on it two days and nights. Our sleds could not haul enough moss to feed
the entire herd. The weak reindeer dropped on the ice and were left
behind. Some ate too much of the salty frost that covered the ice. It
made them thirsty. They became faint and were left behind. After we
left the ice, our way lay across a mountainous country. When we had
crossed that, wolves scented us and followed us many nights. It was a
hard journey, much too hard and long for mothers at that time of the
season.
“But at the end of the second moon we reached the place near the sea
beach, where we now live. There we found many floating corrals among
the ice and many strange men in houses. Then came the most terrible
part of it all. Half the herd was butchered and hauled into the village
where the men were.”
“Mother!” exclaimed White Sox, in horror. “Did they kill all the males
at once?”
“There were but few males in the herd,” she answered. “Many of those
killed were mothers and sisters. We didn’t understand it. But your
grandmother—her name was Spot—talked with a wild caribou that came near
the herd. He told her that hunters had killed a great many wild caribou
that winter and taken their bodies to the village. Together they
reasoned it out that the men had no other kind of food, and that we had
been brought there to keep that great herd of men from starving. Spot
was a sled deer—”
“I thought you said she was my grandmother,” White Sox broke in. “Did
the reindeer mothers have to draw sleds after the big killing?”
“Spot did,” said Mother Reindeer. “Your Uncle Slim was a fawn then. He
trotted along beside her when she pulled the loaded sled. The herders
made a little harness for him and worked him with his mother.”
* * * * *
That was the end of Mother Reindeer’s story. If you want to know more
about the big killing at Point Barrow, you must read about how the
whaling vessels were frozen in the ice there and how more than two
hundred white men were reported starving during the coldest part of the
long winter. The herders sacrificed their reindeer to save the lives
of these men. Of course Mother Reindeer did not know anything about
whaling vessels; she called a ship a floating corral. But she was a
wise old mother reindeer, for all that. Don’t you think so?
[Illustration: “Away he dashed, with Mother Reindeer at his heels.”]
XII
WHITE SOX LEARNS HIS LAST LESSON
White Sox and his mother had been silent for a long time. But White Sox
was not asleep; he had a great deal to think about, and he had just
made up his mind that he must not be a baby any longer. He had been to
school and had learned many lessons. He must be a leader now. And now
was the time for him to make a start.
“Mother,” he said, after he had looked about him this way and that,
this way and that, “the moon is going to bed. I see a little streak of
daylight creeping over the edge of the world. Let us take a run through
that little valley below and finish our lesson on the top of that
ridge to the north of here, after we have eaten some breakfast.”
“All right,” said Mother Reindeer. She rose and stretched herself, but
she did not offer any advice. She wanted to see what kind of leader
White Sox would make.
First he tried to find which way the breeze was blowing. Then he turned
his nose in that direction and sniffed several times. But not a thing
could he scent. He looked very carefully everywhere. But not a thing
could he see.
“Come on!” he cried; and down the knoll he started at a swift trot. He
was thinking how much he wished to be like White Feet, but all the same
he kept a sharp lookout to the east and to the west while he kept his
nose turned to the north.
There was plenty of fine moss being trampled under his feet, but he did
not stop to taste it. Up, up he went, to the very top of the next low
ridge. When he saw that all was safe, he began to feed on the splendid
moss under the blanket of snow.
Presently he looked up and said, “White Feet died a natural death,
didn’t he, mother?”
“Yes, so we are told,” Mother Reindeer answered. “But he reached a ripe
old age before he died.”
White Sox ate awhile in silence; then he spoke again. “I think I
understand it all now, mother. White Feet was allowed to live because
his services to man were of more value than his flesh and skin. He
was a great leader and a wise teacher. He taught his herd and their
offspring obedience to man and thankfulness for protection. He changed
the order of things entirely.
“In olden times the poor mothers were sacrificed to feed the wolves.
Now the sons are sacrificed to feed man, their protector. The sons pay
the debt which enables the mothers to live in peace and safety.”
[Illustration: “‘In olden times the poor mothers were sacrificed to
feed the wolves.’”]
“Yes, my son,” said the proud mother, “and you must know that the wild
caribou have decreased in numbers year by year; but the reindeer,
under the protection of man, have multiplied until now they form many
mighty herds.”
“That proves that the new way is better, mother,” said White Sox.
“Service and sacrifice for the males! That is now our law. That is why
you didn’t complain when my two big brothers were butchered.”
Mother Reindeer nodded her head.
“Our worst enemies did us a kind turn when they stampeded White Feet
and his little band into the hunter’s tent,” continued White Sox. “And
man, our next worst enemy, did us a better turn when he taught us to
serve him. Mother, if I am to live to a ripe old age and die a natural
death, I must make myself so useful to man that my services will be of
greater value than my flesh and skin. Isn’t that right, mother?”
“That’s the whole lesson, my son,” Mother Reindeer said. “And now I
will tell you that I have always wanted to be the mother of a second
White Feet. I was pleased because you were marked like the great
leader, but I am more pleased that you are able to think like him. A
leader has to face many trials of courage and many temptations, and
has great cares and responsibilities. It is only by overcoming all
temptations and weaknesses and by boldly doing your duty that you
become of great service to man and to your kind.”
White Sox nodded his head. “Yes, mother,” he said thoughtfully. “I’ve
been worrying about my spoiled stockings and what the herd would think
of these black ones, but now I’m glad my legs are black. By the time
the hair comes next summer, and my new white stockings appear, I shall
have learned many more lessons. I’ve one more question to ask. Do you
ever wish to return to the land where White Feet lived?”
“No,” said the kind old mother, “this is a better land for reindeer.
The moss here is better. We have more timber, better sleds and harness,
good herding dogs to help keep off our enemies, and good herders. I’m
getting old, my son, but I hope to live to see you leader of the big
herd—as wise and useful as your great ancestor.”
“Thank you, mother dear,” he said gently. “Thank you for telling me the
big story. My! what a foolish fawn I was—wanting to stay with our wild
cousins! How glad I am the wolves chased us away!”
He looked to the north, then to the west. He sniffed the air and turned
this way and that, this way and that. At last he turned to the north
and looked very steadily.
What do you think he saw?
A cloud of fog was rising from the ground. It was only a few miles
ahead of them. The morning sky was bright and clear. The air was very
cold.
“It looks like fog, but it can’t be fog,” he said doubtfully. Then he
became excited.
“Mother, our big herd is right yonder where that fog bank is,” he
shouted.
“Yes, my son,” said Mother Reindeer. “That fog cloud is their frozen
breath.”
“Come on!” cried White Sox.
Away he dashed, with Mother Reindeer at his heels.
[Illustration: Man on hill with reindeer below]
_ANIMAL LIFE SERIES_
THE STORY _of_ MATKA
_A Tale of the
Mist Islands_
[Illustration: Seal on rocks near water]
_By_ DAVID
STARR JORDAN
No more charmingly devised nature story can be cited than this. It
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The book is illustrated from photographs and drawings by Chloe Leslie
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The appendix contains an article on the fur seals of the Pribilof
Islands by George Archibald Clark. _Price 80 cts._
WORLD BOOK COMPANY
YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK
2126 PRAIRIE AVENUE, CHICAGO
[Illustration Three books]
ELIZABETH V. BROWN’S
NATURE AND INDUSTRY READERS
These books draw upon the world’s best literature, and present
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Alluring stories of animals, with chapters on our national holidays.
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Cloth. 192 pages. Illustrated in _colors_. Price $1.00.
WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG
A fascinating story of the development of modern means of
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Cloth. 160 pages. Illustrated. Price 80 cents.
STORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND NATURE
Stories of unusual interest, by some of the greatest and most gifted
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Cloth. 222 pages. Illustrated. Price $1.00.
WORLD BOOK COMPANY
YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK
2126 PRAIRIE AVENUE, CHICAGO
INSECT ADVENTURES
_By_ J. HENRI FABRE
_Selected and Arranged for Young People by Louis Seymour Hasbrouck_
[Illustration: Insects flying]
A new supplementary reader in nature study for the intermediate grades.
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_Cloth._ _300 pages._ _Price $1.40_
WORLD BOOK COMPANY
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_CONSERVATION SERIES_
[Illustration: Horses in field]
Conservation Reader
_By_ HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, _Ph.D._
_Lecturer, University of California; Geography Supervisor, Berkeley
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_Cloth._ vi + 216 _pages_.
_Price $1.20._
WORLD BOOK COMPANY
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