BENJY'S ENJOYMENTS INTERRUPTED, AND POLOELAND OVERWHELMED WITH A
CATASTROPHE.
One pleasant morning, towards the end of summer, Benjamin Vane went out
with his gun in the water-tramp on the large lake of Paradise Isle.
Leo and he had reached the isle in one of the india-rubber boats. They
had taken Anders with them to carry their game, and little Oblooria to
prepare their dinner while they were away shooting; for they disliked
the delay of personal attention to cooking when they were ravenous!
After landing Benjy, and seeing him busy getting himself into the
aquatic dress, Leo said he would pull off to a group of walruses, which
were sporting about off shore, and shoot one. Provisions of fowl and
fish were plentiful enough just then at the Eskimo village, but he knew
that walrus beef was greatly prized by the natives, and none of the huge
creatures had been killed for some weeks past.
About this time the threatened war with the northern Eskimos had
unfortunately commenced.
The insatiable Grabantak had made a descent on one of Amalatok's smaller
islands, killed the warriors, and carried off the women and children,
with everything else he could lay hands on. Of course Amalatok made
reprisals; attacked a small island belonging to Grabantak, and did as
much general mischief as he could. The paltry islet about which the war
began was not worthy either of attack or defence!
Then Amalatok, burning with the righteous indignation of the man who did
not begin the quarrel, got up a grand muster of his forces, and went
with a great fleet of kayaks to attack Grabantak in his strongholds.
But Grabantak's strongholds were remarkably strong. A good deal of
killing was done, and some destruction of property accomplished, but
that did not effect the conquest of the great northern Savage. Neither
did it prove either party to be right or wrong! Grabantak retired to
impregnable fastnesses, and Amalatok returned to Poloeland "covered with
glory,"--some of his followers also covered with wounds, a few of which
had fallen to his own share. The success, however, was not decided. On
the whole, the result was rather disappointing, but Amalatok was brave
and high-spirited, as some people would say. _He_ was not going to give
in; not he! He would fight as long as a man was left to back him, and
bring Grabantak to his knees--or die! Either event would, of course,
have been of immense advantage to both nations. He ground his teeth and
glared when he announced this determination, and also shook his fist,
but a sharp twinge of pain in one of his unhealed wounds caused him to
cease frowning abruptly.
There was a sound, too, in the air, which caused him to sit down and
reflect. It was a mixed and half-stifled sound, as if of women groaning
and little children wailing. Some of his braves, of course, had fallen
in the recent conflicts--fallen honourably with their faces to the foe.
Their young widows and their little ones mourned them, and refused to be
comforted, because they were not. It was highly unpatriotic, no doubt,
but natural.
Amalatok had asked the white men to join him in the fight, but they had
refused. They would help him to defend his country, if attacked, they
said, but they would not go out to war. Amalatok had once threatened
Blackbeard if he refused to go, but Blackbeard had smiled, and
threatened to retaliate by making him "jump!" Whereupon the old chief
became suddenly meek.
This, then, was the state of affairs when Benjy and Leo went shooting,
on the morning to which we have referred.
But who can hope to describe, with adequate force, the joyful feelings
of Benjamin Vane as he moved slily about the lakelets of Paradise Isle
in the water-tramp? The novelty of the situation was so great. The
surrounding circumstances were so peculiar. The prolonged calms of the
circumpolar basin, at that period of the year, were so new to one
accustomed to the variable skies of England; the perpetual sunshine, the
absence of any necessity to consider time, in a land from which night
seemed to have finally fled; the glassy repose of lake and sea, so
suggestive of peace; the cheery bustle of animal life, so suggestive of
pleasure--all these influences together filled the boy's breast with a
strong romantic joy which was far too powerful to seek or find relief in
those boisterous leaps and shouts which were his usual safety-valves.
Although not much given to serious thought, except when conversing with
his father, Benjy became meditative as he moved quietly about at the
edge of the reeds, and began to wonder whether the paradise above
_could_ exceed this paradise below!
Events occurred that day which proved to him that the sublunary paradise
was, at least, woefully uncertain in its nature.
"Now, just keep still, will you, for one moment," muttered Benjy,
advancing cautiously through the outer margin of reeds, among the stems
of which he peered earnestly while he cocked his gun.
The individual to whom he spoke made no reply, because it was a goose--
would that it were thus with all geese! It was a grey goose of the
largest size. It had caught a glimpse of the new and strange creature
that was paddling about its home, and was wisely making for the shelter
of a spot where the reeds were more dense, and where Benjy would not
have dared to follow. For, it must be remembered that our young
sportsman was sunk to his waist in water, and that the reeds rose high
over his head, so that if once lost in the heart of them, he might have
found it extremely difficult to find his way out again.
Anxious not to lose his chance, he gave vent to a loud shout. This had
the effect of setting up innumerable flocks of wild-fowl, which,
although unseen, had been lurking listeners to the strange though gentle
sound of the water-tramp. Among them rose the grey goose with one or
two unexpected comrades.
Benjy had not at that time acquired the power of self-restraint
necessary to good shooting. He fired hastily, and missed with the first
barrel. Discharging the second in hotter haste, he missed again, but
brought down one of the comrades by accident. This was sufficiently
gratifying. Picking it up, he placed it on the boat-buoy in front of
him to balance several ducks which already lay on the part in rear. He
might have carried a dozen geese on his novel hunting-dress, if there
had been room for them, for its floating power was sufficient to have
borne up himself, and at least four, if not five, men.
Pursuing his way cautiously and gently, by means of the webbed feet
alone, the young sportsman moved about like a sly water-spirit among the
reeds, sometimes addressing a few pleasant words, such as, "how d'ye do,
old boy," or, "don't alarm yourself, my tulip," to a water-hen or a
coot, or some such bird which crossed his path, but was unworthy of his
shot; at other times stopping to gaze contemplatively through the reed
stems, or to float and rest in placid enjoyment, while he tried to
imagine himself in a forest of water-trees.
Everywhere the feathered tribes first gazed at him in mute surprise;
then hurried, with every variety of squeak, and quack, and fluttering
wing, from his frightful presence.
Suddenly he came in sight of a bird so large that his heart gave a
violent leap, and the gun went almost of its own accord to his shoulder,
but the creature disappeared among the reeds before he could take aim.
Another opening, however, again revealed it fully to view! It was a
swan--a hyperborean wild swan!
Just as he made this discovery, the great bird, having observed Benjy,
spread its enormous wings and made off with an amazing splutter.
Bang! went Benjy's gun, both barrels in quick succession, and down fell
the swan quite dead, with its head in the water and its feet pointing to
the sky.
"What a feast the Eskimos will have to-night!" was Benjy's first thought
as he tramped vehemently towards his prize.
But his overflowing joy was rudely checked, for, having laid his gun
down in front of him, for the purpose of using the paddle with both
hands, it slipped to one side, tilted up, and, disappearing like an
arrow in the lake, went to the bottom.
The sinking of Benjy's heart was not less complete. He had the presence
of mind, however, to seize the reeds near him and check his progress at
the exact spot. Leaning over the side of his little craft, he beheld
his weapon quivering, as it were, at the bottom, in about eight feet of
water. What was to be done? The energetic youth was not long in making
up his mind on that point. He would dive for it. But diving in the
water-tramp was out of the question. Knowing that it was all but
impossible to make his way to the shore through the reeds, he resolved
to reach the opposite shore, which was in some places free from
vegetation. Seizing one of the reeds, he forced it down, and tied it
into a knot to mark the spot where his loss had happened. He treated
several more reeds in this way till he gained the open water outside,
thus marking his path. Then he paddled across the lake, landed,
undressed, and swam out again, pushing the empty dress before him,
intending to use it as a resting-place.
On reaching the spot, he dived with a degree of vigour and agility
worthy of a duck, but found it hard to reach the bottom, as he was not
much accustomed to diving. For the same reason he found it difficult to
open his eyes under water, so as to look for the gun. While trying to
do so, a desperate desire to breathe caused him to leap to the surface,
where he found that he had struggled somewhat away from the exact spot.
After a few minutes' rest, he took a long breath and again went down;
but found, to his dismay, that in his first dive he had disturbed the
mud, and thus made the water thick. Groping about rendered it thicker,
and he came to the surface the second time with feelings approaching to
despair. Besides which, his powers were being rapidly exhausted.
But Benjy was full of pluck as well as perseverance. Feeling that he
could not hold out much longer, he resolved to make the next attempt
with more care--a resolve, it may be remarked, which it would have been
better to have made at first.
He swam to the knotted reed, considered well the position he had
occupied when his loss occurred, took an aim at a definite spot with his
head, and went down. The result was that his hands grasped the stock of
the gun the moment they reached the bottom.
Inflated with joy he leaped with it to the surface like a bladder; laid
it carefully on the water-dress, and pushing the latter before him soon
succeeded in getting hold of the dead swan. The bird was too heavy to
be lifted on the float, he therefore grasped its neck with his teeth,
and thus, heavily weighted, made for the shore.
It will not surprise the reader to be told that Benjy felt hungry as
well as tired after these achievements, and this induced him to look
anxiously for Leo, and to wonder why the smoke of Oblooria's
cooking-lamp was not to be seen anywhere.
The engrossing nature of the events just described had prevented our
little hero from observing that a smart breeze had sprung up, and that
heavy clouds had begun to drive across the hitherto blue sky, while
appearances of a very squally nature were gathering on the windward
horizon. Moreover, while engaged in paddling among the reeds he had not
felt the breeze.
It was while taking off the water-tramp that he became fully alive to
these facts.
"That's it," he muttered to himself. "They've been caught by this
breeze and been delayed by having had to pull against it, or perhaps the
walruses gave them more trouble than they expected."
Appeasing his appetite as well as he could with this reflection, he left
the water-tramp on the ground, with the dripping gun beside it, and
hurried to the highest part of the island. Although not much of an
elevation, it enabled him to see all round, and a feeling of anxiety
filled his breast as he observed that the once glassy sea was ruffled to
the colour of indigo, while wavelets flecked it everywhere, and no boat
was visible!
"They may have got behind some of the islands," he thought, and
continued his look-out for some time, with growing anxiety and
impatience, however, because the breeze was by that time freshening to a
gale.
When an hour had passed away the poor boy became thoroughly alarmed.
"Can anything have happened to the boat?" he said to himself. "The
india-rubber is easily cut. Perhaps they may have been blown out to
sea!"
This latter thought caused an involuntary shudder. Looking round, he
observed that the depression of the sun towards the horizon indicated
that night had set in.
"This will never do," he suddenly exclaimed aloud. "Leo will be lost.
I _must_ risk it!"
Turning as he spoke, he ran back to the spot where he had left the
water-dress, which he immediately put on. Then, leaving gun and game on
the beach, he boldly entered the sea, and struck out with feet and
paddle for Poloeland.
Although sorely buffeted by the rising waves, and several times
overwhelmed, his waterproof costume proved well able to bear him up, and
with comparatively little fatigue he reached the land in less than two
hours. Without waiting to take the dress off, he ran up to the Eskimo
village and gave the alarm.
While these events were going on among the islets, Captain Vane and
Alphonse Vandervell had been far otherwise engaged.
"Come, Alf," said the Captain, that same morning, after Leo and
his party had started on their expedition, "let you and me
go off on a scientific excursion,--on what we may style a
botanico-geologico-meteorological survey."
"With all my heart, uncle, and let us take Butterface with us, and
Oolichuk."
"Ay, lad, and Ivitchuk and Akeetolik too, and Chingatok if you will, for
I've fixed on a spot whereon to pitch an observatory, and we must set to
work on it without further delay. Indeed I would have got it into
working order long ago if it had not been for my hope that the cessation
of this miserable war would have enabled us to get nearer the North Pole
this summer."
The party soon started for the highest peak of the island of Poloe--or
Poloeland, as Alf preferred to call it. Oolichuk carried on his broad
shoulders one of those mysterious cases out of which the Captain was so
fond of taking machines wherewith to astonish the natives.
Indeed it was plain to see that the natives who accompanied them on this
occasion expected some sort of surprise, despite the Captain's earnest
assurance that there was nothing in the box except a few meteorological
instruments. How the Captain translated to the Eskimos the word
meteorological we have never been able to ascertain. His own
explanation is that he did it in a roundabout manner which they failed
to comprehend, and which he himself could not elucidate.
On the way up the hill, Alf made several interesting discoveries of
plants which were quite new to him.
"Ho! stop, I say, uncle," he exclaimed for the twentieth time that day,
as he picked up some object of interest.
"What now, lad?" said the Captain, stopping and wiping his heated brow.
"Here is another specimen of these petrifactions--look!"
"He means a vegetable o' some sort turned to stone, Chingatok,"
explained the Captain, as he examined the specimen with an interested
though unscientific eye.
"You remember, uncle, the explanation I gave you some time ago," said
the enthusiastic Alf, "about Professor Heer of Zurich, who came to the
conclusion that primeval forests once existed in these now treeless
Arctic regions, from the fossils of oak, elm, pine, and maple leaves
discovered there. Well, I found a fossil of a plane leaf the other
day,--not a very good one, to be sure--and now, here is a splendid
specimen of a petrified oak-leaf. Don't you trace it quite plainly?"
"Well, lad," returned the Captain, frowning at the specimen, "I do
believe you're right. There does seem to be the mark of a leaf there,
and there is some ground for your theory that this land may have been
once covered with trees, though it's hard to believe that when we look
at it."
"An evidence, uncle, that we should not be too ready to judge by
appearances," said Alf, as they resumed their upward march.
The top gained, a space was quickly selected and cleared, and a simple
hut of flat stones begun, while the Captain unpacked his box. It
contained a barometer, a maximum and minimum self-registering
thermometer, wet and dry bulb, also a black bulb thermometer, a
one-eighth-inch rain-gauge, and several other instruments.
"I have another box of similar instruments, Alf, down below," said the
Captain, as he laid them carefully out, "and I hope, by comparing the
results obtained up here with those obtained at the level of the sea, to
carry home a series of notes which will be of considerable value to
science."
When the Captain had finished laying them out, the Eskimos retired to a
little distance, and regarded them for some minutes with anxious
expectancy; but, as the strange things did not burst, or go up like
sky-rockets, they soon returned with a somewhat disappointed look to
their hut-building.
The work was quickly completed, for Eskimos are expert builders in their
way, and the instruments had been carefully set up under shelter when
the first symptoms of the storm began.
"I hope the sportsmen have returned," said the Captain, looking gravely
round the horizon.
"No doubt they have," said Alf, preparing to descend the mountain. "Leo
is not naturally reckless, and if he were, the cautious Anders would be
a drag on him."
An hour later they regained the Eskimo village, just as Benjy came
running, in a state of dripping consternation, from the sea.
Need it be said that an instant and vigorous search was instituted? Not
only did a band of the stoutest warriors, headed by Chingatok, set off
in a fleet of kayaks, but the Captain and his companions started without
delay in the two remaining india-rubber boats, and, flying their kites,
despite the risk of doing so in a gale, went away in eager haste over
the foaming billows.
After exerting themselves to the uttermost, they failed to discover the
slightest trace of the lost boat. The storm passed quickly, and a calm
succeeded, enabling them to prosecute the search more effectively with
oar and paddle, but with no better result.
Day after day passed, and still no member of the band--Englishman or
Eskimo--would relax his efforts, or admit that hope was sinking. But
they had to admit it at last, and, after three weeks of unremitting
toil, they were compelled to give up in absolute despair. The most
sanguine was driven to the terrible conclusion that Leo, Anders, and
timid little Oblooria were lost.
It was an awful blow. What cared Alf or the Captain now for discovery,
or scientific investigation! The poor negro, who had never at any time
cared for plants, rocks, or Poles, was sunk in the profoundest depths of
sorrow. Benjy's gay spirit was utterly broken. Oolichuk's hearty laugh
was silenced, and a cloud of settled melancholy descended over the
entire village of Poloe.