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diff --git a/21733.txt b/21733.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..207407e --- /dev/null +++ b/21733.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11337 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Giant of the North, by R.M. Ballantyne + +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: The Giant of the North + Pokings Round the Pole + +Author: R.M. Ballantyne + +Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21733] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GIANT OF THE NORTH *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Giant of the North, or, Pokings Round The Pole, by R.M. Ballantyne. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +Robert Michael Ballantyne was born in 1825 and died in 1894. He was +educated at the Edinburgh Academy, and in 1841 he became a clerk with +the Hudson Bay Company, working at the Red River Settlement in Northen +Canada until 1847, arriving back in Edinburgh in 1848. The letters he +had written home were very amusing in their description of backwoods +life, and his family publishing connections suggested that he should +construct a book based on these letters. Three of his most enduring +books were written over the next decade, "The Young Fur Traders", +"Ungava", "The Hudson Bay Company", and were based on his experiences +with the H.B.C. In this period he also wrote "The Coral island" and +"Martin Rattler", both of these taking place in places never visited by +Ballantyne. Having been chided for small mistakes he made in these +books, he resolved always to visit the places he wrote about. With +these books he became known as a great master of literature intended for +teenagers. He researched the Cornish Mines, the London Fire Brigade, +the Postal Service, the Railways, the laying down of submarine telegraph +cables, the construction of light-houses, the light-ship service, the +life-boat service, South Africa, Norway, the North Sea fishing fleet, +ballooning, deep-sea diving, Algiers, and many more, experiencing the +lives of the men and women in these settings by living with them for +weeks and months at a time, and he lived as they lived. + +He was a very true-to-life author, depicting the often squalid scenes he +encountered with great care and attention to detail. His young readers +looked forward eagerly to his next books, and through the 1860s and +1870s there was a flow of books from his pen, sometimes four in a year, +all very good reading. The rate of production diminished in the last +ten or fifteen years of his life, but the quality never failed. + +He published over ninety books under his own name, and a few books for +very young children under the pseudonym "Comus". + +For today's taste his books are perhaps a little too religious, and what +we would nowadays call "pi". In part that was the way people wrote in +those days, but more important was the fact that in his days at the Red +River Settlement, in the wilds of Canada, he had been a little +dissolute, and he did not want his young readers to be unmindful of how +they ought to behave, as he felt he had been. + +Some of his books were quite short, little over 100 pages. These books +formed a series intended for the children of poorer parents, having less +pocket-money. These books are particularly well-written and researched, +because he wanted that readership to get the very best possible for +their money. They were published as six series, three books in each +series. + +While Ballantyne had some acqaintance with the Eskimo during his years +with the Hudson Bay Company, this book runs a little into the +fantastical. The head of the family who are the heroes of the book has +the belief that there is a sea of ever-warm water surrounding the North +Pole, and that there are islands there abounding in animal life, and +colonised by the Eskimos. The plan is to visit these islands, and stand +upon the actual North Pole, which they find to be a low eminence near to +the hut of a descendant of a seaman of the original Hudson expedition in +1611. + +The story is very well-told, and you find yourself almost believing the +Captain's logic. The tension is maintained right up to the last +chapter, so much so that we do not learn whether the family, who have by +this time all become endeared to us, ever get home to England, and what +the father and mother of the Captain's nephews have to say about their +sons' adventures. + +Created as an e-Text by Nick Hodson, August 2003. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +THE GIANT OF THE NORTH, OR, POKINGS ROUND THE POLE, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE. + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +INTRODUCES OUR HERO AND HIS KINDRED. + +The Giant was an Eskimo of the Arctic regions. At the beginning of his +career he was known among his kindred by the name of Skreekinbroot, or +the howler, because he howled oftener and more furiously than any infant +that had ever been born in Arctic land. His proper name, however, was +Chingatok, though his familiars still ventured occasionally to style him +Skreekinbroot. + +Now it must not be supposed that our giant was one of those ridiculous +myths of the nursery, with monstrous heads and savage hearts, who live +on human flesh, and finally receive their deserts at the hands of famous +giant-killing Jacks. No! Chingatok was a real man of moderate size-- +not more than seven feet two in his sealskin boots--with a lithe, +handsome figure, immense chest and shoulders, a gentle disposition, and +a fine, though flattish countenance, which was sometimes grave with +thought, at other times rippling with fun. + +We mention the howling characteristic of his babyhood because it was, in +early life, the only indication of the grand spirit that dwelt within +him--the solitary evidence of the tremendous energy with which he was +endowed. At first he was no bigger than an ordinary infant. He was, +perhaps, a little fatter, but _not_ larger, and there was not an oily +man or woman of the tribe to which he belonged who would have noticed +anything peculiar about him if he had only kept moderately quiet; but +this he would not or could not do. His mouth was his safety-valve. His +spirit seemed to have been born big at once. It was far too large for +his infant body, and could only find relief from the little plump +dwelling in which it was at first enshrined by rushing out at the mouth. +The shrieks of pigs were trifles to the yelling of that Eskimo child's +impatience. The caterwauling of cats was as nothing to the growls of +his disgust. The angry voice of the Polar bear was a mere chirp +compared with the furious howling of his disappointment, and the barking +of a mad walrus was music to the roaring of his wrath. + +Every one, except his mother, wished him dead and buried in the centre +of an iceberg or at the bottom of the Polar Sea. His mother--squat, +solid, pleasant-faced, and mild--alone put up with his ways with that +long-suffering endurance which is characteristic of mothers. Nothing +could disturb the serenity of Toolooha. When the young giant, (that was +to be), roared, she fondled him; if that was ineffectual, she gave him a +walrus tusk or a seal's flipper to play with; if that did not suffice, +she handed him a lump of blubber to suck; if that failed, as was +sometimes the case, she gambolled with him on the floor of her snow-hut, +and rubbed his oily visage lovingly over her not less oleaginous +countenance. Need we enlarge on this point? Have not all mothers acted +thus, or similarly, in all times and climes? + + From pole to pole a mother's soul + Is tender, strong, and true; + Whether the loved be good or bad-- + White, yellow, black, or blue. + +But Toolooha's love was wise as well as strong. If all else failed, she +was wont to apply corporal punishment, and whacked her baby with her +tail. Be not shocked, reader. We refer to the tail of her coat, which +was so long that it trailed on the ground, and had a flap at the end +which produced surprising results when properly applied. + +But the howling condition of life did not last long. + +At the age of five years little Chingatok began to grow unusually fast, +and when he reached the age of seven, the tribe took note of him as a +more than promising youth. Then the grand spirit, which had hitherto +sought to vent itself in yells and murderous assaults on its doting +mother, spent its energies in more noble action. All the little boys of +his size, although much older than himself, began to look up to him as a +champion. None went so boldly into mimic warfare with the walrus and +the bear as Chingatok. No one could make toy sledges out of inferior +and scanty materials so well as he. If any little one wanted a +succourer in distress, Skreekinbroot was the lad to whom he, or she, +turned. If a broken toy had to be mended, Chingatok could do it better +than any other boy. And so it went on until he became a man and a +giant. + +When he was merely a big boy--that is, bigger than the largest man of +his tribe--he went out with the other braves to hunt and fish, and +signalised himself by the reckless manner in which he would attack the +polar bear single-handed; but when he reached his full height and +breadth he gave up reckless acts, restrained his tendency to display his +great strength, and became unusually modest and thoughtful, even +pensive, for an Eskimo. + +The superiority of Chingatok's mind, as well as his body, soon became +manifest. Even among savages, intellectual power commands respect. +When coupled with physical force it elicits reverence. The young giant +soon became an oracle and a leading man in his tribe. Those who had +wished him dead, and in the centre of an iceberg or at the bottom of the +Polar Sea, came to wish that there were only a few more men like him. + +Of course he had one or two enemies. Who has not? There were a few who +envied him his physical powers. There were some who envied him his +moral influence. None envied him his intellectual superiority, for they +did not understand it. There was one who not only envied but hated him. +This was Eemerk, a mean-spirited, narrow-minded fellow, who could not +bear to play what is styled second fiddle. + +Eemerk was big enough--over six feet--but he wanted to be bigger. He +was stout enough, but wanted to be stouter. He was influential too, but +wanted to reign supreme. This, of course, was not possible while there +existed a taller, stouter, and cleverer man than himself. Even if +Eemerk had been the equal of Chingatok in all these respects, there +would still have remained one difference of character which would have +rendered equality impossible. + +It was this: our young giant was unselfish and modest. Eemerk was +selfish and vain-glorious. When the latter killed a seal he always kept +the tit-bits for himself. Chingatok gave them to his mother, or to any +one else who had a mind to have them. And so in regard to everything. + +Chingatok was not a native of the region in which we introduce him to +the reader. He and the tribe, or rather part of the tribe, to which he +belonged, had travelled from the far north; so far north that nobody +knew the name of the land from which they had come. Even Chingatok +himself did not know it. Being unacquainted with geography, he knew no +more about his position on the face of this globe than a field-mouse or +a sparrow. + +But the young giant had heard a strange rumour, while in his far-off +country, which had caused his strong intellect to ponder, and his huge +heart to beat high. Tribes who dwelt far to the south of his northern +home had told him that other tribes, still further south, had declared +that the people who dwelt to the south of them had met with a race of +men who came to them over the sea on floating islands; that these +islands had something like trees growing out of them, and wings which +moved about, which folded and expanded somewhat like the wings of the +sea-gull; that these men's faces were whiter than Eskimo faces; that +they wore skins of a much more curious kind than sealskins, and that +they were amazingly clever with their hands, talked a language that no +one could understand, and did many wonderful things that nobody could +comprehend. + +A longing, wistful expression used to steal over Chingatok's face as he +gazed at the southern horizon while listening to these strange rumours, +and a very slight smile of incredulity had glimmered on his visage, when +it was told him that one of the floating islands of these Kablunets, or +white men, had been seen with a burning mountain in the middle of it, +which vomited forth smoke and fire, and sometimes uttered a furious +hissing or shrieking sound, not unlike his own voice when he was a +Skreekinbroot. + +The giant said little about these and other subjects, but thought +deeply. His mind, as we have said, was far ahead of his time and +condition. Let us listen to some of the disjointed thoughts that +perplexed this man. + +"Who made me?" he asked in a low tone, when floating alone one day in +his kayak, or skin canoe, "whence came I? whither go I? What is this +great sea on which I float? that land on which I tread? No sledge, no +spear, no kayak, no snow-hut makes itself! Who made all that which I +behold?" + +Chingatok looked around him, but no audible answer came from Nature. He +looked up, but the glorious sun only dazzled his eyes. + +"There _must_ be One," he continued in a lower tone, "who made all +things; but who made _Him_? No one? It is impossible! The Maker must +have ever been. _Ever been_!" He repeated this once or twice with a +look of perplexed gravity. + +The northern savage had grasped the grand mystery, and, like all true +philosophers savage or civilised who have gone before him, relapsed into +silence. + +At last he resolved to travel south, until he should arrive at the +coasts where these strange sights before described were said to have +been seen. + +Having made up his mind, Chingatok began his arrangements without delay; +persuaded a few families of his tribe to accompany him, and reached the +north-western shores of Greenland after a long and trying journey by +water and ice. + +Here he spent the winter. When spring came, he continued his journey +south, and at last began to look out, with sanguine expectation, for the +floating islands with wings, and the larger island with the burning +mountain on it, about which he had heard. + +Of course, on his way south, our giant fell in with some members of the +tribes through whom the rumours that puzzled him had been transmitted to +the far north; and, as he advanced, these rumours took a more definite, +also a more correct, form. In time he came to understand that the +floating islands were gigantic kayaks, or canoes, with masts and sails, +instead of trees and wings. The burning mountain, however, remained an +unmodified mystery, which he was still inclined to disbelieve. But +these more correct views did not in the least abate Chingatok's eager +desire to behold, with his own eyes, the strange men from the unknown +south. + +Eemerk formed one of the party who had volunteered to join Chingatok on +this journey. Not that Eemerk was influenced by large-minded views or a +thirst for knowledge, but he could not bear the thought that his rival +should have all the honour of going forth on a long journey of +exploration to the mysterious south, a journey which was sure to be full +of adventure, and the successful accomplishment of which would +unquestionably raise him very much in the estimation of his tribe. + +Eemerk had volunteered to go, not as second in command, but as an +independent member of the party--a sort of free-lance. Chingatok did +not quite relish having Eemerk for a companion, but, being a +good-humoured, easy-going fellow, he made no objection to his going. +Eemerk took his wife with him. Chingatok took his mother and little +sister; also a young woman named Tekkona, who was his wife's sister. +These were the only females of the exploring party. Chingatok had left +his wife behind him, because she was not robust at that time; besides, +she was very small--as is usually the case with giants' wives--and he +was remarkably fond of her, and feared to expose her to severe fatigue +and danger. + +The completed party of explorers numbered twenty souls, with their +respective bodies, some of which latter were large, some small, but all +strong and healthy. Four of the men were friends of Eemerk, whom he had +induced to join because he knew them to be kindred spirits who would +support him. + +"I go to the ice-cliff to look upon the sea," said Chingatok one +morning, drawing himself up to his full height, and unconsciously +brushing some of the lamp-black off the roof of his hut with the hood of +his sealskin coat. + +At this point it may be well to explain, once for all, that our giant +did not speak English, and as it is highly improbable that the reader +understands the Eskimo tongue, we will translate as literally as +possible--merely remarking that Chingatok's language, like his mind, was +of a superior cast. + +"Why goes my son to the ice-cliff?" asked Toolooha in a slightly +reproachful tone. "Are not the floes nearer? Can he not look on the +great salt lake from the hummocks? The sun has been hot a long time +now. The ice-cliffs are dangerous. Their edges split off every day. +If my son goes often to them, he will one day come tumbling down upon +the floes and be crushed flat, and men will carry him to his mother's +feet like a mass of shapeless blubber." + +It is interesting to note how strong a resemblance there is in sentiment +and modes of thought between different members of the human family. +This untutored savage, this Polar giant, replied, in the Eskimo tongue, +words which may be freely translated--"Never fear, mother, I know how to +take care of myself." + +Had he been an Englishman, he could not have expressed himself more +naturally. He smiled as he looked down at his stout and genial mother, +while she stooped and drew forth a choice morsel of walrus flesh from +one of her boots. Eskimo ladies wear enormous sealskin boots the whole +length of their legs. The tops of these boots are made extremely wide, +for the purpose of stowing away blubber, or babies, or other odd +articles that might encumber their hands. + +Chingatok seemed the personification of savage dignity as he stood +there, leaning on a short walrus spear. Evidently his little mother +doted on him. So did Oblooria, a pretty little girl of about sixteen, +who was his only sister, and the counterpart of her mother, hairy coat +and tail included, only a few sizes smaller. + +But Chingatok's dignity was marred somewhat when he went down on his +hands and knees, in order to crawl through the low snow-tunnel which was +the only mode of egress from the snow-hut. + +Emerging at the outer end of the tunnel, he stood up, drew the hood of +his sealskin coat over his head, shouldered his spear, and went off with +huge and rapid strides over the frozen billows of the Arctic Sea. + +Spring was far advanced at the time of which we write, and the sun shone +not only with dazzling brilliancy, but with intense power on the fields +of ice which still held the ocean in their cold unyielding embrace. The +previous winter had been unusually severe, and the ice showed little or +no sign of breaking up, except at a great distance from land, where the +heaving of the waves had cracked it up into large fields. These were +gradually parting from the main body, and drifting away with +surface-currents to southern waters, there to be liquefied and re-united +to their parent sea. + +The particular part of the Greenland coast to which the giant went in +his ramble is marked by tremendous cliffs descending perpendicularly +into the water. These, at one part, are divided by a valley tilled with +a great glacier, which flows from the mountains of the interior with a +steep declivity to the sea, into which it thrusts its tongue, or extreme +end. This mighty river of ice completely fills the valley from side to +side, being more than two miles in width and many hundred feet thick. +It seems as solid and motionless as the rocks that hem it in, +nevertheless the markings on the surface resemble the currents and +eddies of a stream which has been suddenly frozen in the act of flowing, +and if you were to watch it narrowly, day by day, and week by week, you +would perceive, by the changed position of objects on its surface, that +it does actually advance or flow towards the sea. A further proof of +this advance is, that although the tongue is constantly shedding off +large icebergs, it is never much decreased in extent, being pushed out +continuously by the ice which is behind. In fact, it is this pushing +process which causes the end of the tongue to shed its bergs, because, +when the point is thrust into deep water and floats, the motion of the +sea cracks the floating mass off from that pail which is still aground, +and lets it drift away. + +Now it was to these ice-cliffs that the somewhat reckless giant betook +himself. Although not well acquainted with that region, or fully alive +to the extent of the danger incurred, his knowledge was sufficient to +render him cautious in the selection of the position which should form +his outlook. + +And a magnificent sight indeed presented itself when he took his stand +among the glittering pinnacles. Far as the eye could reach, the sea lay +stretched in the sunshine, calm as a mill-pond, and sparkling with +ice-jewels of every shape and size. An Arctic haze, dry and sunny, +seemed to float over all like golden gauze. Not only was the sun +encircled by a beautiful halo, but also by those lovely lights of the +Arctic regions known as parhelia, or mock-suns. Four of these made no +mean display in emulation of their great original. On the horizon, +refraction caused the ice-floes and bergs to present endless variety of +fantastic forms, and in the immediate foreground--at the giant's feet-- +tremendous precipices of ice went sheer down into the deep water, while, +away to the right, where a bay still retained its winter grasp of an +ice-field, could be seen, like white bee-hives, the temporary snow-huts +of these wandering Eskimos. + +Well might the eye, as well as the head, of the so-called savage rise +upwards while he pondered the great mystery of the Maker of all! As he +stood on the giddy ledge, rapt in contemplation, an event occurred which +was fitted to deepen the solemnity of his thoughts. Not twenty yards +from the point on which he stood, a great ice-cliff--the size of an +average house--snapped off with a rending crash, and went thundering +down into the deep, which seemed to boil and heave with sentient emotion +as it received the mass, and swallowed it in a turmoil indescribable. + +Chingatok sprang from his post and sought a safer but not less lofty +outlook, while the new-born berg, rising from the sea, swayed +majestically to and fro in its new-found cradle. + +"It is not understandable," muttered the giant as he took up his new +position and gazed with feelings of awe upon the grand scene. "I wonder +if the pale-faced men in the floating islands think much about these +things. Perhaps they dwell in a land which is still more wonderful than +this, and hunt the walrus and the seal like us. It is said they come +for nothing else but to see our land and find out what is in it. Why +should I not go to see their land? My kayak is large, though it has no +wings. The land may be far off, but am I not strong? They are +pale-faced; perhaps the reason is that they are starved. That must be +so, else they would not leave their home. I might bring some of the +poor creatures to this happy land of ours, where there is always plenty +to eat. They might send messengers for their relations to come and +dwell with us. I will speak to mother about that; she is wise!" + +Like a dutiful son, the giant turned on his heel, descended the cliffs, +and went straight home to consult with his mother. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +UNEXPECTED MEETINGS, ALARMS, AND CONFIDENCES. + +"Mother, I have been thinking," said Chingatok, as he crept into his hut +and sat down on a raised bench of moss. + +"That is not news, my son; you think much. You are not like other men. +They think little and eat much." + +The stout little woman looked up through the smoke of her cooking-lamp +and smiled, but her big son was too much absorbed in his thoughts to +observe her pleasantry, so she continued the cooking of a walrus chop in +silence. + +"The Kablunets are not to be seen, mother," resumed Chingatok. "I have +looked for them every day for a long time, and begin to weary. My +thought is now to launch my kayak when we come to open water, load it +with meat, take four spears and more lines than a strong hunter needs +for a whole season; then paddle away south to discover the land of the +Kablunets. They must be poor; they may be starving. I will guide them +to our home, and show them this land of plenty." + +He paused abruptly, and looked at his mother with solemn anxiety, for he +was well aware that he had given her food for profound reflection. + +We feel tempted here to repeat our remark about the strong resemblance +between different members of the human family, but refrain. + +This untutored woman of the Arctic lands met her son's proposition with +the well-known reply of many civilised persons. + +"Of what use would it be, my son? No good can come of searching out +these poor lands. You cannot benefit the miserable Kablunets. Perhaps +they are savage and fierce; and you are sure to meet with dangers by the +way. Worse--you may die!" + +"Mother," returned Chingatok, "when the white bear stands up with his +claws above my head and his mouth a-gape, does my hand tremble or my +spear fail?" + +"No, my son." + +"Then why do you speak to me of danger and death?" + +Toolooha was not gifted with argumentative powers. She relapsed into +silence and lamp-smoke. + +But her son was not to be so easily dissuaded. He adopted a line of +reasoning which never failed. + +"Mother," he said, sadly, "it may be that you are right, and I am of too +fearful a spirit to venture far away from you by myself; I will remain +here if you think me a coward." + +"Don't say so, Chingatok. You know what I think. Go, if you must go, +but who will hunt for your poor old mother when you are gone?" + +This was an appeal which the astute little woman knew to be very +powerful with her son. She buried her head in the smoke again, and left +the question to simmer. + +Chingatok was tender-hearted. He said nothing, but, as usual, he +thought much, as he gazed in a contemplative manner at his oily parent, +and there is no saying to what lengths of self-sacrifice he would have +gone if he had not been aroused, and his thoughts scattered to the +winds, by a yell so tremendous that it might well have petrified him on +the spot. But it did nothing of the kind. It only caused him to drop +on his knees, dart through the tunnel like an eel, spring into the open +air like an electrified rabbit from its burrow, and stand up with a look +of blazing interrogation on his huge countenance. + +The cry had been uttered by his bosom friend and former playmate +Oolichuk, who came running towards him with frantic gesticulations. + +"The Kablunets!" he gasped, "the white-faces have come!--on a floating +island!--alive!--smoking!--it is all true!" + +"Where?" demanded our giant, whose face blazed up at once. + +"There!" cried Oolichuk, pointing seaward towards the ice-hummocks with +both hands, and glaring up at his friend. + +Without another word Chingatok ran off in the direction pointed out, +followed hotly by his friend. + +Oolichuk was a large and powerful man, but, his legs were remarkably +short. His pace, compared with that of Chingatok, was as that of a +sparrow to an ostrich. Nevertheless he kept up, for he was agile and +vigorous. + +"Have you seen them--have you spoken?" asked the giant, abruptly. + +"Yes, all the tribe was there." + +"No one killed?" + +"No, but terribly frightened; they made me run home to fetch you." + +Chingatok increased his speed. So did Oolichuk. + +While they run, let us leap a little ahead of them, reader, and see what +had caused all the excitement. + +The whole party had gone off that morning, with the exception of +Chingatok and his mother, to spear seals in a neighbouring bay, where +these animals had been discovered in great numbers. Dogs and sledges +had been taken, because a successful hunt was expected, and the ice was +sufficiently firm. + +The bay was very large. At its distant southern extremity there rose a +great promontory which jutted far out into the sea. While the men were +busy there making preparations to begin the hunt, Oblooria, Chingatok's +little sister, amused herself by mounting a hummock of ice about thirty +feet high. + +When there, she chanced to look towards the promontory. Instantly she +opened her eyes and mouth and uttered a squeal that brought her friends +running to her side. + +Oolichuk was the first to reach her. He had no need to ask questions. +Oblooria's gaze directed his, and there, coming round the promontory, he +beheld an object which had never before filled his wondering eyes. It +was, apparently, a monstrous creature with a dark body and towering +wings, and a black thing in its middle, from which were vomited volumes +of smoke. + +"Kablunets! white men!" he yelled. + +"Kablunets!--huk! huk!" echoed the whole tribe, as they scrambled up the +ice-hill one after another. + +And they were right. A vessel of the pale-faces had penetrated these +northern solitudes, and was advancing swiftly before a light breeze +under sail and steam. + +Despite the preparation their minds had received, and the fact that they +were out in search of these very people, this sudden appearance of them +filled most of the Eskimos with alarm--some of them with absolute +terror, insomuch that the term "pale-face" became most appropriate to +themselves. + +"What shall we do?" exclaimed Akeetolik, one of the men. + +"Fly!" cried Ivitchuk, another of the men, whose natural courage was not +high. + +"No; let us stay and behold!" said Oolichuk, with a look of contempt at +his timid comrade. + +"Yes, stay and see," said Eemerk sternly. + +"But they will kill us," faltered the young woman, whom we have already +mentioned by the name of Tekkona. + +"No--no one would kill _you_," said Eemerk gallantly; "they would only +carry you off and keep you." + +While they conversed with eager, anxious looks, the steam yacht--for +such she was--advanced rapidly, threading her way among the ice-fields +and floes with graceful rapidity and ease, to the unutterable amazement +of the natives. Although her sails were spread to catch the light +breeze, her chief motive power at the time was a screw-propeller. + +"Yes, it must be alive," said Oolichuk to Akeetolik, with a look of +solemn awe. "The white men do not paddle. They could not lift paddles +big enough to move such a great oomiak," [see Note 1], "and the wind is +not strong; it could not blow them so fast. See, the oomiak has a +tail--and wags it!" + +"Oh! _do_ let us run away!" whispered the trembling Oblooria, as she +took shelter behind Tekkona. + +"No, no," said the latter, who was brave as well as pretty, "we need not +fear. Our men will take care of us." + +"I wish that Chingatok was here!" whimpered poor little Oblooria, +nestling closer to Tekkona and grasping her tail, "he fears nothing and +nobody." + +"Ay," assented Tekkona with a peculiar smile, "and is brave enough to +fight everything and everybody." + +"Does Oblooria think that no one can fight but the giant?" whispered +Oolichuk, who stood nearest to the little maid. + +He drew a knife made of bone from his boot, where it usually lay +concealed, and flourished it, with a broad grin. The girl laughed, +blushed slightly, and, looking down, toyed with the sleeve of Tekkona's +fur coat. + +Meanwhile the yacht drew near to the floe on which our Eskimos were +grouped. The ice was cracked right across, leaving a lane of open water +about ten feet wide between its inner edge and the shore ice. The +Eskimos stood on the land side of this crack, a hundred yards or so from +it. On nearing the floe the strange vessel checked her speed. + +"It moves its wings!" exclaimed Eemerk. + +"And turns its side to us," said Akeetolik. + +"And wags its tail no more," cried Oolichuk. + +"Oh! do, _do_ let us run away," gasped Oblooria. + +"No, no, we will not run," said Tekkona. + +At that moment a white cloud burst from the side of the yacht. + +"Hi! hee! huk!" shouted the whole tribe in amazement. + +A crash followed which not only rattled like thunder among the +surrounding cliffs, but went like electric fire to the central marrow of +each Eskimo. With a united yell of terror, they leaped three feet into +the air--more or less--turned about, and fled. Tekkona, who was active +as a young deer, herself took the lead; and Oblooria, whose limbs +trembled so that she could hardly run, held on to Oolichuk, who +gallantly dragged her along. The terror was increased by a prolonged +screech from the steam-whistle. It was a wild scramble in sudden panic. +The Eskimos reached their sledges, harnessed their teams, left their +spears on the ice, cracked their whips, which caused the dogs to join in +the yelling chorus, and made for the land at a furious gallop. + +But their fear began to evaporate in a few minutes, and Oolichuk was the +first to check his pace. + +"Ho! stop," he cried. + +Eemerk looked back, saw that they were not pursued, and pulled up. The +others followed suit, and soon the fugitives were seen by those on board +the yacht grouped together and gazing intently at them from the top of +another ice-hummock. + +The effect of the cannon-shot on board the yacht itself was somewhat +startling. The gun had been loaded on the other side of the promontory +for the purpose of being fired if Eskimos were not visible on the coast +beyond, in order to attract them from the interior, if they should +chance to be there. When, however, the natives were discovered on the +ice, the gun was, of course, unnecessary, and had been forgotten. It +therefore burst upon the crew with a shock of surprise, and caused the +Captain, who was in the cabin at the moment, to shoot up from the +hatchway like a Jack-in-the-box. + +"Who did that?" he demanded, looking round sternly. + +The crew, who had been gazing intently at the natives, did not know. + +"I really cannot tell, sir," said the chief mate, touching his cap. + +Two strapping youths--one about sixteen, the other eighteen--leaned over +the side and paid no regard to the question; but it was obvious, from +the heaving motion of their shoulders, that they were not so much +absorbed in contemplation as they pretended to be. + +"Come, Leo, Alf, you know something about this." + +The Captain was a large powerful man of about forty, with bushy +iron-grey curls, a huge beard, and an aquiline nose. The two youths +turned to him at once, and Leo, the eldest, said respectfully, "We did +not see it done, uncle, but--but we think--" + +"Well, what do you think?" + +At that moment a delicate-looking, slender lad, about twelve years of +age, with fair curly hair, and flashing blue eyes, stepped out from +behind the funnel, which had hitherto concealed him, and said boldly, +though blushingly-- + +"I did it, father." + +"Ha! just like you; why did you do it? eh!" + +"I can hardly tell, father," said the boy, endeavouring to choke a +laugh, "but the Eskimos looked so funny, and I--I had a box of matches +in my pocket, and--and--I thought a shot would make them look so very +much funnier, and--and--I was right!" + +"Well, Benjamin, you may go below, and remain there till further +orders." + +When Captain Vane called his son "Benjamin," he was seriously +displeased. At other times he called him Benjy. + +"Yes, father," replied the boy, with a very bad grace, and down he went +in a state of rebellious despair, for he was wildly anxious to witness +all that went on. + +His despair was abated, however, when, in the course of a few minutes, +the yacht swung round so as to present her stern to the shore, and +remained in that position, enabling him to observe proceedings from the +cabin windows almost as well as if he had been on deck. He was not +aware that his father, knowing his son's nature, and wishing to temper +discipline with mercy, had placed the vessel in that position for his +special benefit! + +The difficulty now was, how to attract the natives, and inspire them +with confidence in the good intentions of their visitors. In any case +this would have been a difficult matter, but the firing of that unlucky +gun had increased the difficulty tenfold. When, however, Captain Vane +saw the natives cease their mad flight, and turn to gaze at the vessel, +his hopes revived, and he set about a series of ingenious efforts to +attain his end. + +First of all, he sent a boat in charge of his two nephews, Leonard and +Alphonse Vandervell, to set up a small table on the ice, on which were +temptingly arranged various presents, consisting of knives, beads, +looking-glasses, and articles of clothing. Having done this, they +retired, like wary anglers, to watch for a bite. But the fish would not +rise, though they observed the proceedings with profound attention from +the distant hummock. After waiting a couple of hours, the navigators +removed the table and left an Eskimo dog in its place, with a string of +blue beads tied round its neck. But this bait also failed. + +"Try something emblematic, uncle," suggested Leonard, the elder of the +brothers before mentioned. + +"And get Benjy to manufacture it," said Alphonse. + +As Benjy was possessed of the most fertile imagination on board, he was +released from punishment and brought on deck. The result of his effort +of genius was the creation of a huge white calico flag, on which were +painted roughly the figure of a sailor and an Eskimo sitting on an +iceberg, with a kettle of soup between them. On one side were a pair of +hands clasped together; on the other a sprig of heath, the only shrub +that could be seen on the shore. + +"Splendid!" exclaimed Leo and Alf in the same breath, as they held the +flag up to view. + +"You'll become a Royal Academician if you cultivate your talents, +Benjy," said the Captain, who was proud, as well as fond, of this his +only child. + +The boy said nothing, but a pleased expression and a twinkle in his eyes +proved that he was susceptible to flattery, though not carried off his +legs by it. + +The banner with the strange device was fixed to a pole which was erected +on an ice-hummock between the ship and the shore, and a bag containing +presents was hung at the foot of it. + +Still these Eskimo fish would not bite, though they "rose" at the flag. + +Oolichuk's curiosity had become so intense that he could not resist it. +He advanced alone, very warily, and looked at it, but did not dare to +touch it. Soon he was joined by Eemerk and the others. Seeing this, +Captain Vane sent to meet them an interpreter whom he had procured at +one of the Greenland settlements in passing. Just as this man, whose +name was Anders, stepped into the boat alongside, it occurred to the +Eskimos that their leader should be sent for. Oolichuk undertook to +fetch him; he ran back to the sledges, harnessed a small team, and set +off like the wind. Thus it came to pass that Chingatok and his mother +were startled by a yell, as before mentioned. + +Meanwhile Anders was put on the ice, and advanced alone and unarmed +towards the canal, or chasm, which separated the parties. He carried a +small white flag and a bag containing presents. Innocent-looking and +defenceless though he was, however, the Eskimos approached him with +hesitating and slow steps, regarding every motion of the interpreter +with suspicion, and frequently stooping to thrust their hands into their +boots, in which they all carried knives. + +At last, when within hearing, Anders shouted a peaceful message, and +there was much hallooing and gesticulation among the natives, but +nothing comprehensible came of it. After a time Anders thought he +recognised words of a dialect with which he was acquainted, and to his +satisfaction found that they understood him. + +"Kakeite! kakeite!--come on, come on," he cried, holding up the present. + +"Nakrie! nakrie!--no, no, go away--you want to kill us," answered the +doubtful natives. + +Thereupon Anders protested that nothing was further from his thoughts, +that he was a man and a friend, and had a mother like themselves, and +that he wanted to please them. + +At this Eemerk approached to the edge of the canal, and, drawing a knife +from his boot, said, "Go away! I can kill you." + +Nothing daunted, Anders said he was not afraid, and taking a good +English knife from his bag threw it across the canal. + +Eemerk picked it up, and was so pleased that he exclaimed, "Heigh-yaw! +heigh-yaw!" joyously, and pulled his nose several times. Anders, +understanding this to be a sign of friendship, immediately pulled his +own nose, smiled, and threw several trinkets and articles of clothing to +the other natives, who had by that time drawn together in a group, and +were chattering in great surprise at the things presented. Ivitchuk was +perhaps the most excited among them. He chanced to get hold of a round +hox, in the lid of which was a mirror. On beholding himself looking at +himself, he made such an awful face that he dropt the glass and sprang +backward, tripping up poor Oblooria in the act, and tumbling over her. + +This was greeted with a shout of laughter, and Anders, now believing +that friendly relations had been established, went to the boat for a +plank to bridge the chasm. As Leo and Alf assisted him to carry the +plank, the natives again became grave and anxious. + +"Stop!" shouted Eemerk, "you want to kill us. What great creature is +that? Does it come from the moon or the sun? Does it eat fire and +smoke?" + +"No, it is only a dead thing. It is a wooden house." + +"You lie!" cried the polite Eemerk, "it shakes its wings. It vomits +fire and smoke. It has a tail, and wags it." + +While speaking he slowly retreated, for the plank was being placed in +position, and the other natives were showing symptoms of an intention to +fly. + +Just then a shout was heard landwards. Turning round they saw a +dog-sledge flying over the ice towards them, with Oolichuk flourishing +the long-lashed whip, and the huge form of their leader beside him. + +In a few seconds they dashed up, and Chingatok sprang upon the ice. +Without a moment's hesitation he strode towards the plank and crossed +it. Walking up to Anders he pulled his own nose. The interpreter was +not slow to return the salutation, as he looked up at the giant with +surprise, not unmingled with awe. In addition, he grasped his huge +hand, squeezed, and shook it. + +Chingatok smiled blandly, and returned the squeeze so as to cause the +interpreter to wince. Then, perceiving at once that he had got +possession of a key to the affections of the strangers, he offered to +shake hands with Leonard and his brother, stooping with regal urbanity +to them as he did so. By this time the Captain and first mate, with +Benjy and several of the crew, were approaching. Instead of exhibiting +fear, Chingatok advanced to meet them, and shook hands all round. He +gazed at Captain Vane with a look of admiration which was not at first +quite accountable, until he laid his hand gently on the Captain's +magnificent beard, and stroked it. + +The Captain laughed, and again grasped the hand of the Eskimo. They +both squeezed, but neither could make the other wince, for Captain Vane +was remarkably powerful, though comparatively short of limb. + +"Well, you _are_ a good fellow in every way," exclaimed the Captain. + +"Heigh, yah!" returned Chingatok, who no doubt meant to be +complimentary, though we confess our inability to translate. It was +obvious that two sympathetic souls had met. + +"Come across," shouted Chingatok, turning abruptly to his companions, +who had been gazing at his proceedings in open-mouthed wonder. + +The whole tribe at once obeyed the order, and in a few minutes they were +in the seventh heaven of delight and good-will, receiving gifts and +handshakings, each pulling his own nose frequently by way of expressing +satisfaction or friendship, and otherwise exchanging compliments with +the no less amiable and gratified crew of the steam yacht _Whitebear_. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. The oomiak is the open boat of skin used by Eskimo _women_, and +is capable of holding several persons. The kayak, or man's canoe, holds +only one. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +SHOWS HOW THE ESKIMOS WERE ENTERTAINED BY THE WHITE MEN. + +The _Whitebear_ steam yacht, owned and commanded by Captain Jacob Vane, +had sailed from England, and was bound for the North Pole. + +"I'll find it--I'm bound to find it," was the Captain's usual mode of +expressing himself to his intimates on the subject, "if there's a North +Pole in the world at all, and my nephews Leo and Alf will help me. +Leo's a doctor, _almost_, and Alf's a scientific Jack-of-all-trades, so +we can't fail. I'll take my boy Benjy for the benefit of his health, +and see if we don't bring home a chip o' the Pole big enough to set up +beside Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames embankment." + +There was tremendous energy in Captain Vane, and indomitable resolution; +but energy and resolution cannot achieve all things. There are other +factors in the life of man which help to mould his destiny. + +Short and sad and terrible--ay, we might even say tremendous--was the +_Whitebear's_ wild career. + +Up to the time of her meeting with the Eskimos, all had gone well. Fair +weather and favouring winds had blown her across the Atlantic. Sunshine +and success had received her, as it were, in the Arctic regions. The +sea was unusually free of ice. Upernavik, the last of the Greenland +settlements touched at, was reached early in the season, and the native +interpreter Anders secured. The dreaded "middle passage," near the head +of Baffin's Bay, was made in the remarkably short space of fifty hours, +and, passing Cape York into the North Water, they entered Smith's Sound +without having received more than a passing bump--an Arctic kiss as it +were--from the Polar ice. + +In Smith's Sound fortune still favoured them. These resolute intending +discoverers of the North Pole passed in succession the various +"farthests" of previous explorers, and the stout brothers Vandervell, +with their cousin Benjy Vane, gazed eagerly over the bulwarks at the +swiftly-passing headlands, while the Captain pointed out the places of +interest, and kept up a running commentary on the brave deeds and high +aspirations of such well-known men as Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, Ross, +Parry, Franklin, Kane, McClure, Rae, McClintock, Hayes, Hall, Nares, +Markham, and all the other heroes of Arctic story. + +It was an era in the career of those three youths that stood out bright +and fresh--never to be forgotten--this first burst of the realities of +the Arctic world on minds which had been previously well informed by +books. The climax was reached on the day when the Eskimos of the far +north were met with. + +But from that time a change took place in their experience. Fortune +seemed to frown from that memorable day. We say "seemed," because +knitted brows do not always or necessarily indicate what is meant by a +frown. + +After the first fears of the Eskimos had been allayed, a party of them +were invited to go on board the ship. They accepted the invitation and +went, headed by Chingatok. + +That noble savage required no persuasion. From the first he had shown +himself to be utterly devoid of fear. He felt that the grand craving of +his nature--a thirst for knowledge--was about to be gratified, and that +would have encouraged him to risk anything, even if he had been much +less of a hero than he was. + +But if fear had no influence over our giant, the same cannot be said of +his companions. Oolichuk, indeed, was almost as bold, though he +exhibited a considerable amount of caution in his looks and movements; +but Eemerk, and one or two of his friends, betrayed their craven spirits +in frequent startled looks and changing colour. Ivitchuk was a strange +compound of nervousness and courage, while Akeetolik appeared to have +lost the power of expressing every feeling but one--that of blank +amazement. Indeed, surprise at what they saw on board the steam yacht +was the predominant feeling amongst these children of nature. Their +eyebrows seemed to have gone up and fixed themselves in the middle of +their foreheads, and their eyes and mouths to have opened wide +permanently. None of the women accepted the invitation to go aboard +except Tekkona, and Oblooria followed her, not because she was +courageous, but because she seemed to cling to the stronger nature as a +protection from undefined and mysterious dangers. + +"Tell them," said Captain Vane to Anders, the Eskimo interpreter, "that +these are the machines that drive the ship along when there is no wind." + +He pointed down the hatchway, where the complication of rods and cranks +glistened in the hold. + +"Huk!" exclaimed the Eskimos. They sometimes exclaimed Hi! ho! hoy! and +hah! as things were pointed out to them, but did not venture on language +more intelligible at first. + +"Let 'em hear the steam-whistle," suggested the mate. + +Before the Captain could countermand the order, Benjy had touched the +handle and let off a short, sharp _skirl_. The effect on the natives +was powerful. + +They leaped, with a simultaneous yell, at least a foot off the deck, +with the exception of Chingatok, though even he was visibly startled, +while Oblooria seized Tekkona round the waist, and buried her face in +her friend's jacket. + +A brief explanation soon restored them to equanimity, and they were +about to pass on to some other object of interest, when both the +steam-whistle and the escape-valve were suddenly opened to their full +extent, and there issued from the engine a hissing yell so prolonged and +deafening that even the Captain's angry shout was not heard. + +A yard at least was the leap into the air made by the weakest of the +Eskimos--except our giant, who seemed, however, to shrink into himself, +while he grasped his knife and looked cautiously round, as if to guard +himself from any foe that might appear. Eemerk fairly turned and fled +to the stern of the yacht, over which he would certainly have plunged +had he not been forcibly restrained by two stout seamen. The others, +trembling violently, stood still, because they knew not what to do, and +poor Oblooria fell flat on the deck, catching Tekkona by the tail, and +pulling her down beside her. + +"You scoundrel!" exclaimed the Captain, when the din ceased, "I--I--go +down, sir, to--" + +"Oh! father, don't be hard on me," pleaded Benjy, with a gleefully +horrified look, "I really could _not_ resist it. The--the temptation +was too strong!" + +"The temptation to give you a rope's-ending is almost too strong for +_me_, Benjamin," returned the Captain sternly, but there was a twinkle +in his eye notwithstanding, as he turned to explain to Chingatok that +his son had, by way of jest, allowed part of the mighty Power imprisoned +in the machinery to escape. + +The Eskimo received the explanation with dignified gravity, and a faint +smile played on his lips as he glanced approvingly at Benjy, for he +loved a jest, and was keenly alive to a touch of humour. + +"What power is imprisoned in the machinery?" asked our Eskimo through +the interpreter. + +"What power?" repeated the Captain with a puzzled look, "why, it's +boiling water--steam." Here he tried to give a clear account of the +nature and power and application of steam, but, not being gifted with +capacity for lucid explanation, and the mind of Anders being +unaccustomed to such matters, the result was that the brain of Chingatok +was filled with ideas that were fitted rather to amaze than to instruct +him. + +After making the tour of the vessel, the party again passed the engine +hatch. Chingatok touched the interpreter quietly, and said in a low, +grave tone, "Tell Blackbeard," (thus he styled the Captain), "to let the +Power yell again!" + +Anders glanced up in the giant's grave countenance with a look of amused +surprise. He understood him, and whispered to the Captain, who smiled +intelligently, and, turning to his son, said-- + +"Do it again, Benjy. Give it 'em strong." + +Never before did that lad obey his father with such joyous alacrity. In +another instant the whistle shrieked, and the escape-valve hissed ten +times more furiously than before. Up went the Eskimo--three feet or +more--as if in convulsions, and away went Eemerk to the stern, over +which he dived, swam to the floe, leaped on his sledge, cracked his +whip, and made for home on the wings of terror. Doubtless an evil +conscience helped his cowardice. + +Meanwhile Chingatok laughed, despite his struggles to be grave. This +revealed the trick to some of his quick-witted and humour-loving +companions, who at once burst into loud laughter. Even Oblooria +dismissed her fears and smiled. In this restored condition they were +taken down to the cabin and fed sumptuously. + +That night, as Chingatok sat beside his mother, busy with a seal's rib, +he gradually revealed to her the wonders he had seen. + +"The white men are very wise, mother." + +"So you have said four times, my son." + +"But you cannot understand it." + +"But my son can make me understand," said Toolooha, helping the amiable +giant to a second rib. + +Chingatok gazed at his little mother with a look of solemnity that +evidently perplexed her. She became restless under it, and wiped her +forehead uneasily with the flap at the end of her tail. The youth +seemed about to speak, but he only sighed and addressed himself to the +second rib, over which he continued to gaze while he masticated. + +"My thoughts are big, mother," he said, laying down the bare bone. + +"That may well be, for so is your head, my son," she replied, gently. + +"I know not how to begin, mother." + +"Another rib may open your lips, perhaps," suggested the old woman, +softly. + +"True; give me one," said Chingatok. + +The third rib seemed to have the desired effect, for, while busy with +it, he began to give his parent a graphic account of the yacht and its +crew, and it was really interesting to note how correctly he described +all that he understood of what he had seen. But some of the things he +had partly failed to comprehend, and about these he was vague. + +"And they have a--a Power, mother, shut up in a hard thing, so that it +can't get out unless they let it, and it drives the big canoe through +the water. It is very strong--terrible!" + +"Is it a devil?" asked Toolooha. + +"No, it is not alive. It is dead. It is _that_," he pointed with +emphasis to a pot hanging over the lamp out of which a little steam was +issuing, and looked at his mother with awful solemnity. She returned +the look with something of incredulity. + +"Yes, mother, the Power is not a beast. It lives not, yet it drives the +white man's canoe, which is as big as a little iceberg, and it whistles; +it shrieks; it yells!" + +A slightly sorrowful look rested for a moment on Toolooha's benign +countenance. It was evident that she suspected her son either of +derangement, or having forsaken the paths of truth. But it passed like +a summer cloud. + +"Tell me more," she said, laying her hand affectionately on the huge arm +of Chingatok, who had fallen into a contemplative mood, and, with hands +clasped over one knee, sat gazing upwards. + +Before he could reply the heart of Toolooha was made to bound by a +shriek more terrible than she had ever before heard or imagined. + +Chingatok caught her by the wrist, held up a finger as if to impose +silence, smiled brightly, and listened. + +Again the shriek was repeated with prolonged power. + +"Tell me, my son," gasped Toolooha, "is Oblooria--are the people safe? +Why came you to me alone?" + +"The little sister and the people are safe. I came alone to prevent +your being taken by surprise. Did I not say that it could shriek and +yell? This is the white man's big canoe." + +Dropping the old woman's hand as he spoke, Chingatok darted into the +open air with the agility of a Polar bear, and Toolooha followed with +the speed of an Arctic hare. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +A CATASTROPHE AND A BOLD DECISION. + +Two days after her arrival at the temporary residence of the northern +Eskimos, the steam yacht _Whitebear_, while close to the shore, was +beset by ice, so that she could neither advance nor retreat. +Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, the sea was covered with +hummocks and bergs and fields of ice, so closely packed that there was +not a piece of open water to be seen, with the exception of one small +basin a few yards ahead of the lead or lane of water in which the vessel +had been imprisoned. + +"No chance of escaping from this, I fear, for a long time," said Alf +Vandervell to his brother, as they stood near the wheel, looking at the +desolate prospect. + +"It seems quite hopeless," said Leo, with, however, a look of confidence +that ill accorded with his words. + +"I do believe we are frozen in for the winter," said Benjy Vane, coming +up at the moment. + +"There speaks ignorance," said the Captain, whose head appeared at the +cabin hatchway. "If any of you had been in these regions before, you +would have learned that nothing is so uncertain as the action of pack +ice. At one time you may be hard and fast, so that you couldn't move an +inch. A few hours after, the set of the currents may loosen the pack, +and open up lanes of water through which you may easily make your +escape. Sometimes it opens up so as to leave almost a clear sea in a +few hours." + +"But it is pretty tight packed just now, father, and looks wintry-like, +doesn't it?" said Benjy in a desponding tone. + +"Looks! boy, ay, but things are not what they seem hereaway. You saw +four mock-suns round the real one yesterday, didn't you? and the day +before you saw icebergs floating in the air, eh?" + +"True, father, but these appearances were deceptive, whereas this ice, +which looks so tightly packed, is a reality." + +"That is so, lad, but it is not set fast for the winter, though it looks +like it. Well, doctor," added the Captain, turning towards a tall +cadaverous man who came on deck just then with the air and tread of an +invalid, "how goes it with you? Better, I hope?" + +He asked this with kindly interest as he laid his strong hand on the +sick man's shoulder; but the doctor shook his head and smiled sadly. + +"It is a great misfortune to an expedition, Captain, when the doctor +himself falls sick," he said, sitting down on the skylight with a sigh. + +"Come, come, cheer up, doctor," returned the Captain, heartily, "don't +be cast down; we'll all turn doctors for the occasion, and nurse you +well in spite of yourself." + +"I'll keep up all heart, Captain, you may depend on't, as long as two of +my bones will stick together, but--well, to change the subject; what are +you going to do now?" + +"Just all that can be done in the circumstances," replied the Captain. +"You see, we cannot advance over ice either with sail or steam, but +there's a basin just ahead which seems a little more secure than that in +which we lie. I'll try to get into it. There is nothing but a neck of +ice between us and it, which I think I could cut by charging in under +full steam, and there seems a faint gleam of something far ahead, which +encourages me. Tell the steward to fetch my glasses, Benjy." + +"Butterface!" shouted the boy. + +"Yis, massa." + +"Fetch the Captain's glasses, please." + +"Yis, massa." + +A pair of large binoculars were brought up by a huge negro, whose name +was pre-eminently unsuggestive of his appearance. + +After a long steady gaze at the horizon, the Captain shut up the glass +with an air of determination, and ordered the engineer to get up full +steam, and the crew to be ready with the ice-poles. + +There was a large berg at the extremity of the lakelet of open water +into which Captain Vane wished to break. It was necessary to keep well +out of the way of that berg. The Captain trusted chiefly to his screw, +but got out the ice-poles in case they should be required. + +When all the men were stationed, the order was given to go ahead full +steam. The gallant little yacht charged the neck of ice like a living +creature, hit it fair, cut right through, and scattered the fragments +right and left as she sailed majestically into the lakelet beyond. The +shock was severe, but no harm was done, everything on board having been +made as strong as possible, and of the very best material, for a voyage +in ice-laden seas. + +An unforeseen event followed, however, which ended in a series of most +terrible catastrophes. The neck of ice through which they had broken +had acted as a check on the pressure of the great body of the floe, and +it was no sooner removed than the heavy mass began to close in with slow +but irresistible power, compelling the little vessel to steam close up +to the iceberg--so close that some of the upper parts actually overhung +the deck. + +They were slowly forced into this dangerous position. With breathless +anxiety the Captain and crew watched the apparently gentle, but really +tremendous grinding of the ice against the vessel's side. Even the +youngest on board could realise the danger. No one moved, for nothing +whatever could be done. + +"Everything depends, under God, on the ice easing off before we are +crushed," said the Captain. + +As he spoke, the timbers of the yacht seemed to groan under the +pressure; then there was a succession of loud cracks, and the vessel was +thrust bodily up the sloping sides of the berg. While in this position, +with the bow high and dry, a mass of ice was forced against the +stern-post, and the screw-propeller was snapped off as if it had been +made of glass. + +Poor Captain Vane's heart sank as if he had received his death-blow, for +he knew that the yacht was now, even in the event of escaping, reduced +to an ordinary vessel dependent on its sails. The shock seemed to have +shaken the berg itself, for at that moment a crashing sound was heard +overhead. The terror-stricken crew looked up, and for one moment a +pinnacle like a church spire was seen to flash through the air right +above them. It fell with an indescribable roar close alongside, +deluging the decks with water. There was a momentary sigh of relief, +which, however, was chased away by a succession of falling masses, +varying from a pound to a ton in weight, which came down on the deck +like cannon-shots, breaking the topmasts, and cutting to pieces much of +the rigging. Strange to say, none of the men were seriously injured, +though many received bruises more or less severe. + +During this brief but thrilling period, the brothers Vandervell and +Benjy Vane crouched close together beside the port bulwarks, partially +screened from the falling ice by the mizzen shrouds. The Captain stood +on the quarter-deck, quite exposed, and apparently unconscious of +danger, the picture of despair. + +"It can't last long," sighed poor Benjy, looking solemnly up at the vast +mass of the bluish-white berg, which hung above them as if ready to +fall. + +Presently the pressure ceased, then the ice eased off, and in a few +minutes the _Whitebear_ slid back into the sea, a pitiable wreck! Now +had come the time for action. + +"Out poles, my lads, and shove her off the berg!" was the sharp order. + +Every one strained as if for life at the ice-poles, and slowly forced +the yacht away from the dreaded berg. It mattered not that they were +forcing her towards a rocky shore. Any fate would be better than being +crushed under a mountain of ice. + +But the danger was not yet past. No sooner had they cleared the berg, +and escaped from that form of destruction, than the ice began again to +close in, and this time the vessel was "nipped" with such severity, that +some of her principal timbers gave way. Finally, her back was broken, +and the bottom forced in. + +"So," exclaimed the Captain, with a look of profound grief, "our voyage +in the _Whitebear_, lads, has come to an end. All that we can do now is +to get the boats and provisions, and as much of the cargo as we can, +safe on the ice. And sharp's the word, for when the floes ease off, the +poor little yacht will certainly go to the bottom." + +"No, massa," said the negro steward, stepping on deck at that moment, +"we can't go to de bottom, cause we's dare a-ready!" + +"What d'ye mean, Butterface?" + +"Jus' what me say," replied the steward, with a look of calm +resignation. "I's bin b'low, an' seed de rocks stickin' troo de bottom. +Der's one de size ob a jolly-boat's bow comed right troo my pantry, an' +knock all de crockery to smash, an' de best teapot, he's so flat he +wouldn't know hisself in a lookin'-glass." + +It turned out to be as Butterface said. The pack had actually thrust +the little vessel on a shoal, which extended out from the headland off +which the catastrophe occurred, and there was therefore no fear of her +sinking. + +"Well, we've reason to be thankful for that, at all events," said the +Captain, with an attempt to look cheerful; "come, lads, let's to work. +Whatever our future course is to be, our first business is to get the +boats and cargo out of danger." + +With tremendous energy--because action brought relief to their +overstrained feelings--the crew of the ill-fated yacht set to work to +haul the boats upon the grounded ice. The tide was falling, so that a +great part of the most valuable part of the cargo was placed in security +before the rising tide interrupted the work. + +This was fortunate, for, when the water reached a certain point the ice +began to move, and the poor little vessel was so twisted about that they +dared not venture on board of her. + +That night--if we may call it night in a region where the sun never +quite went down--the party encamped on the north-western coast of +Greenland, in the lee of a huge cliff just beyond which the tongue of a +mighty glacier dipped into the sea. For convenience the party divided +into two, with a blazing fire for each, round which the castaways +circled, conversing in subdued, sad tones while supper was being +prepared. + +It was a solemn occasion, and a scene of indescribable grandeur, with +the almost eternal glacier of Greenland--the great Humboldt glacier-- +shedding its bergs into the dark blue sea, the waters of which had by +that time been partially cleared to the northward. On the left was the +weird pack and its thousand grotesque forms, with the wreck in its iron +grasp; on the right the perpendicular cliffs, and the bright sky over +all, with the smoke of the campfires rising into it from the foreground. + +"Now, my friends," said Captain Vane to the crew when assembled after +supper, "I am no longer your commander, for my vessel is a wreck, but as +I suppose you still regard me as your leader, I assemble you here for +the purpose of considering our position, and deciding on what is best to +be done." + +Here the Captain said, among other things, it was his opinion that the +_Whitebear_ was damaged beyond the possibility of repair, that their +only chance of escape lay in the boats, and that the distance between +the place on which they stood and Upernavik, although great, was not +beyond the reach of resolute men. + +"Before going further, or expressing a decided opinion," he added, "I +would hear what the officers have to say on this subject. Let the first +mate speak." + +"It's my opinion," said the mate, "that there's only one thing to be +done, namely, to start for home as soon and as fast as we can. We have +good boats, plenty of provisions, and are all stout and healthy, +excepting our doctor, whom we will take good care of, and expect to do +no rough work." + +"Thanks, mate," said the doctor with a laugh, "I think that, at all +events, I shall keep well enough to physic you if you get ill." + +"Are you willing to take charge of the party in the event of my deciding +to remain here?" asked the Captain of the mate. + +"Certainly, sir," he replied, with a look of slight surprise. "You know +I am quite able to do so. The second mate, too, is as able as I am. +For that matter, most of the men, I think, would find little difficulty +in navigating a boat to Upernavik." + +"That is well," returned the Captain, "because I do not intend to return +with you." + +"Not return!" exclaimed the doctor; "surely you don't mean to winter +here." + +"No, not here, but further north," replied the Captain, with a smile +which most of the party returned, for they thought he was jesting. + +Benjy Vane, however, did not think so. A gleeful look of triumph caused +his face, as it were, to sparkle, and he said, eagerly-- + +"We'll winter at the North Pole, father, eh?" + +This was greeted with a general laugh. + +"But seriously, uncle, what do you mean to do?" asked Leonard +Vandervell, who, with his brother, was not unhopeful that the Captain +meditated something desperate. + +"Benjy is not far off the mark. I intend to winter at the Pole, or as +near to it as I can manage to get." + +"My dear Captain Vane," said the doctor, with an anxious look, "you +cannot really mean what you say. You must be jesting, or mad." + +"Well, as to madness," returned the Captain with a peculiar smile, "you +ought to know best, for it's a perquisite of your cloth to pronounce +people mad or sane, though some of yourselves are as mad as the worst of +us; but in regard to jesting, nothing, I assure you, is further from my +mind. Listen!" + +He rose from the box which had formed his seat, and looked earnestly +round on his men. As he stood there, erect, tall, square, powerful, +with legs firmly planted, and apart, as if to guard against a lurch of +his ship, with his bronzed face flushed, and his dark eye flashing, they +all understood that their leader's mind was made up, and that what he +had resolved upon, he would certainly attempt to carry out. + +"Listen," he repeated; "it was my purpose on leaving England, as you all +know, to sail north as far as the ice would let me; to winter where we +should stick fast, and organise an over-ice, or overland journey to the +Pole with all the appliances of recent scientific discovery, and all the +advantages of knowledge acquired by former explorers. It has pleased +God to destroy my ship, but my life and my hopes are spared. So are my +stores and scientific instruments. I intend, therefore, to carry out my +original purpose. I believe that former explorers have erred in some +points of their procedure. These errors I shall steer clear of. Former +travellers have ignored some facts, and despised some appliances. These +facts I will recognise; these appliances I will utilise. With a steam +yacht, you, my friends, who have shown so much enthusiasm and courage up +to this point, would have been of the utmost service to me. As a party +in boats, or on foot, you would only hamper my movements. I mean to +prosecute this enterprise almost alone. I shall join myself to the +Eskimos." + +He paused at this point as if in meditation. Benjy, whose eyes and +mouth had been gradually opening to their widest, almost gasped with +astonishment as he glanced at his cousins, whose expressive countenances +were somewhat similarly affected. + +"I have had some long talks," continued the Captain, "with that big +Eskimo Chingatok, through our interpreter, and from what he says I +believe my chances of success are considerable. I am all the more +confirmed in this resolution because of the readiness and ability of my +first mate to guide you out of the Arctic regions, and your willingness +to trust him. Anders has agreed to go with me as interpreter, and now, +all I want is one other man, because--" + +"Put me down, father," cried Benjy, in a burst of excitement--"_I'm_ +your man." + +"Hush, lad," said the Captain with a little smile, "of course I shall +take you with me and also your two cousins, but I want one other man to +complete the party--but he must be a heartily willing man. Who will +volunteer?" + +There was silence for a few moments. It was broken by the doctor. + +"I for one won't volunteer," he said, "for I'm too much shaken by this +troublesome illness to think of such an expedition. If I were well it +might be otherwise, but perhaps some of the others will offer." + +"You can't expect me to do so," said the mate, "for I've got to guide +our party home, as agreed on; besides, under any circumstances, I would +not join you, for it is simple madness. You'll forgive me, Captain. I +mean no disrespect, but I have sailed many years to these seas, and I +know from experience that what you propose is beyond the power of man to +accomplish." + +"Experience!" repeated the Captain, quickly. "Has your experience +extended further north than this point?" + +"No, sir, I have not been further north than this--nobody has. It is +beyond the utmost limit yet reached, so far as I know." + +"Well, then, you cannot speak from _experience_ about what I propose," +said the Captain, turning away. "Come, lads, I have no wish to +constrain you, I merely give one of you the chance." + +Still no one came forward. Every man of the crew of the _Whitebear_ had +had more or less personal acquaintance with arctic travel and danger. +They would have followed Captain Vane anywhere in the yacht, but +evidently they had no taste for what he was about to undertake. + +At last one stepped to the front. It was Butterface, the steward. This +intensely black negro was a bulky, powerful man, with a modest spirit +and a strange disbelief in his own capacities, though, in truth, these +were very considerable. He came forward, stooping slightly, and rubbing +his hands in a deprecating manner. + +"'Scuse me, massa Capting. P'r'aps it bery presumsheeous in dis yer +chile for to speak afore his betters, but as no oder man 'pears to want +to volunteer, I's willin' to go in an' win. Ob course I ain't a man-- +on'y a nigger, but I's a willin' nigger, an' kin do a few small tings-- +cook de grub, wash up de cups an' sarsers, pull a oar, clean yer boots, +fight de Eskimos if you wants me to, an' ginrally to scrimmage around +a'most anything. Moreover, I eats no more dan a babby--'sep wen I's +hungry--an' I'll foller you, massa, troo tick and tin--to de Nort Pole, +or de Sout Pole, or de East Pole, or de West Pole--or any oder pole +wotsomediver--all de same to Butterface, s'long's you'll let 'im stick +by you." + +The crew could not help giving the negro a cheer as he finished this +loyal speech, and the Captain, although he would have preferred one of +the other men, gladly accepted his services. + +A few days later the boats were ready and provisioned; adieus were said, +hats and handkerchiefs waved, and soon after Captain Vane and his son +and two nephews, with Anders and Butterface, were left to fight their +battles alone, on the margin of an unexplored, mysterious Polar sea. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +LEFT TO THEIR FATE. + +There are times, probably, in all conditions of life, when men feel a +species of desolate sadness creeping over their spirits, which they find +it hard to shake off or subdue. Such a time arrived to our Arctic +adventurers the night after they had parted from the crew of the wrecked +_Whitebear_. Nearly everything around, and much within, them was +calculated to foster that feeling. + +They were seated on the rocky point on the extremity of which their +yacht had been driven. Behind them were the deep ravines, broad +valleys, black beetling cliffs, grand mountains, stupendous glaciers, +and dreary desolation of Greenland. To right and left, and in front of +them, lay the chaotic ice-pack of the Arctic sea, with lanes and pools +of water visible here and there like lines and spots of ink. Icebergs +innumerable rose against the sky, which at the time was entirely covered +with grey and gloomy clouds. Gusts of wind swept over the frozen waste +now and then, as if a squall which had recently passed, were sighing at +the thought of leaving anything undestroyed behind it. When we add to +this, that the wanderers were thinking of the comrades who had just left +them--the last link, as it were, with the civilised world from which +they were self-exiled, of the unknown dangers and difficulties that lay +before them, and of the all but forlorn hope they had undertaken, there +need be little wonder that for some time they all looked rather grave, +and were disposed to silence. + +But life is made up of opposites, light and shade, hard and soft, hot +and cold, sweet and sour, for the purpose, no doubt, of placing man +between two moral battledores so as to drive the weak and erring +shuttlecock of his will right and left, and thus keep it in the middle +course of rectitude. No sooner had our adventurers sunk to the +profoundest depths of gloom, than the battledore of brighter influences +began to play upon them. It did not, however, achieve the end at once. + +"I'm in the lowest, bluest, dreariest, grumpiest, and most utterly +miserable state of mind I ever was in in all my life," said poor little +Benjy Vane, thrusting his hands into his pockets, sitting down on a +rock, and gazing round on the waste wilderness, which had only just +ceased howling, the very personification of despair. + +"So's I, massa," said Butterface, looking up from a compound of wet coal +and driftwood which he had been vainly trying to coax into a flame for +cooking purposes; "I's most 'orribly miserable!" + +There was a beaming grin on the negro's visage that gave the lie direct +to his words. + +"That's always the way with you, Benjy," said the Captain, "either +bubblin' over with jollity an' mischief, or down in the deepest blues." + +"Blues! father," cried the boy, "don't talk of blues--it's the blacks +I'm in, the very blackest of blacks." + +"Ha! jus' like me," muttered Butterface, sticking out his thick lips at +the unwilling fire, and giving a blow that any grampus might have +envied. + +The result was that a column of almost solid smoke, which had been for +some time rising thicker and thicker from the coals, burst into a bright +flame. This was the first of the sweet influences before referred to. + +"Mind your wool, Flatnose," cried Benjy, as the negro drew quickly back. + +It may be remarked here that the mysterious bond of sympathy which +united the spirits of Benjy Vane and the black steward found expression +in kindly respect on the part of the man, and in various eccentric +courses on the part of the boy--among others, in a habit of patting him +on the back, and giving him a choice selection of impromptu names, such +as Black-mug, Yellow-eyes, Square-jaws, and the like. + +"What have you got in the kettle?" asked Leo Vandervell, who came up +with some dry driftwood at the moment. + +"Bubble-um-squeak," replied the cook. + +"What sort o' squeak is that?" asked Leo, as he bent his tall strong +frame over the fire to investigate the contents of the kettle. + +"What am it, massa? Why, it am a bit o' salt pork, an' a bit o' dat +bear you shooted troo de nose yes'rday, an' a junk o' walrus, an' two +puffins, an' some injin corn, a leetil pepper, an' a leetil salt." + +"Good, that sounds well," said Leo. "I'll go fetch you some more +driftwood, for it'll take a deal of boiling, that will, to make it +eatable." + +The driftwood referred to was merely some pieces of the yacht which had +been cast ashore by the hurly-burly of ice and water that had occurred +during the last tide. No other species of driftwood was to be found on +that coast, for the neighbouring region was utterly destitute of trees. + +"Where has Alf gone to?" asked the Captain, as Leo was moving away. + +"Oh, he's looking for plants and shells, as usual," answered Leo, with a +smile. "You know his heart is set upon these things." + +"He'll have to set his heart on helping wi' the cargo after supper," +said the Captain, drawing a small notebook and pencil from his pocket. + +A few more of the sweet and reviving influences of life now began to +circle round the wanderers. Among them was the savoury odour that arose +from the pot of bubble-um-squeak, also the improved appearance of the +sky. + +It was night, almost midnight, nevertheless the sun was blazing in the +heavens, and as the storm-clouds had rolled away like a dark curtain, +his cheering rays were by that time gilding the icebergs, and rendering +the land-cliffs ruddily. The travellers had enjoyed perpetual daylight +for several weeks already, and at that high latitude they could count on +many more to come. By the time supper was ready, the depressing +influences were gone, and the spirits of all had recovered their wonted +tone. Indeed it was not to the discredit of the party that they were so +much cast down on that occasion, for the parting, perhaps for ever, from +the friends with whom they had hitherto voyaged, had much more to do +with their sadness than surrounding circumstances or future trials. + +"What plan do you intend to follow out, uncle?" asked Alphonse +Vandervell, as they sat at supper that night round the kettle. + +"That depends on many things, lad," replied the Captain, laying down his +spoon, and leaning his back against a convenient rock. "If the ice +moves off, I shall adopt one course; if it holds fast I shall try +another. Then, if you insist on gathering and carrying along with you +such pocket-loads of specimens, plants, rocks, etcetera, as you've +brought in this evening, I'll have to build a sort of Noah's ark, or +omnibus on sledge-runners, to carry them." + +"And suppose I don't insist on carrying these things, what then?" + +"Well," replied the Captain, "in that case I would--well, let me see--a +little more of the bubble, Benjy." + +"Wouldn't you rather some of the squeak?" asked the boy. + +"Both, lad, both--some of everything. Well, as I was saying--and you've +a right to know what's running in my head, seeing that you have to help +me carry out the plans--I'll give you a rough notion of 'em." + +The Captain became more serious as he explained his plans. "The +Eskimos, you know," he continued, "have gone by what I may call the +shore ice, two days' journey in advance of this spot, taking our dogs +along with them. It was my intention to have proceeded to the same +point in our yacht, and there, if the sea was open, to have taken on +board that magnificent Eskimo giant, Chingatok, with his family, and +steered away due north. In the event of the pack being impassable, I +had intended to have laid the yacht up in some safe harbour; hunted and +fished until we had a stock of dried and salted provisions, enough to +last us two years, and then to have started northward in sledges, under +the guidance of Chingatok, with a few picked men, leaving the rest and +the yacht in charge of the mate. The wreck of the _Whitebear_ has, +however, forced me to modify these plans. I shall now secure as much of +our cargo as we have been able to save, and leave it here _en cache_--" + +"What sort of cash is that, father?" asked Benjy. + +"You are the best linguist among us, Leo, tell him," said the Captain, +turning to his nephew. + +"`_En cache_' is French for `in hiding,'" returned Leo, with a laugh. + +"Why do you speak French to Englishmen, father?" said Benjy in a +pathetic tone, but with a pert look. + +"'Cause the expression is a common one on this side the Atlantic, lad, +and you ought to know it. Now, don't interrupt me again. Well, having +placed the cargo in security," ("_En cache_," muttered Benjy with a +glance at Butterface.) "I shall rig up the sledges brought from England, +load them with what we require, and follow up the Eskimos. You're sure, +Anders, that you understood Chingatok's description of the place?" + +The interpreter declared that he was quite sure. + +"After that," resumed the Captain, "I'll act according to the +information the said Eskimos can give me. D'ye know, I have a strong +suspicion that our Arctic giant Chingatok is a philosopher, if I may +judge from one or two questions he put and observations he made when we +first met. He says he has come from a fine country which lies far--very +far--to the north of this; so far that I feel quite interested and +hopeful about it. I expect to have more talk with him soon on the +subject. A little more o' the bubble, lad; really, Butterface, your +powers in the way of cookery are wonderful." + +"Chingatok seems to me quite a remarkable fellow for an Eskimo," +observed Leo, scraping the bottom of the kettle with his spoon, and +looking inquiringly into it. "I, too, had some talk with him--through +Anders--when we first met, and from what he said I can't help thinking +that he has come from the remote north solely on a voyage of discovery +into what must be to him the unknown regions of the south. Evidently he +has an inquiring mind." + +"Much like yourself, Leo, to judge from the way you peer into that +kettle," said Benjy; "please don't scrape the bottom out of it. There's +not much tin to mend it with, you know, in these regions." + +"Brass will do quite as well," retorted Leo, "and there can be no lack +of that while you are here." + +"Come now, Benjy," said Alf, "that insolent remark should put you on +your mettle." + +"So it does, but I won't open my lips, because I feel that I should +speak ironically if I were to reply," returned the boy, gazing dreamily +into the quiet countenance of the steward. "What are _you_ thinking of, +you lump of charcoal?" + +"Me, massa? me tink dere 'pears to be room for more wittles inside ob +me; but as all de grub's eated up, p'r'aps it would be as well to be +goin' an' tacklin' suffin' else now." + +"You're right, Butterface," cried the Captain, rousing himself from a +reverie. "What say you, comrades? Shall we turn in an' have a nap? +It's past midnight." + +"I'm not inclined for sleep," said Alf, looking up from some of the +botanical specimens he had collected. + +"No more am I," said Leo, lifting up his arms and stretching his +stalwart frame, which, notwithstanding his youth, had already developed +to almost the full proportions of a powerful man. + +"I vote that we sit up all night," said Benjy, "the sun does it, and why +shouldn't we?" + +"Well, I've no objection," rejoined the Captain, "but we must work if we +don't sleep--so, come along." + +Setting the example, Captain Vane began to shoulder the bags and boxes +which lay scattered around with the energy of an enthusiastic railway +porter. The other members of the party were not a whit behind him in +diligence and energy. Even Benjy, delicate-looking though he was, did +the work of an average man, besides enlivening the proceedings with +snatches of song and a flow of small talk of a humorous and slightly +insolent nature. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +FUTURE PLANS DISCUSSED AND DECIDED. + +Away to the northward of the spot where the _Whitebear_ had been wrecked +there stretched a point of land far out into the Arctic Ocean. It was +about thirty miles distant, and loomed hugely bluff and grand against +the brilliant sky, as if it were the forefront of the northern world. +No civilised eyes had ever beheld that land before. Captain Vane knew +that, because it lay in latitude 83 north, which was a little beyond the +furthest point yet reached by Arctic navigators. He therefore named it +Cape Newhope. Benjy thought that it should have been named +Butterface-beak, because the steward had been the first to observe it, +but his father thought otherwise. + +About three miles to the northward of this point of land the Eskimos +were encamped. According to arrangement with the white men they had +gone there, as we have said, in charge of the dogs brought by Captain +Vane from Upernavik, as these animals, it was thought, stood much in +need of exercise. + +Here the natives had found and taken possession of a number of deserted +Eskimo huts. + +These rude buildings were the abodes to which the good people migrated +when summer heat became so great as to render their snow-huts sloppily +disagreeable. + +In one of the huts sat Chingatok, his arms resting on his knees, his +huge hands clasped, and his intelligent eyes fixed dreamily on the +lamp-flame, over which his culinary mother was bending in busy +sincerity. There were many points of character in which this remarkable +mother and son resembled each other. Both were earnest--intensely so-- +and each was enthusiastically eager about small matters as well as +great. In short, they both possessed great though uncultivated minds. + +The hut they occupied was in some respects as remarkable as themselves. +It measured about six feet in height and ten in diameter. The walls +were made of flattish stones, moss, and the bones of seals, whales, +narwhals, and other Arctic creatures. The stones were laid so that each +overlapped the one below it, a very little inwards, and thus the walls +approached each other gradually as they rose from the foundation; the +top being finally closed by slabs of slate-stone. Similar stones +covered the floor--one half of which floor was raised a foot or so above +the other, and this raised half served for a seat by day as well as a +couch by night. On it were spread a thick layer of dried moss, and +several seal, dog, and bear skins. Smaller elevations in the corners +near the entrance served for seats. The door was a curtain of sealskin. +Above it was a small window, glazed, so to speak, with strips of +semi-transparent dried intestines sewed together. + +Toolooha's cooking-lamp was made of soapstone, formed like a clam-shell, +and about eight inches in diameter; the fuel was seal-oil, and the wick +was of moss. It smoked considerably, but Eskimos are smoke-proof. The +pot above it, suspended from the roof, was also made of soapstone. +Sealskins hung about the walls drying; oily mittens, socks and boots +were suspended about on pegs and racks of rib-bones. Lumps of blubber +hung and lay about miscellaneously. Odours, not savoury, were therefore +prevalent--but Eskimos are smell-proof. + +"Mother," said the giant, raising his eyes from the flame to his +parent's smoke-encircled visage, "they are a most wonderful people, +these Kablunets. Blackbeard is a great man--a grand man--but I think he +is--" + +Chingatok paused, shook his head, and touched his forehead with a look +of significance worthy of a white man. + +"Why think you so, my son?" asked the old woman, sneezing, as a denser +cloud than usual went up her nose. + +"Because he has come here to search for _nothing_." + +"Nothing, my son?" + +"Yes--at least that is what he tried to explain to me. Perhaps the +interpreter could not explain. He is not a smart man, that interpreter. +He resembles a walrus with his brain scooped out. He spoke much, but I +could not understand." + +"Could not understand?" repeated Toolooha, with an incredulous look, +"let not Chingatok say so. Is there _anything_ that passes the lips of +man which he cannot understand?" + +"Truly, mother, I once thought there was not," replied the giant, with a +modest look, "but I am mistaken. The Kablunets make me stare and feel +foolish." + +"But it is not possible to search for _nothing_," urged Toolooha. + +"So I said," replied her son, "but Blackbeard only laughed at me." + +"Did he?" cried the mother, with a much relieved expression, "then let +your mind rest, my son, for Blackbeard must be a fool if he laughed at +_you_." + +"Blackbeard is no fool," replied Chingatok. + +"Has he not come to search for new lands _here_, as you went to search +for them _there_?" asked Toolooha, pointing alternately north and south. + +"No--if I have understood him. Perhaps the brainless walrus translated +his words wrongly." + +"Is the thing he searches for something to eat?" + +"Something to drink or wear?" + +"No, I tell you. It is _nothing_! Yet he gives it a name. He calls it +_Nort Pole_!" + +Perhaps it is needless to remind the reader that Chingatok and his +mother conversed in their native tongue, which we have rendered as +literally as possible, and that the last two words were his broken +English for "North Pole!" + +"Nort Pole!" repeated Toolooha once or twice contemplatively. "Well, he +may search for nothing if he will, but that he cannot find." + +"Nay, mother," returned the giant with a soft smile, "if he will search +for nothing he is sure to find it!" + +Chingatok sighed, for his mother did not see the joke. + +"Blackbeard," he continued with a grave, puzzled manner, "said that this +world on which we stand floats in the air like a bird, and spins round!" + +"Then Blackbeard is a liar," said Toolooha quietly, though without a +thought of being rude. She merely meant what she said, and said what +she meant, being a naturally candid woman. + +"That may be so, mother, but I think not." + +"How can the world float without wings?" demanded the old woman +indignantly. "If it spinned should we not feel the spinning, and grow +giddy?" + +"And Blackbeard says," continued the giant, regardless of the questions +propounded, "that it spins round upon this _Nort Pole_, which he says is +not a real thing, but only nothing. I asked Blackbeard--How can a world +spin upon nothing?" + +"And what said he to that?" demanded Toolooha quickly. + +"He only laughed. They all laughed when the brainless walrus put my +question. There is one little boy--the son I think of Blackbeard--who +laughed more than all the rest. He lay down on the ice to laugh, and +rolled about as if he had the bowel-twist." + +"That son of Blackbeard must be a fool more than his father," said +Toolooha, casting a look of indignation at her innocent kettle. + +"Perhaps; but he is not like his father," returned Chingatok meekly. +"There are two other chiefs among the Kablunets who seem to me fine men. +They are very young and wise. They have learned a little of our tongue +from the Brainless One, and asked me some questions about the rocks, and +the moss, and the flowers. They are tall and strong. One of them is +very grave and seems to think much, like myself. He also spoke of this +Nothing--this Nort Pole. They are all mad, I think, about that thing-- +that Nothing!" + +The conversation was interrupted at this point by the sudden entrance of +the giant's little sister with the news that the Kablunets were observed +coming round the great cape, dragging a sledge. + +"Is not the big oomiak with them?" asked her brother, rising quickly. + +"No, we see no oomiak--no wings--no fire," answered Oblooria, "only six +men dragging a sledge." + +Chingatok went out immediately, and Oblooria was about to follow when +her mother recalled her. + +"Come here, little one. There is a bit of blubber for you to suck. +Tell me, saw you any sign of madness in these white men when they were +talking with your brother about this--this--Nort Pole." + +"No, mother, no," answered Oblooria thoughtfully, "I saw not madness. +They laughed much, it is true--but not more than Oolichuk laughs +sometimes. Yes--I think again! There was one who seems mad--the small +boy, whom brother thinks to be the son of Blackbeard--Benjay, they call +him." + +"Hah! I thought so," exclaimed Toolooha, evidently pleased at her +penetration on this point. "Go, child, I cannot quit the lamp. Bring +me news of what they say and do." + +Oblooria obeyed with alacrity, bolting her strip of half-cooked blubber +as she ran; her mother meanwhile gave her undivided attention to the +duties of the lamp. + +The white men and all the members of the Eskimo band were standing by +the sledge engaged in earnest conversation when the little girl came +forward. Captain Vane was speaking. + +"Yes, Chingatok," he said, looking up at the tall savage, who stood +erect in frame but with bent head and his hands clasped before him, like +a modest chief, which in truth he was. "Yes, if you will guide me to +your home in the northern lands, I will pay you well--for I have much +iron and wood and such things as I think you wish for and value, and you +shall also have my best thanks and gratitude. The latter may not indeed +be worth much, but, nevertheless, you could not purchase it with all the +wealth of the Polar regions." + +Chingatok looked with penetrating gaze at Anders while he translated, +and, considering the nature of the communication, the so-called +Brainless One proved himself a better man than the giant gave him credit +for. + +"Does Blackbeard," asked Chingatok, after a few seconds' thought, +"expect to find this Nothing--this Nort Pole, in my country?" + +"Well, I cannot exactly say that I do," replied the Captain; "you see, +I'm not quite sure, from what you tell me, where your country is. It +may not reach to the Pole, but it is enough for me that it lies in that +direction, and that you tell me there is much open water there. Men of +my nation have been in these regions before now, and some of them have +said that the Polar Sea is open, others that it is covered always with +ice so thick that it never melts. Some have said it is a `sea of +ancient ice' so rough that no man can travel over it, and that it is not +possible to reach the North Pole. I don't agree with that. I had been +led to expect to fall in with this sea of ancient ice before I had got +thus far, but it is not to be found. The sea indeed is partly blocked +with ordinary ice, but there is nothing to be seen of this vast +collection of mighty blocks, some of them thirty feet high--this wild +chaos of ice which so effectually stopped some of those who went before +me." + +This speech put such brains as the Brainless One possessed to a severe +test, and, after all, he failed to convey its full meaning to Chingatok, +who, however, promptly replied to such portions as he understood. + +"What Blackbeard calls the sea of old ice does exist," he said; "I have +seen it. No man could travel on it, only the birds can cross it. But +ice is not land. It changes place. It is here to-day; it is there +to-morrow. Next day it is gone. We cannot tell where it goes to or +when it will come back. The _very_ old ice comes back again and again. +It is slow to become like your Nort Pole--nothing. But it melts at last +and more comes in its place--growing old slowly and vanishing slowly. +It is full of wonder--like the stars; like the jumping flames; like the +sun and moon, which we cannot understand." + +Chingatok paused and looked upwards with a solemn expression. His mind +had wandered into its favourite channels, and for the moment he forgot +the main subject of conversation, while the white men regarded him with +some surprise, his comrades with feelings of interest not unmingled with +awe. + +"But," he continued, "I know where the sea of ancient ice-blocks is just +now. I came past it in my kayak, and can guide you to it by the same +way." + +"That is just what I want, Chingatok," said the Captain with a joyful +look, "only aid me in this matter, and I will reward you well. I've +already told you that my ship is wrecked, and that the crew, except +those you see here, have left me; but I have saved all the cargo and +buried it in a place of security with the exception of those things +which I need for my expedition. One half of these things are on this +sledge,--the other half on a sledge left behind and ready packed near +the wreck. Now, I want you to send men to fetch that sledge here." + +"That shall be done," said Chingatok. "Thanks, thanks, my good fellow," +returned the Captain, "and we must set about it at once, for the summer +is advancing, and you know as well as I do that the hot season is but a +short one in these regions." + +"A moment more shall not be lost," said the giant. + +He turned to Oolichuk, who had been leaning on a short spear, and gazing +open-mouthed, eyed, and eared, during the foregoing conversation, and +said a few words to him and to the other Eskimos in a low tone. + +Oolichuk merely nodded his head, said "Yah!" or something similarly +significant, shouldered his spear and went off in the direction of the +Cape of Newhope, followed by nearly all the men of the party. + +"Stay, not quite so fast," cried Captain Vane. + +"Stop!" shouted Chingatok. + +Oolichuk and his men paused. + +"One of us had better go with them," said the Captain, "to show the +place where the sledge has been left." + +"I will go, uncle, if you'll allow me," said Leo Vandervell. + +"Oh! let me go too, father," pleaded Benjy, "I'm not a bit tired; do." + +"You may both go. Take a rifle with you, Leo. There's no saying what +you may meet on the way." + +In half-an-hour the party under Oolichuk had reached the extremity of +the cape, and Captain Vane observed that his volatile son mounted to the +top of an ice-block to wave a farewell. He looked like a black speck, +or a crow, in the far distance. Another moment, and the speck had +disappeared among the hummocks of the ice-locked sea. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED AND FACED. + +They had not quite doubled the Cape of Newhope, and were about to round +the point which concealed the spot that had been named Wreck Bay, when +they suddenly found themselves face to face with a Polar bear! + +Bruin was evidently out for an evening stroll, for he seemed to have +nothing particular to do. + +Surprise lit up alike the countenances of the men and the visage of the +bear. It was an unexpected meeting on both sides. The distance between +them was not more than thirty feet. Leo was the only one of the party +who carried a rifle. More than once during the voyage had Leo seen and +shot a bear. The sight was not new to him, but never before had he come +so suddenly, or so very close, upon this king of the Arctic Seas. He +chanced at the time to be walking a few yards in advance of the party in +company with Oolichuk and Benjy. + +The three stopped, stared, and stood as if petrified. + +For one moment, then they uttered a united and half involuntary roar. + +Right royally did that bear accept the challenge. It rose, according to +custom, on its hind legs, and immediately began that slow, but deadly +war-dance with which the race is wont to preface an attack, while its +upper lip curled in apparent derision, exposing its terrible fangs. + +Leo recovered self-possession instantly. The rifle leaped to his +shoulder, the centre of the bear's breast was covered, and the trigger +pulled. + +Only a snap resulted. Leo had forgotten to load! Benjy gasped with +anxiety. Oolichuk, who had held himself back with a sparkling smile of +expectation at the prospect of seeing the Kablunet use his +thunder-weapon, looked surprised and disappointed, but went into action +promptly with his spear, accompanied by Akeetolik. Leo's rifle, being a +breech-loader, was quickly re-charged, but as the rest of the party +stood leaning on their spears with the evident intention of merely +watching the combat, the youth resolved to hold his hand, despite +Benjy's earnest recommendation to put one ball between the bear's eyes, +and the other into his stomach. + +It was but a brief though decisive battle. Those Eskimos were well used +to such warfare. + +Running towards the animal with levelled spears, the two men separated +on coming close, so that Bruin was forced to a state of indecision as to +which enemy he would assail first. Akeetolik settled the point for him +by giving him a prick on the right side, thus, as it were, drawing the +enemy's fire on himself. The bear turned towards him with a fierce +growl, and in so doing, exposed his left side to attack. Oolichuk was +not slow to seize the opportunity. He leaped close up, and drove his +spear deep into the animal's heart--killing it on the spot. + +Next day the party returned to the Eskimo camp with the sledge-load of +goods, and the bear on the top. + +While steaks of the same were being prepared by Toolooha, Captain Vane +and his new allies were busy discussing the details of the advance. + +"I know that the difficulties will be great," he said, in reply to a +remark from the interpreter, "but I mean to face and overcome them." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Alf, who was rather fond of poetry:-- + + "To dare unknown dangers in a noble cause, + Despite an adverse Nature and her tiresome Laws." + +"Just so, Alf, my boy, stick at nothing; never give in; victory or +death, that's my way of expressing the same sentiment. But there's one +thing that I must impress once more upon you all--namely, that each man +must reduce his kit to the very lowest point of size and weight. No +extras allowed." + +"What, not even a box of paper collars?" asked Benjy. + +"Not one, my boy, but you may take a strait-waistcoat in your box if you +choose, for you'll be sure to need it." + +"Oh! father," returned the boy, remonstratively, "you are severe. +However, I will take one, if you agree to leave your woollen comforter +behind. You won't need that, you see, as long as I am with you." + +"Of course," said Alf, "you will allow us to carry small libraries with +us?" + +"Certainly not, my lad, only one book each, and that must be a small +one." + +"The only book I possess is my Bible," said Leo, "and that won't take up +much room, for it's an uncommonly small one." + +"If I only had my Robinson Crusoe here," cried Benjy, "I'd take it, for +there's enough of adventure in that book to carry a man over half the +world." + +"Ay," said Alf, "and enough of mind to carry him over the other half. +For my part, if we must be content with one book each, I shall take +Buzzby's poems." + +"Oh! horrible!" cried Benjy, "why, he's no better than a maudlin', +dawdlin', drawlin', caterwaulin'--" + +"Come, Benjy, don't be insolent; he's second only to Tennyson. Just +listen to this _morceau_ by Buzzby. It is an Ode to Courage-- + + "`High! hot! hillarious compound of--'" + +"Stop! stop! man, don't begin when we're in the middle of our plans," +interrupted Benjy, "let us hear what book Butterface means to take." + +"I not take no book, massa, only take my flute. Music is wot's de +matter wid me. Dat is de ting what hab charms to soove de savage +beast." + +"I wouldn't advise you try to soothe a Polar bear with it," said Leo, +"unless you have a rifle handy." + +"Yes--and especially an unloaded one, which is very effective against +Polar bears," put in the Captain, with a sly look. "Ah, Leo, I could +hardly have believed it of you--and you the sportsman of our party, too; +our chief huntsman. Oh, fie!" + +"Come, uncle, don't be too hard on that little mistake," said Leo, with +a slight blush, for he was really annoyed by the unsportsmanlike +oversight hinted at; "but pray, may I ask," he added, turning sharply on +the Captain, "what is inside of these three enormous boxes of yours +which take up so much space on the sledges?" + +"You may ask, Leo, but you may not expect an answer. That is my secret, +and I mean to keep it as a sort of stimulus to your spirits when the +hardships of the way begin to tell on you. Ask Chingatok, Anders," +continued the Captain, turning to the interpreter, "if he thinks we have +enough provisions collected for the journey. I wish to start +immediately." + +"We have enough," answered Chingatok, who had been sitting a silent, but +deeply interested observer--so to speak--of the foregoing conversation. + +"Tell him, then, to arrange with his party, and be prepared to set out +by noon to-morrow." + +That night, by the light of the midnight sun, the Eskimos sat round +their kettles of bear-chops, and went into the _pros_ and _cons_ of the +proposed expedition. Some were enthusiastically in favour of casting in +their lot with the white men, others were decidedly against it, and a +few were undecided. Among the latter was Akeetolik. + +"These ignorant men," said that bold savage, "are foolish and useless. +They cannot kill bears. The one named Lo, (thus was Leonard's name +reduced to its lowest denomination), is big enough, and looks very fine, +but when he sees bear he only stares, makes a little click with his +thunder-weapon, and looks stupid." + +"Blackbeard explained that," said Oolichuk; "Lo made some mistake." + +"That may be so," retorted Akeetolik, "but if you and me had not been +there, the _bear_ would not make a mistake." + +"I will not go with these Kablunets," said Eemerk with a frown, "they +are only savages. They are not taught. No doubt they had a wonderful +boat, but they have not been able to keep their boat. They cannot kill +bears; perhaps they cannot kill seals or walruses, and they ask us to +help them to travel--to show them the way! They can do nothing. They +must be led like children. My advice is to kill them all, since they +are so useless, and take their goods." + +This speech was received with marks of decided approval by those of the +party who were in the habit of siding with Eemerk, but the rest were +silent. In a few moments Chingatok said, in a low, quiet, but +impressive tone: "The Kablunets are not foolish or ignorant. They are +wise--far beyond the wisdom of the Eskimos. It is Eemerk who is like a +walrus without brains. He thinks that his little mind is outside of +everything, and so he has not eyes to perceive that he is ignorant as +well as foolish, and that other men are wise." + +This was the severest rebuke that the good-natured Chingatok had yet +administered to Eemerk, but the latter, foolish though he was, had +wisdom enough not to resent it openly. He sat in moody silence, with +his eyes fixed on the ground. + +Of course Oolichuk was decidedly in favour of joining the white men, and +so was Ivitchuk, who soon brought round his hesitating friend Akeetolik, +and several of the others. Oblooria, being timid, would gladly have +sided with Eemerk, but she hated the man, and, besides, would in any +case have cast in her lot with her mother and brother, even if free to +do otherwise. + +The fair Tekkona, whose courage and faith were naturally strong, had +only one idea, and that was to follow cheerfully wherever Chingatok led; +but she was very modest, and gave no opinion. She merely remarked: "The +Kablunets are handsome men, and seem good." + +As for Toolooha, she had enough to do to attend to the serious duties of +the lamp, and always left the settlement of less important matters to +the men. + +"You and yours are free to do what you please," said Chingatok to +Eemerk, when the discussion drew to a close. "I go with the white men +to-morrow." + +"What says Oblooria?" whispered Oolichuk when the rest of the party were +listening to Eemerk's reply. + +"Oblooria goes with her brother and mother," answered that young lady, +toying coquettishly with her sealskin tail. + +Oolichuk's good-humoured visage beamed with satisfaction, and his flat +nose curled up--as much as it was possible for such a feature to curl-- +with contempt, as he glanced at Eemerk and said-- + +"I have heard many tales from Anders--the white man's mouthpiece--since +we met. He tells me the white men are very brave and fond of running +into danger for nothing but fun. Those who do not like the fun of +danger should join Eemerk. Those who are fond of fun and danger should +come with our great chief Chingatok--huk! Let us divide." + +Without more palaver the band divided, and it was found that only eight +sided with Eemerk. All the rest cast in their lot with our giant, after +which this Arctic House of Commons adjourned, and its members went to +rest. + +A few days after that, Captain Vane and his Eskimo allies, having left +the camp with Eemerk and his friends far behind them, came suddenly one +fine morning on a barrier which threatened effectually to arrest their +further progress northward. This was nothing less than that tremendous +sea of "ancient ice" which had baffled previous navigators and sledging +parties. + +"Chaos! absolute chaos!" exclaimed Alf Vandervell, who was first to +recover from the shock of surprise, not to say consternation, with which +the party beheld the scene on turning a high cape. + +"It looks bad," said Captain Vane, gravely, "but things often look worse +at a first glance than they really are." + +"I hope it may be so in this case," said Leo, in a low tone. + +"Good-bye to the North Pole!" said Benjy, with a look of despondency so +deep that the rest of the party laughed in spite of themselves. + +The truth was that poor Benjy had suffered much during the sledge +journey which they had begun, for although he rode, like the rest of +them, on one of the Eskimo sledges, the ice over which they had +travelled along shore had been sufficiently rugged to necessitate +constant getting off and on, as well as much scrambling over hummocks +and broken ice. We have already said that Benjy was not very robust, +though courageous and full of spirit, so that he was prone to leap from +the deepest depths of despair to the highest heights of hope at a +moment's notice--or _vice versa_. Not having become inured to +ice-travel, he was naturally much cast down when the chaos +above-mentioned met his gaze. + +"Strange," said the Captain, after a long silent look at the barrier, +"strange that we should find it here. The experience of former +travellers placed it considerably to the south and west of this." + +"But you know," said Leo, "Chingatok told us that the old ice drifts +about just as the more recently formed does. Who knows but we may find +the end of it not far off, and perhaps may reach open water beyond, +where we can make skin canoes, and launch forth on a voyage of +discovery." + +"I vote that we climb the cliffs and try to see over the top of this +horrid ice-jumble," said Benjy. + +"Not a bad suggestion, lad. Let us do so. We will encamp here, Anders. +Let all the people have a good feed, and tell Chingatok to follow us. +You will come along with him." + +A few hours later, and the Captain, Leo, Alf, Benjy, Chingatok, and the +interpreter stood on the extreme summit of the promontory which they had +named Cape Chaos, and from which they had a splendid bird's-eye view of +the whole region. + +It was indeed a tremendous and never-to-be-forgotten scene. + +As far as the eye could reach, the ocean was covered with ice heaped +together in some places in the wildest confusion, and so firmly wedged +in appearance that it seemed as if it had lain there in a solid mass +from the first day of creation. Elsewhere the ice was more level and +less compact. In the midst of this rugged scene, hundreds of giant +icebergs rose conspicuously above the rest, towering upwards in every +shape and of all sizes, from which the bright sun was flashed back in +rich variety of form, from the sharp gleam that trickled down an edge of +ice to the refulgent blaze on a glassy face which almost rivalled the +sun himself in brilliancy. These icebergs, extending as they did to the +horizon, where they mingled with and were lost in the pearl-grey sky, +gave an impression of vast illimitable perspective. Although no sign of +an open sea was at first observed, there was no lack of water to enliven +the scene, for here and there, and everywhere, were pools and ponds, and +even lakes of goodly size, which had been formed on the surface by the +melting ice. In these the picturesque masses were faithfully reflected, +and over them vast flocks of gulls, eider-ducks, puffins, and other +wild-fowl of the north, disported themselves in garrulous felicity. + +On the edge of the rocky precipice, from which they had a bird's-eye +view of the scene, our discoverers stood silent for some time, absorbed +in contemplation, with feelings of mingled awe and wonder. Then +exclamations of surprise and admiration broke forth. + +"The wonderful works of God!" said the Captain, in a tone of profound +reverence. + +"Beautiful, beyond belief!" murmured Alf. + +"But it seems an effectual check to our advance," said the practical +Leo, who, however, was by no means insensible to the extreme beauty of +the scene. + +"Not effectual, lad; not effectual," returned the Captain, stretching +out his hand and turning to the interpreter; "look, Anders, d'ye see +nothing on the horizon away to the nor'ard? Isn't that a bit of +water-sky over there?" + +"Ya," replied the interpreter, gazing intently, "there be watter-sky +over there. Ya. But not possobubble for go there. Ice too big an' +brokkin up." + +"Ask Chingatok what he thinks," returned the Captain. + +Chingatok's opinion was that the water-sky indicated the open sea. He +knew that sea well--had often paddled over it, and his own country lay +in it. + +"But how ever did he cross that ice?" asked the Captain; "what says he +to that, Anders?" + +"I did not cross it," answered the Eskimo, through Anders. "When I came +here with my party the ice was not there; it was far off yonder." + +He pointed to the eastward. + +"Just so," returned the Captain, with a satisfied nod, "that confirms my +opinion. You see, boys, that the coast here trends off to the East'ard +in a very decided manner. Now, if that was only the shore of a bay, and +the land again ran off to the nor'ard, it would not be possible for such +a sea of ice to have come from _that_ direction. I therefore conclude +that we are standing on the most northern cape of Greenland; that +Greenland itself is a huge island, unconnected with the Polar lands; +that we are now on the shores of the great Polar basin, in which, +somewhere not very far from the Pole itself, lies the home of our friend +Chingatok--at least so I judge from what he has said. Moreover, I feel +sure that the water-sky we see over there indicates the commencement of +that `open sea' which, I hold, in common with many learned men, lies +around the North Pole, and which I am determined to float upon before +many days go by." + +"We'd better spread our wings then, father, and be off at once," said +Benjy; "for it's quite certain that we'll never manage to scramble over +that ice-jumble with sledges." + +"Nevertheless, I will try, Benjy." + +"But how, uncle?" asked Leo. + +"Ay, how?" repeated Alf, "_that_ is the question." + +"Come, come, Alf, let Shakespeare alone," said the pert Benjy, "if you +_must_ quote, confine yourself to Buzzby." + +"Nay, Benjy, be not so severe. It was but a slip. Besides, our leader +has not forbidden our carrying a whole library in our heads, so long as +we take only one book in our pockets. But, uncle, you have not yet told +us how you intend to cross that amazing barrier which Benjy has +appropriately styled an ice-jumble." + +"How, boy?" returned the Captain, who had been gazing eagerly in all +directions while they talked, "it is impossible for me to say how. All +that I can speak of with certainty as to our future movements is, that +the road by which we have come to the top of this cliff will lead us to +the bottom again, where Toolooha is preparing for us an excellent supper +of bear-steaks and tea. One step at a time, lads, is my motto; when +that is taken we shall see clearly how and where to take the next." + +A sound sleep was the step which the whole party took after that which +led to the bear-steaks. Then Captain Vane arose, ordered the dogs to be +harnessed to the sledges, and, laying his course due north, steered +straight out upon the sea of ancient ice. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS INCREASE, AND THE CAPTAIN EXPOUNDS HIS VIEWS. + +The first part of the journey over the rugged ice was not so difficult +as had been anticipated, because they found a number of openings--narrow +lanes, as it were--winding between the masses, most of which were wide +enough to permit of the passage of the sledges; and when they chanced to +come on a gap that was too narrow, they easily widened it with their +hatchets and ice-chisels. + +There was, however, some danger connected with this process, for some of +the mighty blocks of ice amongst which they moved were piled in such +positions that it only required a few choppings at their base to bring +them down in ruins on their heads. One instance of this kind sufficed +to warn them effectually. + +Captain Vane's dog-sledge was leading the way at the time. Leo drove +it, for by that time the Eskimos had taught him how to use the +short-handled whip with the lash full fifteen feet long, and Leo was an +apt pupil in every athletic and manly exercise. Beside him sat the +Captain, Alf, Benjy, and Butterface--the black visage of the latter +absolutely shining with delight at the novelty of the situation. Behind +came the sledge of Chingatok, which, besides being laden with bear-rugs, +sealskins, junks of meat, and a host of indescribable Eskimo implements, +carried himself and the precious persons of Toolooha and Tekkona. Next +came the sledge of the laughter-loving Oolichuk, with the timid Oblooria +and another woman. Then followed the sledges of Ivitchuk and Akeetolik, +laden with the rest of the Eskimo women and goods, and last of all came +Captain Vane's two English-made sledges, heavily-laden with the goods +and provisions of the explorers. These latter sledges, although made in +England, had been constructed on the principle of the native sledge, +namely, with the parts fastened by means of walrus-sinew lashings +instead of nails, which last would have snapped like glass in the winter +frosts of the Polar regions, besides being incapable of standing the +twistings and shocks of ice-travel. + +All the dogs being fresh, and the floor of the lanes not too rough, the +strangely-assorted party trotted merrily along, causing the echoes among +the great ice-blocks, spires, and obelisks, to ring to the music of +their chatting, and the cracks of their powerful whips. Suddenly, a +shout at the front, and an abrupt pull up, brought the whole column to a +halt. The Captain's dogs had broken into a gallop. On turning suddenly +round a spur of a glacier about as big as Saint Paul's Cathedral, they +went swish into a shallow pond which had been formed on the ice. It was +not deep, but there was sufficient water in it to send a deluge of spray +over the travellers. + +A burst of laughter greeted the incident as they sprang off the sledge, +and waded to the dry ice a few yards ahead. + +"No damage done," exclaimed the Captain, as he assisted the dogs to haul +the sledge out of the water. + +"No damage!" repeated Benjy, with a rueful look, "why, I'm soaked from +top to toe!" + +"Yes, you've got the worst of it," said Leo, with a laugh; "that comes +of being forward, Benjy. You would insist on sitting in front." + +"Well, it is some comfort," retorted Benjy, squeezing the water from his +garments, "that _Alf_ is as wet as myself, for that gives us an +opportunity of sympathising with each other. Eh, _Alf_? Does Buzzby +offer no consolatory remarks for such an occasion as this?" + +"O yes," replied Alf; "in his beautiful poem on Melancholy, sixth canto, +Buzzby says:-- + + "`When trouble, like a curtain spread, + Obscures the clouded brain, + And worries on the weary head + Descend like soaking rain-- + Lift up th'umbrella of the heart, + Stride manfully along; + Defy depression's dreary dart, + And shout in gleeful song.'" + +"Come, Alf, clap on to this tow-rope, an' stop your nonsense," said +Captain Vane, who was not in a poetical frame of mind just then. + +"Dat is mos' boosiful potry!" exclaimed Butterface, with an immense +display of eyes and teeth, as he lent a willing hand to haul out the +sledge. "Mos' boosiful. But he's rader a strong rem'dy, massa, don' +you tink? Not bery easy to git up a gleefoo' shout when one's down in +de mout' bery bad, eh!" + +Alf's reply was checked by the necessity for remounting the sledge and +resuming the journey. Those in rear avoided the pond by going round it. + +"The weather's warm, anyhow, and that's a comfort," remarked Benjy, as +he settled down in his wet garments. "We can't freeze in summer, you +know, and--" + +He stopped abruptly, for it became apparent just then that the opening +close ahead of them was too narrow for the sledge to pass. It was +narrowed by a buttress, or projection, of the cathedral-berg, which +jutted up close to a vast obelisk of ice about forty feet high, if not +higher. + +"Nothing for it, boys, but to cut through," said the Captain, jumping +out, and seizing an axe, as the sledge was jammed between the masses. +The dogs lay down to rest and pant while the men were at work. + +"It's cut an' come again in dem regins," muttered the negro steward, +also seizing an axe, and attacking the base of the obelisk. + +A sudden cry of alarm from the whole party caused him to desist and look +up. He echoed the cry and sprang back swiftly, for the huge mass of ice +having been just on the balance, one slash at its base had destroyed the +equilibrium, and it was leaning slowly over with a deep grinding sound. +A moment later the motion was swift, and it fell with a terrible crash, +bursting into a thousand fragments, scattering lumps and glittering +morsels far and wide, and causing the whole ice-field to tremble. The +concussion overturned several other masses, which had been in the same +nicely-balanced condition, some near at hand, others out of sight, +though within earshot, and, for a moment, the travellers felt as if the +surrounding pack were disrupting everywhere and falling into utter ruin, +but in a few seconds the sounds ceased, and again all was quiet. + +Fortunately, the obelisk which had been overturned fell towards the +north--away from the party; but although it thus narrowly missed +crushing them all in one icy tomb, it blocked up their path so +completely that the remainder of that day had to be spent in cutting a +passage through it. + +Need we say that, after this, they were careful how they used their axes +and ice-chisels? + +Soon after the occurrence of this incident, the labyrinths among the ice +became more broken, tortuous, and bewildering. At last they ceased +altogether, and the travellers were compelled to take an almost straight +course right over everything, for blocks, masses, and drifts on a +gigantic scale were heaved up in such dire confusion, that nothing +having the faintest resemblance to a track or passage could be found. + +"It's hard work, this," remarked the Captain to Leo one evening, seating +himself on a mass of ice which he had just chopped from an obstruction, +and wiping the perspiration from his brow. + +"Hard, indeed," said Leo, sitting down beside him, "I fear it begins to +tell upon poor Benjy. You should really order him to rest more than he +does, uncle." + +A grim smile of satisfaction played for a minute on the Captain's rugged +face, as he glanced at his son, who, a short distance ahead, was hacking +at the ice with a pick-axe, in company with Alf and Butterface and the +Eskimo men. + +"It'll do him good, lad," replied the Captain. "Hard work is just what +my Benjy needs. He's not very stout, to be sure, but there is nothing +wrong with his constitution, and he's got plenty of spirit." + +This was indeed true. Benjy had too much spirit for his somewhat +slender frame, but his father, being a herculean man, did not quite +perceive that what was good for himself might be too much for his son. +Captain Vane was, however, the reverse of a harsh man. He pondered what +Leo had said, and soon afterwards went up to his son. + +"Benjy, my lad." + +"Yes, father," said the boy, dropping the head of his pick-axe on the +ice, resting his hands on the haft, and looking up with a flushed +countenance. + +"You should rest a bit now and then, Benjy. You'll knock yourself up if +you don't." + +"Rest a bit, father! Why, I've just had a rest, and I'm not tired--that +is, not very. Ain't it fun, father? And the ice cuts up so easily, and +flies about so splendidly--see here." + +With flashing eyes our little hero raised his pick and drove it into the +ice at which he had been working, with all his force, so that a great +rent was made, and a mass the size of a dressing-table sprang from the +side of a berg, and, falling down, burst into a shower of sparkling +gems. But this was not all. To Benjy's intense delight, a mass of many +tons in weight was loosened by the fall of the smaller lump, and rolled +down with a thunderous roar, causing Butterface, who was too near it, to +jump out of the way with an amount of agility that threw the whole party +into fits of laughter. + +"What d'ye think o' that, father?" + +"I think it's somewhat dangerous," answered the Captain, recovering his +gravity and re-shouldering his axe. "However, as long as you enjoy the +work, it can't hurt you, so go ahead, my boy; it'll be a long time +before you cut away too much o' the Polar ice!" + +Reaching a slightly open space beyond this point, the dogs were +harnessed, and the party advanced for a mile or so, when they came to +another obstruction worse than that which they had previously passed. + +"There's a deal of ice-rubbish in these regions," remarked Benjy, eyeing +the wildly heaped masses with a grave face, and heaving a deep sigh. + +"Yes, Massa Benjy, bery too much altogidder," said Butterface, echoing +the sigh. + +"Come, we won't cut through this," cried Captain Vane in a cheery voice; +"we'll try to go over it. There is a considerable drift of old snow +that seems to offer a sort of track. What says Chingatok?" + +The easy-going Eskimo said that it would be as well to go over it as +through it, perhaps better! + +So, over it they went, but they soon began to wish they had tried any +other plan, for the snow-track quickly came to an end, and then the +difficulty of passing even the empty sledges from one ice mass to +another was very great, while the process of carrying forward the goods +on the shoulders of the men was exceedingly laborious. The poor dogs, +too, were constantly falling between masses, and dragging each other +down, so that they gave more trouble at last than they were worth. + +In all these trying circumstances, the Eskimo women were almost as +useful as the men. Indeed they would have been quite as useful if they +had been as strong, and they bore the fatigues and trials of the journey +with the placid good humour, and apparent, if not real, humility of +their race. + +At last, one afternoon, our discoverers came suddenly to the edge of +this great barrier of ancient ice, and beheld, from an elevated plateau +to which they had climbed, a scene which was calculated to rouse in +their breasts feelings at once of admiration and despair, for there, +stretching away below them for several miles, lay a sea of comparatively +level ice, and beyond it a chain of stupendous glaciers, which presented +an apparently impassable barrier--a huge continuous wall of ice that +seemed to rise into the very sky. + +This chain bore all the evidences of being very old ice--compared to +which that of the so-called "ancient sea" was absolutely juvenile. On +the ice-plain, which was apparently illimitable to the right and left, +were hundreds of pools of water in which the icebergs, the golden +clouds, the sun, and the blue sky were reflected, and on the surface of +which myriads of Arctic wild-fowl were sporting about, making the air +vocal with their plaintive cries, and ruffling the glassy surfaces of +the lakes with their dipping wings. The heads of seals were also +observed here and there. + +"These will stop us at last," said Alf, pointing to the bergs with a +profound sigh. + +"No, they won't," remarked the Captain quietly. "_Nothing_ will stop +us!" + +"That's true, anyhow, uncle," returned Alf; "for if it be, as Chingatok +thinks, that we are in search of nothing, of course when we find +nothing, nothing will stop us!" + +"Why, Alf," said Leo, "I wonder that you, who are usually in an +enthusiastic and poetical frame of mind, should be depressed by distant +difficulties, instead of admiring such a splendid sight of birds and +beasts enjoying themselves in what I may style an Arctic heaven. You +should take example by Benjy." + +That youth did indeed afford a bright example of rapt enthusiasm just +then, for, standing a little apart by himself, he gazed at the scene +with flushed face, open mouth, and glittering eyes, in speechless +delight. + +"Ask Chingatok if he ever saw this range before," said the Captain to +Anders, on recovering from his first feeling of surprise. + +No, Chingatok had never seen it, except, indeed, the tops of the bergs-- +at sea, in the far distance--but he had often heard of it from some of +his countrymen, who, like himself, were fond of exploring. But that sea +of ice was not there, he said, when he had passed on his journey +southward. It had drifted there, since that time, from the great sea. + +"Ah! the great sea that he speaks of is just what we must find and cross +over," muttered the Captain to himself. + +"But how are we to cross over it, uncle?" asked Leo. + +The Captain replied with one of his quiet glances. His followers had +long become accustomed to this silent method of declining to reply, and +forbore to press the subject. + +"Come now, boys, get ready to descend to the plain. We'll have to do it +with caution." + +There was, indeed, ground for caution. We have said that they had +climbed to an elevated plateau on one of the small bergs which formed +the outside margin of the rugged ice. The side of this berg was a steep +slope of hard snow, so steep that they thought it unwise to attempt the +descent by what in Switzerland is termed glissading. + +"We'll have to zig-zag down, I think," continued the Captain, settling +himself on his sledge; but the Captain's dogs thought otherwise. Under +a sudden impulse of reckless free-will, the whole team, giving vent to a +howl of mingled glee and fear, dashed down the slope at full gallop. Of +course they were overtaken in a few seconds by the sledge, which not +only ran into them, but sent them sprawling on their backs right and +left. Then it met a slight obstruction, and itself upset, sending +Captain Vane and his companions, with its other contents, into the midst +of the struggling dogs. With momentarily increasing speed this +avalanche of mixed dead and living matter went sliding, hurtling, +swinging, shouting, struggling, and yelling to the bottom. Fortunately, +there was no obstruction there, else had destruction been inevitable. +The slope merged gradually into the level plain, over which the +avalanche swept for a considerable distance before the momentum of their +flight was expended. + +When at length they stopped, and disentangled themselves from the knot +into which the traces had tied them, it was found that no one was +materially hurt. Looking up at the height down which they had come, +they beheld the Eskimos standing at the top with outstretched arms in +the attitude of men who glare in speechless horror. But these did not +stand thus long. Descending by a more circuitous route, they soon +rejoined the Captain's party, and then, as the night was far advanced, +they encamped on the edge of the ice-plain, on a part that was bathed in +the beams of the ever-circling sun. + +That night at supper Captain Vane was unusually thoughtful and silent. + +"You're not losing heart, are you, uncle?" asked Leo, during a pause. + +"No, lad, certainly not," replied the Captain, dreamily. + +"You've not been bumped very badly in the tumble, father, have you?" +asked Benjy with an anxious look. + +"Bumped? no; what makes you think so?" + +"Because you're gazing at Toolooha's lamp as if you saw a ghost in it." + +"Well, perhaps I do see a ghost there," returned the Captain with an +effort to rouse his attention to things going on around him. "I see the +ghost of things to come. I am looking through Toolooha's lamp into +futurity." + +"And what does futurity look like?" asked Alf. "Bright or dark?" + +"Black--black as me," muttered Butterface, as he approached and laid +fresh viands before the party. + +It ought to be told that Butterface had suffered rather severely in the +recent glissade on the snow-slope, which will account for the gloomy +view he took of the future at that time. + +"Listen," said the Captain, with a look of sudden earnestness; "as it is +highly probable that a day or two more will decide the question of our +success or failure, I think it right to reveal to you more fully my +thoughts, my plans, and the prospects that lie before us. You all know +very well that there is much difference of opinion about the condition +of the sea around the North Pole. Some think it must be cumbered with +eternal ice, others that it is comparatively free from ice, and that it +enjoys a somewhat milder climate than those parts of the Arctic regions +with which we have hitherto been doing battle. I hold entirely with the +latter view--with those who believe in an open Polar basin. I won't +weary you with the grounds of my belief in detail, but here are a few of +my reasons-- + +"It is an admitted fact that there is constant circulation of the water +in the ocean. That wise and painstaking philosopher, Maury, of the US +navy, has proved to my mind that this grand circulation of the sea-water +round the world is the cause of all the oceanic streams, hot and cold, +with which we have been so long acquainted. + +"This circulation is a necessity as well as a fact. At the Equator the +water is extremely warm and salt, besides lime-laden, in consequence of +excessive evaporation. At the Poles it is extremely cold and fresh. +Mixing is therefore a necessity. The hot salt-waters of the Equator +flow to the Poles to get freshened and cooled. Those of the Poles flow +to the Equator to get salted, limed, and warmed. They do this +continuously in two grand currents, north and south, all round the +world. But the land comes in as a disturbing element; it diverts the +water into streams variously modified in force and direction, and the +streams also change places variously, sometimes the hot currents +travelling north as under-currents with the cold currents above, +sometimes the reverse. One branch of the current comes from the Equator +round the Cape of Good Hope, turns up the west coast of Africa, and is +deflected into the Gulf of Mexico, round which it sweeps, and then +shoots across the Atlantic to England and Norway. It is known as our +Gulf Stream. + +"Now, the equatorial warm and salt current enters Baffin's Bay as a +submarine current, while the cold and comparatively fresh waters of the +Polar regions descend as a surface-current, bearing the great ice-fields +of the Arctic seas to the southward. One thing that goes far to prove +this, is the fact that the enormous icebergs thrown off from the +northern glaciers have been frequently seen by navigators travelling +northward, right _against_ the current flowing south. These huge +ice-mountains, floating as they do with seven or eight parts of their +bulk beneath the surface, are carried thus forcibly up stream by the +under-current until their bases are worn off by the warm waters below, +thus allowing the upper current to gain the mastery, and hurry them +south again to their final dissolution in the Atlantic. + +"Now, lads," continued the Captain, with the air of a man who propounds +a self-evident proposition; "is it not clear that if the warm waters of +the south flow into the Polar basin as an _under_ current, they must +come up _somewhere_, to take the place of the cold waters that are for +ever flowing away from the Pole to the Equator? Can anything be clearer +than that--except the nose on Benjy's face? Well then, that being so, +the waters round the Pole _must_ be comparatively warm waters, and also, +comparatively, free from ice, so that if we could only manage to cross +this ice-barrier and get into them, we might sail right away to the +North Pole." + +"But, father," said Benjy, "since you have taken the liberty to trifle +with my nose, I feel entitled to remark that we can't sail in waters, +either hot or cold, without a ship." + +"That's true, boy," rejoined the Captain. "However," he added, with a +half-humorous curl of his black moustache, "you know I'm not given to +stick at trifles. Time will show. Meanwhile I am strongly of opinion +that this is the last ice-barrier we shall meet with on our way to the +Pole." + +"Is there not some tradition of a mild climate in the furthest north +among the Eskimos?" asked Alf. + +"Of course there is. It has long been known that the Greenland Eskimos +have a tradition of an island in an iceless sea, lying away in the far +north, where there are many musk-oxen, and, from what I have been told +by our friend Chingatok, I am disposed to think that he and his kindred +inhabit this island, or group of islands, in the Polar basin--not far, +perhaps, from the Pole itself. He says there are musk-oxen there. But +there is another creature, and a much bigger one than any Eskimo, bigger +even than Chingatok, who bears his testimony to an open Polar sea, +namely, the Greenland whale. It has been ascertained that the `right' +whale does not, and cannot, enter the tropical regions of the Ocean. +They are to him as a sea of fire, a wall of adamant, so that it is +impossible for him to swim south, double Cape Horn, and proceed to the +North Pacific; yet the very same kind of whale found in Baffin's Bay is +found at Behring Straits. Now, the question is, how did he get there?" + +"Was born there, no doubt," answered Benjy, "and had no occasion to make +such a long voyage!" + +"Ah! my boy, but we have the strongest evidence that he was _not_ born +there, for you must know that some whalers have a habit of marking their +harpoons with date and name of ship; and as we have been told by that +good and true man Dr Scoresby, there have been several instances where +whales have been captured near Behring Straits with harpoons in them +bearing the stamp of ships that were known to cruise on the Baffin's Bay +side of America. Moreover, in one or two instances a very short time +had elapsed between the date of harpooning on the Atlantic and capturing +on the Pacific side. These facts prove, at all events, a `North-west +Passage' for whales, and, as whales cannot travel far under ice without +breathing, they also tend to prove an open Polar sea. + +"Another argument in favour of this basin is the migration of birds to +the northward at certain seasons. Birds do not migrate to frozen +regions, and such migrations northward have been observed by those who, +like ourselves, have reached the highest latitudes. + +"Captain Nares of the _Alert_, in May 1876, when only a little to the +southward of this, saw ptarmigan flying in pairs to the north-west, +seeking for better feeding-grounds. Ducks and geese also passed +northward early in June, indicating plainly the existence of suitable +feeding-grounds in the undiscovered and mysterious North. + +"We have now passed beyond the point reached by Captain Nares. My last +observation placed us in parallel 84 degrees 40 minutes, the highest +that has yet been reached by civilised man." + +"The highest, uncle?" interrupted Leo. "Yes--the highest. Scoresby +reached 81 degrees 50 minutes in 1806, Parry 82 degrees 45 minutes in +1827--with sledges. That unfortunate and heroic American, Captain Hall, +ran his vessel, the _Polaris_, in the shortest space of time on record, +up to latitude 82 degrees 16 minutes. Captain Nares reached a higher +latitude than had previously been attained by ships, and Captain +Markham, of Captain Nares' expedition, travelled over this very `sea of +ancient ice' with sledges to latitude 83 degrees 20.4 minutes--about 400 +miles from the Pole, and the highest yet reached, as I have said. So, +you see, we have beaten them all! Moreover, I strongly incline to the +belief that the open Polar Sea lies just beyond that range of huge +icebergs which we see before us." + +The Captain rose as he spoke, and pointed to the gigantic chain, behind +one of which the sun was just about to dip, causing its jagged peaks to +glow as with intense fire. + +"But how are we ever to pass that barrier, uncle?" asked Alf, who was by +nature the least sanguine of the party in regard to overcoming +difficulties of a geographical nature, although by far the most +enthusiastic in the effort to acquire knowledge. + +"You shall see, to-morrow," answered the Captain; "at present we must +turn in and rest. See, the Eskimos have already set us the example." + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +THE CAPTAIN MAKES A STUPENDOUS EFFORT. DISAPPOINTMENTS AND DISCOVERIES. + +Next morning the ice-plain was crossed at a swinging gallop. Indeed, +the dogs were so fresh and frisky after a good rest and a hearty meal +that they ran away more than once, and it became a matter of extreme +difficulty to check them. At last the great chain was reached, and the +party came to an abrupt halt at the base of one of the largest of the +bergs. Captain Vane gazed up at it as Napoleon the First may be +supposed to have gazed at the Alps he had resolved to scale and cross. + +The resemblance to alpine scenery was not confined to mere form--such as +towering peaks and mighty precipices--for there were lakelets and ponds +here and there up among the crystal heights, from which rivulets +trickled, streams brawled, and cataracts thundered. + +It was evident, however, that the old giant that frowned on them was +verging towards dissolution, for he was honey-combed in all directions. + +"Impossible to scale that," said Alf, with a solemn look. + +Even Leo's sanguine temperament was dashed for a moment. "We dare not +attempt to cut through it," he said, "for masses are falling about here +and there in a very dangerous fashion." + +As he spoke, a tall spire was seen to slip from its position, topple +over, and go crashing down into a dark blue gulf of ice below it. + +"No chance of success _now_," said Benjamin Vane, gloomily. + +"None wotsomediver," muttered Butterface, his broad black visage +absolutely elongated by sympathetic despair. For, you must know, as far +as his own feelings were concerned, sympathy alone influenced him. +Personally, he was supremely indifferent about reaching the North Pole. +In fact he did not believe in it at all, and made no scruple of saying +so, when asked, but he seldom volunteered his opinion, being an +extremely modest and polite man. + +During these desponding remarks Captain Vane did not seem to be much +depressed. + +"Anders," he said, turning abruptly to the interpreter, "ask Chingatok +what he thinks. Can we pass this barrier, and, if not, what would he +advise us to do?" + +It was observed that the other Eskimos drew near with anxious looks to +hear the opinion of their chief. + +Toolooha and Tekkona, however, seemed quite devoid of anxiety. They +evidently had perfect confidence in the giant, and poor little Oblooria +glanced up in the face of her friend as if to gather consolation from +her looks. + +Chingatok, after a short pause, said:-- + +"The ice-mountains cannot be passed. The white men have not wings; they +cannot fly. They must return to land, and travel for many days to the +open water near the far-off land--there." + +He pointed direct to the northward. + +Captain Vane made no reply. He merely turned and gave orders that the +lashings of one of the large sledges which conveyed the baggage should +be cast loose. Selecting a box from this, he opened it, and took +therefrom a small instrument made partly of brass, partly of glass, and +partly of wood. + +"You have often wondered, Benjy," he said, "what I meant to do with this +electrical machine. You shall soon see. Help me to arrange it, boy, +and do you, Leo, uncoil part of this copper wire. Here, Alf, carry this +little box to the foot of the berg, and lay it in front of yon blue +cavern." + +"Which? That one close to the waterfall or--" + +"No, the big cavern, just under the most solid part of the berg--the one +that seems to grow bluer and bluer until it becomes quite black in its +heart. And have a care, Alf. The box you carry is dangerous. Don't +let it fall. Lay it down gently, and come back at once. Anders," he +added, turning round, "let all the people go back with dogs and sledges +for a quarter of a mile." + +There was something so peremptory and abrupt in their leader's manner +that no one thought of asking him a question, though all were filled +with surprise and curiosity as to what he meant to do. + +"Come here, Leo," he said, after his orders had been obeyed. "Hold this +coil, and pay it out as I walk to the berg with the end in my hand." + +The coil was one of extremely fine copper wire. Leo let it run as the +Captain walked off. A minute or two later he was seen to enter the dark +blue cavern and disappear. + +"My dear dad is reckless," exclaimed Benjy, in some anxiety, "what if +the roof o' that cave should fall in. There are bits of ice dropping +about everywhere. What _can_ he be going to do?" + +As he spoke, the Captain issued from the cave, and walked smartly +towards them. + +"Now then, it's all right," he said, "give me the coil, Leo, and come +back, all of you. Fetch the machine, Alf." + +In a few minutes the whole party had retired a considerable distance +from the huge berg, the Captain uncoiling the wire as he went. + +"Surely you're not going to try to blow it up piecemeal?" said Leo. + +"No, lad, I'm not going to do that, or anything so slow," returned the +Captain, stopping and arranging the instrument. + +"But if the box contains gunpowder," persisted Leo, "there's not enough +to--" + +"It contains dynamite," said the Captain, affixing the coil to the +machine, and giving it a sharp turn. + +If a volcano had suddenly opened fire under the iceberg the effect could +not have been more tremendous. Thunder itself is not more deep than was +the crash which reverberated among the ice-cliffs. Smoke burst in a +huge volume from the heart of the berg. Masses, fragments, domes, and +pinnacles were hurled into the air, and fell back to mingle with the +blue precipices that tumbled, slid, or plunged in horrible confusion. +Only a portion, indeed, of the mighty mass had been actually disrupted, +but the shock to the surrounding ice was so shattering that the entire +berg subsided. + +"Stu-pendous!" exclaimed Alf, with a look of awe-stricken wonder. + +Benjy, after venting his feelings in a shriek of joyful surprise, seemed +to be struck dumb. Anders and Butterface stood still,--speechless. As +for the Eskimos, they turned with one hideous yell, and fled from the +spot like maniacs--excepting Chingatok, who, although startled, stood +his ground in an attitude expressive of superlative surprise. + +"So,--it has not disappointed me," remarked the Captain, when the +hideous din had ceased, "dynamite is indeed a powerful agent when +properly applied: immeasurably more effective than powder." + +"But it seems to me," said Leo, beginning to recover himself, "that +although you have brought the berg down you have not rendered it much +more passable." + +"That's true, lad," answered the Captain with a somewhat rueful +expression. "It does seem a lumpy sort of heap after all; but there may +be found some practicable bits when we examine it more closely. Come, +we'll go see." + +On closer inspection it was found that the ruined berg still presented +an absolutely insurmountable obstacle to the explorers, who, being +finally compelled to admit that even dynamite had failed, left the place +in search of a natural opening. + +Travelling along the chain for a considerable time, in the hope of +succeeding, they came at last to a succession of comparatively level +floes, which conducted them to the extreme northern end of the chain, +and there they found that the floes continued onwards in an unbroken +plain to what appeared to be the open sea. + +"That is a water-sky, for certain," exclaimed Captain Vane, eagerly, on +the evening when this discovery was made. "The open ocean cannot now be +far off." + +"There's a very dark cloud there, father," said Benjy, who, as we have +before said, possessed the keenest sight of the party. + +"A cloud, boy! where? Um--Yes, I see something--" + +"It is land," said Chingatok, in a low voice. + +"Land!" exclaimed the Captain, "are you sure?" + +"Yes, I know it well. I passed it on my journey here. We left our +canoes and oomiaks there, and took to sledges because the floes were +unbroken. But these ice-mountains were not here at that time. They +have come down since we passed from the great sea." + +"There!" said the Captain, turning to Leo with a look of triumph, "he +still speaks of the great sea! If these bergs came from it, we _must_ +have reached it, lad." + +"But the land puzzles me," said Leo. "Can it be part of Greenland?" + +"Scarcely, for Greenland lies far to the east'ard, and the latest +discoveries made on the north of that land show that the coast turns +still more decidedly east--tending to the conclusion that Greenland is +an island. This land, therefore, must be entirely new land--an island-- +a continent perhaps." + +"But it may be a cape, father," interposed Benjy. "You know that capes +have a queer way of sticking out suddenly from land, just as men's noses +stick out from their faces." + +"True, Benjy, true, but your simile is not perfect, for men's noses +don't always stick out from their faces--witness the nose of Butterface, +which, you know, is well aft of his lips and chin. However, this _may_ +be Greenland's nose--who knows? We shall go and find out ere long. +Come, use your whip, Leo. Ho! Chingatok, tell your hairy kinsmen to +clap on all sail and make for the land." + +"Hold on, uncle!" cried Alf, "I think I see a splendid specimen of--" + +The crack of Leo's whip, and the yelping of the team, drowned the rest +of the sentence, and Alf was whirled away from his splendid specimen, +(whatever it was), for ever! + +"It is a piece of great good fortune," said the Captain, as they swept +along over the hard and level snow, "that the Eskimos have left their +boats on this land, for now I shall have two strings to my bow." + +"What is the other string?" asked Leo, as he administered a flip to the +flank of a lazy dog. + +"Ah, that remains to be seen, lad," replied the Captain. + +"Why, what a tyrant you are, uncle!" exclaimed Alf, who had recovered +from his disappointment about the splendid specimen. "You won't tell us +anything, almost. Who ever before heard of the men of an expedition to +the North Pole being kept in ignorance of the means by which they were +to get there?" + +The Captain's reply was only a twinkle of the eye. + +"Father wants to fill you with bliss, Alf," said Benjy, "according to +your own notions of that sort of thing." + +"What do you mean, Ben?" + +"Why, have we not all heard you often quote the words:--`Where ignorance +is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.'" + +"Hear, hear! That's it, Benjy," said the Captain, with a nod and a +short laugh, while his son assumed the satisfied gravity of look +appropriate to one who has made a hit; "I won't decrease his bliss by +removing his ignorance yet awhile." + +"Hain't Buzzby got nuffin' to say on that 'ere pint?" whispered +Butterface to Benjy, who sat just in front of him. + +"Ah! to be sure. I say, Alf," said the boy with an earnest look, +"hasn't your favourite author got something to say about the bliss of +ignorance? I'm almost sure I heard you muttering something in your +dreams on that subject the other day." + +"Of course he has. He has a long poem on that subject. Here is a bit +of it." + +Alf, whose memory was good, immediately recited the following: + + "How sweet is ignorance! How soothing to the mind, + To search for treasures in the brain, and nothing find! + Consider. When the memory is richly stored, + How apt the victim of redundant knowledge to be bored! + When Nothing fills the chambers of the heart and brain, + Then negative enjoyment comes with pleasures in her train! + Descending on the clods of sense like summer rain. + + "Knowledge, 'tis said, gives power, and so it often does; + Knowledge makes sorrow, too, around our pillows buzz. + In debt I am, with little cash; I know it--and am sad. + Of course, if I were ignorant of this--how glad! + A loving friend, whom once I knew in glowing health, + Has broken down, and also, somehow, lost his wealth. + How sad the knowledge makes me! Better far + In ignorance to live, than hear of things that jar, + And think of things that are not,--not of things that are. + + "`If ignorance is bliss,' the poet saith--why `if?' + Why doubt a fact so clearly proven, stubborn, stiff? + The heavy griefs and burdens of the world around, + The hideous tyranny by which mankind is ground, + The earthquake, tempest, rush of war, and wail of woe, + Are all as though they were not--if I do not know! + Wrapped in my robe of ignorance, what _can_ I miss? + Am I not saved from all--and more than all--of this? + Do I not revel in a regal realm of bliss?" + +"Bravo! Buzzby," cried the Captain, "but, I say, Alf, don't it seem to +smack rather too much of selfishness?" + +"Of course it does, uncle. I do not think Buzzby always sound in +principle, and, like many poets, he is sometimes confused in his logic." + +"You're right, Benjy, the land is clear enough now," remarked the +Captain, whose interest in Buzzby was not profound, and whose feelings +towards logic bordered on the contemptuous, as is often the case with +half-educated men, and, strange to say, sometimes with highly-educated +men, as well as with the totally ignorant--so true is it that extremes +meet! + +In the course of a couple of hours the sledges drew near to the island, +which proved to be a large but comparatively low one, rising not more +than a hundred feet in any part. It was barren and ragged, with patches +of reindeer moss growing in some parts, and dwarf willows in others. +Myriads of sea-birds made it their home, and these received the invaders +with clamorous cries, as if they knew that white men were a dangerous +novelty, and objected to the innovation. + +Despite their remonstrances, the party landed, and the Eskimos hurried +over the rocks to that part of the island where they had left their +kayaks and women's boats in charge of a party of natives who were +resident on the island at the time they passed, and from whom they had +borrowed the dogs and sledges with which they had travelled south. + +Meanwhile the white men took to rambling; Leo to shoot wild-fowl for +supper, Alf to search for "specimens," and Benjy to scramble among the +rocks in search of anything that might "turn up." Butterface assisted +the latter in his explorations. While the rest were thus engaged, the +Captain extemporised a flag-staff out of two spears lashed together with +a small block at the top for the purpose of running up a flag, and +formally taking possession of the island when they should re-assemble. +This done, he wrote a brief outline of his recent doings, which he +inserted in a ginger-beer bottle brought for that very purpose. Then he +assisted Anders in making the encampment and preparing supper. + +The two were yet in the midst of the latter operation when a shout was +heard in the distance. Looking in the direction whence it came they saw +Chingatok striding over the rocks towards them with unusual haste. He +was followed by the other Eskimos, who came forward gesticulating +violently. + +"My countrymen have left the island," said Chingatok when he came up. + +"And taken the kayaks with them?" asked Captain Vane anxiously. + +"Every one," replied the giant. + +This was depressing news to the Captain, who had counted much on making +use of the Eskimo canoes in the event of his own appliances failing. + +"Where have they gone, think you?" he asked. + +"Tell Blackbeard," replied Chingatok, turning to Anders, "that no one +knows. Since they went away the lanes of open water have closed, and +the ice is solid everywhere." + +"But where the kayak and the oomiak cannot float the sledge may go," +said the Captain. + +"That is true; tell the pale chief he is wise, yet he knows not all +things. Let him think. When he comes to the great open sea what will +he do without canoes?" + +"Huk!" exclaimed Oolichuk, with that look and tone which intimated his +belief that the pale chief had received a "clincher." + +The chattering of the other Eskimos ceased for a moment or two as they +awaited eagerly the Captain's answer, but the Captain disappointed them. +He merely said, "Well, we shall see. I may not know all things, +Chingatok, nevertheless I know a deal more than you can guess at. Come +now, let's have supper, Anders; we can't wait for the wanderers." + +As he spoke, three of the wanderers came into camp, namely Leo, Benjy, +and Butterface. + +"What's come of Alf?" asked the Captain. + +Neither Leo nor Benjy had seen him since they parted, a quarter of an +hour after starting, and both had expected to find him in camp, but +Butterface had seen him. + +"Sawd him runnin'," said the sable steward, "runnin' like a mad kangaroo +arter a smallish brute like a mouse. Nebber sawd nuffin' like Massa Alf +for runnin'." + +"Well, we can't wait for him," said the Captain, "I want to take +possession of the island before supper. What shall we call it?" + +"Disappointment Isle," said Leo, "seeing that the Eskimos have failed +us." + +"No--I won't be ungrateful," returned the Captain, "considering the +successes already achieved." + +"Call it Content Isle, then," suggested Benjy. + +"But I am not content with partial success. Come, Butterface, haven't +you got a suggestion to make." + +The negro shook his woolly head. "No," he said, "I's 'orrible stoopid. +Nebber could get nuffin' to come out o' my brain--sep w'en it's knocked +out by accident. You's hard to please, massa. S'pose you mix de two,-- +dis'pintment an' content,--an' call 'im Half-an'-half Island." + +"Home is in sight now," said Chingatok, who had taken no interest in the +above discussion, as it was carried on in English. "A few days more and +we should be there if we only had our kayaks." + +"There's the name," exclaimed the Captain eagerly when this was +translated, "`Home-in-sight,' that will do." + +Rising quickly, he bent a Union Jack to the halyards of his primitive +flag-staff, ran it up, and in the name of Queen Victoria took possession +of _Home-in-sight Island_. After having given three hearty British +cheers, in which the Eskimos tried to join, with but partial success, +they buried the ginger-beer bottle under a heap of stones, a wooden +cross was fixed on the top of the cairn, and then the party sat down to +supper, while the Captain made a careful note of the latitude and +longitude, which he had previously ascertained. This latest addition to +Her Majesty's dominions was put down by him in latitude 85 degrees 32 +minutes, or about 288 geographical miles from the North Pole. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +A SKETCHER IN IMMINENT DANGER. DIFFICULTIES INCREASE, AND ARE OVERCOME +AS USUAL. + +The first night on Home-in-sight Island was not so undisturbed as might +have been expected. The noisy gulls did indeed go to sleep at their +proper bed-time, which, by the way, they must have ascertained by +instinct, for the sun could be no certain guide, seeing that he shone +all night as well as all day, and it would be too much to expect that +gulls had sufficient powers of observation to note the great luminary's +exact relation to the horizon. Polar bears, like the Eskimo, had +forsaken the spot. All nature, indeed, animate and inanimate, favoured +the idea of repose when the explorers lay down to sleep on a mossy couch +that was quite as soft as a feather bed, and much more springy. + +The cause of disturbance was the prolonged absence of Alf Vandervell. +That enthusiastic naturalist's failure to appear at supper was nothing +uncommon. His non-appearance when they lay down did indeed cause some +surprise, but little or no anxiety, and they all dropped into a sound +sleep which lasted till considerably beyond midnight. Then the Captain +awoke with a feeling of uneasiness, started up on one elbow, yawned, and +gazed dreamily around. The sun, which had just kissed his hand to the +disappointed horizon and begun to re-ascend the sky, blinded the Captain +with his beams, but did not prevent him from observing that Alf's place +was still vacant. + +"Very odd," he muttered, "Alf didn't use to--to--w'at's 'is name in-- +this--way--" + +The Captain's head dropped, his elbow relaxed, and he returned to the +land of Nod for another half-hour. + +Again he awoke with a start, and sat upright. + +"This'll never do," he exclaimed, with a fierce yawn, "something _must_ +be wrong. Ho! Benjy!" + +"Umph!" replied the boy, who, though personally light, was a heavy +sleeper. + +"Rouse up, Ben, Alf's not come back. Where did you leave him?" + +"Don' know, Burrerface saw 'im las'--." Benjy dropped off with a sigh, +but was re-aroused by a rough shake from his father, who lay close to +him. + +"Come, Ben, stir up Butterface! We must go look for Alf." + +Butterface lay on the other side of Benjy, who, only half alive to what +he was doing, raised his hand and let it fall heavily on the negro's +nose, by way of stirring him up. + +"Hallo! massa Benjamin! You's dreamin' drefful strong dis mornin'." + +"Yer up, ol' ebony!" groaned the boy. + +In a few minutes the whole camp was roused; sleep was quickly banished +by anxiety about the missing one; guns and rifles were loaded, and a +regular search-expedition was hastily organised. They started off in +groups in different directions, leaving the Eskimo women in charge of +the camp. + +The Captain headed one party, Chingatok another, and Leo with Benjy a +third, while a few of the natives went off independently, in couples or +alone. + +"I was sure Alf would get into trouble," said Benjy, as he trotted +beside Leo, who strode over the ground in anxious haste. "That way he +has of getting so absorbed in things that he forgets where he is, won't +make him a good explorer." + +"Not so sure of that, Ben," returned Leo; "he can discover things that +men who are less absorbed, like you, might fail to note. Let us go +round this hillock on separate sides. We might pass him if we went +together. Keep your eyes open as you go. He may have stumbled over one +of those low precipices and broken a leg. Keep your ears cocked also, +and give a shout now and then." + +We have said that the island was a low one, nevertheless it was +extremely rugged, with little ridges and hollows everywhere, like +miniature hills and valleys. Through one of these latter Benjy hurried, +glancing from side to side as he went, like a red Indian on the +war-path--which character, indeed, he thought of, and tried to imitate. + +The little vale did not, however, as Leo had imagined, lead round the +hillock. It diverged gradually to the right, and ascended towards the +higher parts of the island. The path was so obstructed by rocks and +boulders which had evidently been at one time under the pressure of ice, +that the boy could not see far in any direction, except by mounting one +of these. He had not gone far when, on turning the corner of a cliff +which opened up another gorge to view, he beheld a sight which caused +him to open mouth and eyes to their widest. + +For there, seated on an eminence, with his back to a low precipice, not +more than three or four hundred yards off, sat the missing explorer, +with book on knees and pencil in hand--sketching; and there, seated on +the top of the precipice, looking over the edge at the artist, skulked a +huge Polar bear, taking as it were, a surreptitious lesson in drawing! +The bear, probably supposing Alf to be a wandering seal, had dogged him +to that position just as Benjy Vane discovered him, and then, finding +the precipice too high for a leap perhaps, or doubting the character of +his intended victim, he had paused in uncertainty on the edge. + +The boy's first impulse was to utter a shout of warning, for he had no +gun wherewith to shoot the brute, but fear lest that might precipitate +an attack restrained him. Benjy, however, was quick-witted. He saw +that the leap was probably too much even for a Polar bear, and that the +nature of the ground would necessitate a detour before it could get at +the artist. These and other thoughts passed through his brain like the +lightning flash, and he was on the point of turning to run back and give +the alarm to Leo, when a rattling of stones occurred behind him--just +beyond the point of rocks round which he had turned. In the tension of +his excited nerves he felt as if he had suddenly become red hot. Could +this be another bear? If so, what was he to do, whither to fly? A +moment more would settle the question, for the rattle of stones +continued as the steps advanced. The boy felt the hair rising on his +head. Round came the unknown monster in the form of--a man! + +"Ah, Benjy, I--" + +But the appearance of Benjy's countenance caused Leo to stop abruptly, +both in walk and talk. He had found out his mistake about sending the +boy round the hillock, and, turning back, had followed him. + +"Ah! look there," said Benjy, pointing at the _tableau vivant_ on the +hill-top. + +Leo's ready rifle leaped from his shoulder to his left palm, and a grim +smile played on his lips, for long service in a volunteer corps had made +him a good judge of distance as well as a sure and deadly shot. + +"Stand back, Benjy, behind this boulder," he whispered. "I'll lean on +it to make more certain." + +He was deliberately arranging the rifle while speaking, but never for +one instant took his eye off the bear, which still stood motionless, +with one paw raised, as if petrified with amazement at what it saw. As +for Alf, he went on intently with his work, lifting and lowering his +eyes continuously, putting in bold dashes here, or tender touches there; +holding out the book occasionally at arm's length to regard his work, +with head first on one side, then on the other, and, in short, going +through all those graceful and familiar little evolutions of artistic +procedure which arouse one's home feelings so powerfully everywhere-- +even in the Arctic regions! Little did the artist know who was his +uninvited pupil on that sunny summer night! + +With one knee resting on a rock, and his rifle on the boulder, Leo took +a steady, somewhat lengthened aim, and fired. The result was +stupendous! Not only did the shot reverberate with crashing echoes +among surrounding cliffs and boulders, but a dying howl from the bear +burst over the island, like the thunder of a heavy gun, and went booming +over the frozen sea. No wonder that the horrified Alf leapt nearly his +own height into the air and scattered his drawing-materials right and +left like chaff. He threw up his arms, and wheeled frantically round +just in time to receive the murdered bear into his very bosom! They +rolled down a small slope together, and then, falling apart, lay prone +and apparently dead upon the ground. + +You may be sure that Leo soon had his brother's head on his knee, and +was calling to him in an agony of fear, quite regardless of the fact +that the bear lay at his elbow, giving a few terrific kicks as its huge +life oozed out through a bullet-hole in its heart, while Benjy, half +weeping with sympathy, half laughing with glee, ran to a neighbouring +pool to fetch water in his cap. + +A little of the refreshing liquid dashed on his face and poured down his +throat soon restored Alf, who had only been stunned by the fall. + +"What induced you to keep on sketching all night?" asked Leo, after the +first explanations were over. + +"All night?" repeated Alf in surprise, "have I been away all night? +What time is it?" + +"Three o'clock in the morning at the very least," said Leo. "The sun is +pretty high, as you might have seen if you had looked at it." + +"But he never looked at it," said Benjy, whose eyes were not yet quite +dry, "he never looks at anything, or thinks of anything, when he goes +sketching." + +"Surely you must allow that at least I look at and think of my work," +said Alf, rising from the ground and sitting down on the rock from which +he had been so rudely roused; "but you are half right, Benjy. The sun +was at my back, you see, hid from me by the cliff over which the bear +tumbled, and I had no thoughts for time, or eyes for nature, except the +portion I was busy with--by the way, where is it?" + +"What, your sketch?" + +"Ay, and the colours. I wouldn't lose these for a sight of the Pole +itself. Look for them, Ben, my boy, I still feel somewhat giddy." + +In a few minutes the sketch and drawing-materials were collected, +undamaged, and the three returned to camp, Alf leaning on Leo's arm. On +the way thither they met the Captain's party, and afterwards the band +led by Chingatok. The latter was mightily amused by the adventure, and +continued for a considerable time afterwards to upheave his huge +shoulders with suppressed laughter. + +When the whole party was re-assembled the hour was so late, and they had +all been so thoroughly excited, that no one felt inclined to sleep +again. It was resolved, therefore, at once to commence the operations +of a new day. Butterface was set to prepare coffee, and the Eskimos +began breakfast with strips of raw blubber, while steaks of Leo's bear +were being cooked. + +Meanwhile Chingatok expressed a wish to see the drawing which had so +nearly cost the artist his life. + +Alf was delighted to exhibit and explain it. + +For some time the giant gazed at it in silence. Then he rested his +forehead in his huge hand as if in meditation. + +It was truly a clever sketch of a surpassingly lovely scene. In the +foreground was part of the island with its pearl-grey rocks, red-brown +earth, and green mosses, in the midst of which lay a calm pool, like the +island's eye looking up to heaven and reflecting the bright +indescribable blue of the midnight sky. Further on was a mass of cold +grey rocks. Beyond lay the northern ice-pack, which extended in chaotic +confusion away to the distant horizon, but the chaos was somewhat +relieved by the presence of lakelets which shone here and there over its +surface like shields of glittering azure and burnished gold. + +"Ask him what he thinks of it," said Leo to Anders, a little surprised +at Chingatok's prolonged silence. + +"I cannot speak," answered the giant, "my mind is bursting and my heart +is full. With my finger I have drawn faces on the snow. I have seen +men put wonderful things on flat rocks with a piece of stone, but +this!--this is my country made little. It looks as if I could walk in +it, yet it is flat!" + +"The giant is rather complimentary," laughed Benjy, when this was +translated; "to my eye your sketch is little better than a daub." + +"It is a daub that causes me much anxiety," said the Captain, who now +looked at the drawing for the first time. "D'you mean to tell me, Alf, +that you've been true to nature when you sketched that pack?" + +"As true as I could make it, uncle." + +"I'll answer for its truth," said Leo, "and so will Benjy, for we both +saw the view from the top of the island, though we paid little heed to +it, being too much occupied with Alf and the bear at the time. The pack +is even more rugged than he has drawn it, and it extends quite unbroken +to the horizon." + +The Captain's usually hopeful expression forsook him for a little as he +commented on his bad fortune. + +"The season advances, you see," he said, "and it's never very long at +the best. I had hoped we were done with this troublesome `sea of +ancient ice,' but it seems to turn up everywhere, and from past +experience we know that the crossing of it is slow work, as well as +hard. However, we mustn't lose heart. `Nebber say die,' as Butterface +is fond of remarking." + +"Yis, Massa, nebber say die, but allers say `lib, to de top ob your +bent.' Dems my 'pinions w'en dey's wanted. Also `go a-hid.' Dat's a +grand sent'ment--was borned 'mong de Yankees, an' I stoled it w'en I +left ole Virginny." + +"What says Chingatok?" asked the Captain of the Eskimo, who was still +seated with the sketch on his knees in profound meditation. + +"Blackbeard has trouble before him," answered the uncompromising giant, +without removing his eyes from the paper. "There," he said, pointing to +the pack, "you have three days' hard work. After that three days' easy +and swift work. After that no more go on. Must come back." + +"He speaks in riddles, Anders. What does he mean by the three days of +hard work coming to an end?" + +"I mean," said Chingatok, "that the ice was loose when I came to this +island. It is now closed. The white men must toil, toil, toil--very +slow over the ice for three days, then they will come to smooth ice, +where the dogs may run for three days. Then they will come to another +island, like this one, on the far-off side of which there is no ice-- +nothing but sea, sea, sea. Our kayaks are gone," continued the giant, +sadly, "we must come back and travel many days before we find things to +make new ones." + +While he was speaking, Captain Vane's face brightened up. + +"Are you sure of what you say, Chingatok?" + +"Chingatok is sure," replied the Eskimo quietly. + +"Then we'll conquer our difficulties after all. Come, boys, let's waste +no more time in idle talk, but harness the dogs, and be off at once." + +Of course the party had to travel round the island, for there was +neither ice nor snow on it. When the other side was reached the real +difficulties of the journey were fully realised. During the whole of +that day and the next they were almost continuously engaged in dragging +the sledges over masses of ice, some of which rose to thirty feet above +the general level. If the reader will try to imagine a very small ant +or beetle dragging its property over a newly macadamised road, he will +have a faint conception of the nature of the work. To some extent the +dogs were a hindrance rather than a help, especially when passing over +broken fragments, for they were always tumbling into holes and cracks, +out of which they had to be dragged, and were much given to venting +their ill-humour on each other, sometimes going in for a free fight, in +the course of which they tied their traces into indescribable knots, and +drove their Eskimo masters furious. On such occasions the whips--both +lash and handle--were applied with unsparing vigour until the creatures +were cowed. + +Danger, also, as well as toil, was encountered during the journey. On +the evening of the second day the sledge driven by Oolichuk diverged a +little from the line of march towards what seemed an easier passage over +the hummocks. They had just gained the top of an ice-block, which, +unknown to the driver, overhung its base. When the dogs reached the +edge of the mass, it suddenly gave way. Down went the team with a +united howl of despair. Their weight jerked the sledge forward, another +mass of the ice gave way, and over went the whole affair. In the fall +the lashings broke, and Oolichuk, with several of his kindred, including +poor little Oblooria, went down in a shower of skins, packages, bags, +and Eskimo cooking utensils. + +Fortunately, they dropped on a slope of ice which broke their fall, and, +as it were, shunted them all safely, though violently, to the lower +level of the pack. + +Beyond a few scratches and bruises, no evil resulted from this accident +to these hardy natives of the north. + +That night they all encamped, as on the previous night, in the midst of +the pack, spreading their skins and furs on the flattest ice they could +find, and keeping as far from overhanging lumps as possible. + +"What does Blackbeard mean by coming here?" asked Chingatok of Anders, +as they lay side by side, gazing up at the blue sky awaiting sleep. "We +cannot swim over the sea, and we have no boats." + +"I don't know," answered the interpreter. "Our chief is a wonderful +man. He does things that seem to be all wrong, but they turn out mostly +to be all right." + +"Does he ever speak of a Great Spirit?" asked the giant in a solemn +tone. + +"Not to me," replied the other, "but I hear him sometimes speaking to +his little boy about his God." + +"Then he must know his God," returned Chingatok. "Has he seen him-- +spoken to him?" + +Anders was a good deal surprised as well as puzzled by the questions put +by his new friend. His extremely commonplace mind had never been +exercised by such ideas. "I never asked him about that," he said, "and +he never told me. Perhaps he will tell you if you ask him." + +The interpreter turned on his side with a sigh and went to sleep. The +giant lay on his back gazing long and steadily with a wistful look at +the unbroken vault of sky, whose vast profundity seemed to thrust him +mercilessly back. As he gazed, a little cloud, light as a puff of +eider-down, and golden as the sun from which its lustre came, floated +into the range of his vision. He smiled, for the thought that light may +suddenly arise when all around seems blank gave his inquiring spirit +rest, and he soon joined the slumbering band who lay upon the ice around +him. + +According to Chingatok's prophecy, on the third day the fagged and weary +discoverers surmounted their first difficulty, and came upon +comparatively smooth ice, the surface of which resembled hard-trodden +snow, and was sufficiently free from obstructing lumps to admit of rapid +sledge travelling. It was late when they reached it, but as they could +now all sit on the sledges and leave the hard work to the dogs, the +leader resolved to continue the advance without resting. + +"It's time enough to stop when we're stopped," he remarked to Leo, while +making preparations to start. "We will sleep at the first obstruction +we meet with, if it's a sufficiently troublesome one. See that the +things are well lashed on all the sledges, Alf. Remember that I hold +you responsible for lost articles." + +"And what am I responsible for, father?" asked Benjy with a pert look. + +"For keeping out of mischief, Ben. That's the most I can expect of +you." + +"You are only a sort of negative blessing to us, you see, Benjy," said +Alf, as he stooped to tighten a rope. "It's not so much what you do, as +what you don't do, that rejoices us." + +"I'm glad of that," retorted the boy, arranging himself comfortably on +his father's sledge, "because I won't do anything at all for some hours +to come, which ought to fill you all with perfect felicity. Awake me, +Leo, if we chance to upset." + +"Now then, all ready?" cried the Captain. "Off you go, then--clap on +all sail!" + +Crack went the mighty whips, howl went the dogs, and the sledges were +soon skimming over the sea at the rate of ten miles an hour. Of course +they did not keep that pace up very long. It became necessary to rest +at times, also, to give the dogs a little food. When this latter +process had been completed, the teams became so lively that they tried +to runaway. + +"Let them run," said the Captain to Leo. + +"And help them on," added Benjy. + +Leo took the advice of both, applied the lash, and increased the speed +so much that the sledge swung from side to side on the smooth places, +sometimes catching on a lump of ice, and all but throwing out its +occupants. The Eskimos entered into the spirit of their leaders. They +also plied their lashes, and, being more dexterous than Leo, soon +converted the journey into a race, in which Chingatok--his giant arm +flourishing an appropriately huge whip--was rapidly coming to the front +when a tremendous shout in the rear caused them to pull up. Looking +back, Alf's sledge was seen inverted and mixed, as it were, with the +team, while Alf himself and his Eskimo friends were sprawling around on +the ice. No damage was done to life or limb, but a sledge-runner had +been partially broken, and could not be mended,--so said Oolichuk--in +less than an hour. + +"This, then," said the Captain, "is our first obstruction, so here we +will make our beds for the night." + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +ANOTHER ISLAND DISCOVERED--THE ENGLISHMEN AND ESKIMOS ALIKE ARE +ASTONISHED IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. + +As Chingatok had predicted, on the sixth day from Home-in-sight Island +the party came to another island, where the great pack abruptly +terminated. It was not large, probably ten or twelve miles in length, +from the Eskimo account, but the ends of it could not be seen from the +spot where they landed. At that point it was only two miles wide, and +on the opposite side its shores were laved by an open sea, which was +quite free from ice, with the exception of a few scattered floes and +bergs--a sea whose waves fell in slow regular cadence on a pebbly beach, +and whose horizon was an unbroken line barely distinguishable from the +sky. + +Close to it a few black rocks showed above the water, around which great +numbers of gulls, puffins, and other sea-birds disported themselves in +clamorous joy; sometimes flying to the shore as if to have a look at the +newcomers, and then sheering off with a scream--it might be a laugh--to +tell their comrades what they had seen. + +"Here, then, at last, is the open Polar Sea," said Captain Vane, after +the first long silent gaze of joy and admiration. "I have no doubt of +it whatever. And now we shall proceed, I hope without interruption, to +the Pole!" + +"Of course you do not intend that we should swim there, do you, uncle?" +said Leo. + +"Of course not, my boy. In those big cases, which have cost us so much +labour to bring here, I have three large and stout india-rubber boats--" + +"Ha! I guessed as much," exclaimed Alf. + +"No doubt," returned the Captain, "but you did not guess all." + +"I hope not," said Leo, "for to say truth I don't much relish the idea +of rowing over an unknown sea an unknown distance at the rate of three +or four miles an hour. I hope you have a patent steam-engine that will +drive us along somewhat faster." + +"No, lad, no, I have no such steam-engine or any other miraculous +contrivance that sets the laws of nature at defiance, and appears only +in nursery tales. This expedition has been undertaken on no haphazard +or insane plan. It was all cut and dry before we left Old England, and +it is much simpler than you suppose." + +"What, then, is to be your motive power, if not oars or sails--which +last would not work well, I fear, in an india-rubber boat?" asked Leo. + +"Kites," replied the Captain. + +"Kites!" repeated both Alf and Leo in surprise. + +"Not paper ones, surely," said Benjy, in a tone of disappointment, not +unmingled with contempt. + +"No, Ben, not paper ones," said the Captain, "but you shall see. Let +the boxes be unlashed and carried into yonder cave. I'll unpack them +presently. Meanwhile, Anders, I want you to interpret for me. Go, tell +Chingatok I wish to have a talk with him." + +While the brothers went to obey their leader's order, and Benjy to +superintend the pitching of the camp, Captain Vane walked along the +shore with Anders and the giant. + +"Are you sure, Chingatok, that there is no more ice in this sea?" asked +the Captain. + +"No more great packs; only a little here and there, and a few +ice-mountains," answered the Eskimo. + +"And no more islands?" + +"No more islands till you come to the land where I and my people dwell. +There are more islands beyond that with people on them--people who are +not friendly to us." + +"How far off, now, is your land from this island?" continued the +Captain, with a grave nod to Leo, who joined them at the moment. + +"About three days with a kayak." + +The Captain pondered for a few minutes. + +"Leo," he said, "the observation which I took yesterday enables me to +place this island in latitude 86 degrees 40 minutes. I judge that a +kayak may travel at the rate of three miles an hour, which, making +allowance for sleep and rests, gives the distance of this island from +Chingatok's native land approximately at about 100 miles, so that the +home of this giant and his tribe is actually in the near neighbourhood +of the Pole itself. If this be so, we may consider that our success, +wind, weather, etcetera, permitting, is absolutely certain." + +The Captain spoke in the deep earnest tones of one under the influence +of powerful but suppressed enthusiasm. + +"Now then, Leo," he continued, "we will go and take formal possession of +this new discovery. What shall we call it? Good Hope is too familiar +as a cape." + +"Why not Great Hope?" asked Leo. + +"Good! That will do well." + +So Captain Vane took possession of Great Hope Island; having fixed its +position in latitude 86 degrees 40 minutes north, and longitude 60 +degrees west. + +After that he proceeded to open the cases which had so long been objects +of interest to his own party, and objects of intense curiosity to the +Eskimos, who crowded round the entrance of the shallow cavern with eager +looks, while their leader went to work with hammer and chisel on the +copper fastenings. + +"Wugh! Huk! hi! hosh! ho!" were something like the exclamations uttered +by the Eskimos when the lid of the first case flew up and revealed only +a mass of brown paper wrappings. + +It was interesting to observe the utter self-oblivion of these children +of nature! Of course the eyes and mouths of all opened wider and wider +while the work went on. We can understand this, for it is +characteristic of the simple in all nations, but it was not so easy to +understand why shoulders should slowly rise and elbows be slightly bent, +and the ten fingers gradually expand like claws. Anxiety might account +for the way in which some of them softly lifted one foot and then the +other; but why did little Oblooria raise her left foot by imperceptible +degrees, and remain poised upon the other as if she were a bird, except +on the supposition that she was unconsciously imitating Tekkona, who was +doing the same thing? + +It was interesting, also, to note the slight substratum of consciousness +that displayed itself in Oolichuk, who, while regarding the Captain in +glaring expectancy, put his arm, inadvertently as it were, round +Oblooria's waist--also the complete absence of consciousness in the +latter, who was so engrossed with the Captain, that she did not appear +to feel the touch of Oolichuk! These little peculiarities, however, +although extremely interesting, were not observed by any of the actors +on that occasion--except, perhaps, by Benjy, who, being sharp-witted, +had a knack of seeing round a corner at times! + +When the contents of the case were turned out, they proved to consist of +several coils of rope, and a large square bundle. The uncording of the +latter intensified the expectation of the Eskimo to boiling point, and +when the brown paper was removed, and a roll of something with a +strange, not to say bad, smell was displayed, they boiled over in a +series of exclamations to which the former "huks" and "hos" were mere +child's play. But when the roll was unrolled, and assumed a flat shape +not unlike the skin of a huge walrus, they gave a shout. Then, when the +Captain, opening a smaller package, displayed a pair of bellows like a +concertina, they gave a gasp. When he applied these to a hole in the +flat object, and caused it slowly to swell, they uttered a roar, and +when, finally, they saw the flat thing transformed into a goodly-sized +boat, they absolutely squealed with delight, and began to caper about in +childlike joy. + +In this manner, three cases were opened, and three boats produced. Then +the Magician, who went about his work in perfect silence, with a knowing +smile on his lips, opened several longish boxes, which Leo had guessed +to be filled with fishing-rods or spare rifles, but which, it turned +out, contained oars for the india-rubber boats. After that, the Captain +opened another large case, which roused the surprise of his white +followers as much as that of the natives. + +"It looks like one of mother's silk dresses," remarked Benjy, as the new +wonder was dragged forth. + +"Too voluminous for that," said Alf. + +"A balloon!" exclaimed Leo. + +"No, boys, it's only a kite," said the Captain, unfolding it. "I +confess it does not look very like one, but its appearance will change +by and by." + +And its appearance did change remarkably as it was opened out and put +together. + +The construction of this kite was peculiar. In the first place, it was +square in form, or, rather, diamond-shaped, and its size, when fully +distended, was eighteen feet by fourteen. + +"The simplicity of it, you see," said the Captain, as he put it +together, "is its great recommendation." + +He ceased to speak for a few moments, while engaged with a troublesome +joint, and Benjy took advantage of the pause to express a hope that +simplicity was not its _greatest_ recommendation, because he had never +heard of any one attempting to reach the Pole on the strength of +simplicity. + +Without noticing this remark, the Captain went on-- + +"You see it would be troublesome to carry distending sticks of great +length, because they would be in the way, and apt to get broken. Each +stick, therefore, has a joint in the middle like that of a fishing-rod. +There are four such sticks, fastened to, or radiating from, a strong +steel central hinge, so that they can be folded together, or opened out +into the form of a cross. A small but very strong cross of bamboo fits +on the machine, behind the central hinge, and locks it in a distended +position, after the silk has been placed on it. Strong cords run round +the outer edges of the silk, and there are loops at the corners to +attach it to the distenders. Thus, you see, the kite can be put up, or +folded into a portable form like an umbrella, though not of course as +quickly, nor yet as easily, owing to its great size." + +While he was speaking, the Captain was busily putting the several parts +of the kite together. + +As he concluded, he laid the machine on its face, locked it with the +little bamboo cross, and then held it up in triumph, to the delight of +his white observers, and the blank astonishment of the Eskimos. We say +blank, because, unlike the boat, the nature of which they understood +before it had been quite inflated, this machine was to them an absolute +mystery, and seemed to be of no use at all. + +Their opinion of it was not improved when a sudden puff of wind blew it +flat on the ground, causing the Captain to fall on the top of it. + +"It's a little awkward in handling," he growled, unlocking the +centre-cross. "Hold the points down, lads, till I drag it into the +umbrella form. There; it's all safe now. The truth is, +unmanageableness when in hand is the only fault of my kite. Once in the +air, it's as tractable as a lamb; getting it up is the chief difficulty, +but that is not too great to be overcome." + +"Besides, you know, nothing's perfect in this world, father," said +Benjy, with a wink at Butterface, who, having acute risible tendencies, +exploded. Some of the Eskimos, whose sympathies were strong, joined in +the laugh by way of relief to their feelings. + +When the Captain had wound a strap round the closed kite, to restrain +its volatile nature, he opened another large case which contained +several reels of strong cord, somewhat resembling log-lines, but with +this peculiarity, that, alongside of each thick cord there ran a thin +red line of twine, connected with though not bound to the other by means +of little loops or rings of twine fixed about six feet apart throughout +its entire length. + +"These are the cords to fly the kites," said the Captain, taking up one +of the reels, which was as large as a man's hat. "You see I have three +sets of silk in that box, and six sets of reels and sticks, besides a +few spare pieces of the latter, so that we can afford to suffer a little +damage. Now, the use of this peculiar sort of double line will be clear +when in action, but I may as well explain it. The end of this stout +line is to be made fast to the band which you saw on the kite, and the +end of this thin red line to the top of its upright stick. You remember +well enough how independent ordinary kites are. You cannot cause them +to descend except by hauling them in by main force, and you cannot +moderate their pull. This kite of mine is capable of exerting a pull +equal to six horses, with a sufficiently strong wind. So, you see, it +would be impossible for a dozen men to hold it without some check on its +power. This check is supplied by the thin red line, which is made of +the strongest silk. By pulling it gently you bend the head of the kite +forward, so that it ceases to present a flat surface to the wind, which +flies off it more or less at the tail. By pulling still more on the red +line, the traction-power is still further reduced, and, with a good +pull, the kite can be made to present its head altogether to the wind, +and thus to lie flat on it, when, of course, it will descend slowly to +the ground, waving from side to side, like a dropped sheet of paper." + +"Are you going to try it, father?" asked Benjy eagerly. + +The Captain looked up at the clouds with a critical glance. "There's +hardly enough of wind to-day, boy. Nevertheless we will try." + +In a very short time the kite was again extended, the centre locked, the +thick cord fixed to a loop in the band, and the thin cord to the head of +the main stick. While this was being done, the corners were held down +by Leo, Benjy, Anders, and Butterface. + +"How about a tail, father?" asked Benjy, with sudden animation. + +"Ha! I forgot the tail. I've got several tails. It's well you +reminded me." + +"It is indeed," responded the boy, "for I remember well that when my +kites lost their tails they used to whirl wildly about until they dashed +their heads on the ground. This kite would be little better than a mad +elephant without its tail!" + +A short tail, made of the strongest cat-gut, was now fixed to the lower +extremity of the kite. It had a bag at the end, to be weighted with +stones as required. + +"Now, then, Alf, do you carry the reel away fifty yards or so, and pay +out the line as you go. Make a dozen of the Eskimos hold on with you +till I come and regulate the pull. I must remain here to set it off." + +Alf did as he was ordered. When he was far enough out, the Captain and +Leo raised the aerial monster with caution, grasping it by the +shoulders, while Benjy held on to the tail. Their great care was to +keep it flat, so that it presented nothing but its thin head to the +wind, but this was a difficulty, for it kept fluttering as if anxious to +get away, catching a slant of wind underneath now and then, which caused +both Leo and the Captain to stagger. + +"Don't hold down the tail, Benjy," cried the Captain, looking anxiously +over his shoulder. + +Unfortunately Ben did not hear the "don't." Not only did he hold on +with increased vigour, but he gave the tail an energetic pull downwards. +The result was that the wind got fairly underneath, and the head was +jerked upward. Leo, fearing to tear the silk, let go, and the Captain +was thrown violently off. Benjy alone stood to his guns--or to his +tail--with loyal heroism for a moment, but when he felt himself lifted +off the ground a few inches, a feeling of horror seized him. He let go, +and came down with a whack. + +Free at last, the huge kite shot upwards like a rocket, and a terrible +howl from the Eskimo showed that all was not right at their end of the +line. The truth was that none of them were impressed with the +importance of the duty required of them. The sudden strain jerked the +line out of the hands of some, and threw others to the ground, and Alf, +who had for greater security taken a turn of the line round his right +arm, was dragged forward at full racing speed. Indeed he was beginning +to take those tremendous bounds called "giant strides," which were sure +to terminate in his being dragged along the ground. + +Captain Vane saw the danger, and was equal to the occasion. There was +little time for thought or action. Another moment and Alf would be off +the beach into the sea. + +"Let go! Alf; let go!" cried Leo, in an agony of alarm. + +"No, no! hold on!" shouted the Captain. + +Poor Alf could not help holding on. The turns of the line round his arm +held him fast. + +Another moment, and he was abreast of the Captain who sprang at him as +he passed like a leopard on his prey and held on. But the pace was +little checked with this additional weight. It was beyond the Captain's +running powers, and both he and Alf would have been thrown violently to +the ground had it not happened that they had reached the water, into +which they plunged with a tremendous splash. They were dragged through +it, however, only for a few seconds, for by that time the Captain had +succeeded in getting hold of the red line and pulling it separately. +The result was immediate and satisfactory. The head of the kite was +thrown forward, acting somewhat as a sail does when a ship is thrown +into the wind, and the two unfortunates came to an anchor in four feet +of water. + +"We must not let it into the water, Alf," gasped the Captain, clearing +the water from his eyes. + +"How can we prevent it?" spluttered Alf, shaking the wet hair off his +face. + +"Ease your fingers a bit. There; hold on." As he spoke the Captain +gave a slight pull on the regulating line. The kite at once caught the +wind and soared, giving the two operators an awful tug, which nearly +overturned them again. + +"Too much," growled the Captain. "You see it takes some experience to +regulate the excitable thing properly. There, now, haul away for the +shore." + +By this time they were joined by Leo and Chingatok, who ran into the +water and aided them in dragging the refractory machine ashore. + +"That's a vigorous beginning, father," remarked Benjy as they came to +land. + +"It is, my boy. Go and fetch me dry clothes while we haul in the kite +and make her snug." + +"When do you mean to start?" asked Leo, as he coiled away the slack of +the line on the reel. + +"The first steady fair wind that blows from the south," answered the +Captain, "but we must have one or two experimental trials of the kites +and boats together, before we set out on the real voyage." + +"It's a capital idea," returned Leo enthusiastically. "There's a sort +of neck-or-nothing dash about it that quite suits me. But, uncle, what +of the Eskimos? The three boats won't carry the half of them." + +"I know that, lad, and shall get over the difficulty by leaving some of +them behind. Chingatok says they are quite able to take care of +themselves; can easily regain the Greenland shore, find their canoes, or +make new ones, and return to their own land if they choose." + +"But, uncle," said Alf, who was by no means as reckless as his brother, +"don't you think it's rather risky to go off into an unknown sea in open +boats, for no one knows how long, to go no one knows exactly where?" + +"Why, Alf," returned the Captain with a laugh, "if you were as stupid +about your scientific pursuits as you are about geographical affairs, +you would not be worth your salt. A sea's a sea, isn't it, whether +known or unknown, and the laws that affect all seas are pretty much +alike. Of course it is risky. So is going on a forlorn hope. So is +shooting with a set of fellows who don't know how to manage their guns. +So is getting on a horse, for it may kick you off or run away. So is +eating fish, for you may choke yourself. Everything, almost, is more or +less risky. You _must_ risk something if you'd discover the North Pole, +which has baffled adventurers from the days of Adam till now. And you +are wrong in saying that we shall go off for no one knows how long. The +distance from this island to the Pole is pretty nearly 200 miles. If +our kites carry us along at the rate of ten miles an hour, we shall +cover the distance in 20 hours. If we have calms or contrary winds we +may take 20 days. If storms come, we have not much to fear, for the +weather is warm,--so, too,--is the water. Then, our boats are +lifeboats--they cannot sink. As to not knowing where exactly we are +going, why, man, we're going to the North Pole. Everybody knows where +that is, and we are going to the home of Chingatok, which cannot be very +far from it." + +"There, Alf, I hope you are sufficiently answered," said Leo, as he +undid the locking-gear of the kite, which by that time lay prone on its +face, as peaceful as a lamb. + +The next three days were spent in flying the other kites, tying them on +the boats, acquiring experience, and making preparations for the voyage. +It was found that, with a moderate breeze, the kites towed the boats at +the rate of ten miles an hour, which was beyond the most sanguine hopes +of the Captain. Of course they could not beat to windward with them, +but they could sail with a considerable slant, and they prevented the +boats, while thus advancing, from making much leeway by means of deep +_leeboards_, such as are used even at the present day by Dutch ships. + +"But I can't understand," said Benjy, after several trials had been +made, "why you should not have fitted sails to the boats, instead of +kites." + +"Because a sail only a quarter the size of a kite would upset the boat," +said the Captain, "and one small enough to suit it would be little +better than a pair of oars. This kite system is like fitting a gigantic +sail to a lilliputian boat, d'ye see?" + +"I see, father. But I wish it had been a balloon. It would have been +greater fun to have gone to the Pole in a balloon!" + +"A balloon will never go there, nor anywhere else, Benjy, except where +the wind carries it, for a balloon cannot be steered. It's impossible +in the nature of things--as much so as that dream of the visionary, +perpetual motion." + +On the fourth day after their arrival at Great Hope Island the wind blew +strong and steady from the south, and the explorers prepared to start. +The Eskimos had been told that they were to remain behind and shift for +themselves--a piece of news which did not seem to affect them at all, +one way or other. Those who were selected to go with the explorers were +perfectly willing to do so. Chingatok, of course, was particularly +ready. So were his corpulent mother and Tekkona and Oblooria; so also +were Oolichuk, Ivitchuk, and Akeetolik. + +It was a splendid sunny afternoon when the kites were finally flown and +attached to the three boats which were commanded respectively by the +Captain Leo, and Alf. These three sat at the bow of each boat +manipulating the regulators, and keeping the kites fluttering, while the +goods and provisions were put on board. Then the Eskimo women and crews +stepped in, and the stern ropes were cast loose. + +"Let go the check-strings!" shouted the Captain. + +This was done. The huge kites began to strain at once, and the +india-rubber boats went rushing out to sea, leaving the remainder of the +Eskimo band speechless on the shore. They stood there motionless, with +open mouths and eyes, the very embodiment of unbelieving wonder, till +the boats had disappeared on the horizon. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +THE OPEN POLAR BASIN AT LAST! ALF WASHES HIMSELF IN IT. + +Who can imagine or describe the feelings of Captain Vane and his young +relatives on finding themselves sweeping at such a magnificent rate over +the great Polar basin?--that mysterious sea, which some believe to be a +sea of thick-ribbed ice, and others suppose to be no sea at all, but dry +land covered with eternal snows. One theorist even goes the length of +saying that the region immediately around the Pole is absolutely nothing +at all!--only empty space caused by the whirling of the earth,--a space +which extends through its centre from pole to pole! + +Much amusement did the Captain derive from the contemplation of these +theories as he crossed over the grand and boundless ocean, and chatted +pleasantly with his son, or Chingatok, or Toolooha, who formed the crew +of his little boat. + +The party consisted of thirteen, all told. These were distributed as +follows:-- + +In the Captain's boat were the three just mentioned. + +In Leo's boat were Butterface, Oolichuk, and Oblooria. How it came to +pass that Oolichuk and Oblooria were put into the same boat no one +seemed to know, or indeed to care, except Oolichuk himself, who, to +judge from the expression of his fat face, was much pleased. As for +Oblooria, her mild visage always betokened contentment or resignation-- +save when overshadowed by timidity. + +In Alf's boat were Anders, Ivitchuk, Akeetolik, and Tekkona. The +interpreter had been given to Alf because he was not quite so muscular +or energetic as the Captain or his brother, while Anders was eminently +strong and practical. The Eskimo women counted as men, being as expert +with oar and paddle as they, and very nearly as strong as most ordinary +men. + +What added to the romance of the first day's experience was the fact +that, a few hours after they started, a dead calm settled down over the +sea, which soon became like a great sheet of undulating glass, in which +the rich, white clouds, the clear sky, and the boats with their crews, +were reflected as in a moving, oily mirror; yet, strange to say, the +kites kept steady, and the pace of ten or twelve miles an hour did not +abate for a considerable time. This, of course, was owing to the fact +that there was a continuous current blowing northward in the higher +regions of the atmosphere. The sun, meantime, glowed overhead with four +mock-suns around him, nevertheless the heat was not oppressive, partly +because the voyagers were sitting at rest, and partly because a slight +current of cool air, the creation of their own progress, fanned their +cheeks. Still further to add to the charm, flocks of sea-birds circling +in the air or dipping in the water, a berg or two floating in the +distance, a porpoise showing its back fin now and then, a seal or a +walrus coming up to stare in surprise and going down to meditate, +perhaps in wonder, with an occasional puff from a lazy whale,--all this +tended to prevent monotony, and gave life to the lovely scene. + +"Is it not the most glorious and altogether astonishing state of things +you ever heard or dreamed of, father?" asked Benjy, breaking a prolonged +silence. + +"Out o' sight, my boy, out o' sight," replied the Captain. "Never heard +nor saw nor dreamed of anything like it before." + +"P'raps it _is_ a dream!" said Benjy, with a slightly distressed look. +"How are we ever to know that we're _not_ dreaming?" + +The boy finished his question with a sharp cry and leaped up. + +"Steady, boy, steady! Have a care, or you'll upset the boat," said the +Captain. + +"What did you do _that_ for, father?" + +"What, my boy?" + +"Pinch me so hard! Surely you didn't do it on purpose?" + +"Indeed I did, Ben," replied the Captain with a laugh. "You asked how +you were to know you were not dreaming. If you had been dreaming that +would have wakened you--wouldn't it?" + +"I dare say it would, father," returned the boy, resuming his seat, "but +I'm convinced now. Don't do it again, please. I wish I knew what +Chingatok thinks of it. Try to ask him, father. I'm sure you've had +considerable experience in his lingo by this time." + +Benjy referred here, not only to the numerous conversations which his +father had of late carried on with the giant through the interpreter, +but to the fact that, having been a whaler in years past, Captain Vane +had previously picked up a smattering of various Eskimo dialects. Up to +that day he had conversed entirely through the medium of Anders, but as +that useful man was now in Alf's boat, the Captain was left to his own +resources, and got on much better than he had expected. + +Chingatok turned his eyes from the horizon on which they had been fixed, +and looked dreamily at the Captain when asked what he was thinking +about. + +"I have been thinking," said he, "of home, _my_ home over there." He +lifted his huge right arm and pointed to the north. "And I have been +thinking," he continued, "that there must be another home up there." He +raised his hand and pointed to the sky. + +"Why do you think so?" asked the Captain in some surprise. + +"Because it is so beautiful, so wonderful, so full of light and peace," +replied the Eskimo. "Sometimes the clouds, and the wind, and the rain, +come and cover it; but they pass away, and there it is, just the same, +always calm, and bright, and beautiful. Could such a place have been +made for nothing? Is there no one up there? not even the Maker of it? +and if there is, does he stay there alone? Men and women die, but +surely there is something in us that does not die. If there is no +spirit in us that lives, of what use was it to make us at all? I think +we shall have a home up there." + +Chingatok had again turned his eyes to the horizon, and spoke the +concluding words as if he were thinking aloud. The Captain looked at +him earnestly for some time in silence. + +"You are right, Chingatok," he said at length, or at least attempted to +say as best he could--"you are right. My religion teaches me that we +have spirits; that God--your God and mine--dwells up there in what we +call heaven, and that His people shall dwell with him after death." + +"His people!" repeated the Eskimo with a perplexed look. "Are some men +his people and some not?" + +"Undoubtedly," replied the Captain, "men who obey a chief's commands are +_his_ men--his friends. Those who refuse to obey, and do every kind of +wickedness, are _not_ his friends, but his enemies. God has given us +free-wills, and we may reject him--we may choose to be his enemies." + +It must not be supposed that Captain Vane expressed himself thus +clearly, but the above is the substance of what he attempted by many a +strange and complicated sentence to convey. That he had made his +meaning to some extent plain, was proved by Chingatok's reply. + +"But I do not know God's commands; how then can I obey them?" + +"You may not know them by book," replied the Captain promptly; "for you +have no books, but there is such a thing as the commands or law of God +written in the heart, and it strikes me, Chingatok, that you both know +and obey more of your Maker's laws than many men who have His word." + +To this the Eskimo made no answer, for he did not rightly understand it, +and as the Captain found extreme difficulty in expressing his meaning on +such questions, he was quite willing to drop the conversation. +Nevertheless his respect for Chingatok was immensely increased from that +day forward. + +He tried to explain what had been said to Benjy, and as that youth's +mind was of an inquiring turn he listened with great interest, but at +last was forced to confess that it was too deep for him. Thereafter he +fell into a mood of unusual silence, and pondered the matter for a long +time. + +Awaking from his reverie at last, he said, abruptly, "How's her head, +father?" + +"Due north, Benjy." + +He pulled out a pocket-compass about the size of an ordinary watch, +which instrument it was his habit to guard with the most anxious care. + +"North!" repeated the boy, glancing at the instrument with a look of +surprise, "why, we're steering almost due east!" + +"Ah! Ben, that comes of your judging from appearances without +knowledge, not an uncommon state of mind in man and boy, to say nothing +of woman. Don't you know what variation of the compass is?" + +"No, father." + +"What! have you been so long at sea with me and never heard yet about +the magnetic pole?" + +"Never a word, father. It seems to me that poles are multiplying as we +get further north." + +"Oh, Benjy, for shame--fie! fie!" + +"Maybe if you had told me about it I might have had less to be shamed +of, and you too, father." + +"That's true, Benjy. That's true. You're a sharp boy for your age. +But don't be disrespectful to your father, Ben; no good can ever come o' +that. Whatever you are, be respectful to your old father. Come, I'll +tell you about it now." + +It will have been observed by this time that little Benjamin Vane was +somewhat free in his converse with his father, but it must not therefore +be supposed that he was really insolent. All his freedom of speech was +vented in good humour, and the Captain knew that. There was, indeed, a +powerful bond not only of affection but of sympathy between the little +delicate boy and the big strong man. They thoroughly understood each +other, and between those who understand each other there may be much +freedom without offence, as everybody knows. + +"You must understand," began the Captain, "that although the needle of +the mariner's compass is said to point to the north with its head and to +the south with its tail, it does not do so exactly, because the magnetic +poles do not coincide exactly with the geographical poles. There are +two magnetic poles just as there are two geographical poles, one in the +southern hemisphere, the other in the northern. D'ye understand!" + +"Clear as daylight, father." + +"Well, Benjy, the famous Arctic discoverer, Sir James Ross, in 1832, +discovered that the northern magnetic pole was situated in the island of +Boothia Felix, in latitude 70 degrees 5 seconds and longitude 96 degrees +46 seconds West. It was discovered by means of an instrument called the +dipping needle, which is just a magnetised needle made for dipping +perpendicularly instead of going round horizontally like the mariner's +compass. A graduated arc is fitted to it so that the amount of dip at +any place on the earth's surface can be ascertained. At the magnetic +equator there is no dip at all, because the needle being equally distant +from the north and south magnetic poles, remains horizontal. As you +travel north the needle dips more and more until it reaches the region +of the north magnetic pole when it is almost perpendicular--pointing +straight down. + +"Now, it is only on a very few places of the earth's surface that the +horizontal needle points to the true north and south, and its deviation +from the _earth's_ pole in its determination to point to the _magnetic_ +pole is called the variation of the compass. This variation is greater +or less of course at different places, and must be allowed for in +estimating one's exact course. In our present explorations we have got +so far beyond the beaten track of travel that greater allowance than +usual has to be made. In fact we have got considerably to the north of +the magnetic pole. At the same time we are a good way to the east'ard +of it, so that when I see the compass with its letter N pointing to what +I know to be the magnetic north, I take our geographical position into +account and steer almost due east by _compass_, for the purpose of +advancing due north. D'ye see?" + +"I'm not so sure that I do, father. It seems to me something like the +Irishman's pig which you pull one way when you want him to go another. +However, I'll take your word for it." + +"That's right, my boy; when a man can't understand, he must act on +faith, if he _can_, for there's no forcing our beliefs, you know. +Anyhow he must be content to follow till he does understand; always +supposing that he can trust his leader." + +"I'm out of my depths altogether now, father. P'r'aps we'd better +change the subject. What d'ye say to try a race with Leo? His boat +seems to be overhauling us." + +"No, no, Ben; no racing. Let us advance into the great unknown north +with suitable solemnity." + +"We appear to sail rather better than you do, uncle," shouted Leo, as +his boat drew near. + +"That's because you're not so heavily-laden," replied the Captain, +looking back; "you haven't got giants aboard, you see; moreover there's +one o' you rather light-headed." + +"Hallo! uncle; evil communications, eh? You'd better change Benjy for +Oblooria. She's quite quiet, and never jokes. I say, may I go ahead of +you?" + +"No, lad, you mayn't. Take a reef in your regulator, and drop into your +proper place." + +Obedient to orders, Leo pulled the regulator or check-string until the +kite's position was altered so as to present less resistance to the +wind, and dropped astern of the _Faith_, which was the name given by +Benjy to his father's boat, the other two being named respectively the +_Hope_ and the _Charity_. + +The prosperous advance did not, however, last very long. Towards +evening the three kites suddenly, and without any previous warning, +began to dive, soar, flutter, and tumble about in a manner that would +have been highly diverting if it had not been dangerous. This no doubt +was the effect of various counter-currents of air into which they had +flown. The order was at once given to haul on the regulators and coil +up the towing lines. It was promptly obeyed, but before a few fathoms +had been coiled in, the kites again became as steady as before, with +this change, however, that they travelled in a north-westerly direction. + +The value of the leeboards now became apparent. + +These were hinged down the middle so as to fold and become small enough +to stow in the bottom of each boat when not in use. When unfolded and +hung over the side, they presented a surface of resistance to the water +much greater than that of an ordinary boat's keel, so that very little +leeway indeed was made. By means of the steering-oar Captain Vane kept +his boat advancing straight northward, while the kite was puffing in a +north-westerly direction. The kite was thus compelled by the boat also +to travel due north, though of course it did so in a sidelong manner. + +Thus far the advance continued prosperously, the pace being but little +checked and the course unaltered, but when, an hour or two later, the +wind again shifted so as to carry the kites further to the west, the +pace became much slower, and the leeway, or drift to leeward, +considerable. Ultimately the wind blew straight to the west, and the +boats ceased to advance. "This won't do, uncle," said Leo, who was +close astern of the _Faith_, "I'm drifting bodily to leeward, and making +no headway at all." + +"Down with the tops,--I mean, the kites," shouted the Captain. "Pass +the word to Alf." + +Accordingly, the kites were reeled in, the regulators being so pulled +and eased off that they were kept just fluttering without tugging during +the operation. When, however, they passed out of the wind-stratum into +the region of calm which still prevailed immediately above the sea, the +kites descended in an alarming manner, swaying to and fro with +occasional wild swoops, which rendered it necessary to haul in on the +lines and reel up with the utmost speed. + +Captain Vane was very successful in this rather difficult operation. +While he hauled in the line Benjy reeled it up with exemplary speed, and +the kite was finally made to descend on the boat like a cloud. When +secured the locking-cross was removed, the distending-rods were folded +inwards, the restraining, or what we may term the waist-band was +applied, and the whole affair was changed into a gigantic Mrs Gamp +umbrella. Being placed in the bow of the boat, projecting over the +water, it formed a not ungraceful though peculiar bowsprit, and was well +out of the way. + +Leo and Butterface were equally successful, but poor Alf was not so +fortunate. The too eager pursuit of knowledge was the cause of Alf's +failure as has often been the case with others! He took on himself, as +chief of his boat, the difficult and responsible task of hauling in the +line,--which involved also the occasional and judicious manipulation of +the regulating cord, when a sudden puff of wind should tend to send the +kite soaring upwards with six or eight horse-power into the sky. To +Ivitchuk was assigned the easy task of gathering in the "slack" and +holding on to Alf if a sudden jerk should threaten to pull him +overboard. Anders reeled up. + +Just as the kite was passing out of the windy region above into the calm +region below Alf beheld floating near the boat a beautiful, and to him +entirely new, species of marine creature of the jelly-fish kind. With a +wild desire to possess it he leaned over the boat's edge to the +uttermost and stretched out his left hand, while with his right he held +on to the kite! Need we say that the kite assisted him?--assisted him +overboard altogether, and sent him with a heavy plunge into the sea! + +Ivitchuk dropped his line and stretched out both arms towards the spot +where the "Kablunet" had gone down. Akeetolik roared. Anders howled, +and dropped his reel. Left to itself, the kite, with characteristic +indecision, made an awful swoop towards the North Pole with its right +shoulder. Changing its mind, it then made a stupendous rush with its +left to the south-east. Losing presence of mind it suddenly tossed up +its tail, and, coming down head foremost, went with fatal facility into +the deep sea. + +When Alf rose and was dragged panting into the boat, his first glance +was upwards,--but not in thankfulness for his preservation! + +"Gone!" he groaned, rising to his feet. + +But the kite was not gone. The word had barely left his lips when it +rose half its length out of the water, and then fell, in melancholy +inaptitude for further mischief, flat upon the sea. + +"Anything damaged?" asked the Captain, as he and Leo rowed their boats +towards the _Charity_. + +"Nothing," replied Alf with a guilty look, "the stick and things seem to +be all right, but it has got _awfully_ wet." + +"No matter," said the Captain, laughing at Alf's forlorn look, "the sun +will soon dry it. So long as nothing is broken or torn, we'll get on +very well. But now, boys, we must go to work with oars. There must be +no flagging in this dash for the Pole. It's a neck-or-nothing business. +Now, mark my orders. Although we've got four oars apiece, we must only +work two at a time. I know that young bloods like you are prone to go +straining yourselves at first, an' then bein' fit for nothing +afterwards. We must keep it up steadily. Two in each boat will pull at +a time for one hour, while the other two rest or sleep, and so on, shift +about; till another breeze springs up. Don't fold it up tight, Alf. +Leave it pretty slack till it is dry, and then put on its belt." + +"Don't you think we might have supper before taking to the oars?" +suggested Leo. + +"I second that motion," cried Benjy. + +"And I support it," said Alf. + +"Very good, get out the prog; an' we'll lay ourselves alongside, three +abreast, as Nelson did at the Battle o' the Nile," said the Captain. + +Their food was simple but sufficient. Pemmican--a solid greasy +nutricious compound--was the foundation. Hard biscuit, chocolate, and +sugar formed the superstructure. In default of fire, these articles +could be eaten cold, but while their supply of spirits of wine lasted, a +patent Vesuvian of the most complete and almost miraculous nature could +provide a hot meal in ten minutes. Of fresh water they had a two-weeks' +supply in casks, but this was economised by means of excellent water +procured from a pond in a passing berg--from which also a lump of clear +ice had been hewn, wrapped in a blanket, and carried into the Captain's +boat as a supply of fresh water in solid form. + +Laying the oars across the boats to keep them together, they floated +thus pleasantly on the glassy sea, bathed in midnight sunshine. And +while they feasted in comfort inexpressible--to the surprise, no doubt, +of surrounding gulls and puffins--Benjamin Vane once again gave +utterance to the opinion that it was the most glorious and altogether +astonishing state of things that he had ever heard or dreamed of since +the world began! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +A GALE AND A NARROW ESCAPE. + +This is a world of alternations. We need not turn aside to prove that. +The calm with which the voyage of our discoverers began lasted about +four days and nights, during which period they advanced sometimes slowly +under oars, sometimes more or less rapidly under kites--if we may so +express it--according to the state of the wind. + +And, during all that time the discipline of two and two--at watch, or at +sleep, if not at work--was rigidly kept up. For none knew better than +Captain Vane the benefit of discipline, and the demoralising effect of +its absence, especially in trying circumstances. It is but just to add +that he had no difficulty in enforcing his laws. It is right also to +state that the women were not required to conform, even although they +were accustomed to hard labour and willing to work as much as required. +In all three boats the bow was set apart as the women's quarters, and +when Toolooha, Oblooria or Tekkona showed symptoms of a desire to go to +sleep--(there was no retiring for the night in these latitudes)--a +blanket stretched on two oars cut their quarters off from those of the +men, and maintained the dignity of the sex. + +But soon the serene aspect of nature changed. Grey clouds overspread +the hitherto sunny sky. Gusts of wind came sweeping over the sea from +time to time, and signs of coming storm became so evident that the +Captain gave orders to make all snug and prepare for dirty weather. + +"You see, lads," he said, when the three boats were abreast, and the +kites had been furled, "we don't know what may happen to us now. Nobody +in the world has had any experience of these latitudes. It may come on +to blow twenty-ton Armstrongs instead of great guns, for all we know to +the contrary. The lightning may be sheet and fork mixed instead of +separate for any light we've got on the subject, and it may rain whales +and walruses instead of cats and dogs; so it behoves us to be ready." + +"That's true, father," said Benjy, "but it matters little to me, for +I've made my will. Only I forgot to leave the top with the broken peg +and the rusty penknife to Rumty Swillpipe; so if you survive me and get +home on a whale's back--or otherwise--you'll know what to do." + +"This is not a time for jesting, Ben," said Alf rather seriously. + +"Did I say it was?" inquired Ben, with a surprised look. + +Alf deigned no reply, and Butterface laughed, while he and the others +set about executing the Captain's orders. + +The arrangements made in these india-rubber boats for bad weather were +very simple and complete. After the lading in each had been snugly +arranged, so as to present as flat a surface on the top as possible, a +waterproof sheet was drawn over all, and its edges made fast to the +sides of the boat, by means of tags and loops which were easily fastened +and detached. As each sheet overhung its boat, any water that might +fall upon it was at once run off. This, of course, was merely put on to +protect the cargo and any one who chose to take shelter under it. The +boat being filled with air required no such sheet, because if filled to +overflowing it would still have floated. All round this sheet ran a +strong cord for the crew, who sat outside of it as on a raft, to lay +hold of if the waves should threaten to wash them off. There were also +various other ropes attached to it for the same purpose, and loops of +rope served for rowlocks. + +When all had been arranged, those whose duty it was to rest leaned +comfortably against the lumps caused by inequalities of the cargo, while +the others took to their oars. + +"It's coming!" cried Benjy, about half-an-hour after all had been +prepared. + +And unquestionably it _was_ coming. The boy's quick eyes had detected a +line on the southern horizon, which became gradually broader and darker +as it rose until it covered the heavens. At the same time the indigo +ripple caused by a rushing mighty wind crept steadily over the sea. As +it neared the boats the white crests of breaking waves were seen +gleaming sharply in the midst of the dark blue. + +"Clap the women under hatches," shouted the Captain, with more good +sense than refinement. + +Benjy, Butterface, and Anders at the word lifted a corner of their +respective sheets. Obedient Toolooha, Oblooria, and Tekkona bent their +meek heads and disappeared: The sheets were refastened, and the men, +taking their places, held on to the cords or life-lines. It was an +anxious moment. No one could guess how the boats would behave under the +approaching trial. + +"Oars out," cried the Captain, "we must run before it." + +A hiss, which had been gradually increasing as the squall drew near, +broke into a kind of roar, and wind and waves rushed upon them as the +men bent their backs to the oars with all their might. + +It was soon found that the boats had so little hold of the water that +the wind and oars combined carried them forward so fast as to decrease +considerably the danger of being whelmed by a falling wave. These waves +increased every moment in size, and their crests were so broken and cut +off by the gale that the three boats, instead of appearing as they had +hitherto done the only solid objects in the scene, were almost lost to +sight in the chaos of black waves and driving foam. Although they tried +their best to keep close together they failed, and each soon became +ignorant of the position of the others. The last that they saw of Alf's +boat was in the hollow between two seas like a vanishing cormorant or a +northern diver. Leo was visible some time longer. He was wielding the +steering-oar in an attitude of vigorous caution, while his Eskimos were +pulling as if for their lives. An enormous wave rose behind them, +curled over their heads and appeared ready to overwhelm them, but the +sturdy rowers sent the boat forward, and the broken crest passed under +them. The next billow was still larger. Taken up though he was with +his own boat the Captain found time to glance at them with horror. + +"They're gone!" he cried, as the top of the billow fell, and nothing was +seen save the heads of the four men like dark spots on the foam. The +boat had in truth been overwhelmed and sunk, but, like a true lifeboat +it rose to the surface like a cork the instant the weight of water was +removed, and her crew, who had held on to the life-lines and oars, were +still safe. + +"Well done the little _Hope_!" cried the Captain, while Benjy gave vent +to his feelings in a cheer, which was evidently heard by Leo, for he was +seen to wave his hand in reply. Next moment another wave hid the _Hope_ +from view, and it was seen no more at that time. + +"I feel easier now, Benjy, thank God, after _that_. Alf is a fair +steersman, and our boats are evidently able to stand rough usage." + +Benjy made no reply. He was rubbing the water out of his eyes, and +anxiously looking through the thick air in the hope of seeing Leo's boat +again. The poor boy was grave enough now. When the might and majesty +of the Creator are manifested in the storm and the raging sea, the +merely humorous fancies of man are apt to be held in check. + +The Captain's boat went rushing thus wildly onwards, still, fortunately, +in the right direction; and for some hours there was no decrease in the +force of the gale. Then, instead of abating, as might have been +expected, it suddenly increased to such an extent that speedy +destruction appeared to be inevitable. + +"No sort o' craft could live long in _this_," muttered the Captain, as +if to himself rather than to his son, who sat with a firm expression on +his somewhat pale countenance, looking wistfully towards the northern +horizon. Perhaps he was wondering whether it was worth while to risk so +much for such an end. Suddenly he shaded his eyes with his hand and +gazed intently. + +"Land!" he exclaimed in a low eager tone. + +"Whereaway, boy? Ay, so there is something there. What say you, +Chingatok? Is it land?" + +The giant, who, during all this time, had calmly plied a pair of oars +with strength equal almost to that of four men, looked over his shoulder +without, however, relaxing his efforts. + +"No," he said, turning round again, "it is an ice-hill." + +"A berg!" exclaimed the Captain. "We will make for it. Tie your +handkerchief, Benjy, to the end of an oar and hold it up. It will serve +as a guide to our comrades." + +In a wonderfully short space of time the berg which Benjy had seen as a +mere speck on the horizon rose sharp, rugged, and white against the +black sky. It was a very large one--so large that it had no visible +motion, but seemed as firm as a rock, while the billows of the Arctic +Ocean broke in thunder on its glassy shore. + +"We'll get shelter behind it, Ben, my boy," said the Captain, "hold the +oar well up, and don't let the rag clap round the blade. Shake it out +so. God grant that they may see it." + +"Amen," ejaculated Benjy to the prayer with heartfelt intensity. + +There was danger as well as safety in the near vicinity to this berg, +for many of its pinnacles seemed ready to fall, and there was always the +possibility of a mass being broken off under water, which might destroy +the equilibrium of the whole berg, and cause it to revolve with awfully +destructive power. + +However, there was one favourable point--the base was broad, and the +ice-cliffs that bordered the sea were not high. + +In a few more minutes the western end of the berg was passed. Its last +cape was rounded, and the _Faith_ was swept by the united efforts of +Chingatok, Benjy, and Toolooha, (who _would_ not remain under cover), +into the comparatively still water on the lee, or northern side of the +berg. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Benjy in a tone that was too energetic and peculiar to +have been called forth by the mere fact of his own escape from danger. + +Captain Vane looked in the direction indicated by the boy's glistening +eyes--glistening with the salt tears of joy as well as with salt sea +spray--and there beheld the other two boats coming dancing in like wild +things on the crests of the heaving waves. They had seen the signal of +the handkerchief, understood and followed it, and, in a few minutes +more, were under the lee of the ice-cliffs, thanking God and +congratulating each other on their deliverance. + +A sheltered cove was soon found, far enough removed from cliffs and +pinnacles to insure moderate safety. Into this they ran, and there they +spent the night, serenaded by the roaring gale, and lullabied by the +crash of falling spires and the groans of rending ice. + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +RECORDS A WONDERFUL APPARITION BUT A FURIOUS NIGHT. + +When the storm had passed, a profound calm once more settled down on the +face of nature, as if the elements had been utterly exhausted by the +conflict. Once more the sea became like a sheet of undulating glass, in +which clouds and sun and boats were reflected vividly, and once again +our voyagers found themselves advancing towards the north, abreast of +each other, and rowing sociably together at the rate of about four miles +an hour. + +When advancing under oars they went thus abreast so as to converse +freely, but when proceeding under kites they kept in single file, so as +to give scope for swerving, in the event of sudden change of wind, and +to prevent the risk of the entanglement of lines. + +"What is that?" exclaimed Benjy, pointing suddenly to an object ahead +which appeared at regular intervals on the surface of the water. + +"A whale, I think," said Leo. + +"A whale usually spouts on coming up, doesn't it?" said Alf. + +Chingatok uttered an unpronounceable Eskimo word which did not throw +light on the subject. + +"What is it, Anders?" shouted the Captain. + +"What you say?" asked the interpreter from Alf's boat, which was on the +other side of the _Hope_. + +"If these squawkin' things would hold their noise, you'd hear better," +growled the Captain before repeating the question. + +His uncourteous remark had reference to a cloud of gulls which circled +round and followed the boats with remonstrative cries and astonished +looks. + +"It's beast," shouted Anders, "not knows his name in Ingliss." + +"Humph! a man with half an eye might see it is `beast,'" retorted the +Captain in an undertone. + +As he spoke, the "beast" changed its course and bore down upon them. As +it drew near the Englishmen became excited, for the size of the creature +seemed beyond anything they had yet seen. Strange to say, the Eskimos +looked at it with their wonted gaze of calm indifference. + +"It's the great sea-serpent at last," said Benjy, with something like +awe on his countenance. + +"It does look uncommon like it," replied the Captain, with a perplexed +expression on his rugged visage. "Get out the rifles, lad! It's as +well to be ready. D'ye know what it is, Chingatok?" + +Again the giant uttered the unpronounceable name, while Benjy got out +the fire-arms with eager haste. + +"Load 'em all, Ben, load 'em all, an' cram the Winchester to the +muzzle," said the Captain. "There's no sayin' what we may have to +encounter; though I _have_ heard of a gigantic bit of seaweed bein' +mistaken for the great sea-serpent before now." + +"That may be, father," said Benjy, with increasing excitement, "but +nobody ever saw a bit of seaweed swim with the activity of a gigantic +eel like _that_. Why, I have counted its coils as they rise and sink, +and I'm quite sure it's a hundred and fifty yards long if it's an inch." + +Those in the other boats were following the Captain's example,--getting +out and charging the fire-arms,--and truly there seemed some ground for +their alarm, for the creature, which approached at a rapid rate, +appeared most formidable. Yet, strange to say, the Eskimos paid little +attention to it, and seemed more taken up with the excitement of the +white men. + +When the creature had approached to within a quarter of a mile, it +diverged a little to the left, and passed the boats at the distance of a +few hundred yards. Then Captain Vane burst into a sudden laugh, and +shouted:-- + +"Grampuses!" + +"What?" cried Leo. + +"Grampuses!" repeated the Captain. "Why, it's only a shoal of grampuses +following each other in single file, that we've mistaken for one +creature!" + +Never before was man or boy smitten with heavier disappointment than was +poor Benjy Vane on that trying occasion. + +"Why, what's wrong with you, Benjy?" asked his father, as he looked at +his woeful countenance. + +"To think," said the poor boy, slowly, "that I've come all the way to +the North Pole for _this_! Why I've believed in the great sea-serpent +since ever I could think, I've seen pictures of it twisting its coils +round three-masted ships, and goin' over the ocean with a mane like a +lion, and its head fifty feet out o' the water! Oh! it's too bad, I'd +have given my ears to have seen the great sea-serpent." + +"There wouldn't have been much of you left, Benjy, if you had given +_them_." + +"Well, well," continued the boy, not noticing his father's remark, "it's +some comfort to know that I've all _but_ seen the great sea-serpent." + +It is some comfort to us, reader, to be able to record the fact that +Benjy Vane was not doomed to total disappointment on that memorable day, +for, on the same evening, the voyagers had an encounter with walruses +which more than made up for the previous misfortune. + +It happened thus:-- + +The three boats were proceeding abreast, slowly but steadily over the +still calm sea, when their attention was attracted by a sudden and +tremendous splash or upheaval of water, just off what the Captain styled +his "port bow." At the same moment the head of a walrus appeared on the +surface like a gigantic black bladder. It seemed to be as large as the +head of a small elephant, and its ivory tusks were not less than two +feet long. There was a square bluntness about the creature's head, and +a savage look about its little bloodshot eyes, which gave to it a very +hideous aspect. Its bristling moustache, each hair of which was six +inches long, and as thick as a crow quill, dripped with brine, and it +raised itself high out of the water, turning its head from side to side +with a rapidity and litheness of action that one would not have expected +in an animal so unwieldy. Evidently it was looking eagerly for +something. + +Catching sight of the three boats, it seemed to have found what it +looked for, and made straight at them. Leo quietly got ready his +Winchester repeater, a rifle which, as the reader probably knows, can +discharge a dozen or more shots in rapid succession; the cartridges +being contained in a case resembling a thick ram-rod under the barrel, +from which they are thrust almost instantaneously into their places. + +But before the creature gained the boats, a second great upheaval of +water took place, and another walrus appeared. This was the real enemy +of whom he had been in quest. Both were bulls of the largest and most +ferocious description. No sooner did they behold each other, than, with +a roar, something betwixt a bark and a bellow, they collided, and a +furious fight began. The sea was churned into foam around them as they +rolled, reared, spurned, and drove their tusks into each other's skulls +and shoulders. + +The boats lay quietly by, their occupants looking on with interest. The +Eskimos were particularly excited, but no one spoke or acted. They all +seemed fascinated by the fight. + +Soon one and another and another walrus-head came up out of the sea, and +then it was understood that a number of cow walruses had come to witness +the combat! But the human audience paid little regard to these, so much +were they engrossed by the chief actors. + +It might have been thought, from the position of their tusks, which are +simply an enlargement and prolongation of the canine teeth, that these +combatants could only strike with them in a downward direction, but this +was not so. On the contrary, they turned their thick necks with so much +ease and rapidity that they could strike in all directions with equal +force, and numerous were the wounds inflicted on either side, as the +blood-red foam soon testified. + +We have said that the human spectators of the scene remained inactive, +but, at the first pause, the Captain said he thought they might as well +put a stop to the fight, and advised Leo to give one of them a shot. + +"We'll not be the worse for a fresh steak," he added to Benjy, as Leo +was taking aim. + +The effect of the shot was very unexpected. One of the bulls was hit, +but evidently not in a deadly manner, for the motion of the boat had +disturbed Leo's aim. Each combatant turned with a look of wild surprise +at the interruptor, and, as not unfrequently happens in cases of +interference with fights, both made a furious rush at him. At the same +moment, all the cows seemed to be smitten with pugnacity, and joined in +the attack. There was barely time to get ready, when the furious +animals were upon them. Guns and rifles were pointed, axes and spears +grasped, and oars gripped. Even the women seized each a spear, and +stood on the defensive. A simultaneous volley checked the enemy for a +moment, and sent one of the cows to the bottom; but with a furious +bellow they charged again. + +The great anxiety of the defenders was to prevent the monsters from +getting close to the boats, so as to hook on to them with their tusks, +which would probably have overturned them, or penetrated the inflated +sides. In either case, destruction would have been inevitable, and it +was only by the active use of oar, axe, and spear that this was +prevented. + +Twice did one of the bulls charge the Captain's boat, and on both +occasions he was met by the tremendous might of Chingatok, who planted +the end of an oar on his blunt nose, and thrust him off. On each +occasion, also, he received a shot from the double barrel of Benjy, who +fired the first time into his open mouth, and the second time into his +eye, but an angry cough from the one, and a wink from the other showed +that he did not mind it much. Meantime the Captain, with the Winchester +repeater, was endeavouring--but vainly, owing to the motions of the +giant, and the swaying of the boat--to get a shot at the beast, while +Toolooha, with an axe, was coquetting with a somewhat timid cow near the +stern. + +At last an opportunity offered. Captain Vane poured half a dozen balls +as quick as he could fire into the head of the bull, which immediately +sank. + +Not less vigorously did the occupants of the other boats receive the +charge. Leo, being more active than the Captain, as well as more expert +with his repeater, slew his male opponent in shorter time, and with less +expenditure of ammunition. Butterface, too, gained much credit by the +prompt manner in which he split the skull of one animal with an axe. +Even Oblooria, the timid, rose to the occasion, and displayed +unlooked-for heroism. With a barbed seal-spear she stood up and invited +a baby walrus to come on--by looks, not by words. The baby accepted the +invitation--perhaps, being a pugnacious baby, it was coming on at any +rate--and Oblooria gave it a vigorous dab on the nose. It resented the +insult by shaking its head fiercely, and endeavouring to back off, but +the barb had sunk into the wound and held on. Oblooria also held on. +Oolichuk, having just driven off a cow walrus, happened to observe the +situation, and held on to Oblooria. The baby walrus was secured, and, +almost as soon as the old bull was slain, had a line attached to it, and +was made fast to the stern. + +"Well done, little girl!" exclaimed Oolichuk in admiration, "you're +almost as good as a man." + +Among civilised people this might have been deemed a doubtful +compliment, but it was not so in Eskimo-land. The little maid was +evidently much pleased, and the title of the Timid One, which Oolichuk +was wont to give her when in a specially endearing frame of mind, was +changed for the Brave One from that day. In a few more minutes the last +charge of the enemy was repulsed, and those of them that remained alive +dived back to that native home into which the slain had already sunk. + +Thus ended that notable fight with walruses. + +After consummating the victory with three cheers and congratulating each +other, the conquerors proceeded to examine into the extent of damage +received. It was found that, beyond a few scratches, the _Faith_ and +the _Hope_ had escaped scathless, but the _Charity_ had suffered +considerably. Besides a bad rip in the upper part of the gunwale, a +small hole had been poked in her side below water, and her air-chamber +was filling rapidly. + +"Come here, quick, uncle," cried Alf, in consternation, when he +discovered this. + +To his surprise the Captain was not so much alarmed as he had expected. + +"It won't sink you, Alf, so keep your mind easy," he said, while +examining the injury. "You see I took care to have the boats made in +compartments. It will only make you go lop-sided like a lame duck till +I can repair the damage." + +"Repair it, uncle! how can--" + +"Never mind just now, hand out a blanket, quick; I'll explain after; we +must undergird her and keep out as much water as we can." + +This operation was soon accomplished. The blanket was passed under the +boat and made fast. By pressing against the injured part it checked the +inflow of water. Then the cargo was shifted, and part of it was +transferred to the other boats, and soon they were advancing as +pleasantly, though not as quickly as before, while the Captain explained +that he had brought a solution of gutta-percha for the express purpose +of repairing damages to the boats, but that it was impossible to use it +until they could disembark either on land or on an iceberg. + +"We'll come to another berg ere long, no doubt, shan't we, Chingatok?" +he asked. + +The Eskimo shook his head and said he thought not, but there was a small +rocky islet not far from where they were, though it lay somewhat out of +their course. + +On hearing this the Captain changed his course immediately, and rowed in +the direction pointed out. + +"There's wind enough up there, Benjy," remarked his father, looking up +to the sky, where the higher clouds were seen rapidly passing the lower +strata to the northward, "but how to get the kites set up in a dead calm +is more than I can tell." + +"There is a way out of the difficulty, father," said Benjy, pointing +behind them. + +He referred to a slight breeze which was ruffling the sea into what are +called cat's paws far astern. + +"Right boy, right. Prepare to hoist your tops'ls, lads," shouted the +Captain. + +In a few minutes the kites were expanded and the tow-lines attached. +When the light breeze came up they all soared, heavily, it is true, but +majestically, into the sky. Soon reaching the upper regions, they +caught the steady breeze there, and towed the boats along at the rate of +eight or ten miles an hour. + +In two hours they sighted the islet which Chingatok had mentioned, and, +soon afterwards, had landed and taken possession of it, in the usual +manner, under the name of Refuge Island. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +DISCOURSES OF DEEP THINGS. + +The islet, or rock, for it was little more, which the explorers had +reached, was low and extremely barren. Nevertheless it had on it a +large colony of sea-fowl, which received the strangers with their wonted +clamour of indignation--if not of welcome. + +As it was near noon at the time, the Captain and Leo went with their +sextants to the highest part of the island to ascertain its position; +the Eskimos set about making an encampment, unloading the boats, +etcetera, and Alf, with hammer and botanical box, set off on a short +ramble along the coast, accompanied by Benjy and Butterface. + +Sometimes these three kept together and chatted, at other times they +separated a little, each attracted by some object of interest, or +following the lead, it might have been, of wayward fancy. But they +never lost sight of each other, and, after a couple of hours, converged, +as if by tacit consent, until they met and sat down to rest on a ledge +of rock. + +"Well, I _do_ like this sort o' thing," remarked Benjy, as he wiped his +heated brow. "There is something to me so pleasant and peaceful about a +low rocky shore with the sun blazing overhead and the great sea +stretching out flat and white in a dead calm with just ripple enough to +let you know it is all alive and hearty--only resting, like a +good-humoured and sleepy giant." + +"Why, Ben, I declare you are becoming poetical," said Alf with a smile; +"your conceptions correspond with those of Buzzby, who writes:-- + + "`Great Ocean, slumb'ring in majestic calm, + Lies like a mighty--a mighty--' + +"I--I fear I've forgotten. Let me see:-- + + "`Great Ocean, slumb'ring in majestic calm, + Lies like a mighty--'" + +"Giant in a dwalm," suggested Benjy. + +"We'll change the subject," said Alf, opening his botanical box and +taking out several specimens of plants and rocks. "See, here are some +bits of rock of a kind that are quite new to me." + +"What's de use ob dem?" inquired Butterface with a look of earnest +simplicity. + +"The use?" said Benjy, taking on himself to reply; "why, you flat-nosed +grampus, don't you know that these bits of rock are made for the express +purpose of being carried home, identified, classified, labelled, stuck +up in a museum, and stared at by wondering ignoramuses, who care nothing +whatever about them, and know less. Geologists are constantly going +about the world with their little hammers keeping up the supply." + +"Yes, Butterface," said Alf, "Benjy is partly correct; such specimens +will be treated as he describes, and be stared at in blank stupidity by +hundreds of fellows like himself, but they will also be examined and +understood by geologists, who from their profound knowledge of the plans +which our Creator seems to have had in arranging the materials of the +earth, are able to point out many interesting and useful facts which are +not visible to the naked and unscientific eye, such, for instance, as +the localities where coal and other precious things may be found." + +"Kin dey tell whar' gold is to be found, massa Alf?" + +"O yes, they can tell that." + +"Den it's dis yer chile as wishes," said Butterface with a sigh, "dat he +was a jollygist." + +"Oh! Butterface, you're a jolly goose at all events," said Benjy; +"wouldn't it be fun to go and discover a gold mine, and dig up as much +as would keep us in happy idleness all the rest of our lives? But I +say, Alf, have you nothing better than geological specimens in your +box--no grubological specimens, eh?" + +Alf replied by producing from his box a paper parcel which contained +some of the required specimens in the shape of biscuit and pemmican. + +"Capital! Well, you are a good fellow, Alf. Let us make a table-cloth +of the paper--now, you undisciplined black, don't glare so at the +victuals, else you'll grow too hungry for a moderate supply." + +When the trio were in the full swing of vigorous feeding, the negro +paused, with his mouth full, to ask Alf what would be the use of the +North Pole when it was discovered. + +"Make matches or firewood of it," said Benjy just as he was about to +stop up his impudent mouth with a lump of pemmican. + +"Truly, of what use the Pole itself may be--supposing it to exist in the +form of a thing," said Alf, "I cannot tell, but it has already been of +great use in creating expeditions to the Polar regions. You know well +enough, Butterface, for you've been round the Capes of Good Hope and +Horn often enough, what a long long voyage it is to the eastern seas, on +the other side of the world, and what a saving of time and expense it +would be if we could find a shorter route to those regions, from which +so many of our necessaries and luxuries come. Now, if we could only +discover an open sea in the Arctic regions which would allow our ships +to sail in a straight line from England across the North Pole to +Behring's Straits, the voyage to the East would be reduced to only about +5000 miles, and we should be able to reach Japan in three or four weeks. +Just think what an advantage that would be to commerce!" + +"Tea at twopence a pound an' sugar to match--not to mention molasses and +baccy, you ignorant nigger!" said Benjy;--"pass the biscuits." + +"An' now, massa Alf," said Butterface with an eager look, "we's +diskivered dis open sea--eh!" + +"Well, it seems as if we had." + +"But what good will it do us," argued Benjy, becoming more earnest in +the discussion, "if it's all surrounded by a ring of ice such as we have +passed over on sledges." + +"If," repeated Alf, "in that `if' lies the whole question. No doubt +Enterprise has fought heroically for centuries to overleap this supposed +ring of ice, and science has stood expectant on the edge, looking +eagerly for the day when human perseverance shall reveal the secrets of +the Far North. It is true, also, that _we_ at last appear to have +penetrated into the great unknown, but who shall say that the so-called +ice-ring has been fully examined? Our explorations have been hitherto +confined to one or two parts of it. We may yet find an ever-open +entrance to this open Polar sea, and our ships may yet be seen sailing +regularly to and fro over the North Pole." + +"Just so," said Benjy, "a North Pole steam line once a month to Japan +and back--first class accommodation for second class fares. Walrus and +white bear parties dropped on the way at the Pole Star Hotel, an easy +trip from the Pole itself, which may be made in Eskimo cabs in summer +and reindeer sleighs in winter. Return tickets available for six +months--touching at China, India, Nova Zembla, Kamtschatka, and Iceland. +Splendid view of Hecla and the great Mer de Glace of Greenland--fogs +permitting.--Don't eat so much, Butterface, else bu'stin' will surely be +your doom." + +"Your picture is perhaps a little overdrawn, Ben," rejoined Alf with a +smile. + +"So would the ancients have said," retorted Benjy, "if you had +prophesied that in the nineteenth century our steamers would pass +through the Straits of Hercules, up the Mediterranean, and over the land +to India; or that our cousins' steam cars would go rattling across the +great prairies of America, through the vast forests, over and under the +Rocky Mountains from the States to California, in seven days; or that +the telephone or electric light should ever come into being." + +"Well, you see, Butterface," said Alf, "there is a great deal to be said +in favour of Arctic exploration, even at the present day, and despite +all the rebuffs that we have received. Sir Edward Sabine, one of the +greatest Arctic authorities, says of the route from the Atlantic to the +Pacific, that it is the greatest geographical achievement which can be +attempted, and that it will be the crowning enterprise of those Arctic +researches in which England has hitherto had the pre-eminence. Why, +Butterface," continued Alf, warming with his subject, while the +enthusiastic negro listened as it were with every feature of his +expressive face, and even the volatile Benjy became attentive, "why, +there is no telling what might be the advantages that would arise from +systematic exploration of these unknown regions, which cover a space of +not less than two million, five hundred thousand square miles. It would +advance the science of hydrography, and help to solve some of the +difficult problems connected with Equatorial and Polar currents. It +would enable us, it is said, by a series of pendulum observations at or +near the Pole, to render essential service to the science of geology, to +form a mathematical theory of the physical condition of the earth, and +to ascertain its exact conformation. It would probably throw light on +the wonderful phenomena of magnetism and atmospheric electricity and the +mysterious Aurora Borealis--to say nothing of the flora of these regions +and the animal life on the land and in the sea." + +"Why, Alf," exclaimed Benjy in surprise, "I had no idea you were so +deeply learned on these subjects." + +"Deeply learned!" echoed Alf with a laugh, "why, I have only a +smattering of them. Just knowledge enough to enable me in some small +degree to appreciate the vast amount of knowledge which I have yet to +acquire. Why do you look perplexed, Butterface?" + +"'Cause, massa, you's too deep for me altogidder. My brain no big +'nough to hold it all." + +"And your skull's too thick to let it through to the little blob of +brain that you do possess," said Benjy with a kindly-contemptuous look +at his sable friend. "Oh! flatnose, you're a terrible thick-head." + +"You's right dere, massa," replied the negro, with a gratified smile at +what he deemed a compliment. "You should ha' seed me dat time when I +was leetle boy down in Ole Virginny, whar dey riz me, when my gran'moder +she foun' me stickin' my fist in de molasses-jar an' lickin' it off. +She swarmed at me an' fetch me one kick, she did, an' sent me slap troo +a pannel ob de loft door, an' tumbled me down de back stair, whar I +felled over de edge an' landed on de top ob a tar barrel w'ich my head +run into. I got on my legs, I did, wiv difficulty, an' runned away +never a bit de worse--not even a headache--only it was tree months afore +I got dat tar rightly out o' my wool. Yes, my head's t'ick _'nough_." + +While Butterface was speaking, Leo and the Captain were seen +approaching, and the three rose to meet them. There was a grave +solemnity in the Captain's look which alarmed them. + +"Nothing wrong I hope, uncle?" said Alf. + +"Wrong! no, lad, there's nothing wrong. On the contrary, everything is +right. Why, where do you think we have got to?" + +"A hundred and fifty miles from the Pole," said Alf. + +"Less, less," said Leo, with an excited look. + +"We are not more," said the Captain slowly, as he took off his hat and +wiped his brow, "not more than a hundred and forty miles from it." + +"Then we could be there in three days or sooner, with a good breeze," +cried Benjy, whose enthusiasm was aroused. + +"Ay, Ben, if there was nothing in the way; but it's quite clear from +what Chingatok says, that we are drawing near to his native land, which +cannot be more than fifty miles distant, if so much. You remember he +has told us his home is one of a group of islands, some of which are +large and some small; some mountainous and others flat and swampy, +affording food and shelter to myriads of wild-fowl; so, you see, after +we get there our progress northward through such a country, without +roads or vehicles, won't be at the rate of ten miles an hour by any +means." + +"Besides," added Leo, "it would not be polite to Chingatok's countrymen +if we were to leave them immediately after arriving. Perhaps they would +not let us go, so I fear that we shan't gain the end of our journey yet +a while, but that does not matter much, for we're sure to make it out at +last." + +"What makes the matter more uncertain," resumed the Captain, as they +sauntered back to camp, "is the fact that this northern archipelago is +peopled by different tribes of Eskimos, some of whom are of a warlike +spirit and frequently give the others trouble. However, Chingatok says +we shall have no difficulty in reaching this Nothing--as he will insist +on styling the Pole, ever since I explained to him that it was not a +real but an imaginary point." + +"I wonder how Anders ever got him to understand what an imaginary point +is," said Benjy. + +"That has puzzled me too," returned the Captain, "but he did get it +screwed into him somehow, and the result is--Nothing!" + +"Out of nothing nothing comes," remarked Leo, as the giant suddenly +appeared from behind a rock, "but assuredly _nothing_ can beat Chingatok +in size or magnificence, which is more than anything else can." + +The Eskimo had been searching for the absentees to announce that dinner +was ready, and that Toolooha was impatient to begin; they all therefore +quickened their pace, and soon after came within scent of the savoury +mess which had been prepared for them by the giant's squat but amiable +mother. + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +ARRIVAL IN POLOELAND. + +Fortune, which had hitherto proved favourable to our brave explorers, +did not desert them at the eleventh hour. + +Soon after their arrival at Refuge Island a fair wind sprang up from the +south, and when the _Charity_ had been carefully patched and repaired, +the kites were sent up and the voyage was continued. That day and night +they spent again upon the boundless sea, for the island was soon left +out of sight behind them, though the wind was not very fresh. + +Towards morning it fell calm altogether, obliging them to haul down the +kites and take to the oars. + +"It can't be far off now, Chingatok," said the Captain, who became +rather impatient as the end drew near. + +"Not far," was the brief reply. + +"Land ho!" shouted Benjy, about half-an-hour after that. + +But Benjy was forced to admit that anxiety had caused him to take an +iceberg on the horizon for land. + +"Well, anyhow you must admit," said Benjy, on approaching the berg, +"that it's big enough for a fellow to mistake it for a mountain. I +wonder what it's doing here without any brothers or sisters to keep it +company." + +"Under-currents brought it here, lad," said the Captain. "You see, such +a monster as that must go very deep down, and the warm under-current has +not yet melted away enough of his base to permit the surface-current to +carry him south like the smaller members of his family. He is still +travelling north, but that won't last long. He'll soon become small +enough to put about and go the other way. I never saw a bigger fellow +than that, Benjy. Hayes, the American, mentions one which he measured, +about 315 feet high, and nearly a mile long. It had been grounded for +two years. He calculated that there must have been seven times as much +of it below water as there was above, so that it was stranded in nearly +half-a-mile depth of water. This berg cannot be far short of that one +in size." + +"Hm! probably then his little brothers and sisters are being now crushed +to bits in Baffin's Bay," said Benjy. + +"Not unlikely, Ben, if they've not already been melted in the Atlantic, +which will be this one's fate at last--sooner or later." + +From a pool on this berg they obtained a supply of pure fresh water. + +When our explorers did at last sight the land it came upon them +unexpectedly, in the form of an island so low that they were quite close +before observing it. The number of gulls hovering above it might have +suggested its presence, but as these birds frequently hover in large +flocks over shoals of small fish, little attention was paid to them. + +"Is this your native land, Chingatok?" asked the Captain, quickly. + +"No, it is over there," said the Eskimo, pointing to the distant +horizon; "this is the first of the islands." + +As they gazed they perceived a mountain-shaped cloud so faint and far +away that it had almost escaped observation. Advancing slowly, this +cloud was seen to take definite form and colour. + +"I _knew_ it was!" said Benjy, "but was afraid of making another +mistake." + +Had the boy or his father looked attentively at the giant just then, +they would have seen that his colour deepened, his eyes glittered, and +his great chest heaved a little more than was its wont, as he looked +over his shoulder while labouring at the oars. Perhaps we should have +said played with the oars, for they were mere toys in his grasp. +Chingatok's little mother also was evidently affected by the sight of +home. But the Captain and his son saw it not--they were too much +occupied with their own thoughts and feelings. To the Englishmen the +sight of land roused only one great all-engrossing thought--the North +Pole! which, despite the absurdity of the idea, _would_ present itself +in the form of an upright post of terrific magnitude--a worthy +axle-tree, as it were, for the world to revolve upon. To the big Eskimo +land presented itself in the form of a palatial stone edifice measuring +fifteen feet by twelve, with a dear pretty little wife choking herself +in the smoke of a cooking-lamp, and a darling little boy choking himself +with a mass of walrus blubber. Thus the same object, when presented to +different minds, suggested ideas that were: + + "Diverse as calm from thunder, + Wide as the poles asunder." + +It was midnight when the boats drew near to land. The island in which +stood the giant's humble home seemed to Captain Vane not more than eight +or ten miles in extent, and rose to a moderate height--apparently about +five or six hundred feet. It was picturesque in form and composed of +rugged rocks, the marks on which, and the innumerable boulders +everywhere, showed that at some remote period of the world's history, it +had been subjected to the influence of glacial action. No glacier was +visible now, however--only, on the rocky summit lay a patch or two of +the last winter's snow-drift, which was too deep for the summer sun to +melt away. From this storehouse of water gushed numerous tiny rivulets +which brawled cheerily rather than noisily among the rocks, watering the +rich green mosses and grasses which abounded in patches everywhere, and +giving life to countless wild-flowers and berries which decked and +enriched the land. + +Just off the island--which by a strange coincidence the inhabitants had +named Poloe--there were hundreds of other islets of every shape and +size, but nearly all of them low, and many flat and swampy--the +breeding-grounds of myriads of waterfowl. There were lakelets in many +of these isles, in the midst of which were still more diminutive islets, +whose moss-covered rocks and fringing sedges were reflected in the +crystal water. Under a cliff on the main island stood the Eskimo +village, a collection of stone huts, bathed in the slanting light of the +midnight sun. + +But no sound issued from these huts or from the neighbouring islands. +It was the period of rest for man and bird. Air, earth, and water were +locked in profound silence and repose. + +"We've got to Paradise at last, father," was the first sound that broke +the silence, if we except the gentle dip of the oars and the rippling +water on the bow. + +"Looks like it, Benjy," replied the Captain. + +A wakeful dog on shore was the first to scent the coming strangers. He +gave vent to a low growl. It was the keynote to the canine choir, which +immediately sent up a howl of discord. Forthwith from every hut there +leaped armed men, anxious women, and terrified children, which latter +rushed towards the cliffs or took refuge among the rocks. + +"Hallo! Chingatok, your relations are not to be taken by surprise," +said the Captain--or something to that effect--in Eskimo. + +The giant shook his head somewhat gravely. + +"They must be at war," he said. + +"At war! whom with?" + +"With the Neerdoowulls," replied Chingatok with a frown. "They are +always giving us trouble." + +"Not badly named, father," said Benjy; "one would almost think they must +be of Scotch extraction." + +At that moment the natives--who had been gesticulating wildly and +brandishing spears and bone knives with expressions of fury that denoted +a strong desire on their part to carve out the hearts and transfix the +livers of the newcomers--suddenly gave vent to a shout of surprise, +which was succeeded by a scream of joy. Chingatok had stood up in the +boat and been recognised. The giant's dog--an appropriately large one-- +had been the first to observe him, and expressed its feelings by wagging +its tail to such an extent that its hind legs had difficulty in keeping +the ground. + +Immediately on landing, the party was surrounded by a clamorous crew, +who, to do them justice, took very little notice of the strangers, so +overjoyed were they at the return of their big countryman. + +Soon a little pleasant though flattish-faced woman pushed through the +crowd and seized the giant. This was his wife Pingasuk, or Pretty One. +She was _petite_--not much larger than Oblooria the timid. The better +to get at her, Chingatok went down on his knees, seized her by the +shoulders, and rubbed her nose against his so vigorously that the +smaller nose bid fair to come off altogether. He had to stoop still +lower when a stout urchin of about five years of age came up behind him +and tried to reach his face. + +"Meltik!" exclaimed the giant, rubbing noses gently for fear of damaging +him, "you are stout and fat, my son, you have been eating much blubber-- +good." + +At that moment Chingatok's eyes fell on an object which had hitherto +escaped his observation. It was a little round yellow head in his +wife's hood, with a pair of small black eyes which stared at him in +blank surprise. He made a snatch at it and drew forth--a naked baby! + +"Our girlie," said the wife, with a pleased but anxious look; "don't +squeeze. She is very young and tender--like a baby seal." + +The glad father tried to fold the creature to his bosom; nearly dropped +it in his excess of tender caution; thrust it hastily back into his +wife's hood, and rose to give a respectful greeting to an aged man with +a scrubby white beard, who came forward at the moment. + +"Who are these, my son?" asked the old man, pointing to the Englishmen, +who, standing in a group with amused expressions, watched the meeting +above described. + +"These are the Kablunets, father. I met them, as I expected, in the +far-off land. The poor creatures were wandering about in a great kayak, +which they have lost, searching for _nothing_!" + +"Searching for nothing! my son, that cannot be. It is not possible to +search for nothing--at least it is not possible to find it." + +"But that is what they come here for," persisted Chingatok; "they call +it the Nort Pole." + +"And what is the Nort Pole, my son?" + +"It is nothing, father." + +The old man looked at his stately son with something of anxiety mingled +with his surprise. + +"Has Chingatok become a fool, like the Kablunets, since he left home?" +he asked in a low voice. + +"Chingatok is not sure," replied the giant, gravely. "He has seen so +much to puzzle him since he went away, that he sometimes feels foolish." + +The old Eskimo looked steadily at his son for a few moments, and shook +his head. + +"I will speak to these men--these foolish men," he said. "Do they +understand our language?" + +"Some of them understand and speak a little, father, but they have with +them one named Unders, who interprets. Come here, Unders." + +Anders promptly stepped to the front and interpreted, while the old +Eskimo put Captain Vane through an examination of uncommon length and +severity. At the close of it he shook his head with profound gravity, +and turned again to his son. + +"You have indeed brought to us a set of fools, Chingatok. Your voyage +to the far-off lands has not been very successful. These men want +something that they do not understand; that they could not see if it was +before them; that they cannot describe when they talk about it, and that +they could not lay hold of if they had it." + +"Yes, father," sighed Chingatok, "it is as I told you--nothing; only the +Nort Pole--a mere name." + +A new light seemed to break in on Chingatok as he said this, for he +added quickly, "But, father, a name is _something_--my name, Chingatok, +is something, yet it is nothing. You cannot see it, you do not lay hold +of it, yet it is there." + +"Toohoo! my son, that is so, no doubt, but your name describes _you_, +and you are something. No one ever goes to a far-off land to search for +a _name_. If this Nort Pole is only a name and not a _thing_, how can +it _be_?" exclaimed the old man, turning on his heel and marching off in +a paroxysm of metaphysical disgust. + +He appeared to change his mind, however, for, turning abruptly back, he +said to Anders, "Tell these strangers that I am glad to see them; that a +house and food shall be given to them, and that they are welcome to +Poloe. Perhaps their land--the far-off land--is a poor one; they may +not have enough to eat. If so, they may stay in this rich land of mine +to hunt and fish as long as they please. But tell them that the Eskimos +love wise men, and do not care for foolishness. They must not talk any +more about this search after nothing--this Nort Pole--this nonsense-- +huk!" + +Having delivered himself of these sentiments with much dignity, the old +man again turned on his heel with a regal wave of the hand, and marched +up to his hut. + +"That must be the King of Poloe," whispered Captain Vane to Leo, +endeavouring to suppress a smile at the concluding caution, as they +followed Anders and one of the natives to the hut set apart for them. + +The Captain was only half right. Amalatok was indeed the chief of the +island, but the respect and deference shown to him by the tribe were +owing more to the man's age and personal worth, than to his rank. He +had succeeded his father as chief of the tribe, and, during a long life, +had led his people in council, at the hunt, and in war, with consummate +ability and success. Although old, he still held the reins of power, +chiefly because his eldest son and rightful successor--Chingatok's elder +brother--was a weak-minded man of little capacity and somewhat malignant +disposition. If our giant had been his eldest, he would have resigned +cheerfully long ago. As it was, he did not see his way to change the +customs of the land, though he could not tell when, or by whom, or under +what circumstances, the order of succession had been established. +Probably, like many other antiquated customs, it had been originally the +result of despotism on the part of men in power, and of stupid +acquiescence on the part of an unthinking people. + +On reaching his hut the old chief sat down, and, leaning carelessly +against the wall, he toyed with a bit of walrus rib, as an Englishman +might with a pair of nut-crackers at dessert. + +"Why did you bring these barbarians here?" + +"I did not bring them, father, they brought me," said the son with a +deprecating glance. + +"Huk!" exclaimed the chief, after which he added, "hum!" + +It was evident that he had received new light, and was meditating +thereon. + +"My son," continued Amalatok, "these Kablunets seem to be stout-bodied +fellows; can they fight--are they brave?" + +"They are brave, father, very brave. Even the little one, whom they +call Bunjay, is brave--also, he is funny. I have never seen the +Kablunets fight with men, but they fight well with the bear and the +walrus and the ice. They are not such fools as you seem to think. +True, about this nothing--this Nort Pole--they are quite mad, but in +other matters they are very wise and knowing, as you shall see before +long." + +"Good, good," remarked the old chief, flinging the walrus rib at an +intrusive dog with signal success, "I am glad to hear you say that, +because I may want their help." + +Amalatok showed one symptom of true greatness--a readiness to divest +himself of prejudice. + +"For what do you require their help, father?" asked Chingatok. + +Instead of answering, the old chief wrenched off another walrus rib from +its native backbone, and began to gnaw it growlingly, as if it were his +enemy and he a dog. + +"My father is disturbed in his mind," said the giant in a sympathising +tone. + +Even a less observant man than Chingatok might have seen that the old +chief was not only disturbed in mind, but also in body, for his features +twitched convulsively, and his face grew red as he thought of his +wrongs. + +"Listen," said Amalatok, flinging the rib at another intrusive dog, +again with success, and laying his hand impressively on his son's arm. +"My enemy, Grabantak--that bellowing walrus, that sly seal, that +empty-skulled puffin, that porpoise, cormorant, narwhal--s-s-sus!" + +The old man set his teeth and hissed. + +"Well, my father?" + +"It is not well, my son. It is all ill. That marrowless bear is +stirring up his people, and there is no doubt that we shall soon be +again engaged in a bloody--a _useless_ war." + +"What is it all about, father?" + +"About!--about nothing." + +"Huk! about Nort Pole--nothing," murmured Chingatok--his thoughts +diverted by the word. + +"No, it is worse than Nort Pole, worse than nothing," returned the chief +sternly; "it is a small island--very small--so small that a seal would +not have it for a breathing-place. Nothing on it; no moss, no grass. +Birds won't stay there--only fly over it and wink with contempt. Yet +Grabantak says he must have it--it is within the bounds of _his_ land!" + +"Well, let him have it, if it be so worthless," said Chingatok, mildly. + +"Let him have it!" shouted the chief, starting up with such violence as +to overturn the cooking-lamp--to which he paid no regard whatever--and +striding about the small hut savagely, "no, never! I will fight him to +the last gasp; kill all his men; slay his women; drown his children; +level his huts; burn up his meat--" + +Amalatok paused and glared, apparently uncertain about the propriety of +wasting good meat. The pause gave his wrath time to cool. + +"At all events," he continued, sitting down again and wrenching off +another rib, "we must call a council and have a talk, for we may expect +him soon. When you arrived we took you for our enemies." + +"And you were ready for us," said Chingatok, with an approving smile. + +"Huk!" returned the chief with a responsive nod. "Go, Chingatok, call a +council of my braves for to--night, and see that these miserable +starving Kablunets have enough of blubber wherewith to stuff +themselves." + +Our giant did not deem it worth while to explain to his rather petulant +father that the Englishmen were the reverse of starving, but he felt the +importance of raising them in the old chief's opinion without delay, and +took measures accordingly. + +"Blackbeard," he said, entering the Captain's hut and sitting down with +a troubled air, "my father does not think much of you. Tell him that, +Unders." + +"I understand you well enough, Chingatok; go on, and let me know why the +old man does not think well of me." + +"He thinks you are a fool," returned the plain spoken Eskimo. + +"H'm! I'm not altogether surprised at that, lad. I've sometimes +thought so myself. Well, I suppose you've come to give me some good +advice to make me wiser--eh! Chingatok?" + +"Yes, that is what I come for. Do what I tell you, and my father will +begin to think you wise." + +"Ah, yes, the old story," remarked Benjy, who was an amused listener-- +for his father translated in a low tone for the benefit of his +companions as the conversation proceeded--"the same here as everywhere-- +Do as I tell you and all will be well!" + +"Hold your tongue, Ben," whispered Alf. + +"Well, what am I to do?" asked the Captain. + +"Invite my father to a feast," said Chingatok eagerly, "and me too, and +my mother too; also my wife, and some of the braves with their wives. +And you must give us biskit an'--what do you call that brown stuff?" + +"Coffee," suggested the Captain. + +"Yes, cuffy, also tee, and shoogre, and seal st- ate--what?" + +"Steak--eh?" + +"Yes, stik, and cook them all in the strange lamp. You must ask us to +see the feast cooked, and then we will eat it." + +It will be observed that when Chingatok interpolated English words in +his discourse his pronunciation was not perfect. + +"Well, you are the coolest fellow I've met with for many a day! To +order a feast, invite yourself to it, name the rest of the company, as +well as the victuals, and insist on seeing the cooking of the same," +said the Captain in English; then, in Eskimo,--"Well, Chingatok, I will +do as you wish. When would you like supper?" + +"Now," replied the giant, with decision. + +"You hear, Butterface," said the Captain when he had translated, "go to +work and get your pots and pans ready. See that you put your best foot +foremost. It will be a turning-point, this feast, I see." + +Need we say that the feast was a great success? The wives, highly +pleased at the attention paid them by the strangers, were won over at +once. The whole party, when assembled in the hut, watched with the most +indescribable astonishment the proceedings of the negro--himself a +living miracle--as he manipulated a machine which, in separate +compartments, cooked steaks and boiled tea, coffee, or anything else, by +means of a spirit lamp in a few minutes. On first tasting the hot +liquids they looked at each other suspiciously; then as the sugar +tickled their palates, they smiled, tilted their pannikins, drained them +to the dregs, and asked for more! + +The feast lasted long, and was highly appreciated. When the company +retired--which did not happen until the Captain declared he had nothing +more to give them, and turned the cooking apparatus upside down to prove +what he said--there was not a man or woman among them who did not hold +and even loudly assert that the Kablunets were wise men. + +After the feast the council of war was held and the strangers were +allowed to be present. There was a great deal of talk--probably some of +it was not much to the point, but there was no interruption or +undignified confusion. There was a peace-party, of course, and a +war-party, but the latter prevailed. It too often does so in human +affairs. Chingatok was understood to favour the peace-party, but as his +sire was on the other side, respect kept him tongue-tied. + +"These Eskimos reverence age and are respectful to women," whispered Leo +to Alf, "so we may not call them savages." + +The old chief spoke last, summing up the arguments, as it were, on both +sides, and giving his reasons for favouring war. + +"The island is of no use," he said; "it is not worth a seal's nose, yet +Grabantak wishes to tear it from us--us who have possessed it since the +forgotten times. Why is this? because he wishes to insult us," ("huk!" +from the audience). "Shall we submit to insult? shall we sit down like +frightened birds and see the black-livered cormorant steal what is ours? +shall the courage of the Poloes be questioned by all the surrounding +tribes? Never! while we have knives in our boots and spears in our +hands. We will fight till we conquer or till we are all dead--till our +wives are husbandless and our children fatherless, and all our stores of +meat and oil are gone!" ("huk! huk!") "Then shall it be said by +surrounding tribes, `Behold! how brave were the Poloes! they died and +left their wives and little children to perish, or mourn in slavery, +rather than submit to insult!'" + +The "huks" that greeted the conclusion of the speech were so loud and +numerous that the unfortunate peace-makers were forced to hide their +diminished heads. + +Thus did Amalatok resolve to go to war for "worse than Nort Pole--for +nothing"--rather than submit to insult! (See Note 1.) + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. It may not be inappropriate here to point out that Eskimo +savages are sometimes equalled, if not surpassed, in this respect, by +civilised and even Christian nations. + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +THE EFFECT OF PERSUASION ON DIVERSE CHARACTERS. + +The warlike tendencies of Grabantak, the northern savage, had the effect +of compelling Captain Vane and his party to delay for a considerable +time their efforts to reach the Pole. This was all the more distressing +that they had by that time approached so very near to it. A carefully +made observation placed the island of Poloe in latitude 88 degrees 30 +minutes 10 seconds, about 90 geographical, or 104 English statute miles +from the Pole. + +There was no help for it, however. To have ventured on Grabantak's +territory while war was impending would have been to court destruction. +Captain Vane saw therefore that the only way of advancing his own cause +was to promote peace between the tribes. With a view to this he sought +an interview with the old chief Amalatok. + +"Why do you wish to go to war?" he asked. + +"I do not wish to go to war," answered the chief, frowning fiercely. + +"Why do you go then?" said the Captain in a soothing tone, for he was +very anxious not to rouse the chief's anger; but he was unsuccessful, +for the question seemed to set the old man on fire. He started up, +grinding his teeth and striding about his hut, knocking over pots, oil +cans, and cooking-lamps somewhat like that famous bull which got into a +china shop. Finding the space too small for him he suddenly dropped on +his knees, crept through the low entrance, sprang up, and began to +stride about more comfortably. + +The open air calmed him a little. He ceased to grind his teeth, and +stopping in front of the Captain, who had followed him, said in a low +growl, "Do you think I will submit to insult?" + +"Some men have occasionally done so with advantage," answered the +Captain. + +"Kablunets may do so, Eskimos _never_!" returned the old man, resuming +his hurried walk to and fro, and the grinding of his teeth again. + +"If Amalatok were to kill all his enemies--all the men, women and +children," said the Captain, raising a fierce gleam of satisfaction in +the old man's face at the mere suggestion, "and if he were to knock down +all their huts, and burn up all their kayaks and oomiaks, the insult +would still remain, because an insult can only be wiped out by one's +enemy confessing his sin and repenting." + +For a few seconds Amalatok stood silent; his eyes fixed on the ground as +if he were puzzled. + +"The white man is right," he said at length, "but if I killed them all I +should be avenged." + +"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord," leaped naturally to the Captain's +mind; but, reflecting that the man before him was a heathen who would +not admit the value of the quotation, he paused a moment or two. + +"And what," he then said, "if Grabantak should kill Amalatok and all his +men, and carry away the women and children into slavery, would the +insult be wiped out in that case? Would it not rather be deepened?" + +"True, it would; but then we should all be dead--we should not care." + +"The _men_ would all be dead, truly," returned the Captain, "but perhaps +the women and children left behind might care. They would also suffer." + +"Go, go," said the Eskimo chief, losing temper as he lost ground in the +argument; "what can Kablunets know about such matters? You tell me you +are men of peace; that your religion is a religion of peace. Of course, +then, you understand nothing about war. Go, I have been insulted, and I +_must_ fight." + +Seeing that it would be fruitless talking to the old chief while he was +in this frame of mind, Captain Vane left him and returned to his own +hut, where he found Chingatok and Leo engaged in earnest conversation-- +Alf and Benjy being silent listeners. + +"I'm glad you've come, uncle," said Leo, making room for him on the turf +seat, "because Chingatok and I are discussing the subject of war; and--" + +"A strange coincidence," interrupted the Captain. "I have just been +discussing the same subject with old Amalatok. I hope that in showing +the evils of war you are coming better speed with the son than I did +with the father." + +"As to that," said Leo, "I have no difficulty in showing Chingatok the +evils of war. He sees them clearly enough already. The trouble I have +with him is to explain the Bible on that subject. You see he has got a +very troublesome inquiring sort of mind, and ever since I have told him +that the Bible is the Word of God he won't listen to my explanations +about anything. He said to me in the quietest way possible, just now, +`Why do you give me _your_ reasons when you tell me the Great Spirit has +given His? I want to know what _He_ says.' Well, now, you know, it is +puzzling to be brought to book like that, and I doubt if Anders +translates well. You understand and speak the language, uncle, better +than he does, I think, so I want you to help me." + +"I'll try, Leo, though I am ashamed to say I am not so well read in the +Word myself as I ought to be. What does Chingatok want to know?" + +"He wants to _reconcile_ things, of course. That is always the way. +Now I told him that the Great Spirit is good, and does not wish men to +go to war, and that He has written for us a law, namely, that we should +`live peaceably with all men.' Chingatok liked this very much, but then +I had told him before, that the Great Spirit had told His ancient people +the Jews to go and fight His enemies, and take possession of their +lands. Now he regards this as a contradiction. He says--How can a man +live peaceably with all men, and at the same time go to war with some +men, kill them, and take their lands?" + +"Ah! Leo, my boy, your difficulty in answering the Eskimo lies in your +own _partial_ quotation of Scripture," said the Captain. Then, turning +to Chingatok, he added, "My young friend did not give you the whole +law--only part of it. The word is written thus:--`if it be _possible_, +as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.' Some times it is +_not_ possible, Chingatok; then we must fight. But the law says keep +from fighting `_as much as you can_.' Mind that, Chingatok, and if you +are ever induced to go to war for the sake of a little island--for the +sake of a little insult,--don't flatter yourself that you are keeping +out of it as much as lieth in you." + +"Good, good," said the giant, earnestly; "Blackbeard's words are wise." + +"As to the people of God in the long past," continued the Captain, "God +told them to go to war, so they went; but that does not authorise men to +go to war at their own bidding. What is right in the Great Father of +all may be very wrong in the children. God kills men every day, and we +do not blame Him, but if man kills his fellow we hunt him down as a +murderer. In the long past time the Great Father spoke to His children +by His wise and holy men, and sometimes He saw fit to tell them to +fight. With His reasons we have nothing to do. Now, the Great Father +speaks to us by His Book. In it He tells us to live in peace with all +men--if _possible_." + +"Good," said the giant with an approving nod, though a perplexed +expression still lingered on his face. "But the Great Father has never +before spoken to me by His Book--never at all to my forefathers." + +"He may, however, have spoken by His Spirit within you, Chingatok, I +cannot tell," returned the Captain with a meditative air. "You have +desires for peace and a tendency to forgive. This could not be the work +of the spirit of evil. It must have been that of the Good Spirit." + +This seemed to break upon the Eskimo as a new light, and he relapsed +into silence as he thought of the wonderful idea that within his breast +the Great Spirit might have been working in time past although he knew +it not. Then he thought of the many times he had in the past resisted +what he had hitherto only thought of as good feelings; and the sudden +perception that at such times he had been resisting the Father of all +impressed him for the first time with a sensation of guiltiness. It was +some time before the need of a Saviour from sin entered into his mind, +but the ice had been broken, and at last, through Leo's Bible, as read +by him and explained by Captain Vane, Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, +rose upon his soul and sent in the light for which he had thirsted so +long. + +But, as we have said, this effect was not immediate, and he remained in +a state of uncertainty and sadness while the warlike councils and +preparations went on. + +Meanwhile Captain Vane set himself earnestly to work to hit on some plan +by which, if possible, to turn the feeling of the Eskimo community in +favour of peace. At first he thought of going alone and unarmed, with +Anders as interpreter, to the land of Grabantak to dissuade that savage +potentate from attacking the Poloes, but the Eskimos pointed out that +the danger of this plan was so great that he might as well kill himself +at once. His own party, also, objected to it so strongly that he gave +it up, and resolved in the meantime to strengthen his position and +increase his influence with the natives among whom his lot was cast, by +some exhibitions of the powers with which science and art had invested +him. + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +THE CAPTAIN ELECTRIFIES AS WELL AS SURPRISES HIS NEW FRIENDS. + +It will be remembered that the party of Englishmen arrived at Poloeland +under oars, and although the india-rubber boats had been gazed at, and +gently touched, with intense wonder by the natives, they had not yet +seen the process of disinflation, or the expansion of the kites. + +Of course, Chingatok and their other Eskimo fellow-travellers had given +their friends graphic descriptions of everything, but this only served +to whet the desire to see the wonderful oomiaks in action. Several +times, during the first few days, the old chief had expressed a wish to +see the Kablunets go through the water in their boats, but as the calm +still prevailed, and the Captain knew his influence over the natives +would depend very much on the effect with which his various proceedings +were carried out, he put him off with the assurance that when the proper +time for action came, he would let him know. + +One night a gentle breeze sprang up and blew directly off shore. As it +seemed likely to last, the Captain waited till the whole community was +asleep, and then quietly roused his son. + +"Lend a hand here, Ben," he whispered, "and make no noise." + +Benjy arose and followed his father in a very sleepy frame of mind. + +They went to the place where the india-rubber boats lay, close behind +the Englishmen's hut, and, unscrewing the brass heads that closed the +air-holes, began to press out the air. + +"That's it, Ben, but don't squeeze too hard, lest the hissing should +rouse some of 'em." + +"What'r 'ee doin' this for--ee--yaou?" asked Benjy, yawning. + +"You'll see that to-morrow, lad." + +"Hum! goin' t'squeeze'm all?" + +"Yes, all three, and put 'em in their boxes." + +The conversation flagged at this point, and the rest of the operation +was performed in silence. + +Next morning, after breakfast, seeing that the breeze still held, the +Captain sent a formal message to Amalatok, that he was prepared to +exhibit his oomiaks. + +The news spread like wild-fire, and the entire community soon +assembled--to the number of several hundreds--in front of the +Englishmen's hut, where the Captain was seen calmly seated on a +packing-case, with a solemn expression on his face. The rest of his +party had been warned to behave with dignity. Even Benjy's round face +was drawn into something of an oval, and Butterface made such superhuman +attempts to appear grave, that the rest of the party almost broke down +at the sight of him. + +Great was the surprise among the natives when they perceived that the +three oomiaks had disappeared. + +"My friends," said the Captain, rising, "I will now show you the manner +in which we Englishmen use our oomiaks." + +A soft sigh of expectation ran through the group of eager natives, as +they pressed round their chief and Chingatok who stood looking on in +dignified silence, while the Captain and his companions went to work. +Many of the women occupied a little eminence close at hand, whence they +could see over the heads of the men, and some of the younger women and +children clambered to the top of the hut, the better to witness the +great sight. + +Numerous and characteristic were the sighs, "huks," grunts, growls, and +other exclamations; all of which were in keeping with the more or less +intense glaring of eyes, and opening of mouths, and slight bending of +knees and elbows, and spreading of fingers, and raising of hands, as the +operators slowly unrolled the india-rubber mass, attached the bellows, +gradually inflated the first boat, fixed the thwarts and stretchers, +and, as it were, constructed a perfect oomiak in little more than ten +minutes. + +Then there was a shout of delight when the Captain and Leo, one at the +bow, the other at the stern, lifted the boat as if it had been a +feather, and, carrying it down the beach, placed it gently in the sea. + +But the excitement culminated when Chingatok, stepping lightly into it, +sat down on the seat, seized the little oars, and rowed away. + +We should have said, attempted to row away, for, though he rowed +lustily, the boat did not move, owing to Anders, who, like Eskimos in +general, dearly loved a practical joke. Holding fast by the tail-line a +few seconds, he suddenly let go, and the boat shot away, while Anders, +throwing a handful of water after it, said, "Go off, bad boy, and don't +come back; we can do without you." A roar of laughter burst forth. +Some of the small boys and girls leaped into the air with delight, +causing the tails of the latter to wriggle behind them. + +The Captain gave them plenty of time to blow off the steam of surprise. +When they had calmed down considerably, he proceeded to open out and +arrange one of the kites. + +Of course this threw them back into the open-eyed and mouthed, and +finger-spreading condition, and, if possible, called forth more surprise +than before. When the kite soared into the sky, they shouted; when it +was being attached to the bow of the boat, they held their breath with +expectation, many of them standing on one leg; and when at last the +boat, with four persons in it, shot away to sea at the rate of eight or +ten miles an hour, they roared with ecstasy; accompanying the yells with +contortions of frame and visage which were so indescribable that we +gladly leave it all to the reader's imagination. + +There can be no doubt of the fact that the Captain placed himself and +his countrymen that day on a pedestal from which there was no fear of +their being afterwards dislodged. + +"Did not I tell you," said Chingatok to his sire that night, in the +privacy of his hut, "that the Kablunets are great men?" + +"You did, my son. Chingatok is wise, and his father is a fool!" + +No doubt the northern savage meant this self-condemning speech to be +understood much in the same way in which it is understood by civilised +people. + +"When the oomiak swelled I thought it was going to burst," added the +chief. + +"So did I, when I first saw it," said Chingatok. Father and son paused +a few minutes. They usually did so between each sentence. Evidently +they pondered what they said. + +"Have these men got wives?" asked the chief. + +"The old one has, and Bunjay is his son. The other ones--no. The black +man may have a wife: I know not, but I should think that no woman would +have him." + +"What made him black?" + +"I know not." + +"Was he always black?" + +"The Kablunets say he was--from so big." + +Chingatok measured off the half of his left hand by way of explaining +how big. + +"Is he black under the clothes?" + +"Yes; black all over." + +Again the couple paused. + +"It is strange," said the old man, shaking his head. "Perhaps he was +made black because his father was wicked." + +"Not so," returned the young giant. "I have heard him say his father +was a very good man." + +"Strange," repeated the chief, with a solemn look, "he is very ugly-- +worse than a walrus. Tell me, my son, where do the Kablunets live? Do +they hunt the walrus or the seal?" + +"Blackbeard has told me much, father, that I do not understand. His +people do not hunt much--only a very few of them do." + +"Wah! they are lazy! The few hunt to keep the rest in meat, I suppose." + +"No, father, that is not the way. The few hunt for fun. The great many +spend their time in changing one thing for another. They seem to be +never satisfied--always changing, changing--every day, and all day. +Getting and giving, and never satisfied." + +"Poor things!" said the chief. + +"And they have no walruses, no white bears, no whales, nothing!" added +the son. + +"Miserables! Perhaps that is why they come here to search for +_nothing_!" + +"But, father, if they have got nothing at home, why come here to search +for it?" + +"What do they eat?" asked Amalatok, quickly, as if he were afraid of +recurring to the puzzling question that had once already taken him out +of his mental depth. + +"They eat all sorts of things. Many of them eat things that are nasty-- +things that grow out of the ground; things that are very hot and burn +the tongue; things that are poison and make them ill. They eat fish +too, like us, and other people bring them their meat in great oomiaks +from far-off lands. They seem to be so poor that they cannot find +enough in their own country to feed themselves." + +"Wretched creatures!" said the old man, pitifully. "Yes, and they drink +too. Drink waters so hot and so terrible that they burn their mouths +and their insides, and so they go mad." + +"Did I not say that they were fools?" said Amalatok, indignantly. + +"But the strangest thing of all," continued Chingatok, lowering his +voice, and looking at his sire in a species of wonder, "is that they +fill their mouths with smoke!" + +"What? Eat smoke?" said Amalatok in amazement. + +"No, they spit it out." + +"Did Blackbeard tell you that?" + +"Yes." + +"Then Blackbeard is a liar!" + +Chingatok did not appear to be shocked by the old man's plain speaking, +but he did not agree with him. + +"No, father," said he, after a pause. "Blackbeard is not a liar. He is +good and wise, and speaks the truth. I have seen the Kablunets do it +myself. In the big oomiak that they lost, some of the men did it, so-- +puff, pull, puff, puff--is it not funny?" + +Both father and son burst into laughter at this, and then, becoming +suddenly grave, remained staring at the smoke of their cooking-lamp, +silently meditating on these things. + +While thus engaged, a man entered the low doorway in the only possible +manner, on hands and knees, and, rising, displayed the face of Anders. + +"Blackbeard sends a message to the great old chief," said the +interpreter. "He wishes him to pay the Kablunets a visit. He has +something to show to the great old chief." + +"Tell him I come," said the chief, with a toss of the head which meant, +"be off!" + +"I wonder," said Amalatok slowly, as Anders crept out, "whether +Blackbeard means to show us some of his wisdom or some of his +foolishness. The white men appear to have much of both." + +"Let us go see," said Chingatok. + +They went, and found the Captain seated in front of the door of his hut +with his friends round him--all except Benjy, who was absent. They were +very grave, as usual, desiring to be impressive. + +"Chief," began the Captain, in that solemn tone in which ghosts are +supposed to address mankind, "I wish to show you that I can make the +stoutest and most obstinate warrior of Poloeland tremble and jump +without touching him." + +"That is not very difficult," said the old man, who had still a lurking +dislike to acknowledge the Englishmen his superiors. "I can make any +one of them tremble and jump by throwing a spear at him." + +A slight titter from the assembly testified to the success of this +reply. + +"But," rejoined the Captain, with deepening solemnity, "I will do it +without throwing a spear." + +"So will I, by suddenly howling at him in the dark," said Amalatok. + +At this his men laughed outright. + +"But I will not howl or move," said the Captain. + +"That will be clever," returned the chief, solemnised in spite of +himself. "Let Blackbeard proceed." + +"Order one of your braves to stand before me on that piece of flat +skin," said the Captain. + +Amalatok looked round, and, observing a huge ungainly man with a +cod-fishy expression of face, who seemed to shrink from notoriety, +ordered him to step forward. The man did so with obvious trepidation, +but he dared not refuse. The Captain fixed his eyes on him sternly, +and, in a low growling voice, muttered in English: "Now, Benjy, give it +a good turn." + +Cod-fishiness vanished as if by magic, and, with a look of wild horror, +the man sprang into the air, tumbled on his back, rose up, and ran away! + +It is difficult to say whether surprise or amusement predominated among +the spectators. Many of them laughed heartily, while the Captain, still +as grave as a judge, said in a low growling tone as if speaking to +himself:-- + +"Not quite so stiff, Benjy, not quite so stiff. Be more gentle next +time. Don't do it all at once, boy; jerk it, Benjy, a turn or so at a +time." + +It is perhaps needless to inform the reader that the Captain was +practising on the Eskimos with his electrical machine, and that Benjy +was secretly turning the handle inside the hut. The machine was +connected, by means of wires, with the piece of skin on which the +patients stood. These wires had been laid underground, not, indeed, in +the darkness, but, during the secrecy and silence of the previous night. + +After witnessing the effect on the first warrior, no other brave seemed +inclined to venture on the skin, and the women, who enjoyed the fun +greatly, were beginning to taunt them with cowardice, when Oolichuk +strode forward. He believed intensely, and justifiably, in his own +courage. No man, he felt quite sure, had the power to stare _him_ into +a nervous condition--not even the fiercest of the Kablunets. Let +Blackbeard try, and do his worst! + +Animated by these stern and self-reliant sentiments, he stepped upon the +mat. + +Benjy, being quick in apprehension, perceived his previous error, and +proceeded this time with caution. He gave the handle of the machine a +gentle half-turn and stopped, peeping through a crevice in the wall to +observe the effect. + +"Ha! ha! ho! ho!--hi! huk!" laughed Oolichuk, as a tickling sensation +thrilled through all his nervous system. The laugh was irresistibly +echoed by the assembled community. + +Benjy waited a few seconds, and then gave the handle another and +slightly stronger turn. + +The laugh this time was longer and more ferocious, while the gallant +Eskimo drew himself together, determined to resist the strange and +subtle influence; at the same time frowning defiance at the Captain, who +never for a moment took his coal-black eye off him! + +Again Benjy turned the handle gently. He evidently possessed something +of the ancient Inquisitor spirit, and gloated over the pains of his +victim! The result was that Oolichuk not only quivered from head to +foot, but gave a little jump and anything but a little yell. Benjy's +powers of self-restraint were by that time exhausted. He sent the +handle round with a whirr and Oolichuk, tumbling backwards off the mat, +rent the air with a shriek of demoniac laughter. + +Of course the delight of the Eskimos--especially of the children--was +beyond all bounds, and eager were the efforts made to induce another +warrior to go upon the mysterious mat, but not one would venture. They +would rather have faced their natural enemy, the great Grabantak, +unarmed, any day! + +In this difficulty an idea occurred to Amalatok. Seizing a huge dog by +the neck he dragged it to the mat, and bade it lie down. The dog +crouched and looked sheepishly round. Next moment he was in the air +wriggling. Then he came to the ground, over which he rushed with a +prolonged howl, and disappeared among the rocks on the hill side. + +It is said that that poor dog was never again seen, but Benjy asserts +most positively that, a week afterwards, he saw it sneaking into the +village with its tail very much between its legs, and an expression of +the deepest humility on its countenance. + +"You'd better give them a taste of dynamite, father," said Benjy that +evening, as they all sat round their supper-kettle. + +"No, no, boy. It is bad policy to fire off all your ammunition in a +hurry. We'll give it 'em bit by bit." + +"Just so, impress them by degrees," said Alf. + +"De fust warrior was nigh bu'sted by degrees," said Butterface, with a +broad grin, as he stirred the kettle. "You gib it 'im a'most too +strong, Massa Benjee." + +"Blackbeard must be the bad spirit," remarked Amalatok to his son that +same night as they held converse together--according to custom--before +going to bed. + +"The bad spirit is _never_ kind or good," replied Chingatok, after a +pause. + +"No," said the old man, "never." + +"But Blackbeard is always good and kind," returned the giant. + +This argument seemed unanswerable. At all events the old man did not +answer it, but sat frowning at the cooking-lamp under the influence of +intense thought. + +After a prolonged meditation--during the course of which father and son +each consumed the tit-bits of a walrus rib and a seal's flipper-- +Chingatok remarked that the white men were totally beyond his +comprehension. To which, after another pause, his father replied that +he could not understand them at all. + +Then, retiring to their respective couches, they calmly went to +sleep--"perchance to dream!" + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +A SHOOTING TRIP TO PARADISE ISLE, AND FURTHER DISPLAY OF THE CAPTAIN'S +CONTRIVANCES. + +While our explorers were thus reduced to a state of forced inaction as +regarded the main object of their expedition, they did not by any means +waste their time in idleness. On the contrary, each of the party went +zealously to work in the way that was most suitable to his inclination. + +After going over the main island of Poloe as a united party, and +ascertaining its size, productions, and general features, the Captain +told them they might now do as they pleased. For his part he meant to +spend a good deal of his time in taking notes and observations, +questioning the chief men as to the lands lying to the northward, +repairing and improving the hut, and helping the natives miscellaneously +so as to gain their regard. + +Of course Leo spent much of his time with his rifle, for the natives +were not such expert hunters but that occasionally they were badly off +for food. Of course, also, Alf shouldered his botanical box and sallied +forth hammer in hand, to "break stones," as Butterface put it. Benjy +sometimes followed Alf--more frequently Leo, and always carried his +father's double-barrelled shot-gun. He preferred that, because his +powers with the rifle were not yet developed. Sometimes he went with +Toolooha, or Tekkona, or Oblooria, in one of the native oomiaks to fish. +At other times he practised paddling in the native kayak, so that he +might accompany Chingatok on his excursions to the neighbouring islands +after seals and wild-fowl. + +In the excursions by water Leo preferred one of the india-rubber boats-- +partly because he was strong and could row it easily, and partly because +it was capable of holding more game than the kayak. + +These expeditions to the outlying islands were particularly delightful. +There was something so peaceful, yet so wild, so romantic and so strange +about the region, that the young men felt as if they had passed into a +new world altogether. It is scarcely surprising that they should feel +thus, when it is remembered that profound calms usually prevailed at +that season, causing the sea to appear like another heaven below them; +that the sun never went down, but circled round and round the horizon-- +dipping, indeed, a little more and more towards it each night, but not +yet disappearing; that myriads of wild birds filled the air with +plaintive cries; that whales, and sea-unicorns, and walruses sported +around; that icebergs were only numerous enough to give a certain +strangeness of aspect to the scene--a strangeness which was increased by +the frequent appearance of arctic phenomena, such as several mock-suns +rivalling the real one, and objects being enveloped in a golden haze, or +turned upside down by changes in atmospheric temperature. + +"No wonder that arctic voyagers are always hankering after the far +north," said Leo to Benjy, one magnificent morning, as they rowed +towards the outlying islands over the golden sea. + +Captain Vane was with them that morning, and it was easy to see that the +Captain was in a peculiar frame of mind. A certain twinkle in his eyes +and an occasional smile, apparently at nothing, showed that his +thoughts, whatever they might be, were busy. + +Now, it cannot have failed by this time to strike the intelligent +reader, that Captain Vane was a man given to mystery, and rather fond of +taking by surprise not only Eskimos but his own companions. On the +bright morning referred to he took with him in the boat a small flat +box, or packing-case, measuring about three feet square, and not more +than four inches deep. + +As they drew near to Leo's favourite sporting-ground,--a long flat +island with several small lakes on it which were bordered by tall reeds +and sedges, where myriads of ducks, geese, gulls, plover, puffins, and +other birds revelled in abject felicity,--Benjy asked his father what he +had got in the box. + +"I've got somethin' in it, Benjy,--somethin'." + +"Why, daddy," returned the boy with a laugh, "if I were an absolute +lunatic you could not treat me with greater contempt. Do you suppose I +am so weak as to imagine that you would bring a packing-case all the way +from England to the North Pole with nothing in it?" + +"You're a funny boy, Benjy," said the Captain, regarding his son with a +placid look. + +"You're a funny father, daddy," answered the son with a shake of the +head; "and it's fortunate for you that I'm good as well as funny, else +I'd give you some trouble." + +"You've got a good opinion of yourself, Ben, anyhow," said Leo, looking +over his shoulder as he rowed. "Just change the subject and make +yourself useful. Jump into the bow and have the boat-hook ready; the +water shoals rather fast here, and I don't want to risk scraping a hole +in our little craft." + +The island they were approaching formed part of the extensive +archipelago of which Poloe was the main or central island. Paradise +Isle, as Leo had named it, lay about two miles from Poloe. The boat +soon touched its shingly beach, but before it could scrape thereon its +occupants stepped into the water and carefully carried it on shore. + +"Now, Benjy, hand me the rifle and cartridges," said Leo, after the boat +was placed in the shadow of a low bank, "and fetch the game-bag. What! +you don't intend to carry the packing-case, uncle, do you?" + +"I think I'd better do it," answered the Captain, lifting the case by +its cord in a careless way; "it might take a fancy to have a swim on its +own account, you know. Come along, the birds are growing impatient, +don't you see?" + +With a short laugh, Leo shouldered his rifle, and marched towards the +first of a chain of little lakes, followed by Benjy with the game-bag, +and the Captain with the case. + +Soon a splendid grey wild-goose was seen swimming at a considerable +distance beyond the reeds. + +"There's your chance, now, Leo," said the Captain. But Leo shook his +head. "No use," he said; "if I were to shoot that one I'd never be able +to get it; the mud is too deep for wading, and the reeds too thick for +swimming amongst. It's a pity to kill birds that we cannot get hold of, +so, you see, I must walk along the margin of the lake until I see a bird +in a good position to be got at, and then pot him." + +"But isn't that slow work, lad?" asked the Captain. + +"It might be slow if I missed often or wounded my birds," replied Leo, +"but I don't often miss." + +The youth might with truth have said he never missed, for his eye was as +true and his hand as sure as that of any Leatherstocking or Robin Hood +that ever lived. + +"Why don't you launch the boat on the lake?" asked the Captain. + +"Because I don't like to run the risk of damaging it by hauling it about +among mud and sticks and overland. Besides, that would be a cumbersome +way of hunting. I prefer to tramp about the margin as you see, and just +take what comes in my way. There are plenty of birds, and I seldom walk +far without getting a goodish--hist! There's one!" + +As he spoke another large grey goose was seen stretching its long neck +amongst the reeds at a distance of about two hundred yards. The crack +of the rifle was followed by the instant death of the goose. At the +same moment several companions of the bird rose trumpeting into the air +amid a cloud of other birds. Again the rifle's crack was heard, and one +of the geese on the wing dropped beside its comrade. + +As Leo carried his repeating rifle, he might easily have shot another, +but he refrained, as the bird would have been too far out to be easily +picked up. + +"Now, Benjy, are you to go in, or am I?" asked the sportsman with a sly +look. + +"Oh! I suppose _I_ must," said the boy with an affectation of being +martyred, though, in truth, nothing charmed him so much as to act the +part of a water-dog. + +A few seconds more, and he was stripped, for his garments consisted only +of shirt and trousers. But it was more than a few seconds before he +returned to land, swimming on his back and trailing a goose by the neck +with each hand, for the reeds were thick and the mud softish, and the +second bird had been further out than he expected. + +"It's glorious fun," said Benjy, panting vehemently as he pulled on his +clothes. + +"It's gloriously knocked up you'll be before long at that rate," said +the Captain. + +"Oh! but, uncle," said Leo, quickly, "you must not suppose that I give +him all the hard work. We share it between us, you know. Benjy +sometimes shoots and then I do the retrieving. You've no idea how good +a shot he is becoming." + +"Indeed, let me see you do it, my boy. D'ye see that goose over there?" + +"What, the one near the middle of the lake, about four hundred yards +off?" + +"Ay, Benjy, I want that goose. You shoot it, my boy." + +"But you'll never be able to get it, uncle," said Leo. + +"Benjy, I want that goose. You shoot it." There was no disobeying this +peremptory command. Leo handed the rifle to the boy. + +"Down on one knee, Ben, Hythe position, my boy," said the Captain, in +the tone of a disciplinarian. Benjy obeyed, took a long steady aim, and +fired. + +"Bravo!" shouted the Captain as the bird turned breast up. "There's +that goose's brother comin' to see what's the matter with him; just cook +_his_ goose too, Benjy." + +The boy aimed again, fired, and missed. + +"Again!" cried the Captain, "look sharp!" + +Again the boy fired, and this time wounded the bird as it was rising on +the wing. + +Although wounded, the goose was quite able to swim, and made rapidly +towards the reeds on the other side. + +"What! am I to lose that goose?" cried the Captain indignantly. + +Leo seized the rifle. Almost without taking time to aim, he fired and +shot the bird dead. + +"There," said he, laughing, "but I suspect it is a lost goose after all. +It will be hard work to get either of these birds, uncle. However, +I'll try." + +Leo was proceeding to strip when the Captain forbade him. + +"Don't trouble yourself, lad," he said, "I'll go for them myself." + +"You, uncle?" + +"Ay, me. D'ye suppose that nobody can swim but you and Benjy? Here, +help me to open this box." + +In silent wonder and expectation Leo and Benjy did as they were bid. +When the mysterious packing-case was opened, there was displayed to view +a mass of waterproof material. Tumbling this out and unrolling it, the +Captain displayed a pair of trousers and boots in one piece attached to +something like an oval life-buoy. Thrusting his legs down into the +trousers and boots, he drew the buoy--which was covered with +india-rubber cloth--up to his waist and fixed it there. Then, putting +the end of an india-rubber tube to his mouth, he began to blow, and the +buoy round his waist began to extend until it took the form of an oval. + +"Now, boys," said the Captain, with profound gravity, "I'm about ready +to go to sea. Here, you observe, is a pair o' pants that won't let in +water. At the feet you'll notice two flaps which expand when driven +backward, and collapse when moved forward. These are propellers--human +web-feet--to enable me to walk ahead, d'ye see? and here are two small +paddles with a joint which I can fix together--so--and thus make one +double-bladed paddle of 'em, about four feet long. It will help the +feet, you understand, but I'm not dependent on it, for I can walk +without the paddles at the rate of two or three miles an hour." + +As he spoke Captain Vane walked quietly into the water, to the wild +delight of Benjy, and the amazement of his nephew. + +When he was about waist-deep the buoy floated him. Continuing to walk, +though his feet no longer touched ground, he was enabled by the +propellers to move on. When he had got out a hundred yards or so, he +turned round, took off his hat, and shouted--"land ho!" + +"Ship ahoy!" shrieked Benjy, in an ecstasy. + +"Mind your weather eye!" shouted the Captain, resuming his walk with a +facetious swagger, while, with the paddles, he increased his speed. +Soon after, he returned to land with the two geese. + +"Well now, daddy," said his son, while he and Leo examined the dress +with minute interest, "I wish you'd make a clean breast of it, and let +us know how many more surprises and contrivances of this sort you've got +in store for us." + +"I fear this is the last one, Benjy, though there's no end to the +applications of these contrivances. You'd better apply this one to +yourself now, and see how you get on in it." + +Of course Benjy was more than willing, though, as he remarked, the dress +was far too big for him. + +"Never mind that, my boy. A tight fit ain't needful, and nobody will +find fault with the cut in these regions." + +"Where ever did you get it, father?" asked the boy, as the fastenings +were being secured round him. + +"I got it from an ingenious friend, who says he's goin' to bring it out +soon. Mayhap it's in the shops of old England by this time. There, +now, off you go, but don't be too risky, Ben. Keep her full, and mind +your helm." (See Note.) + +Thus encouraged, the eager boy waded into the water, but, in his haste, +tripped and fell, sending a volume of water over himself. He rose, +however, without difficulty, and, proceeding with greater caution, soon +walked off into deep water. Here he paddled about in a state of +exuberant glee. The dress kept him perfectly dry, although he splashed +the water about in reckless fashion, and did not return to land till +quite exhausted. + +Benjamin Vane from that day devoted himself to that machine. He became +so enamoured of the "water-tramp," as he styled it--not knowing its +proper name at the time--that he went about the lakelets in it +continually, sometimes fishing, at other times shooting. He even +ventured a short distance out to sea in it, to the amazement of the +Eskimos, the orbits of whose eyes were being decidedly enlarged, Benjy +said, and their eyebrows permanently raised, by the constant succession +of astonishment-fits into which they were thrown from day to day by +their white visitors. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. Lest it should be supposed that the "pedomotive" here described +is the mere creature of the author's brain, it may be well to state that +he has seen it in the establishment of the patentees, Messrs. Thornton +and Company of Edinburgh. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +BENJY'S ENJOYMENTS INTERRUPTED, AND POLOELAND OVERWHELMED WITH A +CATASTROPHE. + +One pleasant morning, towards the end of summer, Benjamin Vane went out +with his gun in the water-tramp on the large lake of Paradise Isle. + +Leo and he had reached the isle in one of the india-rubber boats. They +had taken Anders with them to carry their game, and little Oblooria to +prepare their dinner while they were away shooting; for they disliked +the delay of personal attention to cooking when they were ravenous! +After landing Benjy, and seeing him busy getting himself into the +aquatic dress, Leo said he would pull off to a group of walruses, which +were sporting about off shore, and shoot one. Provisions of fowl and +fish were plentiful enough just then at the Eskimo village, but he knew +that walrus beef was greatly prized by the natives, and none of the huge +creatures had been killed for some weeks past. + +About this time the threatened war with the northern Eskimos had +unfortunately commenced. + +The insatiable Grabantak had made a descent on one of Amalatok's smaller +islands, killed the warriors, and carried off the women and children, +with everything else he could lay hands on. Of course Amalatok made +reprisals; attacked a small island belonging to Grabantak, and did as +much general mischief as he could. The paltry islet about which the war +began was not worthy either of attack or defence! + +Then Amalatok, burning with the righteous indignation of the man who did +not begin the quarrel, got up a grand muster of his forces, and went +with a great fleet of kayaks to attack Grabantak in his strongholds. + +But Grabantak's strongholds were remarkably strong. A good deal of +killing was done, and some destruction of property accomplished, but +that did not effect the conquest of the great northern Savage. Neither +did it prove either party to be right or wrong! Grabantak retired to +impregnable fastnesses, and Amalatok returned to Poloeland "covered with +glory,"--some of his followers also covered with wounds, a few of which +had fallen to his own share. The success, however, was not decided. On +the whole, the result was rather disappointing, but Amalatok was brave +and high-spirited, as some people would say. _He_ was not going to give +in; not he! He would fight as long as a man was left to back him, and +bring Grabantak to his knees--or die! Either event would, of course, +have been of immense advantage to both nations. He ground his teeth and +glared when he announced this determination, and also shook his fist, +but a sharp twinge of pain in one of his unhealed wounds caused him to +cease frowning abruptly. + +There was a sound, too, in the air, which caused him to sit down and +reflect. It was a mixed and half-stifled sound, as if of women groaning +and little children wailing. Some of his braves, of course, had fallen +in the recent conflicts--fallen honourably with their faces to the foe. +Their young widows and their little ones mourned them, and refused to be +comforted, because they were not. It was highly unpatriotic, no doubt, +but natural. + +Amalatok had asked the white men to join him in the fight, but they had +refused. They would help him to defend his country, if attacked, they +said, but they would not go out to war. Amalatok had once threatened +Blackbeard if he refused to go, but Blackbeard had smiled, and +threatened to retaliate by making him "jump!" Whereupon the old chief +became suddenly meek. + +This, then, was the state of affairs when Benjy and Leo went shooting, +on the morning to which we have referred. + +But who can hope to describe, with adequate force, the joyful feelings +of Benjamin Vane as he moved slily about the lakelets of Paradise Isle +in the water-tramp? The novelty of the situation was so great. The +surrounding circumstances were so peculiar. The prolonged calms of the +circumpolar basin, at that period of the year, were so new to one +accustomed to the variable skies of England; the perpetual sunshine, the +absence of any necessity to consider time, in a land from which night +seemed to have finally fled; the glassy repose of lake and sea, so +suggestive of peace; the cheery bustle of animal life, so suggestive of +pleasure--all these influences together filled the boy's breast with a +strong romantic joy which was far too powerful to seek or find relief in +those boisterous leaps and shouts which were his usual safety-valves. + +Although not much given to serious thought, except when conversing with +his father, Benjy became meditative as he moved quietly about at the +edge of the reeds, and began to wonder whether the paradise above +_could_ exceed this paradise below! + +Events occurred that day which proved to him that the sublunary paradise +was, at least, woefully uncertain in its nature. + +"Now, just keep still, will you, for one moment," muttered Benjy, +advancing cautiously through the outer margin of reeds, among the stems +of which he peered earnestly while he cocked his gun. + +The individual to whom he spoke made no reply, because it was a goose-- +would that it were thus with all geese! It was a grey goose of the +largest size. It had caught a glimpse of the new and strange creature +that was paddling about its home, and was wisely making for the shelter +of a spot where the reeds were more dense, and where Benjy would not +have dared to follow. For, it must be remembered that our young +sportsman was sunk to his waist in water, and that the reeds rose high +over his head, so that if once lost in the heart of them, he might have +found it extremely difficult to find his way out again. + +Anxious not to lose his chance, he gave vent to a loud shout. This had +the effect of setting up innumerable flocks of wild-fowl, which, +although unseen, had been lurking listeners to the strange though gentle +sound of the water-tramp. Among them rose the grey goose with one or +two unexpected comrades. + +Benjy had not at that time acquired the power of self-restraint +necessary to good shooting. He fired hastily, and missed with the first +barrel. Discharging the second in hotter haste, he missed again, but +brought down one of the comrades by accident. This was sufficiently +gratifying. Picking it up, he placed it on the boat-buoy in front of +him to balance several ducks which already lay on the part in rear. He +might have carried a dozen geese on his novel hunting-dress, if there +had been room for them, for its floating power was sufficient to have +borne up himself, and at least four, if not five, men. + +Pursuing his way cautiously and gently, by means of the webbed feet +alone, the young sportsman moved about like a sly water-spirit among the +reeds, sometimes addressing a few pleasant words, such as, "how d'ye do, +old boy," or, "don't alarm yourself, my tulip," to a water-hen or a +coot, or some such bird which crossed his path, but was unworthy of his +shot; at other times stopping to gaze contemplatively through the reed +stems, or to float and rest in placid enjoyment, while he tried to +imagine himself in a forest of water-trees. + +Everywhere the feathered tribes first gazed at him in mute surprise; +then hurried, with every variety of squeak, and quack, and fluttering +wing, from his frightful presence. + +Suddenly he came in sight of a bird so large that his heart gave a +violent leap, and the gun went almost of its own accord to his shoulder, +but the creature disappeared among the reeds before he could take aim. +Another opening, however, again revealed it fully to view! It was a +swan--a hyperborean wild swan! + +Just as he made this discovery, the great bird, having observed Benjy, +spread its enormous wings and made off with an amazing splutter. + +Bang! went Benjy's gun, both barrels in quick succession, and down fell +the swan quite dead, with its head in the water and its feet pointing to +the sky. + +"What a feast the Eskimos will have to-night!" was Benjy's first thought +as he tramped vehemently towards his prize. + +But his overflowing joy was rudely checked, for, having laid his gun +down in front of him, for the purpose of using the paddle with both +hands, it slipped to one side, tilted up, and, disappearing like an +arrow in the lake, went to the bottom. + +The sinking of Benjy's heart was not less complete. He had the presence +of mind, however, to seize the reeds near him and check his progress at +the exact spot. Leaning over the side of his little craft, he beheld +his weapon quivering, as it were, at the bottom, in about eight feet of +water. What was to be done? The energetic youth was not long in making +up his mind on that point. He would dive for it. But diving in the +water-tramp was out of the question. Knowing that it was all but +impossible to make his way to the shore through the reeds, he resolved +to reach the opposite shore, which was in some places free from +vegetation. Seizing one of the reeds, he forced it down, and tied it +into a knot to mark the spot where his loss had happened. He treated +several more reeds in this way till he gained the open water outside, +thus marking his path. Then he paddled across the lake, landed, +undressed, and swam out again, pushing the empty dress before him, +intending to use it as a resting-place. + +On reaching the spot, he dived with a degree of vigour and agility +worthy of a duck, but found it hard to reach the bottom, as he was not +much accustomed to diving. For the same reason he found it difficult to +open his eyes under water, so as to look for the gun. While trying to +do so, a desperate desire to breathe caused him to leap to the surface, +where he found that he had struggled somewhat away from the exact spot. +After a few minutes' rest, he took a long breath and again went down; +but found, to his dismay, that in his first dive he had disturbed the +mud, and thus made the water thick. Groping about rendered it thicker, +and he came to the surface the second time with feelings approaching to +despair. Besides which, his powers were being rapidly exhausted. + +But Benjy was full of pluck as well as perseverance. Feeling that he +could not hold out much longer, he resolved to make the next attempt +with more care--a resolve, it may be remarked, which it would have been +better to have made at first. + +He swam to the knotted reed, considered well the position he had +occupied when his loss occurred, took an aim at a definite spot with his +head, and went down. The result was that his hands grasped the stock of +the gun the moment they reached the bottom. + +Inflated with joy he leaped with it to the surface like a bladder; laid +it carefully on the water-dress, and pushing the latter before him soon +succeeded in getting hold of the dead swan. The bird was too heavy to +be lifted on the float, he therefore grasped its neck with his teeth, +and thus, heavily weighted, made for the shore. + +It will not surprise the reader to be told that Benjy felt hungry as +well as tired after these achievements, and this induced him to look +anxiously for Leo, and to wonder why the smoke of Oblooria's +cooking-lamp was not to be seen anywhere. + +The engrossing nature of the events just described had prevented our +little hero from observing that a smart breeze had sprung up, and that +heavy clouds had begun to drive across the hitherto blue sky, while +appearances of a very squally nature were gathering on the windward +horizon. Moreover, while engaged in paddling among the reeds he had not +felt the breeze. + +It was while taking off the water-tramp that he became fully alive to +these facts. + +"That's it," he muttered to himself. "They've been caught by this +breeze and been delayed by having had to pull against it, or perhaps the +walruses gave them more trouble than they expected." + +Appeasing his appetite as well as he could with this reflection, he left +the water-tramp on the ground, with the dripping gun beside it, and +hurried to the highest part of the island. Although not much of an +elevation, it enabled him to see all round, and a feeling of anxiety +filled his breast as he observed that the once glassy sea was ruffled to +the colour of indigo, while wavelets flecked it everywhere, and no boat +was visible! + +"They may have got behind some of the islands," he thought, and +continued his look-out for some time, with growing anxiety and +impatience, however, because the breeze was by that time freshening to a +gale. + +When an hour had passed away the poor boy became thoroughly alarmed. + +"Can anything have happened to the boat?" he said to himself. "The +india-rubber is easily cut. Perhaps they may have been blown out to +sea!" + +This latter thought caused an involuntary shudder. Looking round, he +observed that the depression of the sun towards the horizon indicated +that night had set in. + +"This will never do," he suddenly exclaimed aloud. "Leo will be lost. +I _must_ risk it!" + +Turning as he spoke, he ran back to the spot where he had left the +water-dress, which he immediately put on. Then, leaving gun and game on +the beach, he boldly entered the sea, and struck out with feet and +paddle for Poloeland. + +Although sorely buffeted by the rising waves, and several times +overwhelmed, his waterproof costume proved well able to bear him up, and +with comparatively little fatigue he reached the land in less than two +hours. Without waiting to take the dress off, he ran up to the Eskimo +village and gave the alarm. + +While these events were going on among the islets, Captain Vane and +Alphonse Vandervell had been far otherwise engaged. + +"Come, Alf," said the Captain, that same morning, after Leo and +his party had started on their expedition, "let you and me +go off on a scientific excursion,--on what we may style a +botanico-geologico-meteorological survey." + +"With all my heart, uncle, and let us take Butterface with us, and +Oolichuk." + +"Ay, lad, and Ivitchuk and Akeetolik too, and Chingatok if you will, for +I've fixed on a spot whereon to pitch an observatory, and we must set to +work on it without further delay. Indeed I would have got it into +working order long ago if it had not been for my hope that the cessation +of this miserable war would have enabled us to get nearer the North Pole +this summer." + +The party soon started for the highest peak of the island of Poloe--or +Poloeland, as Alf preferred to call it. Oolichuk carried on his broad +shoulders one of those mysterious cases out of which the Captain was so +fond of taking machines wherewith to astonish the natives. + +Indeed it was plain to see that the natives who accompanied them on this +occasion expected some sort of surprise, despite the Captain's earnest +assurance that there was nothing in the box except a few meteorological +instruments. How the Captain translated to the Eskimos the word +meteorological we have never been able to ascertain. His own +explanation is that he did it in a roundabout manner which they failed +to comprehend, and which he himself could not elucidate. + +On the way up the hill, Alf made several interesting discoveries of +plants which were quite new to him. + +"Ho! stop, I say, uncle," he exclaimed for the twentieth time that day, +as he picked up some object of interest. + +"What now, lad?" said the Captain, stopping and wiping his heated brow. + +"Here is another specimen of these petrifactions--look!" + +"He means a vegetable o' some sort turned to stone, Chingatok," +explained the Captain, as he examined the specimen with an interested +though unscientific eye. + +"You remember, uncle, the explanation I gave you some time ago," said +the enthusiastic Alf, "about Professor Heer of Zurich, who came to the +conclusion that primeval forests once existed in these now treeless +Arctic regions, from the fossils of oak, elm, pine, and maple leaves +discovered there. Well, I found a fossil of a plane leaf the other +day,--not a very good one, to be sure--and now, here is a splendid +specimen of a petrified oak-leaf. Don't you trace it quite plainly?" + +"Well, lad," returned the Captain, frowning at the specimen, "I do +believe you're right. There does seem to be the mark of a leaf there, +and there is some ground for your theory that this land may have been +once covered with trees, though it's hard to believe that when we look +at it." + +"An evidence, uncle, that we should not be too ready to judge by +appearances," said Alf, as they resumed their upward march. + +The top gained, a space was quickly selected and cleared, and a simple +hut of flat stones begun, while the Captain unpacked his box. It +contained a barometer, a maximum and minimum self-registering +thermometer, wet and dry bulb, also a black bulb thermometer, a +one-eighth-inch rain-gauge, and several other instruments. + +"I have another box of similar instruments, Alf, down below," said the +Captain, as he laid them carefully out, "and I hope, by comparing the +results obtained up here with those obtained at the level of the sea, to +carry home a series of notes which will be of considerable value to +science." + +When the Captain had finished laying them out, the Eskimos retired to a +little distance, and regarded them for some minutes with anxious +expectancy; but, as the strange things did not burst, or go up like +sky-rockets, they soon returned with a somewhat disappointed look to +their hut-building. + +The work was quickly completed, for Eskimos are expert builders in their +way, and the instruments had been carefully set up under shelter when +the first symptoms of the storm began. + +"I hope the sportsmen have returned," said the Captain, looking gravely +round the horizon. + +"No doubt they have," said Alf, preparing to descend the mountain. "Leo +is not naturally reckless, and if he were, the cautious Anders would be +a drag on him." + +An hour later they regained the Eskimo village, just as Benjy came +running, in a state of dripping consternation, from the sea. + +Need it be said that an instant and vigorous search was instituted? Not +only did a band of the stoutest warriors, headed by Chingatok, set off +in a fleet of kayaks, but the Captain and his companions started without +delay in the two remaining india-rubber boats, and, flying their kites, +despite the risk of doing so in a gale, went away in eager haste over +the foaming billows. + +After exerting themselves to the uttermost, they failed to discover the +slightest trace of the lost boat. The storm passed quickly, and a calm +succeeded, enabling them to prosecute the search more effectively with +oar and paddle, but with no better result. + +Day after day passed, and still no member of the band--Englishman or +Eskimo--would relax his efforts, or admit that hope was sinking. But +they had to admit it at last, and, after three weeks of unremitting +toil, they were compelled to give up in absolute despair. The most +sanguine was driven to the terrible conclusion that Leo, Anders, and +timid little Oblooria were lost. + +It was an awful blow. What cared Alf or the Captain now for discovery, +or scientific investigation! The poor negro, who had never at any time +cared for plants, rocks, or Poles, was sunk in the profoundest depths of +sorrow. Benjy's gay spirit was utterly broken. Oolichuk's hearty laugh +was silenced, and a cloud of settled melancholy descended over the +entire village of Poloe. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +FATE OF THE LOST ONES. + +Leo, Anders, and timid little Oblooria, however, were not lost! Their +case was bad enough, but it had not quite come to that. + +On parting from Benjy, as described in the last chapter, these three +went after a walrus, which coquetted with them instead of attacking, and +drew them a considerable distance away from the island. This would have +been a matter of trifling import if the weather had remained calm, but, +as we have seen, a sudden and violent gale arose. + +When the coming squall was first observed the boat was far to leeward of +Paradise Isle, and as that island happened to be one of the most +northerly of the group over which Amalatok ruled, they were thus far to +leeward of any land with the exception of a solitary sugar-loaf rock +near the horizon. Still Leo and his companions were not impressed with +any sense of danger. They had been so long accustomed to calms, and to +moving about in the india-rubber boats by means of paddles with perfect +ease and security, that they had half forgotten the force of wind. +Besides, the walrus was still playing with them provokingly--keeping +just out of rifle-shot as if he had studied fire-arms and knew their +range exactly. + +"The rascal!" exclaimed Leo at last, losing patience, "he will never let +us come an inch nearer." + +"Try 'im once more," said Anders, who was a keen sportsman, "push him, +paddle strong. Ho! Oblooria, paddle hard and queek." + +Although the interpreter, being in a facetious mood, addressed Oblooria +in English, she quite understood his significant gestures, and bent to +her work with a degree of energy and power quite surprising in one +apparently so fragile. Leo also used his oars, (for they had both oars +and paddles), with such good-will that the boat skimmed over the Arctic +sea like a northern diver, and the distance between them and the walrus +was perceptibly lessened. + +"I don't like the looks o' the southern sky," said Leo, regarding the +horizon with knitted brows. + +"Hims black 'nough--any'ow," said Anders. + +"Hold. I'll have a farewell shot at the brute, and give up the chase," +said Leo, laying down the oars and grasping his rifle. + +The ball seemed to take effect, for the walrus dived immediately with a +violent splutter, and was seen no more. + +By this time the squall was hissing towards them so fast that the +hunters, giving up all thought of the walrus, turned at once and made +for the land, but land by that time lay far off on the southern horizon +with a dark foam-flecked sea between it and them. + +"There's no fear of the boat, Oblooria," said Leo, glancing over his +shoulder at the girl, who sat crouching to meet the first burst of the +coming storm, "but you must hold on tight to the life-lines." + +There was no need to caution Anders. That worthy was already on his +knees embracing a thwart--his teeth clenched as he gazed over the bow. + +On it came like a whirlwind of the tropics, and rushed right over the +low round gunwale of the boat, sweeping loose articles overboard, and +carrying her bodily to leeward. Leo had taken a turn of the life-lines +round both thighs, and held manfully to his oars. These, after stooping +to the first rush of wind and water, he plied with all his might, and +was ably seconded by Oblooria as well as by the interpreter, but a very +few minutes of effort sufficed to convince them that they laboured in +vain. They did not even "hold their own," as sailors have it, but +drifted slowly, yet steadily, to the north. + +"It's impossible to make head against _this_," said Leo, suddenly +ceasing his efforts, "and I count it a piece of good fortune, for which +we cannot be too thankful, that there is still land to leeward of us." + +He pointed to the sugar-loaf rock before mentioned, towards which they +were now rapidly drifting. + +"Nothing to eat dere. Nothing to drink," said Anders, gloomily. + +"Oh! that won't matter much. A squall like this can't last long. We +shall soon be able to start again for home, no doubt. I say, Anders, +what are these creatures off the point there? They seem too large and +black for sea-birds, and not the shape of seals or walruses." + +The interpreter gazed earnestly at the objects in question for some +moments without answering. The rock which they were quickly nearing was +rugged, barren, and steep on its southern face, against which the waves +were by that time dashing with extreme violence, so that landing there +would have been an impossibility. On its lee or northern side, however +they might count on quiet water. + +"We have nothing to fear," said Leo, observing that Oblooria was much +agitated; "tell her so, Anders; we are sure to find a sheltered creek of +some sort on the other side." + +"I fear not the rocks or storm," replied the Eskimo girl to Anders. "It +is Grabantak, the chief of Flatland, that I fear." + +"Grabantak!" exclaimed Anders and Leo in the same breath. + +"Grabantak is coming with his men!" + +Poor little Oblooria, whose face had paled while her whole frame +trembled, pointed towards the dark objects which had already attracted +their attention. They were by that time near enough to be +distinguished, and as they came, one after another, round the western +point of Sugar-loaf rock, it was all too evident that the girl was +right, and that the fleet of kayaks was probably bearing the northern +savage and his men to attack the inhabitants of Poloe. + +Leo's first impulse was to seize his repeating rifle and fill its +cartridge-chamber quite full. It may be well to observe here that the +cartridges, being carried in a tight waterproof case, had not been +affected by the seas which had so recently overwhelmed them. + +"What's de use?" asked Anders, in an unusually sulky tone, as he watched +the youth's action. "Two men not can fight all de mans of Flatland." + +"No, but I can pick off a dozen of them, one after another, with my good +rifle, and then the rest will fly. Grabantak will fall first, and his +best men after him." + +This was no idle boast on the part of Leo. He knew that he could +accomplish what he threatened long before the Eskimos could get within +spear-throwing distance of his boat. + +"No use," repeated Anders, firmly, still shaking his head in a sulky +manner. "When you's bullets be done, more an' more inimies come on. +Then dey kill you, an' me, an' Oblooria." + +Leo laid down his weapon. The resolve to die fighting to the last was +the result of a mere impulse of animal courage. Second thoughts cooled +him, and the reference to Oblooria's fate decided him. + +"You are right, Anders. If by fighting to the death I could save +Oblooria, it would be my duty as well as my pleasure to fight; but I see +that I haven't the ghost of a chance against such a host as is +approaching, and it would be simply revengeful to send as many as I can +into the next world before going there myself. Besides, it would +exasperate the savages, and make them harder on the poor girl." + +In saying this Leo was rather arguing out the point with himself than +talking to the interpreter, who did not indeed understand much of what +he said. Having made up his mind how to act, Leo stowed his precious +rifle and ammunition in a small bag placed for that purpose under one of +the thwarts, and, resuming the oars, prepared to meet his fate, whatever +it should be, peacefully and unarmed. + +While thus drifting in silence before the gale, the thought suddenly +occurred to Leo, "How strange it is that I, who am a Christian--in name +at least--should feel as if it were absurd to pray for God's help at +such a time as this! Surely He who made me and these Eskimos is capable +of guarding us? The very least we can do is to ask Him to guide us!" + +The youth was surprised at the thought. It had flashed upon him like a +ray of light. It was not the first time that he had been in even more +imminent danger than the present, yet he had never before thought of the +necessity of asking help from God, as if He were really present and able +as well as willing to succour. Before the thought had passed he acted +on it. He had no time for formal prayer. He looked up! It was prayer +without words. In a few minutes more the boat was surrounded by the +fleet of kayaks. There were hundreds of these tiny vessels of the +north, each with its solitary occupant, using his double-bladed paddle +vigorously. + +Need we say that the strangers were at first gazed on with speechless +wonder? and that the Eskimos kept for some time hovering round them at a +respectful distance, as if uncertain how to act, but with their +war-spears ready? All the time the whole party drifted before the gale +towards the island-rock. + +"Anders," said Leo, while the natives remained in this state of +indecision, "my mind is made up as to our course of action. We will +offer no resistance whatever to these fellows. We must be absolutely +submissive, unless, indeed, they attempt to ill-treat Oblooria, in which +case of course we will defend her. Do you hear?" + +This was said with such quiet decision, and the concluding question was +put in such a tone, that the interpreter replied, "Yis, sar," promptly. + +As Leo made no sign of any kind, but continued to guide the boat +steadily with the oars, as if his sole anxiety was to round the western +point of the island and get into a place of shelter, the natives turned +their kayaks and advanced along with him. Naturally they fell into the +position of an escort--a part of the fleet paddling on each side of the +captives, (for such they now were), while the rest brought up the rear. + +"What ails Oblooria, Anders?" asked Leo in a low tone. + +"What is the matter?" asked the interpreter, turning to the girl, who, +ever since the approach of the Eskimos, had crouched like a bundle in +the bottom of the boat with her face buried in her hands. "There is no +fear. Grabantak is a man, not a bear. He will not eat you." + +"Grabantak knows me," answered the poor girl, without lifting her head; +"he came to Poloe once, before the war, and wanted me to be the wife of +his son. I want not his son. I want Oolichuk!" + +The simplicity and candour of this confession caused Leo to laugh in +spite of himself, while poor little Oblooria, who thought it no laughing +matter, burst into tears. + +Of course the men of Flatland kept their eyes fixed in wide amazement on +Leo, as they paddled along, and this sudden laugh of his impressed them +deeply, being apparently without a cause, coupled as it was with an air +of absolute indifference to his probable fate, and to the presence of so +many foes. Even the ruthless land-hungerer, Grabantak, was solemnised. + +In a few minutes the whole party swept round the point of rocks, and +proceeded towards the land over the comparatively quiet waters of a +little bay which lay under the lee of the Sugar-loaf rock. + +During the brief period that had been afforded for thought, Leo had been +intently making his plans. He now proceeded to carry them out. + +"Hand me the trinket-bundle," he said to Anders. + +The interpreter searched in a waterproof pouch in the stern of the boat, +and produced a small bundle of such trinkets as are known to be valued +by savages. It had been placed and was always kept there by Captain +Vane, to be ready for emergencies. + +"They will be sure to take everything from us at any rate," remarked +Leo, as he divided the trinkets into two separate bundles, "so I shall +take the wind out of their sails by giving everything up at once with a +good grace." + +The Grabantaks, if we may so style them, drew near, as the fleet +approached the shore, with increasing curiosity. When land was reached +they leaped out of their kayaks and crowded round the strangers. It is +probable that they would have seized them and their possessions at this +point, but the tall strapping figure of Leo, and his quiet manner, +overawed them. They held back while the india-rubber boat was being +carried by Leo and Anders to a position of safety. + +Poor Oblooria walked beside them with her head bowed down, shrinking as +much as possible out of sight. Everybody was so taken up with the +strange white man that no one took any notice of her. + +No sooner was the boat laid down than Leo taking one of the bundles of +trinkets stepped up to Grabantak, whom he easily distinguished by his +air of superiority and the deference paid him by his followers. + +Pulling his own nose by way of a friendly token, Leo smiled benignantly +in the chief's face, and opened the bundle before him. + +It is needless to say that delight mingled with the surprise that had +hitherto blazed on the visage of Grabantak. + +"Come here, Anders, and bring the other bundle with you. Tell this +warrior that I am very glad to meet with him." + +"Great and unconquerable warrior," began the interpreter, in the dialect +which he had found was understood, by the men of Poloe, "we have come +from far-off lands to bring you gifts--" + +"Anders," said Leo, whose knowledge of the Eskimo tongue was sufficient, +by that time, to enable him in a measure to follow the drift of a +speech, "Anders, if you don't tell him _exactly_ what I say I'll kick +you into the sea!" + +As Anders stood on a rock close to the water's edge, and Leo looked +unusually stern, he thereafter rendered faithfully what the latter told +him to say. The speech was something to the following effect:-- + +"I am one of a small band of white men who have come here to search out +the land. We do not want the land. We only want to see it. We have +plenty of land of our own in the far south. We have been staying with +the great chief Amalatok in Poloeland." + +At the mention of his enemy's name the countenance of Grabantak +darkened. Without noticing this, Leo went on:-- + +"When I was out hunting with my man and a woman, the wind arose and blew +us hither. We claim your hospitality, and hope you will help us to get +back again to Poloeland. If you do so we will reward you well, for +white men are powerful and rich. See, here are gifts for Grabantak, and +for his wife." + +This latter remark was a sort of inspiration. Leo had observed, while +Anders was speaking, that a stout cheerful-faced woman had been pushing +aside the men and gradually edging her way toward the Eskimo chief with +the air of a privileged person. That he had hit the mark was obvious, +for Grabantak turned with a bland smile, and hit his wife a facetious +and rather heavy slap on the shoulder. She was evidently accustomed to +such treatment, and did not wince. + +Taking from his bundle a gorgeous smoking-cap richly ornamented with +brilliant beads, Leo coolly crowned the chief with it. Grabantak drew +himself up and tried to look majestic, but a certain twitching of his +face, and sparkle in his eyes, betrayed a tendency to laugh with +delight. Fortunately, there was another cap of exactly the same pattern +in the bundle, which Leo instantly placed on the head of the wife--whose +name he afterwards learned was Merkut. + +The chief's assumed dignity vanished at this. With that childlike +hilarity peculiar to the Eskimo race, he laughed outright, and then, +seizing the cap from Merkut's head, put it above his own to the +amusement of his grinning followers. + +Leo then selected a glittering clasp-knife with two blades, which the +chief seized eagerly. It was evidently a great prize--too serious a +gift to be lightly laughed at. Then a comb was presented to the wife, +and a string of gay beads, and a pair of scissors. Of course the uses +of combs and scissors had he explained, and deep was the interest +manifested during the explanation, and utter the forgetfulness of the +whole party for the time being in regard to everything else in the +world--Oblooria included, who sat unnoticed on the rocks with her face +still buried in her hands. + +When Grabantak's possessions were so numerous that the hood of his coat, +and the tops of his wife's boots were nearly filled with them, he became +generous, and, prince-like, (having more than he knew what to do with), +began to distribute things to his followers. + +Among these followers was a tall and stalwart son of his own, to whom he +was rather stern, and not very liberal. Perhaps the chief wished to +train him with Spartan ideas of self-denial. Perhaps he wanted his +followers to note his impartiality. Merkut did not, however, act on the +same principles, for she quietly passed a number of valuable articles +over to her dear son Koyatuk, unobserved by his stern father. + +Things had gone on thus pleasantly for some time; the novelty of the +gifts, and the interest in their explanation having apparently rendered +these people forgetful of the fact that they might take them all at +once; when a sudden change in the state of affairs was wrought by the +utterance of one word. + +"We must not," said Leo to Anders, looking at his follower over the +heads of the Eskimos, "forget poor little Oblooria." + +"Oblooria!" roared Grabantak with a start, as if he had been +electrified. + +"Oblooria!" echoed Koyatuk, glaring round. + +"Oblooria!" gasped the entire band. + +Another moment and Grabantak, bursting through the crowd, leaped towards +the crouching girl and raised her face. Recognising her he uttered a +yell which probably was meant for a cheer. + +Hurrying the frightened girl into the circle through which he had +broken, the chief presented her to his son, and, with an air worthy of a +civilised courtier, said:-- + +"Your _wife_, Koyatuk--your Oblooria!--Looria!" + +He went over the last syllables several times, as if he doubted his +senses, and feared it was too good news to be true. + +This formal introduction was greeted by the chief's followers with a +series of wild shouts and other demonstrations of extreme joy. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +A FIGHT IN DEFENCE OF WOMAN, AND RIFLE-SHOOTING EXTRAORDINARY. + +When the excitement had somewhat abated, Leo stepped to the side of +Oblooria, and laying his hand on her shoulder said firmly, through +Anders:-- + +"Pardon me, Grabantak, this girl is _not_ the wife of Koyatuk; she is my +_sister_!" + +The chief frowned, clenched his teeth, and grasped a spear-- + +"When did Kablunet men begin to have Eskimo sisters?" + +"When they took all distressed women under their protection," returned +Leo promptly. "Every woman who needs my help is my sister," he added +with a look of self-sufficiency which he was far from feeling. + +This new doctrine obviously puzzled the chief, who frowned, smiled, and +looked at the ground, as if in meditation. It seemed to afford great +comfort to Oblooria, who nestled closer to her champion. As for +Koyatuk, he treated the matter with an air of mingled surprise and +scorn, but dutifully awaited his father's pleasure. + +Koyatuk was physically a fine specimen of a savage, but his spirit was +not equal to his body. Like his father he was over six feet high, and +firmly knit, being of both larger and stronger build than Leo, whom he +now regarded, and of course hated, as his rival--a contemptible one, no +doubt; still--a rival. + +The warriors watched their chief in breathless suspense. To them it was +a thoroughly new and interesting situation. That a white stranger, tall +and active, but slender and very young, should dare single-handed to +defy not only their chief, but, as it were, the entire tribe, including +the royal family, was a state of things in regard to which their +previous lives afforded no parallel. They could not understand it at +all, and stood, as it were, in eager, open-mouthed, and one-legged +expectation. + +At last Grabantak looked up, as if smitten by a new idea, and spoke-- + +"Can Kablunet men fight?" he asked. + +"They love peace better than war," answered Leo, "but when they see +cause to fight they can do so." + +Turning immediately to his son, Grabantak said with a grim smile-- + +"Behold your wife, take her!" + +Koyatuk advanced. Leo placed Oblooria behind him, and, being unarmed, +threw himself into a pugilistic posture of defence. The young Eskimo +laid one of his strong hands on the Englishman's shoulder, intending to +thrust him aside violently. Leo was naturally of a tender disposition. +He shrank from dealing a violent blow to one who had not the remotest +idea of what was coming, or how to defend himself from the human fist +when used as a battering-ram. + +But Leo chanced to be, in a sense, doubly armed. During one of his +holiday rambles in England he had visited Cornwall, and there had +learned that celebrated "throw" which consists in making your haunch a +fulcrum, your right arm a lever, and your adversary a shuttlecock. He +suddenly grasped his foe round the waist with one arm. Next moment the +Grabantaks saw what the most imaginative among them had never till then +conceived of--Koyatuk's soles turned to the sky, and his head pointing +to the ground! The moment following, he lay flat on his back looking +upwards blankly. + +The huk! hi! ho! hooroos! that followed may be conceived, but cannot be +described. Some of the men burst into laughter, for anything ludicrous +is irresistible to an Eskimo of the very far north. A few were +petrified. Others there were who resented this indignity to the +heir-apparent, and flourished their spears in a threatening manner. +These last Grabantak quieted with a look. The incident undoubtedly +surprised that stern parent, but also afforded him some amusement. He +said it was an insult that must be avenged. Oddly enough he made use of +an expression which sounded curiously familiar to Leo's ears, as +translated by Anders. "The insult," said Grabantak, "could only be +_washed out in blood_!" + +Strange, that simple savages of the far north should hold to that +ridiculous doctrine. We had imagined that it was confined entirely to +those further south, whose minds have been more or less warped by +civilised usage. + +A ring was immediately formed, and poor Leo now saw that the matter was +becoming serious. He was on the eve of fighting an enforced duel in +Oblooria's service. + +While the savages were preparing the lists, and Koyatuk, having +recovered, was engaged in converse with his father, Leo whispered to +Anders-- + +"Perhaps Oblooria has no objection to be the wife of this man?" + +But the poor girl had very strong objections. She was, moreover, so +emphatic in her expressions of horror, and cast on her champion such a +look of entreaty, that he would have been more than mortal had he +refused her. It was very perplexing. The idea of killing, or being +killed, in such a cause was very repulsive. He tried to reason with +Grabantak about the sin of injuring a defenceless woman, and the +abstract right of females in general to have some say in the selection +of their husbands, but Grabantak was inexorable. + +"Is the Kablunet afraid?" he asked, with a glance of scornful surprise. + +"Does he _look_ afraid?" returned Leo, quietly. + +Koyatuk now stepped into the middle of the ring of warriors, with a +short spear in his right hand, and half-a-dozen spare ones in his left, +whereby Leo perceived that the battle before him was not meant to be a +mere "exchange of shots," for the "satisfaction of honour." There was +evidently no humbug about these Eskimos. + +Two men mounted guard over Anders and Oblooria, who, however, were +allowed to remain inside the ring to witness the combat. A warrior now +advanced to Leo and presented him with a small bundle of spears. He +took them almost mechanically, thanked the giver, and laid them down at +his feet without selecting one. Then he stood up, and, crossing his +arms on his breast, gazed full at his opponent, who made a hideous face +at him and flourished his spear. + +It was quite evident that the Eskimos were perplexed by the white +youth's conduct, and knew not what to make of it. The truth is that +poor Leo was almost beside himself with conflicting emotions and +uncertainty as to what he ought to do. Despite all that had taken +place, he found it almost impossible to persuade himself that he was +actually about to engage in mortal combat. He had not a vestige of +angry feeling in his heart against the man whom he was expected to fight +with to the death, and the extraordinary nature of the complex faces +that Koyatuk was making at him tended to foster the delusion that the +whole thing was a farce--or a dream. + +Then the knowledge that he could burst through the ring, get hold of his +rifle, and sell his life dearly, or, perhaps, cause the whole savage +tribe to fly in terror, was a sore temptation to him. All this, coupled +with the necessity for taking instant and vigorous action of some sort, +was enough to drive an older head distracted. It did drive the blood +violently to the youth's face, but, by a powerful effort of +self-restraint, he continued to stand perfectly still, like a living +statue, facing the Eskimo. + +At last Koyatuk became tired of making useless faces at his rival. +Suddenly poising his spear, he launched it. + +Had Leo's eye been less quick, or his limbs less active, that spear had +laid him low for ever. He had barely time to spring aside, when the +weapon passed between his side and his left arm, grazing the latter +slightly, and drawing blood which trickled to the ends of his fingers. + +There could be no further doubt now about the nature of the fight. +Catching up a spear from the bundle at his feet he was just in time to +receive the Eskimo, who sprang in on him with the intention of coming at +once to close quarters. His rush was very furious; probably with a view +to make it decisive. But the agile Leo was equal to the occasion. +Bending suddenly so low as to be quite under his opponent's desperate +thrust, he struck out his right leg firmly. Koyatuk tripped over it, +and ploughed the land for some yards with his hands, head, and knees. + +Considerably staggered in mind and body by the fall, he sprang up with a +roar, and turned to renew the attack. Leo was ready. The Eskimo, by +that time mad with pain, humiliation, and rage, exercised no caution in +his assault. He rushed at his rival like a mad bull. Our Englishman +saw his opportunity. Dropping his own spear he guarded the thrust of +his adversary's with his right arm, while, with his left fist, he +planted a solid blow on Koyatuk's forehead. The right fist followed the +left like the lightning flash, and alighted on Koyatuk's nose, which, +flat by nature, was rendered flatter still by art. Indeed it would be +the weakest flattery to assert that he had any nose at all after +receiving that blow. It was reduced to the shape of a small pancake, +from the two holes in which there instantly spouted a stream of blood so +copious that it drenched alike its owner and his rival. + +After giving him this double salute, Leo stepped quickly aside to let +him tumble forward, heels over head, which he did with the only +half-checked impetuosity of his onset, and lay prone upon the ground. + +"There, Anders," said the victor, turning round as he pointed to his +prostrate foe, "surely Grabantak's son has got enough of blood now to +wipe out all the insults he ever received, or is likely to receive, from +me." + +Grabantak appeared to agree to this view of the case. That he saw and +relished the jest was obvious, for he burst into an uproarious fit of +laughter, in which his amiable warriors joined him, and, advancing to +Leo, gave him a hearty slap of approval on the shoulder. At the same +time he cast a look of amused scorn on his fallen son, who was being +attended to by Merkut. + +It may be observed here that Merkut was the only woman of the tribe +allowed to go on this war-expedition. Being the chief's wife, she had +been allowed to do as she pleased, and it was her pleasure to accompany +the party and to travel like the warriors in a kayak, which she managed +as well as the best of them. + +Grabantak now ordered his men to encamp, and feed till the gale should +abate. Then, calling Leo and the interpreter aside, he questioned them +closely as to the condition of the Poloese and the numbers of the white +men who had recently joined them. + +Of course Leo made Anders give him a graphic account of the preparations +made by his enemies to receive him, in the hope that he might be induced +to give up his intentions, but he had mistaken the spirit of the Eskimo, +who merely showed his teeth, frowned, laughed in a diabolic manner, and +flourished his spear during the recital of Amalatok's warlike +arrangements. He wound up by saying that he was rejoiced to learn all +that, because it would be all the more to his credit to make his enemy +go down on his knees, lick the dust, crawl in his presence, and +otherwise humble himself. + +"But tell him, Anders," said Leo, earnestly, "that my white brothers, +though few in number, are very strong and brave. They have weapons too +which kill far off and make a dreadful noise." + +Grabantak laughed contemptuously at this. + +"Does the Kablunet," he asked, "think I am afraid to die--afraid of a +noise? does he think that none but white men can kill far off?" + +As he spoke he suddenly hurled his spear at a gull, which, with many +others, was perched on a cliff about thirty yards off, and transfixed +it. + +"Go to the boat, Anders, and fetch my rifle," said Leo in a low tone. + +When the rifle was brought a crowd of Eskimos came with it. They had +been closely observing their chief and the stranger during the +conference, but remained at a respectful distance until they saw +something unusual going on. + +"Tell the chief," said Leo, "to look at that peak with the solitary gull +standing on it." + +He pointed to a detached cone of rock upwards of two hundred yards +distant. + +When the attention of the whole party was concentrated on the bird in +question, Leo took a steady aim and fired. + +Need we say that the effect of the shot was wonderful? not only did the +braves utter a united yell and give a simultaneous jump, but several of +the less brave among them bolted behind rocks, or tumbled in attempting +to do so, while myriads of sea-fowl, which clustered among the cliffs, +sprang from their perches and went screaming into the air. At the same +time echoes innumerable, which had lain dormant since creation, or at +best had given but sleepy response to the bark of walruses and the cry +of gulls, took up the shot in lively haste and sent it to and fro from +cliff to crag in bewildering continuation. + +"Wonderful!" exclaimed Grabantak in open-mouthed amazement, when he +beheld the shot gull tumbling from its lofty perch, "Do it again." + +Leo did it again--all the more readily that another gull, unwarned by +its predecessor's fate, flew to the conical rock at the moment, and +perched itself on the same peak. It fell, as before, and the echoes +were again awakened, while the sea-birds cawed and screamed more +violently than ever. + +The timid ones among the braves, having recovered from their first +shock, stood fast this time, but trembled much and glared horribly. The +chief, who was made of sterner stuff than many of his followers; did not +move, though his face flushed crimson with suppressed emotion. As to +the sea-birds, curiosity seemed to have overcome fear, for they came +circling and wheeling overhead in clouds so dense that they almost +darkened the sky--many of them swooping close past the Eskimos and then +shearing off and up with wild cries. + +An idea suddenly flashed into Leo's head. Pointing his rifle upwards he +began and continued a rapid fire until all the bullets in it, (ten or +twelve), were expended. The result was as he had expected. Travelling +through such a dense mass of birds, each ball pierced we know not how +many, until it absolutely rained dead and wounded gulls on the heads of +the natives, while the rocks sent forth a roar of echoes equal to a +continuous fire of musketry. It was stupendous! Nothing like it had +occurred in the Polar regions since the world first became a little +flattened at the poles! Nothing like it will happen again until the +conjunction of a series of similar circumstances occurs. The timid +braves lost heart again and dived like the coneys into holes and corners +of the rocks. Others stood still with chattering teeth. Even Grabantak +wavered for a moment. But it was only for a moment. Recovering himself +he uttered a mighty shout; then he yelled; then he howled; then he +slapped his breast and thighs; then he seized a smallish brave near him +by the neck and hurled him into the sea. Having relieved his feelings +thus he burst into a fit of laughter such as has never been equalled by +the wildest maniac either before or since. + +Suddenly he calmed, stepped up to Leo, and wrenched the rifle from his +grasp. + +"I will do that!" he cried, and held the weapon out at arms-length in +front of his face with both hands; but there was no answering shot. + +"Why does it not bark?" he demanded, turning to Leo sternly. + +"It will only bark at my bidding," said Leo, with a significant smile. + +"Bid it, then," said the chief in a peremptory tone, still holding the +rifle out. + +"You must treat it in the right way, otherwise it will not bark. I will +show you." + +Having been shown how to pull the trigger, the chief tried again, but a +sharp click was the only reply. Grabantak having expected a shot, he +nervously dropped the rifle, but Leo was prepared, and caught it. + +"You must not be afraid of it; it cannot work properly if you are +afraid. See, look there," he added, pointing to the conical rock on +which another infatuated gull had perched himself. + +Grabantak looked earnestly. His timid braves began to creep out of +their holes, and directed their eyes to the same spot. While their +attention was occupied Leo managed to slip a fresh cartridge into the +rifle unobserved. + +"Now," said he, handing the rifle to the chief, "try again." + +Grabantak, who was not quite pleased at the hint about his being afraid, +seized the rifle and held it out as before. Resolved to maintain his +reputation for coolness, he said to his followers in imitation of Leo:-- + +"Do you see that gull?" + +"Huk!" replied the warriors, with eager looks. + +Leo thought of correcting his manner of taking aim, but, reflecting that +the result would be a miss in any case, he refrained. + +Grabantak raised the rifle slowly, as its owner had done, and frowned +along the barrel. In doing so, he drew it back until the butt almost +touched his face. Then he fired. There was a repetition of previous +results with some differences. The gull flew away from the rock unhurt; +one of the braves received the bullet in his thigh and ran off shrieking +with agony, while the chief received a blow from the rifle on the nose +which all but incorporated that feature with his cheeks, and drew from +his eyes the first tears he had ever shed since babyhood. + +That night Grabantak sat for hours staring in moody silence at the sea, +tenderly caressing his injured nose, and meditating, no doubt, on things +past, present, and to come. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +LEO VISITS FLATLAND AND SEES AS WELL AS HEARS MUCH TO INTEREST HIM +THERE. + +The result of Grabantak's meditation was that, considering the nature +and wonderful weapons of the men by whom Amalatok had been reinforced, +he thought it advisable to return to his own land, which was not far +distant, for the purpose of adding to the force with which he meant to +subjugate the men of Poloe. + +"We are unconquerable," he said, while conversing on the situation with +Teyma, his first lieutenant, or prime minister; "everybody knows that we +are invincible. It is well-known that neither white men, nor yellow +men,--no, nor black men, nor blue men,--can overcome the Flatlanders. +We must keep up our name. It will not do to let the ancient belief die +down, that one Flatlander is equal to three men of Poloe, or any other +land." + +"The Poloe men laugh in their boots when they hear us boast in this +way," said Teyma gently. + +We draw attention to the curious resemblance in this phrase to our more +civilised "laughing in the sleeve," while we point out that the prime +minister, although of necessity a man of war, was by nature a man of +peace. Indeed his name, Teyma, which signifies peace, had been given +him because of his pacific tendencies. + +"What! would you not have me defend the Flatland name?" demanded +Grabantak, fiercely. + +"No, I would have you defend only the Flatland property," replied the +blunt minister. + +"And is not Puiroe my property?" growled Grabantak, referring to the +barren rock which was the cause of war. + +"So is _that_ your property," said Teyma, picking up a stone, "and yet I +treat it thus!" (He tossed it contemptuously into the sea.) "Is that +worth Flatlander blood? would you kill me for _that_? shall Eskimo wives +and mothers weep, and children mourn and starve for a useless rock in +the sea." + +"You always thwart me, Teyma," said Grabantak, trying to suppress a +burst of wrath, which he was well aware his fearless minister did not +mind in the least. "It is true this island is not worth the shake of a +puffin's tail; but if we allow the Poloe men to take it--" + +"To keep it," mildly suggested Teyma, "they have long had it." + +"Well, to keep it, if you will," continued the chief testily; "will not +other tribes say that the old name of the Flatlanders is dead, that the +war-spirit is gone, that they may come and attack us when they please; +for we cannot defend our property, and they will try to make us slaves? +What! shall Flatlanders become slaves? no never, never, _never_!" cried +Grabantak, furiously, though unconsciously quoting the chorus of a +well-known song. + +"No, _never_," re-echoed Teyma with an emphatic nod, "yet there are many +steps between fighting for a useless rock, and being made slaves." + +"Well then," cried Grabantak, replying to the first part of his +lieutenant's remark and ignoring the second, "we must fight to prove our +courage. As to losing many of our best men, of course we cannot help +that. Then we must kill, burn, and destroy right and left in Poloeland, +to prove our power. After that we will show the greatness of our +forbearance by letting our enemies alone. Perhaps we may even +condescend to ask them to become our friends. What an honour that would +be to them, and, doubtless, what a joy!" + +"Grabantak," said Teyma with a look and tone of solemnity which +invariably overawed his chief, and made him uncomfortable, "you have +lived a good many years now. Did you ever make a friend of an enemy by +beating him?" + +"Of course not," said the other with a gesture of impatience. + +"Grabantak, you had a father." + +"Yes," said the chief, with solemn respect. + +"And _he_ had a father." + +"True." + +"And he, too, had a father." + +"Well, I suppose he had." + +"Of course he had. All fathers have had fathers back and back into the +mysterious Longtime. If not, where did our tales and stories come from? +There are many stories told by fathers to sons, and fathers to sons, +till they have all come down to us, and what do these stories teach us? +that all fighting is bad, except what _must_ be. Even what _must_ be is +bad--only, it is better than some things that are worse. Loss of life, +loss of country, loss of freedom to hunt, and eat, and sleep, are worse. +We must fight for these--but to fight for a bare rock, for a name, for +a coast, for a fancy, it is foolish! and when you have got your rock, +and recovered your name, and pleased your fancy, do the brave young men +that are dead return? Do the maidens that weep rejoice? Do the mothers +that pine revive? Of what use have been all the wars of Flatland from +Longtime till now? Can you restore the mountain-heaps of kayaks, and +oomiaks, and spears, and walrus-lines, from the smoke into which they +vanished! Can you recall the great rivers of whale-oil from the sea +into which they have been poured, or the blood of men from the earth +that swallowed it? Is not war _always_ loss, loss, loss, and _never_ +gain? Why cannot we live at peace with those who will, and fight only +with those who insist on war." + +"Go, Teyma, stop your mouth with blubber," said the chief, rising; "I am +weary of you. I tell you, Amalatok shall die; Puiroe shall be mine. +The tribes shall all learn to tremble at the name of Grabantak and to +respect the men of Flatland." + +"Ay, and to love them too, I suppose," added Teyma with a facetious +sneer. + +"Boo!" replied his chief, bringing the conversation to an abrupt close +by walking away. + +In accordance with their chief's resolve, the Grabantak band embarked in +their kayaks next morning, the gale having moderated, and with the +intention of obtaining reinforcements, paddled back to Flatland, which +they reached in a couple of days. + +On the voyage Leo confined himself strictly to the oars and paddles, +being unwilling to let the Eskimos into the secret of the kite, until he +could do so with effect, either in the way of adding to their respect +for the white man and his contrivances, or of making his escape. + +Now, as has been said or hinted, although Grabantak's son, Koyatuk, was +a stout and tall man, he was not gifted with much brain. He possessed +even less of that substance than his father, whose energy and power of +muscle, coupled with indomitable obstinacy, enabled him to hold the +reins of government which were his by hereditary right. Besides being a +fearless man, Grabantak was respected as a good leader in war. But +Koyatuk had neither the energy of his father, nor his determination. He +was vacillating and lazy, as well as selfish. Hence he was not a +favourite, and when, after landing at Flatland, he endeavoured to renew +his claim to Oblooria, neither his father nor the people encouraged him. +The timid one was therefore left with Leo and Anders, who immediately +fitted up for her a separate screened-off apartment in the hut which was +assigned to them in the native village. + +Even Koyatuk's mother did not befriend her son on this occasion. Merkut +had her own reasons for proving faithless to her spoilt boy, whom on +most occasions she favoured. Knowing his character well, the sturdy +wife of Grabantak had made up her mind that Koyatuk should wed a young +intelligent, and what you may call lumpy girl named Chukkee, who was +very fond of the huge and lazy youth, and who, being herself +good-natured and unselfish, would be sure to make him a good wife. + +After one or two unavailing efforts, therefore, and a few sighs, the +heir-apparent to the throne of Flatland ceased to trouble Oblooria, and +devoted himself to his three favourite occupations--hunting, eating, and +repose. + +"Misser Lo," whispered Anders, on the first night after landing, as they +busied themselves with the partition above referred to, "we 'scapes from +dis here land very easy." + +"How, Anders?" + +"W'y, you's on'y got wait for nort' vint, den up kite, launch boat, +an'--hup! away." + +"True, lad, but I don't want to escape just yet." + +"Not want to 'scape?" + +"No. You see, Anders, we are now on very friendly terms with this +tribe, and it seems to me that if we were to remain for a time and +increase our influence, we might induce Grabantak to give up this war on +which he seems to have set his heart. I have great hopes of doing +something with Teyma. He is evidently a reasonable fellow, and has much +power, I think, with the chief--indeed with every one. Pity that he is +not to succeed Grabantak instead of that stupid Koyatuk. Besides, now I +am here I must explore the land if possible. It is a pity no doubt to +leave our friends, even for a short time, in ignorance of our fate, but +we can't help that at present. Light the lamp, Anders, and let's see +what we're about." + +The summer was by that time so far advanced that the sun descended a +considerable way below the horizon each night, leaving behind a sweet +mellow twilight which deepened almost into darkness inside the Eskimo +huts. These latter, like those already described, were made of stone, +and the small openings that served for windows did not let in much light +at any time. + +The hut which had been assigned by Grabantak to his prisoners--or +visitors, for as such he now seemed to regard them--was a large roomy +one, made chiefly of clay. It stood on a little mound a hundred yards +or so apart from the main village of Flatland, and was probably one of +the chief's private palaces. It was oval in form--like a huge oven-- +about fifteen feet in diameter, and six feet in height. One-half of the +floor was raised about eight inches, thus forming the "breck," which +served for a lounge by day, and a couch by night. Its furniture of +skins, cooking-lamp, etcetera, was much the same as that of the Eskimo +huts already described, except that the low tunnel-shaped entrance was +very long--about twelve feet. Light was admitted by a parchment-covered +hole or window, with several rents in it, as well as by various +accidental holes in the roof. + +When the lamp was lighted, and skins were spread on the breck, and Leo, +having finished the partition, was busy making entries in a note-book, +and Anders was amusing himself with a tobacco pipe--foolish man! and +Oblooria was devoting herself to the lamp, from which various charming +sounds and delicious smells emanated--as well as smoke--this northern +residence looked far more cheerful and snug than the luxurious dwellers +in civilised lands will readily believe. + +"I wonder," said Leo, looking up from his book after a prolonged +silence, "I wonder what strange sounds are those I hear." + +"P'r'aps it's de vint," said Anders, puffing a cloud from his lips in +sleepy contentment, and glancing upwards. + +When he and Leo looked at the roof of the hut it shook slightly, as if +something had fallen on it. + +"Strange," muttered Leo, reverting to his notebook, "it did not look +like wind when the sun went down. It must be going to blow hard." + +After a few minutes of silence Leo again looked up inquiringly. + +"Dere's anoder squall," said Anders. + +"More like a sneeze than a squall. Listen; that is a queer pattering +sound." + +They listened, but all was silent. After a minute or so they resumed +their occupations. + +The sounds were, however, no mystery to those who were in the secret of +them. Knowing the extreme curiosity of his countrymen, Grabantak had +placed a sentinel over his guests' hut, with orders to let no one go +near it. The sentinel entered on his vigil with that stern sense of +duty-unto-death that is supposed to animate all sentinels. At first the +inhabitants of Flatland kept conscientiously away from the forbidden +spot, but as the shades of night toned down the light, some of them +could not resist drawing near occasionally and listening with distended +eyes, ears, and nostrils, as if they expected to drink in foreign sounds +at all these orifices. The sentinel grasped his spear, steeled his +heart, and stood in front of the door with a look of grand solemnity +worthy of the horse-guards. + +At last, however, the sentinel's own curiosity was roused by the eager +looks of those--chiefly big boys--who drew ever nearer and nearer. +Occasional sounds from the hut quickened his curiosity, and the strange +smell of tobacco-smoke at last rendered it unbearable. + +Slowly, sternly, as if it were part of his duty to spy, he moved to the +torn window and peeped in. He was fascinated at once of course. After +gazing for five minutes in rapt admiration, he chanced to withdraw his +face for a moment, and then found that nine Eskimos had discovered nine +holes or crevices in the hut walls, against which their fat faces were +thrust, while at least half-a-dozen others were vainly searching for +other peep-holes. + +A scarcely audible hiss caused the rapt nine to look up. A terrible +frown and a shake of the official spear caused them to retire down the +slope that led to the hut. + +This was the unaccountable "squall" that had first perplexed Leo and his +comrade. + +But like tigers who have tasted blood, the Flatlanders could not now be +restrained. + +"Go!" said the sentinel in a low stern voice to the retreating +trespassers, whom he followed to the foot of the slope. "If you come up +again I will tell Grabantak, who will have you all speared and turned +into whale-buoys." + +The boys did not appear to care much for the threat. They were +obviously buoyed up with hope. + +"Oh! do, _do_ let us peep! just once!" entreated several of them in +subdued but eager tones. + +The sentinel shook his obdurate head and raised his deadly spear. + +"We will make no noise," said a youth who was the exact counterpart of +Benjamin Vane in all respects except colour and costume--the first being +dirty yellow and the latter hairy. + +The sentinel frowned worse than ever. + +"The Kablunets," said another of the band, entreatingly, "shall hear +nothing louder than the falling of a snow-flake or a bit of eider-down." + +Still the sentinel was inexorable. + +The Eskimos were in despair. + +Suddenly Benjy's counterpart turned and fled to the village on light and +noiseless toe. He returned immediately with a rich, odorous, steaming +piece of blubber in his hand. It was a wise stroke of policy. The +sentinel had been placed there without any reference to the fact that he +had not had his supper. He was ravenously hungry. Can you blame him +for lowering his spear, untying his eyebrows, and smiling blandly as the +held out his hand? + +"Just one peep, and it is yours," said the counterpart, holding the +morsel behind him. + +"My life is in danger if I do," remonstrated the sentinel. + +"Your supper is in danger if you don't," said the counterpart. + +It was too much for him. The sentinel accepted the bribe, and, +devouring it, returned with the bribers on tiptoe to the hut, where they +gazed in silent wonder to their hearts' content. + +"Well, that beats everything," said Leo, laying down his book and +pencil, "but I never did hear a gale that panted and snorted as this one +does. I'll go out and have a look at it." + +He rose and crawled on hands and knees through the tunnel. The spies +rolled off the hut with considerable noise and fled, while the sentinel +resuming his spear and position, tried to look innocent. + +While he was explaining to Anders why he was there, Grabantak himself +walked up, accompanied by his lieutenant. They were hospitably +entertained, and as Oblooria had by that time prepared a savoury mess, +such as she knew the white men loved, the chief and Teyma condescended +to sup with their captive-guests. + +Leo had not with him the great cooking machine with which his uncle had +effected so much in Poloeland, but he had a tin kettle and a couple of +pannikins, with some coffee, sugar, and biscuit, which did good service +in the way of conciliating, if not surprising, the chief of Flatland. + +Both he and his lieutenant, moreover, were deeply interested in Anders's +proceedings with the pipe. + +At first they supposed he was conducting some religious ceremony, and +looked on with appropriate solemnity, but, on being informed of the +mistake, Grabantak smiled graciously and requested a "whiff." He +received one, and immediately made such a hideous face that Anders could +not restrain a short laugh, whereupon the chief hit him over the head +with his empty pannikin, but, after frowning fiercely, joined in the +laugh. + +Leo then began to question the chief about the land over which he ruled, +and was told that it was a group of islands of various sizes, like the +group which belonged to Amalatok, but with more islands in it; that most +of these islands were flat, and covered with lakes, large and small, in +which were to be found many animals, and birds as numerous almost as the +stars. + +"Ask him from what direction these birds come," said Leo, pulling out +his pocket-compass and expecting that Grabantak would point to the +south; but the chief pointed to the north, then to the south, then to +the east, and then to the west! + +"What does he mean? I don't understand him," said Leo. + +"The birds come from _everywhere_--from all round. They come here to +breed," said the chief, spreading his hands round him and pointing in +all directions. "Then, when the young are strong and the cold season +begins, they spread the wing and go away there--to _every_ place--all +round." + +"Anders," said Leo impressively, "do you know I think we have actually +arrived at the immediate region of the North Pole! What the chief says +almost settles the question. This, you see, must be the warmest place +in the Polar regions; the central spot around the Pole to which +migratory birds flock from the south. If voyagers, crossing the Arctic +circle at _all_ parts, have observed these birds ever flying _north_, it +follows that they _must_ have some meeting-place near the Pole, where +they breed and from which they depart in autumn. Well, according to +Grabantak, _this_ is the meeting-place, therefore _this_ must be near +the Pole! How I wish uncle were here!" + +Leo had been more than half soliloquising; he now looked up and burst +into a laugh, for the interpreter was gazing at him with an expression +of blank stupidity. + +"You's kite right, Missr Lo," he said at last, with a meek smile, "kite +right, no doubt; only you's too clibber for _me_." + +"Well, Anders, I'll try not to be quite so clibber in future; but ask +Grabantak if he will go with me on an expedition among these islands. I +want very much to examine them all." + +"Examine them all!" repeated the chief with emphasis when this was +translated; "tell the young Kablunet with the hard fist, that the +sunless time would come and go, and the sun-season would come again, +before he could go over half my lands. Besides, I have more important +work to do. I must first go to Poloeland, to kill and burn and destroy. +After that I will travel with Hardfist." + +Hardfist, as the chief had styled him in reference to his late +pugilistic achievements, felt strongly inclined to use his fists on +Grabantak's skull when he mentioned his sanguinary intentions, but +recalling Alf's oft-quoted words, "Discretion is the better part of +valour," he restrained himself. He also entered into a long argument +with the savage, in the hope of converting him to peace principles, but +of course in vain. The chief was thoroughly bent on destroying his +enemies. + +Then, in a state of almost desperate anxiety, Leo sought to turn him +from his purpose by telling him about God the Father, and the Prince of +Peace, and, pulling out his Bible, began to read and make Anders +interpret such passages of the Word as bore most directly on his +subject. While acting in this, to him, novel capacity as a teacher of +God's Word, Leo more than once lifted up his heart in brief silent +prayer that the Spirit might open the heart of the savage to receive the +truth. The chief and his lieutenant listened with interest and +surprise. Being savages, they also listened with profound respect to +the young enthusiast, but Grabantak would not give up his intention. He +explained, however, that he meant first to go to the largest and most +central island of his dominions, to make inquiry there of the Man of the +Valley what would be the best time to set out for the war. + +"The Man of the Valley!" asked Leo, "who is that?" + +"He is an Eskimo," replied Grabantak, with a sudden air of solemnity in +his manner, "whose first forefather came in the far past longtime, from +nobody knows where; but this first forefather never had any father or +mother. He settled among the Eskimos and taught them many things. He +married one of their women, and his sons and daughters were many and +strong. Their descendants inhabit the Great Isle of Flatland at the +present day. They are good and strong; great hunters and warriors. The +first forefather lived long, till he became white and blind. His power +and wisdom lay in a little strange thing which he called `buk.' How it +made him strong or wise no one can tell, but so it was. His name was +Makitok. When he died he gave _buk_ to his eldest son. It was wrapped +up in a piece of sealskin. The eldest son had much talk with his father +about this mystery-thing, and was heard to speak much about the +Kablunets, but the son would never tell what he said. Neither would he +unwrap the mystery-thing, for fear that its power might escape. So he +wrapped it up in another piece of sealskin, and gave it to his eldest +son, telling him to hand it down from son to son, along with the name +Makitok. So _buk_ has grown to be a large bundle now, and no one +understands it, but every one has great reverence for it, and the +Makitok now in possession is a great mystery-man, very wise; we always +consult him on important matters." + +Here was food for reflection to Leo during the remainder of that night, +and for many hours did his sleepless mind puzzle over the mystery of +Makitok, the Man of the Valley. + +This sleepless condition was, not unpleasantly, prolonged by the sounds +of animal life that entered his oven-like dwelling during great part of +the night. Evidently great numbers of the feathered tribes were moving +about, either because they meant to retire at dissipatedly late, or had +risen at unreasonably early, hours. Among them he clearly distinguished +the musical note of the long-tailed duck and the harsh scream of the +great northern diver, while the profound calmness of the weather enabled +him to hear at intervals the soft blow and the lazy plash of a white +whale, turning, it might be, on his other side in his water-bed on the +Arctic Sea. + +Following the whale's example, Leo turned round at last, buried his face +in a reindeer pillow, and took refuge in oblivion. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +A GLORIOUS REGION CONTEMPLATED, AND A GLORIOUS CHASE PLANNED. + +Leo did not slumber long. Very early in the morning he awoke with that +sensation about him which told that at that time further repose was not +attainable. He therefore rose, donned the few garments which he had put +off on lying down, crept through his tunnel, and emerged into the open +air. + +And what a vision of glorious beauty met his enraptured eyes, while the +fresh sea-breeze entered, like life, into his heaving chest! It was +still a profound calm. Earth, air, water, sky, seemed to be uniting in +a silent act of adoration to their great Creator, while the myriad +creatures therein contained were comparatively quiet in the enjoyment of +His rich and varied bounties. It seemed as if the hour were too early +for the strife of violent passions--too calm for the stirrings of hatred +or revenge. Everything around spoke only of peace. Sitting down with +his back to a sun-bathed rock, and his face to the silver sea, Leo drew +out his Bible and proceeded to read the records of the Prince of Peace. + +As he lifted his eyes from the words, "marvellous are thy works, and +that my soul knoweth right well," to the vision of beauty and life that +lay before him, Leo made the words and the thought, for the first time, +_his own_. + +The prospect embraced innumerable islands of all sizes, studding like +gems the gently-heaving sea. Over these, countless millions of +sea-birds flew or sailed to and fro; some with the busy fluttering of +activity, as if they had something to do and a mind to do it; others +loitering idly on the wing, or dipping lightly on the wave, as if to bid +their images good-morning. Burgomaster, yellow-legged, and pink-beaked +gulls, large and small, wheeled in widening circles round him. +Occasional flocks of ptarmigan, in the mixed brown and white plumage of +summer, whirred swiftly over him and took refuge among the rocky heights +of the interior, none of which heights rose above three hundred feet. +Eider-ducks, chattering kittiwakes, and graceful tern, auks, guillemots, +puffins, geese, and even swans, swarmed on the islands, far and near, +while seals, whales, narwhals, dolphins, and grampuses, revelled in the +sea, so that the Arctic world appeared almost overcharged with animal +life. + +Of course the noise of their cries and evolutions would have been great +had not distance lent enchantment to sound as well as view. To Leo +there seemed even a sort of restfulness in the voices of the innumerable +wild-fowl. They were so far off, most of them, that the sounds fell on +his ear like a gentle plaint, and even the thunderous plash of the great +Greenland whale was reduced by distance to a ripple like that which fell +on the shore at his feet. + +While he was meditating, Anders joined him and responded heartily to his +salutation, but Anders was not in a poetical frame of mind that morning. +His thoughts had been already turned to an eminently practical subject. + +"I'm tole," said he, seating himself beside our hero, "dat Grabantak +holds a talk 'bout fighting." + +"And a council of war," said Leo. "I know what the result of that will +be. When leaders like Grabantak and Amalatok decide for war, most of +the people follow them like a flock of sheep. Although most of the +people never saw this miserable island--this Puiroe--and know, and care, +nothing about it, you'll see that the Flatlanders will be quite +enthusiastic after the council, and ready to fight for it to the bitter +end. A very bitter end it is, indeed, to see men and women make fools +of themselves about nothing, and be ready to die for the same! Will +Grabantak allow us to be present at the council, think you?" + +"Ho yis. He send me to say you muss come." + +Leo was right. Nothing could surpass the impetuosity of Grabantak, +except the anxiety of many of the Flatlanders to be led by the nose. +Was not the point in question one of vital importance to the wellbeing +of the community--indeed of the whole Arctic world? Teyma mildly asked +them what _was_ the point in question, but not a soul could tell, until +Grabantak, starting up with furious energy, manufactured a "point," and +then explained it in language so intricate, yet so clear, that the whole +council stood amazed at their never having seen it before in that light, +and then said, more or less emphatically, "There, that's what we thought +exactly, only we could not state it so well as the great Grabantak!" + +After this there was no chance for Teyma and his party--and he had a +party, even among northern savages,--who believed in men working hard at +their own affairs and letting other people alone, as far as that was +possible. But the peace-party in Arctic land was in a minority at that +time, and the council broke up with shouts for Grabantak, and +denunciations of death and destruction to the men of Poloeland. + +But things do not always turn out as men--even wise men--arrange them. +From that day, during the brief period of preparation for the setting +out of an expedition to visit Makitok of Great Isle, Leo received daily +visits from the Prime Minister, who was deeply interested and +inquisitive about the strange "_thing_," as he styled the Bible, which +told the Kablunets about God and the Prince of Peace. Of course Leo was +willing and happy to give him all the information he desired, and, in +doing so, found a new and deep source of pleasure. + +Teyma was not the man to hide his light under a bushel. He was a +fearless outspoken counsellor, and not only sought to advance the +pacific views he held, by talking to the men of his own party in +private, but even propounded them in public to Grabantak himself, who, +however, could not be moved, though many of his men quietly changed +sides. + +With all this Teyma was loyal to his chief. Whatever he did was in the +way of fair and open argument. He was too loyal to help Leo when he +made a certain proposal to him one day. + +"Teyma," said Leo, on that occasion, "you have been very friendly to me. +Will you do me a great favour? Will you send a young man in a kayak to +Poloeland with a message from me to my people? They must think I am +dead. I wish them to know that I am here, and well." + +"No," replied Teyma promptly; "that would let the men of Poloe know that +we talk of going to attack them. I do not love war. I wish to let our +enemies alone, but if my chief decides for war, it is my duty to help, +not to frustrate him. If we go to war with Poloeland, we must take the +men of Poloe by surprise. That could not be if a young man went with +your message." + +Leo saw the force of this, and respected Teyma's disinterested loyalty +to his chief; but felt inclined to argue that, fidelity to the best +interests of his country stood higher than loyalty to a chief. He +refrained, however, from pressing the matter at that time. + +Not so Anders. When that worthy saw that Teyma would not act, and that +Leo from some inexplicable reason hesitated, he quietly took the matter +into his own hands, and so wrought on the feelings of a weak but amiable +youth of the tribe, that he prevailed on him to carry a message to the +enemy, explaining to him earnestly that no evil, but the reverse, would +result from his mission; that the Kablunets were men of peace, who would +immediately come over to Flatland and put everything right in a +peaceable and satisfactory manner. + +"Tell the white men," said Anders, "that we are prisoners in Flatland-- +alive and well--but they must come to help us quickly." + +No difficulty was experienced in sending the messenger away. There was +unlimited personal freedom in Flatland. Young men frequently went off +to hunt for days together at a time, without saying anything about their +intentions, unless they chose; so the secret messenger set out. Thus +the interpreter lighted the fuse of a mine which was eminently +calculated to blow up the plans of Grabantak. + +But another fuse had been lighted which, in a still more effectual +manner, overturned the plans of that warlike chief. + +It chanced at this time that the Flatlanders ran short of meat. Their +habit was to go off on a grand hunt, gather as much meat as they could, +and then come home to feast and rejoice with their families until +scarcity again obliged them to hunt. Of course there were many among +them whose natural activity rebelled against this lazy style of life, +but the exertions of these did not suffice to keep the whole tribe +supplied. Hence it came to pass, that they often began to be in want +while in the midst of plenty. A grand hunt was therefore organised. + +They were tired, they said, of ducks and geese and swans. They wanted a +change from seals and bears, walruses and such small fry. Nothing short +of a whale would serve them! + +Once stirred up to the point of action, there was no lack of energy +among these northern Eskimos. Kayaks, lines, and spears were got ready, +and oomiaks were launched; for women and children loved to see the +sport, though they did not join in it. Everywhere bustle and excitement +reigned, and the hubbub was not a little increased by the agitated dogs, +which knew well what was a-foot, and licked their lips in anticipation. + +Of course Leo and Anders prepared to go and see the fun. So did +Oblooria. It was arranged that Leo and the latter were to go in the +india-rubber boat. + +That vessel had been the source of deep, absorbing interest and +curiosity to the natives. When our travellers landed, it had been +conveyed to the side of the hut assigned them, and laid gently on the +turf, where it was stared at by successive groups all day. They would +have stayed staring at it all night, if they had not been forbidden by +Grabantak to approach the Kablunets during the hours of repose. Leo +explained its parts to them, but made no reference to its expansive and +contractile properties. He also launched it and paddled about to +gratify the curiosity of his new friends, but did not show them the +kite, which, folded and in its cover, he had stowed away in the hut. + +One night, fearing that the sun might injure the boat, Leo had squeezed +the air out of it, folded it, and stowed it away in the hut beside the +kite. The astonishment of the natives, when they came out next morning +to stare and wonder, according to custom, was very great. Leo resolved +to make a mystery of it, looked solemn when spoken to on the point, and +gave evasive replies. + +When, however, the time came for setting off on this grand hunt, he +carried his boat, still bundled up in skins, down to the water's edge, +where kayaks and oomiaks in hundreds lay ready to be launched. + +The news spread like wild-fire that the Kablunet was going to "act +wonderfully!" + +Every man, woman, and child in the place hurried to the spot. + +"It is destroyed!" exclaimed Grabantak, sadly, when he saw the boat +unrolled, flat and empty, on the sand. + +We shall not describe the scene in detail. It is sufficient to say that +Leo did not disappoint the general expectation. He did indeed "act +wonderfully," filling the unsophisticated savages with unbounded +surprise and admiration, while he filled the boat with air and launched +it. He then stepped into it with Anders, gallantly lifted Oblooria on +board, and, seizing the oars, rowed gently out to sea. + +With shouts of delight the Eskimos jumped into their kayaks and +followed. Their admiration was, however, a little calmed by the +discovery that the kayaks could beat the Kablunet boat in speed, though +the women in their oomiaks could not keep up with it. There was no +emulation, however; Leo carefully refrained from racing. + +He had been supplied with a long lance and a couple of spears, to which +latter were attached, by thongs of walrus hide, two inflated sealskins +to act as buoys. These Leo had been previously instructed how to use. + +He took the kite with him on this occasion, without, however, having +much expectation of being able to use it, as the calm still prevailed. +It was folded of course, and fixed in its place in the bow. The natives +thought it must be a spear or harpoon of strange form. + +It was not long before a whale was sighted. There were plenty of these +monsters about, some coming lazily to the surface to blow, others lying +quite still, with their backs out of the water as if sunning themselves, +or asleep. + +Soon the spirit of the hunter filled each Eskimo bosom. What appeared +to be an unusually large whale was observed on the horizon. Kablunets, +india-rubber boats, and all less important things, were forgotten for +the moment; paddles were plied with energy, and the chase began. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +IN WHICH A GREAT HUNT IS DESCRIBED, A WAR EXPEDITION FRUSTRATED, AND A +HERO ENNOBLED. + +Now, in a fit of unwise ambition, Anders the interpreter resolved to +signalise himself, and display his valour on the occasion of this hunt. +He borrowed a kayak of one of the natives, and went as an independent +hunter. Leo, being quite able to row his boat alone, with Oblooria to +steer, did not object. + +The whale which had been selected was a thorough-going Arctic monster of +the largest size, nearly a hundred feet long, which, while on his +passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific through Behring Straits, had +paused for a nap off the isles of Flatland. + +The fleet of kayaks converged towards the fish like a flock of locusts. +Despite his utmost efforts, Leo could not do more than keep up in rear +of the hunters, for the sharp shuttle-like kayaks shot like arrows over +the smooth sea, while his clumsier boat required greater force to propel +it. + +In a few minutes those Eskimos who were best paddlers crept ahead of the +rest. Grabantak and his son took the lead, whether because of right or +because of superior strength it was hard to say. Anders, who was a +powerful fellow, and an expert canoeman, kept close alongside of them. +Not content with this, he attempted to pass them; but they saw his +intention, put on what sporting men call a "spurt," and in a few seconds +left him several yards behind. + +On nearing their victim, Grabantak and Koyatuk checked their speed and +got their spears ready. A few minutes later and a dozen of the +followers were up and prepared to act, but they all held back--all +except the excitable Anders--while the chief and his son glided +cautiously towards the fish, one on either side. Suddenly each grasped +a spear and drove it with all the force of both arms deep into the +whale's flesh. It was a rude awaking! Of course the fish dived +instantly. In doing so it flung its tail on high with a superb sweep, +sending tons of water, and the impatient Anders, into the air. + +The interpreter came down in a cataract of spray, with his kayak doubled +up but himself uninjured, while the Eskimos greeted the event with a +shout of alarm. This changed into laughter when it was found that the +ambitious man was none the worse for his toss; and the women in one of +the oomiak; paddling quickly up, hauled the drenched and crestfallen man +out of the sea. They also picked up his spear with the sealskin buoy +attached. Giving him the place of honour in the bow, they put the spear +in his hand, and bade him keep up heart and do better next time. + +Meanwhile the whale, having got over its first surprise, and feeling the +two large sealskin-floats a somewhat heavy as well as unusual drag, soon +came again to the surface, not far from the spot where Leo lay on his +oars, an amused as well as interested spectator of the scene. + +"Ho!" shrieked Oblooria, whose eager little heart was easily excited. +She pointed to the fish, and gazed at Leo with blazing eyes. + +You may be sure our hero did not lose time. The india-rubber boat +leaped over the water as if it had suddenly been endowed with life. The +smart little woman carefully arranged the spear and buoy ready to hand. +Several of the kayaks which chanced to be nearest to the whale rushed +towards it like sword-fish; but they had no chance, Leo being so near. +He did not check his speed on reaching the fish, but allowed the boat to +run tilt on its back. The smooth india-rubber glided up on the slippery +surface till more than half its length was on the creature's back. It +was thus checked without a shock--probably unfelt by the whale. + +Leo seized the spear, leaped up, and, with both hands, drove it deep +into the flesh, just as the chief and his son had done. The force with +which he drove it was so great that it thrust the boat back into the +water. This was fortunate, for it enabled them narrowly to escape the +vortex that was instantly made by the diving of the now enraged monster; +a few back-strokes of the oars took them out of the sea of foam left +behind. + +The masterly manner in which this was done called forth shouts of +admiration from the entire fleet, and it greatly surprised Leo himself, +for it was the first time he had attempted to use the harpoon. + +"It _must_ have been chance," he muttered to himself as he again lay on +his oars awaiting the whale's reappearance, "a sort of happy accident. +I feel convinced I could not do it so well a second time." + +The fish took a longer dive on this occasion, and when he retained to +the surface for another breath of air, was at a considerable distance +from all parts of the fleet. The instant he was seen, however, every +paddle flashed into the sea, and the kayaks darted away in pursuit. +They soon came up with their victim, and another spear, with its +accompanying sealskin buoy, was fixed in its side. Down it went a third +time, and reappeared in quite an opposite direction from that in which +it had been looked for. + +This uncertainty in the movements of the whale was a matter of small +moment to the occupiers of the light kayaks, but it told rather heavily +on Leo in his clumsier boat. He therefore resolved to paddle gently +about, take things easy, watch the progress of the chase, and trust to +the chapter of accidents giving him another chance. + +"You see, Oblooria," he said in the Eskimo tongue, which he was picking +up rapidly, "it's of no use my pulling wildly about in all directions, +blowing myself for nothing; so we'll just hang off-and-on here and watch +them." + +As this remark called for no direct reply, Oblooria merely smiled-- +indeed she more than smiled--but said nothing. It is just possible that +Leo's rendering of the phrase "off-and-on" into Eskimo may have sounded +ridiculous. + +However this may be, the two sat there for some time, absorbed and +silent spectators of the chase. + +"How long will they take to kill it?" asked Leo when he saw Grabantak +thrust somewhere about the thirty-fifth spear into the victim. + +"All day," answered Oblooria. + +"All day!" repeated Leo in surprise. + +"If they could lance him far in," said the girl, "he would die soon, but +his flesh is thick and his life is deep down." + +Leo relapsed into silence. The idea of remaining a mere spectator all +day was distasteful to his active mind and body. He had almost made up +his mind to ask one of the natives to lend him a kayak and change +places, when a puff of wind sent a few cats-paws over the hitherto +glassy sea. + +He looked quickly in the direction whence it came, and observed a blue +line on the horizon. It was a coming breeze. Ere long it touched them, +blowing gently, indeed, but steadily. A glance upwards showed that it +was steadier and stronger in the upper regions, and blew towards the +south-east, in which direction the chase was being prosecuted with +unflagging activity. + +"If there was only enough," muttered Leo, "to take the kite up, I'd soon +be alongside of the whale; come, I'll try. Lend a hand, Oblooria." + +The Eskimo girl had, during her voyage to Flatland, become so well +acquainted with the operation of extending and setting up the kite, that +she was able to lend effective assistance. In less than ten minutes it +was expanded, and although Leo was nearly pulled into the water before +he got fair hold of the regulator, while Oblooria was thrown down by an +eccentric whisk of the tail, they managed at last to get it fairly over +their heads, and soon sent it shooting upwards into the stronger air +current above. Of course they began to rush over the sea at a pace that +would have quickly left the best kayak in the fleet far astern, but Leo +did not wish to act precipitately. He sat down in the bow to attend to +the regulator, while Oblooria held the steering-oar. + +"Keep her away a bit, Oblooria; starboard--I mean to _that_ side. So, +we won't spoil their sport too soon." + +He pulled the regulator as he spoke, and eased the pace, while the +Eskimo girl, with eyes glittering from expectancy and hope, turned the +boat off to the right. + +Leo seemed to be meditative at first, as if uncertain how to proceed. +Soon this condition of mind passed. He let go the regulator, and, +taking up the long whale lance with which he had been provided, examined +its blade and point. The full force of the breeze filled the kite and +carried them along at not less than ten miles an hour. + +Hitherto the Eskimos had been so intent on their prey that they had no +eyes for anything else. Again and again had the whale been pierced by +the stinging harpoons, and the number of inflated sealskins which he was +obliged by that time to drag down into the deep was so great that his +dives had become more frequent and much shorter. It was obvious that +the perseverance of his little foes would in the end overcome his mighty +strength. It was equally evident, however, that there was still a great +deal of fighting power left in him, and as some of the harpoons had come +out while several of the floats had broken loose, there was just a +possibility that he might yet escape if not vigorously followed up. + +Suddenly one of the Eskimos was seen to drop his paddle and point with +both hands to the sky, uttering at the same time a cry of surprise and +alarm. There was no mistaking the cry. Every paddle ceased to dip, and +every eye was turned to the sky. Of course every voice gave forth a +howl! + +"A mystery!" shouted Grabantak. + +"An evil spirit!" cried Koyatuk. + +"A new kind of bird!" roared Teyma. + +At that moment a cry louder than ever arose. Leo's boat was observed +coming like a narwhal over the sea, with the foam flying from its bows! + +The "new kind of bird," so they at first imagined, had let down a long +thin tail, caught the boat of the white man, and was flying away with +it! + +Into the midst of them the boat rushed. They dashed aside right and +left. Leo was standing in the bow. He moved not, spoke not, looked at +no one, but stood up, bent a little forward, with a stern frown on his +brow, his lips compressed, and the long lance held level in both hands +as if in the act of charging. + +"Catch hold of him!" yelled Grabantak as they flew past. As well might +they have tried to catch a comet! + +"Steer a little to the left," said Leo in a low tone. + +Obedient, on the instant, the girl made a sharp stroke with the oar. + +"Steady--so. Now, Oblooria, hold on tight for your life!" + +They were going straight at the whale. Leo did not dare to think of the +result of his intended attack. He could not guess it. He hoped all +would be well. He had no time to think of _pros_ and _cons_. They were +close to the victim. On it, now, sliding over its back, while the sharp +lance entered its body with the full momentum of the charge,--deep down +into its vitals! Blood flew out like a waterspout. The lance was torn +from Leo's grasp as he fell backwards. Oblooria leaped up, in wild +excitement, dropped her oar, and clapped her hands. At that instant the +stout traction-line snapped, and the boat remained fast, while the kite +descended in a series of helpless gyrations into the sea. Next moment +the whale went down in a convulsive struggle, and the boat, with its +daring occupants, was whelmed in a whirlpool of blood and foam. + +No cry proceeded from the Eskimos during this stupendous attack. They +seemed bereft alike of voice and volition, but, on beholding the closing +catastrophe, they rushed to the rescue with a united roar. + +Before they could gain the spot, Leo was seen to emerge from the deep, +dripping with pink and white foam like a very water-god. Oblooria +followed instantly, like a piebald water-nymph. The boat had not been +upset, though overwhelmed, and they had held on to it with the tenacity +of a last hope. + +Looking sharply round, as he gasped and swept the water from his eyes, +Leo seized the oars, which, being attached to the boat, were still +available, and rowed with all his might away from the approaching +Eskimos as if he were afraid of being caught by them. They followed +with, if possible, increased surprise at this inexplicable conduct. +They made up to him; some even shot ahead of him. Poor Leo was not a +moment too soon in reaching his kite, for these people were about to +transfix it with their whale-harpoons, when he dashed up and ordered +them to desist. + +Having rescued the miserable-looking thing from the sea and hastily +folded it, he placed it in the bow. Then breathing freely, he began to +look about him just as the whale came again to the surface in a dying +flurry. It so chanced that it came up right under Grabantak's kayak, +which it tossed up end over end. This would not have been a serious +matter if it had not, the next moment, brought its mighty tail down on +the canoe. It then sheered off a hundred yards or so, leaped half its +length out of the water, and fell over on its side with a noise like +thunder and died. + +Every one turned to the place where the chief's kayak lay a complete +wreck on the water. Its owner was seen swimming beside it, and was soon +hauled into one of the women's oomiaks. Evidently he had been severely +hurt, but he would not admit the fact. With characteristic dignity he +sternly ordered the fleet to lay hold of the whale and make for the +shore. + +"Tell him his arm is broken," said Leo that evening to Anders, after +examining the chief's hurts in the privacy of his own hut, "and let him +know that I am a medicine-man and will try to cure him." + +Grabantak received the information with a look of anger. + +"Then," said he, "Amalatok must live a little longer, for I cannot fight +him with a broken arm. Go," he added, looking full at Leo with +something like admiration, "go, you have done well to-day; my young men +want to make your nose blue." + +The peremptory nature of the chief's command forbade delay. Leo was +therefore obliged to creep out of his hut, wondering intensely, and not +a little uncomfortably, as to what having his nose made blue could mean. + +He was quickly enlightened by Anders, who told him that the most +successful harpooner in a whale hunt is looked on as a very great +personage indeed, and is invariably decorated with what may be styled +the Eskimo order of the Blue Ribbon. + +Scarcely had he received this information, when he was seized by the +young men and hurried into the midst of an expectant circle, where he +submitted with a good grace to the ceremony. A youth advanced to him, +made a few complimentary remarks, seized him by the right ear, and, with +a little wet paint, drew a broad blue line across his face over the +bridge of his nose. He was then informed that he had received the +highest honour known to the Eskimos of the far north, and that, among +other privileges, it gave him the right of marrying two wives if he felt +disposed to do so! Accepting the honour, but declining the privilege, +Leo expressed his gratitude for the compliment just paid him in a neat +Eskimo speech, and then retired to his hut in search of much-needed +repose, not a little comforted by the thought that the chief's broken +arm would probably postpone the threatened war for an indefinite period. + +That night ridiculous fancies played about his deerskin pillow, for he +dreamed of being swallowed by a mad whale, and whisked up to the sky by +a kite with a broken arm and a blue stripe across its nose! + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +TELLS OF A WARLIKE EXPEDITION AND ITS HAPPY TERMINATION. + +While these stirring events were taking place in Flatland, our friends +in the Island of Poloe continued to fish and hunt, and keep watch and +ward against their expected enemies in the usual fashion; but alas for +the poor Englishmen! All the light had gone out of their eyes; all the +elasticity had vanished from their spirits. Ah! it is only those who +know what it is to lose a dear friend or brother, who can understand the +terrible blank which had descended on the lives of our discoverers, +rendering them, for the time at least, comparatively indifferent to the +events that went on around them, and totally regardless of the great +object which had carried them so far into those regions of ice. + +They could no longer doubt that Leo and his companions had perished, for +they had searched every island of the Poloe group, including that one on +which Leo and the Eskimos had found temporary refuge. Here, indeed, a +momentary gleam of hope revived, when Alf found the spent +cartridge-cases which his brother had thrown down on the occasion of his +shooting for the purpose of impressing his captors, and they searched +every yard of the island, high and low, for several days, before +suffering themselves to relapse into the old state of despair. No +evidence whatever remained to mark the visit of the Eskimos, for these +wily savages never left anything behind them on their war-expeditions, +and the storm had washed away any footprints that might have remained in +the hard rocky soil. + +Amalatok--who, with his son and his men, sympathised with the Englishmen +in their loss, and lent able assistance in the prolonged search--gave +the final death-blow to their hopes by his remarks, when Captain Vane +suggested that perhaps the lost ones had been blown over the sea to +Flatland. + +"That is not possible," said Amalatok promptly. + +"Why not? The distance is not so very great." + +"The distance is not very great, that is true," replied Amalatok. "If +Lo had sailed away to Flatland he might have got safely there, but +Blackbeard surely forgets that the storm did not last more than a few +hours. If Lo had remained even a short time on this island, would not +the calm weather which followed the storm have enabled him to paddle +back again to Poloe? No, he must have thought the storm was going to be +a long one, and thinking that, must have tried, again to face it and +paddle against it. In this attempt he has perished. Without doubt Lo +and Unders and Oblooria are in the land of spirits." + +Eskimos of the far north, unlike the red men of the prairies, are prone +to give way to their feelings. At the mention of the timid one's name, +Oolichuk covered his face with his hands and wept aloud. Poor Alf and +Benjy felt an almost irresistible desire to join him. All the fun and +frolic had gone completely out of the latter, and as for Alf, he went +about like a man half asleep, with a strange absent look in his eyes and +a perfect blank on his expressionless face. No longer did he roam the +hills of Poloeland with geological hammer and box. He merely went +fishing when advised or asked to do so, or wandered aimlessly on the +sea-shore. The Captain and Benjy acted much in the same way. In the +extremity of their grief they courted solitude. + +The warm hearts of Chingatok and the negro beat strong with sympathy. +They longed to speak words of comfort, but at first delicacy of feeling, +which is found in all ranks and under every skin, prevented them from +intruding on sorrow which they knew not how to assuage. + +At last the giant ventured one day to speak to Alf. "Has the Great +Spirit no word of comfort for His Kablunet children?" he asked. + +"Yes, yes," replied Alf quickly. "He says, `Call upon me in the time of +trouble and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.'" + +"Have you not called?" asked Chingatok with a slight look of surprise. + +"No; I say it to my shame, Chingatok. This blow has so stunned me that +I had forgotten my God." + +"Call now," said the giant earnestly. "If He is a good and true God, He +must keep His promise." + +Alf did call, then and there, and the Eskimo stood and listened with +bowed head and reverent look, until the poor youth had concluded his +prayer with the name of Jesus. + +The negro's line of argument with Benjy was different and +characteristically lower toned. + +"You muss keep up de heart, Massa Benjy. Nobody nebber knows wot may +come for to pass. P'r'aps Massa Leo he go to de Nort Pole by hisself. +He was allers bery fond o' takin' peepil by surprise. Nebber say die, +Massa Benjy, s'long's der's a shot in de locker." + +At any other time Benjy would have laughed at the poor cook's efforts to +console him, but he only turned away with a sigh. + +Two days after that the Eskimos of Poloe were assembled on the beach +making preparations to go off on a seal hunt. + +"Is that a whale on the horizon or a walrus!" asked the Captain, +touching Chingatok on the arm as they stood on the edge of the sea, +ready to embark. + +"More like a black gull," said Benjy, "or a northern diver." + +Chingatok looked long and earnestly at the object in question, and then +said with emphasis--"A kayak!" + +"One of the young men returning from a hunt, I suppose," said Alf, whose +attention was aroused by the interest manifested by the surrounding +Eskimos. + +"Not so," said Amalatok, who joined the group at the moment, "the man +paddles like a man of Flatland." + +"What! one of your enemies?" cried the Captain, who, in his then state +of depression, would have welcomed a fight as a sort of relief. +Evidently Butterface shared his hopes, for he showed the whites of his +eyes and grinned amazingly as he clenched his horny hands. + +"Yes--our enemies," said Amalatok. + +"The advanced guard of the host," said the Captain, heartily; "come, the +sooner we get ready for self-defence the better." + +"Yis, dat's de word," said the negro, increasing his grin for a moment +and then collapsing into sudden solemnity; "we nebber fights 'cep' in +self-defence--oh no--_nebber_!" + +"They come not to attack," said Chingatok quietly. "Flatlanders never +come except in the night when men sleep. This is but one man." + +"Perhaps he brings news!" exclaimed Benjy, with a sudden blaze of hope. + +"Perhaps," echoed Alf, eagerly. + +"It may be so," said Chingatok. + +It was not long before the question was set at rest. The approaching +kayak came on at racing speed. Its occupant leaped on shore, and, +panting from recent exertion, delivered his thrilling message. + +"Prisoners in Flatland," said the Captain at the council of war which +was immediately summoned, "but alive and well. Let us be thankful for +that good news, anyhow; but then, they ask us to help them, _quickly_. +That means danger." + +"Yes, danger!" shouted Oolichuk, who, at the thought of Oblooria in the +hands of his foes, felt an almost irresistible desire to jump at some of +the youths of his own tribe, and kill them, by way of relieving his +feelings. + +"Rest content, Oolichuk," cried Amalatok, with a horrible grinding of +his teeth; "we will tear out their hearts, and batter in their skulls, +and--" + +"But," resumed the Captain hastily, "I do not think the danger so great. +All I would urge is that we should not delay going to their rescue--" + +"Ho! huk! hi!" interrupted the whole band of assembled warriors, leaping +up and going through sundry suggestive actions with knives and spears. + +"Does my father wish me to get the kayaks ready?" asked Chingatok, who, +as usual, retained his composure. + +"Do, my son. Let plenty of blubber be stowed in them, and war-spears," +said the old chief; "we will start at once." + +The promptitude with which these northern Eskimos prepared for war might +be a lesson to the men of civilised communities. We have already said +that the sun had by that time begun to set for a few hours each day. +Before it had reached the deepest twilight that night a hundred and +fifty picked warriors, with their kayaks and war material, were skimming +over the sea, led by the fiery old chief and his gigantic but +peace-loving son. Of course Captain Vane, Benjy, Alphonse Vandervell, +and Butterface accompanied them, but none of the women were allowed to +go, as it was expected that the war would be a bloody one. These, +therefore, with the children, were left in charge of a small body of the +big boys of the tribe, with the old men. + +The weather was fine, the sea smooth, and the arms of the invading host +strong. It was not long before the sea that separated Poloe Island from +Flatland was crossed. + +Towards sunset of a calm and beautiful day they sighted land. Gently, +with noiseless dip of paddle, they glided onward like a phantom fleet. + +That same evening Leo and Oblooria sat by the couch of Grabantak, +nursing him. The injury received by the chief from the whale had thrown +him into a high fever. The irritation of enforced delay on his fiery +spirit had made matters worse, and at times he became delirious. During +these paroxysms it required two men to hold him down, while he indulged +in wild denunciations of his Poloe foes, with frequent allusions to +dread surgical operations to be performed on the body of Amalatok-- +operations with which the Royal College of Surgeons is probably +unacquainted. Leo, whose knowledge of the Eskimo tongue was rapidly +extending, sought to counteract the patient's ferocity by preaching +forgiveness and patience. Being unsuccessful, he had recourse to a +soporific plant which he had recently discovered. To administer an +overdose of this was not unnatural, perhaps, in a youthful doctor. +Absolute prostration was not the precise result he had hoped for, but it +_was_ the result, and it had the happy effect of calming the spirit of +Grabantak and rendering him open to conviction. + +Fortunately the Flatlanders were on the look-out when the men of Poloe +drew near. One of the Flatland braves was returning from a fishing +expedition at the time, saw the advancing host while they were yet well +out at sea, and came home at racing speed with the news. + +"Strange that they should come to attack _us_," said Teyma to Leo at the +council of war which was immediately called. "It has always, up to this +time, been our custom to attack _them_." + +"Not so strange as you think," said Anders, who now, for the first time, +mentioned the sending of the message to Poloeland. + +Black looks were turned on the interpreter, and several hands wandered +towards boots in search of daggers, when the prime minister interfered. + +"You did not well, Unders, to act without letting us know," he said with +grave severity. "We must now prepare to meet the men of Poloe, whether +they come as friends or foes. Let the young men arm. I go to consult +with our chief." + +"You must not consult with Grabantak," said Leo firmly. "He lies limp. +His backbone has no more strength than a piece of walrus line. His son +must act for him at present." + +"Boo!" exclaimed one of the warriors, with a look of ineffable contempt, +"Koyatuk is big enough, but he is brainless. He can bluster and look +fierce like the walrus, but he has only the wisdom of an infant puffin. +No, we will be led by Teyma." + +This sentiment was highly applauded by the entire council, which +included the entire army, indeed the whole grown-up male part of the +nation; so that Koyatuk was deposed on the spot, as all incompetents +ought to be, and one of the best men of Flatland was put in his place. + +"But if I am to lead you," said the premier firmly, "it shall be to +peace, not to war!" + +"Lead us to what you like; you have brains," returned the man who had +previously said "boo!" "We know not what is best, but we can trust +you." + +Again the approval was unanimous. + +"Well, then, I accept the command until my chief's health is restored," +said Teyma, rising. "Now, the council is at an end. To your huts, +warriors, and get your spears ready; and to your lamps, girls. Prepare +supper for our warriors, and let the allowance of each be doubled." + +This latter command caused no small degree of surprise, but no audible +comment was made, and strict obedience was rendered. + +Leo returned to Grabantak's hut, where he found that fiery chief as limp +as ever, but with some of the old spirit left, for he was feebly making +uncomfortable references to the heart, liver, and other vital organs of +Amalatok and all his band. + +Soon afterwards that band came on in battle array, on murderous deeds +intent. The Flatlanders assembled on the beach to receive them. + +"Leave your spears on the ground behind you," shouted Teyma to his host; +"advance to the water's edge, and at my signal, throw up your arms." + +"They have been forewarned," growled Amalatok, grinding his teeth in +disappointment, and checking the advance of his fleet by holding up one +hand. + +"No doubt," said Captain Vane, who, with Benjy, Alf, and Butterface, was +close to the Poloe chief in one of the india-rubber boats, "no doubt my +young countryman, having sent a message, expected us. Surely--eh! +Benjy, is not that Leo standing in front of the rest with another man?" + +The Captain applied his binocular telescope to his eyes as he spoke. + +"Yes, it's him--thank God! and I see Anders too, quite plainly, and +Oblooria!" + +"Are they bound hand and foot?" demanded Amalatok, savagely. + +"No, they are as free as you are. And the Eskimos are unarmed, +apparently." + +"Ha! that is their deceit," growled the chief. "The Flatlanders were +always sly; but they shall not deceive us. Braves, get ready your +spears!" + +"May it not be that Leo has influenced them peacefully, my father?" +suggested Chingatok. + +"Not so, my son," said the chief savagely. "Grabantak was always sly as +a white fox, fierce as a walrus, mean as a wolf, greedy as a black gull, +contemptible as--" + +The catalogue of Grabantak's vices was cut short by the voice of Teyma +coming loud and strong over the sea. + +"If the men of Poloe come as friends, let them land. The men of +Flatland are about to feed, and will share their supper. If the men of +Poloe come as foes, still I say let them land. The braves of Flatland +have sharpened their spears!" + +Teyma threw up both hands as he finished, and all his host followed +suit. + +For a moment or two the Poloese hesitated. They still feared deception. +Then the voice of Leo was heard loud and clear. + +"Why do you hesitate? come on, uncle, supper's getting cold. We've been +waiting for you a long time, and are all very hungry!" + +This was received with a shout of laughter by the Englishmen, high above +which rose a wild cheer of joy from Benjy. Amalatok swallowed his +warlike spirit, laid aside his spear, and seized his paddle. Chingatok +gave the signal to advance, and, a few minutes later, those warriors of +the north--those fierce savages who, probably for centuries, had been +sworn hereditary foes--were seated round the igloe-lamps, amicably +smearing their fingers and faces with fat, as they feasted together on +chops of the walrus and cutlets of the polar bear. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +THE GREAT DISCOVERY. + +Friendly relations having been established between the Flatlanders and +the Poloese, both nations turned their attention to the arts of peace. + +Among other things, Captain Vane and his party devoted themselves once +more, with renewed energy, to the pursuit of discovery and scientific +investigation. An expedition was planned to _Great Isle_, not now for +the purpose of consulting Makitok, the oracle, as to the best time for +going to war, but to gratify the wishes of Captain Vane, who had the +strongest reason for believing that he was in the immediate +neighbourhood of the Pole. + +"Blackbeard says he must be very near nothing now," observed Chingatok +to Anders the day after their arrival. + +"Near _nothing_!" exclaimed Teyma, who was sitting close by. + +Of course the giant explained, and the premier looked incredulous. + +"I wish I had not left my sextant behind me in the hurry of departure," +said the Captain that evening to Leo. "But we came off in such hot +haste that I forgot it. However, I'll ask Amalatok to send a young man +back for it. I'm persuaded we cannot now be more than a few miles +distant from our goal." + +"I quite agree with you, uncle, for when I looked at the north star last +night it seemed to me as directly in the zenith as it was possible to +imagine." + +"Ay, lad; but the unaided eye is deceptive. A few miles of difference +cannot be distinguished by it. When did the Pole star become visible?" + +"Only last night; I fancied I had made it out the night before, but was +not quite sure, the daylight, even at the darkest hour, being still too +intense to let many of the stars be seen." + +"Well, we shall see. I am of opinion that we are still between twenty +and forty miles south of the Pole. Meanwhile, I'll induce Teyma to get +up an expedition to the island of this Maki-what?" + +"Tok," said Leo; "Makitok. Everything almost ends in _tok_ or _tuk_ +hereabouts." + +"Who, and what, is this man?" asked the Captain. + +"No one seems to know precisely. His origin has been lost in the mists +of antiquity. His first forefather--so tradition styles him--seems, +like Melchisedec, to have had no father or mother, and to have come from +no one knows where. Anyhow he founded a colony in _Great Isle_, and +Makitok is the present head of all the families." + +Leo then explained about the mystery-thing called _buk_, which was +wrapped up in innumerable pieces of sealskin. + +"Strange," said the Captain, "passing strange. All you tell me makes me +the more anxious to visit this man of the valley. You say there is no +chance of Grabantak being able to take the reins of government again for +a long time?" + +"None. He has got a shake that will keep him helpless for some time to +come. And this is well, for Teyma will be ready to favour any project +that tends towards peace or prosperity." + +Now, while preparations for the northern expedition were being made, our +friend Oolichuk went a-wooing. And this is the fashion in which he did +it. + +Arraying himself one day, like any other lovesick swain, in his best, he +paid a ceremonial visit to Oblooria, who lived with Merkut, the wife of +Grabantak, in a hut at the eastern suburb of the village. Oolichuk's +costume was simple, if not elegant. It consisted of an undercoat of +bird-skins, with the feathers inwards; bearskin pantaloons with the hair +out; an upper coat of the grey seal; dogskin socks and sealskin boots. + +That young Eskimo did not visit his bride empty-handed. He carried a +bundle containing a gift--skins of the young eider-duck to make an +undergarment for his lady-love, two plump little auks with which to +gratify her palate, and a bladder of oil to wash them down and cause her +heart to rejoice. + +Good fortune favoured this brave man, for he met Oblooria at a lonely +part of the shore among the boulders. + +Romance lies deep in the heart of an Eskimo--so deep that it is not +perceptible to the naked eye. Whatever the Poloe warrior and maiden +felt, they took care not to express in words. But Oolichuk looked +unutterable things, and invited Oblooria to dine then and there. The +lady at once assented with a bashful smile, and sat down on a boulder. +Oolichuk sat down beside her, and presented the bundle of +under-clothing. + +While the lady was examining this with critical eyes, the gentleman +prepared the food. Taking one of the auks, he twisted off its head, put +his forefinger under the integuments of the neck, drew the skin down +backwards, and the bird was skinned. Then he ran his long thumb-nail +down the breast and sliced off a lump, which he presented to the lady +with the off-hand air of one who should say, "If you don't want it you +may let it alone!" + +Raw though the morsel was, Oblooria accepted it with a pleased look, and +ate it with relish. She also accepted the bladder, and, putting it to +her lips, pledged him in a bumper of oil. + +Oolichuk continued this process until the first auk was finished. He +then treated the second bird in the same manner, and assisted his +lady-love to consume it, as well as the remainder of the oil. +Conversation did not flow during the first part of the meal, but, after +having drunk deeply, their lips were opened and the feast of reason +began. It consisted chiefly of a running commentary by the man on the +Kablunets and their ways, and appreciative giggles on the part of the +woman; but they were interrupted at the very commencement by the sudden +appearance of one of the Kablunets sauntering towards them. + +They rose instantly and rambled away in opposite directions, absorbed in +contemplation--the one of the earth, and the other of the sky. + +Three days after that, Captain Vane and his party approached the shores +of _Great Isle_. It was low like the other islands of Flatland, but of +greater extent, insomuch that its entire circumference could not be seen +from its highest central point. Like the other islands it was quite +destitute of trees, but the low bush was luxuriantly dense, and filled, +they were told, with herds of reindeer and musk-oxen. Myriads of +wild-fowl--from the lordly swan to the twittering sandpiper--swarmed +among its sedgy lakelets, while grouse and ptarmigan were to be seen in +large flocks on its uplands. The land was clothed in mosses and grasses +of the richest green, and decked with variegated wild-flowers and +berries. + +The voyagers were received with deep interest and great hospitality by +the inhabitants of the coast, who, it seemed, never quarrelled with the +neighbouring islanders or went to war. + +Makitok dwelt in the centre of the island. Thither they therefore went +the following day. + +It was afternoon when they came to the valley in which dwelt the +angekok, or, as Red Indians would have styled him, the medicine-man. + +It was a peculiar valley. Unlike other vales it had neither outlet or +inlet, but was a mere circular basin or depression of vast extent, the +lowest part of which was in its centre. The slope towards the centre +was so gradual that the descent was hardly perceived, yet Captain Vane +could not resist the conviction that the lowest part of the vale must be +lower than the surface of the sea. + +The rich luxuriance of herbage in Great Isle seemed to culminate in this +lovely vale. At the centre and lowest part of the valley, Makitok, or +rather Makitok's forefathers, had built their dwelling. It was a hut, +resembling the huts of the Eskimos. No other hut was to be seen. The +angekok loved solitude. + +Beside the hut there stood a small truncated cone about fifteen feet +high, on the summit of which sat an old white-bearded man, who intently +watched the approaching travellers. + +"Behold--Makitok!" said Teyma as they drew near. + +The old man did not move. He appeared to be over eighty years of age, +and, unlike Eskimos in general, had a bushy snow-white beard. The thin +hair on his head was also white, and his features were good. + +Our travellers were not disappointed with this strange recluse, who +received them with an air of refinement and urbanity so far removed from +Eskimo manners and character, that Captain Vane felt convinced he must +be descended from some other branch of the human family. Makitok felt +and expressed a degree of interest in the objects of the expedition +which had not been observed in any Eskimo, except Chingatok, and he was +intelligent and quick of perception far before most of those who +surrounded him. + +"And what have you to say about yourself?" asked the captain that +evening, after a long animated conversation on the country and its +productions. + +"I have little to say," replied the old man, sadly. "There is no +mystery about my family except its beginning in the long past." + +"But is not _all_ mystery in the long past?" asked the Captain. + +"True, my son, but there is a difference in _my_ mystery. Other Eskimos +can trace back from son to father till they get confused and lost, as if +surrounded by the winter-fogs. But when I trace back--far back--I come +to one man--my _first father_, who had no father, it is said, and who +came no one knows from where. My mind is not confused or lost; it is +stopped!" + +"Might not the mystery-bundle that you call _buk_ explain matters?" +asked Alf. + +When this was translated, the old man for the first time looked +troubled. + +"I dare not open it," he said in an undertone, as if speaking to +himself. "From father to son we have held it sacred. It must grow-- +ever grow--never diminish!" + +"It's a pity he looks at it in that light," remarked Leo to Benjy, as +they lay down to sleep that night. "I have no doubt that the man whom +he styles first father wrapped up the thing, whatever it is, to keep it +safe, not to make a mystery of it, and that his successors, having begun +with a mistaken view, have now converted the re-wrapping of the bundle +by each successive heir into a sacred obligation. However, we may +perhaps succeed in overcoming the old fellow's prejudices. Good-night, +Benjy." + +A snore from Benjy showed that Leo's words had been thrown away, so, +with a light laugh, he turned over, and soon joined his comrade in the +land of dreams. + +For two weeks the party remained on _Great Isle_, hunting, shooting, +fishing, collecting, and investigating; also, we may add, astonishing +the natives. + +During that period many adventures of a more or less exciting nature +befell them, which, however, we must pass over in silence. At the end +of that time, the youth who had been sent for the Captain's sextant and +other philosophical instruments arrived with them all--thermometers, +barometers, chronometers, wind and water gauges, pendulums, etcetera, +safe and sound. + +As the instruments reached _Cup Valley_, (so Benjy had styled Makitok's +home), in the morning, it was too early for taking trustworthy +observations. The Captain therefore employed the time in erecting an +observatory. For this purpose he selected, with Makitok's permission, +the truncated cone close to the recluse's dwelling. Here, after taking +formal possession and hoisting the Union Jack, he busied himself, in a +state of subdued excitement, preparing for the intended observations. + +"I'll fix the latitude and longitude in a few hours," he said. +"Meantime, Leo, you and Benjy had better go off with the rifle and fetch +us something good for dinner." + +Leo and Benjy were always ready to go a-hunting. They required no +second bidding, but were soon rambling over the slopes or wading among +the marshes of the island in pursuit of game. + +Leo carried his repeater; Benjy the shot-gun. Both wore native Eskimo +boots as long as the leg, which, being made of untanned hide, are, when +soaked, thoroughly waterproof. (See Note.) + +Oolichuk and Butterface carried the game-bags, and these were soon +filled with such game as was thought best for food. Sending them back +to camp with orders to empty the bags and return, Leo and Benjy took to +the uplands in search of nobler game. It was not difficult to find. +Soon a splendid stag was shot by Leo and a musk-ox by Benjy. + +Not long after this, the bag-bearers returned. + +"You shoots mos' awful well, Massas," said Butterface; "but it's my +'pinion dat you bof better go home, for Captain Vane he go mad!" + +"What d'you mean, Butterface?" asked Leo. + +"I mean dat de Capp'n he's hoed mad, or suffin like it, an' Massa Alf +not mush better." + +A good deal amused and surprised by the negro's statement, the two +hunters hastened back to Makitok's hut, where they indeed found Captain +Vane in a state of great excitement. + +"Well, uncle, what's the news?" asked Leo; "found your latitude higher +than you expected?" + +"Higher!" exclaimed the Captain, seizing his nephew by both hands and +shaking them. "Higher! I should think so--couldn't be _higher_. +There's neither latitude nor longitude here, my boy! I've found it! +Come--come up, and I'll show you the exact spot--the _North Pole +itself_!" + +He dragged Leo to the top of the truncated cone on which he had pitched +his observatory. + +"There, look round you," he cried, taking off his hat and wiping the +perspiration from his brow. + +"Well, uncle, where is it?" asked Leo, half-amused and half-sceptical. + +"Where! why, don't you see it? No, of course you don't. You're looking +_all round it_, lad. Look down,--down at your feet. Leonard +Vandervell," he added, in sudden solemnity, "you're _on it_! you're +standing on the North Pole _now_!" + +Leo still looked incredulous. + +"What I you don't believe? Convince him, Alf." + +"Indeed it is true," said Alf; "we have been testing and checking our +observations in every possible manner, and the result never varies more +than a foot or two. The North Pole is at this moment actually under our +feet." + +As we have now, good reader, at last reached that great _point_ of +geographical interest which has so long perplexed the world and agitated +enterprising man, we deem this the proper place to present you with a +map of Captain Vane's discoveries. + +"And so," said Benjy with an injured look, "the geography books are +right after all; the world _is_ `a little flattened at the Poles like an +orange.' Well, I never believed it before, and I don't believe _yet_ +that it's like an orange." + +"But it is more than flattened, Benjy," said Leo; "don't you see it is +even hollowed out a little, as if the spinning of the world had made a +sort of whirlpool at the North Pole, and no doubt there is the same at +the South." + +Chingatok, who was listening to the conversation, without of course +understanding it, and to whom the Captain had made sundry spasmodic +remarks during the day in the Eskimo tongue, went that night to +Amalatok, who was sitting in Makitok's hut, and said-- + +"My father, Blackbeard has found it!" + +"Found what, my son?--his nothing--his Nort Pole?" + +"Yes, my father, he has found his Nort Pole." + +"Is he going to carry it away with him in his soft wind-boat?" asked the +old chief with a half-humorous, half-contemptuous leer. + +"And," continued Chingatok, who was too earnest about the matter to take +notice of his father's levity, "his Nort Pole is _something_ after all! +It is not nothing, for I heard him say he is standing on it. No man can +stand on nothing; therefore his Nort Pole which he stands on must be +something." + +"He is standing on my outlook. He must not carry _that_ away," remarked +Makitok with a portentous frown. + +"Boh!" exclaimed Amalatok, rising impatiently. "I will not listen to +the nonsense of Blackbeard. Have I not heard him say that the world +stands on nothing, spins on nothing, and rolls continually round the +sun? How can anything spin on nothing? And as to the sun, use your own +eyes. Do you not see that for a long time it rolls round the world, for +a long time it rolls in a circle above us, and for a long time it rolls +away altogether, leaving us all in darkness? My son, these Kablunets +are ignorant fools, and you are not much better for believing them. +Boo! I have no patience with the nonsense talk of Blackbeard." + +The old chief flung angrily out of the hut, leaving his more philosophic +son to continue the discussion of the earth's mysteries with Makitok, +the reputed wizard of the furthest possible north. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. The writer has often waded knee-deep in such boots, for hours at +a time, on the swampy shores of Hudson's Bay, without wetting his feet +in the slightest degree. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +TELLS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, OF A NOTABLE DISCOVERY. + +Soon after this, signs of approaching winter began to make their +appearance in the regions of the North Pole. The sun, which at first +had been as a familiar friend night and day, had begun to absent himself +not only all night, but during a large portion of each day, giving sure +though quiet hints of his intention to forsake the region altogether, +and leave it to the six months' reign of night. Frost began to render +the nights bitterly cold. The birds, having brought forth and brought +up their young, were betaking themselves to more temperate regions, +leaving only such creatures as bears, seals, walruses, foxes, wolves, +and men, to enjoy, or endure, the regions of the frigid zone. + +Suddenly there came a day in October when all the elemental fiends and +furies of the Arctic circle seemed to be let loose in wildest revelry. +It was a turning-point in the Arctic seasons. + +By that time Captain Vane and his party had transported all their +belongings to Great Isle, where they had taken up their abode beside old +Makitok. They had, with that wizard's permission, built to themselves a +temporary stone hut, as Benjy Vane facetiously said, "on the very top of +the North Pole itself;" that is, on the little mound or truncated cone +of rock, in the centre of the Great Isle, on which they had already set +up the observatory, and which cone was, in very truth, as nearly as +possible the exact position of that long-sought-for imaginary point of +earth as could be ascertained by repeated and careful observations, made +with the best of scientific instruments by thoroughly capable men. + +Chingatok and his father, with a large band of their followers and some +of their women, had also encamped, by permission, round the Pole, where, +in the intervals of the chase, they watched, with solemn and unflagging +interest, the incomprehensible doings of the white men. + +The storm referred to began with heavy snow--that slow, quiet, +down-floating of great flakes which is so pleasant, even restful, in its +effect on the senses. At first it seemed as if a golden haze were mixed +with the snowfall, suggesting the idea that the sun's rays were +penetrating it. + +"Most beautiful!" said Leo, who sat beside the Captain and his friends +on the North Pole enjoying the view through the open doorway of the hut, +and sipping a cup of coffee. + +"It reminds me," said Alf, "of Buzzby's lines:-- + + "`The snowflakes falling softly + In the morning's golden prime, + Suggestive of a gentle touch + And the silent flight of Time.'" + +"Behold a more powerful reminder of the flight of Time!" said Benjy, +pointing to the aged Makitok, who, with white beard and snow-besprinkled +person, came slowly towards them like the living embodiment of "Old +Father Christmas." + +"Come," said Leo, hastening to assist the old man, "let me help you up +the Pole." + +Leo, and indeed all the party, had fallen in with Benjy's humour, and +habitually referred thus to their mound. + +"Why comes the ancient one here through the snow?" said Captain Vane, +rising and offering Makitok his seat, which was an empty packing-case. +"Surely my friend does not think we would forget him? Does not Benjy +always carry him his morning cup of coffee when the weather is too bad +for him to come hither?" + +"Truly," returned the old man, sitting down with a sigh, "the Kablunets +are kind. They never forget. Bunjee never fails to bring the cuffy, +though he does sometimes pretend to forget the shoogre, till I have +tasted it and made a bad face; then he laughs and remembers that the +shoogre is in his pouch. It is his little way. But I come not to-day +for cuffy; I come to warn. There is danger in the air. Blackbeard must +take his strange things," (thus he referred to the philosophical +instruments), "away from here--from--ha!--from Nort Pole, and put them +in my hut, where they will be safe." + +The Captain did not at once reply. Turning to his companions he said-- + +"I see no particular reason to fear this `danger in the air.' I'll go +and consult Chingatok or his father on the point." + +"The ancient one, as you call him," said Benjy, "seems to be growing +timid with age." + +"The youthful one," retorted the Captain, "seems to be growing insolent +with age. Go, you scamp, and tell Amalatok I want to speak with him." + +Whatever faults our young hero had, disobedience was not one of them. +He rose promptly, and soon returned with the chief of Poloeland. + +Amalatok confirmed the wizard's opinions, and both opinions were still +more powerfully confirmed, while he was speaking, by a gust of wind +which suddenly came rushing at them as if from all points of the +compass, converging at the Pole and shooting upwards like a whirlwind, +carrying several hats of the party with volumes of the now wildly +agitated snow up into the sky. + +There was no room for further hesitation. + +"Why, Massa Bunjay, I thought my woolly scalp he hoed up 'long wid my +hat!" cried Butterface, leaping up in obedience to the Captain's hurried +order to look sharp and lend a hand. + +In a short time all the instruments were removed from the observatory +and carefully housed in Makitok's hut. Even while they were thus +engaged the storm burst on them with excessive violence. The snow which +had been falling so softly, was caught up by the conflicting winds and +hurled high into the air, or driven furiously over the valley in all +directions, for the gale did not come from any fixed quarter; it rose +and swooped and eddied about, driving the snow-drift now here, now +there, and shrieking as if in wild delight at the chaotic havoc it was +permitted to play. + +"Confusion worse confounded!" gasped Leo, as he staggered past Alf with +the last load on his shoulder. + +"And yet there must be order _everywhere_," observed Chingatok, when, +after all were safely housed in Makitok's hut that evening, he heard Leo +repeat that sentiment. + +"Why do you think so, Chingatok?" asked the Captain with some curiosity. + +"Because there is order even in my hut," returned the giant. "Pingasuk, +(referring to his wife), keeps all things in perfect order. Is the +World-Maker less wise than Pingasuk? Sometimes, no doubt, when Pingasuk +is cooking, or arranging, things may seem in disorder to the eye of my +little boy Meltik and the small one, (referring to baby), but when +Meltik and the small one grow older and wiser, they will see that it is +not so." + +While Chingatok was speaking, a gust of wind more furious than ever +struck the hut and shook it to its foundations. At the same time a loud +rumbling sound was heard outside. Most of the men leaped up, caught +hold of spears or knives, and rushed out. Through the driving drift +they could just see that the observatory, which was a flimsy structure, +had been swept clean away, and that the more solid hut was following it. +Even as they gazed they saw its roof caught up, and whirled off as if +it had been a scroll of paper. The walls fell immediately after, and +the stones rolled down the rocky cone with a loud rattling, which was +partially drowned by the shrieking of the tempest. + +For three days the storm lasted. During that time it was almost +impossible to show face in the open air. On the night of the third day +the fury of the wind abated. Then it suddenly became calm, but when +Butterface opened the door, and attempted to go out, he found himself +effectually checked by a wall of snow. The interior of the hut was +pitch dark, and it was not until a lamp had been lighted that the party +found they were buried alive! + +To dig themselves out was not, however, a difficult matter. But what a +scene presented itself to their view when they regained the upper air! +No metamorphosis conceived by Ovid or achieved by the magic lantern; no +pantomimic transformation; no eccentricity of dreamland ever equalled +it! When last seen, the valley was clothed in all the rich luxuriance +of autumnal tints, and alive with the twitter and plaintive cry of +bird-life. Now it was draped in the pure winding-sheet of winter, and +silent in the repose of Arctic death. Nothing almost was visible but +snow. Everything was whelmed in white. Only here and there a few of +the sturdier clumps of bushes held up their loads like gigantic +wedding-cakes, and broke the universal sameness of the scene. One raven +was the only living representative of the birds that had fled. It +soared calmly over the waste, as if it were the wizard who had wrought +the change, and was admiring its work. + +"Winter is upon us fairly now, friends," said Captain Vane as he +surveyed the prospect from the Pole, which was itself all but buried in +the universal drift, and capped with the hugest wedding-cake of all; "we +shall have to accommodate ourselves to circumstances, and prepare for +the campaign." + +"I suppose the first thing we shall have to do is to build a +snow-house," said Benjy, looking ruefully round, for, as usual, he was +depressed by first appearances. + +"Just so, Benjy; and the sooner we go to work the better." + +Now, the reader must not hastily conclude that we are about to inflict +on him or her a detailed narrative of a six months' residence at the +North Pole. We have no such fell design. Much though there is to +tell,--much of suffering, more of enjoyment, many adventures, numerous +stirring incidents, and not a few mishaps--we shall pass over the most +of it in total silence, and touch only on those points which are worthy +of special notice. + +Let us leap, then, into the very middle of the Arctic winter. It is +continuously dark now. There is no day at all at the Pole; it is night +all round. The last glimmer of the departing sun left them months ago; +the next glimmer of his return will not reach them for months to come. +The northern Eskimos and their English visitors were well aware of that, +nevertheless there was nothing of gloom or depressed spirits among them. +They were too busy for that. Had not meat to be procured, and then +consumed? Did not the procuring involve the harnessing of dogs in +sledges, the trapping of foxes and wolves, the fighting of walruses, the +chasing of polar bears; and did not the consuming thereof necessitate +much culinary work for the women, much and frequent attention and labour +on the part of the whole community, not to mention hours, and sometimes +days, of calm repose? + +Then, as to light, had they not the Aurora Borealis, that mysterious +shimmering in the northern sky which has puzzled philosophers from the +beginning of time, and is not unlikely to continue puzzling them to the +end? Had they not the moon and the stars, which latter shone with a +brilliancy almost indescribable, and among them the now doubly +interesting Pole star, right overhead, with several new and gorgeous +constellations unknown to southern climes? + +Besides all this, had not Captain Vane his scientific investigations, +his pendulum experiments, his wind-gauging, his ozone testing, his +thermometric, barometric, and chronometric observations, besides what +Benjy styled his kiteometric pranks? These last consisted in attempts +to bring lightning down from the clouds by means of a kite and cord, and +in which effort the Captain managed to knock himself down, and well-nigh +shattered the North Pole itself in pieces! + +Moreover, had not Leo to act the part of physician and surgeon to the +community? a duty which he fulfilled so well that there never had been +before that time such a demand for physic in Flatland, and, it is +probable, there never will be so many sick people there again. In +addition to this, Leo had to exercise his marvellous powers as a +huntsman. Benjy, of course, played his wonted _role_ of mischief-maker +and jack-of-all-trades to the entire satisfaction of everybody, +especially on that great occasion when he succeeded in killing a polar +bear single-handed, and without the aid of gun or spear or any lethal +weapon whatever;--of which great event, more hereafter. Anders, the +southern Eskimo, made himself generally agreeable, and Butterface became +a prime favourite, chiefly because of his inexhaustible fund of fun and +good humour, coupled with his fine musical qualities. + +We have not said much on this latter point hitherto, because we have +been unwilling to overwhelm the reader with too sudden a disclosure of +that marvellous magazine of power which was latent in our band of +heroes; but we feel it to be our duty now to state that the negro sang +his native melodies with such pathos that he frequently reduced, +(perhaps we should say elevated), the unsophisticated Eskimos to floods +of tears, and sometimes to convulsions of laughter. As, at Benjy's +suggestion, he sometimes changed his moods abruptly, the tears often +mingled with the convulsions, so as to produce some vivid illustrations +of Eskimo hysteria. + +But Butterface's strong point was the flute! No one who had not +witnessed it could adequately conceive the poutings of thick red lips +and general contortions of black visage that seemed necessary in order +to draw the tones out of that simple instrument. The agonies of +expression, the hissing of wind, and the turning up of whites of large +black eyes,--it is past belief! The fruitless efforts of the Eskimos to +imitate him were as nothing to the great original, and their delight at +the sound was only equalled by their amazement at the sight. + +Alf assisted the Captain scientifically and otherwise. Of course he was +compelled, during the long winter, to lay aside his geological hammer +and botanical box; but, then, had he not the arrangement and naming of +his specimens? His chief work, however, was to act the unwonted, and, +we may add, unexpected work of a lawgiver. + +This duty devolved on him thus: + +When Grabantak recovered health--which he was very long in doing--his +spirit was so far subdued that he agreed--somewhat sulkily, it is true-- +to all that his prime minister had done while he held the reins of +government. Then he was induced to visit Great Isle, where he was +introduced to his mortal foe Amalatok, whom he found to be so much a man +after his own heart that he no longer sighed for the extraction of his +spinal marrow or the excision of his liver, but became a fast friend, +and was persuaded by Alf to agree to a perpetual peace. He also took a +great fancy to Chingatok, who begged of Alf to read to the chief of +Flatland some of the strange and new ideas contained in his little book. + +Alf willingly complied, and for hours these northern savages sat in rapt +attention listening to the Bible story. + +"My son," said Grabantak one evening to Chingatok, "if we are henceforth +to live in peace, why not unite and become one nation?" + +"Why not?" echoed Chingatok. + +When Amalatok and Makitok heard the question propounded, they also said, +"Why not?" and, as nobody objected, the thing was settled off-hand then +and there. + +"But," said the prime minister of Flatland, starting a difficulty, "who +is to be _greatest_ chief?" + +Amalatok, on whose mind the spirit of Christianity had been gradually +making an impression, said promptly, "Let Grabantak be chief. He is +wise in council and brave in war." + +Grabantak had instantly jumped to the conclusion that _he_ ought to be +_greatest_ chief, and was about to say so, when Amalatok's humility +struck him dumb. Recovering himself he replied-- + +"But there is to be no mere war! and I have been a warrior. No, let +Amalatok be great chief. He is old, and wisdom lies with age." + +"I am not so sure of _that_!" muttered Captain Vane to himself in +English; then to the giant in Eskimo, "What says Chingatok?" + +"May I speak, my father?" said the giant, dutifully, to Amalatok. + +"You may speak, my son." + +"Then," continued Chingatok, "I would advise that there should be three +chiefs, who shall be equal--my father, Grabantak, and Makitok. Let +these consult about our affairs. Let the people appoint twelve men to +hold council with them, and what the most of them agree to shall be +done." + +After some further talk this compromise was agreed to. + +"But the laws of Poloeland and those of Flatland are different," said +Amalatok, starting another objection. "We must have the same laws." + +"My brother chief is wise," said Grabantak. "Let us have new laws, and +let that wise young Kablunet, Alf, make them." + +"Both my brother chiefs are wise," said Makitok. "Let it be done, and +let him take the laws out of the little thing that speaks to him." +(Thus they referred to the Bible, having no word in their language by +which to name it.) + +Great was the surprise of Alf at the honour and labour thus thrust upon +him, but he did not shrink from it. On the contrary, he set to work at +once with notebook and pencil, and set down the two "Great +Commandments:" "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and +with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;" and, "Thou shalt love thy +neighbour as thyself," as the first law in the new code. He set down as +the second the golden rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto +you, do ye even so to them." + +Proceeding from these as a basis, he worked his way gradually down the +code till he had embraced nearly all the possibilities of Eskimo life--a +work which kept him busy all the winter, and was not quite finished when +"time and tide" obliged him and his companions to quit the land. + +Now, not long after this eventful council, Benjy Vane burst rather +irreverently into his father's hut with excited looks, holding what +looked like an old book in his hand. + +"What have you got there, lad?" + +"I've got it at last, father! You know I've been trying to wheedle old +Makitok into letting me open his mysterious bundle. Well, I prevailed +on him to let me do it this afternoon. After unrolling bundle after +bundle, I came at last to the centre, and found that it contained +nothing whatever but this book, wrapped up in an old cotton +pocket-handkerchief. The book is _very_ old, father. See, 1611 on the +first page. I did not take time to glance at more than that, but +brought it straight away to you." + +"Hand it over, Benjy," said the Captain eagerly. "This accounts for the +mysterious `buk' that we've heard so much about." + +He received the little book with a look of tender curiosity and opened +it carefully, while Leo, Alf, and his son looked on over his shoulder. + +"1611, sure enough," he said, "though not very legible. The characters +are queer, too. Try, Alf, what you can make of it." + +Alf took the book. As he did so old Makitok entered, somewhat anxious +as to what they were doing with his treasure. Being quieted by the +Captain with a draught of cold tea, and made to sit down, the +examination of the book proceeded. + +"It is much worn, and in places is almost illegible, as might be +expected," said Alf. "Let me see. `Coast of Labrador, (something +illegible here), 1611. This day the mutineers took possess ... (can't +make out what follows), and put Captain Hudson, with his son, myself, +the carpenter, and five sick men into the dinghy, casting us, (blank), +with some, (blank), and one cask of water. I begin this diary to-day. +It may never be seen by man, but if it does fall into the hands of any +one who can read it, he will do a service to ... by conveying ... +England.--John Mackintosh, _seaman_.' + +"Can it be possible?" said Alf, looking up from the relic with an +expression of deep solemnity, "that we have found a record of that great +Arctic explorer, the unfortunate Henry Hudson?" + +"It seems like it, Alf; read on," said Leo, eagerly. + +We will not further trouble the reader with Alf's laboured deciphering +of this curious and ancient notebook, which was not only stained and +worn, but in many places rudely torn, as if its owner had seen much hard +service. We will merely run over a few of the chief points which it +cleared up. Unfortunately, it threw no additional light on the fate of +poor Hudson. Many of the first pages of the book which no doubt treated +of that, had been destroyed and the legible portion began in the middle +of a record of travelling with a sledge-party of Eskimos to the north of +parallel 85 degrees 20 minutes--a higher northern latitude, it will be +observed, than had been reached by any subsequent explorer except +Captain Vane. No mention being made of English comrades, the +presumption remained that they had all been killed or had died--at all +events that Mackintosh had been separated from them, and was the only +survivor of the party travelling with the Eskimos. + +Further on the journal, which was meagre in detail, and kept in the dry +form of a log-book, spoke of having reached a far northern settlement. +Reference was also made to a wife and family, leading to the conclusion +that the seaman had permanently cast in his lot with the savages, and +given up all hope of returning to his native land. + +One sentence near the end caused a considerable sensation, and opened +their eyes to a fact which they might have guessed if they had not been +too much taken up with the spelling out of the faded pencilling to think +of it at first. + +Alf read it with difficulty. It ran thus:-- + +"Another boy born to-day. His name is Igluk. It is only the eldest boy +of a family, in this tribe, who bears his father's surname. My eldest +alone goes by the name of Mackintosh. His eldest will bear the same +name, and so on. But these Eskimos make a sad mess of it. I doubt if +my Scotch kinsmen would recognise us under the name of Makitok which is +the nearest--" + +"Makitok!" shouted Benjy, gazing open-eyed at the white-bearded wizard, +who returned the gaze with some astonishment. + +"Why, old boy," cried the boy, jumping up and seizing the wizard's hand, +"you're a Scotsman!" + +"So he is," said the Captain with a look of profound interest. + +"And I say," continued Benjy, in a tone so solemn that the eyes of all +the party were turned on him, "we _did_ find him _sitting on the North +Pole_!" + +"And what of that, you excitable goose?" said the Captain. + +"Goose, father! Am I a goose for recognising the fulfilment of an +ancient prophecy? Has it not been a familiar saying, ever since I was +born, that when the North Pole was discovered, a Scotsman would be found +sitting on the top of it?" + +"Unfortunately, Ben," returned Alf with a laugh, "the same prophecy +exists in other lands. Among the Germans, I believe, it is held that a +Bohemian and a Jew will be found on the top of it." + +"That only confirms the correctness of prophecy in general," retorted +Benjy, "for this man unites all these in his own person. Does not this +notebook prove him to be a Scot? Have we not just _found_ him? which +proves him to be one of a `lost tribe'--in other words, a Jew; and, +surely, you'll admit that, in appearance at least, he is Bohemian enough +for the settlement of any disputed question. Yes, he's a Scotch +Bohemian Jew, or I'm a Dutchman." + +This discovery seemed almost too much for Benjy. He could not think or +talk of anything else the remainder of that day. + +Among other things he undertook to explain to Makitok something of his +origin and antecedents. + +"Ancient one," he said earnestly, through the medium of Anders, when he +had led the old man aside privately, "you come of a grand nation. They +are called Scots, and are said to be remarkably long-headed and +wonderfully cautious. Great warriors, but greater at the arts of peace. +And the fellow you call your _first father_ was a Mackintosh, (probably +chief of all the Mackintoshes), who sailed nearly 270 years ago to +search for this very `North Pole' that _we_ have got hold of at last. +But your first father was not the leader, old boy. He was only a +seaman. The leader was Henry Hudson--a man who ranks among the foremost +of Arctic explorers. He won't be able to understand what that means, +Anders, but no matter--translate it the best way you can. This Henry +Hudson was one of the most thorough and extensive searchers of these +regions that ever sailed the northern seas. He made many important +discoveries, and set out on his last voyage intending to sail right over +the North Pole to China, which I daresay he would have done, had not his +rascally crew mutinied and cast him and his little son, with seven other +men, adrift in a little boat--all of whom perished, no doubt, except +your first father, Makitok, my ancient tulip!" + +He wound up this summary by grasping and shaking the wizard's hand, and +then flung off, to expend his feelings on other members of the +community. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +A RUNAWAY JOURNEY AND A TREMENDOUS EXPERIMENT. + +As winter advanced, Captain Vane continued to keep up the interest of +the Eskimos, and to increase their respect for the Kablunets, by +gradually unfolding the various sources of power which were at his +command. + +He did this judiciously, just giving them a taste of the marvellous now +and then to whet their appetites. He was particularly careful, however +not to practise on their credulity or to pass himself off as a conjuror. +He distinctly stated that all his powers were derived from +God,--_their_ father and _his_,--and that he only excelled them in some +matters because of having had better opportunities of acquiring +knowledge. + +Among other things, he effected an adaptation of his kites which +produced results so surprising that we feel bound to describe them +particularly. + +During the winter he found, as he had expected, that the average +temperature at the Pole was not nearly so cold as that experienced in +lower latitudes. As far as mere feeling went, indeed, the cold seemed +severe enough; nevertheless it was not sufficiently intense to freeze +the great ocean, which remained an "open basin" all the year round,--a +result which was doubtless owing to the upflow of the warm +under-currents from the equator, referred to in a previous chapter. + +This, however, did not apply to the waters lying directly around the +Poloe and Flatland groups. In these archipelagos the waters being +shallow, the frost was quite intense enough to cool them to the bottom. +Hence the sea immediately round the islands was covered with a thick +coat of solid ice, which resembled in all respects the ordinary Arctic +sea-ice, being hummocky in some places, comparatively smooth in others, +with a strong iceberg here and there caught and imprisoned amongst it. + +As this ice surrounded all the Polar land, and stretched out to sea far +beyond the reach of vision, it followed that there was little or no +difference between the winter experience of our discoverers and that of +all other Arctic voyagers. This realm of what we may style island-ice +stretched away, all round, in the direction of the Arctic circle, +getting thinner and thinner towards its outer margin, until at last it +became sludgy, and, finally, melted away into the open sea. This open +sea, in its turn, stretched southward, all round, to the known Arctic +regions. Thus the Arctic basin was found to be a zone of open water, +surrounded by ice on the south, and with a patch of ice and land in its +centre. + +Now, it was a strong desire on the part of Captain Vane to visit the +southern edge of this central ice-patch on which he dwelt, that induced +him to try the kite adaptation before referred to. + +"Benjy, my boy," said he, one fine winter day, when the galaxy of stars, +the full moon, and an unusually brilliant aurora, diffused a strong +light over the undulations of Cup Valley, "I have a notion of taking a +trip to the s'uth'ard soon." + +"Which s'uth'ard d'you think of going to, father?" asked the boy. + +In case any reader should hastily exclaim, "What a ridiculous question; +there can be only _one_ southward!" we beg leave to point out that at +the North Pole _every_ direction lies to the southward, and that, as +there is necessarily no east or west at all, there is therefore no +possibility of stating by compass to what part of the south one intends +to go. Of course it was open to the Captain to have said he intended to +descend south on one of the degrees of longitude, or between any two of +them, and then, immediately on quitting the Pole the old familiar east +and west would, as it were, return to him. But he found it more +convenient, on the whole, having got beyond all latitude, to indicate +his intended route by well-known objects of the land. + +"I'm going to steer for the starboard side of Poloeland," he said, "pay +a short visit to Grabantak and Amalatok in passing, and then carry on +south to the open water." + +"It'll be a longish trip, father." + +"Not so long as you expect, my boy, for I mean to go by express." + +Benjy's eyes twinkled, for he knew that some new device was working in +his father's brain, which brain never failed to bring its plans to +maturity. + +"What is it to be, father?" + +"You go and fetch two of the kites, Benjy, and you'll soon find out. +Overhaul them well and see that everything is taut and shipshape. Let +Butterface help you, and send Alf and Chingatok to me. I suppose Leo is +off after musk-oxen, as usual." + +"Yes; he pretends that the camp wants a supply of fresh meat. He'd +pretend that as an excuse for hunting even if we were all dying of +surfeit." + +Soon afterwards the Captain was seen, followed by his usual companions +and a company of Eskimos, dragging two sledges to the upper ridge of Cup +Valley. One sledge was lightly, the other heavily, laden. + +"You've brought plenty of supplies, I hope, Alf?" asked the leader. + +"Yes, enough for three weeks. Will that do?" + +"Quite enough, lad; but it may not be wanted, as I'm going south in a +direction we've not yet tried, where I expect to find the open water +close to us. It's well, however, to have enough of meat at all times." + +"No fear of its being too much, father," said Benjy. "When Butterface +goes with us, a three weeks' allowance usually disappears in a +fortnight." + +"Nebber mind, Massa," said the negro seriously. "You've plenty for tree +weeks dis time, 'cause I's off my feed. Got Polar dimspepsy, or suffin' +o' dat sort, I tink." + +"You've brought the electrical machine, of course, and the dynamite, +Alf?" asked the Captain. + +"Of course. I never prepare for a trip without these. There's no +saying, you see, when we may require them--either to blow up +obstructions or astonish the natives." + +"The natives are past astonishing now," remarked Benjy; "nothing short +of a ten thousand jar battery would astonish Chingatok, and I'm quite +sure that you couldn't rouse a sentiment of surprise in Oolichuk, unless +you made him swallow a dynamite cartridge, and blew him inside out. +But, I say, daddy, how long are you going to keep us in the dark about +your plans? Don't you see that we are in agonies of suspense?" + +"Only till we gain the ridge, Benjy. It will be down-hill after that, +and the snow-crust comparatively smooth as well as hard." + +Arrived at the ridge, one of the kites was unfolded and sent up. The +breeze was steady, and sufficiently strong. It took twenty Eskimos to +hold it when allowed full play, and even these it jerked about in a +manner that highly diverted them. These Eskimos were very fond of +kite-flying, for its own sake, without reference to utility! + +"I knew you were going to try it on the sledge," exclaimed Benjy, with +sparkling eyes. + +"Why did you ask me about it, then?" returned the Captain. + +"Do let _me_ make the first trial, father!" + +Captain Vane was fastening the drag-line to the fore part of the light +sledge, and refused, at first, to listen to the boy's entreaties, +fearing that some accident might befall him. + +"You know how accustomed I am to manage the kites, father. There's not +the least fear; and I'll be superhumanly cautious." + +There was no resisting Benjy's tone and eyes. He was allowed to take +his place on the sledge as manager. Butterface sat behind to steer. +Steering was to be managed by means of a stout pole, pressed varyingly +on the snow on either side. + +"Don't go more than a mile or so, my boy," said the Captain, in a +serious tone. "It's only a trial, you know. If it succeeds, we'll +divide the loading of the sledges, and make a fair start in company." + +Benjy promised to manipulate the check-string with care. The struggling +natives were ordered to let the kite straighten the slack of the line +gradually. + +"Are you ready, Ben?" + +"All right, father." + +"Got your hand on the check-string? Mind, it will pull hard. Now--let +go!" + +The natives obeyed. Benjy at the same instant hauled sharply on the +check-string, intending to tilt the kite well forward, and start in a +slow, stately manner, but there was a hitch of some sort somewhere, for +the string would not act. The kite acted, however, with its full force. +Up went the fore part of the sledge as it flew off like an arrow from a +bow, causing Butterface to throw a back somersault, and leaving him +behind. + +Benjy held on to the head of the sledge, and made violent efforts to +free the check-string. Fortunately, the surface of the snow was smooth. + +"After him, lads," roared the Captain, setting a brave example, and for +some time heading the natives in the chase; but a few moments sufficed +to prove the hopelessness of the race. + +Tug as Benjy would at the regulator, it refused to act. Fortunately, +being made of silk, it did not break. By this time the kite had +attained its maximum speed, equal, as the Captain said, to a twenty-knot +breeze. At first the surface of the snow was so smooth and hard, that +Benjy, being busy with the obdurate regulator, did not appreciate the +speed. + +When he gave up his attempts with a sigh of despair, he had leisure to +look around him. The sledge was gliding on with railway speed. One or +two solitary hummocks that looked like white sentinels on the level +plain, went past him with an awful rush, and several undulations caused +by snow-drift were crossed in a light leap which he barely felt. Benjy +was fully aware of his danger. To meet with a hummock no bigger than a +wheelbarrow, would, in the circumstances, have entailed destruction; he +therefore seized a pole which formed part of the sledge-gear, and tried +steering. It could be done, but with great difficulty, as he had to sit +in the front of the sledge to keep it down. + +Recklessly jovial though he was, the boy could not contemplate his +probable fate without misgiving. Nothing was visible in all the white +illimitable plain save a hummock here and there, with a distant berg on +the horizon. He could not expect the level character of the ice to +extend far. Whither was he going? South he knew; but in that +direction, his father had often told him, lay the open sea. The moon +seemed to smile on him; the aurora appeared to dance with unwonted +vigour, as if in glee; the very stars winked at him! + +"What if a chasm or a big hummock should turn up?" thought Benjy. + +The thought seemed to produce the dreaded object, for next moment a +large hummock appeared right ahead. Far away though it was, the awful +pace brought it quickly near. The poor boy struggled--he absolutely +agonised--with the pole. His efforts were successful. The hummock went +past like a meteor, but it was a horribly close shave, and Benjy felt +his very marrow shrink, while he drew himself up into the smallest +possible compass to let it go by. + +A bump soon after told that the ice was getting more rugged. Then he +saw a ridge before him. Was it large or small? Distance, the uncertain +light, and imagination, magnified it to a high wall; high as the wall of +China. In wild alarm our hero tugged at the regulator, but tugged in +vain. The wall of China was upon him--under him. There was a crash. +The sledge was in the air. Moments appeared minutes! Had the vehicle +been suddenly furnished with wings? No! Another crash, which nearly +shut up his spine like a telescope, told him that there were no wings. +His teeth came together with a snap. Happily his tongue was not between +them! Happily, too, the sledge did not overturn, but continued its +furious flight. + +"Oh, you villain!" exclaimed Benjy, shaking his fist at the airy monster +which was thus dragging him to destruction. + +If Benjy had been asked to state the truth just then, he would have +found it hard to say whether consternation or delight were uppermost. +It _was_ such a glorious rush! But then, how was it to end? Well, he +did not dare to think of that. Indeed he had not time to think, for +troubles came crowding on him. A violent "swish!" and a sudden deluge +told him that what he had taken for glassy ice was open water. It was +only a shallow pool, however. Next moment he was across it, and bumping +violently over a surface of broken ice. + +The water suggested the fear that he must be nearing the open sea, and +he became supernaturally grave. Fortunately, the last crash had been +passed without dislocating the parts of either sledge or rider. A long +stretch of smooth ice followed, over which he glided with +ever-increasing speed. + +Thus he continued to rush over the frozen sea during a considerable part +of that night. + +Poor Benjy! he became half-mad with excitement at last. The exaltation +of his little spirit at the risky neck-or-nothing dash, coupled with +horror at the certainty of a terrible climax, was almost too much for +him. He gave vent to his feelings in a wild cheer or yell, and, just +then, beheld an iceberg of unusual size, looming up on the horizon +before him. Knowing by experience that he would soon be up to it, he +used his pole with all his might, hoping to steer clear of it. As he +drew nearer, he saw a dark line on either side of the berg. A feeling +of deadly alarm filled him. It was the open sea! and he had to choose +between being plunged into it or dashed against the berg. It occurred +to him then, for the first time, that a third resource was open--he +might cut the rope, and let the kite go free! Amazed at his stupidity +in not thinking of this before, he took out his clasp-knife, but before +applying it, made a last effort to move the regulator. Strange to say, +the silken cord yielded to the first pull, as if nothing had been wrong +with it at all! The head of the runaway kite was thrown forward, and it +came wavering down in eccentric gyrations, while the sledge gradually +lost way, and came to a standstill not fifty yards from the berg. + +Up to this point what may be termed the northern island-ice continued +unbroken, but beyond the berg it was broken up into floes, and, not six +hundred yards out, it tailed away to the southward in what whalers term +stream-ice. The berg itself was obviously aground. + +The first object that met Benjy's eyes, after coming to a halt, was an +enormous polar bear. This was no strange sight to the boy by that time, +but it was awkward in the circumstances, for he had neither gun nor +spear. Even if he had possessed the latter he was too young and light +to cope successfully with the shaggy white king of Arctic beasts. + +From the attitude of the animal it appeared to be watching something. +In truth, it was so intently engaged with a sleeping seal that it had +not observed the approach of the sledge. Profiting by this, Benjy +quietly moved away round a colossal buttress of the berg, and took +refuge in an ice-cave. But such refuge, he knew, could avail him +nothing if the bear should scent him out and search for him. Looking +hastily round and up into the dark blue cavern, he espied a projecting +ledge of ice about thirteen feet above the level of the floor. On this +he resolved to perch himself. + +His first care was to examine the contents of the sledge. We have said +it had been lightly laden at starting, which was the reason of the +tremendous pace at which it travelled. Although there was neither spear +nor gun, the anxious boy was somewhat comforted to find an axe strapped +in its accustomed place; also a blanket, sleeping-bag, and musk-ox skin, +besides a mass of frozen blubber, but there was nothing else of an +eatable nature. There was, however, a box containing the captain's +sextant, the electrical machine, and a packet of dynamite cartridges. + +Regarding these latter objects with a sigh of disappointment, Benjy +seized the axe and hastened towards the ledge of ice, muttering to +himself in a confidential tone-- + +"You see, old boy, if that bear takes a fancy to call on you, it will be +as well to be able to say, `Not at home,' for he could make short work +of you, much though you think of yourself. Yes, this ledge is high +enough to bid you defiance, mister bear, and it's long and broad enough +to hold me and my belongings. The knobs by which to climb to it, too, +are easy--too easy--but I'll soon rectify that. Now, then, look alive, +Benjy, boy, for if that bear don't catch that seal he'll be sure to look +you up." + +Ceasing to speak, he actively conveyed the contents of the sledge to his +shelf of refuge. Then he cut away the knobs by which he climbed to it, +until there was barely sufficient for his own tiny toes to rest on. +That done, he went to the mouth of the cavern to look about him. + +What he saw there may be guessed from the fact that he returned next +moment, running at full speed, stumbling over ice lumps, bumping his +shins and knees, dropping his axe, and lacerating his knuckles. He had +met the bear! Need we add that he gained his perch with the agility of +a tree-squirrel! + +The bear, surprised, no doubt, but obviously sulky from the loss of the +seal, entered the cave sedately with an inquiring look. It saw Benjy at +once, and made prodigious efforts to get at him. As the monster rose on +its hind legs and reached its paws towards his shelf, the poor boy's +spirit seemed to melt, indeed his whole interior felt as if reduced to a +warm fluid, while a prickly heat broke out at his extremities, +perspiration beaded his brow, and his heart appeared to have settled +permanently in his throat. + +These distressing symptoms did not, however, last long, for he quickly +perceived that the bear's utmost stretch did not reach nearer than three +or four feet of him. Some of the alarm returned, however, when the +creature attempted to climb up by his own ladder. Seven or eight times +it made the attempt, while the boy watched in breathless anxiety, but +each time it slipped when half-way up, and fell with a soft heavy thud +on the ice below, which caused it to gasp and cough. Then it sat down +on its haunches and gazed at its little foe malignantly. + +"Bah! you brute!" exclaimed Benjy, whose courage was returning, "I'm not +a bit afraid of you!" He leant against the wall of his refuge, +notwithstanding this boast, and licked the ice to moisten his parched +lips. + +After a rest the bear made another trial, and twice it succeeded in +planting the claws of one huge paw on the edge of the shelf, but Benjy +placed his heel against the claws, thrust them off, and sent the bear +down each time howling with disappointment. + +Sailing softly among the constellations in the aurora-lighted sky, the +moon sent a bright ray into the cavern, which gleamed on the monster's +wicked eyes and glistening teeth; but Benjy had begun to feel +comparatively safe by that time, and was becoming "himself again." + +"Don't you wish you may get me?" he asked in a desperately facetious +spirit. + +The bear made no reply, but turned to examine the contents of the +ice-cave. First he went to the hatchet and smelt it. In doing so he +cut his nose. With a growl he gave the weapon an angry pat, and in so +doing cut his toes. We fear that Benjy rejoiced at the sight of blood, +for he chuckled and made the sarcastic remark, "That comes of losing +your temper, old fellow!" + +That bear either understood English, or the very sound of the human +voice caused it irritation, for it turned and rushed at the ice-ledge +with such fury that Benjy's heart again leaped into his throat. He had, +however, recovered sufficiently to enable him to act with promptitude +and discretion. Sitting down with his right foot ready, and his hands +resting firmly on the ice behind him, he prepared to receive the charge +in the only available manner. So fierce was the onset that the monster +ran up the ice-cliff like a cat, and succeeded in fixing the terrible +claws of both feet on the edge of the shelf, but the boy delivered his +right heel with such force that the left paw slipped off. The left heel +followed like lightning, and the right paw also slipped, letting the +bear again fall heavily on the ice below. + +This was more than even a bear could bear. He rushed savagely about the +cavern, growling hideously, dashing the sledge about as if it had been a +mere toy, and doing all the mischief he could, yet always avoiding the +axe with particular care--thus showing that polar bears, not less than +men, are quite awake to personal danger, even when supposed to be blind +with rage! At last he lay down to recover himself, and lick his bloody +nose and paw. + +While Benjy sat contemplating this creature, and wondering what was to +be the end of it all, a bright idea occurred to him. He rose quickly, +took the electrical machine out of its box, and happily found it to be +in good working order--thanks to Alf, who had special charge of the +scientific instruments, and prided himself on the care with which he +attended to them. The bear watched him narrowly with its wicked little +eyes, though it did not see fit to cease its paw-licking. + +Having arranged the machine, Benjy took the two handles in his left +hand, pressed his knee on the board of the instrument to hold it steady, +and with his right hand caused it to revolve. Then he held down the +handles as if inviting the bear to come and take them. + +The challenge was accepted at once. Bruin cantered up, rose on his hind +legs, and stretched his neck to its utmost, but could not reach the +handles, though the boy stretched downward as far as possible to +accommodate him. The dirty-white monster whined and snickered with +intense feeling at thus finding itself so near, and yet so far, from the +attainment of its object. + +Sympathising with its desires, Benjy changed his posture, and managed +just to touch the nose of his enemy. The bear shrank back with a sort +of gasp, appalled--at least shocked--by the result! After a little, not +feeling much the worse for it, the brute returned as if to invite +another electric shock--perhaps with some sinister design in view. But +another and a brighter idea had entered Benjy's brain. Instead of +giving the bear a shock, he tore off a small bit of seal-blubber from +the mass at his side, which he dropped into its mouth. It swallowed +that morsel with satisfaction, and waited for more. Benjy gave it more. +Still it wanted more. + +"You shall have it, my boy," said Benjy, whose eyes assumed that +peculiar glare of glee which always presaged some desperate intention. + +He opened another small box, and found what he wanted. It was a small +object scarcely a couple of inches in length. He fastened the wires of +the electric machine quickly to it, and then imbedded it in a small +piece of blubber which he lowered, as before, to the bear. + +"You'll probably break the wires or smash the machine, but I'll risk +that," muttered Benjy through his set teeth. "I only hope you won't +chew it, because dynamite mayn't be palatable. There--down with it!" + +The bear happily bolted the morsel. The wires seemed to perplex him a +little, but before he had time to examine the mystery, the boy gave the +instrument a furious turn. + +Instantly there was a stupendous crash like a very thunderbolt. The +bear burst like an overcharged cannon! Benjy and the berg collided, and +at that moment everything seemed to the former to vanish away in smoke, +leaving not even a wrack behind! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +LEO IN DANGER NEXT! A NOVEL MODE OF RESCUE. + +When the catastrophe described in the last chapter occurred, Captain +Vane and his friends, following hard on the heels of the runaway, +chanced to be within two miles of the berg in the bosom of which Benjy +had found refuge. + +"There he is!" shouted the Captain joyfully, as the flash of the +explosion reached his eyes and the roar of the report his ears. +"Blessed evidence! He's up to mischief of some sort still, and that's +proof positive that he's alive." + +"But he may have perished in this piece of mischief," said Alf, +anxiously glancing up at the kite, which was dragging the heavily-laden +sledge rather slowly over the rough ice. + +"I hope not, Alf. Shake the regulator, Butterface, and see that it's +clear." + +"All right, Massa. Steam's on de berry strongest what's possible." + +"Heave some o' the cargo overboard, Alf. We must make haste. Not the +meat, lad, not the meat; everything else before that. So. Mind your +helm, Chingatok; she'll steer wildish when lightened." + +Captain Vane was right. When Alf had tumbled some of the heavier +portions of lading off the sledge, it burst away like a wild-horse let +go free, rendering it difficult at first for Chingatok to steady it. In +a few minutes, however, he had it again under control, and they soon +reached the berg. + +"The dynamite must have gone off by accident," said the Captain to Alf, +as they stumbled over masses of ice which the explosion had brought down +from the roof of the cavern. "It's lucky it didn't happen in summer, +else the berg might have been blown to atoms. Hallo! what's this? Bits +of a polar bear, I do believe--and--what! not Benjy!" + +It was indeed Benjy, flat on his back like a spread-eagle, and covered +with blood and brains; but his appearance was the worst of his case, +though it took a considerable time to convince his horrified friends of +that fact. + +"I tell you I'm all right, father," said the poor boy, on recovering +from the state of insensibility into which his fall had thrown him. + +"But you're covered from head to foot with blood," exclaimed the anxious +father, examining him all over, "though I can't find a cut of any sort +about you--only one or two bruises." + +"You'll find a bump on the top of my head, father, the size of a +cocoa-nut. That's what knocked the senses out o' me, but the blood and +brains belong to the bear. I lay no claim to them." + +"Where _is_ the bear?" asked Alf, looking round. + +"Where is he?" echoed Benjy, bursting into a wild laugh. + +"Oh! Massa Benjy, don't laugh," said Butterface solemnly; "you hab no +notion wot a awful look you got when you laugh wid sitch a bloody face." + +This made Benjy laugh more than ever. His mirth became catching, and +the negro's solemn visage relaxed into an irrepressible grin. + +"Oh, you japan-jawed porpoise!" cried Benjy, "you should have seen that +bear go off--with such a crack too! I only wish I'd been able to hold +up for two seconds longer to see it properly, but my shelf went down, +and I had to go along with it. Blown to bits! No--he was blown to a +thousand atoms! Count 'em if you can." + +Again Benjy burst into uproarious laughter. + +There was indeed some ground for the boy's way of putting the case. The +colossal creature had been so terribly shattered by the dynamite +cartridge, that there was scarcely a piece of him larger than a man's +hand left to tell the tale. + +"Well, well," said the Captain, assisting his son to rise, "I'm thankful +it's no worse." + +"Worse, father! why, it _couldn't_ be worse, unless, indeed, his spirit +were brought alive again and allowed to contemplate the humbling +condition of his body." + +"I don't refer to the bear, Benjy, but to yourself, lad. You might have +been killed, you know, and I'm very thankful you were not--though you +half-deserve to be. But come, we must encamp here for the night and +return home to-morrow, for the wind has been shifting a little, and will +be favourable, I think, in the morning." + +The wind was indeed favourable next morning, we may say almost too +favourable, for it blew a stiff breeze from the south, which steadily +increased to a gale during the day. Afterwards the sky became overcast +and the darkness intense, rendering it necessary to attend to the kite's +regulator with the utmost care, and advance with the greatest caution. + +Now, while the Captain and his friends were struggling back to their +Polar home, Leo Vandervell happened to be caught by the same gale when +out hunting. Being of a bold, sanguine, and somewhat reckless +disposition, this Nimrod of the party paid little attention to the +weather until it became difficult to walk and next to impossible to see. +Then, having shot nothing that day, he turned towards the Pole with a +feeling of disappointment. + +But when the gale increased so that he could hardly face it, and the sky +became obliterated by falling and drifting snow, disappointment gave +place to anxiety, and he soon realised the fact that he had lost his +direction. To advance in such circumstances was out of the question, he +therefore set about building a miniature hut of snow. Being by that +time expert at such masonry, he soon erected a dome-shaped shelter, in +which he sat down on his empty game-bag after closing the entrance with +a block of hard snow. + +The position of our hunter was not enviable. The hut was barely high +enough to let him sit up, and long enough to let him lie down--not to +stretch out. The small allowance of pemmican with which he had set out +had long ago been consumed. It was so dark that he could not see his +hand when close before his eyes. He was somewhat fatigued and rather +cold, and had no water to drink. It was depressing to think of going to +bed in such circumstances with the yelling of an Arctic storm for a +lullaby. + +However, Leo had a buoyant spirit, and resolved to "make the best of +it." First of all he groped in his game-bag for a small stove lamp, +which he set up before him, and arranged blubber and a wick in it, using +the sense of touch in default of sight. Then he struck a light, but not +with matches. The Englishmen's small stock of congreves had long since +been exhausted, and they were obliged to procure fire by the Eskimo +method, namely, a little piece of wood worked like a drill, with a thong +of leather, against another piece of wood until the friction produced +fire. When a light had been thus laboriously obtained, he applied it to +the wick of his lamp, and wished fervently for something to cook. + +It is proverbial that wishing does not usually achieve much. After a +deep sigh, therefore, Leo turned his wallet inside out. Besides a few +crumbs, it contained a small lump of narwhal blubber and a little +packet. The former, in its frozen state, somewhat resembled hard +butter. The latter contained a little coffee--not the genuine article, +however. That, like the matches, had long ago been used up, and our +discoverers were reduced to roasted biscuit-crumbs. The substitute was +not bad! Inside of the coffee-packet was a smaller packet of brown +sugar, but it had burst and allowed its contents to mingle with the +coffee. + +Rejoiced to find even a little food where he had thought there was none, +Leo filled his pannikin with snow, melted it, emptied into it the +compound of coffee and sugar, put it on the lamp to boil, and sat down +to watch, while he slowly consumed the narwhal butter, listening the +while to the simmering of the pannikin and the roaring of the gale. + +After his meagre meal he wrapped himself in his blanket, and went to +sleep. + +This was all very well as long as it lasted, but he cooled during the +night, and, on awaking in the morning, found that keen frost penetrated +every fibre of his garments and every pore of his skin. The storm, +however, was over; the moon and stars were shining in a clear sky, and +the aurora was dancing merrily. Rising at once he bundled up his traps, +threw the line of his small hand-sledge over his shoulder, and stepped +out for home. But cold and want of food had been telling on him. He +soon experienced an unwonted sense of fatigue, then a drowsy sensation +came over him. + +Leo was well aware of the danger of giving way to drowsiness in such +circumstances, yet, strange to say, he was not in the least afraid of +being overcome. He would sit down to rest, just for two minutes, and +then push on. He smiled, as he sat down in the crevice of a hummock, to +think of the frequent and needless cautions which his uncle had given +him against this very thing. The smile was still on his lips when his +head drooped on a piece of ice, and he sank into a deep slumber. + +Ah, Leonard Vandervell! ill would it have been for thee if thou hadst +been left to thyself that day; but sharp eyes and anxious hearts were +out on the icy waste in search of thee! + +On arriving at his winter quarters, and learning that Leo had not yet +returned, Captain Vane at once organised an elaborate search-expedition. +The man who found him at last was Butterface. + +"Oh, Massa Leo!" exclaimed that sable creature on beholding the youth +seated, white and cold, on the hummock; but he said no more, being fully +alive to the danger of the situation. + +Rushing at Leo, he seized and shook him violently, as if he had been his +bitterest foe. There was no response from the sleeping man. The negro +therefore began to chafe, shake, and kick him; even to slap his face, +and yell into his ears in a way that an ignorant observer would have +styled brutal. At last there was a symptom of returning vitality in the +poor youth's frame, and the negro redoubled his efforts. + +"Ho! hallo! Massa Leo, wake up! You's dyin', you is!" + +"Why--what's--the--matter--Butterf--" muttered Leo, and dropped his head +again. + +"Hi! hello! ho-o-o!" yelled Butterface, renewing the rough treatment, +and finally hitting the youth a sounding slap on the ear. + +"Ha! I be tink dat vakes you up." + +It certainly did wake him up. A burst of indignation within seemed to +do more for him than the outward buffetings. He shut his fist and hit +Butterface a weak but well intended right-hander on the nose. The negro +replied with a sounding slap on the other ear, which induced Leo to +grasp him in his arms and try to throw him. Butterface returned the +grasp with interest, and soon quite an interesting wrestling match +began, the only witness of which sat on a neighbouring hummock in the +form of a melancholy Arctic fox. + +"Hi! hold on, Massa Leo! Don't kill me altogidder," shouted Butterface, +as he fell beneath his adversary. "You's a'most right now." + +"Almost right! what do you mean?" + +"I mean dat you's bin a'most froze to deaf, but I's melted you down to +life agin." + +The truth at last began to dawn on the young hunter. After a brief +explanation, he and the negro walked home together in perfect harmony. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +THE LAST. + +In course of time the long and dreary winter passed away, and signs of +the coming spring began to manifest themselves to the dwellers in the +Polar lands. + +Chief and most musical among these signs were the almost forgotten +sounds of dropping water, and tinkling rills. One day in April the +thermometer suddenly rose to eighteen above the freezing-point of +Fahrenheit. Captain Vane came from the observatory, his face blazing +with excitement and oily with heat, to announce the fact. + +"That accounts for it feeling so like summer," said Benjy. + +"Summer, boy, it's like India," returned the Captain, puffing and +fanning himself with his cap. "We'll begin this very day to make +arrangements for returning home." + +It was on the evening of that day that they heard the first droppings of +the melting snow. Long before that, however, the sun had come back to +gladden the Polar regions, and break up the reign of ancient night. His +departure in autumn had been so gradual, that it was difficult to say +when night began to overcome the day. So, in like manner, his return +was gradual. It was not until Captain Vane observed stars of the sixth +magnitude shining out at noon in November, that he had admitted the +total absence of day; and when spring returned, it was not until he +could read the smallest print at midnight in June that he admitted there +was "no night there." + +But neither the continual day of summer, nor the perpetual night of +winter, made so deep an impression on our explorers as the gushing +advent of spring. That season did not come gradually back like the +light, but rushed upon them suddenly with a warm embrace, like an +enthusiastic friend after a long absence. It plunged, as it were, upon +the region, and overwhelmed it. Gushing waters thrilled the ears with +the sweetness of an old familiar song. Exhalations from the moistened +earth, and, soon after, the scent of awakening vegetation, filled the +nostrils with delicious fragrance. In May, the willow-stems were green +and fresh with flowing sap. Flowers began to bud modestly, as if half +afraid of having come too soon. But there was no cause to fear that. +The glorious sun was strong in his might, and, like his Maker, warmed +the northern world into exuberant life. Mosses, poppies, saxifrages, +cochlearia, and other hardy plants began to sprout, and migratory birds +innumerable--screaming terns, cackling duck, piping plover, auks in +dense clouds with loudly whirring wings, trumpeting geese, eider-ducks, +burgomasters, etcetera, began to return with all the noisy bustle and +joyous excitement of a family on its annual visit to much-loved summer +quarters. + +But here we must note a difference between the experience of our +explorers and that of all others. These myriads of happy creatures--and +many others that we have not space to name--did not pass from the south +onward to a still remoter north, but came up from all round the +horizon,--up all the meridians of longitude, as on so many railway lines +converging at the Pole, and settling down for a prolonged residence in +garrulous felicity among the swamps and hills and vales of Flatland. + +Truly it was a most enjoyable season and experience, but there is no joy +without its alley here below--not even at the North Pole! + +The alloy came in the form of a low fever which smote down the stalwart +Leo, reduced his great strength seriously, and confined him for many +weeks to a couch in their little stone hut, and, of course, the power of +sympathy robbed his companions of much of that exuberant joy which they +shared with the lower animals at the advent of beautiful spring. + +During the period of his illness Leo's chief nurse, comforter, and +philosophical companion, was the giant of the North. And one of the +subjects which occupied their minds most frequently was the Word of God. +In the days of weakness and suffering Leo took to that great source of +comfort with thirsting avidity, and intense was his gratification at the +eager desire expressed by the giant to hear and understand what it +contained. + +Of course Alf, and Benjy, and the Captain, and Butterface, as well as +Grabantak, Makitok, and Amalatok, with others of the Eskimos, were +frequently by his side, but the giant never left him for more than a +brief period, night or day. + +"Ah! Chingatok," said Leo one day, when the returning spring had begun +to revive his strength, "I never felt such a love for God's Book when I +was well and strong as I feel for it now that I am ill, and I little +thought that I should find out so much of its value while talking about +it to an Eskimo. I shall be sorry to leave you, Chingatok--very sorry." + +"The young Kablunet is not yet going to die," said the giant in a soft +voice. + +"I did not mean that," replied Leo, with the ghost of his former hearty +laugh; "I mean that I shall be obliged to leave Flatland and to return +to my own home as soon as the season permits. Captain Vane has been +talking to me about it. He is anxious now to depart, yet sorry to leave +his kind and hospitable friends." + +"I, too, am sorry," returned Chingatok sadly. "No more shall I hear +from your lips the sweet words of my Great Father--the story of Jesus. +You will take your book away with you." + +"That is true, my friend; and it would be useless to leave my Bible with +you, as you could not read it, but the _truth_ will remain with you, +Chingatok." + +"Yes," replied the giant with a significant smile, "you cannot take +_that_ away. It is here--and here." He touched his forehead and breast +as he spoke. Then he continued:-- + +"These strange things that Alf has been trying to teach me during the +long nights I have learned--I understand." + +He referred here to a syllabic alphabet which Alf had invented, and +which he had amused himself by teaching to some of the natives, so that +they might write down and read those few words and messages in their own +tongue which formerly they had been wont to convey to each other by +means of signs and rude drawings--after the manner of most savages. + +"Well, what about that?" asked Leo, as his companion paused. + +"Could not my friend," replied Chingatok, "change some of the words of +his book into the language of the Eskimo and mark them down?" + +Leo at once jumped at the idea. Afterwards he spoke to Alf about it, +and the two set to work to translate some of the most important passages +of Scripture, and write them down in the syllable alphabet. For this +purpose they converted a sealskin into pretty fair parchment, and wrote +with the ink which Captain Vane had brought with him and carefully +husbanded. The occupation proved a beneficial stimulus to the invalid, +who soon recovered much of his wonted health, and even began again to +wander about with his old companion the repeating rifle. + +The last event of interest which occurred at the North Pole, before the +departure of our explorers, was the marriage of Oolichuk with Oblooria. +The ceremony was very simple. It consisted in the bridegroom dressing +in his best and going to the tent of his father-in-law with a gift, +which he laid at his feet. He then paid some endearing Eskimo +attentions to his mother-in-law, one of which was to present her with a +raw duck, cleaned and dismembered for immediate consumption. He even +assisted that pleased lady immediately to consume the duck, and wound up +by taking timid little Oblooria's hand and leading her away to a hut of +his own, which he had specially built and decorated for the occasion. + +As Amalatok had arrived that very day on a visit from Poloeland with his +prime minister and several chiefs, and Grabantak was residing on the +spot, with a number of chiefs from the surrounding islands, who had come +to behold the famous Kablunets, there was a sort of impromptu gathering +of the northern clans which lent appropriate dignity to the wedding. + +After the preliminary feast of the occasion was over, Captain Vane was +requested to exhibit some of his wonderful powers for the benefit of a +strange chief who had recently arrived from a distant island. Of course +our good-natured Captain complied. + +"Get out the boats and kites, Benjy, boy," he said; "we must go through +our performances to please 'em. I feel as if we were a regular company +of play-actors now." + +"Won't you give them a blow-up first, father?" + +"No, Benjy, no. Never put your best foot foremost. The proverb is a +false one--as many proverbs are. We will dynamite them afterwards, and +electrify them last of all. Go, look sharp." + +So the Captain first amazed the visitor with the kites and india-rubber +boats; then he horrified him by blowing a small iceberg of some +thousands of tons into millions of atoms; after which he convulsed him +and made him "jump." + +The latter experiment was the one to which the enlightened Eskimos +looked forward with the most excited and hopeful anticipations, for it +was that which gratified best their feeling of mischievous joviality. + +When the sedate and dignified chief was led, all ignorant of his fate, +to the mysterious mat, and stood thereon with grave demeanour, the +surrounding natives bent their knees, drew up elbows, expanded fingers, +and glared in expectancy. When the dignified chief experienced a tremor +of the frame and looked surprised, they grinned with satisfaction; when +he quivered convulsively they also quivered with suppressed emotion. +Ah! Benjy had learned by that time from experience to graduate very +delicately his shocking scale, and thus lead his victim step by step +from bad to worse, so as to squeeze the utmost amount of fun out of him, +before inducing that galvanic war-dance which usually terminated the +scene and threw his audience into fits of ecstatic laughter. + +These were the final rejoicings of the wedding day--if we except a dance +in which every man did what seemed best in his own eyes, and Butterface +played reels on the flute with admirable incapacity. + +But there came a day, at last, when the inhabitants of Flatland were far +indeed removed from the spirit of merriment. + +It was the height of the Arctic summer-time, when the crashing of the +great glaciers and the gleaming of the melting bergs told of rapid +dissolution, and the sleepless sun was circling its day-and-nightly +course in the ever-bright blue sky. The population of Flatland was +assembled on the beach of their native isle--the men with downcast +looks, the women with sad and tearful eyes. Two india-rubber boats were +on the shore. Two kites were flying overhead. The third boat and kite +had been damaged beyond repair, but the two left were sufficient. The +Englishmen were about to depart, and the Eskimos were inconsolable. + + "My boat is on the shore,--" + +Said Benjy, quoting Byron, as he shook old Makitok by the hand-- + + "And my kite is in the sky, + But before I go, of more, + I will--bid you--all--good-b--" + +Benjy broke down at this point. The feeble attempt to be facetious to +the last utterly failed. + +Turning abruptly on his heel he stepped into the _Faith_ and took his +seat in the stern. It was the _Hope_ which had been destroyed. The +_Faith_ and _Charity_ still remained to them. + +We must draw a curtain over that parting scene. Never before in human +experience had such a display of kindly feeling and profound regret been +witnessed in similar circumstances. + +"Let go the tail-ropes!" said Captain Vane in a husky tone. + +"Let go de ropes," echoed Butterface in a broken voice. + +The ropes were let go. The kites soared, and the boats rushed swiftly +over the calm and glittering sea. + +On nearing one of the outer islands the voyagers knew that their tiny +boats would soon be shut out from view, and they rose to wave a last +farewell. The salute was returned by the Eskimos--with especial fervour +by Chingatok, who stood high above his fellows on a promontory, and +waved the parchment roll of texts which he grasped in his huge right +hand. + +Long after the boats had disappeared, the kites could still be seen +among the gorgeous clouds. Smaller and smaller they became in their +flight to the mysterious south, until at last they seemed +undistinguishable specks on the horizon, and then vanished altogether +from view. + +One by one the Eskimos retired to their homes--slowly and sadly, as if +loath to part from the scene where the word farewell had been spoken. +At last all were gone save Chingatok, who still stood for hours on the +promontory, pressing the scroll to his heaving chest, and gazing +intently at the place on the horizon where his friends had disappeared. + +There was no night to bring his vigil or his meditations to a close, but +time wore him out at last. With a sigh, amounting almost to a groan, he +turned and walked slowly away, and did not stop until he stood upon the +Pole, where he sat down on one of the Captain's stools, and gazed +mournfully at the remains of the dismantled observatory. There he was +found by old Makitok, and for some time the giant and the wizard held +converse together. + +"I love these Kablunets," said Chingatok. + +"They are a strange race," returned the wizard. "They mingle much folly +with their wisdom. They come here to find this Nort Pole, this nothing, +and they find it. Then they go away and leave it! What good has it +done them?" + +"I know not," replied Chingatok humbly, "but I know not everything. +They have showed me much. One thing they have showed me--that behind +all _things_ there is something else which I do not see. The Kablunets +are wonderful men. Yet I pity them. As Blackbeard has said, some of +them are too fond of killing themselves, and some are too fond of +killing each other. I wish they would come here--the whole nation of +them--and learn how to live in peace and be happy among the Eskimos. +But they will not come. Only a few of their best men venture to come, +and I should not wonder if their countrymen refused to believe the half +of what they tell them when they get home." + +Old Makitok made no reply. He was puzzled, and when puzzled he usually +retired to his hut and went to bed. Doing so on the present occasion he +left his companion alone. + +"Poor, poor Kablunets," murmured Chingatok, descending from his +position, and wandering away towards the outskirts of the village. "You +are very clever, but you are somewhat foolish. I pity you, but I also +love you well." + +With his grand head down, his arms crossed, and the scroll of texts +pressed to his broad bosom, the Giant of the North wandered away, and +finally disappeared among the flowering and rocky uplands of the +interior. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Giant of the North, by R.M. 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