Three days after the events narrated in the last chapter the fort of the
fur-traders became a place of weeping; for on the morning of that day
Maximus arrived with the prostrate form of Frank Morton, whom he had
discovered alone in the igloo on the lake, and with the dreadful news
that little Edith Stanley was nowhere to be found!
It may be more easily imagined than described the state of mind into
which the parents of the child were thrown; but after the first burst of
emotion was past, Stanley felt that a thorough and immediate search was
the only hope that remained to him of finding his little one alive.
Still, when he considered the intensity of the cold to which she must
have been exposed, and the length of time which had already elapsed
since she was missed, his heart sank, and he could scarcely frame words
of comfort to his prostrated partner. Maximus had examined the
immediate neighbourhood of the lake, in the hope of finding the tracks
of the lost one; but a heavy fall of snow had totally obliterated these,
and he wisely judged that it would be better to convey the sick man to
the fort as quickly as possible and give the alarm, so that parties
might be sent out to scour the country in all directions.
Frank was immediately put to bed on his arrival, and everything done in
order to restore him. In this attempt they succeeded so far as to
obtain all the information he could give concerning his fall; but he
remembered nothing further than that Edith had been the means of
bringing him to the snow-hut, where he lay in a deep, torpid slumber,
until the voice and hand of Maximus awakened him. When Frank was told
that Edith was lost, he sprang from his bed as if he had received an
electric shock. The confusion of his faculties seemed swept away, and
he began to put on his garments with as much vigour as if he were well
and strong; but ere he belted on his leather coat his cheek grew pale,
his hand trembled, and he fell in a swoon upon the bed. This convinced
him of the impossibility of doing anything in the search, and he was
prevailed on, after two or three similar failures, to leave the work to
others.
Meanwhile the mountains and valleys of Ungava were traversed far and
near by the agonised father and his men. The neighbourhood of the lake
was the first place searched, and they had not sought long ere they
discovered the little sledge sticking fast among the rocks of the
sea-coast, and Chimo lying in the traces almost dead with cold and
hunger. The dog had kept himself alive by gnawing the deerskin of which
the traces were made. Around this spot the search was concentrated, and
the Esquimaux of the neighbouring camp were employed in traversing the
country in all directions; but, although scarce a foot of ground escaped
the eager scrutiny of one or other of the party, not a vestige of Edith
was to be seen--not so much as a footprint in the snow.
Days and nights flew by, and still the search was continued. Frank
quickly recovered under the affectionate care of the almost heartbroken
mother, who found some relief from her crushing sorrow in ministering to
his wants. But the instant he could walk without support, and long
before it was prudent to do so, Frank joined in the search. At first he
could do little, but as day after day passed by his strength returned so
rapidly that the only symptoms that remained to tell of his late
accident were his pale cheek and the haggard expression of his
countenance. But the mysterious disappearance of Edith had more to do
with the latter than illness.
Weeks passed away, but still the dark cloud of sorrow hung over Fort
Chimo, for the merry young voice that was wont to awake the surrounding
echoes was gone. The systematic search had now been given up, for every
nook, every glen, and gorge, and corrie within fifteen miles of the spot
where they had found the little sledge, had been searched again and
again without success. But hope clung with singular tenacity to the
parents' hearts long after it had fled from those of the men of the fort
and of the Esquimaux. Every alternate day Stanley and Frank sallied
forth with heavy steps and furrowed brows to explore more carefully
those places where the child was most likely to have strayed, expecting,
yet fearing, to find her dead body. But they always returned to the
bereaved mother with silent lips and downcast looks.
They frequently conversed together about her, and always in a hopeful
tone, each endeavouring to conceal from the other the real state of his
own mind. Indeed, except when necessity required it, they seldom spoke
on any other subject.
One day Stanley and Frank were seated by the blazing stove in the hall
conversing as usual about the plan of the search for that day. Mrs
Stanley was busied in preparing breakfast.
"'Tis going to blow hard from the north, Frank," said Stanley, rising
and looking out of the window; "I see the icebergs coming into the river
with the tide. You will have a cold march, I fear."
Frank made no reply, but rose and approached the window. The view from
it was a strange one. During the night a more than usually severe frost
had congealed the water of the lake in the centre, and the icebergs that
sailed towards the Caniapuscaw River in stately grandeur went crashing
through this young ice as if it had been paper, their slow but steady
progress receiving no perceptible check from its opposition. Some of
these bergs were of great size, and in proceeding onwards they passed so
close to the fort that the inhabitants feared more than once that a
falling pinnacle might descend on the stores, which were built near to
the water's edge, and crush them. As the tide gradually rose it rushed
with violence into the cavities beneath the solid ice on the opposite
shore, and finding no escape save through a few rents and fissures, sent
up columns or spouts of white spray in all directions, which roared and
shrieked as they flew upwards, as if the great ocean were maddened with
anger at finding a power strong enough to restrain and curb its might.
At intervals the main ice rent with a crash like the firing of
artillery; and as if nature had designed to carry on and deepen this
simile, the shore was lined with heaps of little blocks of ice which the
constantly recurring action of the tide had moulded into the shape and
size of cannon balls.
But such sights were common to the inhabitants of Fort Chimo, and had
long ago ceased to call forth more than a passing remark.
"May it not be possible," murmured Stanley, while he leant his brow on
his hand, "that she may have gone up False River?"
"I think not," said Frank. "I know not how it is, but I have a strange
conviction that she is yet alive. If she had perished in the snow, we
should certainly have found her long ago. I cannot explain my feelings,
or give a reason for them, but I feel convinced that darling Eda is
alive."
"Oh, God grant it!" whispered Stanley in a deep voice, while his wife
hastened from the room to conceal the tears which she could not
restrain.
While Frank continued to gaze in silence on the bleak scene without, a
faint sound of sleigh-bells broke upon his ear.
"Hark!" he cried, starting, and opening the door.
The regular and familiar sound of the bells came floating sweetly on the
breeze. They grew louder and louder, and in a few seconds a team of
dogs galloped into the fort, dragging a small sled behind them. They
were followed by two stalwart Indians, whose costume and manner told
that they were in the habit of associating more with the fur-traders
than with their own kindred. The dogs ran the sled briskly into the
centre of the fort, and lay down panting on the snow, while the two men
approached the hall.
"'Tis a packet," cried Stanley, forgetting for the moment his sorrow in
the excitement of this unexpected arrival.
In a moment all the men at the fort were assembled in the square.
"A packet! Where come you from?"
"From Moose Fort," replied the elder Indian, while his comrade
unfastened from the sled a little bundle containing letters.
"Any news? Are all well?" chorused the men.
"Ay, all well. It is many day since we left. The way is very rough,
and we did not find much deer. We saw one camp of Indian, but they
'fraid to come. I not know why. But I see with them one fair flower
which grow in the fields of the Esquimaux. I suppose the Indian pluck
her, and dare not come back here."
Stanley started, and his cheek grew pale.
"A fair flower, say you? Speak literally, man: was it a little white
girl that you saw?"
"No," replied the Indian, "it was no white girl we saw. It was one
young Esquimau woman."
Stanley heaved a deep sigh and turned away, muttering, "Ah! I might
have known that she could not have fallen into the hands of Indians so
far to the south."
"Well, lads, take care of these fellows," he cried, crushing down the
feelings that had been for a brief moment awakened in his heart by the
Indian's words, "and give them plenty to eat and smoke." So saying he
went off with the packet, followed by Frank.
"Niver fear ye; come along, honey," said Bryan, grasping the elder
Indian by the arm, while the younger was carried off by Massan, and the
dogs taken care of by Ma-istequan and Gaspard.
On perusing the letters, Stanley found that it would be absolutely
necessary to send a packet of dispatches to headquarters. The
difficulties of his position required to be more thoroughly explained,
and erroneous notions corrected.
"What shall I do, Frank?" said he, with a perplexed look. "These
Indians cannot return to Moose, having received orders, I find, to
journey in a different direction. Our own men know the way, but I
cannot spare the good ones among them, and the second-rate cannot be
depended on without a leader."
Frank did not give an immediate reply. He seemed to be pondering the
subject in his mind. At length he said, "Could not Dick Prince be
spared?"
"No; he is too useful here. The fact is, Frank, I think I must send
you. It will do you good, my dear boy, and tend to distract your mind
from a subject which is now hopeless."
Frank at first objected strongly to this plan, on the ground that it
would prevent him from assisting in the forlorn search for Edith; but
Stanley pointed out that he and the men could continue it, and that, on
the other hand, his (Frank's) personal presence at headquarters would be
of great importance to the interests of the Company. At length Frank
was constrained to obey.
The route by which he purposed to travel was overland to Richmond Gulf
on snow-shoes; and as the way was rough, he determined to take only a
few days' provisions, and depend for subsistence on the hook and gun.
Maximus, Oolibuck, and Ma-istequan were chosen to accompany him; and
three better men he could not have had, for they were stalwart and
brave, and accustomed from infancy to live by the chase, and traverse
trackless wastes, guided solely by that power of observation or instinct
with which savages are usually gifted.
With these men, a week's provisions, a large supply of ammunition, a
small sledge, and three dogs, of whom Chimo was the leader, Frank one
morning ascended the rocky platform behind the fort, and bidding adieu
to Ungava, commenced his long journey over the interior of East Main.