The trail of the Eskimos as they traversed the frozen sea, although not
always very distinct on the hard snow, was as plain as a highway to one
so skilled in tracking as the Indian chief Nazinred. The weather having
been clear and calm ever since he left home, the marks had not been
obliterated, and he pursued his way without halt or hesitation.
But on the fourth day out there came symptoms of a change. The chief
had adopted the plan of travelling during every hour of the short day,
or twilight, in order to make more sure of not missing the trail, and
the stars with frequent aurora borealis had made each night so brilliant
that he advanced almost as easily as during the day-time. The fourth
day, however, on awaking, his ears were greeted with sounds that caused
him to rise in haste and force out the door of his sleeping hut, when to
his dismay he found that a furious gale was blowing, that the sky was
black, and that he could hardly see the poor dogs, whom he found
crouching as close as possible on the sheltered side of the hut. In
these circumstances, to advance without losing his way was impossible,
so that he was compelled to make the most of his time by sleeping as
much as he could.
To do him justice he possessed a wonderful capacity in that way. Having
put the sledge outside in order to make room, he called all the dogs in,
resolving that the poor things should not be exposed to the pitiless
storm. Then, having fed himself and them, he lay down with them and was
soon in happy oblivion.
Of course he had no artificial means of measuring time, and, the sky
being overclouded, darkness visible pervaded the region. But a healthy
stomach helped in some degree to furnish a natural chronometer, and its
condition when he awoke suggested that he must have slept till near
daylight of the following day. Rousing the dogs, he gave them a feed,
ate heartily himself, and then went out to look at the weather.
The sight which the grey dawn rendered barely visible was one which
caused him to return to the hut with extreme promptitude for his gun,
for, about fifty yards off, were two white polar bears of apparently,
colossal size, frolicking about in a curious manner, and evidently
amusing themselves with something. The something turned out to be the
chief's sledge, which the bears had unpacked; eating whatever they had a
fancy for, scattering about what they did not want, smashing the sledge
itself to pieces, and twisting the leathern wraps and cordage into
unimaginable knots.
Nazinred did not discover all this at once, being too much excited by
the unexpected visit to note trifling details. Besides, prompt action
was necessary, for the four dogs, on becoming aware of what was
transacting outside, made a united and clamorous dash at the foe. Two
of them, being too valorous, ran close up to the bears, who seemed to
regard them with haughty surprise. Another movement and the two dogs
rose into the air with a yell in unison, and fell back upon the snow,
where they lay motionless. The other two, learning wisdom from
experience, kept back and barked furiously.
Nazinred, although taken by surprise, was used to sudden alarms and not
easily frightened. Knowing that the two dogs were very courageous, and
therefore all the more likely to run into danger, he sprang forward
towards the nearer of the two bears. It rose on its hind-legs to
receive him, and in this position appeared to stand at least eight feet
high. Without a moment's hesitation the Indian pointed his gun when the
muzzle was not more than a foot from the creature's breast, and fired.
The bear fell dead on the instant, shot through the heart.
The loud report and flash frightened the other bear away. It was
closely followed, however, by the dogs, and the chief availed himself of
the opportunity to re-load. While he was thus engaged a peculiarly loud
yell told only too plainly that one of the remaining dogs was injured,
if not killed. He called to the remaining one to come back. Obedient
to the call it returned, and, to its master's great relief, proved to be
his favourite Attim, a good deal cut about the shoulders and much
crestfallen, but not seriously injured.
"Down, Attim," said his master.
The poor creature obeyed at once, and his master hurried forward, but
the bear had retired.
The result of this encounter was that three of the dogs were killed,
many of his things destroyed, and his provisions rendered almost
useless, while the sledge was irreparably broken to pieces. There was
daylight enough to render the extent of his misfortune visible, and to
show him that the trail which he had been following so long was drifted
over and entirely obliterated.
To a man of weak resolution this might have been overwhelming, but
Nazinred was very much the reverse of weak, and his utter recklessness
of life in his endeavour to recover his lost child would have rendered
him a hero for the time being, even if he had not been one by nature.
After collecting the remains of his property, and ascertaining that the
sledge was hopelessly destroyed, he made up his mind to carry the
provisions on his back and push forward in the direction pointed out by
Adolay until he found her. If he did not succeed, the failure of his
food would soon end the struggle.
It was some consolation to the unfortunate man that his favourite dog
had been spared. The amount of "company" afforded even by an ordinary
dog is well-known, but the civilised world can but feebly understand the
value of a more than usually affectionate creature in the forlorn
circumstances in which our Indian was now placed. Like many other
people, he had got into the habit of talking to the dog about himself
and his affairs, as if it were human. Whether he held the opinion we
have heard so often expressed that "he understands every word I say," we
cannot tell, but the gravity of his expression and the solemnity of his
tone when conversing with it, encouraged that belief, and the very
earnest attention of the dog almost justified it.
But the friendly feelings existing between them did not relax the
chief's notions of discipline. Attim was not permitted to follow his
master as an idle companion. He was made to carry, or rather to drag,
his own food, by means of a collar with two pieces of stick attached,
the ends of which trailed on the ice, thus forming as it were a pair of
trains without wheels. This is a simple contrivance, largely used by
the prairie Indians with their horses as well as dogs. The two sticks
or poles, being long, project a good way behind the animal, thus leaving
space for a load. As the poles are suited to their size, each horse or
little dog is loaded with an appropriate bundle, and it is to be
presumed does not feel overburdened.
When all was arranged, Nazinred started off with a large pack on his
broad shoulders, and Attim, with a small bundle, followed close at his
heels.
Of course the Indian shouldered his gun, and he slung upon it his
snow-shoes, for the hard-driven snow rendered these unnecessary at the
time. He also carried with him a bow and quiver of arrows, with the
ornamented fire-bag--made for him by Adolay--which contained his flint,
steel, and tinder as well as his beloved pipe and tobacco.
Things went well with him for the first few days, and although the trail
was now lost, he guided himself easily by the stars, of which he had
been careful to take note and make comparison with the hand in the
letter before disturbing its position. But one night the sky became
overcast, and he would have been compelled to halt had he not previously
laid his course by several huge icebergs which towered up in the far
distance.
When he had passed the last of these bergs, however, he began to
hesitate in his movements, and Attim, trotting quietly by his side,
looked inquiringly up into his face once or twice with the obvious
question, "What's the matter?" in his soft brown eyes--or some Dogrib
idiom equivalent thereto.
"I'm afraid to go on," murmured the Indian gravely.
To this Attim replied with a reassuring wag of his tail.
"Without stars it won't be easy to keep the straight line," continued
the chief, stopping altogether and looking up at the clouds.
Attim also looked up, but evidently could make nothing of it, for he
turned his eyes again on his master and wagged his tail dubiously.
At the moment a rift in the clouds revealed some of the stars, and the
Indian, regaining his direction again, hurried forward--all the more
rapidly that a pretty stiff fair wind was blowing, to speak nautically,
right astern of him.
By degrees the breeze increased to a gale, and then to a regular
hurricane, which whirled among the bergs and hummocks, shrieked round
the ice-pinnacles, and went howling over the plain of the solid sea as
if all the Hyperborean fiends had been let loose and told to do their
worst. Its violence was so great that the Indian was forced to scud
before it, and more than once Attim's little bundle caught the blast and
whirled him round like a weathercock, while the drifting snow at last
became so thick that it was impossible to see anything more than a few
yards ahead. In these circumstances to advance was madness.
"It won't do, pup," cried Nazinred, turning suddenly to his right round
a mass of ice, and taking shelter in the lee of a towering berg; "come,
we will encamp here."
He had scarcely uttered the words when a tremendous rending sound was
heard above the noise of the hurricane. The Indian looked up quickly,
but nothing was to be seen anywhere save that wild confusion of whirling
snow, which in more southerly lands is sometimes called a blizzard, and
the back-whirl of which nearly suffocated man and dog. Suddenly there
came a crash as if a mountain were being shattered near them. Then
Nazinred saw, to his horror, that an ice-pinnacle as big as a church
steeple was bowing forward, like some mighty giant, to its fall. To
escape he saw was impossible. It was too near and too directly above
his head for that. His only hope lay in crushing close to the side of
the berg. He did so, on the instant, promptly followed by the dog, and
happily found that the ice-wall at the spot was slightly concave.
Another moment and the stupendous mass fell with an indescribable crash,
which was prolonged into sounds that bore quaint resemblance to the
smashing up of gigantic crockery, as the shivered atoms shot far away
over the frozen plain. But the chief heard nothing of this save the
first great crash, for the avalanche, although it passed harmlessly over
his head, had buried him in what seemed to him a living tomb.
The chamber in which he and his dog were thus enclosed was of course
absolutely dark--a darkness that might be felt; and the man would have
been more than human if he had not experienced a sinking of the heart as
he contemplated his awful position. Once again arose in his mind the
question, Does the Maker of all care nothing about such things? The
feeling deepened in him that such could not be true,--that the
All-Father must certainly care _more_ for His children than ordinary
fathers for theirs, and with that thought came also the old feeling, "I
will trust Him." The poor dog, too, had the consolation of trust, for
it rubbed its head against its master with a touch that implied implicit
belief in his power to deal effectively with any difficulty whatever.
Feeling his way carefully round the walls of his prison, the Indian
ascertained that it was not much more than about twelve feet long by
three or four broad. On one side was the comparatively smooth wall of
the berg, but for the hollow in which he would have been crushed; in
front was the rugged heap of confused masses which had thoroughly closed
him in. There was no outlet anywhere; he felt assured of that after
three careful examinations of the chamber, and how many thousand tons of
ice lay between him and liberty of course he could not guess.
There was only one course open to him now, and that was to cut his way
out with his hatchet. Before beginning to act he unstrapped his bundle
and sat down to eat, having previously relieved Attim of his load and
given him some food. Everything he did had to be done by feeling, for
he could not see his hand even when held only an inch from his face.
Then he set to work. It was difficult at first, for he had to strike
out at random, sometimes hitting a lump of ice unexpectedly, sometimes
just tipping it, and occasionally missing it altogether, when the axe
would swing round behind him, to the great danger of Attim, who insisted
on keeping close to his master's heels wherever he went. By degrees,
however, he learned to guess more correctly the position of the walls,
especially after he had advanced a few feet and cut a tunnel, with the
shape and dimensions of which he soon became familiar. For hours he
laboured with unflagging diligence, clearing back the ice debris into
the cavern from which he had started. But no sign of open air rewarded
him.
At last, when almost exhausted, he made preparations for passing the
night where he was. Before lying down he ate a hearty meal and fed the
dog, who indicated his satisfaction by an occasional whine and the usual
wag of the tail, which could be faintly heard though not seen.
A pipe of course followed, and during the process of lighting it he and
Attim obtained a fleeting glimpse of their abode. As his materials
could not produce a flame--only a dull red glow--the glimpse was not
cheering, or of much value.
Then Nazinred spread a deerskin on the ice, rolled himself in his
blanket, pillowed his head on the dog, who seemed to be perfectly
satisfied with the arrangement, and went to sleep till--we cannot say
morning, for pitch darkness still prevailed, but till that point of time
when the stomachic chronometer awoke them.
After another feed the chief again set to work with indomitable
perseverance, and extended the tunnel during many hours; yet when he had
accomplished what appeared to him a long and severe day's work, it
seemed as if he were as far off as ever from deliverance. Just as he
was giving way to weary disappointment, however, a rush of cold air came
against his face, and with an irrepressible exclamation of satisfaction
he found that his last blow with the axe had opened a way to the outer
world. A few more strokes, delivered with unwonted vigour, set him
free, to find that the gale was over, that a profound calm prevailed,
and that the faint grey light of the Arctic noon was illuminating the
ghostly scene.
He also discovered that during his imprisonment a heavy fall of snow had
taken place, so that he sank a full foot into it--if not more--at every
step. Congratulating himself on having brought his snow-shoes with him,
he at once put on those useful implements, and, having secured the pack
on his back, he once more set forth on his journey, beating a track as
he went on which the dog followed him with ease, though without such a
track the poor thing could not have travelled at all until the surface
of the snow had hardened.
But although our Indian's heart was lighter after his deliverance, the
toil which he had undergone, and the cold which he had experienced in
the berg, had told somewhat severely even on his hardy frame, and when
he built his hut that night it was with a feeling of despondency, for he
became aware of a considerable diminution of strength. An unusually
keen frost on the following day increased this feeling, and when he was
about to encamp at night, Nazinred said to himself, as well as to his
dog, that he feared they would never complete their journey.
But "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." On looking round for a
sheltered spot on which to build the snow-hut he observed three objects
in the distance which bore a strong resemblance to Eskimo dwellings.
Pushing forward eagerly, he soon reached them, and found that they were
indeed huts of these children of the ice, but that they were deserted.
The disappointment was very great, yet our chief bore up against it
manfully. He made use of one of the huts as a resting-place for the
night. Next morning he found that the prolonged strain had rendered him
much weaker than he had believed to be possible. Diminishing
provisions, also, had increased the evil, and a still further fall in
the temperature induced a feeling of feebleness which the hitherto
vigorous man had never before experienced.
The idea of giving in, however, had never once entered his mind. To
persevere in the search until success or death should arrest him had
been his fixed resolve from the beginning.
"Come on, pup," he said, patting the head of his faithful friend, as he
fastened on his snow-shoes and set forth.
To his surprise he found that he staggered a little at first, but as he
warmed to the work his vigour increased and his powers of endurance
seemed almost as strong as ever.