close at hand. The cold grew more +intensely bitter but Bob did not know it. He was quite insensible to +sensations now. Vaguely he imagined himself going home to Wolf Bight. +It was not far--he was almost there. In a little while he would see +his father and mother and Emily--Emily--Emily was sick. He had +something to make her her well--make her well--a silver fox--that +would do it--yes, that would do it--a silver fox would make her +well--dear little Emily. + +From the distance there came over the frozen world a wolf's howl, +followed by another and another. The wolves were giving the cry of +pursuit. There must be many of them and they were after caribou or +game of some sort. This was the only impression the sound made upon +his numbed senses. + +Daylight was coming. He was very sleepy--very, very sleepy. Why not go +to sleep? There was no reason for walking when it was so nice and warm +here--and he was so weary and sleepy. There were trees all around and +a nice white bed spread under them. He stumbled and fell and did not +try to get up. Why should he? There was plenty of time to go home. It +was so comfortable and soft here and he was so sleepy. + +Then he imagined that he was in the warm tilt with the fire crackling +in the stove. He cuddled down in the snow, and said the little prayer +that he never forgot at night. + + "Now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep, + I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-keep, + If-I-should-die-before-I-wake + I-pray-thee-Lard-my-soul-to-take. + An'-God-make-Emily-well." + +The wolves were clamouring in the distance. They had caught the game +that they were chasing. He could just hear them as he fell asleep. + +The sun broke with the glory of a new world over the white wilderness. +The wolf howls ceased--and all was still. + + + + +X + +THE PENALTY + + +For some reason Micmac John could not sleep. A little while he lay +awake voluntarily, trying to contrive a plan to follow should he be +found out. If, after he returned to the tilt for the pelts, there +should not be sufficient snow to cover his trail, for instance, before +the searching party came to look for Bob--and it surely would come, +headed by Dick Blake--he would be in grave danger of being discovered. +Why had he not thought of all this before? He was afraid of Dick +Blake, and Dick was the one man in the world, perhaps, that he was +afraid of. Would Dick shoot him? he asked himself. Probably. If he +were found he would have to die. + +Life is sweet to a strong, healthy man brought face to face with the +reality of death. In his more than half savage existence Micmac John +had faced death frequently, and sometimes daily, and had never shrunk +from it or felt a tremour of fear. He had held neither his own nor the +life of other men as a thing of much value. The fact was that never +before had he given one serious thought to what it meant to die. Like +the foxes and the wolves, he had been an animal of prey and had looked +upon life and death with hardly more consideration than they, and with +the stoical indifference of his savage Indian ancestors. + +But for some inexplicable reason this night the white half of his +nature had been awakened and he found himself thinking of what it +meant to die--to cease to be, with the world going on and on +afterwards just as though nothing had happened. Then the teachings of +a missionary whom he had heard preach in Nova Scotia came to him. He +remembered what had been said of eternal happiness or eternal +torment--that one or the other state awaited the soul of every one +after death. Then a great terror took possession of him. If Bob Gray +died, as he certainly must in this storm, _he_ would be responsible +for it, and _his_ soul would be consigned to eternal torment--the +terrible torment to last forever and forever, depicted by the +missionary. He had committed many sins in his life, but they were of +the past and forgotten. This was of the present. He could already, in +his frenzied imagination see Dick Blake, the avenger. Dick would +shoot him. That was certain--and then--eternal torment. + +The wind moaned outside, and then rose to a shriek. He sprang up and +looked wildly about him. It was the shriek of a damned soul! No, he +had been dozing and it was only a dream, and he lay back trembling. + +For a long while he could not go to sleep again. Fear had taken +absolute and complete possession of him--the fear of the eternal +damnation that the missionary had so vividly pictured. It was a +picture that had been received at the time without being seen and +through all these years had remained in his brain, covered and hidden. +This day's work had suddenly and for the first time drawn aside the +screen and left it bare before his eyes displaying to him every +fearful minute outline. He was a murderer and he would be punished. +There was no thought of repentance for sins committed--only fear of a +fate that he shrunk from but which confronted him as a reality and a +certainty--as great a certainty as his rising in the morning and so +near at hand. He got up and looked out. The wind blew clouds of snow +into his face. He could not see the tree that he knew was ten feet +away. It was an awful night for a man to be out without shelter. + +Micmac John lay down again and after a time the tired brain and body +yielded to nature and he slept. + +The instincts of the half-breed, keen even in slumber, felt rather +than heard the diminishing of wind and snow as the storm subsided with +the approach of morning, and he arose at once. The rest had quieted +his nerves, and he was the stolid, revengeful Indian again. After a +meagre breakfast of tea and jerked venison he took down the tent and +lashed the things securely upon the toboggan and ere the first stars +began to glimmer through the cloud rifts he was hurrying away in the +stillness of the night. + +When the sky finally cleared and the moon came out, cold and +brilliant, there was something uncanny and weird in its light lying +upon earth's white shroud rent here and there by long, dark shadows +across the trail. There was an indefinable mystery in the atmosphere. +Micmac John, accustomed as he was to the wilderness, felt an +uneasiness in his soul, the reflex perhaps of the previous night's +awakening, that he could not quite throw off--a sense of impending +danger--of a calamity about to happen. The trees became mighty men +ready to strike at him as he approached and behind every bush crouched +a waiting enemy. His guilty conscience was at work. The little spirit +that God had placed within his bosom, to tell him when he was doing +wrong, was not quite dead. + +He increased his speed as daylight approached travelling almost at a +run. Suddenly he stopped to listen. From somewhere in the distance +behind him a wolf cry broke the morning silence. In a little while +there were more wolf cries, and they were coming nearer and nearer. +The animals were doubtless following some quarry. Was it Bob they were +after? A momentary qualm at the thought was quickly replaced by a +feeling of satisfaction. That, he tried to argue with himself, would +cover every clue to what had happened and was what he had hoped for. +He hurried on. + +All at once a spasm of fear brought him to a halt. Could it be himself +the wolves were trailing! The old horror of the night came back with +all its reality and force. A clammy sweat broke out upon his body. He +looked wildly about him for a retreat, but there was none. The wolves +were gaining upon him rapidly and were very close now. There was no +longer any doubt that _he_ was their quarry. They were trailing _him_. +Micmac John was in a narrow, open marsh, and the wolves were already +at the edge of the woods that skirted it a hundred yards behind. A +little distance ahead of him was a big boulder, and he ran for it. At +that moment the pack came into view. He stopped and stood paralyzed +until they were within thirty yards of him, then he turned +mechanically, from force of habit, and fired at the leader, which +fell. This held them in check for an instant and roused him to action. +He grabbed an axe from the toboggan and had time to gain the rock and +take a stand with his back against it. + +As the animals rushed upon the half breed he swung the axe and split +the head of one. This temporarily repulsed them. He held them at bay +for a time, swinging his axe at every attempted approach. They formed +themselves into a half circle just beyond his reach, snapping and +snarling at him and showing their ugly fangs. Another big gray +creature, bolder than the rest, made a rush, but the swinging axe +split its head, just as it had the others. They retreated a few +paces, but they were not to be kept back for long. Micmac John knew +that his end had come. His face was drawn and terrified, and in spite +of the fearful cold and biting frost, perspiration stood out upon his +forehead. + +It was broad daylight now. Another wolf attacked from the front and +fell under the axe. A little longer they parleyed. They were gradually +growing more bold and narrowing the circle--coming so close that they +were almost within reach of the swinging weapon. Finally a wolf on the +right, and one on the left, charged at the same time, and in an +instant those in front, as though acting upon a prearranged signal, +closed in, and the pack became one snarling, fighting, clamouring +mass. + +When the sun broke over the eastern horizon a little later it looked +upon a circle of flat-tramped, blood-stained snow, over which were +scattered bare picked human bones and pieces of torn clothing. A pack +of wolves trotted leisurely away over the marsh. + +In the woods not a mile distant two Indian hunters were following the +trail that led to Bob's unconscious body. + +[Illustration: "Micmac John knew his end had come"] + + + + +XI + +THE TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL + + +A week passed and Christmas eve came. The weather continued clear and +surpassingly fine. It was ideal weather for trapping, with no new snow +to clog the traps and interfere with the hunters in their work. The +atmosphere was transparent and crisp, and as it entered the lungs +stimulated the body like a tonic, giving new life and buoyancy and +action to the limbs. The sun never ventured far from the horizon now +and the cold grew steadily more intense and penetrating. The river had +long ago been chained by the mighty Frost King and over the earth the +snow lay fully six feet deep where the wind had not drifted it away. + +A full hour before sunset Dick and Ed, in high good humour at the +prospect of the holiday they had planned, arrived at the river tilt. +They came together expecting to find Bob and Bill awaiting them there, +but the shack was empty. + +"We'll be havin' th' tilt snug an' warm for th' lads when they comes," +said Dick, as he went briskly to work to build a fire in the stove +"You get some ice t' melt for th' tea, Ed. Th' lads'll be handy t' +gettin' in now, an' when they comes supper'll be pipin' hot for un." + +Ed took an axe and a pail to the river where he chopped out pieces of +fine, clear ice with which to fill the kettle. When he came back Dick +had a roaring fire and was busy preparing partridges to boil. + +Pretty soon Bill arrived, and they gave him an uproarious greeting. It +was the first time Bill and Ed had met since they came to their trails +in the fall, and the two friends were as glad to see each other as +though they had been separated for years. + +"An' how be un now, Bill, an' how's th' fur?" asked Ed when they were +seated. + +"Fine," replied Bill. "Fur's been fine th' year. I has more by now 'an +I gets all o' last season, an' one silver too." + +"A silver? An' be he a good un?" + +"Not so bad. He's a little gray on th' rump, but not enough t' hurt un +much." + +"Well, now, you be doin' fine. I finds un not so bad, too--about th' +best year I ever has, but one. That were twelve year ago, an' I gets +a rare lot o' fur that year--a rare lot--but I'm not catchin' all of +un myself. I gets most of un from th' Injuns." + +"An' how were un doin' that now?" asked Bill. + +"Now don't be tellin' that yarn agin," broke in Dick. "Sure Bill's +heard un--leastways he must 'a' heard un." + +"No, I never heard un," said Bill. + +"An' ain't been missin' much then. 'Tis just one o' Ed's yarns, an' no +truth in un." + +"'Tis no yarn. 'Tis true, an' I could prove un by th' Injuns. +Leastways I could if I knew where un were, but none o' that crowd o' +Injuns comes this way these days." + +"What were the yarn, now?" asked Bill. + +"I says 'tis no yarn. 'Tis what happened t' me," asserted Ed, assuming +a much injured air. "As I were sayin', 'twere a frosty evenin' twelve +year ago. I were comin' t' my lower tilt, an' when I gets handy t' un +what does I see but a big band o' mountaineers around th' tilt. Th' +mountaineers was not always friendly in those times as they be now, +an' I makes up my mind for trouble. I comes up t' un an' speaks t' un +pleasant, an' goes right in th' tilt t' see if un be takin' things. I +finds a whole barrel o' flour missin' an' comes out at un. They owns +up t' eatin' th' flour, an' they had eat th' hull barrel t' _one_ +meal--now ye mind, _one_ meal. When un eats a _barrel_ o' flour t' +_one_ meal there be a big band o' un. They was so many o' un I never +counted. They was like t' be ugly at first, but I looks fierce like, +an' tells un they must gi' me fur t' pay for un. I was so fierce like +I scares un--scares un bad. I were _one_ man alone, an' wi' a bold +face I had th' whole band so scared they each gives me a marten, an' I +has a flat sled load o' martens from un--handy t' a hundred an' +fifty--an' if I hadn't 'a' been bold an' scared un I'd 'a' had none. +Injuns be easy scared if un knows how t' go about it." + +Bill laughed and remarked, + +"'Tis sure a fine yarn, Ed. How does un look t' be fierce an' scare +folk?" + +"A fine yarn! An' I tells un 'tis a gospel truth, an' no yarn," +asserted Ed, apparently very indignant at the insinuation. + +"Bob's late comin'," remarked Dick. "'Tis gettin' dark." + +"He be, now," said Bill, "an' he were sayin' he'd be gettin' here th' +night an' maybe o' Monday night. 'Tis strange." + +They ate supper and the evening wore on, and no Bob. Bill went out +several times to listen for the click of snow-shoes, but always came +back to say, "No sign o' un yet." Finally it became quite certain that +Bob was not coming that night. + +"'Tis wonderful queer now, an' he promised," Bill remarked, at length. +"An' he brought down his fur last trip--a fine lot." + +"Where be un?" asked Dick. + +Bill looked for the fur. It was nowhere to be found, and, mystified +and astounded, he exclaimed: "Sure th' fur be gone! Bob's an' mine +too!" + +"Gone!" Dick and Ed both spoke together. "An' where now?" + +"Gone! His an' mine! 'Twere here when we leaves th' tilt, an' 'tis +gone now!" + +The three had risen to their feet and stood looking at each other for +awhile in silence. Finally Dick spoke: + +"'Tis what I was fearin'. 'Tis some o' Micmac John's work. Now where +be Bob? Somethin's been happenin' t' th' lad. Micmac John's been doin' +somethin' wi' un, an' we must find un." + +"We must find un an' run that devil Injun down," exclaimed Ed, +reaching for his adikey. "We mustn't be losin' time about un, +neither." + +"'Twill be no use goin' now," said Dick, with better judgment. "Th' +moon's down an' we'd be missin' th' trail in th' dark, but wi' +daylight we must be goin'." + +Ed hung his adikey up again. "I were forgettin' th' moon were down. +We'll have t' bide here for daylight," he assented. Then he gritted +his teeth. "That Injun'll have t' suffer for un if he's done foul wi' +Bob." + +The remainder of the evening was spent in putting forth conjectures as +to what had possibly befallen Bob. They were much concerned but tried +to reassure themselves with the thought that he might have been +delayed one tilt back for the night, and that Micmac John had done +nothing worse than steal the fur. Nevertheless their evening was +spoiled--the evening they had looked forward to with so much pleasure +and their minds were filled with anxious thoughts when finally they +rolled into their blankets for the night. + +Christmas morning came with a dead, searching cold that made the three +men shiver as they stepped out of the warm tilt long before dawn and +strode off in single file into the silent, dark forest. After a while +daylight came, and then the sun, beautiful but cheerless, appeared +above the eastern hills to reveal the white splendour of the world and +make the frost-hung fir trees and bushes scintillate and sparkle like +a gem-hung fairy-land. But the three men saw none of this. Before them +lay a black, unknown horror that they dreaded, yet hurried on to meet. +The air breathed a mystery that they could not fathom. Their hearts +were weighted with a nameless dread. + +Their pace never once slackened and not a word was spoken until after +several hours the first tilt came suddenly into view, when Dick said +laconically: + +"No smoke. He's not here." + +"An' no signs o' his bein' on th' trail since th' storm," added Ed. + +"No footin' t' mark un at all," assented Dick. "What's happened has +happened before th' last snow." + +"Aye, before th' last snow. 'Twas before th' storm it happened." + +Here they took a brief half hour to rest and boil the kettle, and the +remainder of that day and all the next day kept up their tireless, +silent march. Not a track in the unbroken white was there to give them +a ray of hope, and every step they took made more certain the tragedy +they dreaded. + +At noon on the third day they reached the last tilt. Bill was ahead, +and when he pushed the door open he exclaimed: "Th' stove's gone!" +Then they found the bag that Micmac John had left there with the fur +in it. + +"Now that's Micmac John's bag," said Ed. "What devilment has th' Injun +been doin'? Now why did he _leave_ th' fur? 'Tis strange--wonderful +strange." + +Dick noted the evidences of an open fire having been kindled upon the +earthen floor. "That fire were made since th' stove were taken," he +said. "Micmac John left th' fur an' made th' fire. He's been stoppin' +here a night after Bob left wi' th' stove. But why were Bob leavin' +wi' th' stove? An' where has he gone? An' why has th' Injun been +leavin' th' fur here an' not comin' for un again? We'll have t' be +findin' out." + +They started immediately to search for some clue of the missing lad, +each taking a different direction and agreeing to meet at night in +the tilt. Everywhere they looked, but nothing was discovered, and, +weary and disheartened, they turned back with dusk. Dick returned +across the first lake above the tilt. As he strode along one of his +snow-shoes pressed upon something hard, and he stopped to kick the +snow away from it. It was a deer's antler. He uncovered it farther and +found a chain, which he pulled up, disclosing a trap and in it a +silver fox, dead and frozen stiff. He straightened up and looked at +it. + +"A Christmas present for Bob an' he never got un," he said aloud. "Th' +lad's sure perished not t' be findin' his silver." + +Here was a discovery that meant something. Bob had been setting traps +in that direction, and might have a string of traps farther on. +Possibly he had gone to put them in order when the storm came, and had +been caught in it farther up, and perished. Anyway it was worth +investigation. When Dick returned with the fox and the trap to the +tilt he told the others of his theory and it was decided to +concentrate their efforts in that direction in the morning. + +Accordingly the next day they pushed farther to the westward across +the second lake, and at a point where a dead tree hung out over the +ice found fresh axe cuttings. A little farther on they saw one or two +sapling tops chopped off. These were in a line to the northward, and +they took that direction. Finally they came upon a marsh, and heading +in the same northerly course across it, came upon the tracks of a pack +of wolves. Looking in the direction from which these led, Dick stopped +and pointed towards a high boulder half a mile to the eastward. + +"Now what be that black on th' snow handy t' th' rock?" he asked. + +"'Tis lookin' t' me like a flat sled," said Ed. + +"We'll have a look at un," suggested Dick, who hurried forward with +the others at his heels. Suddenly he stopped, and pointed at the +beaten snow and scattered bones and torn clothing, where Micmac John +had fought so desperately for his life. The three men stood horror +stricken, their faces drawn and tense. This, then, was the solution of +the mystery! This was what had happened to Bob! Pretty soon Dick +spoke: + +"Th' poor lad! Th' poor lad! An' th' wolves got un!" + +"An' his poor mother," said Ed, choking. "'Twill break her heart, she +were countin' so on Bob. An' th' little maid as is sick--'twill kill +she." + +"Yes," said Bill, "Emily'll be mournin' herself t' death wi'out Bob." + +These big, soft-hearted trappers were all crying now like women. No +other thought occurred to them than that these ghastly remains were +Bob's, for the toboggan and things on it were his. + +After a while they tenderly gathered up the human remains and placed +them upon the toboggan. Then they picked up the gun and blood +spattered axe. + +"Now here be another axe on th' flat sled," said Dick. "What were Bob +havin' two axes for?" + +"'Tis strange," said Ed. + +"He must ha' had one cached in here, an' were bringin' un back," +suggested Bill, and this seemed a satisfactory explanation. + +"I'll take some pieces o' th' clothes. His mother'll be wantin' +somethin' that he wore when it happened," said Dick, as he gathered +some of the larger fragments of cloth from the snow. + +Then with bowed heads and heavy hearts they silently retraced their +steps to the tilt, hauling the toboggan after them. + +At the tilt they halted to arrange their future course of action. + +"Now," said Dick, "what's t' be done? 'Twill only give pain th' sooner +t' th' family t' go out an' tell un, an' 'twill do no good. I'm +thinkin' 'tis best t' take th' remains t' th' river tilt an' not go +out with un till we goes home wi' open water." + +"No, I'm not thinkin' that way," dissented Ed. "Bob's mother 'll be +wantin' t' know right off. 'Tis not right t' keep it from she, an' +she'll never be forgivin' us if we're doin' it." + +"They's trouble enough down there that they _knows_ of," argued Dick. +"They'll be thinkin' Bob safe 'an not expectin' he till th' open water +an' we don't tell un, an' between now an' then have so much less t' +worry un, and be so much happier 'an if they were knowin'. Folks lives +only so long anyways an' troubles they has an' don't know about is +troubles they don't have, or th' same as not havin' un, an' their +lives is that much happier." + +"I'm still thinkin' they'll be wantin' t' know," insisted Ed. "They'll +be plannin' th' whole winter for Bob's comin' an' when they's +expectin' him an' hears he's dead, 'twill be worse'n hearin' before +they expects un. Leastways, they'll be gettin' over un th' sooner +they hears, for trouble always wears off some wi' passin' time. 'Tis +our duty t' go an' tell un _now_, I'm thinkin'." + +"What's un think, Bill?" asked Dick. + +"I'm thinkin with Ed, 'tis best t' go," said Bill, positively. + +"Well, maybe 'tis--maybe 'tis," Dick finally assented. "Now, who'll be +goin'? 'Twill be a wonderful hard task t' break th' news. I'm thinkin' +my heart'd be failin' me when I gets there. Ed, would un _mind_ +goin'?" + +Ed hesitated a moment, then he said: + +"I'm fearin' t' tell th' mother, but 'tis for some one t' do. 'Tis my +duty t' do un--an' I'll be goin'." + +It was finally arranged that Ed should begin his journey the following +morning, drawing the remains on a toboggan, and taking otherwise only +the tent, a tent stove, and enough food to see him through, leaving +the remainder of Bob's things to be carried out in the boat in the +spring. Dick undertook the charge of them as well as Bob's fur. Ed was +to take the short cut to the river tilt and thence follow the river +ice while Dick and Bill sprang Bob's traps on the upper end of his +path. + +"But," said Bill, after this arrangement was made, "Bob's folks be in +sore need o' th' fur he'd be gettin' an' when Ed comes back, I'm +thinkin' 'twould be fine for us not t' be takin' rest o' Saturdays but +turnin' right back in th' trails. Ed can be doin' one tilt o' your +trail, Dick, an' so shortenin' your trail one tilt so you can do two +o' mine an' I'll shorten Ed two tilts an' do _three_ o' Bob's. I'd be +willin' t' work _Sundays_ an' I'm thinkin' th' Lard wouldn't be +findin' fault o' me for doin' un seem' Emily's needin' th' fur t' go +t' th' doctor. 'Tis sure th' Lard wouldn't be gettin' angry wi' me for +_that_, for He knows how bad off Emily is." + +This generous proposal met with the approval of all, and details were +arranged accordingly that evening as to just what each was to do until +the furring season closed in the spring. + +This was Saturday, December the twenty-eighth. On Sunday morning Ed +bade good-bye to his companions and began the long and lonely journey +to Wolf Bight with his ghastly charge in tow. + + + + +XII + +IN THE HANDS OF THE NASCAUPEES + + +Late on the afternoon of the day that Bob fell asleep in the snow, he +awoke to new and strange surroundings. His first conscious moments +brought with them a sense of comfortable security. His mind had thrown +off every feeling of responsibility and he knew only that he was warm +and snugly tucked into bed and that the odour of spruce forest and +wood smoke that he breathed was very pleasant. He lay quiet for a +time, with his eyes closed, in a state of blissful, half +consciousness, vaguely realizing these things, but not possessing +sufficient energy to open his eyes and investigate them or question +where he was. + +Slowly his mind awoke from its lethargy and then he began to remember +as a dim, uncertain dream, his experience of the night before. +Gradually it became more real but he recalled his failure to find the +tent, the fearful groping in the snow, and his struggle for life +against the storm as something that had happened in the long distant +past. + +"But how could all this ha' been happenin' t' me now?" he asked +himself, for here he was snug in the tent--or perhaps he had reached +the tilt and did not remember. + +He opened his eyes now for the first time to see and satisfy himself +as to whether it was the tent or the tilt he was in, and what he saw +astonished and brought him to his senses very quickly. + +He recognized at once the interior of an Indian wigwam. In the centre +a fire was burning and an Indian woman was leaning over it stirring +the contents of a kettle. On the opposite side of the fire from her +sat a young Indian maiden of about Bob's own age netting the babiche +in a snow-shoe, her fingers plying deftly in and out. The woman and +girl wore deerskin garments of peculiar design. The former was fat and +ugly, the latter slender, and very comely, he thought, from her sleek +black hair to her feet encased in daintily worked little moccasins. At +that moment she glanced towards him and said something to her +companion, who turned in his direction also. + +"Where am I?" he asked wonderingly and with some alarm. + +They both laughed and jabbered then in their Indian tongue but he +could not understand a word they said. The girl lay aside the +snow-shoe and babiche and, taking up a tin cup, dipped some hot broth +from the kettle and offered it to him. He accepted it gladly for he +was thirsty and felt unaccountably weak. The broth contained no salt +or flavouring of any kind, but was very refreshing. When he had +finished it he put the cup down and attempted to rise but this +movement brought forth a flood of Indian expostulations and he was +forced to lie quiet again. + +It was very evident that he was either considered an invalid too ill +to move or was held in bondage. He had never heard that Indian +captives were tucked into soft deerskin robes and fed broth by comely +Indian maidens, however, and if he were a prisoner it did not promise +to be so very disagreeable a captivity. + +On the whole it was very pleasant and restful lying there on the soft +skins of which his bed was composed, for he still felt tired and weak. +He took in every detail of his surroundings. The wigwam was circular +in form and of good size. It was made of reindeer skins stretched over +poles very dingy and black, with an opening at the top to permit the +smoke from the fire in the centre to escape. Flat stones raised +slightly above the ground served as a fireplace, and around it were +thickly laid spruce boughs. Some strips of jerked venison hung from +the poles above, and near his feet he glimpsed his own gun and powder +horn. + +Bob could see at once that these Indians were much more primitive than +those he knew at the Bay and, unfamiliar as he was with the Indian +language, he noticed a marked difference in the intonation and +inflection when the woman spoke. + +"Now," said Bob to himself, "th' Nascaupees must ha' found me an' +these be Nascaupees. But Mountaineers an' every one says Nascaupees be +savage an' cruel, an' I'm not knowin' what un be. 'Tis queer--most +wonderful queer." + +He had no recollection of lying down in the snow. The last he could +definitely recall was his fearful battling with the storm. There was a +sort of hazy remembrance of something that he could not quite +grasp--of having gone to sleep somewhere in a snug, warm bed spread +with white sheets. Try as he would he could not explain his presence +in this Indian wigwam, nor could he tell how long he had been here. It +seemed to him years since the morning he left the tilt to go on the +caribou hunt. + +So he lay for a good while trying to account for his strange +surroundings until at last he became drowsy and was on the point of +going to sleep when suddenly the entrance flap of the wigwam opened +and two Indians entered--the most savage looking men Bob had ever +seen--and he felt a thrill of fear as he beheld them. They were very +tall, slender, sinewy fellows, dressed in snug fitting deerskin coats +reaching half way to the knees and decorated with elaborately painted +designs in many colours. Their heads were covered with hairy hoods, +and the ears of the animal from which they were made gave a grotesque +and savage appearance to the wearers. Light fitting buckskin leggings, +fringed on the outer side, encased their legs, and a pair of deerskin +mittens dangled from the ends of a string which was slung around the +neck. One of the men was past middle age, the other a young fellow of +perhaps twenty. + +The older woman said something to them and they began to jabber in so +high a tone of voice that Bob would have thought they were quarrelling +but for the fact that they laughed good-naturedly all the time and +came right over to where he lay to shake his hand. They had a good +deal to say to him, but he could not understand one word of their +language. After greeting him both men removed their outer coats and +hoods, and Bob could not but admire the graceful, muscular forms that +the buckskin undergarments displayed. Their hair was long, black and +straight and around their foreheads was tied a thong of buckskin to +keep it from falling over their faces. + +They laughed at Bob's inability to understand them, and were much +amused when he tried to talk with them. Every effort was made to put +him at ease. + +When the men were finally seated, the girl dipped out a cup of broth +and a dish of venison stew from the kettle which she handed to Bob; +then the others helped themselves from what remained. There was no +bread nor tea, and nothing to eat but the unflavoured meat. + +It was quite dark now and the fire cast weird, uncanny shadows on the +dimly-lighted interior walls of the wigwam. The Indians sitting around +it in their peculiar dress seemed like unreal inhabitants of some +spirit world. Bob's coming to himself in this place and amongst these +people appealed to him as miraculous--supernatural. He could not +understand it at all. He began to plan an escape. When they were all +asleep he could steal quietly out and make his way back to the tilt. +But, then, he reasoned, if they wished to detain him they could easily +track him in the snow in the morning; and, besides, he did not know +where his snow-shoes were and without them he could not go far. +Neither did he know how far he was from the tilt. After the Indians +had found him they may have carried him several days' journey to their +camp and whether they had gone west or north he had no way of finding +out. + +It was, therefore, he realized, an unquestionably hopeless undertaking +for him to attempt to reach his tilt alone, and he finally dismissed +the idea as impracticable. Perhaps in the morning he could induce them +to take him there. That, he concluded, was the only plan for him to +follow. So far they had been very kind and he could see no reason why +they should wish to detain him against his will. + +The Indians were indeed Nascaupee Indians, but instead of being the +ruthless cut-throats that the Mountaineers and the legends of the +coast had painted them, they were human and hospitable, as all our +eastern Indians were before white men taught them to be thieves and +drove and goaded them--by the white man's own treachery--to acts of +reprisal and revenge. + +These Nascaupees, living as they did in a country inaccessible to the +white ravishers, had none but kindly motives in their treatment of Bob +and had no desire to do him harm. On the morning that Bob fell in the +snow Shish-e-ta-ku-shin--Loud-voice--and his son Moo-koo-mahn--Big +Knife--had left their wigwam early to hunt. Not far away they crossed +Bob's trail. Their practiced eye told them that the traveller was not +an Indian, for the snow-shoes he wore were not of Indian make, and +also, from the uncertain, wobbly trail, they decided that he was far +spent. So they followed the tracks and within a few minutes after Bob +had fallen found him. They carried him to the wigwam and rubbed his +frosted limbs and face until it was quite safe to wrap him in the +deerskins in the warm wigwam. + +They did not know who he was nor where he came from, but they did know +that he needed care and several days of quiet. He was a stranger and +they took him in. These poor heathens had never heard of Christ or His +teachings, but their hearts were human. And so it was that Bob found +himself amongst friends and was rescued from what seemed certain +death. + +When morning came Bob tried in every conceivable way to make them +understand that he wished to be taken back, but he found it a quite +hopeless task. No signs or pantomime could make them comprehend his +meaning, and it appeared that he was doomed to remain with them. The +shock of exposure had been so great that he was still very weak and +not able to walk, as he quickly realized when he tried to move about, +and he was compelled to remain within in the company of the women, in +spite of his desire to go out and reconnoitre. + +Ma-ni-ka-wan, the maiden, took it upon herself to be his nurse. She +brought him water to bathe his face, which was very sore from +frostbite, and gave him the choicest morsels from the kettle, and made +him as comfortable as possible. + +At first he held a faint hope that when Bill missed him at the tilt, a +search would be made for him and his friends would find the wigwam. +But as the days slipped by he realized that he would probably never be +discovered. There came a fear that the news of his disappearance would +be carried to Wolf Bight and he dreaded the effect upon his mother and +Emily. + +But there was one consolation. Emily could go to the hospital now and +be cured. Bill would find the silver fox skin and his share of that +and the other furs would pay not only his own but his father's debts, +he felt sure, as well as all the expense of Emily's treatment by the +doctor--and a good surplus of cash--how much he could not imagine and +did not try to calculate--for the doctor had said that silver foxes +were worth five hundred dollars in cash. This thought gave him a +degree of satisfaction that towered so far above his troubles that he +almost forgot them. + +In a little while he was quite strong and active again. Finally a day +came when the Indians made preparations to move. The wigwam was taken +down and with all their belongings packed upon toboggans, and under +the cold stars of a January morning, they turned to the northward, and +Bob had no other course than to go with them even farther from the +loved ones and the home that his heart so longed to see. + + + + +XIII + +A FOREBODING OF EVIL + + +Never before had Bob been away from home for more than a week at a +time, and his mother and Emily were very lonely after his departure in +September. They missed his rough good-natured presence with the noise +and confusion that always followed him no less than his little +thoughtful attentions. They forgot the pranks that the overflow of his +young blood sometimes led him into, remembering only his gentler side. +He had helped Emily to pass the time less wearily, often sitting for +hours at a time by her couch, telling her stories or joking with her, +or making plans for the future, and she felt his absence now perhaps +more than even his mother. Many times during the first week or so +after his going she found herself turning wistfully towards the door +half expecting to see him enter, at the hours when he used to come +back from the fishing, and then she would realize that he was really +gone away, and would turn her face to the wall, that her mother might +not see her, and cry quietly in her loneliness. + +Without Bob's help, Richard Gray was very busy now. The fishing season +was ended, but there was wood to be cut and much to be done in +preparation for the long winter close at hand. He went early each +morning to his work, and only returned to the cabin with the dusk of +evening. This home-coming of the father was the one bright period of +the day for Emily, and during the dreary hours that preceded it, she +looked forward with pleasure and longing to the moment when he should +open the door, and call out to her, + +"An' how's my little maid been th'day? Has she been lonesome without +her daddy?" + +And she would always answer, "I's been fine, but dreadful lonesome +without daddy." + +Then he would kiss her, and sit down for a little while by her couch, +before he ate his supper, to tell her of the trivial happenings out of +doors, while he caressed her by stroking her hair gently back from her +forehead. After the meal the three would chat for an hour or so while +he smoked his pipe and Mrs. Gray washed the dishes. Then before they +went to their rest he would laboriously read a selection from the +Bible, and afterwards, on his knees by Emily's couch, thank God for +His goodness to them and ask for His protection, always ending with +the petition, + +"An', Lard, look after th' lad an' keep he safe from th' Nascaupees +an' all harm; an' heal th' maid an' make she well, for, Lard, you must +be knowin' what a good little maid she is." + +Emily never heard this prayer without feeling an absolute confidence +that it would be answered literally, for God was very real to her, and +she had the complete, unshattered faith of childhood. + +Late in October the father went to his trapping trail, and after that +was only home for a couple of days each fortnight. There was no +pleasant evening hour now for Emily and her mother to look forward to. +The men of the bay were all away at their hunting trails, and no +callers ever came to break the monotony of their life, save once in a +while Douglas Campbell would tramp over the ice the eight miles from +Kenemish to spend an afternoon and cheer them up. + +Emily missed Bob more than ever, since her father had gone, but she +was usually very patient and cheerful. For hours at a time she would +think of his home-coming, and thrill with the joy of it. In her fancy +she would see him as he would look when he came in after his long +absence, and in her imagination picture the days and days of happiness +that would follow while he sat by her couch and told her of his +adventures in the far off wilderness. Once, late in November, she +called her mother to her and asked: + +"Mother, how long will it be now an' Bob comes home?" + +"'Tis many months till th' open water, but I were hopin', dear, that +mayhap he'd be comin' at th' New Year." + +"An' how long may it be to th' New Year, mother?" + +"A bit more than a month, but 'tis not certain he'll be comin' then." + +"'Tis a long while t' wait--a _terrible_ long while t' be waitin'--t' +th' New Year." + +"Not so long, Emily. Th' time'll be slippin' by before we knows. But +don't be countin' on his comin' th' New Year, for 'tis a rare long +cruise t' th' Big Hill trail an' he may be waitin' till th' break-up. +But I'm thinkin' my lad'll be wantin' t' see how th' little maid +is,--an' see his mother--an' mayhap be takin' th' cruise." + +"An Bob knew how lonesome we were--how _wonderful_ lonesome we +were--he'd be comin' at th' New Year sure. An' he'll be gettin' +lonesome hisself. He must be gettin' _dreadful_ lonesome away off in +th' bush this long time! He'll _sure_ be comin' at th' New Year!" + +After this Emily began to keep account of the days as they passed. She +had her mother reckon for her the actual number until New Year's Eve, +and each morning she would say, "only so many days now an' Bob'll be +comin' home." Her mother warned her that it was not at all certain he +would come then--only a hope. But it grew to be a settled fact for +Emily, and a part of her daily life, to expect and plan for the happy +time when she should see him. + +Mrs. Gray had not been able to throw off entirely the foreboding of +calamity that she had voiced at the time Bob left home. Every morning +she awoke with a heavy heart, like one bearing a great weight of +sorrow. Before going about her daily duties she would pray for the +preservation of her son and the healing of her daughter, and it would +relieve her burden somewhat, but never wholly. The strange Presence +was always with her. + +One day when Douglas Campbell came over he found her very despondent, +and he asked: + +"Now what's troublin' you, Mary? There's some trouble on yer mind. +Don't be worryin' about th' lad. He's as safe as you be. He'll be +comin' home as fine an' hearty as ever you see him, an' with a fine +hunt." + +"I knows the's no call for th' worry," she answered, "but someways I +has a forebodin' o' somethin' evil t' happen an' I can't shake un off. +I can't tell what an be. Mayhap 'tis th' maid. She's no better, an' +th' Lard's not answerin' my prayer yet t' give back strength t' she +an' make she walk." + +"'Twill be all right wi' th' maid, now. Th' doctor said they'd be +makin' she well at th' hospital." + +"But the's no money t' send she t' th' hospital--an' if she don't +go--th' doctor said she'd never be gettin' well." + +"Now don't be lettin' _that_ worry ye, Mary. Th' Lard'll be findin' a +way t' send she t' St. Johns when th' mail boat comes back in th' +spring, if that be His way o' curin she--I _knows_ He will. Th' Lard +always does things right an' He'll be fixin' it right for th' maid. +He'd not be lettin' a pretty maid like Emily go all her life wi'out +walkin'--He _never_ would do that. I'm thinkin' He'd a' found a way +afore _now_ if th' mail boat had been makin' another trip before th' +freeze up." + +"I'm lackin' in faith, I'm fearin'. I'm always forgettin' that th' +Lard does what's best for us an' don't always do un th' way we wants +He to. He's bidin' His own time I'm thinkin', an' answerin' my prayers +th' way as is best." + +This talk with Douglas made her feel better, but still there was that +burden on her heart--a burden that would not be shaken off. + +All the Bay was frozen now, and white, like the rest of the world, +with drifted snow. The great box stove in the cabin was kept well +filled with wood night and day to keep out the searching cold. An +inch-thick coat of frost covered the inner side of the glass panes of +the two windows and shut out the morning sunbeams that used to steal +across the floor to brighten the little room. December was fast +drawing to a close. + +Richard Gray's luck had changed. Fur was plentiful--more plentiful +than it had been for years--and he was hopeful that by spring he would +have enough to pay all his back debt at the company store and be on +his feet again. Two days before Christmas he reached home in high good +humour, with the pelts he had caught, and displayed them with +satisfaction to Mrs. Gray and Emily--beautiful black otters, martens, +minks and beavers with a few lynx and a couple of red foxes. + +"I'll be stayin' home for a fortnight t' get some more wood cut," he +announced. "How'll that suit th' maid?" + +"Oh! Tis fine!" cried the child, clapping her hands with delight. "An' +Bob'll be home for the New Year an' we'll all be havin' a fine time +together before you an' Bob goes away again." + +"In th' mornin' I'll have t' be goin' t' th' Post wi' th' dogs an' +komatik t' get some things. Is there anything yer wantin', Mary?" he +asked his wife. + +"We has plenty o' flour an' molasses an' tea; but," she suggested, +"th' next day's Christmas, Richard." + +"Aye, I'm thinkin' o' un an' I may be seein' Santa Claus t' tell un +what a rare fine maid Emily's been an' ask un not t' be forgettin' +she. He's been wonderful forgetful not t' be comin' round last +Christmas an' th' Christmas before I'll have t' be remindin' he." + +Emily looked up wistfully. + +"An' you are thinkin' he'll have _time_ t' come here wi' all th' +places t' go to? Oh, I'm wishin' he would!" + +"I'll just make un--I'll just _make_ un," said her father. "I'll not +let un pass my maid _every_ time." + +Emily was awake early the next morning--before daybreak. Her father +was about to start for the Post, and the dogs were straining and +jumping in the traces. She knew this because she could hear their +expectant howls,--and the dogs never howled just like that under any +other circumstances. Then she heard "hoo-ett--hoo-ett" as he gave them +the word to be off and, in the distance, as he turned them down the +brook to the right his shouts of "ouk! ouk! ouk!--ouk! ouk! ouk!" + +It was a day of delightful expectancy. Tomorrow would be Christmas and +perhaps--perhaps--Santa Claus would come! She chattered all day to her +mother about it, wondering if he would really come and what he would +bring her. + +Finally, just at nightfall she heard her father shouting at the dogs +outside and presently he came in carrying his komatik box, his beard +weighted with ice and his clothing white with hoar frost. + +"Well," announced he, as he put down the box and pulled his adikey +over his head, "I were seein' Santa Claus th' day an' givin' he a rare +scoldin' for passin' my maid by these two year--a _rare_ scoldin'--an' +I'm thinkin' he'll not be passin' un by _this_ Christmas. He'll not be +wantin' _another_ such scoldin'." + +"Oh!" said Emily, "'twere too bad t' scold un. He must be havin' a +wonderful lot o' places t' go to an' he's not deservin' t' be scolded +now. He's sure doin' th' best he can--I _knows_ he's doin' th' best he +can." + +"He were deservin' of un, an' more. He were passin' my maid _two_ year +runnin' an' I can't be havin' that," insisted the father as he hung up +his adikey and stooped to open the komatik box, from which he +extracted a small package which he handed to Emily saying, "Somethin' +Bessie were sendin'." + +"Look! Look, mother!" Emily cried excitedly as she undid the package +and discovered a bit of red ribbon; "a hair ribbon an'--an' a paper +with some writin'!" + +Mrs. Gray duly examined and admired the gift while Emily spelled out +the message. + +[Illustration (handwriting): to dear emily Wishin mery Crismus from +Bessie] + +"Oh, an' Bessie's fine t' be rememberin' me!" said she, adding +regretfully, "I'm wishin' I'd been sendin' she somethin' but I hasn't +a thing t' send." + +"Aye, Bessie's a fine lass," said her father. "She sees me comin' an' +runs down t' meet me, an' asks how un be, an' if we're hearin' e'er a +word from Bob. An' I tells she Emily's fine an' we're not hearin' from +Bob, but are thinkin' un may be comin' home for th' New Year. An' then +Bessie says as she's wantin' t' come over at th' New Year t' visit +Emily." + +"An' why weren't you askin' she t' come back with un th' day?" asked +Mrs. Gray. + +"Oh, I wish she had!" exclaimed Emily. + +"I were askin' she," he explained, "but she were thinkin' she'd wait +till th' New Year. Her mother's rare busy th' week wi' th' men all in +from th' bush, an' needin' Bessie's help." + +"An' how's th' folk findin' th' fur?" asked Mrs. Gray as she poured +the tea. + +"Wonderful fine. Wonderful fine with all un as be in." + +"An' I'm glad t' hear un. 'Twill be givin' th' folk a chance t' pay +th' debts. Th' two bad seasons must ha' put most of un in a bad way +for debt." + +"Aye, 'twill that. An' now we're like t' have two fine seasons. 'Tis +th' way un always runs." + +"'Tis th' Lard's way," said Mrs. Gray reverently. + +"The's a band o' Injuns come th' day," added Richard Gray, "an' they +reports fur rare plenty inside, as 'tis about here. An' I'm thinkin' +Bob'll be doin' fine his first year in th' bush." + +"Oh, I'm hopin'--I'm hopin' so--for th' lad's sake an' Emily's. 'Tis +how th' Lard's makin' a way for th' brave lad t' send Emily t' th' +doctor--an' he comes back safe." + +"I were askin' th' Mountaineers had they seen Nascaupee footin', an' +they seen none. They're sayin' th' Nascaupees has been keepin' t' th' +nuth'ard th' winter, an' we're not t' fear for th' lad." + +"Thank th' Lard!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray. "Thank th' Lard! An' now that's +relievin' my mind wonderful--relievin'--it--wonderful." + +There was an added earnestness to Richard Gray's expressions of +thanksgiving when he knelt with his wife by their child's couch for +family worship that Christmas eve, and there was an unwonted happiness +in their hearts when they went to their night's rest. + + + + +XIV + +THE SHADOW OF DEATH + + +The kettle was singing merrily on the stove, and Mrs. Gray was setting +the breakfast table, when Emily awoke on Christmas morning. Her father +was just coming in from out-of-doors bringing a breath of the fresh +winter air with him. + +"A Merry Christmas," he called to her. "A Merry Christmas t' my maid!" + +"And did Santa Claus come?" she asked, looking around expectantly. + +"Santa Claus? There now!" he exclaimed, "an' has th' old rascal been +forgettin' t' come again? Has you seen any signs o' Santa Claus bein' +here?" he asked of Mrs. Gray, as though thinking of it for the first +time. Then, turning towards the wall back of the stove, he exclaimed, +"Ah! Ah! an' what's _this_?" + +Emily looked, and there, sitting upon the shelf, was a doll! + +"Oh! Oh, th' dear little thing!" she cried. "Oh, let me have un!" + +Mrs. Gray took it down and handed it to her, and she hugged it to her +in an ecstasy of delight. Then she held it off and looked at it, and +hugged again, and for very joy she wept. It was only a poor little rag +doll with face and hair grotesquely painted upon the cloth, and +dressed in printed calico--but it was a doll--a _real_ one--the first +that Emily had ever owned. It had been the dream of her life that some +day she might have one, and now the dream was a blessed reality. Her +happiness was quite beyond expression as she lay there on her bed that +Christmas morning pressing the doll to her breast and crying. Poverty +has its seasons of recompense that more than counterbalance all the +pleasures that wealth can buy, and this was one of those seasons for +the family of Richard Gray. + +Presently Emily stopped crying, and through the tears came laughter, +and she held the toy out for her father and mother to take and examine +and admire. + +A little later Mrs. Gray came from the closet holding a mysterious +package in her hand. + +"Now what be _this_? 'Twere in th' closet an' looks like somethin' +more Santa Claus were leavin'." + +"Well now!" exclaimed Richard, "what may _that_ be? Open un an' we'll +see." + +An investigation of its contents revealed a couple of pounds of sugar, +some currants, raisins and a small can of butter. + +"Santa Claus were wantin' us t' have a plum puddin' _I'm_ thinkin'," +said Mrs. Gray, as she examined each article and showed it to Emily. +"An' we're t' have sugar for th' tea and butter for th' bread. But th' +puddin's not t' get _all_ th' raisins. Emily's t' have some t' eat +after we has breakfast." + +Dinner was a great success. There were roast ptarmigans stuffed with +fine-chopped pork and bread, and the unwonted luxuries of butter and +sugar--and then the plum pudding served with molasses for sauce. That +was fine, and Emily had to have two helpings of it. If Bob had been +with them their cup of happiness would have been filled quite to the +brim, and more than once Emily exclaimed: + +"Now if _Bob_ was only here!" And several times during the day she +said, "I'm just _wishin'_ t' show Bob my pretty doll--an' won't he be +glad t' see un!" + +The report from the Mountaineer Indians that no Nascaupees had been +seen had set at rest their fears for the lad's safety. The +apprehension that he might get into the hands of the Nascaupees had +been the chief cause of worry, for they felt full confidence in Bob's +ability to cope with the wilderness itself. + +The day was so full of surprises and new sensations that when bedtime +came Emily was quite tired out with the excitement of it all, and was +hardly able to keep awake until the family worship was closed. Then +she went to sleep with the doll in her arms. + +The week from Christmas till New Year passed quickly. Richard Gray was +at home, and this was a great treat for Mrs. Gray and Emily, and with +several of their neighbours who lived within ten to twenty miles of +Wolf Bight driving over with dogs to spend a few hours--for most of +the men were home from their traps for the holidays--the time was +pretty well filled up. Emily's doll was a never failing source of +amusement to her, and she always slept with it in her arms. + +Over at the Post it was a busy week for Mr. MacDonald and his people, +for all the Bay hunters and Indians had trading to do, and most of +them remained at least one night to gossip and discuss their various +prospects and enjoy the hospitality of the kitchen; and then there was +a dance nearly every night, for this was their season of amusement and +relaxation in the midst of the months of bitter hardships on the +trail. + +Bessie and her mother had not a moment to themselves, with all the +extra cooking and cleaning to be done, for it fell upon them to +provide for every one; and it became quite evident to Bessie that she +could not get away for her proposed visit to Wolf Bight until the last +of the hunters was gone. This would not be until the day after New +Year's, so she postponed her request to her father, to take her over, +until New Year's day. Then she watched for a favourable opportunity +when she was alone with him and her mother. Finally it came late in +the afternoon, when he stepped into the house for something, and she +asked him timidly: + +"Father, I'm wantin' t' go on a cruise t' Wolf Bight--t' see +Emily--can't you take me over with th dogs an' komatik?" + +"When you wantin' t' go, lass?" he asked. + +"I'm wishin' t' be goin' to-morrow." + +"I'm t' be wonderful busy for a few days. Can't un wait a week or +two?" + +"I'm wantin' t' go now, father, if I goes. I'm not wantin' t' wait." + +"Bob's t' be home," suggested Mrs. Blake. + +"Oh, ho! I see!" he exclaimed. "'Tisn't Bob instead o' Emily you're +wantin' so wonderful bad t' see now, is un?" + +"'Tis--Emily--I'm wantin'--t'--see," faltered Bessie, blushing +prettily and fingering the hem of her apron in which she was suddenly +very much interested. + +"Bob's a fine lad--a fine lad--an' I'm not wonderin'," said her father +teasingly. + +"Now, Tom," interceded Mrs. Black, "don't be tormentin' Bessie. O' +course 'tis just Emily she's wantin' t' see. She's not thinkin' o' th' +lads yet." + +"Oh, aye," said he, looking slyly out of the corner of his eye at +Bessie, who was blushing now to the very roots of her hair, "I'm not +blamin' she for likin' Bob. I likes he myself." + +"Well, Tom, be tellin' th' lass you'll take she over. She's been kept +wonderful close th' winter, an' the cruise'll be doin' she good," +urged Mrs. Black. + +"I wants t' go _so_ much," Bessie pleaded. + +"Well, I'll ask Mr. MacDonald can he spare me th' day. I'm thinkin' +'twill be all right," he finally assented. + +And it was all right. When the last hunter had disappeared the next +morning, the komatik was got ready. A box made for the purpose was +lashed on the back end of it, and warm reindeer skins spread upon the +bottom for Bessie to sit upon. Then the nine big dogs were called by +shouting "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to them, and were caught and harnessed, after +which Tom cracked a long walrus-hide whip over their heads, and made +them lie quiet until Bessie was tucked snugly in the box, and wrapped +well in deerskin robes. + +When at last all was ready the father stepped aside with his whip, and +immediately the dogs were up jumping and straining in their harness +and giving short impatient howls, over eager to be away. Tom grasped +the front end of the komatik runners, pulled them sharply to one side +to break them loose from the snow to which they were frozen, and +instantly the dogs were off at a gallop running like mad over the ice +with the trailing komatik in imminent danger of turning over when it +struck the ice hummocks that the tide had scattered for some distance +out from the shore. + +Presently they calmed down, however, to a jog trot, and Tom got off +the komatik and ran by its side, guiding the team by calling out "ouk" +when he wanted to turn to the right and "rudder" to turn to the left, +repeating the words many times in rapid succession as though trying to +see how fast he could say them. The head dog, or leader, always turned +quickly at the word of command, and the others followed. + +It was a very cold day--fifty degrees below zero Mr. MacDonald had +said before they started--and Bessie's father looked frequently to see +that her nose and cheeks were not freezing, for a traveller in the +northern country when not exercising violently will often have these +parts of the face frozen without knowing it or even feeling cold, and +if the wind is blowing in the face is pretty sure to have them frosted +anyway. + +Most of the snow had drifted off the ice, and the dogs had a good hard +surface to travel upon, and were able to keep up a steady trot. They +made such good time that in two hours they turned into Wolf Bight, and +as they approached the Grays' cabin broke into a gallop, for dogs +always like to begin a journey and end it with a flourish of speed +just to show how fast they _can_ go, no matter how slowly they may jog +along between places. + +The dogs at Wolf Bight were out to howl defiance at them as they +approached and to indulge in a free fight with the newcomers when they +arrived, until the opposing ones were beaten apart with clubs and +whips. It is a part of a husky dog's religion to fight whenever an +excuse offers, and often when there is no excuse. + +Richard and Mrs. Gray came running out to meet Tom and Bessie, and +Bessie was hurried into the cabin where Emily was waiting in excited +expectancy to greet her. Mrs. Gray bustled about at once and brewed +some hot tea for the visitors and set out a luncheon of bread for +them. + +"Now set in an' have a hot drink t' warm un up," said she when it was +ready. "You must be most froze, Bessie, this frosty day." + +"I were warm wrapped in th' deerskins, an' not so cold," Bessie +answered. + +"We were lookin' for Bob these three days," remarked Mrs. Gray as she +poured the tea. "We were thinkin' he'd sure be gettin' lonesome by +now, an' be makin' a cruise out." + +"'Tis a long cruise from th' Big Hill trail unless he were needing +somethin'," suggested Tom, taking his seat at the table. + +"Aye," assented Richard, "an' I'm thinkin' th' lad'll not be wantin' +t' lose th' time 'twill take t' come out. He'll be biding inside t' +make th' most o' th' huntin', an' th' fur be plenty." + +"That un will," agreed Tom, "an' 'twould not be wise for un t' be +losin' a good three weeks o' huntin'. Bob's a workin' lad, an' I'm not +thinkin' you'll see he till open water comes." + +"Oh," broke in Emily, "an' don't un _really_ think Bob's t' come? I +been wishin' _so_ for un, an' 'twould be grand t' have he come while +Bessie's here." + +"Bessie's thinkin' 'twould too," said Tom, who could not let pass an +opportunity to tease his daughter. + +They all looked at Bessie, who blushed furiously, but said nothing, +realizing that silence was the best means of diverting her father's +attention from the subject, and preventing his further remarks. + +"Well I'll have t' be goin'," said Tom presently, pushing back from +the table. + +"Oh, sit down, man, an' bide a bit. There's nothin' t' take un back so +soon. Bide here th' night, can't un?" urged Richard. + +"I were sayin' t' Mr. MacDonald as I'd be back t' th' post th' day, so +promisin' I has t' go." + +"Aye, an' un promised, though I were hopin' t' have un bide th' +night." + +"When'll I be comin' for un, Bessie?" asked Tom. + +"Oh, Bessie must be bidin' a _long_ time," plead Emily. "I've been +wishin' t' have she _so_ much. Please be leavin' she a _long_ time." + +"Mother'll be needin' me I'm thinkin' in a week," said Bessie, "though +I'd like t' bide longer." + +"Your mother'll not be needin' un, now th' men's gone. Bide wi' Emily +a fortnight," her father suggested. + +"I'll take th' lass over when she's wantin' t' go," said Richard. +"'Tis a rare treat t' Emily t' have she here, an' th' change'll be +doin' your lass good." + +So it was agreed, and Tom drove away. + +It was a terrible disappointment to Emily and her mother that Bob did +not come, but Bessie's visit served to mitigate it to some extent, and +her presence brightened the cabin very much. + +No one knew whether or not Bob's failure to appear was regretted by +Bessie. That was her secret. However it may have been, she had a +splendid visit with Mrs. Gray and Emily, and the days rolled by very +pleasantly, and when Richard Gray left for his trail again on the +Monday morning following her arrival the thought that Bessie was with +"th' little maid" gave him a sense of quiet satisfaction and security +that he had not felt when he was away from them earlier in the winter. + +When Douglas Campbell came over one morning a week after Bessie's +arrival he found the atmosphere of gloom that he had noticed on his +earlier visits had quite disappeared. Mrs. Gray seemed contented now, +and Emily was as happy as could be. + +Douglas remained to have dinner with them. They had just finished +eating and he had settled back to have a smoke before going home, +admiring a new dress that Bessie had made for Emily's doll, and +talking to the child, while Mrs. Gray and Bessie cleared away the +dishes, when the door opened and Ed Matheson appeared on the +threshold. + +Ed stood in the open door speechless, his face haggard and drawn, and +his tall thin form bent slightly forward like a man carrying a heavy +burden upon his shoulders. + +It was not necessary for Ed to speak. The moment Mrs. Gray saw him she +knew that he was the bearer of evil news. She tottered as though she +would fall, then recovering herself she extended her arms towards him +and cried in agony: + +"Oh, my lad! My lad! What has happened to my lad!" + +"Bob--Bob"--faltered Ed, "th'--wolves--got--un." + +He had nerved himself for this moment, and now the spell was broken he +sat down upon a bench, and with his elbows upon his knees and his face +in his big weather-browned hands, cried like a child. + +Emily lay white and wild-eyed. She could not realize it all or +understand it. It seemed for a moment as though Mrs. Gray would faint, +and Bessie, pale but self-possessed, supported her to a seat and tried +gently to soothe her. + +Douglas, too, did what he could to comfort, though there was little +that he could do or say to relieve the mother's grief. + +At first Mrs. Gray simply moaned, "My lad--my lad--my lad----" +upbraiding herself for ever letting him go away from home; but finally +tears--the blessed safety-valve of grief--came and washed away the +first effects of the shock. + +Then she became quite calm, and insisted upon hearing every smallest +detail of Ed's story, and he related what had happened step by step, +beginning with the arrival of himself and Dick at the river tilt on +Christmas eve and the discovery that Bob's furs had been removed, and +passed on to the finding of the remains by the big boulder in the +marsh, Mrs. Gray interrupting now and again to ask a fuller +explanation here and there. + +When Ed told of gathering up the fragments of torn clothing, she asked +to see them at once. Ed hesitated, and Douglas suggested that she wait +until a later time when her nerves were steadier; but she was +determined, and insisted upon seeing them without delay, and there was +nothing to do but produce them. Contrary to their expectations, she +made no scene when they were placed before her, and though her hand +trembled a little was quite collected as she took up the blood-stained +pieces of cloth and examined them critically one by one. Finally she +raised her head and announced: + +"None o' _them_ were ever a part o' Bob's clothes." + +"Whose now may un be if not Bob's?" asked Ed, sceptical of her +decision. + +"None of un were _Bob's_. I were makin' all o' Bob's clothes, +an'--I--_knows_: I _knows_," she insisted. + +"But th' flat sled were Bob's, an' th' tent an' other things," said +Ed. + +"Th' _clothes_ were not Bob's--an' Bob were not killed by wolves--my +lad is livin'--somewheres--I _feels_ my lad is livin'," she asserted. + +Then Ed told of the two axes found--one on the toboggan and the other +on the snow--and Mrs. Gray raised another question. + +"Why," she asked, "had he two axes?" + +It was explained that he had probably taken one in on a previous trip +and cached it. But she argued that if he needed an axe going in on the +previous trip he must have needed it coming out too, and it was not +likely that he would have cached it. Besides, she was quite sure that +he had but one axe with him in the bush, as there was no extra axe for +him to take when he was leaving home; and Douglas said that when he +left the trail at the close of the previous season he had left no axe +in any of the tilts. + +"Richard 'll know un when he comes," said she. "Richard'll know Bob's +axe." + +The mother was still more positive now that the remains they had found +were not Bob's remains, and Ed and Douglas, though equally positive +that she was mistaken, let her hold the hope--or rather belief--that +Bob still lived. She asserted that he was alive as one states a fact +that one knows is beyond question. The circumstantial evidence against +her theory was strong, but a woman's intuition stands not for reason, +and her conclusions she will hold against the world. + +"I must be takin' th' word in t' Richard though 'tis a sore trial t' +do it," said Douglas, preparing at once to go. "I'll be findin' un on +th' trail. Keep courage, Mary, until we comes. 'Twill be but four days +at furthest," he added as he was going out of the door. + +Ed left immediately after for his home, to spend a day or two before +returning to his inland trail, and Mrs. Gray and Emily and Bessie +were left alone again in a gloom of sorrow that approached despair. + +That night long after the light was out and they had gone to bed, Mrs. +Gray, who was still lying awake with her trouble, heard Emily softly +speak: + +"Mother." + +She stole over to Emily's couch and kissed the child's cheek. + +"Mother, an' th' wolves killed Bob, won't he be an angel now?" + +"Bob's livin'--somewheres--child, an' I'm prayin' th' Lard in His +mercy t' care of th' lad. Th' Lard knows where un is, lass, an' th' +Lard'll sure not be forgettin' he." + +"But," she insisted, "he's an angel now _if_ th' wolves killed un?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"An' th' Lard lets angels come sometimes t' see th' ones they loves, +don't He, mother?" + +"Be quiet now, lass." + +"But He does?" persisted the child. + +"Aye, He does." + +"Then if Bob were killed, mother, he'll sure be comin' t' see us. His +angel'd never be restin' easy in heaven wi'out comin' t' see us, for +he knows how sore we longs t' see un." + +The mother drew the child to her heart and sobbed. + + + + +XV + +IN THE WIGWAM OF SISHETAKUSHIN + + +Day after day the Indians travelled to the northward, drawing their +goods after them on toboggans, over frozen rivers and lakes, or +through an ever scantier growth of trees. With every mile they +traversed Bob's heart grew heavier in his bosom, for he was constantly +going farther from home, and the prospect of return was fading away +with each sunset. He knew that they were moving northward, for always +the North Star lay before them when they halted for the night, and +always a wilder, more unnatural country surrounded them. Finally a +westerly turn was taken, and he wondered what their goal might be. + +Cold and bitter was the weather. The great limitless wilderness was +frozen into a deathlike silence, and solemn and awful was the vast +expanse of white that lay everywhere around them. They, they alone, it +seemed, lived in all the dreary world. The icy hand of January had +crushed all other creatures into oblivion. No deer, no animals of any +kind crossed their trail. Their food was going rapidly, and they were +now reduced to a scanty ration of jerked venison. + +At last they halted one day by the side of a brook and pitched their +wigwam. Then leaving the women to cut wood and put the camp in order, +the two Indians shouldered their guns and axes, and made signs to Bob +to follow them, which he gladly did. + +They ascended the frozen stream for several miles, when suddenly they +came upon a beaver dam and the dome-shaped house of the animals +themselves, nearly hidden under the deep covering of snow. The house +had apparently been located earlier in the season, for now the Indians +went directly to it as a place they were familiar with. + +Here they began at once to clear away the snow from the ice at one +side of the house, using their snow-shoes as shovels. When this was +done, a pole was cut, and to the end of the pole a long iron spike was +fastened. With this improvised implement Sishetakushin began to pick +away the ice where the snow had been cleared from it, while Mookoomahn +cut more poles. + +[Illustration: "It was dangerous work"] + +Though the ice was fully four feet thick Sishetakushin soon reached +the water. Then the other poles that Mookoomahn had cut were driven in +close to the house. + +Bob understood that this was done to prevent the escape of the +animals, and that they were closing the door, which was situated so +far down that it would always be below the point where ice would form, +so that the beavers could go in and out at will. + +After these preparations were completed the Indians cleared the snow +from the top of the beaver house, and then broke an opening into the +house itself. Into this aperture Sishetakushin peered for a moment, +then his hand shot down, and like a flash reappeared holding a beaver +by the hind legs, and before the animal had recovered sufficiently +from its surprise to bring its sharp teeth into action in +self-defense, the Indian struck it a stinging blow over the head and +killed it. Then in like manner another animal was captured and killed. +It was dangerous work and called for agility and self-possession, for +had the Indian made a miscalculation or been one second too slow the +beaver's teeth, which crush as well as cut, would have severed his +wrist or arm. + +There were two more beavers--a male and a female--in the house, but +these were left undisturbed to raise a new family, and the stakes that +had closed the door were removed. + +This method of catching beavers was quite new to Bob, who had always +seen his father and the other hunters of the Bay capture them in steel +traps. It was his first lesson in the Indian method of hunting. + +That evening the flesh of the beavers went into the kettle, and their +oily tails--the greatest tidbit of all--were fried in a pan. The +Indians made a feast time of it, and never ceased eating the livelong +night. This day of plenty came in cheerful contrast to the cheerless +nights with scanty suppers following the weary days of plodding that +had preceded. The glowing fire in the centre, the appetizing smell of +the kettle and sizzling fat in the pan, and the relaxation and mellow +warmth as they reclined upon the boughs brought a sense of real +comfort and content. + +The next day they remained in camp and rested, but the following +morning resumed the dreary march to the westward. + +After many more days of travelling--Bob had lost all measure of +time--they reached the shores of a great lake that stretched away +until in the far distance its smooth white surface and the sky were +joined. The Indians pointed at the expanse of snow-covered ice, and +repeated many times, "Petitsikapau--Petitsikapau," and Bob decided +that this must be what they called the lake; but the name was wholly +unfamiliar to him. In like manner they had indicated that a river they +had travelled upon for some distance farther back, after crossing a +smaller lake, was called "Ashuanipi," but he had never heard of it +before. + +The wigwam was pitched upon the shores of Petitsikapau Lake, where +there was a thick growth of willows upon the tender tops of which +hundreds of ptarmigans--the snow-white grouse of the arctic--were +feeding; and rabbits had the snow tramped flat amongst the underbrush, +offering an abundance of fresh food to the hunters, a welcome change +from the unvaried fare of dried venison. + +Bob drew from the elaborate preparations that were made that they were +to stop here for a considerable time. Snow was banked high against the +skin covering of the wigwam to keep out the wind more effectually, an +unusually thick bed of spruce boughs was spread within, and a good +supply of wood was cut and neatly piled outside. + +The women did all the heavy work and drudgery about camp, and it +troubled Bob not a little to see them working while the men were idle. +Several times he attempted to help them, but his efforts were met with +such a storm of protestations and disapproval, not only from the men, +but the women also, that he finally refrained. + +"'Tis strange now th' women isn't wantin' t' be helped," Bob remarked +to himself. "Mother's always likin' t' have me help she." + +It was quite evident that the men considered this camp work beneath +their dignity as hunters, and neither did they wish Bob, to whom they +had apparently taken a great fancy, to do the work of a squaw. They +had, to all appearances, accepted him as one of the family and treated +him in all respects as such, and, he noted this with growing +apprehension, as though he were always to remain with them. + +They began now to initiate him into the mysteries of their +trapping methods, which were quite different from those with +which he was accustomed. Instead of the steel trap they used the +deadfall--wa-nee-gan--and the snare--nug-wah-gun--and Bob won the +quick commendation and plainly shown admiration of the Indians by the +facility with which he learned to make and use them, and his prompt +success in capturing his fair share of martens, which were fairly +numerous in the woods back of the lake. + +But when he took his gun and shot some ptarmigans one day, they gave +him to understand that this was a wasteful use of ammunition, and +showed him how they killed the birds with bow and arrow. To shoot the +arrows straight, however, was an art that he could not acquire +readily, and his efforts afforded Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn much +amusement. + +"The's no shootin' straight wi' them things," Bob declared to himself, +after several unsuccessful attempts to hit a ptarmigan. "Leastways I'm +not knowin' how. But th' Injuns is shootin' un fine, an' I'm wonderin' +now how they does un." + +With no one that could understand him Bob had unconsciously dropped +into the habit of talking a great deal to himself. It was not very +satisfactory, however, and there were always questions arising that +he wished to ask. He had, therefore, devoted himself since his advent +amongst the Indians to learning their language, and every day he +acquired new words and phrases. Manikawan would pronounce the names of +objects for him and have him repeat them after her until he could +speak them correctly, laughing merrily at his blunders. + +It does not require a large vocabulary to make oneself understood, and +in an indescribably short time Bob had picked up enough Indian to +converse brokenly, and one day, shortly after the arrival at +Petitsikapau he found he was able to explain to Sishetakushin where he +came from and his desire to return to the Big Hill trail and the Grand +River country. + +"It is not good to dwell on the great river of the evil spirits" (the +Grand River), said the Indian. "Be contented in the wigwam of your +brothers." + +Bob parleyed and plead with them, and when he finally insisted that +they take him back to the place where they had found him, he was met +with the objection that it was "many sleeps towards the rising sun," +that the deer had left the land as he had seen for himself, and if +they turned back their kettle would have no flesh and their stomachs +would be empty. + +"We are going," said Sishetakushin, "where the deer shall be found +like the trees of the forest, and there our brother shall feast and be +happy." + +So Bob's last hope of reaching home vanished. + +Manikawan's kindness towards him grew, and she was most attentive to +his comfort. She gave him the first helping of "nab-wi"--stew--from +the kettle, and kept his clothing in good repair. His old moccasins +she replaced with new ones fancifully decorated with beads, and his +much-worn duffel socks with warm ones made of rabbit skins. Everything +that the wilderness provided he had from her hand. But still he was +not happy. There was an always present longing for the loved ones in +the little cabin at Wolf Bight. He never could get out of his mind his +mother's sad face on the morning he left her, dear patient little +Emily on her couch, and his father, who needed his help so much, +working alone about the house or on the trail. And sometimes he +wondered if Bessie ever thought of him, and if she would be sorry when +she heard he was lost. + +"Manikawan an' all th' Injuns be wonderful kind, but 'tis not like +bein' home," he would often say sadly to himself when he lay very +lonely at night upon his bed of boughs and skins. + +At first Manikawan's attentions were rather agreeable to Bob, but he +was not accustomed to being waited upon, and in a little while they +began to annoy him and make him feel ill at ease, and finally to +escape from them he rarely ever remained in the wigwam during daylight +hours. + +"I'm wishin' she'd not be troublin' wi' me so--I'm not wantin' un," he +declared almost petulantly at times when the girl did something for +him that he preferred to do himself. + +Mornings he would wander down through the valley attending to his +deadfalls and snares, and afternoons tramp over the hills in the hope +of seeing caribou. + +One afternoon two weeks after the arrival at Petitsikapau he was +skirting a precipitous hill not far from camp, when suddenly the snow +gave way under his feet and he slipped over a low ledge. He did not +fall far, and struck a soft drift below, and though startled at the +unexpected descent was not injured. When he got upon his feet again he +noticed what seemed a rather peculiar opening in the rock near the +foot of the ledge, where his fall had broken away the snow, and upon +examining it found that the crevice extended back some eight or ten +feet and then broadened into a sort of cavern. + +"'Tis a strange place t' be in th' rocks," he commented. "I'm thinkin' +I'll have a look at un." + +Kicking off his snow-shoes and standing his gun outside he proceeded +to crawl in on all fours. When he reached the point of broadening he +found the cavern within so dark that he could see nothing of its +interior, and he advanced cautiously, extending one arm in front of +him that he might not strike his head against protruding rocks. All at +once his hand came in contact with something soft and warm. He drew it +back with a jerk, and his heart stood still. He had touched the shaggy +coat of a bear. He was in a bear's den and within two feet of the +sleeping animal. He expected the next moment to be crushed under the +paws of the angry beast, and was quite astonished when he found that +it had not been aroused. + +Cautiously and noiselessly Bob backed quickly out of the dangerous +place. The moment he was out and found himself on his feet again with +his gun in his hands his courage returned, and he began to make plans +for the capture of the animal. + +"'Twould be fine now t' kill un an' 'twould please th' Injuns +wonderful t' get th' meat," he said. "I'm wonderin' could I get un--if +'tis a bear." + +He stooped and looked into the cave again, but it was as dark as night +in there, and he could see nothing of the bear. Then he cut a long +pole with his knife and reached in with it until he felt the soft +body. A strong prod brought forth a protesting growl. Bruin did not +like to have his slumbers disturbed. + +"Sure '_tis_ a bear an' that's wakenin' un," he commented. + +Bob prodded harder and the growls grew louder and angrier. + +"He's not wantin' t' get out o' bed," said Bob prodding vigorously. + +Finally there was a movement within the den, and Bob sprang back and +made ready with his gun. He had barely time to get into position when +the head of an enormous black bear appeared in the cave entrance, its +eyes flashing fire and showing fight. Bob's heart beat excitedly, but +he kept his nerve and took a steady aim. The animal was not six feet +away from him when he fired. Then he turned and ran down the hill, +never looking behind until he was fully two hundred yards from the den +and realized that there was no sound in the rear. + +The bear was not in sight and he cautiously retraced his steps until +he saw the animal lying where it had fallen. The bullet had taken it +squarely between the eyes and killed it instantly. This was the first +bear that Bob had ever killed unaided and he was highly elated at his +success. + +It was not an easy task to get the carcass out of the rock crevice, +but he finally accomplished it and outside quickly skinned the bear +and cut the meat into pieces of convenient size to haul away on a +toboggan when he should return for it. Then, with the skin as a +trophy, he triumphantly turned towards camp. + +Night had fallen when he reached the wigwam and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn had already arrived after their day's hunt. It was a proud +moment for Bob when he entered the lodge and threw down the bear skin +for their inspection. They spread it out and examined it, and a great +deal of talking ensued. Bob, in the best Indian he could command, +explained where he had found the "mushku" and how he had killed it, +and his story was listened to with intense interest. When he was +through Sishetakushin said that the "Snow Brother," as they called +Bob, was a great hunter, and should be an Indian; for only an Indian +would have the courage to attack a bear in its den single handed. Bob +had risen very perceptibly in their estimation. All doubt of his skill +and prowess as a hunter had been removed. He had won a new place, and +was now to be considered as their equal in the chase. + +The following morning the two Indians assisted Bob to haul the bear's +meat to camp. No part of it was allowed to waste. In the wigwam it was +thawed and then the flesh stripped from the bones, and that not +required for immediate use was permitted to freeze again that it might +keep sweet until needed. The skull was thoroughly cleaned and fastened +to a high branch of a tree as an offering to the Manitou. +Sishetakushin explained to Bob that unless this was done the Great +Spirit would punish them by driving all other bears beyond the reach +of their guns and traps in future. + +For several days a storm had been threatening, and that night it broke +with all the terrifying fury of the north. The wind shrieked through +the forest and shook the wigwam as though it would tear it away. The +air was filled with a swirling, blinding mass of snow and any one +venturing a dozen paces from the lodge could hardly have found his way +back to it again. For three days the storm lasted, and the Indians +turned these three days into a period of feasting. A big kettle of +bear's meat always hung over the fire, and surrounding it pieces of +the meat were impaled upon sticks to roast. It seemed to Bob as though +the Indians would never have enough to eat. + +Finally the storm cleared, and then it was discovered that the +ptarmigans and rabbits, which had been so plentiful and constituted +their chief source of food supply, had disappeared as if by magic. Not +a ptarmigan fluttered before the hunter, and no rabbit tracks broke +the smooth white snow beneath the bushes. + +The jerked venison was gone and the only food remaining was the bear +meat. A hurried consultation was held, and it was decided to push on +still farther to the northward in the hope of meeting the invisible +herds of caribou that somewhere in those limitless, frozen barrens +were wandering unmolested. + + + + +XVI + +ONE OF THE TRIBE + + +If Bob Gray had held any secret hope that the Indians would eventually +listen to his plea to guide him back to the Big Hill trail it was +mercilessly swept away by the next move, for again they faced steadily +towards the north. Whenever he thought of home a lump came into his +throat, but he always swallowed it bravely and said to himself: + +"'Tis wrong now t' be grievin' when I has so much t' be thankful for. +Bill'll be takin' th' silver fox an' other fur out, and when father +sells un 'twill pay for Emily's goin' t' th' doctor. Th' Lard saved me +from freezin', an' I'm well an' th' Injuns be wonderful good t' me. +Maybe some time they'll be goin' back th' Big Hill way--maybe 'twill +be next winter--an' then I'll be gettin' home." + +In this manner the hope of youth always conquered, and his desperate +situation was to some extent forgotten in the pictures he drew for +himself of his reunion with the loved ones in the uncertain "Sometime" +of the future. + +On and on they travelled through the endless, boundless white, over +wind-swept rocky hills so inhospitably barren that even the snow could +not find a lodgment on them, or over wide plains where the few trees +that grew had been stunted and gnarled into mere shrubs by winter +blasts. On every hand the mountains began to raise their ragged +austere heads like grim giant sentinels placed there to guard the way. +Finally they turned into a pass, which brought them, on the other side +of the ridge it led through, to a comparatively well-wooded valley +down which a wide river wound its way northward. The trees were larger +than any Bob had seen since leaving the Big Hill trail, and this new +valley seemed almost familiar to him. + +As they emerged from the pass a wolf cry, long and weird, came from a +distant mountainside and broke the wilderness stillness, which had +become almost insufferable, and to the lad even this wild cry held a +note of companionship that was pleasant to hear after the long and +deathlike quiet that had prevailed. + +They took to the river ice and travelled on it for several miles +when, rounding a bend, they suddenly came upon a cluster of half a +dozen deerskin wigwams standing in the spruce trees just above the +river bank. An Indian from one of the lodges discovered their +approach, and gave a shout. Instantly men, women and children sprang +into view and came running out to welcome them. It was a curious, +medley crowd. The men were clad in long, decorated deerskin coats such +as Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn wore, and the women in deerskin skirts +reaching a little way below the knees, and all wearing the fringed +buckskin leggings. + +The greeting was cordial and noisy, everybody shaking hands with the +new arrivals, talking in the high key characteristic of them, and +laughing a great deal. Two of the men embraced Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn and shed copious tears of joy over them. These two men it +appeared were Mookoomahn's brothers. The women were not so +demonstrative, but showed their delight in a ceaseless flow of words. + +When the first greetings were over Sishetakushin told the assembled +Indians how Bob had been found sleeping in the snow, and that the +Great Spirit had sent the White Snow Brother to dwell in their lodges +as one of them. After this introduction and a rather magnified +description of his accomplishments as a hunter they all shook Bob's +hand and welcomed him as one of the tribe. + +A few caribou had been killed, and the travellers received gifts of +the frozen meat with a good proportion of fat, and that night a great +feast was held in their behalf. + +With plenty to eat there was no occasion to hunt and the Indians were +living in idleness during the intensely cold months of January and +February, rarely venturing out of the wigwams. This was not only for +their comfort, but because the fur bearing animals lie quiet during +this cold period of the winter and the hunt would therefore yield +small reward for the exposure and suffering it would entail. + +They had an abundance of tobacco and tea. Sishetakushin and his family +had been without these luxuries, and it seemed to Bob that he had +never tasted anything half so delicious as the first cup of tea he +drank. His Indian friends could not understand at first his refusal of +their proffered gifts of "stemmo"--tobacco--but he told them finally +that it would make him sick, and then they accepted his excuse and +laughed at him good naturedly. + +Manikawan had never ceased her attentions to Bob, and the others of +her family seemed to have come to an understanding that it was her +especial duty to look after his comfort. From the first she had been +much troubled that he had only his cloth adikey instead of a deerskin +coat such as her father and Mookoomahn wore, and she often expressed +her regret that there was no deerskin with which to make him one. He +insisted at these times that his adikey was quite warm enough, but she +always shook her head in dissent, for she could not believe it, and +would say, + +"No, the Snow Brother is cold. Manikawan will make him warm clothes +when the deer are found." + +On the very night of their arrival at the camp she went amongst the +wigwams and begged from the women some skins of the fall killing, +tanned with the hair on, with the flesh side as fine and white and +soft as chamois. In two days she had manufactured these into a coat +and had it ready for decoration. It was a very handsome garment, sewn +with sinew instead of thread, and having a hood attached to it +similar to the hoods worn by Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn. + +With brushes made from pointed sticks she painted around the bottom of +the coat a foot-wide border in intricate design, introducing red, +blue, brown and yellow colours that she had compounded herself the +previous summer from fish roe, minerals and oil. Other decorations and +ornamentations were drawn upon the front and arms of the garment +before she considered it quite complete. Then she surveyed her work +with commendable pride, and with a great show of satisfaction +presented it and a pair of the regulation buckskin leggings to Bob. +She was quite delighted when he put his new clothes on, and made no +secret of her admiration of his improved appearance. + +"Now," she said, "the brother is dressed as becomes him and looks very +fine and brave." + +"'Tis fine an' warm," Bob assented, "an' I'm thinkin' I'm lookin' like +an Injun sure enough." + +Bob's aversion to Manikawan's attentions was wearing off, and he was +taking a new interest in her. He very often found himself looking at +her and admiring her dark, pretty face and tall, supple form. +Sometimes she would glance up quickly and catch him at it, and smile, +for it pleased her. Then he would feel a bit foolish and blush through +the tan on his face; for he knew that she read his thoughts. But +neither he nor Manikawan ever voiced the admiration that they felt for +each other. + +Bob was lounging in the wigwam one day a week or so after the arrival +at the camp when he heard some one excitedly shouting, + +"Atuk! Atuk!" + +He grabbed his gun and ran outside where he met Sishetakushin rushing +in from an adjoining wigwam. The Indian called to him to leave his gun +behind and get a spear and follow. He could see that something of +great moment had occurred and he obeyed. + +The Indians from the lodges, all armed with spears, were running +towards a knoll just below the camp, and Bob and Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn joined them. When they reached the top of the knoll Bob +halted for a moment in astonishment. Never before had he beheld +anything to compare with what he saw below. A herd of caribou +containing hundreds--yes thousands--like a great living sea, was +moving to the eastward. + +Some of the Indians were already running ahead on their snow-shoes to +turn the animals into the deep snowdrifts of a ravine, while the other +attacked the herd with their spears from the side. The caribou changed +their course when they saw their enemies, and plunged into the ravine, +those behind crowding those in front, which sank into the drifts until +they were quite helpless. From every side the Indians rushed upon the +deer and the slaughter began. Bob was carried away with the excitement +of the hunt, and many of the deer fell beneath his spear thrusts. The +killing went on blindly, indiscriminately, without regard to the age +or sex or number killed, until finally the main herd extricated itself +and ran in wild panic over the river ice and out of reach of the +pursuers. + +In the brief interval between the discovery of the deer and the escape +of the herd over four hundred animals had fallen under the ruthless +spears. When Bob realized the extent of the wicked slaughter he was +disgusted with himself for having taken part in it. + +"'Twas wicked t' kill so many of un when we're not needin' un, an' I +hopes th' Lard'll forgive me for helpin'," he said contritely. + +[Illustration: "Saw her standing in the bright moonlight"] + +Aside from the inhumanity of the thing, it was a terrible waste of +food, for it would only be possible to utilize a comparatively small +proportion of the meat of the slaughtered animals. Perhaps +seventy-five of the carcasses were skinned, after which the flesh was +stripped from the bones and hung in thin slabs from the poles inside +the wigwams to dry. The tongues were removed from all the slaughtered +animals, for they are considered a great delicacy by the Indians; and +some of the leg bones were taken for the marrow they contained. The +great bulk of the meat, however, was left for the wolves and foxes, or +to rot in the sun when summer came. + +The deer killing was followed by a season of feasting, as is always +the case amongst the Indians after a successful hunt. In every wigwam +a kettle of stewing venison was constantly hanging, night and day over +the fire, and marrow bones roasting in the coals, and for several days +the men did nothing but eat and smoke and drink tea. + +It was, however, a busy time for the women. Besides curing the meat +and tongues, they rendered marrow grease from the bones and put it up +neatly in bladders for future use; and it fell to their lot, also, to +dress and tan the hides into buckskin. + +The passing deer herds brought in their wake packs of big gray and +black timber wolves, and the country was soon infested with these +animals. At night their howls were heard, and they came boldly to the +scene of the caribou slaughter and fattened upon the discarded +carcasses of the animals. Now and again one was shot. With plenty to +eat, they were, however, comparatively harmless, and never molested +the camp. + +February was drawing to a close when one day Sishetakushin, Mookoomahn +and two other Indians packed their toboggans preparatory to going on +an excursion. Bob noticed the preparations with interest, and inquired +the meaning of them. + +"The tea and tobacco are nearly gone, and we are in need of powder and +ball," Sishetakushin answered. + +To get these things Bob knew they must go to a trading post, and here, +he decided, was a possible opportunity for him to find a means of +reaching home. He asked the Indians at once for permission to +accompany them. There was no objection to this from any of them, +though they told him it would be a tiresome journey, that they would +travel fast, and be back in a few days. + +But Bob did not propose to let any chance of meeting white men pass +him, and he hurriedly got his things together for the expedition. He +had no intimation of the name or location of the post they were going +to further than that the Indians told him they were going to Mr. +MacPherson, who was, he felt sure, a Hudson's Bay Company Factor, and +he believed that if he could once reach one of the company's forts a +way would be shown him to get to Eskimo Bay. That night was one of +excitement and anticipation for Bob. + +Manikawan seemed to read his thoughts, for the whole evening she +looked troubled, and her eyes were wet when Bob said good-bye to her +in the morning. As the little party turned down upon the river ice, he +looked back once and saw her standing near the wigwam, in the bright +moonlight, her slender figure outlined against the snow, and he waved +his hand to her. + +He never knew that for many days afterwards, when the dusk of evening +came, she stole alone out of the wigwam and down the trail where he +had disappeared to watch for his return, nor how lonely she was and +how she brooded over his loss when she knew that she should never see +her White Brother of the Snow again. + + + + +XVII + +STILL FARTHER NORTH + + +Bob and the Indians travelled in single file, with Mookoomahn leading, +and kept to the wide, smooth pathway that marked the place where the +river lay imprisoned beneath ice a fathom thick. The wind had swept +away the loose snow and beaten down that which remained into a hard +and compact mass upon the frozen river bed, making snow-shoeing here +much easier than in the spruce forest that lay behind the willow brush +along the banks. The Indians walked with the long rapid stride that is +peculiar to them, and which the white man finds hard to simulate, and +good traveller though he was Bob had to adopt a half run to keep their +pace. They drew but two lightly loaded toboggans, and unencumbered by +the wigwam and other heavy camp equipment, and with no trailing squaws +to hamper their speed, an even, unbroken gait was maintained as mile +after mile slipped behind them. + +Not a breath of air was stirring, and the absolute quiet that +prevailed was broken only by the moving men and the rhythmic creak, +creak of the snow-shoes as they came in contact with the hard packed +snow. + +The very atmosphere seemed frozen, so intense was the cold. The moon +like a disk of burnished silver set in a steel blue sky cast a weird, +metallic light over the congealed wilderness. The hoar frost that lay +upon the bushes along the river bank sparkled like filmy draperies of +spun silver, and transformed the bushes into an unearthly multitude of +shining spirits that had gathered there from the dark, mysterious +forest which lay behind them, to watch the passing strangers. +Presently the light of dawn began to diffuse itself upon the world, +and the spirit creations were replaced by substantial banks of +frost-encrusted willows. In a little while the sun peeped timorously +over the eastern hills, but, half obscured by a haze of frost flakes +which hung suspended in the air, gave out no warmth to the frozen +earth. + +No halt was made until noon. Then a fire was built and a kettle of ice +was melted and tea brewed. Bob was hungry, and the jerked venison, +with its delicate nutty flavour, and the hot tea, were delicious. The +latter, poured boiling from the kettle, left a sediment of ice in the +bottom of the tin cup before it was drained, so great was the cold. + +After an hour's rest they hit the trail again and never relaxed their +speed for a moment until sunset. Then they sought the shelter of the +spruce woods behind the river bank, and in a convenient spot for a +fire cleared a circular space, several feet in circumference, by +shovelling the snow back with their snow-shoes, forming a high bank +around their bivouac as a protection from the wind, should it rise. At +one side a fire was built, and in front of the fire a thick bed of +boughs spread. While the others were engaged in these preparations Bob +and Sishetakushin cut a supply of wood for the night. + +It was quite dark before they all settled themselves around the fire +for supper. Two frying pans were now produced, and from a haunch of +venison, frozen as hard as a block of wood, thin chips were cut with +an axe, and with ample pieces of fat were soon sizzling in the pans +and filling the air with an appetizing odour, and in spite of the +bleak surroundings the place assumed a degree of comfort and +hospitality. + +After supper the Indians squatted around the fire on deerskins spread +upon the boughs, smoking their pipes and telling stories, while Bob +reclined upon the soft robes that Manikawan had thoughtfully provided +him with, watching the light play over their dark faces framed in long +black hair, and thought of the Indian girl and wondered if he was +always to live amongst them, and if he would ever become accustomed to +their wild, rude life. + +Finally they lay down close together, with their feet towards the +fire, and wrapped their heads and shoulders closely in the skins, +leaving their moccasined feet uncovered, to be warmed by the blaze, +and the lad was soon lost in dreams of the snug cabin at Wolf Bight. +Once during the night he awoke and arose to replenish the fire. The +stars were looking down upon them, cold and distant, and the +wilderness seemed very solemn and quiet when he resumed his place +amongst the sleeping Indians. + +They were on their way again by moonlight the following morning. +Shortly after daybreak they turned out of the river bed and towards +noon came upon some snow-shoe tracks. A little later they passed a +steel trap, in which a white arctic fox straggled for freedom. They +halted a moment for Sishetakushin to press his knee upon its side to +kill it and then went on. The fox he left in the trap, however, for +the hunter to whom it belonged. This was the first steel trap that Bob +had seen since coming amongst the Indians and he drew from its +presence here that they must be approaching a trading station where +traps were obtainable and in use by the hunters. + +In the middle of the afternoon they turned into a komatik track, and +Bob's heart gave a bound of joy. + +"Sure we're gettin' handy t' th' coast!" he exclaimed. + +They would soon find white men, he was sure. The track led them on for +a mile or so, and then they heard a dog's howl and a moment later came +out upon two snow igloos. Eskimo men, women, and children emerged on +their hands and knees from the low, snow-tunnel entrance of the igloos +at their approach, but when they saw that the travellers were a party +of Indians, gave no invitation to them to enter, and said nothing +until Bob called "Oksunie" to them--a word of greeting that he had +learned from the Bay folk. Then they called to him "Oksunie, oksunie," +and began to talk amongst themselves. + +"They're rare wild lookin' huskies," thought Bob. + +As much as Bob would have liked to stop, he did not do so, for the +Indians stalked past at a rapid pace, never by word or look showing +that they had seen the igloos or the Eskimos. + +These new people, particularly the women, who wore trousers and +carried babies in large hoods hanging on their backs, did not dress +like any Eskimos that Bob had ever seen before. Nor had he ever before +seen the snow houses, though he had heard of them and knew what they +were. The dogs, too, were large, and more like wolves in appearance +than those the Bay folk used, and the komatik was narrower but much +longer and heavier than those he was accustomed to. He was surely in a +new and strange land. + +More igloos were seen during the afternoon, but they were passed as +the first had been, and at night the party bivouacked in the open as +they had done the night before. + +On the morning of the third day they passed into a stretch of barren, +treeless, rolling country, and before midday turned upon a well-beaten +komatik trail, which they followed for a couple of miles, when it +swung sharply to the left towards the river, and as they turned +around a ledge of rocks at the top of a low ridge a view met Bob that +made him shout with joy, and hasten his pace. + +At his feet, in the field of snow, lay a post of the Hudson's Bay +Company. + + + + +XVIII + +A MISSION OF TRUST + + +As Bob looked down upon the whitewashed buildings of the Post, his +sensation was very much like that of a shipwrecked sailor who has for +a long time been drifting hopelessly about upon a trackless sea in a +rudderless boat, and suddenly finds himself safe in harbour. The lad +had never seen anything in his whole life that looked so comfortable +as that little cluster of log buildings with the smoke curling from +the chimney tops, and the general air of civilization that surrounded +them. He did not know where he was, nor how far from home; but he did +know that this was the habitation of white men, and the cloud of utter +helplessness that had hung over him for so long was suddenly swept +away and his sky was clear and bright again. + +A man clad in a white adikey and white moleskin trousers emerged from +one of the buildings, paused for a moment to gaze at Bob and his +companions as they approached, and then reentered the building. + +As they descended the hill the Indians turned to an isolated cabin +which stood somewhat apart from the main group of buildings and to the +eastward of them, but Bob ran down to the one into which the man had +disappeared. His heart was all aflutter with excitement and +expectancy. As he approached the door, it suddenly opened, and there +appeared before him a tall, middle-aged man with full, sandy beard and +a kindly face. Bob felt intuitively that this was the factor of the +Post, and he said very respectfully, + +"Good day, sir." + +"Good day, good day," said the man. "I thought at first you were an +Indian. Come in." + +Bob entered and found himself in the trader's office. At one side were +two tables that served as desks, and on a shelf against the wall +behind them rested a row of musty ledgers and account books. Benches +in lieu of chairs surrounded a large stove in the centre. + +"Take off your skin coat and sit down," invited the trader, who was, +indeed, Mr. MacPherson of whom the Indians had told. + +"Thank you, sir," said Bob. + +When he was finally seated Mr. McPherson asked: + +"That was Sishetakushin's crowd you came with, wasn't it?" + +"Yes, sir," Bob answered. + +"Where did you hail from? It's something new to see a white man come +out of the bush with the Indians." + +"From Eskimo Bay, sir, an' what place may this be?" + +"Eskimo Bay! Eskimo Bay! Why, this is Ungava! How in the world did you +ever get across the country? What's your name?" + +"My name's Bob Gray, sir, an' I lives at Wolf Bight." Then Bob went +on, prompted now and again by the factor's questions, to tell the +story of his adventures. + +"Well," said Mr. MacPherson, "you've had a wonderful escape from +freezing and death and a remarkable experience. You'd better go over +to the men's house and they'll put you up there. Come back after +you've had dinner and we'll talk your case over. The dinner bell is +ringing now," he added, as the big bell began to clang. "Perhaps I'd +better go over with you and show you the way." + +The men's house, as the servants' quarters were called, was a +one-story log house but a few steps from the office. As Bob and Mr. +MacPherson entered it, a big man with a bushy red beard, and a tall +brawny man with clean shaven face, both perhaps twenty-five or thirty +years of age, and both with "Scot" written all over their +countenances, were in the act of sitting down to an uncovered table, +while an ugly old Indian hag was dishing up a savory stew of +ptarmigan. + +Bob's eye took in a plate heaped high with white bread in the centre +of the table and he mentally resolved that it should not be there when +he had finished dinner. + +"Here's some company for you," announced the factor. "Ungava Bob just +ran over from Eskimo Bay to pay us a visit. Take care of him. This," +continued he by way of introduction, indicating the red-headed man, +"is Eric the Red, our carpenter, and this," turning to the other, "is +the Duke of Wellington, our blacksmith. Fill up, Ungava Bob, and come +over to the office and have a talk when you've finished dinner." + +"Sit doon, sit doon," said the red-whiskered man, adding, as Mr. +MacPherson closed the door behind him, "my true name's Sandy Craig +and th' blacksmith here is Jamie Lunan. Th' boss ha' a way o' namin' +every mon t' suit hisself. Now, what's your true name, lad? 'Tis not +Ungava Bob." + +"Bob Gray, an' I comes from Wolf Bight." + +"Now, where can Wolf Bight be?" asked Sandy. + +"In Eskimo Bay, sir." + +"Aye, aye, Eskimo Bay. 'Tis a lang way ye are from Eskimo Bay! Th' +ship folk tell o' Eskimo Bay a many hundred miles t' th' suthard. An' +Jamie an' me be a lang way fra' Petherhead. Be helpin' yesel' now, +lad. Ha' some partridge an' ye maun be starvin' for bread, eatin' only +th' grub o' th' heathen Injuns this lang while," said he, passing the +plate, and adding in apology, "'Tis na' such bread as we ha' in auld +Scotland. Injun women canna make bread wi' th' Scotch lassies an' we +ne'er ha' a bit o' oatmeal or oat-cake. 'Tis bread, though. An' how +could ye live wi' th' Injuns? 'Tis bad enough t' bide here wi' na' +neighbours but th' greasy huskies an' durty Injuns comin' now an' +again, but we has some civilized grub t' eat--sugar an' molasses an' +butter, such as 'tis." + +Sandy and Jamie plied Bob with all sorts of questions about Eskimo Bay +and his life with the Indians, and they did not fail to tell him a +good deal about Peterhead, their Scotland home, and both bewailed +loudly the foolish desire for adventure that had induced them to leave +it to be exiled in Ungava amongst the heathen Eskimos and Indians in a +land where "nine minths o' th' year be winter an' th' ither three +remainin' minths infested wi' th' worst plagues o' Egypt, referrin' t' +th' flies an' nippers (mosquitoes)." + +Strange and new it all was, and while he ate and talked, Bob took in +his surroundings. The room was not unlike the Post kitchen at Eskimo +Bay, though not so spotlessly clean. Besides the table there were two +benches, four rough, home-made chairs and a big box stove that +crackled cheerily. At one side three bunks were built against the wall +and were spread with heavy woollen blankets. Two chests stood near the +bunks and several guns rested upon pegs against the wall. Upon ropes +stretched above the stove numerous duffel socks and mittens hung to +dry. The Indian woman passed in and out through a passageway that led +from the side of the room opposite the door at which he had entered +and her kitchen was evidently on the other side of the passageway. + +Bob did not forget his resolution as to the bread, to which was added +the luxury of butter, and more than once the Indian woman had to +replenish the plate. When they arose from the table Jamie pointed out +to Bob the bunk that he was to occupy. Then, while they smoked their +pipes, they gossiped about the Post doings until the bell warned them +that it was time to return to their work. + +In accordance with Mr. MacPherson's instructions Bob walked over to +the factor's office where he found a young man of eighteen or nineteen +years of age writing at one of the desks. + +"Sit down," said he, looking up. "Mr. MacPherson will be in shortly. +You're the young fellow just arrived, I suppose?" + +"Yes, sir," said Bob. + +"You've had a long journey, I hear, and must be glad to get out. When +did you leave home?" + +"In September, sir, when I goes t' my trail." + +"I came here on the _Eric_ in September, and if you want to see home +as badly as I do you're pretty anxious to get back there. But there +isn't any chance of getting away from here till the ship comes. This +is the last place God ever made and the loneliest. What did you say +your name is?" + +"Bob Gray, sir." + +"Well, Mr. MacPherson will call you something else, but don't mind +that. He has a new name for every one. He calls Sishetakushin, one of +the Indians you came in with, Abraham Lincoln because he's so tall, +and one of the stout Eskimos is Grover Cleveland. That's the name of +an American president. Mr. MacPherson gets the papers every year and +keeps posted. He received, on the ship, all last year's issues of a +New York paper called the _Sun_ besides a great packet of Scotch and +English papers. But this _Sun_ he thinks more of than any of them and +every morning he picks out the paper for that date the year before and +reads it as though it had just been delivered. One year behind, but +just as fresh here. He finds a lot of new names in 'em to give the +Eskimos and Indians and the rest of us that way. I'm Secretary Bayard, +whoever he may be. I don't read the American papers much. The chief +clerk is Lord Salisbury, the new premier. You know the Conservatives +downed the Liberals, and Gladstone is out. Good enough for him, too, +for meddling in the Irish question. I'm a conservative, or I would be +if I was home. We don't have a chance to be anything here. Now, I +suppose you----" + +Here Mr. MacPherson entered and the loquacious Secretary Bayard became +suddenly engrossed in his work. The factor opened a door leading into +a small room to the right. + +"Come in here, Ungava Bob," said he, "and we'll have a talk. Now," he +continued when they were seated, "what do you think you'll do?" + +"I don't know, sir. I wants t' get home wonderful bad," said Bob. + +"Yes, yes, I suppose you do. But you're a long way from home. It looks +as though you'll have to stay here till the ship comes next summer. I +can send you back with it." + +"'Tis a long while t' be bidin' here, sir, an' I'm fearin' as +mother'll be worryin'." + +"There's no way out of it that I can see, though. I'll give you work +to do to pay for your keep, and I'm afraid that's the best we can do +unless," continued the factor, thoughtfully "unless you go with the +mail. I find I've got to send some letters to Fort Pelican. How far is +that from Eskimo Bay,--a hundred miles?" + +"Ninety, sir." + +"Do you speak Eskimo?" + +"No, sir." + +"Well, the dog drivers will be Eskimos. The men that leave here will +go east to the coast. They will meet other Eskimos there who will go +to Pelican. It's a hard and dangerous journey. Are you a good +traveller?" + +"Not so bad, sir, an' I drives dogs." + +Mr. MacPherson was silent for a few moments, then he spoke. + +"These Eskimos are careless scallawags with letters and they lose them +sometimes. The letters I am sending are very important ones or I +wouldn't be sending them. I think you would take better care of them +than they. Will you keep them safe if I let you go with the Eskimos?" + +"Yes, sir, I'd be rare careful." + +"Well, we'll see. I think I'll let you take the letters. I can't say +yet just when I'll have you start but within the month." + +"Thank you, sir." + +"In the meantime make yourself useful about the place here. There'll +be nothing for you to do to-day. Look around and get acquainted. You +may go now. Come to the office in the morning and one of the clerks +will tell you what to do." + +"All right, sir." + +When Bob passed out of doors he was fairly treading upon air. A way +was opening up for him to return home and in all probability he should +reach there by the time Dick and Ed and Bill came out from the trails +in the spring and if they had not, in the meantime, taken the news of +his disappearance to Wolf Bight, the folks at home would know nothing +of it until he told them himself and would have no unusual cause for +worry in the meantime. He felt a considerable sense of importance, +too, at the confidence Mr. MacPherson reposed in him in suggesting +that he might place him in charge of an important mail. And what a +tale he would have to tell! Bessie would think him quite a hero. After +all it had turned out well. He had caught a silver fox and all the +other fur--quite enough, he was sure, to send Emily to the hospital. +God had been very good to him and he cast his eyes to heaven and +breathed a little prayer of thanksgiving. + +Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn had been quite forgotten by Bob in the +excitement of the arrival at the Fort. Now he saw them and the two +other Indians coming over from the cabin to which they had gone when +he left them to meet Mr. MacPherson, and he hurried down to meet them +and tell them that he had found a way to reach home. It was plain that +they did not approve of the turn matters had taken, for they only +grunted and said nothing. + +They turned to a building where the door stood open and Bob +accompanied them and entered with them. This was the Post shop, and a +young man, whom Bob had not seen before, presumably "Lord Salisbury," +the chief clerk of whom the talkative "Secretary Bayard" had spoken, +was behind the counter attending to the wants of an Eskimo and his +wife, the latter with a black-eyed, round-faced baby which sat +contentedly in her hood sucking a stick of black tobacco. The clerk +spoke to the Indians in their language, said "good day" to Bob in +English, and then continued his dickering in the Eskimo language with +his customers, who had deposited before them on the counter a number +of arctic fox pelts. + +When the clerk had finished with the Eskimos he turned to the Indians +in a very businesslike way and asked to see the furs they had brought. +They produced some marten skins which, after a great deal of +wrangling, were bartered for tobacco, tea, powder, shot, bullets, gun +caps, beads, three-cornered needles and a few trinkets. Much time was +consumed in this, for the Indians insisted upon handling and +discussing at length each individual article purchased. + +Bob had brought with him the marten skins that he had trapped during +his stay with the Indians and he exchanged them for a red shawl and a +little box of beads for Manikawan, a trinket for the old woman, +Manikawan's mother, and a small gift each for Sishetakushin and +Mookoomahn, besides some much needed clothing for himself. + +These tokens of his gratitude he presented to the two Indians, who had +indicated their intention of returning to the interior camp the next +morning. They had not fully realized until now that Bob was actually +going to leave them and attempt to reach home with the Eskimos, and +they protested vigorously against the plan. Sishetakushin told him the +Eskimos were bad people and would never guide him safely to his +friends. Indeed, he asserted, they might kill him when they had him +alone with them. On the other hand, the Indians were kind and true. +They had recognized his worth and had adopted him into the tribe. With +them he had been happy and with them he would be safe. He could have +his own wigwam and take Manikawan for his wife; and sometimes, if he +wished, he could go to visit his people. + +The failure of their arguments to impress Bob was a great +disappointment to the Indians, and Bob, on his part, felt a keen sense +of sorrow when, the following morning, he saw his benefactors go. They +had saved his life and had done all they could in their rude, +primitive way for his comfort, and he appreciated their kindness and +hospitality. + +Ungava Bob, as every one at the Post called him, made himself +generally useful about the fort and was soon quite at home in his new +surroundings. He cut wood and helped the Eskimo servants feed the +dogs, and did any jobs that presented themselves and soon became a +general favourite, not only with Mr. MacPherson but with the clerks +and servants also. + +His quarters with Sandy and Jamie seemed luxurious in contrast with +the rough life of the interior to which he had so long been +accustomed, and when the three gathered around the red hot stove those +cold evenings after the day's work was done and supper eaten, the +Scotchmen held him enthralled with stories they told of their native +land and the wonderful and magnificent things they had seen there. + +Besides the factor and the two clerks these were the only white people +at the Fort, and naturally they grew to be close companions. The white +men, too, were the only ones of the Post folk that could speak +English, for the few Eskimos and Indians that lived on the reservation +knew only their respective native tongue. + +And so the time passed until, at last, the middle of March came, with +its lengthening days and stormy weather, and Bob was beginning to fear +that Mr. MacPherson had abandoned the project of sending him out with +a mail, for nothing further had been said about his going since the +conversation on the day of his arrival. For two or three days he had +been upon the lookout for a favourable opportunity to ask whether or +not he was to go, and was thinking about it one Friday morning as he +worked at the wood-pile, when "Secretary Bayard" hailed him: + +"Hey, there, Bob! The boss wants you." + +This was auspicious, and Bob hurried over to the factor's inner +office, where he found Mr. MacPherson waiting for him. + +"Well, Ungava Bob," the factor greeted, "are you getting tired of +Ungava and anxious to get away?" + +"I'm likin' un fine, sir, but wantin' t' be goin' home wonderful bad," +answered Bob. + +"I suppose you are. I suppose you are. I remember when I was young and +first left home, how badly I wanted to go back," he said, +reminiscently. "That was a long while ago and there's no one for me to +go home to now--they're all dead--all dead--and it's too late." + +He was silent for a little in meditation, and seemed to have quite +forgotten Bob. Then suddenly bringing himself from the past to the +present again, he continued: + +"Yes, yes, you want to go home, and I'm going to start you on Monday +morning. I'll give you a packet of very important letters that you +will deliver to Mr. Forbes, the factor at Fort Pelican, and I shall +hold you responsible for their safe delivery. Akonuk and Matuk will go +with you as far as Kangeva, where they will try to get two other +Eskimos with a good team of dogs to take you on to Rigolet. But it may +be they'll have to go farther, to find drivers that know the way, and +that will delay you some. You'll have time to reach Rigolet, however, +before the break-up if you push on. The Eskimos will lose some time +visiting with their friends when they meet them on the way, and I've +allowed for that. Now, be ready to start on Monday. The clerks will +fix you up with what supplies you will need for the journey." + +"Yes, sir. I'll be ready, an' thank you, sir." + +"Hold on," said the factor as Bob turned to go. "Here's a rifle that +I'm going to let you take with you, for you may need it." He picked up +a gun that had been leaning against the wall beside him. "It's a 44 +repeating Winchester that I've used for three or four years, and it's +a good one. I've got a heavier one now for seals and white whales, and +I'll give you this if you take the letters through safely. Is that a +bargain?" + +Bob's eyes bulged and his pleasure was manifest. + +"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I'll not be losin' th' letters." + +It was the first repeating rifle--the first rifle, in fact, of any +kind--that he had ever seen, and as Mr. MacPherson explained and +illustrated to him its manipulation, he thought it the most marvellous +piece of mechanism in the world. + +"Now be careful how you handle it," cautioned the factor after the arm +had been thoroughly described. "You see that when you throw a +cartridge into the barrel by the lever action it cocks the gun, and if +you're not going to discharge it again immediately you must let the +hammer down. It shoots a good many times farther, too, than your old +gun, so be sure there are no Eskimos within half a mile of its muzzle +or you'll be killing some of them, and I don't want that to happen, +for I need them all to hunt. Besides, if you killed one of them his +friends would be putting you out of the way so you'd kill no more, and +then my packet of letters wouldn't be delivered. Now look out." + +"I'll be rare careful of un, sir." + +"Very well, see that you are. Be ready to start, now, at daylight, +Monday." + +"I'll be ready, sir." + +Bob's delight was little short of ecstatic as he strode out of the +office with his rifle. + +The next day (Saturday) "Secretary Bayard," with voluminous comments +and cautions in reference to the undertaking, the Eskimos and things +in general, helped him and the two Eskimos that were to accompany him +put in readiness his supplies, which consisted of hardtack, jerked +venison, fat pork--the only provisions they had which would not +freeze--tea, two kettles, sulphur matches, ammunition, and a reindeer +skin sleeping bag. The Eskimos possessed sleeping bags of their own. +Blubber and white whale meat, frozen very hard, were packed for dog +food. + +An axe, a small jack plane and two snow knives were the only tools to +be carried. This knife had a blade about two feet in length and +resembled a small, broad-bladed sword. It was to be used in the +construction of snow igloos. The jack plane was needed to keep the +komatik runners smooth. + +Instead of the runners being shod with whale-bone, as in many places +in the North, the Eskimos of Ungava apply a turf--which is stored for +the purpose in the short summer season--and mixed with water to the +consistency of mud. This is moulded on the runners with the hands in a +thick, broad, semicircular shape, and freezes as hard as glass. Then +its irregularities are planed smooth, and it slips easily over the +snow and ice. + +Finally, all the preparations were completed, and Bob looked forward +in a high state of excited anticipation to the great journey of new +experiences and adventures that lay before him to be crowned by the +joy of his home-coming. + +But a thousand miles separated Bob from his home and danger and death +lurked by the way. Human plans and day-dreams are not considered by +the Providence that moulds man's fortune, and it is a blessed thing +that human eyes cannot look into the future. + + + + +XIX + +AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND + + +In the starlight of Monday morning Akonuk and Matuk harnessed their +twelve big dogs. Fierce creatures these animals were, scarcely less +wild than the wolves that prowled over the hills behind the Fort, of +which they were the counterpart, and more than once the Eskimos had to +beat them with the butt end of a whip to stop their fighting and bring +them to submission. + +The load had already been lashed upon the komatik and the mud on the +runners rubbed over with lukewarm water which had frozen into a thin +glaze of ice that would slip easily over the snow. + +Mr. MacPherson gave Bob the package of letters, with a final +injunction not to lose them when at length the dogs were harnessed and +all was ready. Good-byes were said and Bob and his two Eskimo +companions were off. + +The snow was packed hard and firm, so that neither the dogs nor the +komatik broke through, and the animals, fresh and eager, started at a +fast pace and maintained an even, steady trot throughout the day. + +Occasionally there were hills to climb, and some of these were so +steep that it was necessary for Bob and the Eskimos to haul upon the +traces with the dogs, and now and then they had to lift the komatik +over rocky places, and on one river that they crossed they were forced +to cut in several places a passage around ice hills, where the tide +had piled the ice blocks thirty or forty feet high. But for the most +part the route lay over a rolling country near the coast. + +Only at long intervals were trees to be seen, and these were very +small and stunted, and grew in sheltered hollows. At noon they halted +in one of these hollows to build a fire, over which they melted snow +in one of the kettles and made tea, with which they washed down some +hardtack and jerked venison. + +That night when they stopped to make their camp, sixty miles lay +behind them. The going had been good and they had done a splendid +day's work. + +Before unharnessing the dogs, which would have immediately attacked +and destroyed the goods upon the sledge had they been released, the +Eskimos went about building an igloo. + +A good bank of snow was selected and out of this Akonuk cut blocks as +large as he could lift and placed them on edge in a circle about seven +feet in diameter in the interior. As each block was placed it was +trimmed and fitted closely to its neighbour. Then while Matuk cut more +blocks and handed them to Akonuk as they were needed, the latter +standing in the centre of the structure placed them upon edge upon the +other blocks, building them up in spiral form, and narrowing in each +upper round until the igloo assumed the form of a dome. When it was +nearly as high as his head, the upper tier of blocks was so close +together that a single large block was sufficient to close the +aperture at the top. This block was like the keystone in an arch, and +held the others firmly in place. Akonuk now cut a round hole through +the side of the igloo close to the bottom, and large enough for him to +crawl through on his hands and knees. + +When the Eskimos began building the snow house Bob commenced unloading +the komatik, but Matuk called "Chuly, chuly,"--wait a little--to him, +and said "tamaany,"--here--a suggestion that he would be more useful +in helping to chink up the crevices between the blocks of snow on the +igloo after Akonuk placed them This he did, and in half an hour from +the time they halted the igloo was completed and was so strongly built +a man could have stood on its top without fear of breaking it down. + +The tops of spruce boughs were now cut and spread within, after which +they unlashed the komatik, and, covering the bed of boughs with +deerskins, stored everything that the dogs would be likely to destroy +safely inside the igloo. This done the dogs were unharnessed and fed, +the men standing over the animals with stout sticks to prevent their +fighting while they ravenously gulped down the chunks of frozen whale +meat. + +This function completed, a fire was made outside the igloo and tea +brewed. With the kettle of hot tea the three crawled into the igloo, +dragging after them a block of snow which Akonuk fitted neatly into +the entrance and chinked the edges with loose snow. + +Matuk now brought forth an Eskimo lamp into which he squeezed the oil +from a piece of seal blubber, first pounding the blubber with the axe +head, and with moss to serve the purpose of a wick, the lamp was +lighted. This lamp, which was made of stone cut in the shape of a half +moon, was about ten inches long, four inches wide and an inch deep. +The moss that served as a wick was arranged along the straight side, +and gave out a strong, fishy odour as it burned. + +Besides the tea, hardtack and jerked venison, Bob ate pieces of the +frozen fat pork which had been boiled before starting, and found it +very delicious, as fat always is to a traveller in the far North. The +Eskimos each accepted a small piece of it from him, but when he +offered them a second portion they both said "Taemet,"--Thank you, +enough--and instead helped themselves liberally to raw seal blubber, +which they ate with an evident relish and gusto along with the jerked +venison and hardtack. + +Akonuk, the older of these men, was perhaps thirty-five years of age, +nearly six feet in height and well proportioned. Matuk was not so +tall, but like Akonuk was well formed. Both were muscular and powerful +men physically, and both had round, fat faces that were full of good +nature. + +Intense as was the cold out of doors, the stone lamp soon made the +igloo so warm within that all were compelled to remove their outer +skin garments. The snow, however, was not melted, but remained quite +hard and firm. + +The Eskimos talked and smoked for a whole hour after supper, before +stretching in their sleeping bags, but Bob crawled into his almost +immediately, for he was very weary after his long day's travel. His +knowledge of their language was not sufficient for him to take part in +the conversation, or, indeed, to understand much they said, and the +constant talk soon became tiresome to him, though he kept his ears +open with a view to adding to his Eskimo vocabulary whenever an +opportunity offered. + +"'Tis a strange language an' I'm wonderin' how they understands un," +he observed as he turned over to go to sleep. + +Very early the next morning he heard Akonuk calling to Matuk to wake +up. Then for a little while the two Eskimos conversed together and +finally the lamp was lighted. Over this a snow knife was stuck into +the side of the igloo and the kettle hung upon the knife in such a +position that it was directly over the flame, and snow, cut from the +side of the igloo near the bottom, was melted for tea, and thus the +simple breakfast was prepared without going out of doors. + +When Bob came out of his bag to eat he realized that a storm was +raging outside, for he could hear the wind roaring around the igloo, +and Akonuk made him understand that a heavy snow-storm was in progress +and a continuation of the journey that day quite out of the question. +When daylight finally filtered dimly through the igloo roof, he +removed the snow block that closed the entrance, and crawled to the +outer world, where he verified Akonuk's statement. + +The air was so filled with snow that it would be quite useless to +attempt to move in it. The previous night the dogs had dug holes for +themselves in the bank and were now completely covered with the drift, +and invisible, and the komatik, too, was quite hidden. The aspect was +dreary in the extreme, and he returned to spend the day dozing in his +sleeping bag. + +For two days they were held prisoners by the storm, and when finally +the third morning dawned clear and cold, a deep covering of soft snow +had spoiled the good going and they found travelling much slower and +more difficult than the day they started. + +Akonuk and Bob ran ahead on their snow-shoes to break the way for the +dogs, which Matuk drove, and found it necessary to constantly urge the +animals on with shouts of "Oo-isht! Oo-isht! Ok-suit! Ok-suit!" and +sometimes with stinging cuts of his long whip. This whip was made of +braided strands of walrus hide, and tapered from a thickness of two +inches at the butt to one long single strand at the tip. Its handle +was a piece of wood about a foot long and the whole whip was perhaps +thirty-five feet in length. When not in use a loop on the handle was +dropped over the end of one of the forward crosspieces of the komatik, +and its lash trailed behind in the snow. Here it could be readily +reached and brought into instant service. Matuk was an expert in the +manipulation of this cruel instrument, and the dogs were in deadly +fear of it. When he cracked it over their heads they would plunge +madly forward and whine piteously for mercy. When he wished to punish +a dog he could cut it with the lash tip even to the extent of breaking +the skin, if he desired, and he never missed the animal he aimed at. + +Each dog had an individual trace which was fastened to a long, single +thong of sealskin attached to the front of the komatik. These traces +were of varying length, the leader, or dog trained to the Eskimos' +calls, having the longest trace, which permitted it to go well in +advance of the others. + +For several days the journey was monotonous and uneventful. Gradually +as they advanced the travelling improved again, as the March winds +drifted away the soft, loose snow and left the bottom solid and firm +for the dogs. + +Ptarmigans were plentiful, as were also arctic hares, and a white fox +and one or two white owls were killed. The flesh of all these they +ate, and were thus enabled to keep in reserve the provisions they had +brought with them. Bob was rather disgusted than amused to see the +Eskimos eat the flesh of animals and birds raw. They appeared to +esteem as a particular delicacy the freshly killed ptarmigans, still +warm with the life blood, eating even the entrails uncooked. + +One afternoon they turned the komatik from the land to the far +stretching ice of a wide bay directing their course towards a cove on +the farther side, where the Eskimos said they expected to find +igloos. + +All day a stiff wind had been blowing from the southwest and as the +day grew old it increased in velocity. The komatik was taking an +almost easterly course and therefore the wind did not seriously hamper +their progress, though it was bitter cold and searching and made +travelling extremely uncomfortable. + +Less than half-way across the bay, which was some twelve miles wide, a +crack in the ice was passed over. Presently cracks became numerous, +and glancing behind him Bob noticed a wide black space along the shore +at the point where they had taken to the ice, and could see in the +distance farther to the northwest, as it reflected the light, a white +streak of foam where the angry sea was assailing the ice barrier. He +realized at once that the wind and sea were smashing the ice. + +They were far from land and in grave peril. The Eskimos urged the dogs +to renewed efforts, and the poor brutes themselves, seeming to realize +the danger, pulled desperately at the traces. + +After a time the ice beneath them began to undulate, moving up and +down in waves and giving an uncertain footing. Between them and the +cove they were heading for, but a little outside of their course, was +a bare, rocky island and the Eskimos suddenly turned the dogs towards +it. The whole body of ice was now separated from the mainland and this +island was the only visible refuge open to them. Behind them the sea +was booming and thundering in a terrifying manner as it drove gigantic +ice blocks like mighty battering rams against the main mass, which +crumbled steadily away before the onslaught. + +It had become a race for life now, and it was a question whether the +sea or the men would win. Once a crack was reached that they could not +cross and they had to make a considerable detour to find a passage +around it, and it looked for a little while as though this sealed +their fate, but with a desperate effort they presently found +themselves within a few yards of the island. + +Here a new danger awaited them. The ice upon the shore was rising and +falling and crumbling against the rocks with each incoming and +receding sea. To successfully land it would be necessary to make a +dash at the very instant that the ice came in contact with the shore. +A moment too soon or a moment too late and they would inevitably be +crushed to death. It was their only way of escape, however. The +howling dogs were held in leash until the proper moment, and all +prepared for the run. + +Akonuk gave the word. The dogs leaped forward, the men jumped, and +they found themselves ashore. The three grabbed the traces and helped +the dogs jerk the komatik clear of the next sea, and all were at last +safe. + +Five minutes later a landing would have been impossible, and two hours +later the entire bay surrounding their island was swept clear of ice +by the gale and outgoing tide. + +During the whole adventure the Eskimos had conducted themselves with +the utmost coolness and gave Bob confidence and courage. Dangers of +this kind had no terrors for them for they had met them all their +lives. + +They had landed upon the windward side of the island at a point where +they were exposed to the full sweep of the gale. + +"Peungeatuk"--very bad--said Akonuk. + +Then he told Bob to remain by the dogs while he and Matuk looked for a +sheltered camping place. In half an hour Matuk returned, his face +wreathed in smiles, with the information, + +"Innuit, igloo." + +Then he and Bob drove the dogs to the lee side of the island, where +they found four large snow igloos and several men, women and children, +standing outside waiting to see the white traveller. + +The Eskimos received Bob kindly, and they asked him inside while some +of the men helped Akonuk and Matuk erect an igloo and fix up their +camp. + +The several igloos were all connected by snow tunnels, which permitted +of an easy passage from one to the other without the necessity of +going out of doors. A piece of clear ice, like glass, was set into the +roof of each to answer for a window. They were all filled with a +stench so sickening that Bob soon made an excuse to go outside and +lend a hand in unpacking and helping Akonuk and Matuk make their own +snow house ready. + +There were no boughs here for a bed, as the island sustained no growth +whatever, and in place of the boughs the dog harness was spread about +before the deerskins were put down. In a little while the place was +made quite comfortable. + +It was not until they sat down to supper that Bob realized fully the +serious position they were in. Akonuk and Matuk, after much +difficulty, for he could understand their Eskimo tongue so +imperfectly, explained to him that there was no means of reaching the +mainland as there were no boats on the island, and that after the food +they had was eaten there would be no means of procuring more, as the +island had no game upon it. They also told him that no one would be +passing the island until summer and that there was therefore no hope +of outside rescue. + +But one chance of escape was possible. If the wind were to shift to +the northward and hold there long enough it would probably drive the +ice back into the bay and then it would quickly freeze and they could +reach the mainland. This their only hope, at this season of the year, +for March was nearly spent, was a scant one. + + + + +XX + +PRISONERS OF THE SEA + + +The party of Eskimos that Bob and his companions found encamped upon +the island had come from the Kangeva mainland to spear seals through +the animals' breathing holes in the ice, which in this part of the bay +were more numerous than on the mainland side. In the few days since +they had established themselves here they had met with some success, +and had accumulated a sufficient store of meat and blubber to keep +them and their dogs for a month or so, but further seal hunting, or +hunting of any kind, was now out of the question, as no animal life +existed on the island itself, and without boats with which to go upon +the water the people were quite helpless in this respect. + +Limited as was their supply of provisions, however, they unselfishly +offered to share with Bob and his two companions the little they had, +as is the custom with people who have not learned the harder ways of +civilization and therefore live pretty closely to the Golden Rule. +This hospitality was a considerable strain upon their resources, for +the twelve dogs in addition to their own would require no small amount +of flesh and fat to keep them even half-way fed; and the whale meat +that had been brought for the dogs from Ungava Post was nearly all +gone. + +Akonuk had been instructed by Mr. MacPherson to discover the +whereabouts of these very Eskimos and arrange with two of them to go +on with Bob, after which he and Matuk were to secure from them food +for themselves and their team and return to Ungava. + +A good part of the hardtack, boiled pork and venison still remained, +for, as we have seen, the game they had killed on the way had pretty +nearly been enough for their wants. It was fortunate for Bob that they +had these provisions, which required no cooking, for otherwise he +would have had to eat the raw seal as the Eskimos did. They understood +his aversion to doing this, and generously, and at the same time +preferably, perhaps, ate the uncooked meat themselves, and left the +other for him. + +March passed into April, and daily the situation grew more desperate, +as the provisions diminished with each sunset. Bob was worried. It +began to look as though he and the Eskimos were doomed to perish on +this miserable island. He was sorry now that he had not waited at +Ungava for the ship, and been more patient, for then he would have +reached Eskimo Bay in safety. At first the Eskimos were very cheerful +and apparently quite unconcerned, and this consoled him somewhat and +made him more confident; but finally even they were showing signs of +restlessness. + +Every day he was becoming more familiar with their language and could +understand more and more of their conversation, and he drew from it +and their actions that they considered the situation most critical. +Back of the igloos was a hill a couple of hundred feet high, and many +times each day the men of the camp would climb it and look long and +earnestly to the north, where the heaving billows of Hudson Straits +and the sky line met, broken only here and there by huge icebergs that +towered like great crystal mountains above the water. They were +watching for the ice field that they hoped would drift down with each +tide to bridge the sea that separated them from the distant mainland. + +The early April days were growing long and the sun's rays shining more +directly upon the world were gaining power, though not yet enough to +bring the temperature up to zero even at high noon, but enough to +remind the men that winter was aging, and the ice hourly less likely +to come back. + +One of the Eskimos, Tuavituk by name, was an Angakok, or conjurer, and +claimed to possess special powers which permitted him to communicate +with Torngak, the Great Spirit who ruled their fortunes just as the +Manitou rules the fortunes of the Indians. Tuavituk one day announced +to the assembled Eskimos that something had been done to displease +Torngak, and to punish them he had caused the storm to come that had +so suddenly carried away the ice and left them marooned upon this +desolate island, and here they would all perish eventually of +starvation unless Torngak were appeased. + +This announcement occasioned a long discussion as to what the cause of +their trouble could have been. One old Eskimo suggested that the ice +had broken up at the very moment that the kablunok--stranger--arrived, +and that his presence was undoubtedly the disturbing influence. White +men, he said, showed no respect for Torngak, and it was quite +reasonable, therefore, that Torngak should resent it and wish not only +to destroy the white men, but punish the innuit who gave the kablunok +shelter or assistance. If this were the case they could only hope for +relief after first driving Bob from their camp. When once purged of +his presence Torngak would be satisfied, he would send the ice back +into the bay and they would be enabled to return to the mainland and +to renew their hunting. + +A long discussion followed this harangue in which all the men took +part with the exception of Tuavituk, who as Angakok reserved his +opinion until it should be called for in a professional way; and all +agreed with the first speaker save Akonuk and Matuk, who, being +visitors, spoke last. + +Akonuk asserted that he and Matuk had travelled with the kablunok all +the way from Ungava and had enjoyed during that time not only perfect +safety and comfort, but had made an unusually quick and lucky journey, +killing all the ptarmigans and small game they wanted, and +experiencing with the exception of one snow-storm excellent weather +until they approached Kangeva. Then the ill wind blew upon them and +brought disaster as they came to the camp on the island; therefore it +seemed quite certain that not the kablunok but some of the innuit in +the camp had offended the great Torngak, and amongst themselves they +must look for the cause of their misfortune. + +Matuk followed this speech with an address in which he bore out +Akonuk's statements, and, doubtless having in mind Bob's plentiful +supply of tea, of which beverage Matuk was passionately fond and +partook freely, he stated it as his opinion that the presence of the +kablunok had actually been the source of the good luck they had had +previous to their arrival at Kangeva. Then he wound up with the +startling announcement that he believed he knew the cause of Torngak's +anger: that on the very day of their arrival he had seen Chealuk--one +of the old women--sewing a netsek--sealskin adikey--_with the sinew of +the tukto_--reindeer. + +Every one turned to Chealuk for confirmation and she said simply, + +"It is true." + +The Eskimos were struck dumb with horror. This, then, was the cause +of their trouble. For the women to work with any part of the reindeer +while the men were hunting seals was one of the greatest affronts that +could be offered the Great Spirit. Torngak had been insulted and +angered. He must be appeased and mollified at any cost. + +Tuavituk, the Angakok, it was decided, must do some conjuring. He must +get into immediate communication with Torngak and learn the spirit's +wishes and demands and what must be done to dispel the evil charm that +Chealuk had worked by her thoughtlessness. Tauvituk was quite +willing--indeed anxious--to do this, but he demanded to be well paid +for it, and every man had to contribute some valuable pelt or article +of clothing. + +When all preparations for the seance had been made the Angakok's head +was covered and in a few moments he began to utter untelligible +exclamations, which were shortly punctuated by shouts and screams and +ravings. He fell to the floor and seemed stricken with a fit, and Bob +thought the man had gone stark mad. He struck out and grasped those +within his reach, and they were glad to escape from his iron clutch. +For several minutes this wild frenzy lasted before he said an +intelligible word. + +"The deer! The deer! The deer's sinew! Chealuk! Chealuk! Chealuk! +Torngak! The evil spirit is in Chealuk! She must go! Must go! Send +Chealuk away! Send her away! Send her away! Send her away!" + +Finally from sheer exhaustion he quieted down and came out of his +trance. He probably thought that he had given them their value's worth +and what they had wanted, and that they should be satisfied. + +It was now decreed that, this being the direct command of Torngak, +Chealuk must be expelled from the camp. Some even asserted that she +should be killed, but the majority decided that as Torngak had said +merely that "Chealuk must go" that meant only that she must be sent +away. If this did not prove sufficient to counteract their ill luck, +why she could, after a reasonable time, be sought out and dispatched, +if she had not in the meantime perished. + +The feeble old woman heard it all with outward stoic indifference. It +was a part of her religion and she probably thought the punishment +quite just, and whatever shrinking of spirit she felt, she hid it +heroically from the others. To have been killed immediately would have +been more humane than banishment, for the latter only meant a slower +but just as sure a death, from exposure and starvation. + +To Bob, who had listened intently and was able to grasp the situation +in a general way, it seemed heartless in the extreme; but his protests +would not only have been powerless to move the Eskimos from their +purpose, but in all probability would have worked harm for himself and +to no avail. These people that at first had seemed so amiable and +hospitable, and almost childlike in their nature, had been by their +heathen superstitions suddenly transformed into cruel, unsympathetic +savages. + +"Oh," thought Bob, "if I had but heeded Sishetakushin's warning!" + +But it was too late now to repent of the course he had taken and he +had only to abide by it. It seemed to him that his own life hung by a +mere thread and that at any moment some fancy might strike them to +sacrifice him too. He had indeed but barely escaped Chealuk's fate, +and the next time he might not be so fortunate. + +In this disturbed state of mind he withdrew from the igloos and +climbed the hill, where he stood and gazed longingly at the mainland +hills to the southward, wondering where, beyond those cold, white +ranges, lay Wolf Bight and his little cabin home, warm and clean and +tidy, and whether his mother and father and Emily thought him safe or +had heard of his disappearance and were mourning him as dead. And here +he was far, far away in the north and hopelessly--apparently--stranded +upon a desolate island from which he would probably never escape and +never see them again. + +Oh, how lonely and disconsolate he felt. Every day since he left home +he had prayed God to keep the loved ones safe and to take him back to +them. + +"I hopes they're safe an' Emily's better, but th' Lard's been losin' +track o' me," he said to himself with a wavering faith. + +"But th' Lard took me safe t' Ungava, an' He must be watchin' me," he +exclaimed after further thought. "An' He's been rare good t' me." + +Then like a bulwark to lean against there came to him the words of his +mother as they parted that beautiful September morning: + +"Don't forget your prayers, lad, an' remember your mother's prayin' +for you every night an' every mornin'." + +And Emily had said, too, that she would ask God every night to keep +him safe. This brought him a renewal of his faith and he argued, + +"Th' Lard'll sure not be denyin' mother an' Emily, an' they askin' He +every day t' bring me back. He sure would not be denyin' they for He +knows how bad 'twould be makin' they feel if I were not comin' home. +An' He wouldn't be wantin' _that_, for they never does nothin' t' make +He cross with un." + +This thought comforted him and he said confidently to himself, + +"Th' Lard'll be showin' th' way when th' right time comes an' I'll try +t' bide content till then." + +But there was little in the surroundings to warrant Bob's faith. +Looking about him from the hilltop he could see nothing but open sea +around the island with an expanse of desolation beyond--snow, snow +everywhere, from the water's edge to where the rugged mountains to the +south and east held their cold heads into the gray clouds that hid the +sky and sun. The sea was sombre and black. Not a breath of air +stirred, not a sound broke the silence, and it seemed almost as +though Nature in anxious suspense watched the outcome of it all. But +Bob's faith was renewed--the simple, childlike faith of his +people--and he felt better and more content with himself and his +fortune. + +It was growing dusk when he returned to the igloos. As he descended +the hill a flake of snow struck his face and it was followed by +others. A breath of wind like a blast from a bellows swirled the +flakes abroad. The elements were awakening. + +In the igloos Akonuk and Matuk were brewing tea for supper and the +three ate in silence. + +Bob asked once, + +"What's to be done with Chealuk?" + +"Nothing," they answered laconically. + +This relieved the anxiety he felt for her, and he crawled into his +sleeping bag and went to sleep, thinking that after all the judgment +of the Angakok was a mere form, not to be executed literally. + +After some hours Bob awoke. The wind was blowing a gale outside. He +could hear it quite distinctly. From what direction it came he could +not tell, and after lying awake for a long while he decided to arise +and see. + +When he removed the block of snow from the igloo entrance and crawled +outside he was all but smothered by the swirling snow of a terrific, +raging blizzard. He turned his back to the blast, and realized that it +came from the north-east. The cold was piercing and awful. The +elements which had been held in subjection for so long were unleashed +and were venting themselves with all the untamed fury of the North +upon the world. + +As he turned to reenter the igloo an apparition brushed past him +rushing off into the night. + +"Who is it?" he shouted. + +But the wind brought back no answer and overcome with a feeling of +trepidation and a sense of impending tragedy, half believing that he +had seen a ghost, he crawled back to his cover and warm sleeping bag +to wonder. + +There was no cessation in the storm or change in the conditions the +next day. In the morning while they were drinking their hot tea Bob +told Akonuk and Matuk of the apparition he had seen in the night. + +"That," they said in awe, "was the spirit of Torngak," and Bob was +duly impressed. + +Upon a visit later to the other igloos he missed Chealuk. She had +always sat in one corner plying her needle, and had always had a word +for him when he came in to pay a visit. Her absence was therefore +noticeable and Bob asked one of the Eskimos where she was. + +"Gone," said the Eskimo. + +And this was all he could learn from them. Poor old Chealuk had been +sent away, and it must have been she, then, that he had seen in the +darkness. + +That night Bob was aroused again, and he immediately realized that +something of moment had occurred. Akonuk and Matuk were awake and +talking excitedly, and through the shrieking of the gale outside came +a distinct and unusual sound. It was like the roar of distant thunder, +but still it was not thunder. He sat up sharply to learn the meaning +of it all. + + + + +XXI + +ADRIFT ON THE ICE + + +The unusual sound that Bob heard was the pounding of ice driven by the +mighty force of wind and tide against the island rocks. This the +Eskimos verified with many exclamations of delight. The hoped for had +happened and release from their imprisonment was at hand. Bob thanked +God for remembering them. + +"I were thinkin' th' Lard would not be losin' sight o' me now He's +been so watchful in all th' other times I were needin' help," said he +as he lay down. + +To the Eskimos it was a proof of the efficacy of the appeal to the +Angakok. + +During the next day the high wind and snow continued until dusk. Then +the weather began to calm and before morning the sky was clear and the +stars shining cold and brilliant, and the sun rose clear and +beautiful. Kangeva Bay, a solid held of ice again, as it was when Bob +first saw it, stretched away unbroken and white to the northward. + +No time was lost in making preparations for their escape. The komatiks +were packed at once with the camp goods and the little food that still +remained, the dogs were harnessed and a quick march took them safely +to the mainland. + +Here the Eskimos had an ample cache of seal and walrus meat killed +earlier in the season. New igloos were built, as the old ones in use +before they transferred to the island were not considered comfortable, +the previous occupancy having softened the interior snow, which was +now encrusted with a thin glaze of ice and this glaze prevented a free +circulation of air. + +Bob wanted to go on without delay but Akonuk and Matuk had found none +of the Eskimos willing to proceed with him. It was therefore necessary +for them to go with him until another camp was reached, and they +insisted upon delaying the start a day in order as they said to give +the dogs a good feed and get them in better shape for the journey, as +they for some time had been fed only each alternate day instead of +every day as was customary, and even then had received but half their +usual portion. This seemed quite reasonable, but when Bob saw his +friends a little later consuming raw seal meat themselves in enormous +quantities, he concluded that the dogs were not the only object of +their consideration. + +They were still busily engaged arranging their new quarters when one +of the Eskimos called the attention of the others to a black object +far out upon the ice in the direction from which they had come. Slowly +it tottered towards them and in a little while it was made out to be +old Chealuk, who had been in hiding somewhere on the island. The poor +old woman, nearly starved and with frozen hands and feet, was barely +able to drag herself into camp. Some of the men protested against +receiving her but she was finally permitted to enter the igloos and +take up her old place, though with the understanding that she should +leave again immediately at the first indication of Torngak's +displeasure. + +It was a great relief to Bob to know that she had not perished. The +old woman had only been able to keep from freezing to death, as he +learned, by hollowing out a place in a snow-bank in which to lie and +letting the snow drift thickly over her and remaining there until the +storm had spent itself. + +"Sure I'm glad t' see she back again," thought Bob, and he voiced the +sentiment to Matuk. + +"Atsuk"--I don't know--said the Eskimo with a shrug of the shoulders. + +While, as we have seen, none of the Eskimos would take the place of +Akonuk and Matuk, they gave them sufficient seal meat and blubber for +a two weeks' journey, and early the next morning the march eastward +was resumed. + +Bob was now driven to eating seal meat, as all his other provisions +were exhausted, though, fortunately, he still had an abundance of tea. +He had often eaten seal meat at home and was rather fond of it when it +was properly cooked, but now no wood with which to make a fire was to +be had. The land was absolutely barren, and even the moss was so +deeply hidden beneath the snow it could not be resorted to for this +purpose. Evenings in the igloo he boiled some meat over the stone +lamp--enough to last him through the following day--but at best he +could get it but partially cooked. However, he soon learned not to +mind this much, for hunger is the best imaginable sauce, and in the +cold of the Arctic north one can eat with a relish what could not be +endured in a milder climate. + +For several days they traversed mountain passes where they were shut +in by towering, rugged peaks which seemed to reach to the very +heavens. Bleak and desolate as the landscape was it possessed a +magnificence and grandeur that demanded admiration and called forth +Bob's constant wonder. He would gaze up at the mysterious white +summits and ejaculate, + +"'Tis grand! 'Tis wonderful grand!" + +Such mountains he had never seen before, and like all wilderness +dwellers he was a lover of Nature's beauties and a close observer of +her wonders. + +It was near the middle of April now and the sun's rays, reflected by +the snow, were growing dazzlingly bright and beginning to affect their +eyes. Goggles should have been worn as a protection against this glare +but they had none and did not trouble to make them until one night +Matuk found that he was overtaken by a slight attack of +snow-blindness. This is an extremely painful affliction which does not +permit the sufferer to approach the light or, in fact, so much as open +his eyes without experiencing agony. The sensation is that of having +innumerable splinters driven into the eyeballs with the lids when +opened and closed grating over the splinters. + +While they were waiting for Matuk to recover his eyesight Akonuk and +Bob removed one of the wooden cross-bars from the komatik and with +their knives cut from it three pieces each long enough to fit over the +eyes for a pair of goggles. These were rounded to fit the face and a +place whittled out for the nose to fit into. Then hollow places were +cut large enough to permit the eyelids to open and close in them, and +opposite each eye hollow a narrow slit for the wearer to look through. +Then the interior of the eye places were blackened with smoke from the +stone lamp, and a thong of sealskin was fastened to each end of the +goggles with which to tie them in place upon the head. + +Thus a pair of goggles was ready for each when, after a three days' +rest Matuk's eyes were well enough for him to continue the journey, +and by constantly wearing them on days when the sun shone, further +danger of snow-blindness was averted. + +Two days later, upon emerging from a mountain pass, they suddenly saw +stretching far away to the eastward the great ocean ice. The sight +sent the blood tingling through Bob's veins. Nearly half the journey +from Ungava to Eskimo Bay had been accomplished! + +"Th' coast! Th' coast!" shouted Bob. "Now I'll be gettin' home inside +a month!" + +He began at once to plan the surprise he had in store for the folk and +an early trip that he would make over to the Post, when he would tell +Bessie about his great "cruise" and hear her say that she was glad to +see him back again. But Fortune does not wait upon human plans and +Bob's fortitude was yet to be tried as it never had been tried before. + +That afternoon an Eskimo village of snow igloos was reached. The +Eskimos swarmed out to meet the visitors and gave them a whole-souled +welcome, and in an hour they were quite settled for a brief stay in +the new quarters. + +Akonuk told Bob that now after the dogs, which were very badly spent, +had a few days in which to rest, he and Matuk would turn back to +Ungava. They would try to arrange for two more Eskimos with a fresh +team to go on with him, but as for themselves, even were the dogs in +condition to travel, they did not know the trail beyond this point. + +The Eskimos here, like those they had met on the island at Kangeva, +were engaged in seal hunting, and none of the men seemed to care to +leave their work for a long, hard journey south. They did not say, +however, that they would not go. When they were asked their answer +was: + +"In a little while--perhaps." + +This was very unsatisfactory to Bob in his anxious frame of mind. But +he had learned that Eskimos must be left to bide their time, and that +no amount of coaxing would hurry them, so he tried to await their +moods in patience. He understood the reluctance of the men to go away +during one of the best hunting seasons of the year and could not find +fault with them for it. + +The seals were the mainstay of their living and to lose the hunt might +mean privation. They were in need of the skins for clothing, kayaks +and summer tents, and the flesh and blubber for food for themselves +and their dogs, and the oil for their stone lamps. + +Later in the season they would harpoon the animals from their kayaks, +but this was the great harvest time when they killed them by spearing +through holes in the ice where the seals came at intervals to breathe, +for a seal will die unless it can get fresh air occasionally. Early in +the morning each Eskimo would take up his position near one of these +breathing holes, and there, with spear poised, not moving so much as a +foot, sometimes for hours at a time, await patiently the appearance of +a seal, which, having many similar holes, might not chance to come to +this particular one the whole day. + +The spear used had a long, wooden handle, with a barbed point made of +metal or ivory, and so arranged that the barbed point came off the +handle after it had been driven into the animal. To the point was +fastened one end of a long sealskin line, the other end of which the +hunter tied about his waist. + +The moment a seal's nose made its appearance at the breathing hole the +watchful Eskimo drove the spear into its body. Then began a tug of war +between man and seal, and sometimes the Eskimos had narrow escapes +from being pulled into the holes. + +The seals of Labrador, it should be explained, are the hair, and not +the fur seals such as are found in the Alaskan waters and the South +Sea. There are five varieties of them, the largest of which is the +hood seal and the smallest the doter or harbour seal. The square +flipper also grows to a very large size. The other two kinds are the +jar and the harp. + +These all have different names applied to them according to their age. +Thus a new-born harp is a "puppy," then a "white coat"; when it is old +enough to take to the water, which is within a fortnight after birth, +it becomes a "paddler," a little later a "bedlamer," then a "young +harp" and finally a harp. The handsomest of them all is the "ranger," +as the young doter is called. + +Finally, one evening when all the men were assembled in the igloos +after their day's hunt, Akonuk announced that he and Matuk were to +return home the next morning. This renewed the discussion as to who +should go on with Bob, and the upshot of it was that two young +fellows--Netseksoak and Aluktook--with the promise that Mr. Forbes +would reward them for aiding to bring the letters which Bob carried, +volunteered to make the journey. + +This settled the matter to Bob's satisfaction and it was agreed that, +as the season was far advanced, it would be necessary to start at once +in order to give the two men time to reach home again before the +spring break-up of the ice. + +Long before daylight the next morning the Eskimos were lashing the +load on the komatik and at dawn the dogs were harnessed and everything +ready. Bob said good-bye to Akonuk and Matuk and the two teams took +different directions and were soon lost to each other's view. + +"'Twill not be long now," said Bob to himself, "an' we gets t' th' +Bay." + +The sun at midday was now so warm that it softened the snow, which, +freezing towards evening, made a hard ice crust over which the komatik +slipped easily and permitted of very fast travelling until the snow +began to soften again towards noon. Therefore the early part of the +day was to be taken advantage of. + +The new team, containing eleven dogs, was really made up of two small +teams, one of six dogs belonging to Netseksoak and the other of five +dogs the property of Aluktook. At first the two sets of dogs were +inclined to be quarrelsome and did not work well together. At the very +start they had a pitched battle which resulted in the crippling of +Aluktook's leader to such an extent that for two days it was almost +useless. + +However, with the good going fast time was made. Usually they kept to +the sea ice, but sometimes took short cuts across necks of land where, +as had been the case near Ungava, the men had to haul on the traces +with the dogs. + +The new drivers were much younger men than Akonuk and Matuk and they +were in many respects more companionable. But Bob missed a sort of +fatherly interest that the others had shown in him and did not rely so +implicitly upon their judgment. + +Able now as he was to understand very much of their conversation, he +took part in the discussion of various routes and expressed his +opinion as to them; and the Eskimos, who at first had looked upon him +as a more or less inexperienced kablunok, soon began to feel that he +knew nearly as much about dog and komatik travelling as they did +themselves. Thus a sort of good fellowship developed at once. + +One evening after a hard day's travelling as they came over the crest +of a hill the first grove of trees that Bob had seen since shortly +after leaving Ungava came in sight. It was the most welcome thing that +had met his view in weeks, and when the dogs were turned to its edge +and he saw a small shack, he knew that he was nearing again the white +man's country. + +The shack was found to have no occupants, but it contained a sheet +iron stove such as he had used in his tilts, and that night he +revelled in the warmth of a fire and a feast of boiled ptarmigan and +tea. + +"'Tis like gettin' back t' th' Bay," said Bob, and he asked the +Eskimos, "Will there be igloosoaks (shacks) all the way?" + +"Igloosoaks every night," answered Aluktook. + +The following morning a westerly breeze was blowing and the Eskimos +were uncertain whether to keep to the land or follow the sea ice along +the shore. The former route, they explained to Bob, passed over high +hills and was much the harder and longer one of the two, but safer. +The ice route along the shore was smooth and could be accomplished +much more quickly, but at this season of the year was fraught with +more or less danger. For many miles the shore rose in precipitous +rocks, and should a westerly gale arise while they were passing this +point, the ice was likely to break away and no escape could be made to +the shore. The wind blowing then from the West was not strong enough +yet, they said, to cause any trouble, and they did not think it would +rise, but still it was uncertain. + +"Which way should they go?" + +Bob's experience at Kangeva made him hesitate for a moment, but his +impatience to reach home quickly got the better of his judgment; and, +especially as the Eskimos seemed inclined to prefer the outside route, +he joined them in their preference and answered, + +"We'll be goin' outside." + +And the outside route they took. + +All went well for a time, but hourly the wind increased. The dogs were +urged on, but the wind kept blowing them to leeward and they began to +show signs of giving out. Finally a veritable gale was blowing and the +Eskimos' faces grew serious. + +They were now opposite that part of the shore where it rose a +perpendicular wall of rock towering a hundred feet above the sea, and +offered no place of refuge. So they hurried on as best they could in +the hope of rounding the walls and making land before the inevitable +break came. Presently Aluktook shouted, + +"Emuk! Emuk!"--the water! the water! + +Bob and Netseksoak looked, and a ribbon of black water lay between +them and the shore. + +They lashed the dogs and shouted at them until they were hoarse, in a +vain effort to urge them on. The poor brutes lay to the ice and did +their best, but it was quite hopeless. In an incredibly short time the +ribbon had widened into a gulf a quarter of a mile wide. Then it grew +to a mile, and presently the shore became a thin black line that was +soon lost to view entirely. They were adrift on the wide Atlantic! + +They stopped the dogs when they realized that further effort was +useless and sat down on the komatik in impotent dismay. + +The weather had grown intensely cold and the perspiration that the +excitement and exertion had brought out upon their faces was freezing. +Snow squalls were already beginning and before nightfall a blizzard +was raging in all its awful fury and at any moment the ice pack was +liable to go to pieces. + + + + +XXII + +THE MAID OF THE NORTH + + +"The's no profit in this trade any more," said Captain Sam Hanks, as +he sat down to supper with his mate, Jack Simmons, in the little cabin +of his schooner, _Maid of the North_. "I won't get a seaman's wages +out o' th' cruise, an' I'm sick o' workin' fer nothin'. Now there was +a time before th' free traders done th' business t' death that a man +could make good money on th' Labrador, but that time's past They pays +so much fer th' fur they's spoiled it fer everybody, an' I'm goin' t' +quit." + +"Th' free traders don't go north o' th' Straits much. Why don't ye try +it there, sir?" suggested the mate. + +"Ice. Too much ice. I've been thinkin' it over. Th' trouble is we +couldn't get through th' ice in th' spring until after th' Hudson's +Bay people had gobbled up everything. Th' natives down that coast is +poor as Job's turkey, an' they has t' sell their fur soon's th' +furrin' season's over. I hears th' company gets th' fur from 'em fer +a song. Them natives'll give ye a silver fox fer a jackknife an' a +barrel o' flour, an' a marten fer a gallon o' molasses. But the's +money in it if a feller could get there in time," he added +thoughtfully. + +"What's th' matter with goin' down in th' fall before th' ice blocks +th' coast? Th' _Maid o' th' North_ is sheathed fer ice, an' we could +freeze her in, some place down th' coast, an' be on hand t' sail when +th' ice clears in th' spring, We could let th' folks know where we +were t' freeze up, an' we'd pick up a lot o' fur before th' ice +breaks, an' th' natives'd hold th' rest until we calls comin' south. +The's a big chanct there," said the mate, conclusively. + +"I dunno but yer right. I hadn't thought o' goin' down in th' fall t' +freeze up. We'd have t' be gettin' t' our anchorage by th' first o' +October." + +"The's plenty o' time t' do that, sir. 'Twon't take more'n ten days t' +fit out." + +"Then the's th' cost o' shippin' th' crew t' be taken into account, 'n +havin' 'em doin' nothin' th' hull winter. I don't know's the'd be much +in it after everythin's counted out." + +"That's easy 'nuff fixed. Take a lot o' traps an' let th' crew hunt in +th' winter. Ye wouldn't have t' pay 'em then when ye wasn't afloat. Ye +could give 'em their keep an' let 'em hunt with th' traps on shore an' +make a little outen 'em. The's always fools 'nuff as thinks they'll +get rich if they has a chanct t' try their hand doin' somethin' they +ain't been doin' before, an' you kin get a crew o' fellers like that +easy 'nuff." + +"I dunno. Maybe I kin an' maybe I can't. Sounds like it's worth tryin' +an' I'll think about it." + +Every spring for ten years Captain Hanks--Skipper Sam he was generally +called--had sailed out of Halifax Harbour with his schooner _Maid of +the North_ to work his way into the Gulf of St. Lawrence when the +waters were clear of ice, and trade a general cargo of merchandise for +furs with the Indians and white trappers along the north shore and the +Straits of Belle Isle--the southern Labrador. + +At first he found the trade extremely lucrative, and during the first +four or five years in which he was engaged in it accumulated a snug +sum of money, the income of which would have been quite sufficient to +keep him comfortably the remainder of his life in the modest way in +which he lived. + +But Skipper Sam was much like other people, and the more he had the +more he wanted, so he continued in the fur trade. The fact that he had +purchased some city real estate for the purpose of speculation became +known, and other skippers sailing schooners of their own, with an eye +to lucrative, trade, decided that "Skipper Sam must be havin' a darn +good thing on th' Labrador," and when the _Maid of the North_ made her +fifth voyage she had another schooner to keep her company, and another +skipper was on hand to compete with Skipper Sam. + +Each year had brought additions to the trading fleet, and competition +had raised the price of fur until now the trappers, with a ready +market, were growing quite independent, and Skipper Sam, instead of +paying what he pleased for the pelts, which, when he had a monopoly of +the trade, was a merely nominal price as compared with their value, +was forced in order to get them at all to pay more nearly their true +worth. + +Even now he was making a fair profit, but his mind constantly reverted +to the "good old days" when his returns were from five hundred to a +thousand per cent. on his investment, and he felt injured and +dissatisfied. At the end of every voyage he declared solemnly that he +was no longer making more than seamen's wages and would quit the +trade, and the mate, who was well aware of the captain's comfortable +financial position, always believed he meant it. + +It should be said to Captain Hanks' credit that he paid his mate and +crew of five men the highest going wages, and treated them well and +kindly. So long as they attended strictly to their duties he was their +friend. They were provided with the best of food and they appreciated +the good treatment and were loyal to Captain Hanks' interest and very +much attached to the _Maid of the North_, as seamen are to a good ship +that for several voyages has been their home. + +So it was that the mate made his suggestions so freely. If Captain +Hanks were to quit the trade he knew that it would be many a day +before he secured another such berth, and his solicitude was therefore +not alone in the captain's interests but was largely a matter of +looking out for himself. + +The voyage just completed had not, in fact, been a very profitable +one, for the previous winter had been a poor year for the trappers +that they dealt with, just as it had been farther north in Eskimo Bay, +and Skipper Sam had good reason for feeling discouraged. + +It was early in August now, and the _Maid of the North_ was entering +Halifax Harbour with the expectation of tying up at her berth the next +morning. If she were to go north it would be necessary for her to be +fitted out for the voyage immediately in order to reach her winter +quarters before the ice began to form in the bays. + +The two men ate their supper and both went on deck to smoke their +pipes. Skipper Sam had no more to say about the proposed undertaking +until late in the evening, when he called the mate to his cabin, where +he had retired after his smoke, and there the mate found him poring +over a chart. + +"D'ye know anything about this coast?" the skipper asked, without +looking up. + +The mate glanced over his shoulder. + +"Not much, sir. I was down on a fishin' cruise once when I was a lad." + +"Well, how far down ought we t' go, d' ye think, before we lays up?" + +"I think, sir, we should go north o' Indian Harbour. Th' farther north +we gets, th' more fur we'll pick up." + +"Well," said the skipper, standing up, "I'm goin' t' sail just as +quick as I can fit out. Ship th' crew on th' best terms ye can. We got +t' move smart, fer I wants time t' run well down before th' ice +catches us." + +"All right, sir." + +Thus it happened that the _Maid of the North_, spick and span, with a +new coat of paint on the outside, and a good stock of provisions and +articles of trade in her hold, sailed out of Halifax Harbour and +turned her prow to the northward on the first day of September, and +was plowing her way to the Labrador at the very time that Bob Gray +with his mother and Emily were returning so disconsolate to Wolf Bight +after hearing the verdict of the mail boat doctor, and Bob was making +the plans that carried him into the interior. + +The _Maid of the North_ called at many harbours by the way and the +fame of Captain Hanks spread amongst the livyeres, as the native +Labradormen are called. He told them what fabulous prices he would pay +them for their furs in the spring when he came south, with open +water, and they promised him to a man to reserve the bulk of their +catch for him, and all had visions of coming wealth. + +It was decided that they winter in the Harbour of God's Hope, just +north of Cape Harrigan, and after passing Indian Harbour the natives +were notified that if they wished any supplies during the winter they +could bring their furs there and get what they needed. + +The Harbour of God's Hope was found to be a deep, narrow inlet, not as +well protected from the sea as might be desired, but still +comparatively well sheltered, and particularly advantageous from the +fact that the shores of the upper end of the inlet were wooded, an +essential feature, as it provided an abundance of good fuel, and the +supply on board was far from adequate for their needs. + +The _Maid of the North_ was made as snug as possible for the +freeze-up, but could not be brought as close to shore as desirable, +because of shoals. However, her position was deemed quite safe, and +Skipper Sam experienced a sense of supreme satisfaction at his +achievements and the prospects for a profitable trade in the spring. + +The crew were put at work immediately to build a log shack for shore +quarters, which was shortly accomplished. This shack was of ample size +and was furnished with a stove brought from Halifax for the purpose, +some chairs, a table and a kitchen outfit. + +The skipper, the mate and the cook remained on board at first, but the +crew were given permission to go ashore and hunt and trap in the hills +back of the harbour, an opportunity of which they promptly took +advantage. + +As the cold weather came on and the ice formed thick and hard around +the vessel it seemed unnecessary to keep a watch aboard, and as the +shack was much more roomy than the cabin, and therefore more +comfortable, all hands finally took up their quarters in it. + +As the winter wore on livyeres began to pay frequent visits to Skipper +Sam from up and down the coast, and they all brought furs to trade. +With the approach of spring the skipper found to his satisfaction that +he had already collected more pelts than he had been able to purchase +on his previous spring's voyage in the South, and at prices that even +to him seemed ridiculously low. These furs were duly stored aboard the +_Maid of the North_, and by the first of May she had a cargo that +could have been disposed of in Halifax or Montreal for several +thousand dollars. + +It was at this time that the skipper suggested to the mate one +evening, + +"Jack, les go caribou huntin' t'-morrer. I'm gettin' stiff hangin' +'round here." + +"All right, sir," acquiesced the mate, "but," he asked, "th' crew's +all away exceptin' th' cook, an' who'll look after things here if we +both goes t' once?" + +"We kin leave the cook alone fer one day I guess. If any o' th' +livyeres come he kin keep 'em till we comes back in th' evenin'." + +The arrangements were therefore made for the hunt, and the following +morning bright and early they were off. + +At sunrise there was a slight westerly breeze blowing, and the skipper +suggested, + +"Th' wind might stiffen up a bit an' we better keep an eye to it." + +They were well back in the hills before the predicted stiffening came +to such an extent that they decided it was wise to return to the +shack. + +Skipper Sam and his mate were not accustomed to land travelling and +the hurried retreat soon winded them and they were held down to so +slow a walk that the afternoon was half spent and the wind had grown +to a gale when they finally came in view of the harbour. Skipper Sam +was ahead, and when he looked towards the place where the _Maid of the +North_ had been snugly held in the ice in the morning he rubbed his +eyes. Then he looked again, and exclaimed: + +"By gum!" + +The harbour was clear of ice and nowhere on the horizon was the _Maid +of the North_ to be seen. The gale had swept the ice to sea and +carried with it the _Maid of the North_ and all her valuable cargo. +The cook, asleep in his bunk in the shack, was quite unconscious of +the calamity when the skipper roused him to demand explanations. + +But there were no explanations to be given. The schooner was gone, +that was all, and Captain Sam Hanks and his crew were stranded upon +the coast of Labrador. + + + + +XXIII + +THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE + + +Bob and his companions were indeed in a most desperate situation, and +even they, accustomed and inured as they were to the vicissitudes and +rigours of the North, could see no possible way of escape. Men of less +courage or experience would probably have resigned themselves to their +fate at once, without one further effort to preserve their lives, and +in an hour or two have succumbed to the bitter cold of the storm. But +these men had learned to take events as they came largely as a matter +of course, and they did not for a moment lose heart or self-control. + +The dogs were driven a little farther towards the interior of the ice, +for if the pack were to break up the outer edge would be the first to +go. Here immediate preparations were made to camp. + +There was no bank from which snow blocks could be cut for an igloo, +and the blinding snow so obscured their surroundings that they could +not so much as find a friendly ice hummock to take refuge behind. The +gale, in fact, was so fierce that they could scarce hold their feet +against it, and had they released their hold of the komatik even for +an instant, it is doubtful if they could have found it again. + +The deerskin sleeping bags were unlashed and the sledge turned upon +its side. In the lee of this the bags were stretched upon the ice and +with their skin clothes on they crawled into them. Each called +"Oksunae"--be strong--have courage--to the others, and then drew his +head within the folds of his skin covering. + +Bob wore the long, warm coat that Manikawan had made for him, and as +he snuggled close into the bag he thought of her kindness to him, and +he dreamed that night that he had gone back and found her waiting for +him and looking just as she did the morning she waved him farewell, as +she stood in the light of the cold winter moon--tall and graceful and +comely, with the tears glistening in her eyes. + +The dogs, still in harness, lay down where they stood, and in a little +while the snow, which found lodgment against the komatik, covered men +and dogs alike in one big drift and the weary travellers slept warm +and well regardless of the fact that at any moment the ice might part +and they be swallowed up by the sea. + +The storm was one of those sudden outbursts of anger that winter in +his waning power inflicts upon the world in protest against the coming +spring supplanting him, and as a reminder that he still lives and +carries with him his withering rod of chastisement and breath of +destruction. But he was now so old and feeble that in a single night +his strength was spent, and when morning dawned the sun arose with a +new warmth and the wind had ceased to blow. + +The men beneath the snow did not move. It was quite useless for them +to get up. There was nothing that they could do, and they might as +well be sleeping as wandering aimlessly about the ice field. + +The dogs, however, thought differently. They had not been fed the +previous night, and bright and early they were up, nosing about within +the limited area afforded them by the length of their traces. One of +them began to dig away the snow around the komatik. He paused, held +his nose into the drift a moment and sniffed, then went vigorously to +work again with his paws. Soon he grabbed something in his fangs. The +others joined him, and the snarling and fighting that ensued aroused +Bob and the sleeping Eskimos. + +Aluktook was the first to throw off the snow and look out to see what +the trouble was about Then he shouted and jumped to his feet, kicking +the dogs with all his power. Bob and Netseksoak sprang to his aid, but +they were too late. + +The dogs had devoured every scrap of food they had, save some tea that +Bob kept in a small bag in which he carried his few articles of +dunnage. + +This was a terrible condition of affairs, for though they were +doubtless doomed to drown with the first wind strong enough to shatter +the ice, still the love of living was strong within them, and they +must eat to live. + +Separating and going in different directions, the three hunted about +in the vain hope that somewhere on the ice there might be seals that +they could kill, but nowhere was there to be seen a living +thing--nothing but one vast field of ice reaching to the horizon on +the north, east and south. To the west the water sparkled in the +sunlight, but no land and no life, human or otherwise, was within the +range of vision. + +After a time they returned to their bivouac and then drove the dogs a +little farther into the ice pack to a high hummock that Aluktook had +found, and with an axe and snow knives cut blocks of ice from the +hummock and snow from a drift on its lee side, and finally had a +fairly substantial igloo built. This they made as comfortable as +possible, and settled in it as the last shelter they should ever have +in the world, as they all firmly believed it would prove. + +They were now driven to straits by thirst, but there was not a drop of +water, save the salt sea water, to be had. + +"We'll have to burn the komatik," said Aluktook. + +Netseksoak knocked two or three cross-bars from it and built a +miniature fire, using the wood with the greatest possible economy, and +by this means melted a kettle of ice, and Bob brewed some tea. + +The warm drink was stimulating, and gave them renewed ambition. They +separated again in search of game, but again returned, towards +evening, empty handed. + +"Too late for seals," the Eskimos remarked laconically. + +All were weak from lack of food, and when they gathered at the igloo +it was decided that one of the dogs must be killed. + +"We'll eat Amulik, he's too old to work anyway," suggested Netseksoak. + +Amulik, the dog thus chosen for the sacrifice, was a fine old fellow, +one of Netseksoak's dogs that had braved the storms of many winters. +The poor brute seemed to understand the fate in store for him, for he +slunk away when he saw Netseksoak loading his gun. But his retreat was +useless, and in a little while his flesh was stored in the igloo and +the Eskimos were dining upon it uncooked. + +Though Bob was, of course, very hungry, he declined to eat raw dog +meat, and to cook it was quite out of the question, for the little +wood contained in the komatik he realized must be reserved for melting +ice, as otherwise they would have nothing to drink. Another day, +however, and he was so driven to the extremes of hunger that he was +glad to take his share of the raw meat which to his astonishment he +found not only most palatable but delicious, for there is a time that +comes to every starving man when even the most vile and putrid refuse +can be eaten with a relish. + +The dog meat was carefully divided into daily portions for each man. +Some of it, of course, had to go to the remaining animals, to keep +them alive to be butchered later, if need be, for this was the only +source of food the destitute men had. + +Every day Bob and the Eskimos wandered over the ice, hoping against +hope that some means of escape might be found. Bob realized that +nothing but the hand of Providence, by some supernatural means, could +save him now. Again, he said, + +"Th' Lard this time has sure been losin' track o' me. Maybe 'tis +because when He were showin' me a safe trail over th' hills I were not +willin' t' bide His time an' go that way, but were comin' by th' ice +after th' warnin' at Kangeva." + +But he always ended his musings with the comfortable recollection of +his mother's prayers. Which had helped him so much before, and this +did more than anything else to keep him courageous and brave. + +The days came and went, each as empty as its predecessor, and each +night brought less probability of escape than the night before. + +Another dog was killed, and a week passed. + +The komatik wood was nearly gone, although but one small fire was +built each day, and the end of their tea was in sight. + +This was the state of affairs when Bob wandered one day farther to the +southward over the pack ice than usual, and suddenly saw in the +distance a moving object. At first he imagined that it was a bit of +moving ice, so near was it to the colour of the field. This was quite +impossible, however, and approaching it stealthily, he soon discovered +that it was a polar bear. + +The animal was wandering leisurely to the south. Bob carried the rifle +that Mr. MacPherson had given him, as he always did on these +occasions, and keeping in the lee of ice hummocks, that he might not +be seen by the bear, ran noiselessly forward. Finally he was within +shooting distance and, raising the gun, took aim and fired. + +Perhaps it was because of weakness through improper food, or possibly +as the result of too much eagerness, but the aim was unsteady and the +bullet only grazed and slightly wounded the bear. + +The brute growled and turned to see what it was that had struck him. +When it discovered its enemy it rose on its haunches and offered +battle. + +Bob was for a moment paralyzed by the immense proportions that the +bear displayed, and almost forgot that he had more bullets at his +disposal. But he quickly recalled himself and throwing a cartridge +into the chamber, aimed the rifle more carefully and fired again. This +time the bullet went true to the mark, and the great body fell limp to +the ice. + +As he surveyed the carcass a moment later he patted his rifle, and +said; + +"'Tis sure a rare fine gun. I ne'er could ha' killed un wi' my old +un.". "Now th' Lard _must_ be watchin' me or He wouldn't ha' sent th' +bear, an' He wouldn't ha' sent un if He weren't wantin' us t' live. +Th' Lard must be hearin' mother's an' Emily's prayers now, after +all--He must be." + +The bear was a great windfall. It would give Bob and the Eskimos food +for themselves and oil for their lamp, and the lad was imbued with +new hope as he hurried off to summon Netseksoak and Aluktook to aid +him in bringing the carcass to the igloo. + +The afternoon was well advanced before he found the two Eskimos, and +when he told them of his good fortune they were very much elated, and +all three started back immediately to the scene of the bear hunt. As +they approached it Aluktook shouted an exclamation and pointed towards +the south. Bob and Netseksoak looked, and there, dimly outlined in the +distance but still plainly distinguishable, was the black hull of a +vessel with two masts glistening in the sunshine. + +"Tis th' hand o' Providence!" exclaimed Bob. + +The three shook hands and laughed and did everything to show their +delight short of hugging each other, and then ran towards the vessel, +suddenly possessed of a vague fear that it might sail away before they +were seen. Bob fired several shots out of his rifle as he ran, to +attract the attention of the crew, but as they approached they could +see no sign of life, and they soon found that it was a schooner frozen +tight and fast in the ice pack. + +When they at last reached it Bob read, painted in bold letters, the +name, "Maid of the North." + + + + +XXIV + +THE ESCAPE + + +They lost no time in climbing on deck, and what was their astonishment +when they reached there to find the vessel quite deserted. Everything +was in spick and span order both in the cabin and above decks. It was +now nearly dark and an examination of her hold had to be deferred +until the following day. One thing was certain, however. No one had +occupied the cabin for some time, and no one had boarded or left the +vessel since the last snow-storm, for no footprints were to be found +on the ice near her. + +It was truly a great mystery, and the only solution that occurred to +Bob was that the ice pack had "pinched" the schooner and opened her up +below, and the crew had made a hurried escape in one of the boats. +This he knew sometimes occurred on the coast, and if it were the case, +and her hull had been crushed below the water line, it was of course +only a question of the ice breaking up, which might occur at any time, +when she would go to the bottom. There was one small boat on deck, +and if an examination in the morning disclosed the unseaworthiness of +the craft, this small boat would at least serve them as a means of +escape from the ice pack. + +Whatever the condition of the vessel, the night was calm and the ice +was hard, and there was no probability of a break-up that would +release her from her firm fastenings before morning; and they decided, +therefore, to make themselves comfortable aboard. There was a stove in +the cabin and another in the forecastle, plenty of blankets were in +the berths, and provisions--actual luxuries--down forward. Bob was +afraid that it was a dream and that he would wake up presently to the +realities of the igloo and raw dog meat, and the hopelessness of it +all. + +He and the Eskimos lighted the lamps, started a fire in the galley +stove, put the kettle over, fried some bacon, and finally sat down to +a feast of bacon, tea, ship's biscuit, butter, sugar, and even jam to +top off with. It was the best meal, Bob declared, that he had ever +eaten in all his life. + +"An' if un turns out t' be a dream, 'twill be th' finest kind o' one," +was his emphatic decision. + +How the three laughed and talked and enjoyed themselves over their +supper, and how Bob revelled in the soft, warm blankets of Captain +Hanks' berth when he finally, for the first time in weeks, was enabled +to undress and crawl into bed, can better be imagined than described. + +After an early breakfast the next morning the first care was to +examine the hold, and very much to their satisfaction, and at the same +time mystification, for they could not now understand why the schooner +had been abandoned, they found the hull quite sound and the schooner +to all appearances perfectly seaworthy. + +Another astonishment awaited Bob, too, when he came upon the +quantities of fur, and the stock of provisions and other goods that he +found below decks. + +"'Tis enough t' stock a company's post!" he exclaimed. But its real +intrinsic value was quite beyond his comprehension. + +When it was settled, beyond doubt, that the _Maid of the North_ was +entirely worthy of their confidence and in no danger of sinking, the +three returned to the igloo and transferred their sleeping bags and +few belongings, as well as the dogs, to their new quarters on board of +her. + +After this was done they skinned and dressed the polar bear, which +still lay upon the ice where it had been killed, and some of the flesh +was fed to the half famished dogs. Bob insisted upon giving them an +additional allowance, after the two Eskimos had fed them, for he said +that they, too, should share in the good fortune, though Netseksoak +expressed the opinion that the dogs ought to have been quite satisfied +to escape being eaten. + +The choicest cuts of the bear's meat the men kept for their own +consumption, and Bob rescued the liver also, when Aluktook was about +to throw it to the dogs, for he was very fond of caribou liver and saw +no reason why that of the polar bear should not prove just as +palatable. He fried some of it for supper, but when he placed it on +the table both Aluktook and Netseksoak refused to touch it, declaring +it unfit to eat, and warned Bob against it. + +"There's an evil spirit in it," they said with conviction, "and it +makes men sick." + +This was very amusing to Bob, and disregarding their warning he ate +heartily of it himself, wondering all the time what heathen +superstition it was that prejudiced Eskimos against such good food, +for, as he had observed, they would usually eat nearly anything in the +way of flesh, and a great many things that he would not eat. + +In a little while Bob began to realize that something was wrong. He +felt queerly, and was soon attacked with nausea and vomiting. For two +or three days he was very sick indeed and the Eskimos both told him +that it was the effect of the evil spirit in the liver, and that he +would surely die, and for a day or so he believed that he really +should. + +Whether the bear liver was under the curse of evil spirits or was in +itself poisonous were questions that did not interest Bob. He knew it +had made him sick and that was enough for him, and what remained of +the liver went to the dogs, when he was able to be about again. + +The days passed wearily enough for the men in their floating prison, +impatient as they were at their enforced inactivity, but still +helpless to do anything to quicken their release. May was dragging to +an end and June was at hand, and still the ice pack, firm and +unbroken, refused to loose its bands. Slowly--imperceptibly to the +watchers on board the _Maid of the North_--it was drifting to the +southward on the bosom of the Arctic current. But the sun, constantly +gaining more power, was rotting the ice, and it was inevitable that +sooner or later the pack must fall to pieces and release the schooner +and its occupants from their bondage. Then would come another danger. +If the wind blew strong and the seas ran high, the heavy pans of ice +pounding against the hull might crush it in and send the vessel to the +bottom. Therefore, while longing for release, there was at the same +time an element of anxiety connected with it. + +Finally the looked for happened. One afternoon a heavy bank of clouds, +black and ominous, appeared in the western sky. A light puff of wind +presaged the blow that was to follow, and in a little while the gale +was on. + +The _Maid of the North_, it will be understood, lay in bay ice, and +all the ice to the south of her was bay ice. This was much lighter +than that coming from more northerly points, and when the open sea +which skirted the western edge of the field began to rise and sweep in +upon this rotten ice the waves crumbled and crumpled it up before +their mighty force like a piece of cardboard. It was a time of the +most intense anxiety for the three men. + +Just at dusk, amid the roar of wind and smashing ice, the vessel gave +a lurch, and suddenly she was free. Fortunately her rudder was not +carried away, as they had feared it would be, and when she answered +the helm, Bob whispered, + +"Thank th' Lard." + +They were at the mercy of the wind during the next few hours, and +there was little that could be done to help themselves until towards +morning, when the gale subsided. Then, with daylight, under short sail +they began working the vessel out of the "slob" ice that surrounded +it, and before dark that night were in the open sea, with now only a +moderate breeze blowing, which fortunately had shifted to the +northward. + +Here they found themselves beset by a new peril. Icebergs, great, +towering, fearsome masses, lay all about them, and to make matters +worse a thick gray fog settled over the ocean, obscuring everything +ten fathoms distant. They brought the vessel about and lay to in the +wind, but even then drifted dangerously near one towering ice mass, +and once a berg that could not have been half a mile away turned over +with a terrifying roar. It seemed as though a collision was +inevitable before daylight, but the night passed without mishap, and +when the morning sun lifted the fog the ship was still unharmed. + +There was no land anywhere to be seen. What position they were in Bob +did not know, and had no way of finding out. He did know, however, +that somewhere to the westward lay the Labrador coast, and this they +must try to reach. + +Fortunately he could read the compass, and by its aid took as nearly +as possible a due westerly course. + +Alutook and Netseksoak, expert as they were in the handling of kayaks, +had no knowledge of the management of larger craft like the _Maid of +the North_, and without question accepted Bob as commander and +followed his directions implicitly and faithfully; and he handled the +vessel well, for he was a good sailor, as all lads of the Labrador +are. + +They made excellent headway, and were favoured with a season of good +weather, and like the barometer Bob's spirits rose. But he dared to +plan nothing beyond the present action. A hundred times he had planned +and pictured the home-coming, but each time Fate, or the will of a +Providence that he could not understand, had intervened, and with the +crushing of each new hope and the wiping out of each delightful +picture that his imagination drew, he decided to look not into the +future, but do his best in the present and trust to Providence for the +rest, for, as he expressed it, + +"Th' Lard's makin' His own plans an' He's not wantin' me t' be +meddlin' wi' un, an' so He's not lettin' me do th' way I lays out t' +do, an' I'll be makin' no more plans, but takin' things as they comes +along." + +In this frame of mind he held the vessel steadily to her course and +kept a constant lookout for land or a sail, and on the morning of the +third day after the release from the ice pack was rewarded by a shout +from Netseksoak announcing land at last. Eagerly he looked, and in the +distance, dimly, but still there, appeared the shore in low, dark +outline against the horizon. + +Towards noon a sail was sighted, and late in the afternoon they passed +within hailing distance of a fishing schooner bound down north. He +shouted to the fishermen who, at the rail, were curiously watching the +_Maid of the North_, as she plowed past them. + +[Illustration: "He held the vessel steadily to her course"] + +"What land may that be?" pointing at a high, rocky head that jutted +out into the water two miles away. + +"Th' Devil's Head," came the reply. + +"An' what's th' day o' th' month?" + +"Th' fifteenth o' June," rang out the answer. "Where un hail from?" + +"Ungava," Bob shouted to the astonished skipper, who was now almost +out of hearing. + +The information that the land was the Devil's Head came as joyful news +to Bob. He had often heard of the Devil's Head, and knew that it lay +not far from the entrance to Eskimo Bay, and therefore in a little +while he believed he should see some familiar landmarks. + +Bob's hopes were confirmed, and before dark the Twin Rocks near Scrag +Island were sighted, and as they came into view his heart swelled and +his blood tingled. He was almost home! + +That night they lay behind Scrag Island, and with the first dawn of +the morning were under way again. The wind was fair, and before sunset +the _Maid of the North_ sailed into Fort Pelican Harbour and anchored. + +Bob's heart beat high as he stepped into the small boat to row ashore, +for the whitewashed buildings of the Post, the air redolent with the +perfume of the forest, and the howling dogs told him that at last the +dangers of the trail and sea were all behind him and of the past, and +that he would soon be at home again. + +Mr. Forbes was at the wharf when Bob landed, and when he saw who it +was exclaimed in astonishment: + +"Why it's Bob Gray! Where in the world, or what spirit land did you +come from? Why Ed Matheson brought your remains out of the bush last +winter and I hear they were buried the other day." + +"I comes from Ungava, sir, with some letters Mr. MacPherson were +sendin'," answered Bob, as he made the painter fast. + +"Letters from Ungava! Well, come to the office and we'll see them. I +want to hear how you got here from Ungava." + +In the office Bob told briefly the story of his adventures, while he +ripped the letters from his shirt, where he had sewed them in a +sealskin covering for safe keeping. + +"Has un heard, sir, how mother an' Emily an' father is?" he asked as +he handed over the mail. + +"Mr. MacDonald sent his man down the other day, and he told me your +mother took it pretty hard, when they buried you last week, although +she has stuck to it all along that the remains Ed brought out were not +yours and you were alive somewhere. Emily don't seem to change. Your +father and nearly every one else in the Bay has had a good hunt. Go +out to the men's kitchen for your supper now and when you've eaten +come back again and we'll talk things over." + +In the kitchen he heard some exaggerated details of Ed's journey out, +and something of the happenings up the bay during the winter. When he +had finished his meal he returned to the office, where Mr. Forbes was +waiting for him. + +"Well, Ungava Bob, as Mr. MacPherson calls you in his letter," said +Mr. Forbes, "you've earned the rifle he gave you, and you're to keep +it. Now tell me more of your adventures since you left Ungava." + +Little by little he drew from Bob pretty complete details of the +journey, and then told him that he had better sail the _Maid of the +North_ up to Kenemish, where Douglas Campbell and his father would see +that he secured the salvage due him for bringing out the schooner. + +"An' what may salvage be, sir?" asked Bob. + +"Why," answered Mr. Forbes, "you found the schooner a derelict at sea +and you brought her into port. When you give her back to the owner he +will have to pay you whatever amount the court decides is due you for +the service, and it may be as much as one-half the value of the vessel +and cargo. You'll get enough out of it to settle you comfortably for +life." + +Bob heard this in open-mouthed astonishment. It was too good for him +to quite believe at first, but Mr. Forbes assured him that it was +usual and within his rights. + +They arranged that Netseksoak and Aluktook should go with him to +Kenemish and later return to Fort Pelican to be paid by Mr. Forbes for +their services and to be sent home by him on the company's ship, the +_Eric_, on its annual voyage north. + +Then Bob, after thanking Mr. Forbes, rowed back to the _Maid of the +North_, too full of excitement and anticipation to sleep. + +With the first ray of morning light the anchor was weighed, the sails +hoisted and but two days lay between Bob and home. + +As he stood on the deck of the _Maid of the North_ and drank in the +wild, rugged beauty of the scene around him Bob thought of that day, +which seemed so long, long ago, when he and his mother, broken hearted +and disconsolate were going home with little Emily, and how he had +looked away at those very hills and the inspiration had come to him +that led to the journey from which he was now returning. Tears came to +his eyes and he said to himself, + +"Sure th' Lard be good. 'Twere He put un in my head t' go, an' He were +watchin' over me an' carin' for me all th' time when I were thinkin' +He were losin' track o' me. I'll never doubt th' Lard again." + + + + +XXV + +THE BREAK-UP + + +One evening a month after Ed Matheson started out with his gruesome +burden to Wolf Bight, Dick Blake was sitting alone in the tilt at the +junction of his and Ed's trails, smoking his after supper pipe and +meditating on the happenings of the preceding weeks. There were some +things in connection with the tragedy that he had never been able to +quite clear up. Why, for instance, he asked himself, did Micmac John +steal the furs and then leave them in the tilt where they were found? +Had the half-breed been suddenly smitten by his conscience? That +seemed most unlikely, for Dick had never discovered any indication +that Micmac possessed a conscience. No possible solution of the +problem presented itself. A hundred times he had probed the question, +and always ended by saying, as he did now, + +"'Tis strange--wonderful strange, an' I can't make un out." + +He arose and knocked the ashes out of his pipe, filled the stove with +wood, and then looked out into the night before going to his bunk. It +was snowing thick and fast. + +"'Tis well to-morrow's Sunday," he remarked. "The's nasty weather +comin'." + +"That they is," said a voice so close to his elbow that he started +back in surprise, + +"Why, hello, Ed. You were givin' me a rare start, sneakin' in as +quiet's a rabbit. How is un?" + +"Fine," said Ed, who had just come around the corner of the tilt in +time to hear Dick's remark in reference to the weather. "Who un +talkin' to?" + +"To a sensible man as agrees wi' me," answered Dick facetiously. "A +feller does get wonderful lonesome seem' no one an' has t' talk t' +hisself sometimes." + +The two entered the tilt and Ed threw off his adikey while Dick put +the kettle over. + +"Well," asked Dick, when Ed was finally seated, "how'd th' mother take +un?" + +"Rare hard on th' start off," said Ed. "'Twere th' hardest thing I +ever done, tellin' she, an' 'twere all I could do t' keep from +breakin' down myself. I 'most cried, I were feelin so bad for un. + +"Douglas were there an' Bessie were visitin' th' sick maid, which were +a blessin', fer Richard were away on his trail. + +"I goes in an' finds un happy an' thinkin' maybe Bob'd be comin'. I +finds th' bones gettin' weak in my legs, soon's I sees un, an' th' +mother, soon's she sees me up an' says she's knowin' somethin' +happened t' Bob, an' I has t' tell she wi'out waitin' t' try t' make +un easy's I'd been plannin' t' do. She 'most faints, but after a while +she asks me t' tell she how Bob were killed, an' I tells. + +"Then she's wantin' t' see a bit o' the clothes we found, an' when she +looks un over she raises her head an' says, '_Them_ weren't Bob's. I +knows Bob's clothes, an' them weren't _his_! When I tells 'bout +findin' _two_ axes she says Bob were havin' only one axe, an' then +she's believin' Bob wasn't got by th' wolves, an' is livin' +somewheres. + +"Douglas goes for Richard, an' when Richard comes he says th' +clothes's Bob's an' th' gun _ain't_, an' Bob were havin' only one axe. + +"Richard's not doubtin' th' remains was Bob's though, an' o' course +the's no doubtin' _that_. Th' clothes's gettin' so stained up I'm +thinkin' th' mother'd not be knowin' un. But Richard sure would be +knowin' th' gun, an' that's what _I'm_ wonderin' at." + +"'Tis rare strange," assented Dick. "An' _I'm_ wonderin' why Micmac +John were leavin' th' fur in th' 'tilt after stealin' un. That's what +_I'm_ wonderin' at." + +The whole evening was thus spent in discussing the pros and cons of +the affair. They both decided that while the gun and axe question were +beyond explanation, there was no doubt that Bob had been destroyed by +wolves and the remains that they found were his. + +The plan that Bill had suggested for hunting the trails without taking +Sunday rest, thus enabling them to attend to a part of Bob's Big Hill +trail, was resorted to, and the winter's work was the hardest, they +all agreed, that they had ever put in. + +January and February were excessively cold months and during that +period, when the fur bearing animals keep very close to their lairs, +the catch was indifferent. But with the more moderate weather that +began with March and continued until May the harvest was a rich one, +for it was one of those seasons, after a year of unusual scarcity, as +the previous two years had been, when the fur bearing animals come in +some inexplicable way in great numbers, and food game also is +plentiful. + +At length the hunting season closed, when the mild weather with daily +thaws arrived. The fur that was now caught was deteriorating to such +an extent that it was not wise to continue catching it. The traps on +the various trails were sprung and hung upon trees or placed upon +rocks, where they could be readily found again, and Dick and Ed joined +Bill at the river tilt, where the boat had been cached to await the +breaking up of the river, and here enjoyed a respite from their +labours. + +Ptarmigans in flocks of hundreds fed upon the tender tops of the +willows that lined the river banks, and these supplied them with an +abundance of fresh meat, varied occasionally by rabbits, two or three +porcupines and a lynx that Dick shot one day near the tilt. This lynx +meat they roasted by an open fire outside the tilt, and considered it +a great treat. It may be said that the roasted lynx resembles in +flavour and texture prime veal, and it is indeed, when properly +cooked, delicious; and the hunter knows how to cook it properly. +Trout, too, which they caught through the ice, were plentiful. They +had brought with them when coming to the trails in the autumn, tackle +for the purpose of securing fish at this time. The lines were very +stout, thick ones, and the hooks were large. A good-sized piece of +lead, melted and moulded around the stem of the hook near the eye, +weighted it heavily, and it was baited with a piece of fat pork and a +small piece of red cloth or yarn, tied below the lead. The rod was a +stout stick three feet in length and an inch thick. + +With this equipment the hook was dropped into the hole and moved up +and down slowly, until a fish took hold, when it was immediately +pulled out. The trout were very sluggish at this season of the year +and made no fight, and were therefore readily landed. The most of them +weighed from two to five pounds each, and indeed any smaller than that +were spurned and thrown back into the hole "t' grow up," as Ed put it. + +One evening a rain set in and for four days and nights it never +ceased. It poured down as if the gates of the eternal reservoirs of +heaven had been opened and the flood let loose to drown the world. The +snow became a sea of slush and miniature rivers ran down to join +forces with the larger stream. + +At first the waters overflowed the ice, but at last it gave way to the +irresistible force that assailed it, and giving way began to move upon +the current in great unwieldly masses. + +The river rose to its brim and burst its banks. Trees were uprooted, +and mingling with the ice surged down towards the sea upon the crest +of the unleashed, untamed torrent. The break-up that the men were +awaiting had come. + +"'Tis sure a fearsome sight," remarked Bill one day when the storm was +at its height, as he returned from "a look outside" to join Dick and +Ed, who sat smoking their pipes in silence in the tilt. + +"An' how'd un like t' be ridin' one o' them cakes o' ice out there, +an' no way o' reachin' shore?" asked Ed. + +"I wouldn't be ridin' un from choice, an' if I were ridin' un I'm +thinkin' 'twould be my last ride," answered Bill. + +"Once I were ridin' un, an' ridin' un from choice," said Ed, with the +air of one who had a story to tell. + +"No you weren't never ridin' un. What un tell such things for, Ed?" +broke in Dick. "Un has dreams an' tells un for happenin's, I'm +thinkin'." + +Ed ignored the interruption as though he had not heard it, and +proceeded to relate to Bill his wonderful adventure. + +"Once," said he,--"'twere five year ago--I were waitin' at my lower +tilt for th' break-up t' come, an' has my boat hauled up t' what I +thinks is a safe place, when I gets up one mornin' t' find th' water +come up extra high in th' night an' th' boat gone wi' th' ice. That +leaves me in a rare bad fix, wi' nothin' t' do, seems t' me, but wait +for th' water t' settle, an' cruise down th' river afoot. + +"I'm not fancyin' th' cruise, an' I watches th' ice an' wonders, when +I marks chance cakes o' ice driftin' down close t' shore an' touchin' +land now an' agin as un goes, could I ride un. Th' longer I watches un +th' more I thinks 'twould be a fine way t' ride on un, an' at last I +makes up my pack an' cuts a good pole, an' watches my chance, which +soon comes. A big cake comes rollin' down an' I steps aboard un an' +away I goes. + +"'Twere fine for a little while, an' I says, 'Ed, now _you_ knows th' +thing t' do in a tight place.' + +"'Twere a rare pretty sight watchin' th' shore slippin' past, an' I +forgets as 'tis a piece o' ice I'm ridin' till I happens t' look +around an' finds th' cake o' ice, likewise myself, in th' middle o' +th' river, an' no way o' gettin' ashore. The's nothin' t' do but hang +on, an' I hangs. + +"Then I sees th' Gull Island Rapids an' I 'most loses my nerve. 'Tis a +fearsome torrent at best, as un knows, but now wi' high flood 'tis +like ten o' unself at low water. Th' waves beats up twenty foot high." + +Ed paused here to light his pipe which had a way of always going out +when he reached the most dramatic point in his stories. When it was +finally going again, he continued: + +"Lucky 'twere for me th' rocks were all covered. In we goes, me an' +th' ice, an' I hangs on an' shuts my eyes. When I opens un we're +floatin' peaceful an' steady below th' rapids, an' I feels like +breathin' agin. + +"Then we runs th' Porcupine Rapids, an' I begins t' think I has th' +Muskrat Falls t' run too which would be th' endin' o' me, sure. But I +ain't. I uses my pole, an' works up t' shore, an' just as we gets th' +rush o' th' water above th' falls, I lands. + +"That were how I rid th' river on a' ice cake." + +"Where'd ye land, now?" asked Dick. "This side o' th' river or t' +other?" + +"This side o' un," answered Ed, complacently. + +"'Tis sheer rock this side, an' no holt t' land on," said Dick, +triumphantly. + +"'Th' water were t' th' top o' th' rock," explained Ed. + +"Then," said Dick, with the air of one who has trapped another, "th' +hull country were flooded an' there were no falls." + +Ed looked at him for a moment disdainfully. + +"I were on th' ice six days, an' _I knows_." + +The men were held in waiting for several days after the storm ceased +for the river to clear of debris and sink again to something like its +normal volume, before it was considered safe for them to begin the +voyage out. Then on a fair June morning the boat was laden with the +outfit and fur. + +"Poor Bob," said Dick, as Bob's things were placed in the boat. "Th' +poor lad were so hopeful when we were comin' in t' th' trails, an' +now un's gone. 'Twill be hard t' meet his mother an Richard." + +"Aye, 'twill be hard," assented Ed. "She'll be takin' un rare hard. +Our comin' home'll be bringin' his goin' away plain t' she again." + +"An' Emily, too," spoke up Bill. "They were thinkin' so much o' each +other." + +Then the journey was begun, full of danger and excitement as they shot +through rushing rapids and on down the river towards Eskimo Bay, where +great and unexpected tidings awaited them. + + + + +XXVI + +BACK AT WOLF BIGHT + + +Bob's apparent death was a sore shock to Richard Gray. When Douglas +found him on the trail and broke the news to him as gently as +possible, he seemed at first hardly to comprehend it. He was stunned. +He said little, but followed Douglas back to the cabin like one in a +mesmeric sleep. A few days before he had gone away happy and buoyant, +now he shuffled back like an old man. + +Mechanically he looked at the remains and examined the gun and the +axe--Ed had brought out but one of the axes found by the rock with the +remains--and said, "Th' gun's not Bob's. Th' axe were his." + +"Th' gun's not Bob's!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray "Th' clothes is not Bob's! +Now I knows 'tis not my boy we've found." + +"Yes, Mary," said he broken-heartedly. "Tis Bob th' wolves got. Our +poor lad is gone. No one else could ha' had his things." + +He and Douglas made a coffin into which the remains were tenderly +placed, and it was put upon a high platform near the house, out of +reach of animals, there to rest until the spring, when the snow would +be gone and it could be buried. + +For a whole week after this sad duty was performed the father sat by +the cabin stove and brooded, a broken-hearted, dispirited counterpart +of what he had been at the Christmas time. It was the man's nature to +be silent in seasons of misfortune. During the previous year, when +luck had been so against him, this characteristic of silent brooding +had shown itself markedly, but then he did not remain in the house and +neglect his work as he did now. He seemed to have lost all heart and +all ambition. He scarcely troubled to feed the dogs, and the few tasks +that he did perform were evidently irksome and unpleasant to him, as +things that interfered with his reveries. + +From morning until night Richard Gray nursed the grief in his bosom, +but never referred to the tragedy unless it was first mentioned by +another; and at such times he said as little as possible about it, +answering questions briefly, offering nothing himself, and plainly +showing that he did not wish to converse upon the subject. + +Over and over again he reviewed to himself every phase of Bob's life, +from the time when, a wee lad, Bob climbed on his knee of an evening +to beg for stories of bear hunts, and great gray wolves that harried +the hunters, and how the animals were captured on the trail; and +through the years into which the little lad grew into youth and +approached manhood, down to the day that he left home, looking so +noble and stalwart, to brave, for the sake of those he loved, the +unknown dangers that lurked in the rude, wild wastes beyond the line +of blue mysterious hills to the northward. And now the poor remains +enclosed in the rough box that rested upon the scaffold outside were +all that remained of him. And that was the end of all the plans that +he and the mother had made for their son's future, of all their hopes +and fine pictures. + +Mrs. Gray had never seen her husband in so downcast and despondent a +mood, and as the days passed she began to worry about him and finally +became alarmed. He had lost all interest in everything, and had a +strange, unnatural look in his eyes that she did not like. + +One evening she sat down by his aide, and, taking his hand, said: + +"Be a brave man, Richard, and bear up. Th' Lard's never let Bob die +so. That were _not_ Bob as th' wolves got. I'm knowin' our lad's +somewheres alive. I were dreamin' last night o' seem' he--an'--I feels +it--I feels it--an' I can't go agin my feelin'." + +"No, Mary, 'twere Bob," he answered. + +"I feels 'tweren't, but if 'twere 'tis th' Lard's will, an' 'tis our +duty t' be brave an' bear up. Tis hard--rare hard--but bear up, +Richard--an' bear un like a man. Remember, Richard, we has th' maid +spared to us." + +And so, heart-broken though she was herself, she comforted and +encouraged him, as is the way of women, for in times of great +misfortune they are often the braver of the sexes. Her husband did not +know the hours of wakeful uncertainty and helplessness and despair +that Mrs. Gray spent, as she lay long into the nights thinking and +thinking, until sometimes it seemed that she would go mad. + +Bessie, gentle and sympathetic, was the pillar upon which they all +leaned during those first days after the dreadful tidings came. It was +her presence that made life possible. Like a good angel she moved +about the house, unobtrusively ministering to them, and Mrs. Gray +more than once said, + +"I'm not knowin' what we'd do, Bessie, if 'twere not for you." + +After a week of silent despondency the father roused himself to some +extent from the lethargy into which he had fallen, and returned to his +trail. The work brought back life and energy, and when, a fortnight +later, he came back, he had resumed somewhat his old bearing and +manner, though not all of the buoyancy. He entered the cabin with the +old greeting--"An' how's my maid been wi'out her daddy?" It made the +others feel better and happier; and he was almost his natural self +again when he left them for another period. + +The report of Bob's death did not appear to affect Emily as greatly as +her mother feared it would. She was silent, and took less interest in +her doll, and seemed to be constantly expecting something to occur. +One day after her father had left them she called her mother to her, +and, taking her hand to draw her to a seat on the couch, asked: + +"Mother, do angels ever come by day, or be it always by night?" + +"I'm--I'm--not knowin', dear. They comes both times, I'm thinkin'--but +mostly by night--I'm--not knowin'," faltered the mother. + +"Does un think Bob's angel ha' been comin' by night while we sleeps, +mother? I been watchin', an' he've never come while I wakes--an' I'm +wonderin' an' wonderin'." + +"No--not while we sleeps--no--I'm not knowin'," and then she buried +her face in Emily's pillow and wept. + +"Bob's knowin', mother, how we longs t' see he," continued Emily, as +she stroked her mother's hair, "an' he'd sure be comin' if he were +killed. He'd sure be doin' that so we could see un. But he's not been +comin', an' I'm thinkin' he's livin', just as you were sayin'. Bob'll +be home wi' th' break-up, mother, I'm thinkin'--wi' th' break-up, +mother, for his angel ha' never come, as un sure would if he were +dead." + +On two or three other occasions after this--once in the night--Emily +called Mrs. Gray to her to reiterate this belief. She would not accept +even the possibility of Bob's death without first seeing his angel, +which she was so positive would come to visit them if he were really +dead; and it was this that kept back the grief that she would have +felt had she believed that she was never to see him again. + +Bessie remained with them until the last of February, when her father +drove the dogs over to take her home, as many of the trappers were +expected in from their trails about the first of March to spend a few +days at the Post, and her mother needed her help with the additional +work that this entailed. Emily was loath to part from her, but her +father promised that she should return again for a visit as soon as +the break-up came and before the fishing commenced. + +Douglas Campbell was very good to the Grays, and at least once each +week, and sometimes oftener, walked over to spend the day and cheer +them up. Often he brought some little delicacy for Emily, and she +looked forward to his visits with much pleasure. + +One day towards the last of May he asked Emily: + +"How'd un like t' go t' St. Johns an' have th' doctors make a fine, +strong maid of un again? I'm thinkin' th' mother's needin' her maid t' +help her now." + +"Oh, I'd like un fine, sir!" exclaimed Emily. + +"I'm thinkin' we'll have t' send un. 'Twill be a long while away from +home. You won't be gettin' lonesome now?" + +"I'm fearin' I'll be gettin' lonesome for mother, but I'll stand un t' +get well an' walk again." + +"Now does un hear that," said Douglas to Mrs. Gray, who at that moment +came in from out of doors. "Your little maid's goin' t' St. Johns t' +have th' doctors make she walk again, so she can be helpin' wi' th' +housekeepin'." + +"The's no money t' send she," said Mrs. Gray sadly. "'Tis troublin' me +wonderful, an' I'm not knowin' what t' do--'tis troublin' me so." + +"I'm thinkin' th' money'll be found t' send she--I'm _knowin'_ +'twill," Douglas prophesied convincingly. "Ed were sayin' Bob had a +rare lot o' fur that he'd caught before th'--before th' New Year--a +fine lot o' martens an' th' silver foxes. Them'll pay Bob's debt an' +pay for th' maid's goin' too. That's what Bob were wantin'." + +"Did Ed say now as Bob were gettin' all that fur?" she asked. "I were +feelin' so sore bad over Bob's goin' I were never hearin' un--I were +not thinkin' about th' lad's fur--I were thinkin' o' he." + +"Aye, Ed were sayin' that. Emily must be ready t' go on th' cruise t' +meet th' first trip o' th' mail boat. Th' maid must be leavin' here +by th' last o' June," planned Douglas. + +"But we'll not be havin' th' money then--not till th' men comes out, +an' then we has t' sell th' fur first t' get th' money," Mrs. Gray +explained. "Then--then I hopes th' maid may go. 'Tis what Bob were +goin' t' th' bush for--an' takin' all th' risks for--my poor lad--he +were countin' on un so----" + +"We'll not be waitin'. We'll not be waitin'. _I_ has th' money now an' +th' maid must be goin' th' _first_ trip o' th' mail boat," said +Douglas, in an authoritative manner. + +"Oh, Douglas, you be wonderful good--so wonderful good." And Mrs. Gray +began to cry. + +"Now! Now!" exclaimed the soft-hearted old trapper, "'Tis nothin' t' +be cryin' about. What un cryin' for, now?" + +"I'm--not--knowin'--only you be so good--an' I were wantin' so bad t' +have Emily go--I were wantin' so wonderful bad--an' 'twill save +she--'twill save she!" + +"'Tis no kindness. 'Tis no kindness. 'Tis Bob's fur pays for un--no +kindness o' mine," he insisted. + +Emily took Douglas' hand and drew him to her until she could reach his +face. Then with a palm on each cheek she kissed his lips, and with her +arms about his neck buried her face for a moment in his white beard. + +"There! There!" he exclaimed when she had released him. "Now what un +makin' love t' me for?" + +Richard returned that evening from his last trip over his trail for +the season, and he was much pleased with the arrangement as to Emily. + +"Your daddy'll be lonesome wi'out un," said he, "but 'twill be fine t' +think o' my maid comin' back walkin' again--rare fine." + +"An' 'twill be rare hard t' be goin'," she said. "I'm 'most wishin' I +weren't havin' t' go." + +"But when you comes back, maid, you'll be well, an' think, now, how +happy that'll make un," Mrs. Gray encouraged. "Th' Lard's good t' be +providin' th' way. 'Twill be hard for un an' for us all, but th' Lard +always pays us for th' hard times an' th' sorrow He brings us, wi' +good times an' a rare lot o' happiness after, if we only waits wi' +patience an' faith for un." + +"Aye, mother, I knows, an' I _is_ glad--oh, _so_ glad t' know I's t' +be well again," said Emily very earnestly. "But," she added, "I'm +thinkin' 'twould be so fine if you or daddy were goin' wi' me. Bob +were countin' on un so--I minds how Bob were countin' on my goin'--an' +he's not here t' know about un--an' I feels wonderful bad when I +thinks of un." + +Of course it was quite out of the question for either the father or +the mother to go with her, for that would more than double the expense +and could not be afforded. There was no certainty as to how much would +be coming to them after Bob's share of the furs were sold. This could +not be estimated even approximately for they had not so much as seen +the pelts yet. Richard, grown somewhat pessimistic with the years of +ill fortune, even doubted if, after Bob's debt to Mr. MacDonald was +paid, there would be sufficient left to reimburse Douglas for the +money he had agreed to advance to meet Emily's expenses. "But then," +he said, "I suppose 'twill work out somehow." + +At last the great storm came that opened the rivers and smashed the +bay ice into bits, and when the fury of the wind was spent and the +rain ceased the sun came out with a new warmth that bespoke the summer +close at hand. The tide carried the splintered ice to the open sea, +wild geese honked overhead in their northern flight, seals played in +the open water, and the loon's weird laugh broke the wilderness +silence. The world was awakening from its long slumber, and summer was +at hand. + +Tom Black kept his word, and when the ice was gone brought Bessie over +in his boat to stay with Emily until she should go to the hospital. It +was a beautiful, sunny afternoon when they arrived and Bessie brought +a good share of the sunshine into the cabin with her. + +"Oh, Bessie!" cried Emily, as her friend burst into the room. "I were +thinkin' you'd not be comin', Bessie! Oh, 'tis fine t' have you come!" + +Tom remained the night, and he and Bessie cheered up the Grays, for it +had been a lonely, monotonous period since their last visit, and never +a caller save Douglas had they had. + +Time, the great healer of sorrow, had somewhat mitigated the shock of +Bob's disappearance, and had reconciled them to some extent to his +loss. But now the sore was opened again when, one day, a grave was dug +in the spruce woods behind the cabin, and the coffin, which had been +resting upon the scaffold since January, was taken down and +reverently lowered into the earth by Richard and Douglas. Mrs. Gray, +though still firm in the intuitive belief that her boy lived, wept +piteously when the earth clattered down upon the box and hid it +forever from view. + +"I knows 'tis not Bob," she sobbed, "but where is my lad? What has +become o' my brave lad?" + +Bessie, with wet eyes, comforted her with soothing words and gentle +caresses. + +Richard and Douglas did their work silently, both certain beyond a +doubt that it was Bob they had laid to rest. + +Nothing was said to Emily of the burial. That would have done her no +good and they did not wish to give her the pain that it would have +caused. + +The days were rapidly lengthening, and the sun coming boldly nearer +the earth was tempering and mellowing the atmosphere, and every +pleasant afternoon a couch was made for Emily out of doors, where she +could bask in the sunshine, and breathe the air charged with the +perfume of the spruce and balsam forest above, and drink in the wild +beauties of the wilderness about her. + +Here she lay, alone, one day late in June while her mother and Bessie +washed the dinner dishes before Bessie came out to join her, and her +father and Douglas, who had come over to dinner, smoked their pipes +and chatted in the house. She was listening to the joyous song of a +robin, that had just returned from its far-off southland pilgrimage, +and was thinking as she listened of the long, long journey that she +was soon to take. Her heart was sad, for it was a sore trial to be +separated all the summer from her father and mother and never see them +once. + +She looked down the bight out towards the broader waters of the bay, +for that was the way she was to go. Suddenly as she looked a boat +turned the point into the bight. It was a strange boat and she could +not see who was in it, but it held her attention as it approached, for +a visitor was quite unusual at this time of the year. Presently the +single occupant stood up in the boat, to get a better view of the +cabin. + +"Bob! _Bob!_ BOB!" shouted Emily, quite wild and beside +herself. "Mother! Father! Bob is coming! _Bob_ is coming!" + +Those in the house rushed out in alarm, for they thought the child had +gone quite mad, but when they reached her they, too, seemed to lose +their reason. Mrs. Gray ran wildly to the sandy shore where the boat +would land, extending her arms towards it and fairly screaming, + +"My lad! Oh, my lad!" + +Bessie was at her heels and Richard and Douglas followed. + +When Bob stepped ashore his mother clasped him to her arms and wept +over him and fondled him, and he, taller by an inch than when he left +her, bronzed and weather-beaten and ragged, drew her close to him and +hugged her again and again, and stroked her hair, and cried too, while +Richard and Douglas stood by, blowing their noses on their red bandana +handkerchiefs and trying to took very self-composed. + +When his mother let him go Bob greeted the others, forgetting himself +so far as to kiss Bessie, who blushed and did not resent his boldness. + +Emily simply would not let him go. She held him tight to her, and +called him her "big, brave brother," and said many times: + +"I were knowin' you'd come back to us, Bob. I were just _knowin'_ +you'd come back." + +An hour passed in a babble of talk and exchange of explanations almost +before they were aware, and then Mrs. Gray suddenly realized that Bob +had had no dinner. + +"Now un must be rare hungry, Bob," she explained. "Richard, carry +Emily in with un now, an' we'll have a cup o' tea wi' Bob, while he +has his dinner." + +"Let me carry un," said Bob, gathering Emily into his arms. + +In the house they were all so busy talking and laughing, while Mrs. +Gray prepared the meal for Bob, that no one noticed a boat pull into +the bight and three men land upon the beach below the cabin; and so, +just as they were about to sit down to the table, they were taken +completely by surprise when the door opened and in walked Dick Blake, +Ed Matheson and Bill Campbell. + +The three stopped short in open-mouthed astonishment. + +"'Tis Bob's ghost!" finally exclaimed Ed. + +They were soon convinced, however, that Bob's hand grasp was much more +real than that of any ghost, and the greetings that followed were +uproarious. + +Nearly the whole afternoon they sat around the table while Bob told +the story of his adventures. A comparison of experiences made it +quite certain that the remains they had supposed to have been Bob's +were the remains of Micmac John and the mystery of the half-breed's +failure to return to the tilt for the pelts he had stolen was +therefore cleared up. + +"An' th' Nascaupees," said Bob, "be not fearsome murderous folk as we +was thinkin' un, but like other folks, an' un took rare fine care o' +me. I'm thinkin' they'd not be hurtin' white folks an' white folk +don't hurt _they_." + +Finally the men sat back from the table for a smoke and chat while the +dishes were being cleared away by Mrs. Gray and Bessie. + +"Now I were sure thinkin' Bob were a ghost," said Ed, as he lighted +his pipe with a brand from the stove, "and 'twere scarin' me a bit. I +never seen but one ghost in my life and that were----" + +"We're not wantin' t' hear that ghost yarn, Ed," broke in Dick, and Ed +forgot his story in the good-natured laughter that followed. + +The home-coming was all that Bob had hoped and desired it to be and +the arrival of his three friends from the trail made it complete. His +heart was full that evening when he stepped out of doors to watch the +setting sun. As he gazed at the spruce-clad hills that hid the great, +wild north from which he had so lately come, the afterglow blazed up +with all its wondrous colour, glorifying the world and lighting the +heavens and the water and the hills beyond with the radiance and +beauty of a northern sunset. The spirit of it was in Bob's soul, and +he said to himself, + +"'Tis wonderful fine t' be livin', an' 'tis a wonderful fine world t' +live in, though 'twere seemin' hard sometimes, in the winter. An' th' +comin' home has more than paid for th' trouble I were havin' gettin' +here." + + + + +XXVII + +THE CRUISE TO ST. JOHNS + + +When Bob and the two Eskimos sailed the _Maid of the North_ up the bay +from Fort Pelican it was found advisable to run the schooner to an +anchorage at Kenemish where she could lie with less exposure to the +wind than at Wolf Bight. The moment she was made snug and safe Bob +went ashore to Douglas Campbell's cabin, where he learned that his old +friend had gone to Wolf Bight early that morning to spend the day. + +The lad's impatience to reach home would brook no waiting, and so, +leaving Netseksoak and Aluktook in charge of the vessel, he proceeded +alone in a small boat, reaching there as we have seen early in the +afternoon. + +What to do with the schooner now that she had brought him safely to +his destination was a problem that Bob had not been able to solve. The +vessel was not his, and it was plainly his duty to find her owner and +deliver the schooner to him, but how to go about it he did not know. +That evening when the candles were lighted and all were gathered +around the stove, he put the question to the others. + +"I'm not knowin' now who th' schooner belongs to," said he, "an' I'm +not knowin' how t' find th' owner, I'm wonderin' what t' do with un." + +"Tis some trader owns un I'm thinkin'," Mrs. Gray suggested. + +"'Tis sure some trader," agreed Bob, "and the's a rare lot o' fur +aboard she an' the's enough trader's goods t' stock a Post. Mr. Forbes +were tellin' me I should be gettin' salvage for bringin' she t' port +safe." + +"Aye," confirmed Douglas, "you should be gettin' salvage. 'Tis th' law +o' th' sea an' but right. We'll ha' t' be lookin' t' th' salvage for +un lad." + +"But how'll we be gettin' un now?" Bob asked, much puzzled. "An' +how'll we be findin' th' owner?" + +"Th' owner," explained Douglas, "will be doin' th' findin' hisself I'm +thinkin'. But t' get th' salvage th' schooner'll ha' t' be took t' St. +Johns. Now I'm not knowin' but I could pilot she over. 'Tis a many a +long year since I were there but I'm thinkin' I could manage un, and +we'll make up a crew an' sail she over." + +"We'll be needin' five t' handle she right," said Bob. "'Twere +wonderful hard gettin' on wi' just me an' th' two huskies. We'll sure +need five." + +"Aye, 'twill need five of us," assented Douglas, "I'm thinkin' now +Dick an' Ed an' Bill would like t' be makin' th' cruise an' seein' St. +Johns, an' we has th' crew right here." + +The three men were not only willing to go but delighted with the +prospect of the journey. They had never in their lives been outside +the bay and the voyage offered them an opportunity to see something of +the great world of which they had heard so much. + +"I'll be wantin' t' go home first," said Dick, "an' so will Ed, but +we'll be t' Kenemish an' ready t' start in three days." + +"'Twill be a fine way t' take th' maid t' th' mail boat so th' doctor +can take she with un," suggested Richard. + +"An' father an' mother an' Bessie can go t' th' mail boat with us," +spoke up Emily, from her couch. "Oh, 'twill be fine t' have you all go +t' th' mail boat with me!" + +And so this arrangement was made and carried out. On the appointed day +every one was aboard the _Maid of the North_, and with light hearts +the voyage was begun. + +Two days later they reached Fort Pelican, when Netseksoak and Aluktook +went ashore to await the arrival of the ship that was to take them to +their far northern home, and Bob said good-bye to the two faithful +friends with whom he had braved so many dangers and suffered so many +hardships. + +The following morning the mail boat steamed in, and Emily was +transferred to her in charge of the doctor, who greeted her kindly and +promised, + +"You'll be going home a new girl in the fall, and your father and +mother won't know you." + +Nevertheless the parting from her friends was very hard for Emily, and +the mother and child, and Bessie too, shed a good many tears, though +the fact that she was to see Bob in a little while in St. Johns +comforted Emily somewhat. + +When the mail boat was finally gone, Richard Gray, with his wife and +Bessie, turned homeward in their dory, which had been brought down in +tow of the _Maid of the North_, and the schooner spread her sails to +the breeze and passed to the southward. + +With some delays caused by bad weather, three weeks elapsed before the +_Maid of the North_ one day, late in July, sailed through the narrows +past the towering cliffs of Signal Hill, and anchored in the +land-locked harbour of St. Johns. + +In the interim the mail boat had made another voyage to the north, and +brought back with her Captain Hanks and his crew, who had worked their +way to Indian Harbour in their open boat to await the steamer there. +Of course Skipper Sam had heard that Bob was coming with the _Maid of +the North_, and when the schooner finally reached her anchorage he was +on the lookout for her, and at once came aboard with much blustering, +to demand her immediate delivery. He believed he had some +unsophisticated livyeres to deal with, whom he could easily browbeat +out of their rights. What was his surprise, then, when Douglas stepped +forward, and said very authoritatively: + +"Bide a bit, now, skipper. When 'tis decided how much salvage you pays +th' lad, an' after you pays un, you'll be havin' th' schooner an' her +cargo, an' not till then." + +Bob's first thought upon going ashore was of Emily, and he went +immediately to the hospital to see her. The operation had been +performed nearly two weeks previously and she was recovering rapidly. +When he was admitted to the ward, and she glimpsed him as he entered +the door, her delight was almost beyond bounds. + +"Oh! Oh!" she exclaimed, when he kissed her. "Tis fine t' see un, +Bob--'tis _so_ fine. An' now I'll be gettin' well wonderful quick." + +And she did. She was discharged from the hospital quite cured a month +later. At first she was a little weak, but youth and a naturally +strong constitution were in her favour, and she regained her strength +with remarkable rapidity. + +Finally a settlement was arranged with Captain Hanks. The furs on +board the _Maid of the North_ were appraised at market value, and when +Bob received his salvage he found himself possessed of fifteen +thousand dollars. + +He reimbursed Douglas the amount advanced for Emily's hospital +expenses, but the kind old trapper would not accept another cent, +though the lad wished to pay him for his services in piloting the +vessel to St. Johns. + +"Put un in th' bank. You'll be needin' un some day t' start un in +life. Hold on t' un," was the good advice that Douglas gave, and +accordingly the money was deposited in the bank. + +Bob's share of the furs that he had trapped himself he very generously +insisted upon giving to Dick and Ed and Bill. They were diffident +about accepting them at first, saying: + +"We were doin' nothin' for un." + +But Bob pressed the furs upon them, and finally they accepted them. +The silver fox which he wept over that cold December evening sold for +four hundred and fifty dollars, and the one Dick found frozen in the +trap by the deer's antlers for three hundred dollars. + +Neither did Bob forget Netseksoak and Aluktook. Money would have been +quite useless to the Eskimos as he well knew, so he sent them rifles +and many things which they could use and would value. + +Laden with gifts for the home folks, and satiated with looking at the +shops and great buildings and wonders of St. Johns, they were a very +happy party when at last the mail boat steamed northward with them. + +Bob Gray was very proud of his little chum when, one beautiful +September day, his boat ground its prow upon the sands at Wolf Bight, +and with all the strength and vigour of youth she bounded ashore and +ran to meet the expectant and happy parents. + +As, with full hearts, the reunited family of Richard Gray walked up +the path to the cabin, Bob said reverently: + +"Th' Lard has ways o' doin' things that seem strange an' wonderful +hard sometimes when He's doin' un; but He always does un right, an' a +rare lot better'n _we_ could plan." + + + + +XXVIII + +IN AFTER YEARS + + +During the twenty years that have elapsed since the incidents +transpired that are here recorded, the mission doctors and the mission +hospitals have come to The Labrador to give back life and health to +the unfortunate sick and injured folk of the coast, who in the old +days would have been doomed to die or to go through life helpless +cripples or invalids for the lack of medical or surgical care, as +would have been the case with little Emily but for the efforts of her +noble brother. New people, too, have come into Eskimo Bay, though on +the whole few changes have taken place and most of the characters met +with in the preceding pages still live. + +Douglas Campbell in the fullness of years has passed away. But he is +not forgotten, and in the spring-time loving hands gather the wild +flowers, which grow so sparsely there, and scatter them upon the mossy +mound that marks his resting place. + +Ed Matheson to this day tells the story of the adventures of Ungava +Bob--as Bob Gray has thenceforth been called--not forgetting to +embellish the tale with flights of fancy; and of course Dick Blake +warns the listeners that these imaginative variations are "just some +o' Ed's yarns," and Bob laughs at them good-naturedly. + +It may be asked to what use Bob put his newly acquired wealth, and the +reader's big sister should this book fall into her hands, will surely +wish to know whether Bob and Bessie married, and what became of +Manikawan. But these are matters that belong to another story that +perhaps some day it may seem worth while to tell. + +For the present, adieu to Ungava Bob. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNGAVA BOB*** + + +******* This file should be named 16596.txt or 16596.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/5/9/16596 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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