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Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmd d partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la methods. y errata »d to nt ne pelure, ipon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 mt i^i iM WiW i 'T i-i If — ''• P3 5 / ^mmm^mmmm mw m »,mm>~^...ms!mm.. LAUGHTER OF THE SPHINX i i.ip i L i m i A- Sfe! Uxxaf / ) Laughter of the Sphinx BV ALBERT WHITE VORSE WITH Ii:.I,C8TRATION8 BY F. W. STOKSS Artiit-Member of the Peary Relief Bxpedltlon, 1891, and of Ihe North Greenland Expedition of 1893-94 klAifl^A. ^rt^'^^cJ. \s^S^ TOSOMTO LONDON DREXEL BIDDLE, PUBLISHER NEW YORK PniLADBLPHIA SAN FRANCIKO 67 Fifth Avenue 228 South Fourth St. 317-331 Sansome St. 1900 ' ! f t 91 7H 4'^' V- Ulbrvry of Con(i>^«« Two COflfl Rcccivco JUN 21 1900 Ctf|"|M jMiy saoNf> corv. OtMHMl It oftoii mvtsiON. I lilN Q2 IQOO Copyright, 1900 BXAJ ,I>»S?«'- BIDDtB / r !i i I'^i iir'r'! iBii "m" T"-'-"^ ■^"■' " " ""* "'""•'' ' ^---f 'ntVri I i . i rrn i M' ii i _ ■ - - V- i Zo tbc nDcn wbo bo not fear tbe Spbtnx ■ IIW I / The author is grateful to the editors and publishers of Scribner's Magazine, Ainslee's Magazine, the St. Nicholas, the Independent, Godey's Magazine, Harper's Round Table, the Illustrated American, the New York Evening Post, and the New York Commercial Advertiser, for permission to republish these stories. |1 W ; / T T dontenta ' - PAOB LAUGHTER OF THE SPHINX l^ ''"JARRING SECTS" 37 { THE EDUCATION OF PRAED 69 *^PSALM VII. 15 89 AN ARCTIC PROBLEM 133 t TOM'S VINDICATION 19J '^ AN ESKIMO WHIP aOQ / THE GLACIER IMPLEMENT 231 •^IN ARCTIC MOONLIGHT 249 ^ THE DOLOROUS EXPERIENCE OF KUKU . . .273 y A TALE OF DARKNESS AND OF THE COLD . . 297 / r •■'. \ >• "ilfffiffP""'^"--""- - W ii l.i|-^l « i NH>jf^jjpiyi « iii ai p i i tii i iT« i n^ :;5 •, 4 >'■ lUu0tration0 PACING PAGE Laughter of the Sphinx .... Frontispiece. "See what I have found! Edelweiss!" . . . .48*' . . . the scene of her first meeting with Latta . . . 9a . " Kee-eepsa-ake" «30 ^ Kywingwa reached down the glacier-implement , . . 846 - He thrust his weapon into the brutes shoulder . . . 268 ' . . . seemed to be snarling at something beyond him . . ag* ' She was bending over him *94 Figures were moving across the sea . . . . . 3*° "TUug-wing-wal donotleavem*/" 3** / LAUGHTER OF THE SPHINX. » uuu«W» li»'' H i »,i l Wi l lHi' B W> .fl land o) H toward: I apparel The Johann T. Bundergup expedition for the exploration of Greenland was a promis- ing enterprise. Ostensibly its mission was to make detailed charts of the west coast from Cape York to Lockwood and Brainerd's furthest, to determine the northern limits of the great island, and to complete the unex- plored line from Peary's Independence Bay southward upon the east coast to Cape Bis- marck. The scientific corps attached to the expedition was to take thorough observations of the weather, the glacial and magnetic phenomena, the rocks, the sea and its depths, and the birds, animals, and plants of what- ever region it should traverse. There was a clause in the published plans, however, pro- viding for a "dash" from the northernmost land over the ice pack of the Arctic Ocean the Pole. It was a modest clause, pparently thrown in quite incidentally among «3 . a ft .jt ' - |i i lauobtcr of tbc Spbini the other objects of the expedition. The public was supposed to look askance at at- tempts upon the North Pole, because there is no money to be made there. But as the leader knew, and every volunteer knew, and most of the public knew, the clause was the heart of the plan. The scheme of operations was drawn up according to the most recent theories of Arc- tic authority. The advance upon the Sphinx of the North was to be conducted according to strategic principles with ample provision for retreat. There were precautions against death from starvation. An enormous depot of supplies was to be established at Whale Sound, and renewed every summer by relief vessels from New York. From this main store a line of caches, thirty miles apart, was to be laid along the entire route of the expe- dition. The completion of these plans was esti- mated to be the work of twenty-five men for upwards of six years. If twenty years should be necessary, that would make no difference. There was plenty of money to last for an indefinite time. The patron of the 14 / ^nHIMr n. The e at at- se there t as the lew, and was the rawn up 3 of Arc- 2 Sphinx ccording jrovision s against lus depot It Whale by relief :his main part, was the expe- was esti- ■five men nty years make no money to ron of the Xauabtcr of tbe Spbinr expedition, a retired brewer who had made an enormous fortune and had acquired a longing for fame, perceived that immortality lies in having one's name attached to some part of the earth's surface. To accomplish this, he had set aside two of his many mil- lions. The interest of that sum was to sup- port the Arctic expedition, on conditions that all newly discovered territory should some- where bear his name and that the island nearest to the Pole should be called Bun- dergup Land. " Unt mit dot," said the shrewd old Ger- man, " efery poy unt girl vorefifer, vot goes to dot school unt deir geographie learnt, vill mis- bronounce my name unt vill hafe hatred for me. Aber, my name vill pe dere on de book unt meine Seele in Paradies vill know." Eleven hundred and three men responded to a call for volunteers. The leader selected twenty-five for the first two years of service. The Arctic Sphinx employs various methods of warfare against her assailants. Not only does she attack them directly, with ice-floes that crush them, snow-storms that smother them, and the powers of cold that chill away IS ■i' Xauobtcr of tbc Spbini their lives, but also she has a guerilla fashion of wearing upon their nerves with the dark. After his second consecutive winter in the far north a man loses enthusiasm, and when enthusiasm is gone, muscle and endurance are of little avail against the Sphinx. There- fore the leader had devised a system of relays. Each force of twenty-five was to be replaced after the second season with fresh men from home. On the 2ist of June the new Arctic ship Bundergup, sheathed outside with greenhart and fortified inside, after the manner of sealers, with scores of stanchions to resist ice-pressure, steamed north from her dock in Brooklyn. On the 30th of July the party landed their wonderful equipment upon a sunny beach in Greenland. Twelve days afterwards a house, firmly anchored against Arctic winds, stood perched upon a muddy foothill, half-way between the magnificent snow-crowned cliffs of red sandstone and the bay. About the house clustered several sealskin tents, and among the tents lounged human beings with dark complexions, ruddy cheeks, white teeth, and long black manes. 16 / I fashion he dark. r in the nd when idurance There- of relays, replaced len from •ctic ship Teenhart inner of to resist ler dock the party t upon a live days i against a muddy ignificent tone and :d several > lounged ns, ruddy k -manes. Xauobter of tbc Spbini They were clad in the skins of seals, ice- bears, and blue-foxes. The ship sailed home, and the representa- tive of the Associated Press, who returned with her, reported that the party had made friends with the Eskimos and had chosen a delightful spot for their winter home. "Around their house," he said, "a million poppies lift their little yellow-and-white heads to the never-setting sun. The botanists are crouching over rare Arctic plants. The eth- nologists are scrambling after black-and-white spiders, yellow butterflies, and gorgeous bumble-bees. The hunters have killed wal- rus enough to feed the dogs for the whole winter, and by this time, doubtless, have sup- plied the party with haunches of reindeer, which remain ever fresh in that germless air. The morale of the party is excellent. It is safe to predict a brilliant success for the expedition." His forecast might, perhaps, have been verified but for the carelessness of a waiter in a restaurant. The waiter was not a member of the ex- pedition. The party was chiefly made up of 17 Xauobtcr of tbc Spbliu scientific men. Most of them were Germans or of German parentage, but the principal hunter was an American, a member of one of the oldest families in New York. He had been chosen at the request of Mrs. Bundergup, who desired to be received in society. He was a fine big fellow named Van Den Zee. The Associated Press representative de- scribed him as the "young aristocrat, who has killed elephants in Africa, tigers in India, and ladies in the ball-rooms of all nations." He made no boast of his social position. The member of the party who proclaimed his high standing in the aristocracy was the doctor. As a class, surgeons of Arctic expe- ditions are the finest of men. Dr. Brank of the Bundergup expedition was an exception. He had been a protege of the patron. Bun- dergup had chosen him out of a public school in Chicago, had sent him to college, where he learned to play a winning game of bil- liards, and to the schools and hospitals in Paris, where he learned to deride religion and to worship the footlights. He rated himself a man of the world, and spoke of his tS / jermans principal 3f one of had been udergup, ity. He )en Zee. itive de- :rat, who :igers in ns of all position, roclaimed r was the ctic expe- Brank of exception, iron. Bun- blic school :ge, where me of bil- ospitals in e religion He rated )oke of his Xauabtcr of the spblnr honor with respect. Bundergiip, who never did things by halves, had forced him upon the leader, and, indeed, but for his restive tongue he would have been a passable ex- plorer. H(; overtopped even Van Den Zee by an inch or two, and he had several medals (he brought them with him to impress his companions) won in college athletics. He was the tallest of the party, but none of the men lacked two inches of six feet. None had passed through an Arctic winter, but most of them were experienced in out- door life. "A magnificent corps," said the leader to himself, as he glanced down the table at the first dinner. " We ought to carry everything before us." There followed a series of cracking sounds, like the reports of a six-pounder rapid-fire rifle. The entomologist, who had written poetry, remarked afterwards that the Arctic Sphinx had laughed. But at the time the exclamation ran about the table : " Hello, there goes another iceberg from the glacier ! " Whatever it was it raised a great wave, I |i '! Mi ./ OLauabtcr of tbc Spbinr which darted up the beach and carried away the windmill. The windmill lay near the shore, waiting until the party should be ready to set it up. The wave rolled it down the slope, floated it deftly between a floe and a berg, and tilted the masses of ice together. After twelve hours of hard work, the ex- plorers and the eight Eskimos in the village chopped a hole in the floe and fished up what was left of the sail. Considered as a grotesque effect in wrought iron, it was ad- mirable ; considered as a windmill, however, it was too curly. It had been designed extra heavy, to endure Arctic winds. The whole force of the party failed to make it look like anything but a gigantic spider playing 'pos- sum. " Very well, boys," said the leader to his red-faced party, "leave it alone. We can easily make another windmill. A wooden one will do just as well." When the wooden windmill was es*:ab- lished, and guyed against the northern tem- pests, a sudden squall came down from the clifls at the south and whirled the structure over. In falling, the huge wheel broke loose. 20 - t linx larried away ay near the uld be ready it down the a floe and a ice together, rork, the ex- n the village id fished up sidered as a n, it was ad- [lill, however, ssigned extra . The whole :e it look like playing 'pos- leader to his ne. We can . A wooden 11 was es*:ab- northern tem- 3wn from the the structure 2I broke loose. Xauflbtcr of tbe Spbinx The wind rolled it down the hill, bounding like a broken hoop, caught it up at the beach, and lodged it upon a majestic iceberg that was floating down the bay. The iceberg grounded opposite the house. The windmill hung in a cleft: between a tall pinnacle and the main mass of ice, and raided a request for succor. " I'll go and get it," volunteered the doctor. " No, no !" commanded the leader, hastily. " Never venture near an iceberg. They are dangerous. At any time they are likely to tip over and crush you. The slightest thing may disturb their equilibrium. Once a ship in which I was a passenger was passing near a big conical berg that looked as stable as a church. Some one had occasion to blow the big steam-whistle. At the sound the whole thing crumbled to pieces, and turned over. If it had thumped us on the keel it would have split us. We are in the midst of tremendous forces, gentlemen. It is neces- sary to be cautious. " He sauntered despondently into the house. " He is an old fogy !" commented the doc- ter. " I'm going to have the windmill." ai / auuobter of tbe Spbinx ••Better not try," remonstrated Van Den Zee. ''That spire is tottering now. Wait until it falls. I wish we could get the sail though. We may need it." The windmill was intended to furnish power for the electric plant. Without it the party would be forced to make shift with dim oil-lamps in the Arctic darkness. With the aid of an arc-light Nansen brought his party cheerfully through three winters. The leader had hoped for much comfort in his dynamo. "However," he said, "other expeditions have done with oil." Again the Sphinx chuckled, and another wave rolled up the beach and snatched at the oil-barrels, but they had been hauled out of its reach. It returned upon the ice-berg, shifted it around, and tilted it up on one side, so that the pinnacle hung out over the water apparently just ready to topple over. To see whether it had fallen was the first thought of the explorers when they turned out of their bunks in the morning — for by this time the sun was rising and setting regularly as it does in the temperate zones. 22 . '• P ►inx Xauabter of tbc Spbinr ;d Van Den now. Walt get the sail i to furnish thout it the e shift with ness. With brought his inters. The mfort in his expeditions and another snatched at n hauled out the ice-berg, up on one )ut over the topple over, was the first they turned ning — for by and setting )erate zones. But the ice held as steady as a leaning tower. •'Why doesn't the thing go!" exclaimed the doctor. " The sight of that windmill ex- asperates me. I'm going to fetch it down." He fired twice with his rifle. A few chips flew from the base of the ice, but no crash followed. " Very well," said the doctor. " I'm going to chop it down. Hello, there is a new berg." A vast block of ice had taken the ground a hundred feet east of the first. Its sides were hewn square, but it had a pitched roof, red with basaltic mud. "Looks like a church," remarked the doc- tor, who was brandishing an axe. "We had better call our headquarters Camp Cathe- dral. I'm going to desecrate one of these places of Arctic worship." But the Sphinx had other plans. An Es- kimo came running up the beach with news that evil spirits had entered into his wife, and a request for the angekok to come and charm them away. It was a case of inflammatory rheuniatism, iiil l\i' lUuabter of tbc Spbinr and it developed into pneumonia. The doc- tor worked hard, and ultimately saved the woman, thereby winning loyal affection from Tung-Wee, her husband, and awe from the rest of the tribe. Inflammatory rheumatism is the bane of Eskimos. To know the Eskimos and not be fasci- nated by them is not possible. To the doctor and to Van Den Zee the tribe was a god- send ; it provided them with amusement. Through the season of storms, when the snow gathered higher on a level than a man's head, and far into the cloudless season of darkness and still cold, when noonday was a twilight so dim that print was illegible out of doors, and when for months the mer- cury thermometer might have served as a bullet, the Eskimos kept up the spirits of the two white men. At headquarters the scientific staff wa'3 not doing as well. In order to occupy his men, the leader had imposed upon them sledge- making. At first they found carpentry en- tertaining, but none of them was used to the atmosphere of shavings, and long before Christmas the professors scowled upon the 24 y "iii packed, JARRING SECTS. " Our work has led us to an awful land, gentlemen, said the leader. " The climate of Greenland is heavenly in summer ; in winter it is, if I may be permitted to employ a for- cible simile, infernal. In committing his vilest criminals to a circle of ice, Dante ex- hibited a knowledge of physical conditions that was far in advance of his epoch. I will not assert that the Arctic winter makes Judases of men ; that were, perhaps, too violent. But it is certain that the cold, the darkness, and the isolation from one's fellow- beings tend to bring out in the human crea- ture some of the savage elements which are repressed by civilization." He paused and glanced up and down the long dinner-table set in the Arctic head- quarters. "But with this party," he resumed, "I have nothing to fear. Each one of you has 37 i I „-^'r 1 It ■■\\ ) !1 I y 1 Xauflbter of tbc Spbini already achieved distinction in his own branch of science ; yet each one of you knows that the greatest opportunity of his life lies immediately before him. You will labor strenuously, and in your work you will for- get petty dissensions. And, if differences of opinion should arise — you are all men of the highest intelligence ; you will know how to control yourselves. The members of Lieu- tenant Greely's party were chiefly common soldiers ; yet, with one or two exceptions, they exhibited the noblest fortitude and good humor amid fearful perils. How much more fitted are we, men of enlightenment, to smile in the face of hardship !" He sank into his chair amid a loud clap- ping of hands. The members of the Second Bundergup Expedition for the Exploration of Greenland made a show of veneration for their leader, first because he was the cousin of Johann T. Bundergup, by whose muni- ficence the party had been equipped and sent out ; second, because he had won world-wide renown as a meteorologist in the United States Signal Service. Except for the chief ,, hunter and one other man, a writer of novels 38 1 ni I his own ' you knows his life lies will labor ^ou will for- fferences of men of the now how to rs of Lieu- ^y common exceptions, le and good much more mt, to smile , loud clap- the Second Exploration neration for 3 the cousin hose muni- )ed and sent world-wide the United "or the chief er of novels 3arrino Sccte sent by a New York newspaper to do the popular history of the expedition, every member of the party was an authority in some branch of science, and knew how to respect the distinction of others. "Good speech, wasnt it?" asked the nov- elist as the geologists, botanists, entomolo- gists, and meteorologists dispersed to their fields of work. " Yes," assented the hunter. " It sounded as pretty as an oration upon the tariff ques- tion, and contained as much sense." The novelist's eyebrows curved (as he might have said in a story) into interrogation points. The hunter laughed. " Mr. Dahlgren," he said, " you are here to find copy— that's the technical word, isn't it? Well, you will find it." " I have found enough already to make a book," replied the writer. " What splendid local color! These magnificent cliffs crowned with the purest snows, these misty days when the black sea, as flat as a floor, extends away into space like the distances of an opium dream; these stately icebergs with their caves, blue as the grotto of Capri, 39 1 « XauQbter of tbe Spbinx darting at you azure reflections which they have caught from the sunlit ripples ; this midnight sun, which turns the foreground into goblin land, with grotesque shadows, and the distance into fairyland, with glorifying light — what nobler background could a man desire? And for characters, look at the natives, with their black tangles of hair, glowing eyes, dusky skins, and red cheeks ; creatures of the past ; men of both the stone age and the golden age ; eaters of meat without salt ; lovers of peace ; wor- shippers of I know not what gods ! The only wonder is that every one of us isn't metamorphosed into a poet." The hunter's gray eyes gazed out through the door of the Arctic hut to the blue bay flecked with white dots of ice. It was a moment before his reply came. "Yes," he assented musingly. "There is another background, just as picturesque. I saw it when I was here a year ago. I can't describe it as well as you will, but it is black and the wind blows and the ice creaks, and your nerves are all on edge. If you are an Eskimo, you are in awe of the devils ; if you 40 / hich they pies ; this >reground shadows, id, with ckground haracters, k tangles , and red ti of both eaters of Lce ; wor- ds! The f us isn't t through blue bay It was a There is esque. I . I can't it is black eaks, and )u are an Is; if you 3arrino Sccta are an American, you are in awe of the devils and the cold, too. Then — but you'll see for yourself. There are pleasant things as well as dismal ones. But if I am not mis- taken grimness will be the tone of your sto- ries. And in spite of our leader's speech, your grimmest stories will not be Eskimo stories." "Van Den Zee," returned the novelist, you're a pessimist. What harm can come to us? Haven't we a comfortable house, plenty to eat, and nothing to do? Aren't we, as the leader said, men of intelligence, with ideas to exchange that will keep us occupied in the darkness ?" "Precisely," returned the hunter. He finished his pipe, crossed the room to his bunk, took down his rifle, and returned to the door. "Intelligent men," he said, "know more things to quarrel about than stupid ones. Come," he added, hastily, "I'm going north with the ship. Don't you want to go, too ? She will run to Littleton Island after walrus. It's a four days' trip. You will have a chance to stand for an hour the farthest north of all human beings if that will give you a new 4* . / Xauabter of tbe Spbini sensation — you are looking for sensations, aren't you ?" The novelist laughed. ••Thank you," he said. "I think I'll re- main here and observe the aborigine in his native lair." An hour afterwards, trudging down the beach towards the Eskimo tupiks, he waved a farewell to the ship as she laid her course out of the bay. •' Good-bye, dark-spirited man," he shouted; "bring me some walrus-hunting stories for the book." Van Den Zee smiled a melancholy fare- well. •' What a gloomy mind he has," murmured Dahlgren. '• I feel rather like singing than like quarreling. The spell of the Arctic spirits is upon me. Fancy bothering with a row in the presence of these cliffs and snows ! Even my Eskimo friends are out for a lark. I wonder what makes them rush about like that? It must be a dance." A crowd of the skin-clad people was col- lected around one of the sealskin tents, and from all directions other Eskimos were has- 4* ensations, ik I'll re- ine in his down the he waved ler course le shouted; stories for :holy fare- murmured iging than the Arctic •ing with a nd snows ! or a lark, about like e was col- tents, and were has- 3arrind Sects tening to join the throng. As Dahlgren drew near he perceived that none of the dusky faces wore the easily awakened Es- kimo smile. As he approached, the group drew off, with glances of distrust, and per- mitted him to ascend a little grassy mound upon which stood the tupik. From within came the nasal voice of Tal- lant, the ethnologist of the party. " Now, sir, I think I have demonstrated beyond doubt that nature has provided the Eskimo with an under-coat of blubber, like that of a seal." Dahlgren drew aside the tent-flap. Upon the wide stone sleeping-slab at the rear lay a naked Eskimo. His hands and feet were bound to the corners of the rock with thongs of seal-hide. His mouth was open, and his eyes turned helplessly from Tallant to the surgeon of the party, both of whom were bending over him. "See how the muscles are hidden by the cushion of blubber. Yet he is a strong lad ; it taxed my utmost power to strip him for inspection. Are you convinced ?" " Not altogether," replied the surgeon. 43 Xauobtcr of tbc Spbinx " I see no signs of anything beyond an ordi- nary layer of fat such as an inhabitant of the tropics may have. Moreover, with deference to your acknowledged ability, I must main- tain that the methods you have used are un- necessarily cruel, and I must beg you to release the man." " No, sir," exclaimed the ethnologist. " Not unti' you acknowledge yourself to be in the wrong. I am surprised that you, a scientific man, should exhibit sentiment at a moment like this. I have my lancet here, and I pro- pose to make an incision so that you may observe the quality of thir layer of blub- ber." At the sight of the lancet the Eskimo set up an eldritch screaming, and struggled until the slab beneath him rocked. The doctor slipped the thong from one corner of the stone, and with a turn or two the Eskimo freed himself. He sprang between the two white men and dashed down the hill towards his tribespeople, who, in turn, seized v.'ith a panic, scattered at his approach. The two white men stood frowning at one another. • 44 y d an ordi- ant of the deference lUSt main- id are un- 2g you to rist. "Not be in the , scientific I moment ,nd I pro- : you may of blub- )skimo set rgled until he doctor ler of the e Eskimo n the two U towards ed v/ith a ing at one 3arrlno Sccte " Sir," burst out the ethnologist, " you have thwarted my experiment !" "Sir," retorted the doctor, "you are a fool !" With that he turned upon his heel and stalked up the beach towards the head- quarters. The ethnologist made two paces to follow, brought his head violently against the cross- bar of the tent-frame and paused. Dahlgren, still poised in amazement with the tent-flap in his hand, uttered an exclamation. The ethnologist looked up under the hand with which he was rubbing the bruise. "Ah, Mr. Dahlgren," he said, "you have been a witness of this man's pusillanimity. He has ch.illenged my authority in a matter about which he knew nothing, and has re- fused to submit the case to proof. When we have reached home if he dares to throw dis- credit upon my theory, I shall have your word as evidence that he shrank from the test." Dahlgren drew a long breath. " Oh, certainly," he said, " if the doctor disputes you." Tallant cast an impatient glance at the novelist. 45 - m 4 !? n i I Hauobtcr of tbc Spbinr "Of course, he will dispute me," he averred. " Before we came here he had committed himself to his dieory. 1 !e cannot abandon it ; his authority amonjif scientific men would be destroyed " " Indeed," said Dahlgren, absondy. He was glanciny^ about the settlement. A few Eskimos still lingered in the distance, but the tents were deserted. Tallant noted the direction of his eyes. "Ah," he said, "I see what you are think- ing of. You would like to be convinced by demonstration. I admire your cautious spirit. But we must wait until to-morrow, my dear sir, when the slight sensation of this incident has worn itself out. Then we will catch another Eskimo, and I will show you that I am right." When the party reassembled for dinner, that evening, there was a vacant chair. The leader eyed it severely through his specta- cles. It was his theory that an Arctic expe- dition should be conducted according to a system, even as a weather bureau. He had posted upon the door of the headquarters a set of rules covering the routine duties of the 46 1 X ifc tarn nx Sarrlno Sccte me," he •0 he hiul I Ic cannot J scientific ^ntly. He It. A few itancc, but ; noted the are think- ivinced by ious spirit, ly dear sir, icident has :h another :hat I am "or dinner, lair. The lis specta- •ctic expe- •ding to a He had quarters a ties of the day. One of the rules provided that every member not away upon a lon^ excursion shoukl keep meal times. "The post -prandial smoke-hour," he pointed out, "is the period when men ac- quire knowledge of the best characteristics of their comrades. Talk and tobacco cement friendships. But the talk must be amiable, and how can it be amiable when the meal has been hurried and irregular, as it must be if the members of the party do not arrive on time? I am surprised that Prof. Morrell should disregard this rule." "Perhaps he has made a find," suggested Dahlgren. " I saw him scouting along the edge of the glacier." " Prof. Morrell vill make no find," put in Prof. Delacour, the representative of the French government. " I myself have scoured ze vicinity of zat glacier. Prof. Morrell may examine wis a microscope every foot of ze ground ; he will discover no plant. I 'ave zem all in my press." " Here comes Prof. Morrell," announced the novelist. " He is running." The botanist burst into the hut. 47 Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini "See, gentlemen," he exclaimed. "See what I have found ! Edelweiss !" The Frenchman's lip curled up, but his cheeks lost some of their ruddy color. " Edelweiss !" he exclaimed. It cannot be. Dere is no edelweiss in Greenland !" " See it for yourself," retorted Morrell. I found it upon the crest of a hill, beside the glacier. I had looked in vain along the val- ley; nothing interesting was to be seen, when suddenly far above me the little white spot caught my eye. I scrambled up a perpendicular cliff. How I did it I cannot tell. But my peril was magnificently re- warded." " Meanwhile, Prof. Morrell," broke in the serene voice of the leader, " you have kept our dinner waiting. I rejoice in your dis- covery and so will our patron, Mr. Bunder- gup. I suggest that you name this variety of the flower after him. But I repeat that you have delayed our meal. Come, let us sit down." The botanist looked perplexed. " Very well, sir," he stammered. "I should like to put the plant in my press first." 48 / ^^i^ia^Kgm^mMm0mt»»tit ini med. " See up, but his color. It cannot be. nd!" IMorrell. I 1, beside the long the val- to be seen, le little white .mbled up a 1 it I cannot lificently re- broke in the )u have kept in your dis* Mr. Bunder- e this variety I repeat that Come, let us id. ed. "I should iS first." n ■ "^ fe: u'' Jfe ii / 3arring Sects "I would rather have you sit down at once," replied the leader. The post-prandial smoke-hour was not cheerful that day. The big Frenchman blew rings and glowered at them ; the botanist kept his eyes upon his plate. The ethnolo- gist cast triumphant glances at the doctor, who was talking cheerfully enough with the leader. The public conversation consisted of a dispute between the two geologists, one of whom asserted that the strata-formation in glaciers was caused by precipitation during various years, in the neve basin ; while the other declared that it was due to conflicting pressure'' The argument waxed warm ; the faces of t'' «. eologists turned as red as the sandstOi V f behind the headquarters. Finally, the leader closed the smoke-hour ten minutes before the wonted time had elapsed. Dahlgren was early afoot next day. When he sauntered out of the headquarters the forenoon breeze had not yet begun to blow. The bay shone as glossy and black as the glass-covered ponds in topographical models. Through the haze that hung over the sea *u 11 aakw.,^i^^ j^mm^ Xauabtcr of tbc Spbinx loomed the dim masses of enormous bergs. The sun was a crimson disc. The tide was at rest. Nothing stirred. " Now this sort of thing ought to be abso- lute peacefulness," commented Dahlgren aloud; "but it is not. On the contrary, there is unrest in such a stupendous silence. I feel as if the universe were in suspense ; as if the Arctic spirit were holding its breath for something to happen." "Something is going to happen," re- sponded a voice behind him. Turning, the novelist perceived litde Dr. Morrell. With trembling fingers the doctor thrust a folded paper into the novelist's hand. " Read that !" he commanded. Dahlgren unfolded the paper. "To Gustav Schwarz, leader of the Second Bundergup Expedition to Greenland : Sir : " it began. " I have understood with surprise that the variety of edelweiss discovered in Greenland is to be named after Johann T. Bundergup, a man unknown to science. I beg to call your attention to the fact that in sending a representative upon this expedi- tion France has conferred as great an honor 5° y bini 3arrina Sects mous bergs. The tide was t to be abso- :d Dahlgren the contrary, dous silence, suspense ; as ig its breath lappen," re- Turning, the )rrell. With ust a folded »f the Second iland: Sir:" with surprise liscovered in er Johann T. ) science. I t fact that in this expedi- eat an honor as the patron himself. I should have been of the opinion that the Greenland edelweiss would have been christened either after my country or after me, her delegate. May I call the claims of France to your early atten- tion? " Meanwhile, sir, I beg you to receive the assurances of my distinguished consideration. " Delacour." As Dahlgren finished this note, his lips twitched. But when he glanced over it at the set teeth of the little botanist, he con- trolled his laughter. "This is a remarkable note," he observed. "Yes, sir," replied Morrell. "I found it upon the floor. Now, sir, I beg you to take note that the edelweiss was my discovery, and by every custom known to science should bear my name !" " I have no doubt of it," agreed Dahl- gren. " But what can I do in the matter?" " Do, sir ? You are the historian of this expedition. I adjure you to witness that these two men, the leader and the French- man, are in league against me. If you do not make that plain in your book, I shall call 5» I ■ I X OUuobtcr of tbc Spbinx you to account in the newspapers. Stay, sir, and listen," he added, as Dahlgren made a movement to leave him. " That is not all. They have stolen my edelweiss. It was a concerted plot. You heard the leader order me not to press the plant. Well, sir, after dinner, when I sought it, I could not find it. The matter is plain. The Frenchman pur- loined my flower, with the knowledge and connivance of the leader. Dahlgren's lips twitched again. " Isn't stealing specimens held to be rather a matter of legitimate war fare ?" he asked. The professor cleared his throat. "Well, possibly— at home," he acknowl- edged. " But here where a man's undying fame depends upon his ability to produce the specimen, the theft is sin, sir ; nothing less than sin!" " But there is more edelweiss. If you don't care to climb for it again, send an Eskimo," "True, Mr. Dahlgren, true," exclaimed the nervous little man. "You and I will beat them yet. I will get an Eskimo at ' once." . ; ™smm m M-^- -~^ s. Stay, sir, ren made a t is not all. s. It was a leader order ell, sir, after not find it. ichman pur- wledge and to be rather ' he asked. at. le acknowl- n's undying produce the lothing less ss. If you in, send an ' exclaimed and I will Eskimo at 3arrina ^ct0 He sped away towards the tupiks. Dahl- gren, gazing after him, suddenly ceased to smile. Instead, he started, and sent his voice out in a shout. " Professor ! Professor ! Hold on ! The Eskimos have gone." The hill where the little tents had lifted their dark peaks was as bare as the cliffs. Nothing but fragments of ice lay upon the beach where the kayaks had been. Dahlgren ran forward towards the camp-site, and half- a-dozen of the party, aroused by his cry, fol- lowed. The spots where the tents had stood were clearly marked. The sleeping- slabs remained, and immediately about them the ground was defiled with seal-oil, blood, entrails, and all the foulness of an Eskimo habitation. The great stones that had weighted the skirts of the tents against the wind rested in their circles. A coil or two of agluna and a few tiny ivory toys carved to represent seals or men or sledges lay about. But no Eskimo was in sight. " Was fur ein Ungliick ist hier passirtT gasped the leader, who was apt to forget his acquired tongue in moments of stress. " Ve 53 f / Xauabtcr of tbc Spbtnr cannot mitout de Eskimos succeed. It is ruin." The explorers, collected about him, gazed at each other, but no intelligence appeared in any face. "You see, Mr. Tallant," exclaimed the doctor, "you frightened them away with your confounded experiments." Tallant shifted his lathy figure from one foot to the other, as a naughty boy shifts be- fore his teacher. " I had not supposed," he said, " that they would misunderstand me. I have measured Indians, from whom these people are undoubt- edly descended, and found them reasonable." " I should question if zey aire descended from ndians," interrupted Delacour. " Dat, I know, is ze t'eory American, but it seems to me more probable that they came from Asia, by ze way of Alaska. Look at ze high cheek-bones and ze oblique eyes ! Mongolian, I assure you of it." An outburst of protests broke off his speech. "I venture to disagree with " "Dr. Brinton says " " But the tradition of the tribe ." 54 cceed. It is It him, gazed ice appeared reclaimed the ay with your re from one )oy shifts be- d, " that they ,ve measured I are undoubt- reasonable." re descended cour. " Dat, but it seems y came from ok at ze high >! Mongolian, »roke off his ee with " ; the tradition 3arrina Sccte The voice of Morrell came out of the chorus, as in an opera the sustained note of the tenor emerges from the ensemble, " moreover, you aspire to omniscience, sir, and you descend to the meanest methods to achieve distinction. What have you done with my edelweiss?" "Gentlemen, gentlemen," exclaimed the leader. "You are forgetting yourselves. I command you to be silent." The tumult died away. " I am amazed, gendemen," continued the leader. " What would they say at home, if they could see this distressing spectacle ! To your work, sirs. Prof. Morrell, the specimen of Bundergup's edelweiss " — he cast a stern glance at the representative of the French government — " is in my keeping. You shall have it at once." "Meanwhile," interposed Dahlgren, who had been scanning the stretch of beach that lay between the headquarters and the cape at the mouth of the bay. " If I may venture to make a suggestion, the Eskimos can't be far away yet. If we need them, why don't we bribe them to come back?" 55 Xauobtcr of tbc Spblni " That is a very good plan," agreed Trd- lant. " I was about to propose it myself. I shall start at once, and if you care to ac- company me, Mr. Dahlgren, I shall be de- lighted to take you." "Wait one moment, Prof. Tallant," inter- posed the leader. "I understand that you are responsible for the panic of the savages. It is not my purpose to send you as envoy. I shall select " '• Sir," interrupted the ethnologist, " in my official capacity I am the proper person to have dealings with this people. Who else knows their language ? I demand the lead- ership of the party of placation." " I shall select," began the leader again. "I give you notice, sir, that, whether you select me or not, I shall deem myself a member of the party. In my official ca- pacity " "Do I understand, sir, that this means disobedience of my orders?" " May I point out, sir, that your orders are in direct contradiction to the expectations of the scientific world ? I shall take my depart- ure at once before your orders are given, 56 / Teed Tnl- tiyself. I ire to ac- all be de- nt," inter- that you 2 savages, as envoy. 5t, "in my person to Wiio else , the lead- r again. :, whether 1 myself a official ca- ns means orders are ctations of iiy depart- are given, 3arrinfl Sccta and thus relieve myself of the onus of dis- obedience." He shouldered his gun and made off rapidly towards the cape. "Let him go," sneered Delacour, "ze Eskimos will eat him, and we s'all 'ave one less insane among us." Two days afterward the ship returned from the walrus hunt. Van Den Zee came off in a boat, and Dahlgren met him upon the beach. "What luck?" asked the novelist. "First rate," replied the hunter. "Noth- ing to mar the pleasure, except a slight dis- agreement between the taxidermist and the professor of natural history over the question whether all the walrus-skins and heads were to be turned in to the Natural History So- ciety, or whether some might be kept for sale to private museums. How is it with you here?" Dahlgren laughed. " Van Den Zee," he explained ; " it's really not a time for mirth, but I can't keep my face straight. This is the situation : There are ten men in that house, and no two are 57 laugbtcr of tbc Spbinx on speaking terms. Last night Delacour and Morrell came to blows. Delacour had been treating Morrell brutally, but he is the French government, and the little professor seems to be the butt of the party. So Dr. Schwarz must needs order Morrell to be put in irons." Van Den Zee's eyes twinkled. •' Poor little professor," he said ; " did he resist?" " Well, the order caused a great deal of murmuring, and no one would carry it out. After that — well, I can't tell you about the confusion. No one paid any attention to Schwarz's orders, and every one was at odds. In the midst of the wrangle Schwarz climbed upon the table. The thing was so unlike him that every one stopped disputing to hear what he would say. 'Gentlemen,' he de- clared — you know he has an accent when he is much excited — ' Gentlemen, I haf enough of dees disagreements. Listen ! De Segond Bundergup Egspedition does not exist. It is dispandit.' "That brought a storm about his head. Delacour said that if Schwarz was going to S8 / acourand had been le is the professor . So Dr. to be put ; "did he at deal of rry it out. about the tention to IS at odds, rz climbed so unlike ig to hear n,' he de- t when he af enough )e Segond xist. It is his head, i going to 3arrino Sccte abandon the enterprise, he himself would lead it for the honor of France. Morrell sprang at him like a little cat. The rest choked Morrell off, but every one clamored to be leader, except Schwarz and the doctor. The doctor took his sleeping-bag and left the hut. The others fought till bed-time over ballots taken in a hat. I turned in before the contest was finished ; I don't know who was chosen." " Is this the doctor?" asked Van Den Zee. Dahlgren turned about. " No, it's Tallant. How oddly he is run- ning ! The ethnologist was hastening up the beach at the top of his speed, waving his hands and shouting, but picking up his feet in a curious, gingerly fashion. " He is barefooted," commented the hunter. Not only were his feet bare, but also they were cut and torn, and his breath came short. "The ship !" he gasped as he came near. " Not gone ? Stop her ! I want to go." " Not gone yet. You're safe," respondf 1 Van Den Zee. " Sit down here in the bc.i; 59 Xaufibtcr of tbc Spbini and wash your feet in the salt water. I've got some whiskey somewhere." The ethnologist slumped into the stern of the whale-boat with his legs dangling over- board. Van Den Zee supported his should- ers and poured out a huge cup of whiskey. Dahlgren bathed his feet with a bunch of sea- weed. "Work for the doctor here," he com- mented. " You must have been running for miles." " Miles !" gasped the ethnologist. " I should think I had." "Gentlemen," he continued, "row me to the ship. My usefulness among this people is ended. I am going home." " Didn't you find the Eskimos ?" inquired Dahlgren. " Yes, sir, I found them, but they are en- tirely intractable. I will tell you. When I left you I proceeded around the point — a day's march as you know. No person was visible, but I found the marks of tent-poles that had been dragged in the sand, and I knew I was on the right track. So I ate some pro- visions and slept. Now, gentlemen, beyond 60 ^ bini ; water. I've ) the stern of angling over- id his should- > of whiskey, bunch of sea- z," he com- een running St. "I should " row me to I this people s?" inquired they are en- •u. When I the point — a I person was af tent-poles 1, and I knew te some pro- men, beyond 3arrina Sects that point an enormous glacier must have descended into the sea. It must have borne a score at least of lateral and medial mo- raines, and it melted away and deposited all those sharp-edged stones in lines stretching into the water. I had to climb over I don't know how many. " But once beyond them, there I saw the Eskimos, upon a mound at the other side of a litde sandy inlet. They ran about in the greatest confusion when they perceived me, and two or three men advanced almost to the water's edge. "C/umo/ I said. They consulted for a moment and then one called back, 'CAimo,' and added something else, pointing to the inlet. The tide had gone out and left the sand almost dry. I thought I heard the Eskimo word for ' come,' so I hastened out upon a spur of rock and leaped to the sand. " To my horror, I sank at once above my knees, and the whole surface of the inlet be- gan to quiver like a custard. The sand closed in about my legs. I felt as if some sea-monster was sucking me down into its belly. It was a quicksand. 6i f ,5' Xauabter of tbe Spbini "Two circumstances saved me. I had thrown myself from the rocks sidewise, and I was wearing rubber hip-boots. If my back had been presented to the rocks, I never should have escaped. As it was, with my right hand, I could reach a corner that hung out above me. I pulled and struggled, but the sand kept sucking me down until suddenly I wrenched my feet out of my boots ; fortunately they were a size too large for me, to allow for extra stockings in winter. Then I could use both hands, and I hauled myself upon the rock by main strength. My boots sank out of sight. "As I stood watching them a pack of the Eskimos came running toward me ; they had circumvented the quicksand by some way of their own. That immense fellow, Ikwah, was in the lead, and he flourished one of those dog-whips with a lash thirty feet long. This peril was as bad as the quicksand. I have no shame in confessing that I turned and ran." •' They wouldn't have harmed you," broke in Van Den Zee. " Ikwah wouldn't hurt a mosquito. They came to help you out." 62 / ;. I had wise, and If my : rocks, I was, with rner that itruggled, 5wn until It of my size too )ckings in ids, and I I strength. ick of the they had ne way of V, Ikwah, 2d one of feet long, ksand. I : I turned >u," broke n't hurt a out." 3arrin0 Sects " Sir," replied the eth.'.olcgist, who had re- covered somewhat of his ordinary authorita- tive manner, " it is my profession to compre- hend savage races, and I assure you that the manner of these men was distinctly menac- ing. Pray let me finish my narrative. I am a fast runner, and I made good my escape. I am good in an emergency; I am aware that trifles must not be considered. I took no thought for my feet ; they must have been cut in crossing the moraines. If I had not had the presence of mind to run, I might have been harpooned, and my fate would have been a blot upon the fame of the expedition. Dr. Schwarz ought to have detailed at least one man to accompany me." He sank back in his seat, nodded signifi- cantly at each of his companions in turn, and fell to examining his torn feet. " Dahlgren," said Van Den Zee, "will you come to the house with me ? I have some arrangements to make." Dahlgren followed the hunter up the hill. His mouth was pursed up and his forehead was wrinkled. y Uauabtet of tbe Spbinjc "Look here," he broke out, presently, "are all scientific men like this?" "No," laughed Van Den Zee, "as a class they are the best fellows in the world. These men are mostly heads of institutions, used to being worshipped like little tin gods, and they don't understand restraint. Oh ! of course, at home they scrap politely among themselves, but there it doesn't matter." " Hark," interrupted the novelist. The sound of voices raised in anger came from the headquarters. The two explorers hastened to fling open the door. About the table, set with a confusion of unwashed breakfast dishes, were grouped the members of the party. Every man's face was red and every man, shouting at the top of his voice, was bending forward and brandishing his fists toward the head of the table, where Dela- cour, waving a felt hat, was apparently try- ing to make a speech. Upon the edge of his bunk, with his forehead resting in his hands, sat Schwarz. Van Den Zee raised significant eyebrows at Dahlgren, shrugged his shoulders, made his way to the leader's side, and whispered mmUmtm inx , presently, " as a class Drld. These ons, used to 1 gods, and t. Oh! of itely among natter." ist. anger came o explorers About the r unwashed he members was red and )f his voice, hing his fists vhere Dela- )arently try- the edge of sting in his It eyebrows ilders, made d whispered 3arrina Sects in his ear. Schwarz listened for a moment, nodded eagerly, and seized the hunter by the hand. The noise of rattling crockery broke in upon the tumult. Delacour was belaboring the table with his fist. A plate fell to the floor, and sudden silence followed the crash. " Will you listen to me a moment ?" put in Van Den Zee. At the sound of his cool voice the wranglers turned toward him. The hunter advanced, smiling, to Dela- cour's side. "I'm sorry to interrupt this discussion," he said, "but Dr. Schwarz, your leader, has asked me to say that the ship will start for home to-morrow. By his orders, all mem- bers of the party will be ready at five o'clock in the evening to go with her. If " " Nonsense, sir," burst in Delacour. " Dr. Schwarz 'as r-r-resign. Gentlemen, examine ze ballot ; you yourselves will see." " One moment, please," resumed Van Den Zee, laying a hand upon the Frenchman's shoulder. " Dr. Schwarz adds that to-mor- row six sailors from the ship will be here to carry on board any — ah — bundles that are in 5 6s laugbtcr of tbe Qpbinx the least difficult to move, and that if six are not enough, there are ten others, powerful and well-disciplined, besides himself, Mr Dahlgren, myself, and I think the doctor." ' Certainly," spoke up the surgeon. "I for one shall be delighted to go home." I also am ready," piped up Prof. Morrell. Van Den Zee faced the Frenchman and spoke m his most courteous tones. "You, too, are ready, monsieur.?" he in- quired. Delacour glanced about the circle of ex- plorers. Apparently he found no encour- t!::zz:''' '^ ^^^' ^^^ '^ ^^-^^^^ "Man Dieu, since it is ordered," he said - . . . ' A month afterward Dahlgren and Van Den Zee sat beside a table laid for breakfast "^ the restaurant of the University Club paper. The coffee was already cool "Here it is!" he exclaimed. im;a'^:nr""'"^''"^''\^^^"^-^- "Certainly I'll read it. It's headed, 'Geo- ' i6t y pWni 1 that if six are liers, powerful himself, Mr. the doctor." surgeon. "I ) home." Prof. Morrell. enchman and les. iieur.?" he in- circle of ex- 1 no encour- he shrugged d," he said. :n and Van for breakfast ersity Club. 5 of a news- ool. onfess I am ded, 'Geo- 3arrina Secta graphical Club Dines. A brilliant gathering of eminent minds at the monthly feast. Prof. Schwarz's statement. The Arctic leader de- scribes his expedition as a remarkable scien- tific success. A new flower discovered. Studies of the Eskimos.' It begins with a description of the dons present. Ah, here is Schwarz. 'The guest of the evening was Prof. Gustav Schwarz, leader of the Second Bundergup Expedition, just returned from Greenland. In response to the toast, " Our Arctic Heroes," the professor said : "Gen- tlemen, the applause with which you have greeted this toast is a flattering indication that the spirit of approval for Arctic enter- prises lives despite the attacks of the multi- tude. I am delighted to have been the leader of an expedition that has made some addition to the general stock of information about the most fascinating of all countries, Greenland. It is not for me, however, to claim the chief honors of research. I owe a debt of gratitude to my brave and faithful assistants in the cause of science. I cannot too highly eulogize the energy and fortitude displayed by every member of my party. But 67 -s • I y ill Uaugbter of tbe Spbini particularly, gentlemen, my tribute is due to Prof. Delacour, the representative of the French government, to Prof. Morrell, who imperilled his life to gather that crowning glory of the expedition, the Bundergup edelweiss, and to Dr. Tallant, the heroic ethnologist, whose study of the fascinating but erratic aborigines has been indefatigable. I can only regret that the unpropitiousness of the season, which made our return seem imperative, deprived these gentlemen of the opportunity of pursuing their magnificent efforts throughout the winter." ' " Dahlgren's words had issued more and more slowly and emphatically as he read on, and here he paused, lowered his paper, and stared over it at Van Den Zee. The hunter raised his brows. "My dear fellow," he said, "the public never gets the inside history of an Arctic expedition." 01 btni )ute is due to ative of the Morrell, who bat crowning Bundergup t, the heroic e fascinating indefatigable. ropitiousness return seem lemen of the magnificent 2d more and s he read on, is paper, and The hunter "the public of an Arctic THE EDUCATION OF PRAED Daniel Webster cut from the seal a morsel of meat eight inches long by two inches square. He crowded out of sight as much of the delicacy as his mouth and part of his oesophagus would hold — about six inches— and sliced ofif the visible two inches with a blow of his knife. " I never knew before," commented Praed, "why the Eskimo nose was so snubby. I now see it all. It is a beautiful example of the law of survival. If you touch an Eskimo anywhere, you draw blood. The long-nosed men of the stone age slashed their skins at meal-times and died of hemorrhage. Only the short-nosed men could live. Even Daniel carves perilously close to his lovely snub, — and if Daniel's nose were a little shorter it would be a cavity." " Just so," I replied, indifferently. Praed's 69 -1 'r! Xauobtcr of tbc Sphinx jaunty talk jarred upon me, and his superior tone toward the Eskimos displeased mc. He was attached to the Relief Party as botanist. I believe he was a professor of natural history in some Western college. He had climbed a mountain in the Canadian Rockies, a minor peak, no difficult ascent. But the mountain was a virgin peak and bore a living glacier, and Praed wrote for the papers about it and made a great achieve- ment of his exploit. Upon the strength of his reputation he assumed to direct the policy of the Relief Expedition, and when the leader refused to fall in with his views, Praed grumbled and once or twice approached open insubordination. The leader, a quiet, modest fellow, took his unruly botanist calmly, but several members of the party told me the man worried him. However, when it suited his purpose, Praed could be humble enough. He discovered my irritation at once and took his own method of soothing it. "Oh, come now, old fellow," he said, "don't take your Eskimos too seriously. I admire them as much as you do. Here, 70 IL. linx his superior •leased me. :f Party as professor of ;rn college, le Canadian cult ascent, ak and bore ote for the 2at achieve- strength of direct the and when 1 his views, approached ler, a quiet, y botanist the party pose, Praed covered my •wn method he said, 2riously. I io. Here, Z\)c fi^ucation of prae^ Daniel,— Dahlgren, how do you say ' I like you,' in Husky-tongue?" "3/ce peeyook amishwa',' answered I, in the pidjin-Eskimo we had learned to use during our year in the far north. '' Iblce kumook amishva^' repeated Praed. Daniel received the communication with that heavy gravity which had won him his nick- name ; his birth-name was Meeoo. Praed shrugged his shoulders. "I never shall learn the lingo," he sighed. «Tell him I am going to give him this knife." '' Praed pilletay iblce savik" I translated. Daniel received the knife without com- ment. I caught a flash of pleasure in his eye, but it escaped Praed. " He doesn't seem very grateful," he said. "I despair of the aborigine. He has no sense of humor, no gratitude, apparently no more affection than his dogs. He is pure selfishness. He is homely, he is fearfully unclean " "Professor Praed," I interrupted, "you arrived in Greenland three days ago. After you have knocked about with these fellows 1 y 1 1 I lauobtcr of tbc S^pbinjc for a month you will change your opinion. As for dirt, eight or nine months in every year that bay is skimmed over with a little matter of five or six feet of ice. Until your party came, there was not a hatchet in the tribe to cut baths. In winter all these small streams that you see disappear. The Husky has to melt ice for drinking water, and that is no light affair for him. In summer, it's true, he might bathe ; perhaps you would like to try it." " Those are all very well as excuses," re- sponded Praed, " but they don't remove facts. Your dear friends are disgustingly soiled. And I am going to accept your invitation to take a bath." He did accept it. He said he was accus- tomed to cold water every morning (imply- ing in his tone that he feared I wasn't), that he had been baptized in the Susquehanna River through a hole in the ice, and that he guessed he could stand a summer sea in Greenland. He took off his clothes, swam out to a berg grounded some forty feet off" the beach, climbed hurriedly upon the ice, danced up and down and shouted until we put off" in a wmmmmm^ mi wiin our opinion. ;hs in every with a little Until your tchet in the I these small The Husky tor, and that iummer, it's you would xcuses," re- emove facts, ingly soiled, invitation to e was accus- ning (imply- sn't), that he hanna River t he guessed Greenland. Jt to a berg the beach, danced up put off in a TCbe B^ucation of prac^ boat and rescued him. For three days after- ward he shivered under blankets and drank up the little store of whiskey that remained in our supplies. 1 was not sorry that this object lesson had occurred. Our expedition had lived for nine- teen months among the Eskimos. Two or three of us, whose chief duty was hunting, had learned to know the Innuit as one knows brothers. In a savage land, you choose your friends not because they can judge a picture or say witty things about their neighbors, but because they will go through any emer- gency by your side. More than once Daniel or one or another of our Eskimo comrades had saved us from death; more than once we had interposed between a Husky and the Kokoia. It was not pleasant to hear the cock-a-whoop members of the Relief Party, with their amateur knowledge of Arctic con- ditions, classifying our comrades among the Greenland fauna. But the Relief Party got on well with the Eskimos. They had a cargo of knives, hatchets, saws, needles, scissors, wooden staves, and all things that represent wealth 73 Xaufibtcr of tbe Spbtnr to the Innuit. These things they distributed freely among the settlements; it was but natural that they should win the hearts of the Husky-folk, Praed reappeared after his chill with a triumphant air, bearing bead necklaces and mirrors — for trading, he said. The Eskimos, however, shook their heads at these gewgaws, and Praed had to fall back upon useful articles. He obtained for him- self the office of chief distributer, and waxed popular in the tribe. One day, a fortnight or so after the episode of the bath, Daniel's wife, Megipsu, came running up the beah. "The man with gifts is at my tupik. He desires something. I do not understand hi:... Will you come ?" I found Prand holding out the skirt of his coat toward Megipsu's little daughter. "Like this," he was repeating. "Make me a coat. Scion of a savage race, if I had you at home, I should chastise you. You are stupid." The child stared blankly at him. " What is it, Professor Praed ?" I asked. He blushed and hesitated. 74 linx ^ distributed it was but he hearts of red after his earing bead ing, he said, leir heads at to fall back ed for him- , and waxed ■ the episode gipsu, came ' tupik. He erstand hiwi. skirt of his j^hter. g. " Make ice, if I had lu. You are 1. I asked. TTbe Bl>ucation of lPrllc^ "Well, you see," he said, "Your Green- land climate is not what I expected. When the wind is quiet, everything is warm. When the gale comes up in the afternoon, it is cold. Now the— the fur clothes ; their odor is as the odor of abattoirs. At first I didn't compre- hend the evident joy you have in them. But on the whole you seem so comfortable in all weathers that I thought I would try a suit myself. You see, I don't like to be lumbered with a leather jacket all the time." " Hm !" reflected I. " Praed is learning his Greenland." All I suggested, however, was that if he minded the smell he might carry his leather coat out with him and leave it upon a rock until he should need it. "And have it stolen," he said, with a glance of pity. I perceived that he had a great deal of Greenland yet to learn. Eskimos do not steal. I arranged with Megipsu for a seal- skin suit, however, to cost two pairs of scis- sors, a packet of sail-needles, a hunting-knife, a cracker-box and Praed's wooden b':jnal- whistle, which Megipsu fancied. In a week the professor appeared in the silvery clothes. 75 Xaudbtcr of tbe Spbinx He was highly enthusiastic. I listened pa- tiently while he explained the garments. "You see, when it is warm," he said, "I can loosen the draw-string and throw back the hood, and a draught comes in from the bottom and goes out at the neck and carries off the perspiration. When the wind rises, snap ! I haul in the draw-string, cover my head, and I am hermetically sealed. Not an air can touch me." " Precisely," I agreed. I had been wear- ing Eskimo clothes for about a year and two months. "I understand," I added, " that you are going oogsook hunting with Meeoo." " Yes," he laughed, " I'm going to show the untutored savage the superiority of the rifle over the harpoon." He learned more about Greenland on that expedition. There was a floe, perhaps a mile wide, anchored near the mouth of the bay by half a dozen grounded bergs. To this floe the Eskimo and the white man set forth in kayaks. It was midnight when they left and we were asleep, but the Huskies at the vil- lage told us that the professor couldn't 76 y :ened pa- ents. i said, "I irow back in from neck and the wind ng, cover lied. Not een wear- year and I added, ting with r to show ity of the id on that ips a mile f the bay o this floe t forth in y left and at the vil- couldn't TTbe fi^ucation of f>rac& manage his canoe and finally had to permit Daniel to tow him. Next night they returned with a seal. The professor had many words of praise for a country where the sun never sets and there is no loss of working-time, but nothing to say about the hunting. At last he confessed that Daniel had killed the seal. "ThQpkoca barbata is a wary animal," he protested. " He v»rill not permit a white face to approach. Two or three of the creatures were taking sun baths upon the floe, but before I could creep within shooting distance they flopped into the water— a most ungrace- ful gait. All Arctic animals seem to be clumsy. I fired at one seal and I think I hit him, but he too dived. "At last I resigned the rifle to Daniel. The savage squirmed over the ice like a worm. When the seals lifted their heads, Daniel lifted his. It is not surprising that he deceived them. His black muzzle looks precisely like that of a seal, and he wears a seal's fur. But his methods would never do in civilization. It took him half a day to crawl across that ice-floe." 77 I,, i 1 Xauobter of tbc Spbini " But he shot the seal," someone put in. "No," replied the professor. "That's just the point. He wormed himself along until he could almost reach the creature, and then sprang upon it and clubbed it to death with the butt." I do not think Praed fully appreciated the marvellous adroitness of the hunter, nor the thoughtfulness of the man in saving a car- tridge. He never seemed to comprehend that a charge of powder and bullet is worth more to an Eskimo than a diamond is worth to a bride at home. However, after that he began to treat the Huskies somewhat as if they were human beings. His complete enlightenment as to the Eskimo character came all in a blaze at the end of our stay in Greenland. Our work there was done. Our explorations had been successful, our scientific collections were al- most completed. There were only a few loose ends to be gathered up. The professor had seen some desirable flowers in a valley across the glacier. Near that same glacier, in the preceding summer, I, who was acting as mineralogist of the main party, had piled 78 y put in. "That's lelf along Lture, and to death ;iated the r, nor the ig a car- nprehend is worth I is worth r that he irhat as if 5 to the ze at the )ur work had been were al- ly a few professor a valley t glacier, as acting lad piled Z\)c lEMication of lI^rac^ a few specimens in a cranny to be carried to camp later, and I thought I might as well have them. We started forth together. Daniel and one or two other Huskies went with us for comradeship. At the edge of the glacier we halted. It was a stupendous thing, crawling through a gap in the hills down into the sea like a sec- tion of the Midgard serpent. Half way up the flank, I remember, there was a round hole, and out of it spouted a waterfall, red with basaltic mud. One of the Msir might have made such a wound with his spear. The back of the monster was rugged with crevasses. "You can't cross here," I counselled. "You'd better try further up, where it's smoother. I'll climb the cliff and take an observation, while you wait hen; and eat your luncheon. It doesn't do to hurry too much in Greenland." I was almost an hour making my way up the crags to a point where I could take a bird's-eye -view of the mass of ice. It was not a wide glacier,— the cliffs opposite were not more t'aan four miles away; but the 79 li I i r^ ! y ! Xauobtcr of tbe Spbtni great number of icebergs it threw off bore witness to the rapidity of its motion. Suddenly, almost below me, upon the blue- white ice, appeared four or five black figures. They en'crged out of a cleft near the edge and marched steadily toward the centre of glacier. The surface beyond them and upon either hand was criss-crossed with bright blue crevasses. Glints from the shining icicles, hanging down their sides, darted up to me as I stood a mile away. It was very picturesque, but I had no heart for enjoy- ment. " The man is crazy !" I burst out and scrambled down the rough stones to over- take him. In a quarter of an hour I had reached the bottom of the gorge between the glacier and the mountain, had crossed on a few pinnacles of rock the furious torrent which roared along the side of the ice, and had entered a huge blue cleft, with a gradually rising floor, which furnished easy ascent to the surface. As soon as my head was clear of tht cleft I sav/ one of the Eskimos running toward me. I hastened to meet him. 80 T off bore 1. the blue- ;k figures, the edge centre of and upon th bright I shining iarted up was very for enjoy- out and i to over- iched ihe lacier and pinnacles h roared 2ntered a ing floor, surface. r tht cleft g toward TTbe Ctucation of |^rae^ " Pra' has fallen," cried the man. " The ice has eaten him. He has gone to sleep forever." "Damnation!" I shouted. "Run to the ship. Tell all the white men to come and bring a rope !" He sped into the cleft and I moved on. Surmounting a mound in the ice, I could scan the whole surface. A quarter of a mile be- yond me the dark figures of the party crouched beside a long, narrow crevasse. As I drew near, the tall figure of the professor rose and faced me. He made no move to meet me, and when I had approached within a few feet of him I saw that his hands hung limp at his sides and that he was sobbing. He could not speak, but he pointed to the crevasse. I threw myself upon my face and peered over the brink, A hundred feet below me, on the edge of a block of ice that hung unsteadily upon a mass of debris, lay Daniel. His head was doubled unnaturally forward upon his chest. The ice above him was stained with red. He must have died in an instant. I sprang to my feet and faced the pro- fessor. Xaugbter of tbc Spbini •'How did that happen?" I exclaimed. " Good God, man, speak ! Don't act like a baby !" Praed burst out sobbing afresh. It was a moment before he could control his tongue. When he spoke he clinched his hands and gazed blankly up the glacier toward the sun. "It was I," he said. "He saved me. I fell " "Well?" I demanded. " Do you see that shoulder of ice on this side of the crevasse, and the shelf jutting out opposite ?" I peered over the edge once more. The ice hung slightly out at the top, and I had a good view of everything beneath. The cleft was not more than five feet wide, but, except for the debris lodged below me, it sank away into darkness. It may have been a thousand feet deep. Some twenty feet down the side a ledge, perhaps twelve inches wide, started from the wall. Upon the opposite wall, about six feet higher, as far as 1 could estimate, allowing for the foreshortening, there was another shelf considerably broader. Upon it sprang up the 82 y jxclaimed. act like a It was a lis tongue, lands and d the sun. ed me. I ce on this elf jutting Dre. The d I had a The cleft )ut, except sank away I thousand e a ledge, d from the )ut six feet llowing for jther shelf ang up the ZTbe C^ucation of |^rae^ stumps of two or three heavy icicles that had grown down from an ice bridge. Doubt- less the debris caught below had been part of this bridge, which in its fall had carried the upper ends of the icicles with it. One end of the shelf slanted up almost to the surface of the glacier. I took this in at a glance. "Yes," I said, "go on." "I must confess from the beginning," he proceeded, in a curious monotone, as if his body, not his mind, were talking, " I doubted your judgment of the glacier. The access to the summit was evidently so easy that I thought some route across would surely open out before us. I desired to surprise you ; I knew you could easily overtake us. There- fore I set forth. The Eskimos hung back, but I promised them wood to follow. " It was easy enough until we came to this crevasse. I attempted to leap across, but I slipped and fell. I do not know how it hap- pened, but I struck several times and whirled over and over, and felt a blow upon the back of my head. It dazed me. When I came to myself I was seated upon that shelf, with my 83 I:! y i: I you Xauobter of tbc Spbinr back against the wall. It slants in a see, and the outer edge of the shelf is raised, so I was secure. " But I had only half recovered my senses and I began to cry out for help. I was so much disturbed that I didn't know what was going on until I saw someone opposite. Then I think I shouted louder. Suddenly there came another shock, and I should have fallen, but someone held me up. It was Daniel. He must have leaped across." He paused and I looked down again. The ledge, at its broadest barely a foot and a half wide, fell away into the wall, not two feet from the spot where Praed must have brought up. It was a brave leap. "Go on," I commanded. " Daniel laughed at me," resumed the pro- fesso *, in the manner of a child reading from a book, " and waited till I got back some of my self-possession. Then he made signs to me to spring icro'-.s and catch the icicles with my arms. I wa^ afraid. He laughed again and made another sign that he would lift me across. I let him take me by the knees and lift me until my head and waist rose above 84 11 in as you f is raised, my senses I was so r what was site. Then enly there lave fallen, as Daniel. gain. The and a half t two feet vt brought ;d the pro- ling from a ome of my igns to me es with my again and lid lift me knees and -ose above JLbc E^ucat(on of prac& the shelf, and then I leaned forward and we both toppled over. I caught the icicles, and he hc:ld me firm, and perhaps, — I don't know, if 1 had kept still " I did not like the look of his eyes, and I hastened to steady him. "What did you do?" I asked. "Keep cool." "I struggled. I squirmed with my (< in getting up and kicked him free. When t was safe I tried to help him ; I meant to help him. But the ledge was empty and he lay there." " Good God !" was all I could say. We passed the succeeding three hours in dead silence. Praed never moved, I think, and never took his eyes from the sky above the neve basin. The Eskimos sat quietly be- side the grave of their friend. I sprang across the crevasse where it narrowed, de- scended the shelf to the icicles, and mused upon the courage that had dared a leap to the narrow footing below me. At last the party from the ship arrived with ropes. The leader of the Relief Party hastened in advance. His pale face turned 85 1 i Uauobtcr of tbc Spbini red as he saw Pracd, and he sprang forward with hand outstretched. " Praed, old fellow !" he exclaimed. " By by the Lord, I'm glad to see you alive. How did you get out?" Praed turned toward him. I couldn't see his face, but the leader fell back. "What's the matter?" he said. " What is it?" " It's an accident," I put in. " Daniel has fallen and i: dead." Then Praed showed the first sign of man- liness that I had ever seen in him. "It is my f/iult," he proclaimed. "I am to blame for his death. I demand the right to fetch up his bod"," In pity k r his c\ ident wretchedness, the leader cons. . ; . ,ed. We lowered the professor by a ropi; : the heap of blocks below. But as his weight bore upon the block where the bociy lay, the ice tilted and fell. Daniel fell with it. The ringing of icicles on either wall of the glacier lessened to a tinkling; the tinkling merged into a sustained harmonic like the final note of some violin sonata. The tone died away. No final crash fol- 86 y mm u ig forward led. " Ry live. How ouldn't see " What is Daniel has jn of man- d. "I am 1 the right adness, the e professor ilow. But where the Daniel fell either wall ikling ; the 1 harmonic lin sonata. crash fol- \ ( "WSmP^^M IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I ■ 50 '"""^ Hi Wui. 1^ 2.5 122 1.8 L25 1111114 IIIIII.6 Photographic Sciences Corpomtion 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)872-4503 %UkM^f '^^9si^mmmi?^sm^mmm^^sm^- CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques .i^-£3v»nt!%.-!* Zbe £^ucation of ii^rae^ lowed. The utmost depths were beyond our hearing. During most of the voyage home, Praed behaved like a man in a dream. He rarely spoke, and when we addressed him he started before he replied. Only once did he show any trace of his ancient aggressive manner, and that was when someone said a slighting word of an Eskimo. "The Eskimos," retorted Praed, "are heroes." That was absurd. Perhaps there are three or four left in the tribe who would have done what Daniel did. The professor was pitiful in his broken condition. We deemed him a chastened man. The other day, however, a member of our old party came to see me. There is only one topic of conversation among men who have journeyed to the far North. In the course of our Arctic gossip, I asked for news of Praed. " Haven't you heard ?" asked my friend. " He is lecturing through the West. He has won a great reputation for his courage in descending into the crevasse." 87 ^ I lauobter of tbe Sphinx " Hm !" I said, and both of us were silent. We were thinking of a strain of ice-music as unearthly as the Theme of the Grail, and of a vast white tomb, now doubtless afloat upon some Arctic sea. It bears what is left of a better man than Praed. I 88 1 ,^Msi^li6at^ ttl vere silent, f ice-music Grail, and tless afloat irhat is left PSALM VII: 15 I. " WuNGA angekoky explained Kioapodu. " Angekoky are you?" returned Latta. " Well, so am I — a big one. If you don't fetch me back that knife I shall say a charm, and a devil will come, and you will be turned into a brown-stone statue. Tell him that, will you, Dahlgren ?" Latta, who was a new-comer to Green- land, knew just enough pidjin-Eskimo (which is the diplomatic language north of Cape York) lO be irritated because he didn't know more of it. During my year of life in the Smith Sound region I had picked up a good many words — indeed, I was semi-official in- terpreter to the expedition. "Latta ookalukto savik ooma. Ooma opdow angekoky I translated. I meant this to mean, " Latta say knife his. He also medi- 89 f- \i Xauabtcr of tbc Spblnjt cine.man ;" and Kio understood, for he turned toward Latta and drew up to their highest his sixty-five inches. The movement flung his black mane away from his shoulders and forehead. There was a fire in his eyes like the glow of a star in a pool of black water. ' " I, too, am angekoK he declaimed. " How am I to know that he sees the spirits ?" "Stunning-looking fellow, isn't he?" re- marked Latta. " What does he say ?" "He wants a test of your powers," I laughed. Latta shook his vigorous shoulders — a habit I admired in him. " Wants a test ?" he repeated. " Well, he shall have it. Tell him that to-morrow I will come to his hut, and bring a rifle. I will let him shoot at me before all his people, and he will not kill me. Tell him I will catch the bullet in my hand." For a moment I hesitated. The thought of playing a trick upon the simple Huskies jarred my nerves. But Kioapodu only of the tribe had held himself hostile. We had detected his influence against us in certain 90 li^ inx •od, for he up to their e movement lis shoulders ; in his eyes ool of black med. "How )irits ?" I't he?" re- say?" powers," I shoulders — a . "Well, he norrow I will le. I will let eople, and he i^ill catch the The thought iple Huskies podu only of ;ile. We had us in certain pdalm IDII: 15 tradings for dogs. The idea of mystifying him into submission was alluring. Besides, at that time I was a little in awe of Latta. He had joined the relay expedi- tion with a great reputation as an African ex- plorer, based particularly upon his success in swaying unruly tribes without killing a man. I translated his offer to Kio. "Let it be so," replied the Eskimo. "If he is an angekok I will restore the knife, though I found it and it is mine." He stalked majestically out of our Arctic house and down the beach toward his tupik. Latta drew from his pocket a pencil, slit away one-half of the wood, and began to scrape the lead into powder upon a sheet of paper. " I shouldn't care so much for the knife," he said, "if it hadn't been— a gift." I nodded, without making comment. Latta's betrothal had been announced in newspapers brought us by the relay party. " How are you going to beguile the * gen- tle salvage ?'" I asked. "Easiest thing in the world. Draw the bullet from a cartridge and make a mock bullet out of the doctor's absorbent cotton, 9« / N Xauflbtcr of tbc Spbini darkened with this graphite. You load the rifle in plain view of the Huskies. You'll help, won't you ?" " Ye-es," I faltered. I was flattered to be chosen as confederate by so distinguished an explorer. In those days I was a bit of a hero-worshipper. j Nevertheless, it was not without compunc- tions that I followed Latta along the beach the next morning to the green hill where the iupiks stood. The Eskimos were astir. A little group of men was collected near Kioa- podu's tent. From inside came the tap, tap, tapping of tambourine-music and the howls of the angekok. Latta looked a question at me. " He's getting ready for you," I answered. "He's communing with the spirits. Most likely he's been at it all night." Latta laughed. "We must do this thing in proper form," he said. " Do you mind bearing a message that the great white angekok awaits the test ? Hello, who's that ?" An Eskimo girl parted the flap of Kioa- podu's tent, and paused before the opening. 92 1^ 5pbinx You load the uskies. You'll s flattered to be iistinguished an was a bit of a :; i:' thout compunc- ilong the beach 1 hill where the were astir. A :ted near Kioa- le the tap, tap, and the howls ne. 1," I answered, spirits. Most proper form," ng a message waits the test ? ■ flap of Kioa- 2 the opening. ^ ^ s I. I > psalm D11: t5 Her dark hair, loosed from the ordinary woman's knot, fell over each shoulder almost to her boot-tops. She had forgotten or neg- lected to put on her ndcha, and her round figure with its budding breasts shone in the morning sunlight. " What a Htde beauty," murmured Latta. " Bronze Psyche in boots and trousers. Who is she?" " Kio's daughter," I answered. "What is her name ?" asked Latta. " Ah-we-ung-(inah." " Ah-we-ung-dnah, Ah-we-ung-6nah," re- peated Latta. She stood for a moment, erect, with the tent-flap lifted in her hand. I suppose it is because of what followed that I see so clearly, even now, the scene of her first meeting with Latta — the pale sunlight aslant across the flat black ocean, casting long shadows behind the white bergs, brightening the green hill, softening the majestic gray cliffs behind it, and, I remember, glowing bright upon an old bit of red flannel that had blown from headquarters to Kioapodu's tent ; the group of Eskimos beside the tupik, with 93 \ f Xauflbtcr of tbc Spbini their white bearskin breeches and wild, dark heads, and at the door the half-naked girl, straight and slender, gazing down upon Latta with haughty eyes. Presently she turned abruptly and stooped into the tupik. I heard Latta blow out his breath, as if he had been holding it too long. "Thick air this morning," he commented, In his abrupt way. " Let's beat up the wiz- ard's quarters. By the way, here's the car- tridge." He handed to me several paper shells made to fit the old-fashioned carbines used by the Federal cavalry in the Civil War. I carried one of these awkward weapons by the strap. We had brought along a stock of them to make trade with the natives. Latta had prepared his sham skilfully. Ten feet away I could not have distinguished the cotton from the leaden bullets that lay beside it in my palm. " Now we are ready, even as Moses for the sorcerers of Egypt," said Latta. " And be- hold, here comes our magician." Kioapodu, in full cry, danced out of the tent-door. He grasped the tambourine in 1 wild, dark naked girl, upon l.atta .nd stooped low out his it too long. :ommented, up the wiz- e's the car- aper shells rbines used vilWar. I .pons by the ock of them Latta had n feet away the cotton beside it in [oses for the " And be- out of the nbourine in pealm mti 15 his left hand ; with his right hand spasmodic- ally jerking, he tapped it rhythmically. Upon the crest of the hill he paused, flinging his head from side to side, and casting his eyes to the spirits above. The Eskimo men col- lected in a half-circle about him. From several of the tents ran women to join a little group at a distance. " Enter chorus," commented Latta, grimly. " There seems to be a certain tenseness in the atmosphere of this light opera. What's he singing about ?" "I can't understand the words," I replied. " It has something to do with us, though ; for see, the Eskimos are looking at us." "Guess my cue has come," said Latta. " Are you ready ?" He strode forward, and I followed. I was a little nervous, for I didn't know what Kioa- podu might excite the tribe to do. As we drew near to the medicine-man, his gestures grew wilder and his howling rose louder. " Dahlgren," murmured Latta, " the Husky for 'look' is ' takoo,' isn't it?" "Yes," I replied; "shall I interpret for you ?" 95 ■ :■_ .-.'- ..-y- ■' •m ! t Xauobter of the Spbini Latta made no answer, but marched on up the hill. Within ten feet of the Eskimo he halted. His left arm shot straight above his head. The hand was half-closed, as if it held a small object. " TakooT he commanded. Kioapodu's voice ceased. Across his eyes, which were fixed upon the upraised palm, fell a beam of sunlight, reflected from some bright disc. His right hand hung, arrested, above the tambourine. A litde murmur arose from the crowd. " Hypnotized himself," said Latta, coolly, but without turning. " Come and stand here." I stumbled hastily to his side. " Move calmly," said Latta. " He's only in the first stage— catalepsy. He was half- hypnotized before— I knew the symptoms. I've controlled African chiefs in a war-dance with this little mirror. Now, listen," he con- tinued, " I want you to tell me how to say this : ' I am a great angekok. So are you. We will do wonderful things. You will shoot ' me with a rifle, and I will catch your bullet in my hand. Afterward, I will shoot at you. We will see which is stronger.' Now, Dahl- *M "--'■•■'*'-^1- ■. • narched on up lie Eskimo he light above his losed, as if it icross his eyes, upraised palm, ;ed from some hung, arrested, ; murmur arose I Latta, coolly, ,nd stand here." ie. L. "He's only He was half- the symptoms. in a war-dance listen," he con- me how to say k. So are you. You will shoot Ltch your bullet ill shoot at you. :r.' Now, Dahl- pealm ;Df l : 15 gren, think of the words and say them over slowly and distinctly so that I may repeat them. Be sure and make no mistakes." I turned the sentences over in my head. Kioapodu began to breathe audibly. " Make haste," said Latta. " He's coming out of it." I framed the order as well as I could, and Latta repeated the words after me, two or three at a time, in a curious, intense voice. As he uttered the concluding sounds, Kio's eyes began to blink and to wander from the mirror. "Now, we'll wake him up," said Latta. ' He'll remember what he is to do." He lowered his arm, clapped his hands sharply, and finally strode close to the Es- kimo and made upward passes in the air, at either side of the dusky face. "Wake up! wake up!" he repeated in English. Kio's eyes blinked strangely; his body straightened, he heaved one or two deep sighs, a sort of half-intelligence came into his eyes, and he turned his head and stared sleepily around him. 97 !K®sa«SSIwSSa^SWBSiSSB..,i; -.it ' >rDiiSltU£i»k,.i»\..;.V f Xaudbter of tbe Spbini " Good !" said Latta. " Now load the gun as ostentatiously as you can with my cotton bullet, give it to him and tell him to shoot the great white angekoky While I was biting off the end of the mock cartridge, ramming it home with my finger and closing the clumsy, old-fashioned breech, Latta took his stand about ten yards away, upon a rock that lifted its head three or four feet from the sod. He faced us, and folded his arms. The half-circle of Eskimos, whom I had forgotten in the excitement, closed around me, as I cocked the gun and placed it in Kioapodu's hand. " Ready, fire !" shouted Latta. As if he understood the words, the Eskimo levelled the gun, took slow aim and pulled the trig- ger. The smoke flew in my eyes, and for a second I lost thought of Latta. A murmur from the Eskimos aroused me. "iV«, na, na,na-ay r they whispered. The explorer stood erect, with the bullet between his fingers. For a moment he smiled, then sprang from the rock and swung toward us. " Now it's my turn," he exclaimed, gayly. The Eskimos drew away from him, but Kio 98 ■■■•MM ^''*~*™"'*-lnf iRi -OTri IT • ;^i^.a>-..v^^.-...-^» ., . , „ , ^ ^^^ ^ ^ ^ bad the gun 1 my cotton lim to shoot of the mock h my finger Dned breech, yards away, three or four ;, and folded cimos, whom ment, closed n and placed a. As if he imo levelled lied the trig- ;s, and for a A murmur ispered. The illet between smiled, then r toward us. aimed, gayly. him, but Kio pealm mi: 15 remained stupidly by my side. Latta seized the gun from his hand, and pointed toward the rock. Thither Kio staggered, as obedi- ent as a child. He mounted to the summit, turned with folded arms, and stood in pre- cisely the posture that Latta had taken. " What are you going to do, Mr. Latta .?" I asked. I thought the affair had better terminate. The Eskimos behind me were shrinking away even from me, whom they knew as their friend, and I feared lest they might take fright and decamp altogether. We could not afford to lose their aid to the expedition. " Don't look as if you saw his corpse," re- turned Latta. " I'm going to cut off a lock of his hair. Will you load the gun ?" The man's personality was stronger than mine. Somewhat awkwardly, I made shift to prepare the cartridge, fouling my mouth with powder, I remember, as I bit off the end. The discomfort of this held my thoughts for a moment. A shrill scream starried me into looking about. Latta was standing with the rifle at his shoulder and his finger upon the trigger, but his head was turned toward the 99 'i I? i; Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini group of women. A girl was speeding toward the rock where Kioapodu stood mo- tionless. She reached him with a bound, pushed him to the grass beneath, confronted us, and flung out her hand toward Latta. The missing knife, with its belt trailing be- hind, fell near his feet. Latta lowered his rifle. For a moment the little half-clad Eskimo girl and the tall exploier gazed, as still as the rocks about them. Then she leapt lightly to the ground beside her father, seized his limp arm and tried to raise him. I glanced at Latta. His body was erect, but his head hung oddly forward, as if drawn by some magnetic force, and he glared upon Ah-we-ung-dnah somewhat as I had seen him glare upon a seal that he had marked for his rifle. He was not a pleasant sight, but I could not draw my eyes from his face. I sup- pose the intensity of my look attracted his, for in a moment his head suddenly turned toward me and he shook his shoulders. "The man is not dead," he said, hastily ; "he's only asleep. Help me carry him to his tent." - , lOO •MMaMl^iiiwaai linx s speeding u stood mo- :h a bound, I, confronted >ward Latta. trailing be- r a moment and the tall rocks about D the ground up arm and y was erect, i, as if drawn glared upon had seen him arked for his sight, but I i face. I sup- attracted his, idenly turned oulders. said, hastily ; carry him to pealm IDII : 15 With that he made forward toward the rock. He passed the knife, and I picked it up. As we approached her. the girl shrank away. I do not think Latta glanced at her. As he lifted Kioapodu by the shoulders and turned to make a sign that I should raise the Eskimo's feet. I noticed that his teeth were firmly set. In silence we carried the medi- cme-man to his tent and laid him upon the sleeping-slab. Ah-we-ung-dnah followed and stood in the door. "Tell her he'll sleep until to-morrow, and awake all right," commanded Latta. He pushed the girl roughly aside and made off toward the headquarters. As best I could I translated his words, but I doubt whether Ah-we-ung-dnah compre- hended. She answered, '* Ee, ee,'' but her gaze followed the figure of Latta, lessening away down the beach. When it disappeared she dived under the tent-flap and left me alone. I was glad to find at the headquarters our leader. Van Den Zee, returned from his ten days' hunting trip. His sane presence cleared away the uncanny impression of the mom- toi Xaufibtcr of tbc Spbinx ing's adventure. Although I felt, somehow, as if I were betraying Latta's confidence, still, I held it to be my duty to include in my report, as chief of headquarters in the le?der's absence, a detailed account of the matter. Van Den Zee listened with his usual calm- ness. "Thank you, Dahlgren," was the only comment he made. That afternoon, how- ever, he detailed me to establish a depot of provisions thirty miles to the northward, and put Latta under my charge. It was a three days' excursion, and during the whole time Latta never spoke except in reply to my questions. He seemed indiffer- ent to the beauty of the cliffs that lifted their snow-crowned crests four thousand feet sheer out of the sea. He barely glanced at the magnificent bergs among which our whale- boats sailed. But the loads that he carried from the shore to the ice-cap would have broken any other man in our party. He in- sisted upon keeping his oar throughout the twenty-mile row back to camp, and he pulled like a sailor. The thought occurred to me 102 m^ "'"^r MUTIIMW III. I )inx It, somehow, ; confidence, ;o include in irters in the count of the 3 usual calm- as the only ;rnoon, how- 1 a depot of rthward, and 1, and during ke except in jmed indiffer- lat lifted their ind feet sheer lanced at the h our whale- lat he carried > would have »arty. He in- iroughout the and he pulled curred to me p0alm IDII : \5 that he was eager to arrive at headquarters. With the others I took my turn at rowing, and by the time we had hauled the boat high upon the beach I was tired, and I made straight for my bunk. It was midnight and everyone was asleep. My party was soon as deep as the rest, but I noticed vaguely, as I crawled between my blankets, that Latta's bunk was empty. A violent shaking woke me up from the soundest of slumbers. Latta stood before me. He was laughing. " No cause for such a kinky face," he said. " Did you keep the rifle we used — the — ah — the other morning ?" "Yes," I blundered out. " Don't do that again, though, 'thout Van Den Zee's knowl- edge." " Nonsense !" laughed Latta. " Your ang-e- kok has gone away. Gone, tent and all, and taken his family with him. I only want the gun as a souvenir." " Gone, has he ?" drawled I. " I'm sorry for that. We needed him, and the girl could sew skins first-rate." I routed the carbine out of a stack of arms 103 Iiii Xaudbter of tbe Spbini in the corner of my bunk. When I turned about, Latta was staring out of the window into the sunlit night. I was so sleepy that I may have dreamed I heard him mur- muring — ^ " Sorry she's gone ? By the gods I'm not!" 1 In the morning he asked Van Den Zee for an assignment with the party that was going to complete the northern depot. They rowed away with two Eskimos in the crew. When they returned everyone had a word of admiration for Latta. "The man is a wonder," said our chief hunter. " I never saw anyone pick up the country as he does. And the Huskies ! His little parlor-magic trick has made slaves of them. He learned a lot of Husky, too ; you will be surprised, Dahlgren ; he gets on with their talk almost as well as you do. And ye gods, how he can work ! He puts us up to a lot of wrinkles about packing heavy loads ; he got them from his carriers in Africa, he said." r! ;l ' ; 104 ) bini len I turned f the window sleepy that i him mur- lie gods I'm 'an Den Zee irty that was depot. They in the crew, lad a word of aid our chief pick up the [uskies ! His ide slaves of iky, too ; you 1 gets on with do. And ye )uts us up to heavy loads ; in Africa, he |>0alm iDli: 15 II. As the season wore on, Latta's worth to the expedition increased. As ethnologist he was mvaluable. The natives confided in him as children confide in their parents. He drew from them not only the ordinary gos- sip of the tribe, but also the folk-lore, the legends, and superstitions— all the intimate thoughts that an aboriginal people usually refuse to strangers. In our camp he was a good companion. He had dark moods, to be sure, but he never imposed them upon us. For hours at a time he wandered along the beach, with no ap- parent object except to walk off certain heavy frowns. When he returned to the headquarters he always wore a cheerful face. As the hours of darkness encroached upon those of light, curiously enough, his gloomy periods lessened, and in mid-winter, the sea- son of continuous lamplight, when most of the men were beginning to fear the blue devils, Latta's mind seemed fresh and strong. If he, too, had his blue devils, he fought them off in his bunk, where he spent a great «05 »&Siii^m ii'!;ii laudbter of tbe Spbinx deal of time. At meal-hours or at loafing- hours he was always ready with stories of his exploits in the hot African forests ; stories that brightened wonderfully our monotonous talk. He told them not too modestly, but he made them thrilling. I remember that I felt proud when he chose me as a listener. In those days, however, as I have said, I was a hero-worshipper. Whether or no Van Den Zee liked him I failed to discover. Van was always inscrut- able. But he made free use of Latta. When the snowfall put an end to our autumn work, he gave him charge of the dogs. We had collected a pack of two hundred half-tamed brutes that tore each other to rags, devoured — and digested — their traces if meat failed them, and crouched before nothing under the stars except a whip-lash. For white men the whip is unwieldy. Most of us slashed our- selves with it oftener than we cut the dogs, but Latta learned to pick a bit of fur from the ear of any given rebel as deftly as an Eskimo. He was master of the pack ; his voice was its law. He had charge of the food, too. By io6 or at loafing- rith stories of >rests; stories r monotonous modestly, but lember that I as a listener. ,ve said, I was 26 liked him I ilways inscrut- Latta. When autumn work, )gs. We had ed half-tamed •ags, devoured if meat failed liing under the white men the s slashed our- : cut the dogs, )it of fur from s deftly as an the pack ; his ►od, too. By p0alm D11 : 13 the middle of February our supply seemed likely to run short, and one day Van Den Zee asked me if I should mind going as Latta's assistant to fetch a new supply from a settlement four days' journey to the south. "I can't very well put you in charge of the party," said Van, " for it's Latta's depart- ment. You won't object to going in second place, will you ? I must have a steady man with him. He is a good explorer, but you know he has never taken a long sledge trip, and he has never seen heavy weather in the open. I don't think he had better go alone." Looking back at this little talk in the light of what followed, I wonder whether Van had in mind something besides contingencies of travel. It is possible that he saw deeper than the rest of us into Latta's character.' At the time, however, no suspicion entered my head that Latta still dreamed of the Es- kimo girl. Pleased that Van held me to be a steady man, I easily agreed to go as assistant. We set forth across the bay with an Es- kimo, two sledges, and fourteen dogs, to bring home the walrus-skin food. For the 107 ff i:..!; Xauflbtcr of tbc Spbini first night we camped in a snow-igloo built by the Husky. It was a tiny affair, just big enough to hold the cooking-lamp and us, stretched out in our sleeping-bags. Latta undertook to make the tea. It seemed to me that his face looked haggard, but I set that down to the pale light of the alcohol. " Dahlgren," he said, presently, " what do you suppose our friends at home would think if they could see us now?" "Very terrified, no doubt," I replied. I knew he was thinking of the girl he was to marry, and the thought naturally brought up the image of Ae-we-ung-dnah. "Latta," I blurted out, "do you know where Kio went?" The next moment the hut was dark. Latta had upset the lamp. During the rest of the evening he did not speak, and on the march next day, too, he was silent. But at night, when I was taking my turn at the stove, he began, in his usual hearty tones : "Dahlgren," he said, "you're a good fel- low." " • Praise from Sir Hubert,' you know," I laughed. ^ ,iaia«ES5©r<«'^««»«*'*'^**'***'**'**"****'''^ pbtni low-igloo built affair, just big lamp and us, g-bags. Latta It seemed to jard, but I set the alcohol, ntly, " what do ne would think ' I replied. I girl he was to illy brought up do you know vas dark. Latta ng the rest of ik, and on the silent. But at ny turn at the hearty tones : I're a good fel- t,' you know," I Penlnx oil : is "I'm serious," returned Latta, calmly. I want to tell you fiomething." "I beg your pardon, old chap," I said. " Go ahead. I shall be glad to hear it." He waited for several moments before he began. "I don't know why I'm saying anything about it. It's not my way to make confi- dences. I suppose it's this endless darkness that gives a man's imagination neurosis. Be- sides, when two civilized men find themselves under a dog-house of a hut in the midst of a million square miles of snow, they come very near to one another. What pitiful things we are ! " he burst out. " Fancy looking down upon our hut in the midst of this stupendous waste. A mound indistinguishable thirty feet away, covering three black slugs crawl- mg, crawling over an expanse so vast that their minds cannot conceive its immensity. What do you suppose the Arctic Spirits think of us ?" •'I've never seen any indication that they think at all of us," I laughed. I had heard this commonplace moralizing with that sense of relief that comes when one's idols turn friu'mmm iii0 lUuabtcr of tbc Spblnx out flesh and blood. After all, Latta wasn't so far beyond the rest of us. I, myself, knew well the state of mind he expressed. It is but the beginning of the Arctic awe. "What pitiful creatures we are !" repeated Latta. " What difference do our little emo- tions and conventions make in the midst of such forces ! How the Arctic Spirits must laugh at our — our marriage laws, for ex- ample ! They teach their own people better things. The Eskimos have no laws." This personal phase also of Arctic emotion I knew well. I knew, too, that it is transient, and I contented myself with remarking : " Wait until you have weathered a storm in one of these huts. The drift cuts off the top of your dome clean with the force of a sand-blast. If you let the snow settle upon you, you smother. But if you keep patiently ^ patching up the holes with reindeer skins, you can outlast the wind. Your little slugs are pitiful, perhaps, but in the end they are the masters." He made no reply, and I did not think he was impressed with my argument. I had not supposed that he would comprehend it; no Oblnx I, Latta wasn't IS. I, myself, he expressed. Arctic awe. are !" repeated our little emo- ti the midst of ic Spirits must laws, for ex- n people better laws." Arctic emotion .t it is transient, remarking : thered a storm rift cuts off the 1 the force of a now settle upon u keep patiently reindeer skins, ''our little slugs lie end they are did not think he gument. I had . comprehend it ; p0alm D11 : 15 only experience replaces awe of Arctic powers with awe of man's prowess. Pres- ently he crawled into his sleeping-bag. He had left his confidence unfinished. Going over his allusion to marriage laws, I won- dered whether he had been thinking of Ah- we ung-6nah, and was sorry because I had not led him to say more, and because I had not moralized, hinting that only by unwaver- ing strength can Arctic forces be met. How- ever, I doubt that any words of mine could have helped him. III. When I awoke, he was heating tea for breakfast. He greeted me pleasantly. " Shouldn't wonder if we were going to have a chance to fight your sand-blast," he said. Looks stormy outside." I shuffled off the deerskin envelope, hur- ried on my furs, and crawled out of doors. The twilight of noon was just beginning. Above me the stars were dim, and in the southwest they were hidden by a pile of clouds. Even in the dusk I could see that its edges were writhing. The wind moaned lit ^•^'^^''--^'"■'^''■'fiiiWif-' ".■'■^" or Xauabter of tbc Spbtni over the ice-caps, and occasional gusts swept snow-wraiths across the bay. I hauled in the draw-strings of koolatah and breeches. In a temperature of fifteen below zero, when the wind blows, a man is most comfortable when his furs are snuggest about him. The Eskimo kneeling by the dog-teams was dis- entangling the knot into which the restless creatures had interwoven their traces. " Great- wind, Tung-wee f I asked. " Ee" grunted the lad. " Good to start ?" The Eskimo rose to his feet, and scrutin- ized the contour of the clififs that loomed upon our left. His eyes rested for an in- stant, evidently upon a landmark. Then he cast a glance at the lowering horizon. "^^," he said. Nevertheless, I drank my tea and ate my pemmican in all haste. Latta tried at some light conversation, but I was in no mood for it. The gusts were coming oftener by the time we were ready to start. The half disk of cloud covered a third of the sky at our right, and the fleece above was blanketing the stars. Tiie Eskimo, who drove the lead- ita al gusts swept I hauled in and breeches. ow zero, when 5t comfortable >ut him. The :eams was dis- :h the restless traces. asked. t, and scrutin- t that loomed :ed for an in- irk. Then he orizon. ea and ate my tried at some lo mood for it. •ftener by the The half disk le sky at our as blanketing rove the lead- f>0alm mil 15 ing sledge, cracked his whip furiously above" his team. I was riding with Latta upon the larger sledge, and I noticed that instead of cutting directly across the bay, Tung-wee had swung to the left, along the shore. Presently Latta noticed it, too. " This not good ! " he shouted. " Where going?" Tung-wee pointed to a vast buttress that hung out of the shadowy cliffs, almost above us. "Karnah." came his voice, down a wind- gust. Latta checked his team. I could see his eyes gleaming in the fast-gathering darkness. Hold on!" he exclaimed. "I won't go to Karnah ! " * VI ^°*'^^,'?o'nent I must have stared at him, Ike a half-witted child. Then I understood. 1 glanced up at the sky. The clouds had passed beyond the zenith, and even as I looked rushed over star after star. "I'm afraid there's no choice," I said, as gently as I could. "We can't stay here. Ihe quicker, too, the better." "3 . ■r.;siii ' auufibtcr of tbc Spbinx I do not suppose he had appreciated the danger, but my strained tones must have warned him. He glanced uncertainly above him. A furious blast of wind drove the drift stinging into our faces. Latta shook his shoulders, and his whip-lash whirled and cracked. The dogs sprang forward. ^ Tung-wee's sledge, a quarter of a mile be- fore us, was a dim^'point in the flying snow. Presently the cloud swept over the great buttress at our left, and darkness settled upon the bay. The sledge, even the out- lines of the cliffs, disappeared. We felt rather than saw the masses of land. My eyebrows, lashes, mustache, and the edge of my hood were stiff with ice. My feet were suspiciously comfortable, and I grasped the upstanders and rose to stamp. A star of lamplight twinkled for an instant, and disappeared in a whirl of snow. " To the left ! " I shouted. " We're almost there." , Latta's whip-lash flew. The sledge swerved aside, and bounded on. The dogs had seen the light, too. The groaning of the wind upon the ice-cap waxed to a growling just as bini predated the ;s must have jrtainly above Irove the drift ta shook his whirled and ■ward, r of a mile be- e flying snow, ver the great -kness settled even the out- ed. We felt land. tache, and the with ice. My )rtable, and I ose to stamp, for an instant, snow. We're almost sledge swerved dogs had seen g of the wind growling just as pealm IDii : t5 we felt the lift of the beach. Two lights rose before us, but a few feet away. Sud-- denly the growl above us deepened into a roar. "Don't turn for your life," I shouted. "Face the lights!" and the next instant the wind burst upon us like a solid force. The dogs halted, the lights went out. I felt for Latta, and hauling him down by main force threw myself to my hands and knees upon the ground. Pressed together, we crouched for a long minute. When the vio- lence of the first blast spent itself, guiding Latta, with a hand upon his arm, I scrambled up the slope. In a moment, I came upon a hard mound, and a faint glow shone above me. In another moment we had crawled out of the smother into warmth and light. The sleeping-slab at the rear of the igloo was crowded with Eskimos, who stared at us drowsily. My head was yet ringing with the storm-noise, and I could not distinguish faces. My nose was touched with frost. I tore off my furs, and bade Latta do the like. Cer- tain after a glance that my feet were sound, I turned to inspect his. He had not taken IIS ■ani m * i ^ Xauabtcr of tbe Spbinjt off his clothes ; he was gazing into the left alcove of the little hut where Ah-we-ung- (inah stood gazing back at him. " Come, come, man !" I cried. " Off with your boots. You have no time to moon !" He started, cast a frown at me, and slowly undressed. His left foot was white and hard. I think I could have chipped pieces from the heel with a stone. IV. I am bound to confess that without the little Husky girl's aid, the foot would have been doomed. But she worked over it un- ceasingly, first pressing snow upon it for hours, and afterward, when the frost had come out and the heel had puffed up big and red and Latta was writhing in agony, keeping it cool with seal-oil. At the end of three days the foot was going better. Meanwhile the storm roared itself out and I took a step which I have always regretted. I left Latta in the igloo. It is possible that if I had waited there he would have found, in the presence of another man with civilized standards, support against his passion. But, Il6 y-immMUtl ""^ pbini g into the left re Ah-we-ung- 1. ed, " Off with le to moon !" me, and slowly vas white and chipped pieces lat without the »ot would have :ed over it un- w upon it for ; frost had come up big and red jony, keeping it d of three days :d itself out and ways regretted, is possible that >uld have found, in with civilized > passion. But, p0alm ID11: t5 when Tung-wee and I harnessed our dogs, Latta was still helpless with pain, and , I thought I might safely leave him. I sent a Husky to fetch the doctor at once from head- quarters, and started the sledges toward the south. We needed the dog-food, and I felt bound to bring it. On the way home ten days afterward I stopped at Karnah. Latta was not there. "Dokt came here only one sleep ago," said the natives. " He spoke loud words about the foot. He carried Lat' to white man's house on a sledge." Alone with her until yesterday ! I thought. I glanced about the igloo. "Where are Kio and Ah-we-ung-6nah ?" I asked, hastily. " They went with the sledge to white man's house," answered the Eskimos. At headquarters I found Latta in his bunk. He greeted me with a languid smile. "Your.storm has done me up," he said. " Doctor says I mustn't walk for a month." During the three weeks thereafter he never moved from his blankets. For our part, though we were as kind as we knew how U7 ■>^" i^ Xauabter of tbc Spbini to be, we had little time to pay him small attentions. Our main sledge-journey of months was at hand. We were in a flurry of preparations — testing new sledges and snow-shoes, lugging provisions to the ice- cap, completing our outfits of clothing. The floor of the house was crowded with women, sitting cross-legged, and stitching away at koolatahs and kamiks ; and among them I noticed Ah-we-ung-(5nah. She had taken a place snug against the foot of Latta's bunk, and while she was sewing she talked steadily. I thought grimly that the sick man would hardly miss us. He did not miss us. A month afterward nine of us — the supporting party — hurried into the headquarters. We had bid good- speed to Van Den Zee and four others upon their brave journey of twelve hundred miles across the snow-desert, and had returned to carry out, if possible, minor explorations. Of these explorations I was in charge. Two or three of my party were staggering with frost-bitten feet, and I hoped to find Latta fit for work. My first question bore upon his health. J him small ■journey of in a flurry iledges and to the ice- ithing. The vith women, ng away at ong them I lad taken a atta's bunk, ced steadily. man would th afterward rty — hurried d bid good- others upon mdred miles returned to )rations. Of re. Two or gering with ind Latta fit re upon his psalm ID11 : 15 "His foot is well enough," replied the man who had been left to watch the house, .liiwai fnjt 1 in a slow ipon Latta's lood to my mo, "wake I and faced not like to hen he is , as quickly ? he mum- ■d he might in," I said. 3man, with happy, ill mc." I ircasm. Yes, hard 30ok about p0alm IDII: \5 Husky manners and customs. I'll tell you what it is, Dahlgren," he went on, with evi- dent effort to be enthusiastic, " the Eskimo knows how to live in his own country. Our ridiculous big houses, which have to be warmed with stoves, are nothing to these little huts, where the heat of the lamp and of the people keep the thermometer to eighty degrees." "Yes, I've tried the huts," I broke in, shortly. I had no wish to hear Latta's rhap- sodies. " Do you think you could leave your comfort for a month, and work with me in Ellesmere Land ?" Latta hesitated, and spoke rapidly to Ah- we-ung-f cheeks as id of eyes as id and some uppose they It the wharf, be much ob- 3r. Parsons, tlendid bows ir command. Zee describe lishly. "You It man, who Hn Brctic problem considers women fit for nothing but wearing clothes." "They do it very gracefully," replied Billy. " Excellent," she retorted. " They didn't tell me you were a courtier. I am embold- ened at once to ask you — don't you think it will be nice to have me with you in the north?" Her eyes laughed at his. "Look out, Billy, old boy," was my thought. But Billy's reply came gravely. " I think you would be more comfortable at home," he said. A flash of anger drove the mischief out of her eyes. "I intend," she said, rather haughtily, "to make the members of the party more com- fortable than if I were at home. And I can do it." Billy's hand went to his whiskers. " I hope you may, madam," he replied. A touch upon my shoulder drew my atten- tion from his dialogue. "Oh, Mr. Dahlgren," whispered Devoe, "that is Mrs. Tremont, isn't it? Looks like •43 ..^ikmiKKiM ^^j,;'^..-J>rfih£riiSfe^;i5 anSiifibii Hum. ifUMmmm^vii^ ntHiWrii Xauabtct of tbe SpWni a picture I used to see of the temptation of St. Anthony. Introduce me, will you ?" " I don't know her," I objected. " Don't you ? Well, Parsons seems to be ffte-er, as the French say. I'll get him to turn me off." He bustled up to Billy and whispered in his ear. Amusement again took possession of Mrs. Tremont's eyes. "Certainly," blurted out Billy. "Mrs. Tremont, Mr. Devoe, our meteorologist." " Happy to know you," began Devoe, at once. "It was a pleasant moment when I heard that you were to go along." I watched for the hauteur to dispossess her sense of fun. But the " this-is-a-new experience " expression still lighted up her face. "You believe that I shall not be a drag upon the party," she laughed. "When can woman be out of place?" re- sponded the meteorologist, gallantly. " We shall be delighted, one and all, to welcome you as a sister explorer. I admire the new woman." Billy bowed himself away, seized my arm, 144 )tni emptation of 11 you?" 1 seems to be 1 get him to whispered in )k possession Jilly. "Mrs. orologist." ran Devoe, at ment when I to dispossess " this-is-a-new ghted up her lot be a drag )f place?" re- llantly. "We U, to welcome Imire the new eized my arm, Hn Arctic problem led me aft to the cabin, which had not been opened to the crowd, and lighted his pipe. "Our little friend cuts a shine in the world," I suggested. " He'd cut an admirable hole in the dock water," growled Billy. For half an hour in silence, we listened to the trampling upon the quarter-deck above us. Steps and voices in the companionway broke off our reveries, and Van, with a party of friends, hurried into the cabin. While Billy and Van were gripping each other's hands with the fervor of friends long sepa- rated, I took note that the women were gathered in a tear-stained group around a slender creature, whose delicate face, lighted up by great gray eyes, rose above the loftiest hat. I felt that she must be my friend's wife, and for once I doubted Van's judgment. It was not that she would be a burden upon us ; I could not fancy her adding to our dis- comforts. But I did fancy her in the rough- ness of Arctic quarters and the roar of an Arctic storm, and I pitied her. Her golden hair and smooth skin looked too fragile for wild life. !• 145 Xauflbtcr of tbc Spbini "Dahlgren," interrupted Devoe, "Mrs. Tremont wants to be introduced to you." "Yes," added the deep voice at my side. «« I've been reading your praises for a year in the newspapers, and I feel as if I knew you already. Come at once and look at my skis. I am an expert ski-runner, you know. I learned in Norway." She led the way to her state-room. "I am eager to have you men under- stand," she went on, while she was undoing a bundle of traps and scattering them about the little cabin, " that we women are going to be good comrades. I>Irs. Van Den Zee is afraid you will find us in the way. I am not going to be in the way— ever. I shall run on snow-shoes, and shoot and drive dogs with any of you. Damn this string!" she added, looking up at me with a confidential little laugh. ^ " Let me cast it off," I volunteered. "Will you, please? Thank you. Now here are my skis. Aren't they dainty. Should you like to help me put them on ?" A hail from Van excused me. The mo- ment of farewells had come. Mine were 146 Jinx evoe, " Mrs. 1 to you." ; at my side, for a year in f I knew you »k at my skis, ^ou know. I room, men under- was undoing g them about 1 are going to 1 Den Zee is ly. I am not -. I shall run id drive dogs 1 string!" she a confidential iteered. ik you. Now lainty. Should an?" me. The mo- I. Mine were Bn Hrctic proMem soon over and I entertained myself in watch- ing those of Dcvoe. He had spoken truth about the despair of his friends. His gray sombrero, amid half a dozen hats, looked like a mushroom in a flower garden. The faces beneath the flowers were wistful. Some were red with tears ; the owners of others, I suspected, did not dare to cry upon their complexions. Devoe himself was not per- turbed. He left his companions to talk with a reporter, and to furnish his photograph for publication. By the time he had finished, the skipper had bundled his disconsolate party down the gang-plank, and Devoe had to wave his farewells from the shrouds. He clung there, flourishing his hat toward the fluttering handkerchiefs, until we were far down the river. HI. Eight bells struck— midnight. A mist lazed over Smith Sound. The great copper disc of the sun hung low above a frozen strait that stretched exasperatingly away into the sky. Its rugged crests and the pinnacles of icebergs prisoned in the field shone like M7 i .^ Xaugbter of tbe Spbinx some half-translucent marble. The lofty, terraced cliffs of Greenland glowed with elusive greens and crimsons, and above them shimmered a rosy haze. The snow-clad mountains upon the American coast, dead white in the shadow of a northern peak, waited in mighty tranquillity. The ship was steaming northward toward the ice-fields through a breathless world. Upon the flat sea new ice was forming dull blotches ; nothing else marred the glossy surface except a faint ripple when a seal lifted his curious head in the distance. As we neared the edge of the field, the propeller paused, and suddenly the beating of our hearts startled us. Mrs. Van, seated beside us upon the fore- castle deck, looked timidly at Billy. Hers was one of the faces that seem to be always wondering at the griefs of ages, and at night, against the solemnity of the north, it looked more than ordinarily childish and pathetic. " The Arctic Sphinx has wonderful moods," sympathized Billy. " I am glad you said that," she murmured. 148 - '^^^^-'^^r-'in-m -' n r^ ' in rhe lofty, wed with jove them snow-clad )ast, dead em peak, rd toward :ss world, •ming dull he glossy len a seal ance. As ; propeller ig of our 1 the fore- ieem to be ages, and the north, iildish and ul moods," nurmured. Bn Brctic problem " I was afraid if I talked about It the men would call me stMitimcntal. " "Do you mean," I asked, "that you feel as if the supernatural were always at hand up here ?" "Exactly," she said. "At the first glimpse of the coast down south in the fog I was ab- surdly concerned for Greenland It was so desolate and rugged that I had s mehaw the feeling that the spirits were negl^.cting it. It is only since I have seen it at midnight that • have begun to understand the ten^lerness .>{ their care. I was afraid of them until yester- day, when we rowed into that tiny harbor, with its cliffs so high that I felt as if vh'.y must fall upon us, and saw that blue gl. .ciei and the brave litde poppies nestling almost against its flank. Then I felt that spirits which could cherish anything so exquisite must be kindly. You find me ridiculor.s, I am afraid, with my spirits." " Please don't mistake me," I said. " Men have their moments of sentiment, too. I understand, and I know Billy does, that the gods live in Greenland. What I was object- ing to was your feeling of trur.U aiess. They 149 XauGbter of tbc Spblni glorify their cliffs with rosy sunlight if you like, but for all that they batter them with gales. They have shown us kindliness, but upon that ridge to starboard is the grave of Sontag, whom they froze ; and behind yonder cape is the island where they starved seven- teen men of Greely's party, and the ice with which they crushed the Proteus and the Polaris, and with which they would smash us if we should venture too far. The spirits are beautiful, but they are treacherous." "They will never harm us, though," inter- posed Billy, quickly. " Your husband is an old acquaintance of theirs, and knows how to humor them. We shall let you see only their pleasant side." "Thank you," she replied, gratefully. While I was regretting my clumsy speech and admiring Billy's unwonted thoughtful- ness, a sailor, silent as even sailors are in the Arctic stillnesses, shuffled forward, carrying an ice-anchor. The ship glided with a slight shock against the field, and was presently fast to a hawser. The shock broke the spell of our com- munion. Mrs. Van rose, smiled a leave- 3»' ght if you them with Uiness, but 2 grave of ind yonder ved seven- he ice with i and the d smash us spirits are »» gh," inter- band is an :nows how u see only :efully. nsy speech thoughtful- 3 are in the d, carrying nth a slight esently fast f our com- ;d a leave- Bn Brctic problem taking, and made her way aft. Billy watched her gravely, and I watched Billy. When she had disappeared, he turned, caught me smil- ing, and, in spite of himself, smiled too. "You are thinking, Dahl," he said, "that I don't so much regret the presence of women." "Heavens!" I said, "what's coming next? Our Billy with intuitions !" "Well, you are right. Women dare to talk about what you and I don't know how to express. Besides, I must confess that I feel rather puffed up at the thought of helping to keep harm away from that child." " Do you feel puffed up at the thought of keeping it away from Mrs. Tremont?" I asked. " If you do, now's your chance to offer. She's coming ; I hear her voice." "No, by Jove!" exclaimed Billy. "I've got to oil my gun for walrus. You tend to Mrs. Tremont." " She doesn't need us," I observed. " She's got Devoe ; also, she is wearing bloomers." He hastened away, and I mounted the fore shrouds to the cross-trees. When I was comfortably established, I noticed that Mrs. Xauobtct of the Spbtnr Tremont was laboring after me. Devoe climbed by her side with a protecting air. I helped her to scramble upon the plat- form, and she seated herself in triumph. "There!" she exclaimed, "Who says a woman is out of place at sea ? Isn't it fine?" she rattled on. " I must do a water-color of this. It reminds me of Mr. Carroll's poem. Do you know it ? " ' The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might ; He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright j And this was odd, because it was The middle of the night." " " Beautiful !" said Devoe, enthusiastically. "It's the 'Walrus and the Carpenter,'" she went on. " All children are brought up on it. I think Mr. Carroll must have visited Greenland, don't you, Mr. Dahlgren ? There are walrus in the north, I'm told." " Listen !" I said, with as much dramatic manner as I could muster up at short notice. Presently a hollow barking rang through the stillness. " Is it a dog ?" she asked. "No," I answered; "it's a walrus. We 152 e. Devoe ting air. m the plat- iumph. Vho says a n't it fine?" Lter-color of roll's poem. busiastically. Zarpenter,' " ; brought up have visited rren? There ich dramatic short notice. through the walrus. We Bn Brctic iproblcm have come up here expressly to hunt him for dog-food." "A hunt? I am going, too," she an- nounced. " I have a gun," I hesitated, and then evaded the responsi- bility. " Volunteer to Mr. Van Den Zee," I sug- gested. "Of course," admitted Mrs. Tremont. "But, Mr. Dahlgren," she added, rather piteously, " will you help me to get down ? Since I have been here I have been looking, and it seems higher than I thought." Devoe fixed her feet upon the ladder and I supported her arm, and after ten minutes of labor and exclamations we landed her safe upon the deck. She thanked us graciously, and hurried aft to Van, who was seeing the boats overboard. I called together the party of which, as second in command of the expe- dition, I had charge — Billy and two sailors — and jumped into the dinghy. Just as I had ordered the men to give way, Mrs. Tremont appeared at the rail. " Oh, please wait," she called. " Mr. Van Den Zee says I am to go with you." i r- Xaufibtcr of tbc SpWni She passed down a tiny Winchester, with a stock all silver filigee-work, kept us waiting while a sailor let down the ladder, and de- scended cautiously into the boat. Around her waist was a cartridge-belt full of ammu- nition that might have been effective against Arctic hares. Billy grunted, and shifted to the bow, so that she could sit beside me. " Mrs. Van Den Zee is going, too," she exclaimed, as soon as she was seated. " She's going in her husband's boat. Do hurry, please. I want to be first to shoot a walrus." As we drew near the ice fioes upon which the great brutes were sunning themselves, Mrs. Tremont tightened her belt and threw a cartridge out of her rifle to be sure that it was properly loaded. "I'm an old sports- woman," she explained. "I've shot deer with this rifle in the Adirondacks. What fine marks walrus are," she chattered ner- vously on. "Not half as hard to shoot as deer. Why, they lie right down like big slugs and let you stalk them. I don't think much of your walrus, Mr. Dahlgren. I ex- pected to have a battle with them. There, one has raised his head. How imperious »54 T ■ -iw'MttlwihiitfitaM^ftiirtM mtmimmttimtm nx lester, with us waiting er, and de- A round of ammu- ve against shifted to de me. , too," she ed. "She's Do hurry, a walrus." ipon which hemselves, and threw ure that it old sports- shot deer ks. What tered ner- } shoot as n like big lon't think en. I ex- n. There, imperious vimmtMmmmiimiluiitiMim Hit Hrcttc proDIcm he looks, as if we were impertinent to hunt him. Is it time to shoot ?" " If you like," I said. " Let her run, men ; we're near enough," The walrus all about us had begun to flop from the floes into the water. Mrs. Tremont and Billy fired at the same instant, and the big bull that had been staring at us, fell upon the ice. Mrs. Tremont screamed with de- light. " I've killed one !" she cried out. " Do let us get him. I'll have his head mounted for my dining-room." "Let's leave him there and get some others first," I suggested. " Don't you want to shoot some more ?" She looked about dubiously. The floes were bare. At the sound of the shots the herd had disappeared. In the distance black heads bobbed up to survey us, and from all quarters came the hoarse barking of bulls calling to arms. Billy jerked out his empty shell, and loaded a fresh cartridge into the chamber of his rifle. "There seem to be none near enough to shoot," said Mrs. Tremont. " I'm disgusted with walrus ; they are cowards." ISI TLauobtcr of tbe Spblni For reply I pointed to a spot on our star- board side, where several heads together in- dicated a gathering of the herd. The heads rose, disappeared, rose again, nearer and nearer, until the water, two hundred feet away, was thick with them. Suddenly, ap- parently by concerted arrangement, the wal- rus threw themselves into a sort of rank, lifted their heads high above the water, and charged upon us. Many walrus hunts had I seen, but in this, as in all fights with the noble creatures, I lost sense of everything except a confusion of foam, an oncoming black mass, great glaring eyes, and long gleaming tusks. I do not know how long the fight lasted. I do know that in the face of our three rifles the herd dashed within oar's length of us, and I think it would have reached the boat but for the bodies of its leaders, which it pushed against her sides. At last, however, the fire was too hot, and with broken ranks the walrus turned and fled. When they had disappeared beneath the water I became conscious that in the midst of the tumult I had been hearing a succes- 156 ■8M« JimMfiriitmtiMiM m )n our star- :ogether in- The heads nearer and indred feet ddenly, ap- nt, the wal- »rt of rank, ; water, and liunts had I ,ts with the everything I oncoming ;, and long V how long in the face shed within would have odies of its t her sides. 00 hot, and turned and beneath the 1 the midst ig a succes- Hn Hrcttc ll^roWcm sion of loud cries and orders, and the words, " Take me away !" echoed in my ear. The cries had ceased ; but moans came from the bottom of the boat, where Mrs. Tremont was crouched, with her face hidden in her hands. At first my assurances that the danger was over drew from her only an augmentation of the moanings, and I had the boat put about toward the ship. At the motion of the men, Mrs. Tremont lifted her head and gazed wildly over the gunwale. She remained so long in this position that I assured her again of her safety, and suggested that she would be more comfortable in her seat. "Take me to the ship, if you please, Mr. Dahlgren," she replied, so haughtily that I caught my breath. When we were within sight of the deck, however, she picked up her rifle and took her place by my side. At the ladder she passed by my offered hand and without aid scrambled to the deck. During the rest of the hunt there was little conversation in our boat. The walrus suffered, however. When we returned to the ship the sun was high. The other boats hung at the davits, but except the man on 157 V. I'jiir'ff^-^iff ''"'•'"''""^'•"'-'- Xaudbter of tbe Spbinjc watch no one hailed us. The rest of the party was asleep. At the head of the ladder, however, stood Mrs. Tremont. Her hair was stringy, and beneath her eyes were dark shadows. She stood looking out to sea until Billy and I had reached the deck. "I need hardly ask you," she said, in low tones, "not to relate this experience to the other members of the party." Billy merely bowed and tramped away, but I was sorry for her. "Of course not," I said. "It was per- fectly natural. You may count on Dr. Par- sons and me, and I'll speak to the men." "Thank you," she answered, coldly. "I will speak to them myself." I bowed myself away, and she waited, while we hauled up the boat. When I went to my bunk I saw her giving something to the two sailors, who were scraping and touching their caps. IV. ^ : " Damn a nail !" remarked Devoe, with his thumb in his mouth. 158 '. :"V' -' mtmimuifm •^iiitiUmtiUK0itm mmmk HMHM mlUtiitm nx rest of the ever, stood tringy, and lows. She y and I had said, in low )erience to d away, but t was per- Dn Dr. Par- : men." coldly. " I he waited, hen I went mething to aping and >evoe, with liiiaaiMliHAUiaiii an Hrcttc problem " Oh !" sympathized Mrs. Tremont. " Did it hurt you ? Come right down and let me tie it up." She scrambled along a rafter of our half- finished Arctic house and slowly descended the ladder. Devoe glanced sullenly toward the half-dozen of us amateur carpenters who were roofing over the headquarters. •' Better have it 'tended to," said Bunker. " A smashed thumb is no joke." Devoe's face brightened. " Guess I had," he said. " I'll be back in a minute." " What do you coddle him for ?" asked one of the fellows, when the two were well down toward the beach. "Most of us have a finger or two out of commission." " Couldn't stand the chatter," replied the hunter. " They talked faster 'n they worked. 'Sides look at this plank !" The end was dented and splintered by awkward blows. " Why on airth she come at all, an' why on airth, if she hed to come, she shud wear boys' clothes and try to drive a nail is more'n I know," said the wizened young hunter. " Look at 'er swingin' down there with thet 159 If fftmgai»[ii[iiiwiriniiim J I lauabtcr of tbc Sphtnx poor seed uv a half-breed. I'll bet my stock o' tobaccy thet she won't do no wrappin' up uv his sore finger. She'll jest ax Mrs. Van Den Zee whar the liniment is, an' Mrs. Van '11 dew the work. Now, thar's a woman fer ye !" "Yes," assented Livingston, a young geologist fresh from a technical school. "She's a charming women. But what's the use of a woman here, anyway ? Look how haggard the boss got when she was seasick on the voyage up ! He has enough to 'tend to without worrying over his wife. When the time comes for the long sledge-trip, she'll cry ; or, if she doesn't, she'll be brave and he'll think of her the more and want to come back to her all the while. As far as I can see she is pure peril to us, and no use at all." "All the same," returned the hunter, "I notice thet you was glad to hev her sew up the breeches you ripped, slidin' down the backstay. An' I noticed thet in the walrus hunt, when you emptied your gun an' the walrus was still chargin' the boat, you wuz tickled to find yer spare weppun loaded fur ye. I ain't ashamed to confess thet I was ■^mmmMmmmmmmmmmi*'' nx 11 bet my I't do no She'll jest Iniment is, * * MiiiMiiili .J* ! I Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini with his malingering, I sent him back to headquarters. Before nightfall the doctor joined us. We hunted with success for three days, and returned each laden with haunches of venison. Billy met us half way up the hill and lingered behind the others with me for a talk. " All gone well ?" I asked. Billy shrugged his big shoulders. "We're living in a Turkish palace," he said, "all carpets and cushions. You ought fj see the Eskimos stare. They are not al- lowed to enter, for obvious reasons, and I feel as if I ought to drts^ for dinner. But it isn't that I wanted to talk about. I'm afraid that little Tremont woman is going to make trouble." "What's the matter?" I asked, hastily, for Billy was dragging ac his whiskers. "Well, in the first place, she's turning the heads of the youngsters. The little Living- ston and Devoe are not on speaking terms, and yesterday Devoe struck one of the Huskies and almost frightened the whole settlement away." " A Husky !" I exclaimed. " For goodness* 164 ^L. mmmi . ^ 6i iA li ^( »imk ..■^v:;-JO>Attr^^-y>.^v;-t^ Inx im back to the doctor three days, haunches of 5 the hill and rie for a talk. :rs. palace," he You ought ' are not al- isons, and I iner. But it I'm afraid ing to make 1, hastily, for ers. 5 turning the little Living- :aking terms, one of the d the whole or sfoodness* Hn Hrcttc iProWcm sake leave your old billy-goat whiskers alone and tell me a straight story." "Well," began Billy, "when you friend Devoe came back I saw him exchanging looks with Mrs. Tremont. He said his eyes had given out, but he wouldn't let the doctor see them, and Mrs. Tremont mopped them with witch-hazel — the first bit of actual work I've seen her do. They got well soon enough to let him unpack a big box for her, and out came the carpets and mirrors and pictures. " She climbed upon the old deal-table and ordered the things brought in. '"But, Mrs. Tremont,' said Van, 'you don't want to put down that Axminster rug on this floor, "it'll be soaked with seal-oil and — the Eskimos '11 sit on it' / "'Seal-oil!' she screamed. "You're not going to have seal-oil in here. This is the dining-room. Seal-oil in the men's quarters, if you like, but none passes this door.' " 'I'm afraid,' saii.' Van — you know that he sets his lips when he is waked up — ' that we shall have to use this room for all sorts of things. Your carpet will certainly be a mess. |6S umm Mmm^sami^i&iimiSidi rtlitftrBfMfci- il iik lauabtcr of tbe Spfiini "Her eyes blazed; she's got a temper, that woman, as we know. " ' All right ; let it, then,' she said. ' We're going to have the rug,' and down it went. She was very wroth, though; she followed me out of doors, when I went to bring some of the mirrors, and began to abuse Van for not caring for the comfort of his men." "The devil she did !" I grunted. " ' But I'll have my way,' she said. 'You saw how I had it about keeping Devoe. I know how to manage your Mr. Van.' " " Has the ship gone ?" I asked. " Left two hours after you did. We can't send her home. We shall just have to man- age her. Now, listen ; that isn't all. She made big eyes at Livingston till he trotted around after her like a little dog. That riled Devoe. The thing came to a climax when she asked advice about placing a big mirror ; should it be opposite the entrance or at one side, where it reflected the men's room? Livingston said on the wall side ; then, of course, Devoe took the other view. How- ever, she favored the youngster. Devoe turned red and came outside for more stuff. i66 ■ia> >ia)i m *» 'iW*-|liitf')i»ffi?'feftt.^f't.iii;V nx a temper, lid. 'We're vn it went, le followed bring some ise Van for men." [. aid. ' You Devoe. I an. We can't .ve to man- t all. She I he trotted That riled imax when big mirror ; : or at one :n's room ? 2 ; then, of ew. How- r. Devoe more stuff. Hn Hrctic problem Livingston came, too, and both of them grabbed the same roll of tapestry at the same time. I haven't a sense of humor, you tell me, but I found this funny. Livingston said, 'This is my charge.' Devoe said, 'Fergit it and take another' ; but Livingston wouldn't let go and they began to struggle for it. I put an end to that by taking the thing my- self. They were ashanied, I think, for they didn't fight any more. Meanwhile Van was having a confab with Mrs. Van, and by and by called Livington and went away in the whale-boat, across to Netchiuloome." " What did Mrs. Van do ?" I asked. "Oh, she's been a brick all through. Cooked us good grub and never said a word. She helped with the decoration, too, and I saw her smoothing out Devoe's temper after the fight. And then " " What about the Husky ?" I interrupted. "I was coming to that," said Billy. "Van came back from Netchiuloome this morning with a boatload of Eskimos and their families. Mrs. Tremont screamed with joy. Teleko- teah — big Telekoteah, you know — was in the crowd, and nothing would do but he must 167 *W'Wrai i it i M» ii H i WWW'rt» i IltT«. i Wlia• Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 \ % V L1>^ \\ c> l"5t^J*i35'4!PfiSe.S''55«PKS^SS;T*i?«-i^^ I iP ^ MP s' I CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductlons historiques Hn Arctic problem " Providence, 1 surmise, doesn't govern north of Upernavik. We might leave it to Turng-nur-och-suah, or whatever his name is, but I doubt whether he understands the ways of civilized women. Why can't creatures of light and luxury be as simple and straight- forward as these poor savage females. They seem to have all the virtues and none of the vices of civilization." " Huh !" I suggested. •' I'll bet that if we could get at the inside workings of the tribe we should find that every woman wants to be the wife of a medicine-man." We were passing the tide-gauge as I spoke, and from behind the little mound of snow that we had heaved up, in keeping the ice clear, came a woman's voice. The woman was Mrs. Tremont, and she was holdingr a loud and passionate monologue. "I tell you," she exclaimed, "that Van Den Zee is no leader of men. I could man- age an expedition better myself. The idea of his mooning in his cabin with that color- less wife of his, and making his men build sledges. I would have had every sledge put together at home and by this time I would i> ,77 ^:'a lUuflbter of tbe Spbtnx have travelled to the North Pole. Any man in the party could do it better ; you would be a far better leader yourself." "You've made a bull's-eye there," said the thin voice of Devoe. "It's all rot to say that sledge- making keeps the men from scrapping." " Of course it is. I'd have kept them from quarrelling— I have kept them from it. If I hadn't been here they'd have turned Mr. and Mrs. Van Den Zee out of doors before this. That woman with her dovey manners makes my " Here Billy began to whistie a tune, and the voice ceased. We made our way vigor- ously to the house. While we were unload- ing our ice into the melting apparatus, Billy broke the silence. " Dahl," he said, "we must warn Van." " Peeook" I assented. The dining-room was empty, but from the chief's cabin came the crooning of a little Eskimo charm-song. We had heard the angekok call spirits with it over and again, and always we had derided the musical ear 178 • ' • Hn Hrctlc problem ^ny man u would e," said 1 rot to len from em from it. If I •ned Mr. rs before manners une, and ay vigor- 2 unload- tus, Billy Van." from the >f a little eard the nd again, usical ear of the Eskimo gods, but now both of us stood listening until the strain ended. " Great heavens, she can sing !" I ex- claimed. " She can sing ten times as well as the other one. Curious dramatic effect, isn't it, that she should be so happy while that cat is making enemies for her out in the dark." Billy made no answer, but strode to the door and knocked. Mrs. Van opened it. Her face had grown more fragile as the win- ter night wore upon it, and when she saw our serious faces it turned paler and frailer still. She pressed her finger hastily to her lip, glanced over her shoulder into the cabin, came out and softly closed the door. " There is some trouble," she murmured. "Please don't tell my husband. He has enough on his mind now." Billy meditated, frowning. "Listen," she said. "I wish you would trust to me, and — and I am sure I can trust you. Is there any bad feeling among the — members of the party ?" Billy heaved a long breath. 179 Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini " You are a brave woman," he said. " \ es, there is. It isn't serious yet, but we must be ready for anything that may come up. You had better sit here by the table." She rested her forehead upon a slender hand, while Billy told her plainly what we had heard. Before he had finished, her face was wet, but no sob interrupted Billy's story. I knew at that moment why an explorer is willing to give up his dreams of adding new lands to the map for the sake of a woman. When she looked up her eyes smiled bravely through her tears. " Please don't think I'm going to be afraid," she said. " I have known for some time that Mrs. Tremont did not feel pleasantly toward us. It is not sorrow that makes me cry, it is relief at finding two strong friends. I have felt rather lonely and distrustful. I suppose it is the darkness. Now let us see what to do. Do you think there is any chance that she can make the men believe ill of us ?" "She won't do much with Bunker," an- swered Billy. "But the other fellows are young men and there is no doubt she has rather dazzled them." i8o . "Yes, must be p. You slender Arhat we her face ''s story, plorer is ing new iroman. > smiled 3 afraid," time that y toward ; cry, it is I have suppose what to ince that us?" ker," an- llows are t she has Bn Brctic problem " I suppose," said Mrs. Van, " that I ought to have been more entertaining, but I thought Mrs. Tremont was doing that part of the work very well and that I had better devote myself to the cooking-stove." " Men get to taking ordinary comforts in an ordinary way," philosophized Billy. " But it's not too late." " Your part is to keep on as you have be- gun. Something will turn up to show the men. Leave it to us. If we need you we will call upon you." " Very well," she answered. " I shall be ready. My courage failed a little when I felt lonely, but now that I have friends I am brave again." She gave a smile and a hand to each of us. I think my grasp must have caused her pain, but she made no sign of it. For a moment we stood thus linked, she pondering and we looking at her. Presently, at a move- ment in the tiny stateroom she hurried away, and we heard her crooning the magic song. For a moment we listened, and then, with a common impulse, we grasped each other by the hand. Xauabter of tbc Spbini . V. That evening Mrs. Tremont was first at dinner. I thought her glances rested sus- piciously upon me, but they flitted away whenever I tried to catch them. Devoe, however, openly watched us, and his nose twitched harder than ever. Mrs. Tremont's voice startled me as I was taking note of his troubled looks. "Mr. Dahlgren," it said, "will you pass me the sugar?" Now, by the carelessness of those aboard the ship, part of our supply of sugar had not been landed. Consequently in that one article of diet Van had put us on rations. Mrs. Tremont had used her share for the dinner, and I had used mine. At a tiny nod from Mrs. Van, however, I sent the almost empty bowl to the doctor's wife. She took it sharply, as if my compliance had displeased her, hesitated a moment, and then pushed the bowl away. " No," she said, " I suppose one can't take any more. Oh, how I should like to have all the sugar I wanted, just once. I don't sup- 182 f' >"iirf-tirS 5 first at ;ted sus- 2d away Devoe, his nose as I was you pass e aboard r had not that one 1 rations, e for the I tiny nod le almost She took displeased ;n pushed can't take to have all don't sup- Bn Brctic problem pose any one is to blame — but it is particu- larly exasperating that sugar should be the one thing short in our supplies. Just think of the comfort we might have had in it. I could have cooked you such beautiful cakes — cake is the only thing I know how to make," she added, hastily, "but mine are held to be delicious. I wish some good Arctic spirit would give me a birthday pres- ent of a bowl of sugar — my birthday comes in a fortnight from to-night, and I have lots of sur- prises for you. But a cake you cannot have." A curious reply came to her wish. Before she had well finished speaking, some one knocked upon the door. I opened it. Sev- eral Eskimos clustered about the threshold. Among them was a hunter from Cape York, the most southerly settlement of the tribe. He bore a letter gravely into the room and laid it before Van. A letter out of a region where there is no written language is a startling affair. We waited, silent, while Van tore it open. But he read it with a twinkle in his eye, which was equivalent with Van to a broad smile. "It seems," he said, "that the ship got l«9 1^. mm TUuobtcr of tbe Spblni caught. There is no danger. The captain writes me that he met heavy ice in Melville Bay and not daring to try the passage so late in the season, returned to the north water and put in at North Star Bay. He is not heavily frozen up, and hopes to be afloat, safe, before July. ' All well aboard thus far,' " read Van, meditatively, and sat pondering while we chatted over the news. After dinner he called me aside. "Dahl," he said, "men on shipboard in the ice are more apt to develop scurvy than men ashore. I shall send the doctor to look over the crew, and, of course, he can't go alone. Are you willing to try two weeks of sledging? The sun will come back next week ; it won't be night work." " Night or day, old man, it's all the same to me, if you wish it," I said. I am not given to bursts of effusion, and this one seemed to surprise Van a little. All he said, how- ever, was: " Thank you, Dahl ; I'm sure of it. By the way," he added, and his eyes twinkled, "you might bring back some sugar for Mrs. Tremont." 184 M. I capiain Melville sage so e north He is e afloat, us far,' " )ndering board in rvy than r to look can't go weeks of Lck next he same lot given 3 seemed aid, how- »fit. By twinkled, • for Mrs. Hn Hrcttc problem Just a fortnight afterward, after an easy trip, we arrived at the headquarters. The conscientious doctor had dropped off at the Eskimo iglooyas to visit a patient. I paused in the outer passage to knock the snow out of my clothes. The door of the men's room was open, and I was aware that the party was gathered there. I heard Devoe's snarl- ing voice in what seemed to be a speech. Bunker I could see. He was standing with his hand upon the table ; the queer wrinkles about his eyes were contracted and his mouth and nose were screwed up sidewise. I drew near the door. " And so we have determined," concluded Devoe, pompously, " to depose Van Den Zee from the command of this expedition, and we oiifer you the position of leader." Bunker's glance wandered from one corner of the ceiling to another. " It don't seem to me," he drawled, " 's if they was any call to change leaders. I do' know 's I cud dew any better' n Mister Van Den Zee." " But you could," broke in Mrs. Tremont, impetuously. "Listen. It is not fit that a i8| .lai^iiAMialliMilii lauabter of tbc Spbini married man should have charge of an Arctic expedition. Sec what Mr. Van Den Zee has done. Instead of working at the beginning, he went away to visit Eskimos and left you men to build the house. When you had comfortable quarters, he set you to building sledges, while he spent all his time shut up in his state-room with his wife. Did he build a single sledge ? Not one. He takes no care of his men ; he thinks of nothing except his wife. But for his carelessness we should have had a comfortable winter; as it is we lack an essential item in our supplies. Now he has sent two men on a senseless sledge-trip in the stormy season. The chances are against their ever being seen again. One of them is my husband, and I feel bound to make a protest." "Waal, I'm sorry you. feel thet way," drawled Bunker. "An' I'm obliged tew ye all fur thinkin' o' me as leader, but I guess I'll decline. I hain't no fault t' find 'th Van Den Zee." "Very well," said Mrs. Tremont, "there are others who will be glad to accept. It was against my advice that you were selected, tM in Arctic Zee has iginning, left you you had building : shut up Did he -le takes nothing ;lessness inter; as supplies, senseless n. The ing seen id, and I et way," d tew ye I guess I 'th Van t, "there :cept. It selected. Bn Hrctic problem anyway. We can find some one who will provide us with proper food and not send out men to their deaths in the winter." I stepped inside the door. "You look as if you were holding coun- cil," I said. " Mrs. Tremont, this is your birthday, isn't it? The Arctic spirits have sent you a bag of sugar." While I was speaking I glanced about the room. Most of the younger men, the first- year fellows, were sitting around the table. One or two, with their chins upon their fists, seemed to be undecided ; the others, appar- ently, had been whispering, for they were poised with their heads together looking at me in surprise. Behind them stood Mrs. Tremont. Upon the table lay a sheet of foolscap paper. I picked it up. Upon it was the short arraignment of Van's incompetency that Devoe had just been declaiming. The blood tingled in my finger-tips. "You are a nice crowd of fools !" I broke out. " Listen while I tell you a few things. Is there any one of you who fancies that he can manage an expedition like this? You 187 I I i W V, 11 Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini have passed part of one year in the Arctic regions ; not one of you can manage a team of dogs. What would you do upon a sledge- trip over the inland ice, where for two months you would see nothing but blank desert ? Do you think that because you have read Nan- sen and Kane and Hayes you can manage such a trip : Just try it. I have spent three seasons here, and 1 don't consider myself competent to lead the sledge-party, nor to carry ten men through an Arctic winter in comfort. Is there any of you that thinks he can keep this crowd together even for the next month— for I'll tell you that you'll not get Billy or me to try it any more than you have been able to persuade Bunker. You'll be drawing pistols on each other in two days. And, by the way, is there any one of you that wants to tell Frank Van Den Zee that he is displaced— a man who can crumple up this miserable litde half-breed with ten words." "Who's a half-breed?" cried Devoe, and levelled a revolver straight at my face. Mrs. Tremont screamed, the men sprang to their feet. Bunker leaned over and seized i88 .^ii. he Arctic ge a team I a sledge- vo months sert ? Do read Nan- in manage pent three ler myself ty, nor to winter in thinks he en for the you'll not e than you jr. You'll I two days, me of you ;n Zee that ,n crumple d with ten Devoe, and face. len sprang • and seized Hn arctic problem the pistol with one hand. With the other he lifted Devoe by the collar over the back of his chair. Two or three of the men closed in to help him, and in a minute the meteor- ologist, bound with a piece of sinnicksher, lay helpless in his bunk. "That settles it for me," gasped Living- ston, who had been the first to lend a hand. " I'll have no more to do with mutinies." "I'm with you," said another man. "Let me say one more word," said I. "What would they say at home about Arctic heroes that changed leaders because the first one didn't give them sugar enough?" Silence followed this speech, and those men who seemed still hesitating stared un- easily about. Billy came in from out of doors, but at a sign from me, stood quiet. I wanted to give the men more time to be ashamed. In the hush I began to be aware of Mrs. Van's Eskimo charm-song in the dining- room. It was more audible than usual ; I suppose she had raised her voice to over- come the tumult we had made. Her voice was one of those contraltos that make men 189 r" i lauGbtcr of tbc Spbini clear their throats. The door was open, and in the great mirror was reflected the table, which was partly laid for our dinner. As she sang she passed swiftly to and fro with plates and napkins. I could but admire her self-control; she must have known that a crisis had come. Billy turned to the men. "That's what she has been doing," he said, "looking out for your comfort while you, I judge, have been making fools of yourselves." No one answered. Even Mrs. Tremont was quiet. The doctor entered, looked sur- prised, and stood for a moment by my side. I must have dropped the arraignment of Van, and the careful doctor must have picked it up, for in a moment he held it out toward his wife. "Lily," he exclaimed, sternly, "this is your doing !" There was a movement of surprise among us. "I will have no more of it," he went on. " Go to your cabin and pack up your clothes. You are going to the ship with me to-morrow morning." 190 pen, and he table, ler. As . fro with mire her n that a >ing," he Drt while fools of Tremont )ked sur- my side, t of Van, ^ed it up, i his wife. " this is 5e among went on. ir clothes, o-morrow Hn Hrctic proDlem Mrs. Tremont roused herself and faced him. "What do you mean?" she exclaimed. "Have you lost your senses? Go nurse your sick Eskimos and don't meddle with things you don't understand." «' I understand," replied the doctor, quiedy. " I am going to pay more attention to your exploits after this." "You have lost your wits," she repeated, but there was a tremor in her voice. She glanced appealingly about the room, but I don't think any one looked at her. " Shall I go with you ?" asked the doctor. He advanced, as if to take her hand, but she snatched it away, burst into tears, and sped hastily out of the room. Her husband fol- lowed to the dining-room and entered Van's cabin. In a moment Van came in. He was twisting the paper in his fingers, and as he approached the table he tossed it carelessly upon the floor. His face was stern as he surveyed the members of his party, most of whom were as crestfallen as schoolboys caught in a lie. He spoke lightly, however. "You had better untie Mr. Devoe," he Ml*. ■| (BBBif^ Xauabtet of tbc Spbinx said. "I want to consult you all upon a question of policy." Two or three of the men sprang eagerly to obey the command. With eyes downcast, Devoe took his seat. "I am not going to say anything about this matter," said Van. " I knew it was com- ing, and I know it is over. I do not blame you, understand that." He paused and cleared his throat. "We were damned fools," whispered little Livingston. "What I wanted to consult you about is this," resumed Van. "Mrs. Tremont, the doctor tells me, is going to the ship to-mor- row. It is a little difficult for me to say this, but Mrs. Van Den Zee is doubtful whether any woman is not out of place in an Arctic headquarters. She has begged me to ask you frankly whether you would not do better if she should go too." ^ " By thunder," put in Bunker, " ef she goes, I'll resign an* go too." "So will I," shouted Livingston. The others replied only by a murmur. I don't think many of them dared to trust their voices. 19a his seat, ig about was com- ot blame ised and 2red little I about is nont, the Ip to-mor- D say this, 1 whether an Arctic tie to ask : do better , "ef she ton. The don't think voices. Bit Hrctic problem "Let's communicate with the lady her- self," suggested Bunker, with the true West- erner's love of a scene. He left the room and returned leading Mrs, Van by the hand. She was trying to smile, but her face was wet with terrs. At sight of her every one sprang to his feet. " Hooray for Mrs. Van !" shouted Bunker, and the cheers brought the Eskimos out of their huts a quarter of a mile down the beach. It must have been discord in Mrs. Tremont's ears. VI. Six weeks afterward, of a bright morning, five members of the expedition stood a few hundred feet below the door of our head- quarters. Each one of us was warm in new furs and each carried an Eskimo dog-whip. Our sledge, loaded with supplies, and our dog- teams, under the charge of Eskimos, were waiting for us fifteen miles away at the sum- mit of the cliffs. In ten minutes we should be off upon our sledge-journey across the snow desert to the north of Greenland — OLauobtcr of tbe Spbini perhaps, if the conditions should be favor- able, further yet ; who could say ? We waited only for Van, who was bidding his farewells in secret. " Hope she'll come out, tew," said Bunker. " I should like to have a glimpse o' them eyes ter die with in case we don't come back." She did come. She followed Van to the door and waved her hand to us. " The Pole ! " she cried. " Don't fail." Van strode down the slope and passed us without a word. His eyes were lifted toward the snow-clad summits, where the desert path that against hope we hoped to follow began. There was no trace of doubt upon his face, but such an illumination of resolve as I have never seen in another countenance. With one accord, as if we had been drawn by some physical force, we closed in after him. u be favor- ras bidding id Bunker. ' them eyes ; back." Van to the n't fail." i passed us fted toward the desert d to follow doubt upon 1 of resolve ountenance. ijeen drawn sed in after TOM'S VINDICATION Our entomologist joined us at St. John's. At once we knew that he was no man for an Arctic expedition. He had thin shoulders and great blue eyes, bulging vacantly at you behind gold-rimmed spectacles. His name was Tom, but we soon began to call him Sister, because he couldn't pull an oar for five miles at a time — a very trifling distance in a region where boat journeys of fifty, a hundred, two hundred miles are matters of course — and because he wouldn't hunt walrus. He said he couldn't understand the exhilara- tion we used to feel in the hand-to-tusk fights with the brutes. " What is the use of my shooting them ? " he used to ask, in his mild voice. " There are enough of you to kill all the specimens we need. I would rather complete my own collection of insects " — and, indeed, it was a marvellous collection. >9S u^f„.>»»-:>» ti^1«AtT-**-— ♦- -"^ Xauabtcr of tbc Spbini "The truth is, I fear, Sister," remarked our best hunter— we called him Nimrod— "that you are afraid of the walrus. You think they would take you for a clam and eat you." To this clumsy rudeness Tom responded only with a mild " perhaps." He showed so little spirit that even those of us who ought to have known better shrugged our shoulders over what came to be called Tom's " retiring nature." The funny incident that undeceived us as to Tom's character, and won back for him the name his parents had given, did not occur until late in the life of the expedition. The great leader and his single brave companion had returned from their wonderful sledge journey over thirteen hundred miles of track- less snow desert to the furthest point north upon the east coast of Greenland ever seen by man. We in the ship had picked them up at their headquarters, had completed our scientific observations, and had left behind in the north the beloved land of red cliffs, blue icebergs, white snows, and our dear, brown friends, the Eskimos. Our last observation was taken, our last record was entered. We >96 arked our )d— "that think they you. -esponded showed so vho ought shoulders ; " retiring ived us as or him the not occur tion. The companion ful sledge ;s of track- point north ever seen icked them ipleted our ft behind in . cliffs, blue [ear, brown observation tered. We ^om*0 iDinWcation had nothing to do but loaf about the deck and tell stories. It was a delightful, lazy life. Perhaps the leader in his state-room was tor- tured with anticipations of his approaching fame, but as for us on deck, we were full of the delights of the sea and of the night— now descending upon us for the first time in two months— and the moonlight, and I do not think any of us would have protested against sailing on in peacefulness and irresponsibility forever. Sometimes we stretched ourselves upon the coils of rope lying about the forecastle deck, and talked about home and good dinners; again we climbed down the steep ladder into the forecasrie to exchange songs and yarns with the crew. There was an iron stove in the forecastle ; the funnel lifted itself about three feet above the deck, forward. The stove was convenient for preparing foods foraged surreptitiously out of the steward's pantry. Among the left-over supplies was plenty of chocolate, and the hogshead of molasses in the dark forehold was but half empty. The obvious thing to cook was chocolate caramels. -.... .... - . . . . 197 - ' ■■' ^ HMMWiMa ^M ■liMiiAMHH ,i Xauabter of tbe Spbtnx One night a dozen of us, members of the expedition and members of the ship's com- pany, were lounging on the chests, or stowed in the bunks, enjoying the warmth of the fire — by no means unpleasant in the cool Sep- tember air. Upon the stove was set a kettle containing half a gallon of molasses, con- densed milk, sugar, and chocolate, certain to candy into the best stuff ever supplied to an Arctic expedition. Tom, the only member of our party who was not lazy where petty services were needed — as for important ser- vices, such as saving your life, they are paid from one member of an Arctic expedition to another as a matter of course — Tom was per- mitted to stir the candy. In reality it needed little attention ; the old ship was rolling regu- larly, starboard side up, port side up, star- board up, port up, with a motion as easy as that of a hammock ; just enough to keep the brown liquid swashing about, but not enough to spill the kettle from the stove. The mate was paying one of his rare visits to the forecastle. We always rejoiced when he joined us, for he was the best yarn-spinner on board. He seated as much of himself as rs of the ip's com- r stowed if the fire :ool Sep- : a kettle ies, con- ertain to ed to an ember of re petty •tant ser- are paid idition to was per- it needed ing regu- up, star- > easy as keep the t enough are visits :ed when i-spinner imself as trom'0 lDin^icatlon the narrow board would hold upon a step of the steep forecastle ladder, regarded the assemblage through his pipe smoke, and grinned. " Hain't seen s' many folks in here," he drawled, "sense away larst Feb'uary. ^ 'N then," he added, " they didn't stay long." The fireman from his bunk roared out a great " Haw ! haw ! " but abashed, cut it off short. Our ears pricked up. "Why not, Mr. Moffat?" inquired Nimrod, eagerly. " Tell us why they didn't stay long." "Guess 'twas 'cause they were skeered. Tain't many folks that w'u'dn't 'a' be'n, with Winchest'r bullets a-flyin' 'bout ther ears. An' they desarved et tew," added the old sea-dog, grimly. He beat the bowl of his pipe with a hollow sound against his palm until the ashes were all fallen out, whereupon he felt for his to- bacco and knife. Perceiving that he would stay long enough to tell the story, we arranged ourselves comfortably. N imrod and our most agile member, nicknamed the "Monkey," supported each other back to back, seated upon a sea-chest. In the recesses of the 199 I ' TUuobter of tbc Sphinx bunk I had appropriated I found a sailor's jacket, which I doubled over the edge of the bunk as a pillow. "Ye needn't git reddy t' go t' sleep," drawled the mate. " 'Tain't a long story. Et's only 'bout our larst sealin' trip in the spring. Ye see, this ship in the spring she duz some real work— not like takin' you fellers on yer skylarkin trips a'ter the no'th pole. In Feb'uary she starts on her sealin' v'y'ge. The seals, ye know, comes t' th' ice- fields off Labrador to hev ther young. They lies over th' ice-field ez thick ez th' fingers on yer hand, an' we knocks 'em on th' heads 'th sticks, an' skins 'em, an' hauls the skins aboard. It takes a big crew. We had a hundred extra men on this little vessel larst year, an' we got ten thousan' skins. " The extra ban's was a set er toughs from Labrador. We warn't five days out o' St. John's afore they owned th' hull ship. They was a hard gang, take 'em all together, an' they was most of 'em crazy. They had one or two fights about gittin' the best places t' swing ther hammocks down b'low in th' hold, an' at larst some on 'em made a rush on th* 200 I sailor's ^c of the t' sleep," ig story, ip in the ariiig she ikin' you the no'th ler sealin* t' th' ice- ig. They ;h' fingers th' heads the skins le had a issel larst ughs from out o' St. ip. They ether, an' y had one t places t* n th' hold, ush on th* Com'0 IDinMcation fo'k'slc, an' routed out the r ,i,r'hir crew an' tuk thur bunks. All except nic. I wiu sleep- in' for'ard that trip, an' they didn't dar' t' clear me out. I hod that, bunk yonder that you've got, y'ungster." I nodded sympathetically. Moffat puffed out several little cones of smoke in silence, and his eyes began to twinkle. " Ther wuz a gre't big feller 'th a bald he'd that wuz a sort uv ringleader tew th' gang," he resumed, presently. "He 'n' anuther man hed th' bunk opp'site, an' he crowded th' other in 'gainst th' sides uv her, an' tuk th' outside himself. Ther wuzn't room fr all uv him ; sometimes his boots stuck out, but mostly 'twas *is he'd thet hung inter th' fo'k'sle, with th' bald forud shinin' like a egg. Waal, he ust t' be allers pushin' th' men on t* fight, an' they was mosdy ready, so fr a while the fo'k'sle wuzn't no place f 'r sleepin'. " Fin'lly, one night I come down, beat out 'th workin' short-handed in a no' theast storm 'cause these fellers didn't do no work about th' ship; they wuz hired to kill seals. I turned in, an' jest ez I wuz havin' a wink o' sleep ther come the biggest row— hoUerin' aoi iS Xaufibtcr of tbe Spbini an' wran^'-lin'. I turned over, an' ther wuz this old feller eggin' two kids on t' rastle on th' chests. I wuz mad. " Shet up, will ye ! I hollered, but the feller didn't take no notice, so I gropes aroun' till I found a ca'tridge, an' I wrenched out the bullet, an* loads th' Winchester, an' shewts acrost the fo'k'sle with th' wad." For all the excitement in the mate's voice he might have been telling a duck-shooting story. We measured with our eyes the ten feet or so from bunk to bunk, and some one said: •• Gee whittaker ! " "Tuk him 'th th' wad squar on th' forud," went on the mate, "an' he thought he wuz kilt. Cats, how he did roar, an' flopped out uv th' bunk an' on deck, with th* rest arter 'im ! They wuz skairt tew. " I never seen what happened on deck, 'cause I tarned over an' went t' sleep ; but I hear tell as he wuz ravin' w'en he found he warn't dead. He went an' told th' old man I wuz tryin' t* murder 'im ; but he didn't git no satisfaction out er th' old man. So by-an'- by he 'n' th' hull gang come tumblin' back, 202 ni i' ther wuz t' rastle on ut the feller 5 aroun' till ed out the an' shewts late's voice ck-shooting :yes the ten d some one 1 th' forud," lorht he wuz flopped out * rest arter d on deck, sleep ; but I le found he th' old man e didn't git So by-an'- mblin' back, ^Corn's IDinMcation wakin' me up, an' I see I hadn't dun no good, an' I'd hev t' take starn measures." He was a bit of a poser, the mate, and no one better knew the dramatic value of a pause. His pipe had a habit of needing a light just before the crisis of a story was to come. He scratched a match on the ladder, drew the yellow flame half a dozen times down into the clay bowl, and surrounded his head with a mist. His audience was breath- less ; even Tom held the spoon poised over the candy he forgot to stir. "What did you do, Mr. Moffat?" asked the Monkey, in a voice husky with excite- ment. "I got a hull box o' loaded Winchester ca'tridges," said Moffat, deliberately, "an' I dropped 'em from th' deck down thet funnel into th' stove. Not thet stove ; another one. Ther warn't much left o' that one." He rose slowly, ascended the ladder, and disappeared in the midst of a chorus of " By Joves ! " and "Whews ! " " Great Scott, fellows,' said some one pres- ently, "just think, that happened in the nine- teenth century, and not in Africa or even out 203 \ , 1 \ r*^'"^ tl ! lauobtcr of tbe Spbini West, but among people who live in o. law- abiding community! Isn't that gorgeous picturesqueness for you ? Just think ; twenty Winchester .40-82 bullets flying about this hen-coop ! " "They wuzn't no one kilt," came the deep voice of the fireman. " Th' stove wuz putty considerabul busted up, but it stopped most o' the bullets. But ther warn't no more trubbul with thet gang." And the voice chuckled away into silence. In a moment Nimrod spoke. " Of course no one was touched. A Win- chester bullet would be spent after breaking open a stove, even if the bullet flew at all. I don't think it would fly. I think the lead would lie on the coals and send the shell away. There was nothing to be afraid of." This statement drew forth hoots from occu- pants of bunks and chests. The Monkey rose suddenly, removing Nimrod's support, and causing the hunter to sprawl upon his back. " You don't, you old braggart !" jeered the Monkey. " Go up ! You know mighty well you would be the first man to skip out of such 204 t in a law- gorgeous c ; twenty bout this the deep vuz putty iped most no more the voice AWin- • breaking r at all. I the lead the shell afraid of." from occu- ; Monkey s support, [ upon his jeered the lighty well »ut of such c:om'0 ^Din^icatlon a situation," and eluding Nimrod's clutch at his ankles, he sprang to the deck. "Now, Nim, honestly, what do you thmk you would do in a mess like that?" asked some one. Nimrod picked himself up and established himself in his seat. " Do? " he growled, " I'd do just what I'm doing now. I'd sit on this chest and smoke. Gee ! how good that candy smells ! Isn't it almost done, Tommy ? " Sometimes Nim's habit of carrying every- thing off with bravado was exasperating. I saw several pairs of shoulders jerked up scornfully, but no one replied. For some moments the only sound to be heard was the swishing of the waves outside and an occa- sional rasp, as Tom cleared the sides of the kettie from the stiffening candy. Puff! A loud report thudded out of the stove. A spurt of fire leaped from the open grate. A great volume of smoke poured into the air. Every one started up. Puff! puff! puff! Fierce red flashes darted through the cloud. Immediately the air was opaque. I could imttuiii mmi mtmimtmlt J Uauabter of tbe Spbtnr hear the fellows clattering over the chests, but nothing could I see except wreaths and balls and sprays of white oily-looking smoke. For myself, as soon as the three reports went off, I made myself as small as I could behind the partition of the bunk. For stop- ping a bullet it would have been about as effective as a sheet of paper, but it seemed like a refuge. I crouched in the corner dur- ing what seemed perhaps a long two minutes, waiting for more explosions, but none came. Presently the smoke whirled in at the en- trance of my little box, and made me gasp. On deck there was a confusion of voices and tramping, dominated at last by a passionate protest from the Monkey. " I tell you they were all blanks ! " At this I started forth out of the smother. In the forecastle the smoke was pretty well cleared away ; at least the chests and bunks were visible. They were quite unoccupied, either by seaman or explorer. But beside the stove, quietly stirring the candy, stood Tom. He had never once dropped the spoon. "It did get a little smoky," he confessed, 206 u the chests, reaths and ing smoke, ee reports as I could For stop- n about as it seemed corner dur- vo minutes, none came. at the en- e me gasp. voices and , passionate lie smother, pretty well and bunks unoccupied, But beside andy, stood ropped the Cornea iDinbication " and if any more puffs had come I think I should have left the candy to burn. But as for the bullets, I knew no one on board would do such a dreadful thing as to drop loaded cartridges into this party, so I just staid where I was. The candy is ready. Where is your pan ? " If any one else had taken the matter so quietly, I should have set it down to affec- tation. But Tom, never ; he was as simple as an Eskimo. And although throughout the rest of the trip he was perpetually congratu- lated as a fire-eater, and held up as an ex- ample to Nimrod, who had been discovered behind the ship's funnel, he remained always simple, self-sacrificing, conscientious, and absent-minded. e confessed, |8|' ■«Mmi ilrtii AN ESKIMO WHIP The strangers with white faces declare that Anador saved them from unhappiness, per- haps from ruin. This appears preposterous to Anador, because, as she argues, at their great feast the white people had begun to save themselves from unhappiness, and, more- over, great wizards could never come to ruin. That argument puts Eskimos to silence, for Eskimos know that the white race has magic powers ; but it only causes white men to tousle Anador's hair, murmuring mean- while pushee mikysungwa, which means " tiny seal." Anador is content with this nickname, because she is devoted to the strangers— though she does not understand them. No Eskimo understands them, or why they came to Innuit land. Merely to find out how cold the air is, and to make a perilous sledge jour- ney into the snow-covered interior where Eskimos never go, and where there is noth- •4 '^^it'- ' ;;; \ ;.**^^ .*u mitm rffT m Uauflbter of tbe SpWni ing to eat-surely these were not proper isons for leaving a country so P'e'''^^' /"f so rich as the Mehica they were aW' ^e^ scrLg. Some riches from Mehica they had • broueht with them. Among other things th^y td store of wood, with which they bu.U a house-so great that, uU - *ey ^e « thev could stand erect mside, »"ther things ch they built they were, ind even lift of. Anador's )fty as most verhead was :r's hair had f the wooden ow and deep, tered a gorge ; settlement, his the white n their funny but afterward ughed. Once raped -his-face- exactly Brow', OS could get to )ld her that in ich Like this ? Bn C9liimo Mbip He lifted a harpoon and prodded the roof. Anador, who was used to signs, understood that in Mehica there was a house so high that you could not touch the roof with a harpoon. "All of wood, Brow' ? " asked Anador, half doubtful, though she knew white men never lied. " Yes," replied Brow', " Mehica wood same as grass. Big like this "—he raised his hand from the floor, slowly and regularly, till it pointed almost as high as the tallest iceberg in the bay. "Hi-i-igh!" he exclaimed. "Wood same as grass. Tree," he added, in Mehica lan- guage. "Tee! tee!" repeated Anador, surprised, for she had supposed that wood came from the sea. It was upon the beach or in the waves that Eskimos found most of their few precious fragments. "By and by," continued Brow', "you see tree. Tree there " — ^he pointed out of the window to one of the wooden affairs that held the goods of the white people. White men called them " boxy." This boxy was as long as the wooden igloo beside which it lay. ail Xauflbter of tbc Spbtni Thereafter whenever Anador visited Brow' she paur.ed before the boxy to wonder what the tee looked like and when it would be visible. Brow' said ic'iow, ichowy ichow^ which meant by and by, and she contented herself to wait, for she had confidence in Brow', Her own people said he was the greatest of wiz- ards, for it was to him that the iron charms with white faces talked, telling him how cold it was and whether a storm was coming, a^^d he said, how hard the wind spirit was breath- ing. But Anador was not afraid, for she knew white men never used their powers for evil. She and her little brother Kywingwa were constant visitors at white mai 's igloo, and re- ceived nothing but kindness. Brow' and the very tall white man, called for his bigness Kabluna-suah, liked to have the children as guides in their shorter excur- sions. It was upon one of these excursions, out upon the treacherous ice in the bay after a wounded seal, that Brow* fell into the water. Weighed down with his furs he would have drowned but for Kabluna-suah. The tall white man was half a harpoon cast 213 :ed Brow' ider what would be ow, which 2d herself ow'. Her ;st of wiz- m charms how cold ning, a^?d IS breath- she knew s for evil, gwa were >• :imos inter- one end of iuah seated I her father's ded him ap- Tipered, but idly, waving e skin in the none of the :entre of the :orner were red Anador. I sympathize leared. The hed with the 5 alight with attering and vere quiet, as )en. :e, and out of :Ung like the ling from an Bit E0liimo Mbip The tinkling increased, drew nearer,turned harsher. The door burst open, and into the room, driving before him a dog-team whose traces jangled with bits of metal, strode a stout, fur-clad man. His hood was thrown back, and his hair, which was white as snow, hung down upon his shoulders. " Hurrah," shouted all the white men. " JVa-na-na-na-ay / " exclaimed the Eski- mos. Never before had they seen hair like that. " Hurrah ! " responded the newcomer. He drove his dogs into a corner, cast down the traces, and presented to the company a great flaming face and a snow-drift of a beard. "Hurrah!" he shouted. Waving a stafif and striding up and down he said many things in the white man's tongue. At times his voice rose loud, whereupon the white men struck their palms together, making a sharp noise ; and when at last after a violent pas- sage he paused, they cheered. The stranger flourished his pole and dashed the great square skin to the floor. Had the sky fallen into the corner? For an instant Anador thought so. There were - i Xaudbter of tbe Spbinx the bright stars and the dark depths ! there were the bands of many hued radiances, tiny imitations of the lights that gleam in the Southeast for the dead hunters when they play football with walrus skulls. And when, after a moment of bewilderment, Anador per- ceived that they did not change and shimmer as the spirit-lights and that the dark spaces were solid and green and that the stars were flames like the igni of the white people, but of many colors, each swaying upon a spray of the green stuff — even when she knew it was not the sky, Anador still felt her breath coming in gasps. For Kabluna-suah, notic- ing her surprise, had whispered : " See, Anador. Wood ! tree ! " "Na-na-na-na-a-a-ay /" she whispered. This, then, was wood, growing like grass. And it was from a land where such things were that the white men came to her cold, desolate country. "Kabluna-suah," she asked impulsively, •' why do you come here ? " The white man eyed her keenly for a moment and she saw that he understood. The first smile that she had seen upon his 234 inx ipths! there liances, tiny earn in the when they And when, Anador per- nd shimmer dark spaces e stars were people, but pon a spray she knew it t her breath •suah, notic- !" whispered. ■ like grass. such things to her cold, impulsively, eenly for a understood, en upon his Bn £0liimo Hdbip face for many sleeps glimmered about his eyes. " Innuit land very beautiful ! " he said, but Anador has never known what he meant. Now occurred a new marvel. The red- faced stranger drew from the mass of the tee objects wrapped in the thin white substance that held talking marks. These objects he distributed among the white men. Each received several gifts. Nor were they indifferent. The dignity natural with the white race vanished ; one and all, the Kabluna tore away the wrappers and ex- hibited the contents and laughed, shouted and chattered, as childish in their glee as ever was an Eskimo of the tribe. The use of the things was quite out of Anador's knowledge, but the white men were besides themselves with delight. Only Kab- luna-suah, Anador noticed, acknowledged his gifts with a cold jerk of the head, and opened them slowly and sadly. Suddenly she was aware of the white-whis- kered man holding forth an object to her. She screamed and shrank back. Kabluna- suah received the gift for her and tore away 1} 225 aBJ**-**^ l I i Xauobtcr of tbc Spbinx the wrapper. Then she screamed again tljis time with pleasure. Inside was one of the criss-cross instruments used by the white people to cut skins, and, delight of delights, beside it needles, needles, needles ! Needles of all sizes in a shining row ; enough to last the lives of herself and her children ; enough to make her a rich woman. An exclamation from Kywingwa startled her- he was holding a knife, like Kabluna- suah's. Behind her the tribe was well-nigh pehbloktoo. Every one was receiving gifts. No such store of wealth had ever before been seen in Eskimoland. Nothing was to be heard but " na-na-na-na-a-a-ay" and '' pee- you-yoo-ookr The white people had forgot- ten their own pleasure in watching the delight of the Innuit. Kabluna-suah only, still sad, bent over an odd gift of his own. It was a limp, soft thing, as pink as a sunset cloud. Kabluna-suah lifted it to his lips and drew a long breath. Perceiving Anador wistful he smiled faintly and held it almost against her face. Anador inhaled a sweet, dreamy smell, like nothing she had ever known. Again and again she - 226 I\.V [ again, this one of the the white of dehghts, s ! Needles )ugh to last en ; enough rwa startled :e Kabluna- as well-nigh eiving gifts. • before been ; was to be ' and ''pee- i had forgot- jg the delight bent over an up, soft thing, Kabluna-suah I long breath, smiled faintly ace. Anador 1, like nothing and again she Bn £0ftimo Mbip drew it in, and smiled her pleasure at Kab- luna-suah. But Kabluna-suah's eyes were misty and did not meet hers. The white-haired man still stamped to and fro with his gifts. Even to the dogs he cast presents ; huge slices of walrus meat. They received it, in the usual manner of Eskimo dogs, with a scrimmage. Pau, the king dog, stole his wife's share and carried it apart to eat. The white-haired man stooped to snatch it away, and hair, beard, and face fell upon the floor. " Kywingwa, it's Brow' ! " exclaimed Ana- dor. " Kymngy/a., he is peeoo^ / Give him your v/hip ! " Hand in hand the children crossed the t'^/oo to where Brow', laughing, was trying to readjust his red face. Timidly, for she was in awe of the face, Anador held the whip toward the white man. He took it and smiled reassuringly, but Anador turned to retreat. "Anador," said Brow'. He had dropped the face and was examin- ing the whip. Presently he looked across the t^loo to where Kabluna-suah was still i Xauobtcr of tbc Spbini bcntUnj,' thoughtfully over his sweet-smelling gift. For some moments Brow' mused, glancing alternately from the whip to the great white man. " Come," he said at last. He led the way to his shelf, made talking marks, and placed them, with the whip, in Anador's hands. " Give Kabluna-suah I " he directed. Obediently Anador bore the talking words and the whip and laid them beneath Kabluna- suah's down-cast eyes. Kabluna-suah sprang to his feet, with a noise. The chatter ceased. For a moment, amid dead silence the two white men gazed into each other's eyes, as they had gazed once before upon the ice floe. Then they strode together and clasped hands. And the cheer that burst from all the white men set a-quiver all the lights upon the tee. Anador's father was right. No harm came to the white people. As by degrees the twilights lengthened, the strangers recovered their spirits. By full springtide they were ready to make their long sledge journey, and aa8 bini wcet-smelling ised, glancing le great white made talking I the whip, in irected. talking words eath Kabluna- 3 feet, with a 'or a moment, te men gazed ad gazed once 3n diey strode \nd the cheer !n set a-quiver No harm came r degrees the jers recovered ide they were e journey, and Bn £0himo Mbip when summer was almost over they returned safe and triumphant. Meanwhile, although Anador pondered much over the matter, she never quite under- stood it. Why did the white people bestow gifts? Why did the whip and the talking words make friends of Brow' and Kabluna- suah ? She had picked up the talking words and she cherished them all through that happy winter and summer ; nay, she has them still, and will show them to you. They will say to you, if you can understand talking words: " A Happy Christmas, old chap ! " 229 i iniwiw Mirnf .r THE GLACIER IMPLEMENT For a boy of twelve Kywingwa knew many things. He could pick out the like- liest situations for fox-traps. He knew how to stalk an Arctic hare, and to shoot her with his bow and arrow. He could point to the spot in the water where a seal which had dived would probably rise. With the whip he was, for a mickanniny, really ex- pert; for not only had he ceased now to slash himself in the back of the neck, when he whirled the thirty-foot lash, but also he was beginning to direct his strokes with ac- curacy. And in one exercise he was pre- eminent above all other boys in Greenland. That exercise was throwing the harpoon. Even the older Eskimos were accustomed to gather when with his comrades he practised harpooning, and to praise the accuracy of his aim and the power of his delivery. In other than physical things, also, was Ky- I i ■^.•^-^<'£Vyer7^41i Xauobtcr of tbc Spbinx wingwa versed. Eskimo emotions are com- paratively simple, and the lad had learned to guess pretty accurately the motives for the actions of his friends. But he was utterly bewildered by the conduct of a party of seemingly crazy people with white faces, who had come from across the sea, and had built a wonderful house on the shores of the bay upon which Kywingwa lived. The house was as big as many Eskimo igloos together, and it was constructed not of sealskins, nor even of stones, but of wood. Kywingwa had never before seen a piece of wood larger than a harpoon-shaft. The Eskimos treas- ured with the greatest care even small splin- ters of the precious substance. Kywingwa himself had rather a large piece, with more- over a sharp spike of iron in its end, which made it more valuable. This instrument, used to prevent a seal from escaping after you had once fastened to him with your har- poon, had been handed down to Kywingwa from his great-grandfather. It was called a pusheemut Kywingwa iiad been very proud of owning a pusheemut. But when he saw the great quantities of wood possessed by 233 inx ns are com- i learned to ives for the was utterly a party of e faces, who id had built s of the bay The house >os together, if sealskins, Kywingwa wood larger kimos treas- small splin- Kywingwa , with more- s end, which instrument, icaping after th your har- Kywingwa was called a 1 very proud ^hen he saw )osse5sed by Zbc (Blacier Implement the white people his pride fell. They had not only enough long, broad pieces to build the great t£^loo, but also a vast number of smaller sticks left over. Curiously enough, they did not seem to value them very highly ; they would give one to you almost always if you would help them with the queer things that they were constantly doing. Some of them wandered along the beach and picked up shells, and they liked to have you bring them all the unusual shells that you could find. Others gathered different kin.' '. of flowers, and were much pleased if yu ; c ;vered for them a variety that they hat ' t come across. One of them had a net not unlike the net the Eskimos were ac- customed to use in catching little auks, only of much finer mesh, and made of a soft material that was not sealskin string. With it the white man pursued, not birds, but insects : butterflies, and bumblebees, and spi- ders, and all the other kinds of small creatures that abound in Greenland during the warm summer. He was a very enthusiastic white man, and the Eskimos named him after his favorite prey, Arhiveh, the spider. i i ,-y}^-^t»«:.a?^.^-UitjJ*ittJftf '■ Xaudbtcr of tbe Spbinx Whenever Kywingwa was not psleep he was sure to be either at the white man's igloo, or else away upon some excursion with the butterfly-hunter, whom he liked best of all. In return, the white man showed a warm affection for Kywingwa. He taught him to catch butterflies, and made for him a litde net. And when they went forth to- gether he once or twice even let the boy bear the glacier implement, which Kywingwa held to be the most beautiful of all created things. It was a wonderful implement: a long, springy, wooden shaft, with a head made of a substance as hard as iron, but so shiny that you could see your face in it, just as in a pool of water. One side of the head was a blade with which to chop ice ; the other side was a long, sharp spike. "What a fine thing for seal-hunting !" ex- claimed all the Eskimos when they saw it. Kywingwa more than the others admired it. He was wont to stand before it as it hung in the great wooden igloo and gaze at it, and touch the keen edge of the blade sofdy with his fingers. Once or twice Arhiveh saw him caressing it» and laughed. 234 binx ot ?sleep he white man's le excursion he liked best an showed a He taught lade for him irent forth to- : the boy bear ^rwingwa held ■eated things, ent: a long, lead made of so shiny that just as in a e head was a :he other side lunting !" ex- they saw it. rs admired it. as it hung in ize at it, and de softly with liveh saw him Zhc (Blacier Implement "Good?" he inc lired in his broken Es- kimo. ; ' ' Pee-you -yook - ami-i-ishua ! ' ' Ky wingwa cried. He admired it humbly, however, and with- out hope of possessing it. It was not for Eskimos to aspire to perfect things; they were for white people only. But the most noteworthy event in Kywing- wa's life occurred and changed his point of view. Entering the wooden i^/oo upon a certain waking-time, he saw Arhiveh bending over a tiny brown butterfly in his palm. The white man appeared to be disturbed. " A^at, Kywingwa !" he said. Obediently approaching, the lad perceived that the insect lacked one wing. " Takoo, Kywingwa," said Arhiveh, " you capture butterfly, good butterfly. Not like this—" he stood erect, with one arm behind him, and moved the other arm vigorously up and down. " Like this—" both arms going hard. Kywingwa laughed with glee and nodded. "Peook/" continued Arhiveh, "you catch butterfly, I give you — " 23s r lUuabtcr of tbc Spbinx He paused, and the boy was seiztid with an impulse he could not control. "Oona!" he cried, and pointed to the glacier implement. The butterfly-hunter seemed a good deal surprised. Kywingwa was breathless. At last Arhiveh laughed. ''Peook /" he said, " you catch good butter- fly. I give you — yes, I give you thaty What Kywingwa did next he does not re- member. Arhiveh has told him that he stood as if dazed for a moment, and then rushed out. The first memory that comes to him is of seeking for his net amo l^ the harpoons, and pieces of ivory, and sealskin water- buckets in his father's tent, and of repeating over and over : " A tiny brown butterfly with tivo wings ! " At last he found his net, and after a mo- ment's thought he took his pusheemut The white people usually carried their glacier im- plements on important excursions. Kywing- wa was going upon an excursion that he deemed very important, and the pusheemut was the best substitute for a glacier imple- ment that he had. Recently, Arhiveh had 236 «5HI*W»IJf«>«aS.-BSS«»»<*- nx seized with ted to the good deal iless. ood butter- thaty ioes not re- lat he stood then rushed es to him is e harpoons, skin water- f repeating wo wings ! " after a mo- 'emut The r glacier im- 3. Kywing- ion that he ; pusheemut icier imple- ^rhiveh had tCbe (5ladcr Implement sharpened the spike, and the pusheemut was much more efficient than of old. A piece of seal-flipper also he picked up, and started forth, repeating to himself: "A tiny brown butterfly." The valley where butterflies lived was a long distance up toward the head of the bay. Ky wingwa had been there several times with Arhiveh, but always in a woman's boat with four men to propel it. To walk there would take a long time and would probably tire him, but he was too much excited to dwell upon that thought, and he set out briskly. But after a long time he did grow very weary. The walking was exceedingly bad ; there was no path but the beach between the sea and the vast cliffs, and it was covered with sharp stones which huit I.Is feet, for he had forgotten to stuff grass between the soles of his boots and his dogskin stock- ings. ' The sun completed more than half its cir- cular course in the sky, dipped till its edge touched the mountains across the bay to the north, and then began to rise once more. Kywingwa had never been so long away from 237 fjp.^,....^ : -„.....-^.._jir^.r^ Kill- Xauabtcr of tbe Spblni home alone before, but whenever discourage- ment threatened, he thought of the glacier implement and plodded on. And at last, just as the sun reached his highest point, the lad rounded a promontory and came into the valley of butterflies. He found a small stream, and threw himself down beside it to rest, eat his seal-meat, and survey his terri- tory. Between little smooth hills small brooks ran ; and along these brooks grew vividly green grass and bright flowers. It was among the flowers that the butterflies lived. The seal-flipper was good ; he ate it all, drank of the pure, cold water that flowed from the melting snow on the plateau, and started forth. Up and down the little streams he wandered, following one back as far as the cliffs, then crossing to the next one and tracing it down to its mouth. He saw plenty of bumblebees, plenty of flies, even plenty of brown butterflies, dancing in the hot sun- light, but none like that Arhiveh had shown him. "What shall I do?" he asked himself. He decided to try the next valley. uk V.,,*3?<>;. 1. ni discourage- the glacier .nd at last, It point, the me into the id a small beside it to :y his terri- nall brooks rew vividly rs. It was irflies lived. 2 ate it all, that flowed )lateau, and ttle streams k as far as ;xt one and ; saw plenty ;ven plenty he hot sun- had shown liimself. ley. tTbc (Blactcr Implement The next valley was filled by a great white glacier. Evidently there were no butterflies there. But Kywingwa discerned, across the front of the glacier, a third valley that looked promising. Grown Eskimos rarely crossed glaciers, and he was but a mickan- niny. But he was still borne onward by the thought of the glacier implement. It was a noisy glacier. Out toward the centre huge masses were splitting off with tremendous crashes and plunging into the sea. The body of the glacier creaked, the torrent at the side roared. Not to be daunted by noise, Kywingwa passed into the gorge along the side of the glacier, where the cliffs on his right hand dropped stones a thousand feet down at him, and the chill of the ice at his left hand entered into his bones. At length he found a place where he could cross the torrent, on some stones, to a part of the glacier which sloped away, so that he could mount to the surface. He turned toward the valley oppo- site. Presently he came to rougher ice ; from the surface of the glacier rose in all directions sharp peaks. Yawning cracks ap- peared and then chasms so wide that he had a39 il :|M Xauabter of tbc Spbini to make long detours around them, or to cross by dangerous snow-bridges. Upon one of these bridges a misfortune happened to Kywingwa. The snow appeared perfectly solid ; nevertheless an impulse led the lad to test it. With the handle of his butterfly-net he prodded, and the handle passed through. Kywingwa lost his balance and fell. Down crashed the snow-bridge into the crevasse. Kywingwa' s head and right arm hung over the abyss. It was some minutes before he recovered from the shock, and then he found that his butterfly-net had fallen into the chasm. Remembering, how- ever, that he had caught many butterflies in his hand before the net had been his, he determined to proceed to the other side of glacier. Fortune, he hoped, would send him the butterfly. In his path lay a stream altogether too broad to be jumped, and, though rather shal- low, too swift to be waded. It had worn a deep bed in the hard ice — a bed as blue as the sky, and so smooth, so exquisitely smooth, that the water hardly rippled as it rushed along. Not the length of a harpoon-line il_ ».«**aSK¥3^-<«(«5;<«««^*»M»*'»W*»"* ibini . them, or to es. a misfortune now appeared n impulse led handle of his i the handle )st his balance ; snow-bridge a's head and It was some om the shock, tterfly-net had mbering, how- ^ butterflies in been his, he : other side of rould send him altogether too gh rather shal- It had worn a led as blue as lisitely smooth, i as it rushed 1 harpoon-line JLbc (Blacier Implement away from the spot where Kywingwa stood it plunged into a deep crevasse, whence rose a heavy rumbling. Patiently Kywingwa followed up the stream till he came to an ice-bridge. He crossed it, meeting with no further obstruc- tions, and presently stood upon the edge of the glacier, and looked up and down the gorge at its side. Far down by the bay, toward the end of the great white mass, the cliffs receded, the land was low, the sun shone ; it seemed just the place for butterflies. Kywing^wa found a slope where he could descend into the gorge, and turned toward the fertile spot. As he emerged from the shadow of the cliff, he came out into full sunlight, and found himself surrounded by rivulets, by flowers, and by insects. And before he could well note these things, lo ! from under his feet rose and settled again the very object of his search — the little brown butterfly ! Kywingwa stole toward it, came within his own length of it, leaped with open hands upon it. In vain ! The little creature darted aiitm Xauobtcr of tbc Spbini from his grasp. Always keeping it in view, Kywingwa scrambled to his feet and gave chase. Down nearly to the beach it led him ; then it doubled, dodged him, and made off up the hill toward the cliff. Kywingwa tried to follow, but to no purpose ; it alic^hted far away and out of sight. Bitterly disappointed, the boy shuffled through the grass, hoping to scare up the insect once more ; but his efforts were futile. And presently he was aware that the sun had gone behind the hills, and that not only his butterfly, but also all the other in- sects, had disappeared. Kywingwa was far from home — almost two sleeps away. He was footsore. He was without food. These things troubled him but little ; he had been hungry, lame, and astray many times before. But he was ut- terly cast down because the butterfly had escaped. His journey was useless ; he had lost his net ; he had failed to win the glacier implement. " Piungitoo wunga amishua! I am good for nothing, good for nothing !" he cried, and threw himself upon the ground. In a mo- ment he was sound asleep. 343 ni it in view, : and gave it led him ; i made off jwa tried to cd far away ted, the boy ig to scare ifforts were ire that the tid that not le other in- -almost two . He was 3ubled him , lame, and he was ut- .itterfly had :ss ; he had { the glacier am good for ; cried, and In a mo- Zbc (Blactcr implement Awaking, he perceived that the sun was shining brightly once more, and that the in- sects were playing briskly. He must have slept a very long while. He was ravenously hungry. " I will try to hit a little auk with a stone," he said, and trudged back to certain rock*^ near the glacier, whence came the chatter o^ the small birds. But just as he arrived at the foot of the ice, he heard a shrill sound. He knew at once what produced it ; it came from one of those curious little wooden instruments which shrieked when you blew into them. Look- ing up, he beheld Arhiveh, with butterfly-net in one hand, and glacier implement in the other, standing firmly, in his boots shod with sharp spikes, upon the very edge of the ice- wall. Kywingwa felt a pang of disappoint- ment at sight of the glacier implement ; but he forgot it in his surprise because Arhiveh was alone. White men did not usually ven- ture upon glaciers by themselves ; something extraordinary must have occurred. The little Eskimo hastened to the stepr ir^- stones, crossed the torrent, and in a moment \- 243 ' Xaufibtcr of tftc Spbinr was by Arhiveh's side. The white man's voice was gruff, as he accosted the boy. "Not dead, Kywingwa?" he inquired. "Mother say you lost. Say you food all gone. She go like this — " he rubbed his eyes with his hand, in imitation of a weeping woman. " White men all go look. I come woman's boat. Woman's boat there," he added, pointing to the opposite corner of the glacier. " Come on !" " I tried to catch the butterfly," explained Kywingwa, as they started. "I wanted to win the glacier implement. But my net dropped into the crevasse. I saw a butter- fly, but I could not capture him." " You very much no good ! You lost, mother afraid," was the ungracious reply. Kywingwa felt that he was in disgrace. He took thankfully some seal-meat that Arhiveh had brought him, and ate it silently, being very miserable. Presently Arhiveh reached the stream, and turned to the left to find the ice-bridge. A tiny brown something fluttered before Kywingwa's eyes. The boy paused, stared, rubbed his eyes, looked again, and then shouted at the top of his voice. ■ «44 nx hite man's e boy. : inquired. 3U food all rubbed his a weeping L I come there," he >rner of the ' explained wanted to ut my net IV a butter- You lost, LIS reply, igrace. He lat Arhiveh ently, being ^eh reached t to find the ng fluttered boy paused, again, and ice. ■ (Tbe (Blader Implement "Arhiveh, Arhiveh!" he cried; '* takoo iblee! takoo ! Tachidigia!'' The white man seized his net and dashed after the tiny creature. Kywingwa watched him eagerly. The butterfly fluttered aim- lessly about for a moment, and then crossed the stream. Arhiveh sprang recklessly after it, missed his footing, and fell into the water. Kywingwa burst ou^ into laughter, and waited gleefully to greet his companion, scrambling, soaked with ice-cold water, from the stream. But no head appeared above the bank, and Kywingwa ran to see what was the matter. The white man had not risen. He was lying in the water, with his head downstream. He was struggling violently. He was float- ing rapidly down. The cataract was close at hand. At once the meaning of the situation burst upon Kywingwa's mind. Arhiveh could not rise — the bottom of the stream was too slip- pery. He was trying to use the spikes in his shoes, but to no purpose, for his feet were upstream. Faster and faster he was swept helplessly along. I Xaufibtcr of tbe Spbini Instantly Kywingwa saw what he must do. He sprang upon a mound of ice that almost overhung the water. Balanced as a harpoon in his hand was his newly sharpened pusheemut. Down came the helpless Arhiveh, now floating rapidly ; in another instant he would be opposite the Eskimo's position. Then, with all his force, Kywingwa hurled his pusheemut. Its point entered the hard ice- bed of the current, and the weapon stood upright. The white man was borne against it ; instinctively he clutched it. It held for an instant, then the ice about it chipped and it gave way. But that instant was enough. Arhiveh had swung around, his feet were downstream, his course was checked. Before the powerful little brook could take hold of him again, he had driven his shoe-spikes into the ice, and, using the pusheemut as a rest, had risen to his feet. He stood as if dazed, while Kywingwa brought the glacier imple- ment, and lying flat, reached it down to him. Then he cut notches for himself and as- cended out of the bed of the brook. The pusheemut floated away. 246 ; he must of ice that inced as a sharpened liiveh, now it he would on. Then, hurled his le hard ice- apon stood »rne against It held for :hipped and ^as enough, i feet were :ed. Before take hold of 2-spikes into d as a rest, as if dazed, ;lacier imple- lown to him. self and as- brook. The ^bc (5lactcr implement Kywingwa was ready to laugh with him over his escape. But white people always acted so oddly ! When he was once more safe on the surface of the glacier, Arhiveh stood and simply looked about him. He gazed across the white expanse of ice to the cliffs, tinted with red lichen and green grass. He looked out over the bay to the blue sea. He looked at the sun, which, as all Eskimos know, is a bad thing to do : it ruins the eyes. Finally, he walked to the crevasse, and peered into the dark depths. Kywingwa looked cautiously down, too, and wondered where his pusheemut was. Presently, the white man turned toward him. ''Pusheemut?'' asked Kywingwa, shyly. " Did you see my pusheemut ? Has the water eaten it ?" Pusheemut r exclaimed Arhiveh, vehe- mently. "See, Kywingwa, I not talk Es- kimo. But you very good ! You go white man's house — I give you plenty pusheemuts. Here, Kywingwa, I give you this." He held forth h^ 3 hand, and* in it was the glacier implement. „ 247 IN ARCTIC MOONLIGHT From the rim of the moon, gliding north- ward along the cliff-summits of Ellesmere Land, there fell across the frozen sound a long, silvery shimmer. It began in a point at the hither edge of the distant mountain- shadows, broadened regularly over the level ice, and vanished under the feet of the sledge party. Neither Kywingwa nor Tele- koteah, his father, would have glanced at it a second time if the white man had not behaved so oddly. In all the cold he stood motion- less, with eyes uplifted towards the shining mountain-crests. Kywingwa thought he might be frozen. "What is he doing?" whispered Ky- wingwa. His father looked up from the broken sledge-runner which he was binding together with a thong of walrus hide. 249 J 'lauobtcr of tbc Spbinr «' Be silent," he replied. " I do not know. No one knows the ways of the white men. The whole white tribe is a little crazy." "Yes," assented Kywingwa. That was well known among the Eskimos. "Yes," repeated his father. "Ting-mi- huk-suah, the great spirit, made them first, and they turned out bad, like your first harpoon. Therefore, Ting-mi-huk-suah sent the whole tribe Away to sea in one of his old shoes and made us. We are the perfect tribe. There," concluded Telekoteah, with a final tug at the knot. " Now we are ready to go on again. What is it you see, Kab luna-suah ? Is it the bear ?" The white man, turning half about to lay one hand upon Telekoteah's arm, pointed with the other hand to the sky above the horizon. The moon-rim had disappeared behind a peak. Above this dark crest and around it the air was liquid light. The stars, rayless yellow balls, floated at different depths in the fluid, as phosphorescence floats in the translucent Arctic Ocean. " Telekoteah," asked the white man, whose face was working with the effort to express a I. 1 n not know, white men. crazy." That was "Ting-mi- "them first, your first k-suah sent e of his old the perfect oteah, with e are ready I see, Kab ibout to lay rm, pointed r above the disappeared k crest and The stars, at different icence floats man, whose to express a In Brctic (lloonUabt subtle idea in his broken Eskimo, " Teleko- teah, do your wise men tell you ? Does Ting-mi-huk-suah drink moonlight? Eh? Great spirit dnnk moonlight ? Eh ?" "Ugh," responded Telekoteah shortly. «' I was afraid it was the bear. No, I never heard such a story. Come, let's start. The sledge is ready." " Tatingwar exclaimed the white man. "I am not good! We must hurry. We load seal. You head, I tail. Now ! Good !" he concluded, as the seal fell snugly into place. " Good ! Now rifle ! Things that say booh all gone ! Rifle no good ! Bear come ! We have no rifle, two dogs only. Two dogs ; you spear ; I knife. Can we kill bear ? Eh? No! Eh?" He pictured his questions with gestures, laugh! :ig meanwhile at his own mistakes. Kywingwa, who had been looking at the moon, could not help laughing, too; but Telekoteah responded only with a grunt. He moved away to where his whip lay in the snow. Kywingwa crept to the white man's side. - • " Kabluna-suah," he murmured, "I have - m^'' - ■ Xauflbtcr of tbc Sphinx been looking. It would be good for the spirits to drink." The white man said nothing, but in a moment he held out his hand. Kywingwa placed his own in it, after the manner he had learned from the white people, and both man and boy turned once more to the illuminated east. Telekoteah returned with his whip. " Ready !" he called gruffly. " Unless you want your friends to starve, Kabluna-suah, start the sledge." "Ready!" exclaimed the white man. "Good. Must hurry. I forgot. How much farther?" He set his powerful shoulder to the up- standers and the sledge moved. Teleko- teah's eighteen-foot whip-lash cracked about the ears of the dogs. The two half-tamed creatures sprang erratically forward. ''Huk! hukr urged the Eskimo. "Go on, Kashoo, you lazy brute ! About a sleep farther," he replied to the white man. "It is a pity we had to dodge the bear ; it lost us half a sleep's distance. It is quite a sleep further, if we can pass the open water. If the tide is running we shall have to wait still longer. Huk! Huk! Kashoo !" Z%2 ■fl i for the but in a Cywingwa ler he had both man luminated s whip. Jnless you Uina-suah, a. "Good. farther?" the up- Teleko- ked about balf-tamed d. [HO. "Go lut a sleep nan. " It ir ; it lost ite a sleep ter. If the wait still In Brcttc nDoonli0bt "J fid'/ Ilukr echoed the white man. " Must go fast. I same as dog. See !" He hitched a spare trace to the runner and plodded onward, pulling with the team. On the other side Kywingwa took another trace. The boy's hand was yet glowing with Kabluna-suah's grasp, and in his heart was a still warmer glow. " He took my hand," thought Kywingwa. " He never did 'hat with any other Eskimo. He likes me. I would give my life for him." " Come, come, Kywingwa," exclaimed the gruff Telekoteah, "you are letting your trace hang loose. Pull !" Kywingwa felt the blood surging in his cheeks. He glanced at Kabluna-suah timidly, but the white man was smiling ; Kywingwa saw his white teeth flash in the moonlight. The boy straightened his trace so sharply that it twanged. "Perhaps a relief party has come from the great-wooden-hut-at- the -south," sug- gested Telekoteah. "No," responded the white man. "We not come to the wooden igloo yesterday. Therefore, relief party started yesterday. 253 \ I Xauflbtcr of tbc Spblni Great leader promised. From the wooden igloo to camp is a journey jf three sleeps. Great leader at camp two sleeps after now. Camp will be all frozen. Friends sleep for- ever. No fire, no food. We bring fire, food. Toihoi!" The sledge moved but slowly, however. In the intense cold the snow lost its slipperi- ness, and turned dry and shifty, like sand. The dogs scrambled and labored and shirked. Whenever the sledge ran against a mound they sat down, refusing to pull until the load had been started and Telekoteah's redoubt- able whip-lash was hurtling about their ears. On they prodded, in the midst of a silence so nearly absolute that the scrunching of their footsteps re-echoed, as it seemed, from the cliffs half a sleep's journey behind them. Their long, dim shadows, at first stretching away and away before them, gradually moved till they lay to the right. By and by the moon in full circle emerged from behind the lofty promontory that marked the northern end of the sound. The whole expanse of ice was alight. Dividing it down the middle ran a band 2S4 nx .ne wooden irec sleeps. 1 after now. Is sleep for- [g fire, food. y, however. its slipperi- ', like sand, and shirked. St a mound ntil the load h's redoubt- It their ears. of a silence :hing of their 2d, from the ehind them, St stretching lually moved and by the n behind the the northern ; expanse of ra:n a m Hrctic nDoonliobt considerably darker than the white fields. Extending straight away to the north it tapered to a point beneath the moon at the horizon. "There is the channel," said Telekoteah, " and the tide is just full. We shall not cross before the ebb begins. Angoshiiee ta-ay ! I think I hear it now." The ice-field beneath them was shudder- ing. The vibration increased till it became a rumble; the rumble grew to be a roar. The dark band began perceptibly to move towards the south. The midst of its shadow sparkled with short flashes, some dim, some bright. As the party drew nearer to it the noise resolved into two sounds — a succession of crashes so violent that the solid ice-field shook and heaved and cracked ; and beneath the crashes an undertone of clatter ever be- ginning near at hand and rattling away into the distance. The sound was so tremendous that it had the effect of a physical force ; to advance toward it was difficult, like marching in the teeth of a wind. The narrow passage between the solid fields was choked with loose ice. Only here I ■ » Xaufibtcr of tbe Spftini and there parallelograms and triangles ot black water gleamed momentarily ; the width and length of the strait was crammed with fragments of icebergs, pans of flat bay ice, masses of rubble, whirling round and round, heaving into piles, turning end over end, darkening the channel with their shadows, flashing out gleams of moonlight from their tacets, steadily grinding and crush- ing their resistless way towards the south. The ocean, cwenty sleeps away, was sucking through the sound the upper fourteen feet of water from all the basins, channels, and bays between itself and the great frozen sea north of all ' nown things. Whatever impeded the rush of the tide must burst. The ice-floes beat against the firm side walls and against each other ; jammed across the channel, and received pile after pile of trash overlaid upon them by the heaped-up waters. No jam lasted while you could count your fingers and toes ; always the ice in the centre burst up into the air and was instantly hurried away. The party halted near the brink. Teleko- teah hauled in the strings that drew the furs 256 )\nx In Brctic flUoonliabt triangles ot y ; the width ammed with flat bay ice, round and ig end over with their )f moonlight g and crush- s the south, was sucking irteen feet of 2ls, i^nd bays en sea north ^er impeded he firm side mmed across after pile of le heaped-up ; you could ways the ice air and was nk. Teleko- Irew the furs close about him, found a comfortable seat upon the seal, and was evidently prepared to be patient until the peaceful time of low water. But the white man advanced to the edge of the channel, and Kywingwa, with his hands pressed hard over his ears, fol- lowed. Conversation was out of the question. The boy alternately watched the resistless forces displayed before him, wondering what spirit was causing such a terrible confusion, and scanned the face of the white man. Presently a large floe, rebounding from the containing wall, crushed its way through the rubble almost to the opposite side of the strait. Kabluna-suah's eyes turned fierce. The floe worked its way to the other edge. The white man returned to the sledge, seized the upstanders, and pushed sledge, Telekoteah, seal, dogs, and all to the very brink. " He is crazy," thought Kywingwa. " He means to cross." Telekoteah also understood, for he threw out his arms in protest, and at last planted himself astride the sledge with his heels and Xauabtcr of tbe Spbini his spear dug into the ice. But Kywingwa knew how useless his father's strength would be against that of Kabluna-suah, who could throw in a wrestle any two Eskimos , together. If Kabluna-suah had gone crazy, they must try to cross. He gazed north, hoping that no suitable floe would approach. Alas ! several large ones were grinding along the edge of the strait. Away to the left, far from the channel, something was moving. Kywingwa sprang upon a block of ice to see better. The thing passed through the shadow of a berg and, changing its course, drew rapidly near. The boy ran to where his father and the white man were arguing with lips, making sounds unheard. "The bear, the bear!" cried Kywingwa. His voice, too, was lost, but the motion of his lips told the news. Telekoteah sprang from the sledge and, raising himself on tip- toe, scanned the fields. A broad floe, immovable in conflicting pressures, rested against the edge of the channel. Kywingwa saw the white man bend his shoulder to the sledge. Another 258 1 inx ; Kywingwa s strength a-suah, who NO Eskimos gone crazy, azed north, d approach, nding along the channel, gwa sprang The thing a berg and, ^ near, ther and the lips, making . Kywingwa. e motion of 3teah sprang mself on tip- n conflicting edge of the : white man re. Another In Brctic moonlidbt moment and it was rocking upon the un- stable ice-pan. Kabluna-suah seized the cringing dogs and tossed them after the sledge. Grasping Telekoteah by the shoulder with one hand, he motioned to Kywingwa with the other to leap upon the floe. The boy gasped, but obeyed. He was aware that somehow his father and the white man ^'/^d followed, and that the floe, swung away from the brink, was borne in the full fury of the tide. Round and round it whirled, to the right, and to the left. Sick with the rocking and jolting, Kywingwa lost all sense of direc- tion. Hurled against a large floe, the pan crumpled up almost to his feet. Borne against a jam, it tilted, and sledge, dogs, and men slid in a mass to the edge. The jam burst and the floe righted. Amid the flying blocks of ice Kywingwa saw his father fall into a patch of black water and saw Kab- luna-suah stoop to oeize him by the hood. At that moment the floe rested against the field and Kywingwa sprang upon solid ice. For a moment, lying in a heap, he forgot the bear, his companions, even the noise, in the sweet sense of his safety. A blow upon I --dt^ u'f'g .i. -vr . i^aii^-t "-" ~'" ■ -''■■'• «>; jijJs.A Xauobtcr of tbc Spbini the foot startled him. The sledge, drawn by two terrified dogs, was slewing past him. The boy looked for his father and Kabluna- suah. The white man, with Telekoteah in ' his arms, was in the act of leaping to the firm ice. He thrust the Eskimo safe across the slush and water and dropped him heavily, but, missing his own footing, he fell with his legs in the water. Before Kywingwa could reach him, however, the white man had swarmed upon the surface and lay panting. Kywingwa hastened to raise his father. The old Eskimo's head and arms hung limp ; his heart beat but feebly. Evidently the evil spirits had entered into him. " Angoshuee ta-ay ! " mourned Kywingwa. ' ' What shall we do ? In this noise the spirits will never hear a charm-song." Nevertheless, he lifted Telekoteah's head upon his knee— a matter of some difficulty, for the Eskimo's wet clothing had frozen stiff— and began to sway his own body to and fro, and sing an exorcism to the evil ones : " Ai-yi-i-ai-i-ya I Ai-yi-i-ai-i-yah f ' 260 :, drawn by past him. d Kabhina- ekoteah in )ing to the safe across lim heavily, ell with his ngwa could man had y panting, his father, hung limp ; idently the n. . Kywingwa. se the spirits )teah's head \e difficulty, had frozen iwn body to to the evil in arctic moonliebt he sang. He could not hear his own voice ; certainly the spirits would not be frightened. Moreover, in spite of his reindeer-skin coat and his bird-skin shirt, he was beginning to be cold. Still there was nothing to do but sing " Ai-yi-e-yi-e-yah ! Ai-yi-e-yi A shadow fell across his lap. Kabluna-suah stood beside him — upon one foot. The other foot hung from his waist by a piece of har- poon line and the white man supported him- self on Telekoteah's lance. Bending over, he held Telekoteah for a moment by the wrist. Kywingwa pointed interrogatively to the suspended foot, but Kabluna-suah, without replying, signed to him to rise, and, still rest- ing his weight upon the spear, grasped Tele- koteah's shoulder and dragged him forward a pace. Something dropped from the up- lifted foot and lay, a little dark, frozen sphere, in the white snow. ''Tatingwaf" said the boy. 'His foot is crushed. And he camp half a sleep away." The white man impatiently beckoned for 261 TUuobter of tbc Spblnr assistance, and together man and boy dragged the injured Eskimo to the sledge, which had stopped against a mound. They wrapped him in heavy riding furs and lashed him down upon the seal. Kabluna-suah pointed to the traces and Kywingwa mechanically disen- tangled them and looked about for the whip. It lay twisted about in the saow, near the channel. The boy ran to pick it up. In the passage the piles and pinnacles were ever marching south. An unusually high floeberg moving from before him left revealed the opposite sicls of the strait. There, rest- ing her forepaws upon the block of ice, toss- ing her black nose up and down, stood the bear. "Na na na na-ay ! " Kywingwa felt that he was saying it. "CAimo, old lady! You fol- lowed us, but you dare not cross. But then," he added, " we must have crossed." He faced the shore. From the moon, at her highest, the light slanted along the edge of a line of cliffs. Their towering fagades, almost bared of snow by the furious Arctic winds, showed rugged and brown against the gei/eral v/hiteness. Just opposite, the wall 362 ir ged yd rag which had wrapped him down ted to the lly disen- the whip. near the P- acles were jally high ft revealed here, rest- f ice, toss- stood the felt that he You fol- But then," moon, at y the edge g fagades, ous Arctic igainst the :, the wall I In Hrcttc flDoonliobt advanced in a bold promontory. To the south the monstrous black shadow of this bluff obliterated the cliffs and the ice for what seemed like a sleep's distance ; but far above the shadow, among the stars themselves, gleamed faindy the silvery interior snow- cap. It was towards this promontory that the party had been laying its course. There a white man and two Eskimos awaited food from a white man's cac/te across the sound. It was to sustain them in a journey of three sleeps to the settlement and plenty. If it failed to come they would die. " If they would come to meet us," thought Kywingwa. " I believe we shall never reach them. My father perhaps frozen and Kab- luna-suah hurt — " and here the recollection burst upon Kywingwa that while Kabluna- suah had come to harm, he Kywingwa, had run away. " I deserted him," thought the boy. " I said I would give my lif'^- for him, and I ran away. Kabluna-suah hates cowards. I am a coward. I am worthless." ' But presently, with the energy of his race, 96$ Ai'^ ' Xauabter of tbc Spbtni he set about thinking of ways to me.nd the situation. "lam no coward," he resolved. " I will show Kabluna-suah. I will — yes, I know what ; I will go to the camp and fetch Dokt." Rejoicing in this bright plan he hastened to the sledge. Kabluna-suah had bound up his injured foot with furs, and, seated upon the sledge- runner, pressed both hands to his head. As Kywingwa's shadow fell near him the white man looked up, smiled feebly, and rose upon his sound foot. He braced against the up- standers to push, and signed to Kywingwa to crack the whip. " Kabluna-suah," protested the boy, illus- trating his speech with gestures and shout- ing with all his force, " I will go to the camp and bring Dokt." The words were lost in the clatter, but Kabluna-suah seemed to understand. He shook his head, however, and with his right hand imitated the flourish of a whip-stock. With his hopes of retrieving Kabluna- suah's good opinion gone, unhappy and dis- couraged, Kywingwa started the team. Pro- 264 me.nd the d. " I will s, I know :tch Dokt." e hastened hiis injured :he sledge- head. As the white rose upon St the up- Kywingwa boy, illus- md shout- ) the camp latter, but tand. He 1 his right p-stock. Kabluna- y and dis- 2am. Pro- ^^Ei^Siji: nr. In Hrctic nOoonUgbt gress was not rapid. Kabluna-suah, hopping upon his sound foot, pushed against the up- standers. Kywingwa, with a trace in his left hand and the whip in his right, both hauled at the load and directed the dogs. Thus they marched with the constancy of desperation for — Kywingwa never knew how long. The deafening noise of the tide-borne ice lessened away in the distance. Presently Kywingwa could hear his own shouts to the dogs. The shadow of the promontory was at hand. The cliff hung above them. The sledge ran against a hummock. The dogs ceased to pull, seated themselves, and lolled out their tongues. Kywingwa, ex- hausted and discouraged, would have liked to rest. He looked questioningly back at Kabluna suah. The white man was strain- ing to start the sledge. " Hurry, Kywingwa," he gasped brokenly. " Go on ; must go on. Hasten !" He lurched forward and fell upon the sledge. Kywingwa ran to his aid. "Let me go to the camp and bring Dokt," he begged. " It is a short journey. Except for the shadow we should see the snow-huts." 265 Xauabtcr of tbc Spbin\ "No," gasped the white man. " No ! Bear will come. Cross at low tide. Low tide now. Bear come — eat provisions — kill us — friends wiU starve." In the act of staggering to his place be- hind the upstanders he swung his wounded foot against the runner and collapsed on the snow. Kywingwa perceived that the demons had entered into him, too. " Kabluna-suah ! Kabluna-suah !" he called. He chafed with his rough mittens as much of the white man's face as was left uncovered by the hood, shook the heavy shoulders, and called again and again. But the white man's neck ref\ised to stiffen. Kywingwa lifted the broad shoulders to rest against the sledge, and prepared, not confidently, to sing a charm. The silence was broken by a short, dull noise. Was it a splitting iceberg or a rifle shot? Kywingwa listened as well as he could ./ith his heart pumping the blood against his ear-drums till they seemed ready to burst. The sound rang out again. Kywingwa drew his knife, slashed off the traces, and gave cry to the dogs. 266 T " No ! Bear ow tide now. 1 us — friends liis place be- his wounded apsed on the t the demons ti !" he called, is as much of ft uncovered boulders, and ; white man's arwa lifted the 16 sledge, and g a charm, a short, dull erg or a rifle i well as he g the blood leemed ready . Kywingwa e traces, and In arctic fDoonligbt "Get away, Kashoo, get away. Huk f Huk! Getaway!" He sent the long whip-lash at the ear of the leader. A tuft of hair flew up and the dog yelped. A third shot came in reply. Kashoo gave call with his nose in the air, and scampered into the shadow. The ot^-^r dog followed. Kywingwa ran to the wl iian. " Kabluna-suah ! Kabluna-suah ! " he shouted. " Dokt is coming. They are com- ing." The white man's eyes unclosed. "Good," exulted Kywingwa. "The evil spirits fear Dokt. They have gone." Kabluna-suah's lips moved. Kywingwa bent his ear. "The bear," whispered the white man. "The bear." " Dokt is coming, Kabluna-suah." repeated Kywingwa. " Dokt is almost here." " The bear," feebly insisted the white man. " I hear him — bear " "There is no bear," said Kywingwa. Nevertheless, impressed with the fainting man's earnestness, he scanned the white wastes. S^s^^^t-'-^S!?*- ^»4gafe»iii^isgfc.;iga^i>iataiafaa!^ ag i tf. 1 XauQbtcr of tbc Spbinx The shadow in the sledge-track traced a faint trail out into tlh distance. It ended in something that moved. Kywingwa ran for- ward a few paces. Though he could not make out the creature's outlines, he knew that there was only one living thing abroad on the ice. " Dokt ! oh, Dokt ! Come ! Come I " The echoes of his cry returned to Ky- win[ va from the liffs. No other sound broke the silence. The bear, in plain sight, ceased to nose along the trail and broke into a gallop. " Dokt i Do-o-okt ! " Surely he heard a reply — was it an echo? The bear was al- most >t haju 1 ; he could see the black tip of hei J.I je. "Dokt!" he cried once more, and then, being but a boy, he burst into tears and turned to run. He ran almost into the arms of Kabluna- suah. The white man was standing, as Ky- wingwa noticed even in his surprise, firmly on both feet. He had abandoned the lance, but holding the rifle by the barrel he brand- ished it over his shoulder. Kywingwa's panic 268 ■MiMm^i&m rack traced a . It ended in ngwa ran for- he could not ines, he knew thing abroad Come ! " urned to Ky- other sound in plain sight, ind broke into ly he heard a bear was al- le black tip of Dre, and then, nto tears and s of Kabluna- nding, as Ky- urprise, firmly ned the lance, irrel he brand- vingwa's panic ^■"..>«.„jmMJ-jM^^;m^m^m^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / /. V. u. 1.0 I.I 1^ 1^ 12.2 t 1^ 12.0 1.8 11-25 III 1.4 IIIIII.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 iigj-.^igiggwiaaaM^s aEsa jerjeBjt it. Ua % CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques t^ *- ? > I I: Lll ^ In Hrctic HDoonUdbt was partially stilled. He picked up the spear and ranged himself by the white man's side. As the bear drew near she slackened her gallop into a trot ; then paused. For a mo- ment, snarling suspiciously, she glared at her opponents. Kywingwa brandished thfi spear and she took a step forward. The white man, already tottering, swung his weapon uselessly and fell with the force of his own blow. The bear charged upon him. Ky- wingwa sprang to the right, levelled his lance, and sobbing out his rage and despera- tion in a fierce " A-a-a-a-ah ! " he thrust his weapon into the brute's shoulder. The bear turned from Kabluna-suah, splin- tered the spear with a blow of her paw, and rushed toward her latest enemy. With hunched-up shoulders and head down, certain that in a moment he should feel the claws on his back, the boy sped away. He heard behind him the shuffling of the bear's feet in the snow ; the animal's snarls filled the air. Kywingwa's breath began to come in hot gasps ; his feet had turned to iron-stone. The snarling drew nearer — his knees were giving way — the 269 f Tlauobter of tbe Spbinx noise was deafening. Kywingwa had never before heard a bear bark, yet this otie was barking. The boy's legs refused to carry him another step, and he fell to his hands and knees. He was aware that the snarling suddenly ceased ; the bear must be ready to strike. Kywingwa covered his face with his hands. Something dashed by him, blowing his long hair away from his hands with the wind of its rapid passage. He uncovered his face. A shadow was fleeting by ; another followed, and another. The gloom of the great cliff fell across the snow not twenty paces away. Behind the edge the darkness intensified in one spot, the spot moved towards him, detached itself from the mass, swept across the light space and passed over him, as a wave surges over a reef in the bay. It was a pack of dogs. Grimly silent ex- cept for their panting and the rush of their feet, with wolfish heads low and furred tails straight, they leaped across the snow to where the bear, brought to bay by the leaders, stood reared upon her haunches. 370 IX had never s oue was im another knees. He ily ceased ; Kywingwa lowing his h the wind id his face, r followed, fell across /. Behind id in one 1, detached s the light ave surges silent ex- sh of their nd furred he snow to ly by the haunches. In Brctic nDoonliabt At her feet the pack burst. A wild horde sprang hither and thither, darting at the bear's hind quarters and springing away, galloping round the quarry in a confusing circle. Every dog of them was giving tongue at the utmost pitch of his voice, and the air vibrated with the noise. Even then Kywingwa, stupefied with his exertions, but half comprehended the scene. But presently more shadows arrived ; the shadows of men. Kywingwa's brother, afterwards Dokt, and with him a very lofty figure, the great Captain of all the white men from the wooden-z^/o^-at-the-south. The relief party had come after all. The white men ran to the sledge. Ky- wingwa's brother raised the lad from the snow and helped him to make a slow way after them. Before they reached the party some one fired a rifle and the bear fell among a heap of dogs. Kabluna-suah, supported by the leader, was drinking Dokt's charm-medicine out of the round box made of ice that did not melt. Presently Kywingwa heard his voice ; the tones were low and the white men bent their 271 MMM HNMI s ; TUuobtcr of tl)C Spbini heads to catch the words. Kywingwa could not understand them. In a moment Dokt straightened up and called his name loudly. "Kywingwa," he cried. "Where is Ky- wingwa?" His voice sounded strained and Kywingwa was frightened. " Here," he answered feebly. " I couldn't help running away, I " But Dokt seized him by the shoulders and knees, tossed him into the air, caught him on the way down, and squeezed his breath almost away. Kywingwa noticed frozen drops on the white man's cheeks. He must have been running fast if his eyes watered. The boy understood dimly from the ways of the white people that he was not in dis- grace. But he was surprised when they began to give him things — priceless pieces of wood, knives, hatchets, and even a rifle. Why these gifts should be lavished upon him Kywingwa could not ascertain ; at last he contented himself with the recollection that the white man is an amiable creature, but odd, very odd. 27s L gwa could id up and ere is Ky- rained and "I couldn't mlders and ght him on his breath ;ed frozen He must s watered, m the ways not in dis- when they sless pieces ven a rifle, d upon him at last he lection that •eature, but THE DOLOROUS EXPERIENCE OF KUKU TooKAMiNGWA visitcd in the village where Kuku lived, and Kuku fell in love with her. Her cheeks were plump and brown, her dark eyes glowed as glow peat fires when the wind blows, and her teeth were the daintiest and whitest in Greenland. Kuku, himself, was not homely for an Eskimo, but he was not proud of that. He exulted because he was a skilful maker of harpoons and of sledges, and because he was the most dis- tinguished hunter among the younger men in the tribe. Recently he had performed the surprising feat of killing a reindeer with his bow and arrow, and he gave some of the reindeer tallow to Tookamingwa, and fancied that she looked upon him with favor. To be sure she talked a good deal about the people with white faces who lived in their great t£-/oo three sleeps to the northward. i8 373 i 3 Xauflbtcr of tbc Spbini <'They are rich," said the maiden. "The i^loo is built of wood! and they have enough iron tools to fit out all the Eskimos in the world ! They are kind, too. They give you valuable things. See! This is what Kabluna-suah gave me. When we go back to pitch our tupiks for the summer near the white people, he will give more." She exhibited a curious pot made of a shiny substance. "It held red stuff that was not seals blood, yet the white people ate it. They named it tomat." said Tookamingwa. "It was not good food. The pot is good, though ; better than soapstone. It will not break. See !" She cast it upon a hard piece of ice. The surface was dented but not cracked. "y^i-t?/" exclaimed Kuku, and his heart sank. Why should this person with the name that meant "great big white man" make precious gifts to an Eskimo girl ? When the time came for Eskimos to choose their summer homes he had an interview with Tooky's parents. It was satisfactory,, for the girl being twelve suns old, was ready 274 U M en. "The they have ,e Eskimos too. They ! This is When we lie summer e more." made of a i not seal's e it. They ngwa. " It lod, though ; not break. )f ice. The :ed. id his heart ith the name nan " make los to choose an interview satisfactory,, d, was ready ^be Dolorous Experience of l^uftu for marriage, and her father was glad to turn over to another hunter the task of killing seals for her food. He promised that Tooka- mingwa should be Kuku's wife, and the lover was therefore not disheartened when, upon her departure to white man's t£-/oo, his sweet- heart refused to sniff noses with him in secret. But, when Tookamingwa, her parents, the sledge and the team of dogs were combined in a tiny black spot far away upon the white ice, Kuku's spirits fell. His beloved was going to be not only away from him but also in the company of Kabluna-suah. The white man must be in love with Tooky ; who could see her and not be ? He was rich ; suppose he should offer her mother a pair of scissors and her father a knife ! Kuku was aware that, tempted with such presents, not for an instant would his prospective parents-in-law remember their promise to an Eskimo who had only a poor knife of his own, not to speak of a bright new one to give away. By sunset the lad was miserable. His spirits were not lightened by the conversa- tion of a family that passed the night in his 275 Xauabtcr ot tbc Spblni father's igloo. They had lived near the white people ever since the sun had come back after its winter's absence. They would talk of nothing but the strangers. If Kuku s father asked who in the northern villages had caught the most walrus, they burst out into the story of a single hunt when the white men had taken ten walrus with fire-weapons that made a great noise. If Kuku's mother asked whether Itoo-sak-suee's baby had been born, they explained that a white man, Kab- luna-suah, had held beneath Itoo-sak-suee s nostrils a little pot, made of something that looked like ice, and had driven the pain- spirits away. " Their ways are not the ways of Innuit, said the aged father of the family. " Kab- luna-suah made a charm-dish of hot water, and placed the new-born baby in it, and the baby is strong. It is well for the Innuit that Kabluna-suah has come here. It will be well for Tookamingwa, to whom he has given gifts, if he shall take her to M<=hica, where he lives, in the great woman's boat that sends up smoke." Kuku crawled hastily through the long 4: near the had come liey would If Kuku's llages had t out into the white e-weapons I's mother y had been man, Kab- -sak-suee's ething that I the pain- of Innuit," ly. " Kab- hot water, it, and the ; Innuit that will be well : has given :hica, where It that sends Th the long Cbc ©oloroue Eipcricncc of Kuhu hole that led out of the ia^loo. Although he had dreaded vaguely lest Kabluna-suah might be a rival, he was uni)repared to have his fears confirmed. He stood upon a hill overlooking the bay, and despair came upon him. In the gray twilight which answered at that season of the year for night, the great white mountains and the infinite expanse of white ice-fields, unrelieved by a touch of black, nay, by the lightest shadow, were op- pressively desolate. Only in the southeast was there a bit of color ; there a faint tinge of pink in the clouds betokened the approach of dawn. The sun had shone long that day ; on the morrow he would shine longer still, and presendy the time would come when he would not set at all, but would swing around and around die sky. Then the weadier would be warm, and the snow on the sea- shore and in the valleys would melt, and the flowers and grass would grow, and the birds would come back and bumblebees and but- terflies would play, and life would be joyous in the land. But the ice-fields would break up and float away, and there would be no 277 i^l |!' J ■? •nauoMet of tbe SpWni „aveUi„g for Eskimos, and Kukn w^^d be shut off from Tookammgwa unt.l in i t ice shouid form thick ^^'^^^J'^^J, --.s^::rj;:^Hrer:;; Tuk^ hattd to his siedge. packed upon U his weapons, ^^J^^:^. sent the long 1 ^^^^,^ ^^;,„_ the house of wood, ^ven thoug been told of its greatness """^X^^i was and a little awe-stncken the mou ** 278 ni M would be I in the fall 1 to bear a their great [ go at will. s in earnest ; ookamingwa packed upon It, some furs his five dogs, g about their lan's igloo. day, he came der which lay ough he had vas surprised, e mound was [. The tallest as not a third his dogs and )f the passage snow into the laving tethered [itrance. Barely ^at the passage Z\)c 2)olorou0 Experience of "Rul^u was so high that you could stand erect in it, he hurried through the darkness till he came, thump, against a hard wall. While he was yet dazed from the shock, part of the wall seemed to fall away, a radiance burst upon him, and he staggered into a bewildering scene. The place was vast, but light as day. In it were many, many people, talking and laughing, evidently undisturbed by the acci- dent to the wall. Most of them were Eski- mos, but in a moment from the crowd came a being with a white face, clad in strange, soft garb; another followed him, and then another, and afterward others ; Kuku could not say how many, for they came and went, and each one looked to him exactly like the others. They took hold of his hand in an extraordinary way, and spoke to him kindly in bad Eskimo. Contrary to their custom the Eskimos also came to bid him welcome, but among them was not Tookamingwa. He became con- scious of this after a while, and wondered where she was. Presently the crowd fell away from him and he saw her. She was sitting at «79 Xauabter of tbc Spbini the other side of the igloo, upon an odd thing, somewhat like the stools used by Eskimos in watching at holes in the ice for seals, and she was chattering to a white man. He was very tall. Even as he sat his head was nearly upon a level with that of Kuku, who was standing. His hair did not hang over his shoulders, but was cut short. Kuku wondered how he pro- tected his face in winter when the winds blew. He wore bearskin breeches and Eski- mo boots, but instead of a netcha he had a soft garment not made of skins. He was talking merrily with Tooky. Evidently he understood what she said, but could not ex- press himself easily, for he used signs. " Kabluna-suah ! " called some one from across the igloo. "Kabluna-suah, agai! Takoo oona / " The white man looked up, said a word to Tookamingwa and went away. Kuku ap- proached the maiden. "Tooky," he said softly. She appeared not to hear ; she was watch- ing the lofty figure of the white man, con- spicuous in the throng of Eskimos. " Tooky," repeated Kuku. odd thing, Lskiinos in is, and she : was very early upon J standing, ulders, but 3W he pro- the winds , and Eski- ; he had a He was /idently he uld not ex- igns. one from lah, agai ! I a word to Kuku ap- was watch- ; man, con- os. •MM wM c:bc Dolorous Cipcrtcnce ot Kuhu Tookamingwa turned her head slowly and looked at him. Then without a sign of recognition, she rose from the stool and went away. "Tooky," murmured Kuku, piteously, but she made no answer. Dum- founded, he took a seat upon the floor in a corner and pulled his hood over his head. His gloom was broken through by a loud hail. " Hi, Kuku. Why do you sit alone ? Come and play the pulling game." The voice was that of Koolatingwa, the foolish, and Kuku was displeased. " Go away !" he said. " Tatingwa! What spirit is in you?" re- sponded Koolatingwa. " Come out of that corner and pull with Kabluna-suah." His voice was loud. Kuku felt that the attention of everyone had been called to him. In the presence of Tookamingwa it would never do to refuse the challenge, and he arose and took his place in the open space at the centre of the room. But once there he gained confidence. At the pulling game he was an expert. Suppose he should van- 281 JKi Xaufibtcr of tbc Spbini quish Kabluna-suah ; then, he thought, Tooky would perhaps look at him. The white man, coming forward, smiled, and Kuku saw that his eyes were not brown, like Eskimo eyes, but blue, and looked kindly. The contestants stretched forth their right arms, with wrists bent at right angles, locked wrists, bracing themselves firmly, and at a signal from Koolatingwa began to pull. Kuku had taken an excellent position with his body thrown well back, and his arm crooked at the elbow, so that the interlocked wrists were a little nearer to him than they were to Kabluna-suah. The white man, on the contrary, held himself nearly upright, apparently careless about advantage of pos- ture. But when the word came, Kuku found himself drawn forward irresistibly ; his strug- gles were of no avail ; he pitched toward Kabluna-suah with so great momentum that he almost lost his balance. The other Eskimos laughed, but the white man grasped Kuku's hand, after the strange manner of white men, led him away from the crowd and talked to him. "You strong. You pull good," he said. 282 MWMl u rht, Tooky •d, smiled, [lot brown, ced kindly, their right ;les, locked , and at a I to pull, sition with d his arm nterlocked than they ite man, on ly upright, Lge of pos- Cuku found ; his strug- led toward lentum that t the white the strange ay from the I," he said. 1 Zbc Dolorous Eiperlencc of *uftu "You pull very good. They no good," he added, smiling and pointing to the laughing Eskimos. And he went on to ask Kuku about his dogs, and the Eskimo partly forgot his unhappiness in describing his king- dog, and in admiring the knife which Kab- luna-suah gave him. By-and-by the Eskimos went out and Kuku saw that he was expected to follow. It was only after he had left the ig^/oo that he realized how little he had hated the white man. "I do not wonder that Tooky likes him," he murmured to himself. " He is pe-oo-ook /" Just outside the passage he was startled. Tookamingwa stood there looking out over the dreary ice-fields. Could she be waiting for him? He approached her timidly and pronounced her name. The maiden turned upon him vehemently, and her eyes glowed more than ever. "Why did you not pull him over?" she exclaimed. " You are good for nothing ! I despise you. I will not speak to you !" And she ran to her father's i^/oo, leaving Kuku once more overwhelmed with despair. 283 mm Xauobtcr of tbc Spbini Thereafter, for many sleeps, Kuku suffered. In Tookamingwa's presence he was wretched, because she never took the slightest notice of him ; but even that he preferred to the uncertainty and jealousy he felt when she was out of his sight. So he followed her about and became more and more listless. He was derided by most of the Eskimos, but much pitied by some. He told the whole story, after a long time, to the aged Miktou- sha, who had asked him why he no longer hunted reindeer. -Youth is foolish," commented Miktousha, when the story was ended. "You are ? hunter, but you do not know when you have trapped your fox. The maiden is yours. She is struggling in the trap. Leave her free, and she will come where you can seize her." "She will go to Mehica with Kabluna- suah," said Kuku. The old hunter shook his head. " Na r he replied. " The white men are wise. They have white women. They will not need the Innuit maidens in their own land. Takoor he went on. " Hunt again. Kill a reindeer, and give the skin to another 384 Inx ;u suffered, i wretched, test notice red to the when she Uowed her )re listless. e Eskimos, d the whole ed Miktou- no longer Miktousha, You are ? m you have ; yours. She ^e her free, I seize her." :h Kabluna- 1. lite men are u They will in their own Hunt again, in to another Z\)c Doloroue fijcpcricncc of 'ftuhu maiden. Give it to Padlungwa. Tooka- mingwa will be enraged, but she will come the sooner to your iglooy Kuku sallied forth into a gap in the hills. Reindeer were shy in the neighborhood of white man's igloo, because so many of their comrades had been killed. It was with great difficulty that Kuku succeeded in shooting one ; and for that reason he was doubly tri- umphant as he bore his prey into the settle- ment and was hailed with applause. Pad- lungwa was among the rest of the Eskimos, and showed her white teeth, but Kuku's in- tention of giving her the skin had vanished. With success his confidence had returned. He watched for two or three sleeps till he saw an opportunity to address Tookamingwa by herself and then offered her the soft, rare fur. Tooky's eyes brightened, and she put forth her hand, but at that moment Koola- tingwa appeared near by and laughed. Took- amingwa' s hand fell to her side, her face be- came expressionless, and she turned away. "Tooky, Tooky," said Kuku, "have pity. I am unhappy. You are dear to me, Tooky ; you are dear to me, but you are not kind." n Xauobtcr of tbc Spbtni She paused ; she did not turn around, but her head drooped. Koolatingwa stopped laughing and gazed, open-mouthed, "Tooky," continued Kuku, softly. "I give you the fur. See, I leave it behind you on the stone." She was trembling. Kuku's heart was warm with delight. With shrieks and whoops of malignant glee Koolatingwa bounded towards white man's igloo. The interview came to an end. Tookamingwa drew her- self up, marched haughtily away and disap- peared within her father's house. "She will come to my igloo^' exulted Kuku, left alone. " I am sure of it. The skin shall lie where it is ; she will come and get it." And when, after sleeping, he passed the spot again, the rock was bare, he knew she only would have taken the fur, for Es- kimos do not steal. Therefore Kuku was consoled, though his sweetheart still con- tinued to pass him without notice, and though, moreover, he had to submit to the chaff of the other Eskimos, to whom Koolatingwa 286 around, but wa stopped ed. softly. " I ; behind you 5 heart was and whoops /a bounded lie interview a drew her- y and disap- • 00," exulted of it. The ill come and ; passed the e, he knew fur, for Es- e Kuku was irt still con- , and though, the chaff of Koolatingwa Zbc 2)olorou0 experience of "Ruhu had explained the situation in that vivid descriptive way which was his. The sun rose above the horizon, not to set again for many sleeps. The weather grew hot ; the Eskimos pitched their skin tents, laid aside their thick fox and rabbit skins and donned garments of seal. Lanes of black water opened out at the end of the bay toward the sea, and upon the edges of these lanes slept seal. The Eskimos went hunting. At length a lane appeared in the bay itself and the Eskimos launched their kayaks and paddled to and from the hunting grounds. Kuku sold his dogs to the white men for wood enough for the framework of a kayak, killed adroitly ten seals, tanned their skins and built one of the little boats, the first he had ever owned. When it was finished and lay drying in the sunlight, Tookamingwa sauntered near it. Kuku, perceiving her from afar, was de- lighted. Recently he had seen but little of Tooky because of the hunting. " She will come to my tg/oo !" he said to himself. " She comes to look at my kayak. 287 Xauobter of tbc Spbinr Its first service shall be for her. I vnll kill a harbor seal and she shall have a fine pair of trousers out of the skin." " Kuku," said a taunting voice behind him. " Kuku, have you talked with Tooky lately ?" Kuku turned. " Koolatingwa," he said, " if you do not let me alone, I will drive my lance through you." Koolatingwa drew back in amazement and fright. Such a threat from an Eskimo was unheard of. " I meant no harm," he stammered. " But I warn you that Kabluna-suah is saying that soon a great woman's boat will come from Mehica and that Tooky is going away in it." " SAa£-/oo id/ee /" hurst forth Kuku, "you lie ! you lie ! you lie !" He caught up a stone, but Koolatingwa fled incontinently. "SAag/oo na-meT he called back, when he was well out of range. " Look yonder." Kuku looked. Beside Tookamingwa stood Kabluna-suah. He talked to Tooky and she raised her eyes trustfully to his and laughed. Kuku dashed down the beach, burst between the two figures and seized the kayak. «'It is mine!" he cried, fiercely. "It is 288 I v/ill kill a L fine pair of : behind him. 3oky lately?" a," he said, n\\ drive my lazement and Eskimo was lered. " But s saying that II come from r away in it." Kuku, "you caught up a ontinently. 1 back, when ook yonder." mingwa stood 'ooky and she , and laughed, burst between kayak. rcely. "It is Z^be Dolorous fiipcricncc of 1(ufiu mine ! You need not look at it, Kabluna- suah ! You cannot take it with Tookamingwa in the woman's boat !" He pushed his litde boat down to the ice, slid it out to the water, launched it and squeezed himself into the cockpit. He heard Kabluna-suah calling his name ; to that he paid not the slightest attention, but paddled furiously and never looked behind him. Down the long lane of black water he pro- ceeded, passing the white man's wooden boat, which was just coming in, passing Es- kimos in their canoes, at last passing out of the bay altogether, far out into the open sea, dotted with white ice-floes. Where he went he cared not, but the kayak determined his course. He was not accustomed to paddling, and one of his strokes upon the right side was too vigorous. Immediately the canoe began to describe a circle to the left. In vain he tried to correct the movement by strokes upon the inner side of the circle ; the self-willed little craft refused to be coerced, and he was forced to sink the right blade of his paddle into the water, and to hold hard till she stopped. Before him was an ice-floe, 19 389 1 r UauoDtcr of tbc Spbini upon which he had narrowly escaped being wrecked. A huge yellow mass moved upon the ice- floe. It came lumbering down to the edge of the water and stood, tossing a head and neck up and down, sniffing in the air with a black muzzle, and staring curiously with small, black eyes at the strange being that had come into its kingdom. From behind its legs came a copy of itself in miniature, and stood in front and imitated its mother in gestures. No Eskimo in his senses dreams of attack- ing a bear without dogs, but Kuku was not in his senses. "Welcome!" he exclaimed. "You have come to your death. I will kill you, nannook, and your skin shall go to Tookamingwa. I will give her something better than any gift of the white man." He tore his harpoon out of the fastenings and tied to the end of the line a drag ; a square bone frame with tanned sealskin stretched tighdy across it. "Bears are cowards till they are forced to fight," he re- flected. " I will fasten to the old one with 290 T scaped being upon the ice- \ to the edge a head and the air with iiriously with ;e being that om behind its liniature, and ts mother in ims of attack- luku was not "You have you, nannook, kaniingwa. I than any gift the fastenings ne a drag ; a nned sealskin "Bears are a fight," he re- e old one with ^be Dolorouo experience of Ituhu the harpoon ; at the pain she will takf the cub and run. She will try to swim to the shore ice, but she will not be able to pull the drag, and I can paddle near her and kill her with the lance." It was a perilous plan, but it might have succeeded if the cub had not been brim- ming over with curiosity. Just as Kuku de- livered his harpoon, the little beast rose on his hind legs, to see better, received the weapon full in the throat and fell with a howl. Instantly Kuku, knowing his peril, took to flight. The mother nosed about her baby, whined piteously and licked the wound. Then raising her enormous head, she glared for a minute at the fleeing Eskimo, and, snarling, plunged into the water. Kuku paddled with the strength of fear, and he might have es- caped had not a small piece of ice, alongside of which he ran, forced him to lose two strokes on the left. Instantly the kayak began to describe a circle and the bear cut across and was upon him. An ice-floe was at hand. Instinctively Kuku threw away his paddle, lifted himself out of the little cock- pit, drew his feet under him and grasped his 291 r Xauobtcr of tbe Spbini lance. A huge paw came out of the water and fell upon the stern of the kayak. Down it went, and up rose the bow. Kuku sprang for his life, alighted on the side of a little hillock upon the ice-floe, and fell with a crash. He felt a thrill of pain in his left leg, and when he tried to rise, found he was dis- abled. Fortunately the bear occupied herself for a few moments in demolishing the kayak. Meanwhile, in spite of his pain, Kuku was able to draw himself back from the edge of the ice. He hoped to find a hiding place over behind a large mound in the centre of the pan, but just before he reached the summit his strength gave out. The world became unreal. A visionary monster seemed to be plunging about in the water. Kuku watched it, half unbelieving, as he had sometimes watched the spirits that appear to Eskimos when the angekok sings charm-songs. Even when the brute left the ruins of the kayak and began to clamber upon the ice, Kuku had no dread of it. He felt that he ought to rise and fight, and he made one attempt to drag himself up, but 292 ■|L of the water kayak. Down Kuku sprang iide of a little d fell with a lis left leg, and i he was dis- ccupied herself ling the kayak. ain, Kuku was m the edge of ding place over centre of the led the summit . A visionary ig about in the ilf unbelieving, the spirits that ; angekok sings e brute left the ran to clamber ead of it. He d fight, and he himself up, but aSe(S?B^'i"»-rV. ■i^'^t^JJavtiJu'.i;. Z\ic Dolorous fiipcrlcncc of *uftu agony in his leg took away his breath, and he sank back. The bear pulled herself upon the floe. Kuku watched her calmly and won- dered whether it was really a dream. After a long time he was aware that she had paused and seemed to be snarling at some- thing beyond him. Kuku heard strange noises— two or three sharp whisdes m the air above his head, and several little thuddmg sounds that seemed to come from the bear herself. She behaved oddly. She rose upon her hind legs, made a few aimless clutches with her forepaws, fell and lay strugghng. A red stain spread wider and wider over the ice While Kuku was trying to understand this, out of the ice beside him rose a dark figure, and then the vision turned to the face of Kabluna-suah close to his own. Kuku felt himself saying : "Little bear— yonder— I killed it— give Tookamingwa," and then someone seized his leg, and at the pain the face and the world vanished. When he awoke he was very weak, but in possession of his senses. He found himself lying in white man's igloo, on something soft, 493 r 1 i- ii Xauabtct of tbc Spbini in one of those places where the white people slept. His right leg felt stiff and queer, and he could not move it. He felt it, and found that it was tied to something that seemed to be wood. From somewhere out in the igloo came Kabluna-suah and looked at him. " Good, Kuku ?" inquired the white man, gently. _ , "Good," assented Kuku, feebly. "Tooka- mingwa ?" At this Kabluna-suah went away, and Kuku fell to wondering hazily whether the oomiah- suah had come yet, and when it would go back to Mehica and take Tooky away from him. Footsteps approached and he turned his head. Kabluna-suah came in, and by the hand he led Tookamingwa. He left her at Kuku's side and disappeared, and all Kuku could see was his sweetheart's bright eyes shining through the dusk of the igloo. Nearer and nearer they came— she was bending over him. " Kuku," she murmured. Kuku's soul swelled in his enfeebled body, 394 I '"t„_ ni the white ;lt stiff and It. He felt 1 something igloo came white man, [y. " Tooka- ly, and Kuku the oomiah- it would go y away from id he turned : in, and by He left her .red, and all leart's bright of the igloo. le — she was She was bending aver him. feebled body, il i~ -juJXS^'iiatiicSXai- ai£»! Z\)c ©oloroua Experience of "ftuhu and he burst forth into tears, fit for white men only. For he saw that forever and ever, even among the stars, Tookamingwa would sniff noses with him in happiness. 295 [j iJl.UW "^ T I A TALE OF DARKNESS AND OF THE COLD Kalutanah, strongest Eskimo in North Greenland, ate some white man's food and was seized by a pain-spirit. He pressed both hands upon the spirit without effect, and sent his wife to fetch an angekok. The wise man arrived with his little oval tam- bourine, made of walrus membrane stretched upon a reindeer-rib frame, took his stand beside Kalutanah and began to twist his body from side to side and, to sing a charm- song. In his left hand he grasped the tam- bourine ; in his right the ivory wand ; and, beating triple taps upon the resounding frame, he lifted his voice mournfully. " At, yi-i, yi-i, yak I ■ ,, ; Ai, yi-i, yi-i, yah I" he chanted. But the devils in Kalutanah' s inside never budged. v 297 laufibtcr of the Spbtni Louder and louder rose the song, faster and faster twisted the angekoks body. His long black hair slashed across his face, his eyes rolled up ind looked like white moons. Kalutanah groaned. The angekok went into a frenzy and his wail waxed to a howl and sounded beyond the stone hut, down the hill, and out over the shimmering ice-fields to the ship where the white men lived. The white man with red whiskers can.t to ask the cause. "Much noise," he said in his imperfect Eskimo. "Why?" Kalutanah was too weak to answer, and the angekok lay prostrated with the spasm. Padlungwa had to break through her shy- ness. " Kalutanah has an ah-ah;' she said. "He ate some of your red food from the round boxy that gleams. You say tomat ? White man's food is not good for Eskimos. My husband has an ah-ah." The white man pressed his palm upon Kalutanah's forehead. " Hm !" he commented, " you fetch clothes." Together they slipped winter furs upon 298 n II ong. faster )ody. His s face, his lite moons. ekok went to a howl t, down the g ice-fields ived. 5rs camt to 5 imperfect nswer, and the spasm. ;h her shy- said. " He the round at ? White cimos. My palm upon tch clothes." r furs upon H ^alc of ©arhneee an^ of tbc (tol^ Kalutanah, and the white man dragged him through the long, cramped tunnel out of the igloo, and bore him over the moonlit ice- fields to the ship. There, lying beside one of the great iron lamps that burn black stones, Kalutanah drank some nasty stuff, whereupon the devils flew away and left him to sleep. When he awoke the white man and Pad- lungwa were watching. Padlungwa cooed over him, in her soft voice, but in the time of his illness she had changed. Her pretty timidity was gone. She had ceased to fear the white men. She asked them questions ; she even ventured to make jokes with the red beard. When Kalutanah, recovered after a few sleeps, beckoned his wife to go home he found her pettish. " It is good to be here," she remonstrated. "Why should we go to live in the igloo ; it is so small." " It is too small for us and the white man," muttered Kalutanah. " Come." Padlungwa followed him. But as the winter waned and the sunlight began again to illumine the white world she was often 299 !i lauflbtcr of tbc Spbini absent from the i/rloo. She brought home precious gifts from the white men— pieces of wood and needles, and once a knife. She had bright stories, too, about the strangers ; how funny and green they looked, after the long winter night; how they came from a wonderful land where the sun always rose and set once every sleep, as it does in Es- kimo land during the spring and fall, and how they meant to go home as soon as the ice should break up. " And they say," ventured Padlungwa, one late spring day, " that they will take you and me with them." Kalutanah harnessed his dogs to the sledge, packed his harpoon, lance, knife and riding furs, together with twelve sleeps' sup- ply of seal-meat. "Padlungwa," he called. "Come with me. "We will bring my walrus from the cache at Netchiuloomee." Before the twelve sleeps had passed the ice out at sea, yielding to the power of sun and tide, had broken up. Kalutanah re- turned from Netchiuloomee alone. Pad- lungwa, he said, had fallen into a crack and 300 ■^ jht home -pieces of life. She trangers ; after the e from a vays rose es in Es- 1 fall, and on as the ngwa, one e you and s to the knife and eeps' sup- ome with from the )assed the ver of sun itanah re- ine. Pad- crack and B (Cale of ©arhne00 an^ of tbc Col^ Kokoia, the ea-devil, had choked her. He was haggard and his eyes roved wildly. The white men, still ice-bound in the bay, stroked his shoulders and slapped his back, just as if he had been one of their own com- pany come to grief. But the Eskimos in the setdement upon the hill lost the red from their cheeks as they heard Kalutanah's story. «' Why did he take her among the broken sea-ice ?" they gossiped. " The bays are still frozen. He could have reached Netchiu- loomee without crossing dangerous cracks." " His father's father was one of the tattooed tribe," ventured a woman. The Eskimos exchanged rapid glances. Once or twice, in the youth of the old men, there had come across the frozen sea to the westward, bands of tall Eskimos with cheeks and lips tattooed. They had killed men, ravished women and stolen the food of the setdements. Kalutanah's father, it was said, had been tall and valiant like these men. Kalutanah, himself, was greater by a whole head than anyone in his tribe. Among die gende Greenland people a murder— nay, a quarrel — was unknown. But 301 Xauobter of tbc Spbini if Kalutanah had the fierce blood of the tat- tooed men from the western land, who could say what he might do ? The Eskimos discussed these things in groups, casting over their shoulders glances at Kalutanah. In his presence they were uneasy. No one sought him out, and it came gradually to pass that if he joined a group of his old-time friends — and blood relatives, for this isolated tribe of two hun- dred and fifty persons is a great family — one and another withdrew to sharpen a harpoon or to look after the tanning of a sealskin. At last, in the midst of the lively settlement, Kalutanah found himself solitary. Solitude among the Arctic solitudes is blank desolation. There is nothing to re- lieve it. For the lofty cliffs and pure snows, for the blue waves, dancing in the sunlight, for the sprays flashing against a thousand shining icebergs, the Eskimo has no con- scious love. His happiness is in hunting and gathering with his people to gossip, or to thrill before some angekok holding com- munion with the spirits. He needs his fellow- men. Kalutanah particularly needed them. 302 '-—^ bini )d of the tat- id, who could :se things in ilders glances ce they were out, and it f he joined a > — and blood 2 of two hun- t family — one en a harpoon of a sealskin. :ly settlement, ry. : solitudes is lothing to re- d pure snows, the sunlight, st a thousand has no con- is in hunting ; to gossip, or holding com- seds his fellow- needed them. B Ttalc of Darkness an^ of tbc (Iol^ He was arrogant in his strength. He loved the admiration it brought him. When the admiration failed he had no resource left. At first, upheld by pride, he feigned to scoff at his people. He hunted, and joyed m sledging home greater loads than the best of his neighbors. But that pleasure failed when he could not hear the comments of his audience. Once or twice he sought solace among the white men, whom he hated. But here again his pride had a fall. For although the strangers made much of him, still, even in their presence, his own people grouped them- selves apart. At last his spirit broke. His fare lost the Eskimo plumpness. His haughty manner softened. He tried to win friends with presents, but the very attempt made matters worse. For. hearing that Megipsu's husband had been killed by a walrus, and that the widow was near starvation, he went out to the hunting grounds with his dogs and brought home to her a bear and such a load of seal as no three hunters in the tribe had ever killed in a single trip. •« No man alone could have done it," whis- 303 XawQbtcv of tbe Spbini pered the Eskimos. " Evil spirits aid him to kill. He has magic powers. He could charm us to death i" Megipsu left the food untouched. The children of the settlement lingered wistfully near it, when their parents were apart, and picked choice bits ; but if Kalutanah came near with ivory toys, which he was ready to lavish upon them, they ran away. Their panic struck into the hearts of the parents. Kalutanah's haggard presence in the settle- ment cast a shadow upon the light hearts of the tribe. There came a storm, Down from the in- terior snow desert swept the wind. It whirled the light snow up the cliff corners in clouds and columns, broke up the ice-fields in the bay, drove heavy floes crashing together and smashed the ship of the white men as if it had been a soapstone pot. Barely time had the strangers to throw a boat upon the ice before the floes parted and the fragments of the vessel went down to the Kokoia. '* Kalutanah has done it!" whispered the Eskimos. ' But the white men laughed at this and 9m Mm s aid him to :ould charm ched. The ed wistfully i apart, and tanah came as ready to vay. Their ;he parents. 1 the settle- tit hearts of rom the in- It whirled rs in clouds ields in the ogether and Tien as if it :ly time had pon the ice ragments of :oia. lispered the at this and B ^ale of Barlinese anb of tbe Colb hired Kalutanah with his dogs, for a rifle that shot many times without reloading, to help them in their boat-journey to open water in the south. When they had won the southern cape of Eskimo land the white men invited Kalu- tanah to try his fortune in their country. But the Eskimo feared the sickness of the open sea. They landed him and his dogs near a village, said "goo' by," bent to their oars and tossed away over the waves. Kalutanah gazed after them until the red beard was a far glint of fire. '' Angoskueeta-ay ! '' he murmured. "They stole my wife, yet they are my brothers. The strangers are my own people. Yet here, so far away, I may find friends. No word against me can have come hither. Who b".t myself and the white men could dare to journey so far across the broken ice of sum- mer?" He made his way up the foot-hill toward the peaked oudines of tents, dimly relieved against the brown cliffs behind. Half way to the crest he was aware of a young girl poised upon a rock. She had seen him ; •• 30s ■ ! Xauabtcr of tbc Spbinx apparently she was waiting for him. When he drew near she smiled, and her little white teeth flashed in the sunlight. " Chimo, Kalutanah !" she said. A greeting in his own tongue was a pleasure of which Kalutanah had been long bereft. He paused and stared at the maiden. She was tall and slender. She was still laugh- ing and her teeth still shone. " My name is not in your memory," she asserted. " I am Tung-wing-wa." "Tung-wing-wa!" he repeated. "The child of Komenavik." "I am a woman," she retorted, with an emphatic little nod. " Many suns have set sine you saw me. I have become tall. I knew you because you are so great. I re- member when, alone and without dogs, you killed the bear." "You were a child," mused Kalutanah. "I carved a little bear for you, from the tooth." Tung-wing-wa held up the thong that sup- ported her breasts. The fastening was an ivory bear. "That is it," she said. "My father is 306 J in.ri,ii<7--fi"-^ "■*'*' ■**'-**#«*'■ him. When ;r little white igue was a ,d been long it the maiden, as still laugh- lemory," she 1." Lted. "The rted, with an uns have set 2come tall. I great. I re- 3ut dogs, you :d Kalutanah. 'ou, from the long that sup- ening was an •My father is B Zn\c of DarItne0d an^ of tbc (^ol^ yonder, by his tent. He will make a feast for you. Will you come to meet him ?" Komenavik did indeed welcome his guest in the warmest Eskimo fashion, with a suc- culent narwhal flipper. Other Eskimos joined the feast, and before the sun had fallen to its lowest, Kalutanah found himself laughing. Not before since Padlungwa's death had he laughed. Within five sleeps he was established in a tent of his own. He hunted with his usual success, gave food and skins to whomsoever lacked, and won the hearts of the villagers. " Kalutanah is not as he was," said the old man. " Many suns ago he had the heart of a walrus, and we feared him. Now he has the spirit of a bear and the heart of a woman." The finest pelts of the harbor seal fell to Tung-wing-wa. The maiden's supple figure showed charming in the most beautiful trous- ers in the land. Kalutanah watched her rapid needle as it pierced neatly together the skins which she tanned softer than those of other women. She was unlike Padlungwa. 307 She was €" 1 i 1 Xauobter of tbc Spbini not timid. She was readiest of all the Es- kimos with her tongue. She made jokes even with Kalutanah, of whose dignity most persons stood in awe. Her little teeth were apt to flash out smiles; yet, when it was right, not Kalutanah himself wore a finer gravity. Her sewing was celebrated. She made for Kalutanah a koolatah and a pair of boots that were perfectly waterproof. On the day when he first tried them he went hunting out upon the ice with Komenavik. At first he lagged, unwontedly silent. Presently he made up to his companion : "Who is betrothed to Tung-wing- wa ?" he asked. The aged hunter turned surprised eyes upon him. " No one," he replied. " At her birth she was chosen to be the wife of Sipsu, of Kar- nah, then a boy ; but when he came to take her to his tent she fled up the mountain. Until Sipsu went home she lived there — catching little auks in snares made of her hair. Her mind is not open to me. She said that Sipsu had but one eye. That is 308 inx all the Es- made jokes lignity most J teeth were ^hen it was rore a finer She made )air of boots On the day hunting out tedly silent, npanion : ring-wa?" he rprised eyes her birth she ipsu, of Kar- :ame to take he mountain, ived there — made of her to me. She eye. That is H ZtAc Of ®arlinc00 an^ of tbc Col^ not a reason for refusing to be the wife of a good hunter." For a few steps they plodded on in si- lence. "What has my mighty son in his mind?" resumed Komenavik, "Does he want her for himself? Padlungwa is asleep forever, you say ?" For the first time in his life Kalutanah hesitated. " I — I have lived many suns," he faltered. ** A younger husband " •' Many suns have taught you to be wise," answered Komenavik, gravely. "You are a great hunter. I have seen many more suns than you. I may never see another. I could go among the stars knowing that she would never need to strangle her baby to keep it from starving." The subject was never resumed. A seal showed his black body at the water's edge and Komenavik stalked it and struck it. With the harpoon-head in its side it dived. A bight of the line, caught about his ankle, dragged the old hunter deep into the water. Kalutanah sprang to his aid and by his might m iim mm iaaiia»<^ >»!'■■ Jbt* g*" Xauobter of tbc Spbini hauled line, seal and hunter upon the ice. But the Kokoia had taken Komenavik. Kalutanah carried the body home upon his sledge. At the landing-place, where the grass-covered hill rose from the bay-ice, he found several men of the settlement, waiting for news of the catch. They lifted Kome- navik tenderly and bore him to the vil- lage. Tung-wing-wa stood beside her tent. An aged Eskimo hobbled on before the others and spoke to her a few words. Her head twitched back, as if under a blow upon the brow, but she advanced slowly toward the sledge. Beside it she swayed and stretched forth a hand for support. Kalutanah caught the hand. The little fingers closed tightly about his, and held them until Komenavik lay beside his door. For a long time after Tung-wing-wa had dis- appeared within the tent the hunter felt the clinging fingers upon his own. Several sleeps passed before he saw her again. The Eskimos buried their dead neighbor and went about their business. Death is too familiar to everyone in that 310 .UJJI, lUIL" inx lon the ice. navik. Tie upon his where the bay-ice, he ent, waiting fted Kome- to the vil- :r tent. An : the others Her head >w upon the toward the nd stretched The little is, and held de his door, r-wa had dis- inter felt the he saw her their dead sir business. |rone in that B tCalc of ©arhneee an^ of tbe Colt) desolate land to make a lasting impression when it comes in ordinary fashion. Komenavik's widow wailed in the presence of her friends for a season and presently forgot her grief in the tent of a widower of her own age. Tung-wing-wa kept her sor- row to herself behind the sealskin door-flap. One night Kalutanah came down the mountain, late, from a reindeer hunt. His course led him near the pile of stones under which, with his weapons beside him, Kome- navik lay asleep forever. Tung-wing-wa with a hand upon the stones, stood and gazed out over the misty sea and the icebergs, gleaming cold in the light of the low sun. Kalutanah stole toward her. As he drew near she looked up with wide eyes, but at once smiled faintly. " Kalutanah ?" she said. He made no reply but gently took her hand, lifted her to her feet, and led her down the hill. She looked wonderingly, but ven- tured no protest. Among the tents when he chose the way to his own instead of hers she caught her breath and drooped her head low, but still suffered him, unresisting. 3" ■ 1111 1 11 1 1 'IF! Xaitabtcr of tbc Spbinr Next day the news ran through the settle- ment. Everyone was pleased. "Good," gossiped the villagers. "She is a strange girl. It is well that her man should be strong and silent. She will fear him as a woman should fear her husband. And she will never need food." But the cold came early that season. It drove the walrus rapidly before it to the never freezing sea in the far south. Kalu- tanah killed but one out of the passing herd. Barely had the sun begun to dip below the horizon for a little time in every sleep, be- fore the frozen ocean, likt a flat, black rock, stretched out and out and out until it met the sky. Even the seals seemed to be chilled away from the land. Their breathing holes were few and far. Kalutanah, with his dogs, skimmed away and away until the world about them was a circle, with nothing but the icebergs to break the flatness and nothing but nicks in the sky to show where the mountains lifted their lofty crests. Often he returned with an empty sledge. But these were the happiest times of his life. Tung-wing-wa bewildered him. Women m nx 1 the settle- s. " She is t her man he will fear :r husband. season. It 2 it to the Jth. Kalu- issing herd. > below the / sleep, be- blaclc rock, ntil it met 3 be chilled thing holes :h his dogs, the world ling but the nd nothing where the Often he imes of his 11. Women H Znk of Barftneee an^ of tbc Col^ were good for chewing skins until they were soft enough to make clothes ; for seeing that the winter lamp was filled with oil ; for bear- ing hunters who could keep the tribe from starving. All these functions, except the last, Tung-wing- wa filled better than any other woman Kalutanah had known, and he hoped the child she would give him in the summer might be a man-child. But apart from these things Tung-wing-wa was not as other women. When men gath- ered in his stone house to talk over the hunting, Tung-wing-wa not only listened while she sewed, but also threw into the talk little opinions, so apt that the old men turned to look at her and to grunt approval. The aged angekok admitted that she saw the spirits. Once, when frost demons entered Kalutanah' s foot she not only warmed it with snow, after the fashion of white men, but also, instead of calling the angekok, herself sang a charm-song, and so the devils van- ished. Again, she suggested a likely bay for seal holes, and Kalutanah found two seals there. In spite of her winsome caresses and her swift obedience, she was more than any - 3»3 ifir llllTinT" ■ Ti T '■ilTWi'iir I ~ ;l Xauobtcr of tbc ^bini other women. Kalutanah held her in awe as well as in affection ; that was strange for an Eskimo husband. It gave him an unknown happiness. But the time came when even Kalutanah's skill and Tung-wing-wa's intuition failed to provide more seal. A snow-storm whitened over the gloomy ice and covered the breath- ing holes. There was no more hunting. The sun ceased to peep above the southern mountains. The great hosts of the stars swept ceaselessly across the sky in review before the one star in the zenith that never moved. The moon rolled a silver rim above the white plains to the eastward, and dived, like a white whale, to rise higher and higher night after night. At last she ceased to set, and swung in wide circles above Eskimo land as a snowy owl circles above a traveller. Grotesque black shadow-shapes lurked be- hind the bergs, but the tips of ice sparkled with warm blue and silver fires. Men, too, and dogs and sledges cast un- couth black images far across the whiteness. But men and dogs and sledges rarely went forth. The cold was abroad ; the silent spirit m lgH5B5«B-9ii bini her in awe as tiange for an an unknown 1 Kalutanah's tion failed to Drm whitened 5d the breath- lore hunting, the southern of the stars iky in review ith that never ver rim above rd, and dived, ler and higher ceased to set, e Eskimo land e a traveller. )es lurked be- f ice sparkled 3, :dges cast un- the whiteness, es rarely went the silent spirit B ZMc Of Darl^nc00 an^ of tbc Col^ that worked its spell through furs and skin and stilled one's blood, without warning. The Eskimos slept and slept in their warm stone tj^/oos and issued forth only to bring in meat from the frozen heaps near their doors, to cut ice for drinking water, and to call upon their neighbors. The heaps of meat were small that season. One by one they sank away, and their owners had to dare the cold with sledge journeys to the north, where, during previous hunting seasons, they had stored seals and walruses beneath stones. At last Kalutanah's heap was lower than his dog-hut, and then the hunter did the bravest deed of his life. He harnessed his dogs to the sledge, called his wife, and set forth to his ancient home. When they arrived at the northern set- tlement it was sleeping-time, and no one was stirring. The stone i^/oo where Kalu- tanah had lived with Padlungwa was disman- tled. The hunter propped up the sleeping slab, laid the riding furs upon it and sum- moned Tung-wing-wa inside. " The food is gone," he said. " I am going to bring more. My nearest store is half-a- ll* fir^' Xauol5tcr of tbc Spbini sleep's journey away. Lie here until I re- turn." "What spirit is in you, Kalutanah.-" re- monstrated the woman. " You are silent ; you do not eat. There is meat left for one sleep. Wait until you have eaten and rested. If you start forth without food the cold demon will take you." "Tatingwar burst forth the hunter. '« Obey me at once. I go to bring food." Never before had he spoken harshly to her. She shrank away and stretched forth her hand as if to ward off a blow. He too started back, stared blankly for a moment, and crept hastily out through the passage. He returned to the village with a heavy load of frozen meat. The moon, hovering above for her second period of the winter, shone full upon the hill. Kalutanah paused and drew a hoarse breath. Beside his igloo was gathered a dark mass of people. They were clattering vehemently; their voices sounded through the Arctic stillnesses to him, far out upon the ice. Kalutanah set grim teeth and urged on his dogs. As he drew near the land the 316 here until I re- Kalutanah?" re- You are silent; leat left for one aten and rested. 1 the cold demon ■th the hunter. ) bring food." oken harshly to i stretched forth a blow. He too yr for a moment, rh the passage, ige with a heavy ; moon, hovering od of the winter, Calutanah paused Beside his igloo of people. They tly ; their voices otic stillnesses to eth and urged on lear the land the a ^alc of ©arlmcss ant> of tbc (Iol^ chatter ceased for an instant, then began, wilder than before. " They have seen me," he muttered. " My guardian spirit is asleep." '^ The dark mass wavered to and fro for a moment and moved toward him. A single figure ran in advance of the others. It was his wife. , , , • i When she had almost reached him she faltered. Kalutanah halted. The crowd paused. For a moment the worid waited in suspense. " Kalutanah !" cried Tung-wing-wa. " Kalu- tanah! They say you killed her! It is a lie ! It is a lie, is it not, Kalutanah ?" Kalutanah drew in his breath. " It is a lie ! Kalutanah ! Did you kill Kalutanah cleared his throat. When he spoke his voice was husky and unsteady. » Yes," he answered. " I killed her. She But a cry from the crowd cut off his speech. A woman turned and ran up the hill. The others swayed, broke, and, uttering shrill exclamations, scattered to their igloos. Tung- 3>7 ■\ I! lauobtcr of tbe Spbini wing-wa fled with them. Her shrieks rang loudest of all. Kalutanah stood motionless. The moon dipped behind the cliffs and left the valley in gloom. 'Ihe dogs puzzled about until they found the meat, tore open the covering, wrangled over the prey, surfeited themselves, lay down and lolled out their tongues. The king-dog came and rubbed powerfully against Kalutanah' s legs. With a sudden movement the Eskimo bent over to caress the long, furred ears. ''Awuk!" he murmured. "Strong king of my pack ! • Good friend. You at least are faithful. You do not fear my seal- meat. Come," he resolved, once more erect, " come, Awuk, we will go to the south. We will find the white men. They are not afraid. We will live in their beautiful land, which they never cease to praise. I will kill seal for them ; they shall never starve." He gazed vaguely over the limitless wastes toward the south. "It will be a long journey," he reflected. " I must have food, plenty of food. In the 318 shrieks rang s. The moon t the valley in )Out until they the covering, ed themselves, tongues. The ^erfuUy against le Eskimo bent i ears. "Strong king You at least fear my seal- nce more erect, the south. We y are not afraid. iful land, which I will kill seal tarve." ; limitless wastes yr," he reflected. 3f food. In the H Znlc Of ©arftnc00 an^ of the <^ol^ next bay I have a walrus. It will last two moons ; surely that is enough." Without a parting glance at the village he turned his dog-team westward toward the sea. The dogs plodded lazily, and paused to quarrel, after the instinct of their race. Kalutanah shot his whip-lash at them mechan- ically; mechanically staggered after the sledge. "To the south!" he muttered. "To the south!" They reached the mouth of the bay, and still he lurched blindly forward. The food he needed lay behind him, but he had for- got, -n it. Out beyond the firm bay they p'r J out upon the rougher surface of the se^. i'he ice around them groaned and cracked with the pressure of a heavy tide below. Once and again fissures yawned be- fore the sledge. Vast floes, driven together, crumpled into fragments and heaved up walls in the path of the party ; but Kalutanah drove his team at the mounds and lifted the sledge after them. Ordinarily it would have passed his strength, but he worked in a 3'9 ' ^..a»tw:-'.o.aSMSt*.w>»a,^a &i« i a«»T-r -- ''' - -'''»r^ Xauobter of tbe Spbini frenzy. The dogs ceased to sliirk and tugged their load with backs level and heads down. But their forces gradually waned, and at last the time came when they could not pull another pace. Even the terrible whip-lash failed to sting them forward. They crouched to their master's feet and lay, panting. Kalutanah seized his rifle and pushed on alone. He swayed from side to side, lost his balance now and again, recovered him- self, and hurried forward. "To the south!" he repeated, "To the south !" He stumbled headlong into an ice- wall, and fell, in a stupor. He waked with a consciousness of some- thing unusual, and tried to rise. The cold spirit's hand was upon him. His fingers were numb and his feet were uncertain. Some moments elapsed before he could prop himself against an upturned floe and look about him. The moon had risen. The ice-fields shim- mered away to the dark cliffs. The tide was dead low. The ice had ceased to groan. Except for the snapping and crashing, here 320 .Vft'&a&S^ - sliirk and and heads led, and at d not pull whip-lash y crouched ting, pushed on side, lost vered him- , "To the into an ice- 5 of some- The cold lis fingers uncertain. could prop and look lelds shim- le tide was to groan. shing, here 'll III - ■- ■ -^- ■ _-.^gl^. ■-■;,■ . j-^-,v-tf^M^;-t ^^g^^i^3fe^' icaaEfe.-^ a Zalc of ©arhnese an^ of tbc Colt) and there, of tips nipped from bergs by the terrible fingers of the cold, the universe held heavy stillness. Out of the silences sounded the tone of a human voice. Kalutanah's blood spurted through every vein. He sprang to his feet and peeped over the mound. Figures were moving across the sea ; fig- ures of men and dogs and sledges. One after another they rose over a wall of ice and descended toward the astonished Es- kimo. "From the westward!" exclaimed Kalu- tanah. "They cannot be our own people. Can they be white men ?" He crept into a little shadowed cave be- tween the blocks, and waited. The line trailed on until it reached the foot of his mound. The leaders halted, not ten paces from his nook. Kalutanah settled himself closer in the darkness. They were not white men. Yet they were taller than Eskhnos. The main party rested at the foot of the mound, apparently waiting for the rear to come up. One man mounted to the summit ai 321 1 M Xaugbter of tbe Spbini of the ice and stood gazing toward the east- ern shore. The moonlight fell squarely upon his face. It was dark, like the faces of Kalu- tanah's people, but the cheeks and chin were traced with unnatural lines. " The tattooed Eskimos !" gasped Kalu- tanah. The figure faced about toward its com- rades. The last of the line was moving over the further wall. The leader shouted in guttural Eskimo, barely intelligible to Kalu- tanah. " No creature is in sight," he said. "The lazy men of the eastern land sleep. They fear the cold. We shall wake them. It is but a short journey and smooth ice. For- ward !" The band swept over the mound. Chilled as he was with fright, Kalutanah murmured low words of admiration at the alertness of their movements. White men themselves could not more easily have lifted sledges over the high-piled blocks. They were all men — in number more than Kalutanah could tell off upon fingers and toes. They carried lances arid bows, T' rd the east- uarely upon :es of Kalu- d chin were 1 rd its com- loving over shouted in )le to Kalu- aid. "The eep. They hem. It is 1 ice. For- id. Chilled murmured alertness of themselves ;ed sledges J ■' ' Tiber more pon fingers arid bows, HHIH B ^ale of 2)arltne0d an^ of tbe CoI^ but no harpoons; certainly they were not hunting. Supporting one hand upon a long lance of narwhal ivory, the leader stood erect until the last of the party were laboring down the eastern side of the hummock. He called another man to stand beside him and pointed towards the bay. "There, in the shadow, you and the sledges must wait. We shall go forward quietly to surprise them. They will not fight ; they are cowards. The men will flee. We will bring the food and the women to you." They descended the slope and lost them- selves in the mass of their party, now well together, and speeding fast away. "Women!" gasped Kalutanah. "They will take the women ! They will carry away Tung-wing-wa !" He rose to his feet and gazed after the retreating party until it was a black shadow in the distance, like the shadow of a rapid cloud. The ice began to groan with the rising tide. Kalutanah's rifle, jarred from its rest, fell against the hunter's knee. He seized it and stole out of his hiding place. 3*3 Xauflbtcr of tbc Spblni Descending to the level ice, he lost sight of the band, but their sledge tracks were plain. Presently he came to the spot where his own sledge had been. The sledge and dogs were gone, but at hand lay a few pieces of his seal-meat. He devoured them eagerly, and the cold spirit went out of him. An enormous iceberg from one of the mighty glaciers above, caught in its summer passage south by the cold, lay fixed just out- side the mouth of the bay. As Kalutanah drew near the land, by making a slight cir- cuit he was able to cover his advance with this berg. Suddenly above the groaning of the floes there rose a sound of wild scream- ing and shouting. The hunter stood motion- less. Again and again came the sound; voices of women in terror and men in anger. Kalutanah rushed forward to skirt the tower- ing berg. Near its end the soft waves had worn through the mass an arched passage. It had been half submerged and the sea had frozen in it like a floor. Into this arch Kalu- tanah entered and paused at the shoreward edge to reconnoitre. The cries had ceased. The moon had IX : lost sight acks were ;pot where iledge and few pieces m eagerly, n. )ne of the ts summer ;d just out- Kalutanah L slight cir- vance with groaning of ild scream- )od motion- the sound ; ;n in anger, t the tower- ; waves had ed passage, the sea had } arch Kalu- ; shoreward moon had H ZnXc of Darhnc00 anb of tbc Cclb almost set. Hidden in the dusk of the cliffs the bay lay silent. Kalutanah listened vainly. No sound told him what the dark- ness covered. " Ugh !'• he shuddered. " It is cold." He made a few paces into the open. A form took shape in the darkness. An arrow whistled by Kalutanah's head and rebound- ed from the ice. Kalutanah sprang to his shelter. A laugh of derision followed him. " Go back to your hole !" shouted a gut- tural voice. "You may save yourself, like the other cowards of your people." Kalutanah levelled his rifle. But a word of command rang out of the gloom and the figure disappeared. Sounds of many voices followed and the trampling of feet upon the crisp snow crust of the shore. Into the dim moonlight advanced the band of strangers. They marched, not in regular column, as before, but in a careless mass, laughing and shouting. Behind them trailed the sledges, high with plunder. Last of all, guarded by a few of the tattooed tribe, emerged the Es- kimos of the village. They were chiefly 335 ■ »"P ' lauflbtct of tbc Spbini women, but here and there appeared the white bearskin trousers of a man. Turning southward to pass tlie iceberg, the company approached within a harpoon's cast of Kakitanah's hiding place. The leader, whirling a long whip-lash, strode beside the prisoners. "Get on!" he shouted. "You can run when you fear to fight. Get on !" He sent his lash cracking into the crowd. A woman screamed. "A — A — Ah!" roared Kalutanah. He sprang from his cave with rifle un- lifted. The captors halted and faced him. " It's that coward who hid in the iceberg !" shouted a voice. " His fate is in this." A bow twanged. An arrow buried its head in Kalutanah's thigh. The hunter stag- gered and clutched at the berg for support. "Kalutanah! Kalutanah! Save me!" A little figure broke from the group of prisoners and sped toward him. With a fierce exclamation the leader started in chase. The pain of Kalutanah's wound vanished. The hunter stood erect, levelled his rifle and 326 )ini ppeared the n. ; iceberg, the irpoon's cast The leader, e beside the ifou can run !" to the crowd. inah. vith rifle un- faced him. the iceberg !" n this." w buried its 2 hunter stag- T for support, ive me !" the group of lim. With a r started in und vanished, d his rifle and H ^ale of ©arhncee an^ of the (^ol^ pulled the trigger. The leader stretched forth his arm^, made a few headlong paces, fell in a heap, turned over once or twice, and lay still. Kalutanah sprang forward. "Coward do you call me?" he shouted. "Cowards yourselves! You fight women and children and harmless men ! Dare in to stand before one who fears you not ! Get back whence you came, you cowards !'* He threw his rifle to his shoulder and fired once, twice, and again. The crowd fell apart. The strangers rushed thither and thither in confusion. "The white man's magic! The white man's death !" rose the cry. Helter-skelter sped the terrified maraud- ers, some north, some east, some south, and lost themselves one by one, amid the ice- hills. Kalutanah staggered toward the groups of his people. " Tung-wing-wa !" he exclaimed. " I have saved you. Where are you? Tune-wing- wa! But a new cry arose. Xauobter of tbe Spbini " Do not touch him ! Do not touch him ! He is the Kokoia !" Panic seized them. Huddling together, with unnatural shouts and cries, they turned their backs and fled. " Tung-wing-wa ! Do not leave me," cried Kalutanah. He dropped his rifle and made a few paces in chase of his people. His wounded leg failed, and he fell beside the dead leader of the strangers. « « « « In the next summer another ship, full of white men, came to what had been the north- ern village of Eskimo land. At the mouth of the bay, still stranded, lay the great ice- berg. Upon the shore side, the floes, un- broken, bound it to the beach. Black objects lay upon the floe and the white men landed to inspect them. "They are dead men!" exclaimed the white man with the red beard. " Shot ! Who would have thought of Huskies fighting! Ah, by Jove, this accounts for it. They are tattooed Eskimos from across Smith Sound ! There has been a raid and I guess the raiders were thrashed. 328 i _ ii rtiww-ii ii Vft ' i"ii i i'T « a' ot touch him ! ling together, ;s, they turned : leave me," d his rifle and of his people. fell beside the er ship, full of )een the north- At the mouth the great ice- the floes, un- e floe and the hem. exclaimed the . "Shot! Who skies fighting! • it. They are Smith Sound ! aess the raiders _J H ICalc of ©jivKn200 an^ of tbc Col^ " Here's one not tattooed," called another white man. " He's got an arrow in the leg, and a Winchester beside him." "Greenlander most likely," responded the first. " Savior of his country. Let's see if I know him. By the gods, its Kalutanah !" "What's the matter with you, Dutton?" asked a white man "You're pale as a sheet. Is Kalu — what's-his-name, a friend?" The white man with the red beard gazed toward the hill, where the outlines of wrecked igloos broke the round crest. " Yes," he said at last. " I knew him." THE END 3«9