A NEW EXPEDITION
Docak had no children, the single son born to him ten years before
having died in infancy. His wife was about his age, and had noticeably
lighter skin and bright brown eyes. It was evident that she had more
white blood in her veins than her husband, who was of mixed breed.
Docak did not knock before entering. His wife was trimming the lamp at
the moment, and looked around to see whom he had brought with him. She
must have felt surprised, but, if so, she concealed all evidence of
it. She smiled in her pleasant way, showing her fine white teeth, and
said in a low, soft voice, "Con-ji-meet," which is the native word for
welcome.
Her first curiosity was concerning the boys, with whom she shook
hands, but, when she turned to the grinning Jack, she made no effort
to hide her astonishment, for he had addressed her by name.
"Crestana, I guess you haven't forgot Jack Cosgrove?"
"Oh! oh! oh! dat you--much glad! much glad!" she said, laughing more
heartily than her husband had done.
She was very vivacious, and, though she could not speak the English
tongue as well as he, she made it up by her earnestness.
"So glad--much glad--whale kill vessel ag'in? Docak bring no ice?
Where capen? How you be? Crestana glad to see you--yes, heap much
glad."
"By the great horned spoon," said Jack, holding the small hand of
Crestana in his hearty grasp, and looking around at the others with
one of his broadest grins; "the women are the same the world over;
they can talk faster than a Greenland harrycane, and when they're glad
they're glad all over, and clean through. Docak, you're a purty good
chap, but you aint half good enough for such a wife as Crestana, and
that reminds me we're as hungry as git out."
The wife evidently thought the sailor was a funny fellow, for she
broke into merry laughter again, and, disengaging her hand, hurried
into the kitchen, where she had been busying herself with her
husband's supper.
The visitors, knowing how heartily welcome they were, seated
themselves on the benches, doffed their heavy outer clothing, and made
themselves as much at home as if in the cabin of the "Nautilus." They
leaned their rifles in the corner near the table, alongside of the
long muzzle-loader and several spears belonging to Docak.
A large supply of dry driftwood was piled near the window, and from
this the native kept such a glow in the stove that the whole interior
was filled with grateful warmth.
In the course of a few moments Crestana bustled in, her pretty teeth
showing between her lips as she chatted with Jack and her husband. She
drew the table out near the middle of the room, and quickly brought in
some fish, "done to a turn." She furnished coffee, too, and the three
guests who partook of her hospitality insist to this day that never in
the wide world will they ever taste such fragrant coffee and such
delicately-flavored fish as they feasted upon that night in Docak's
hut. But we must not forget that they had the best sauce ever
known--hunger.
The meal was enlivened by lively conversation, in which Jack managed
to tell the story of the mishap that had befallen himself and
companions. She showed less interest in the boys than in the sailor,
though, as may be supposed, Rob and Fred were charmed with her
simplicity and good-nature. She placed spoons, knives and forks, cups,
saucers, and plates before them, and there was a neatness about
herself and the room which added doubly to its attractiveness, and did
much to enlighten the youths about these people, whom they supposed to
be barely half civilized.
When the meal was finished, and the wife occupied herself in clearing
away things, Docak brought out a couple of pipes, filled with tobacco,
and offered one each to Rob and Fred. They, declining with thanks, he
did the same to Jack, who accepted one, and a minute later the two
were puffing away like a couple of veteran devotees of the weed.
The boys felt some curiosity to learn how it was that Docak, whose
manner of living proved that he knew the ways of the more civilized
people among the settlements, made his home in this lonely place, far
removed from all neighbors. They could not learn everything that
evening but they ascertained it afterward.
Docak had lived awhile in Invernik, and then took up his residence at
Ivigtut, where he lived until four or five years before Rob and Fred
met him. It was in the latter place he married Crestana, and it was
there that his only child died.
The loss of the little one made him morose for awhile, and he got into
a difficulty with one of his people, in which, in the eyes of the law,
Docak was wholly to blame. He was punished, and, in resentment, he
withdrew to a place on the west coast, about sixty miles north of the
famous cryolite mines. There he lived, alone with his wife, as
serenely contented as he could be anywhere. He made occasional visits
to Ivigtut, to Invernik, Julianshaab, and other settlements, but it
was only for the purpose of getting ammunition and other supplies
which could be obtained in no other way.
Docak was not only a skilled fisherman, but, what is rare among his
class of people, he was a great hunter. He was sometimes absent for
days at a time in the interior, traveling many miles on snow-shoes,
forcing his way over the icy mountains and braving the Arctic blasts
that had driven back many a hardy European from his search for the
North Pole.
While he was absent his wife went about her duties with calm
contentment, where a more sensitive person would have gone out of her
mind from very loneliness and desolation.
Our friends having effected their escape from the iceberg, it was time
to decide what next should be done.
The most obvious course was to go to Ivigtut, where they could obtain
the means of returning to England, most likely by way of Denmark, and
possibly might hear something of the "Nautilus," if she had survived
the gale which caused her to part company with Jack and the boys.
The kayak was strong enough to carry them, and Docak could make the
voyage in a couple of days. This Rob and Fred supposed would be the
plan adopted, but the native put another idea into their heads which
caused in a twinkling a radical change of programme, and brought an
experience to the two of which neither dreamed.
While Docak and Jack sat beside each other on the longer bench,
smoking and talking, the native frequently cast admiring glances at
the rifles leaning against the wall in the corner. Finally he rose,
and, walking over, examined the three weapons, taking up each in turn
and holding it so the light from the lamp fell upon it. He was most
struck with Rob's, which had more ornamentation than the others. It
was a modern loader, but not a repeater.
"He berry good," he remarked, setting it down again in the corner and
resuming his place on the bench beside his friend; "why you not go
hunting with me 'fore go to Ivigtut?"
Jack saw the eyes of the boys sparkle at the suggestion. Why not,
indeed, go on a hunting excursion into the interior before they
returned to the settlement? What was to prevent? It would take but a
few days, and there is royal game to be found in Greenland.
Docak explained that this was the time of the year when he was
accustomed to indulge in a long hunt. Twelve months before he had
brought down some animals rarely ever encountered in that portion of
the country, and he was hopeful of doing the same again, when he could
have his friends to help.
So the matter needed only to be broached to be settled. The whole
party would go on a hunt, and they would start the following morning,
returning whenever they deemed best, and then making their way to
Ivigtut at a leisurely rate, set about their return home, if that
should be deemed the best course.
The warmth and smoke in the room led the boys to decide to step
outside a brief while, to inhale the crisp air, and, inviting Fred to
follow, Rob sprang up and hurried in a stooping posture through the
long entry-way. Fred stopped a minute in the road to peep through the
opening into the kitchen, where the thrifty housewife was busy.
She smiled pleasantly at him, and he might have lingered had he not
heard the voice of his friend.
"Hurry out, Fred! Here's the most wonderful sight you ever saw. Quick,
or you will lose it!"
Fred lost no time in rushing after Rob, whose excitement was fully
justified.