This advent of a male Fire-spouter into the little community was a
source of much interest and delight to old and young--all the more that
he had brought the mysterious spouter with him.
Not less interesting to Nazinred was the community in the midst of which
he found himself, for, as we have more than once indicated, our Indian
was intellectually far in advance of his fellows, and the opportunity he
now had of observing closely the life of the men-of-the-ice in all its
details could not be otherwise than full of interest to an inquiring and
large-minded man.
On the day, or rather the night, of his arrival he was allowed quietly
to eat his supper in the igloe of Mangivik, and go to sleep in peace,
but next morning there was a crowding of relatives and friends into the
hut, which rendered the meal of breakfast not quite so pleasant as it
might have been, for the Indian, having been accustomed all his life to
the comparatively open wigwam, did not relish the stifling atmosphere of
the densely crowded snow-hut. However, he belonged to a race of Stoics,
and, restraining his feelings, ate his meal with moderate appetite and
becoming gravity.
There is reason to believe that he rather liked the earnest attention
with which all his movements were closely and openly scrutinised; at all
events he proceeded with his meal as calmly as if he had been alone, and
in his own wigwam with none but the faithful Isquay and amiable Adolay
to observe him.
Staring, as we have already said, is not considered rude among the
Eskimos; they therefore sat open-mouthed and eyed, taking mental notes
in silence, till breakfast was over, when Nazinred, according to custom,
opened his fire-bag, took out his pipe, and began to fill it.
This created a sensation which was expressed by hard breathing and
eloquent looks. They had been waiting for this. Of course Cheenbuk had
often descanted to them on the subject of smoking, besides showing them
how the thing was done, but now they were going to see the amazing thing
done, in the right way, by the real Simon Pure--a live Fire-spouter!
"My father," said Cheenbuk at this point, "the igloe is hot, and there
are many more who wish to see you do that thing. Will you come
outside?"
With a condescending smile the Indian rose.
It was somewhat destructive of his dignity that he was obliged to go
down on hands and knees, and creep out through the short snow tunnel,
but as there was no other mode of egress he had to submit, and did it
with the best grace possible, making up for the brief humiliation by
raising himself when outside with ineffable dignity, and throwing his
deerskin robe over one shoulder _a la_ Roman toga.
He was greeted with something like a British cheer by the entire
community of men, women, children, and even dogs, who were waiting
outside for him.
Sitting down on a snow-clad rock he went through the process of filling
the pipe, striking a light and beginning to smoke, to the unutterable
delight of the natives. This delight became not only utterable but
obstreperous when Cheenbuk gravely took out the pipe which Adolay had
given him and began to keep him company, at the same time bestowing a
look--a wink not yet being known to him--on Anteek, who forthwith went
off into uncontrollable laughter and was promptly hustled out of the
crowd.
The interest aroused by the pipe, however, was as nothing compared with
that bestowed on the fire-spouter. For there was a mystery, noise, and
deadliness about the latter which tended to evoke feelings of awe rather
than amusement.
"I don't like to trouble your father too much, Adolay," whispered
Cheenbuk; "would you say to him that we wish very much to see him use
the spouter?"
Nazinred was an amiable man. He at once consented, and went back to the
hut for his gun, which, remembering the tendency of the boys to meddle,
he had kept close beside him all night.
Loading it inside, he re-appeared with it ready. Taking up a lump of
ice about the size of one's hand, he set it up on a hummock, and retired
to a distance of about thirty yards.
"Tell them all to keep back, out of the way of that, Cheenbuk," said
Nazinred.
The excitement and nervous expectation of the Eskimos had been worked up
considerably by these preparations, so that they not only retired to a
safe distance, but some of them even took refuge behind the igloes, and
all held their breath while their guest took aim.
He had loaded with shot, and when the explosion took place the piece of
ice vanished, having been blown to atoms. Of course a yell of
admiration greeted the result, and all the dogs of the tribe fled on the
wings--or paws--of terror, while Attim sat quietly looking on with
somewhat of his master's dignity.
But the curiosity of the Eskimos was only whetted by this. They
immediately began to clamour for explanations, so that the Indian found
himself at last obliged to undertake a lecture on gunnery, as far as he
understood it.
"My father," said Cheenbuk, whose respect for the Indian was rapidly
deepening, "some of my people want to know if you can kill bears with
the spouter."
"Yes, it will kill bears. I killed a white one not long before you
found me."
"And will it kill the walrus too?"
"Yes; it will kill the walrus. It kills anything that has life."
There was an expression of great astonishment at this. Some even
ventured to doubt it. Then there was a noisy consultation for a few
minutes, after which Cheenbuk was told to ask if their guest would go
with them then and there to hunt for a walrus.
"Oh yes;" the Indian was quite ready to go, whereupon the men scattered
to harness the dogs and make preparation for an immediate hunt.
"Go and get my sledge ready," said Cheenbuk to Anteek.
The boy was only too glad to obey, for the mission implied that he
should have a place on the sledge along with the Fire-spouter.
In a very short time several sledges were ready. Nazinred seated
himself on one. Cheenbuk and the others jumped in, the whips cracked,
and away they went amid the shouting of the drivers and the yells of
children and women left behind.
It did not take long to find one of those giants of the frozen seas.
Some miles out on the ice they came to a place which the walruses had
kept open as a breathing-hole. At the time of their arrival it had not
been disturbed for some hours, for the water was covered by a coat of
young ice, which was quite able to bear the weight of the men singly,
though scarcely sufficiently strong for the sledges.
Just as they arrived a walrus took it into its very thick head to crash
up through the young ice and have a gambol. The party retired behind a
hummock and prepared for action.
"Will the man-of-the-woods go first and try the spouter?" asked
Cheenbuk.
"No," replied Nazinred; "the man-of-the-woods prefers to watch how the
men-of-the-ice do their work. After that he will use the spouter, which
_we_ call _pasgissegan_. The white traders call it _gun_."
Harpoons and lances were at once got ready.
"Come, Anteek, with me; bring a harpoon and a coil with you. We will
show the man-of-the-woods what we can do."
He said this with a look of self-confidence, for Cheenbuk, being a noted
hunter among his fellows, was naturally rather proud of his powers.
Waiting until the walrus dived, the Eskimo and his companion ran towards
the hole of open water, and then suddenly lay down, for they knew the
habits of the brute, and that he would soon reappear. This, in fact,
happened before they had lain more than a few minutes. After another
gambol the ungainly animal dived again. Up got the two Eskimos and ran
at full speed to the very edge of the hole. On rising the third time
the walrus found Cheenbuk standing with the harpoon raised. One look of
huge astonishment it gave at the man, who instantly drove the harpoon
deep into its side, and then ran from the hole as fast as he could,
uncoiling the long line of hide until he was some distance off. Then he
struck a piece of bone, sharp-pointed, into the ice, and put the loop at
the end of the line over it. This checked the dive of the walrus, which
in furious rage came up and smashed another hole in the ice, looking
fiercely around as if in search of its persecutor. Anteek's opportunity
had now come. He ran towards the creature, which, so far from being
afraid, smashed up the ice in vain attempts to get upon it. Another
harpoon was deftly driven into it, and the boy, running back, fixed his
line as the man had done.
These two now began to "play" the walrus, easing off and tightening
their lines as required.
Meanwhile the other Eskimos ran forward, and, taking advantage of the
creature's combative disposition, fixed several more harpoons in it,
besides giving it many severe thrusts with their lances. But the hide
of a walrus is nearly an inch thick, and it was not easy to pierce it
with an effective thrust. At last, however, they succeeded in killing
it after a battle of over three hours.
"That is hard work," observed Nazinred to Cheenbuk, as they stood
watching the cutting up and packing of their prize on the sledges, "and
takes a long time."
"Come, now, let my father show us what the--the pass--pass-gi--spouter--
gun can do," said Cheenbuk, pointing to his sledge, which Anteek had got
ready. "There are more walruses yonder."
He pointed to another hole, not far off, where several were seen rolling
about in the water. The Indian stepped on the sledge, the others
followed, and in a short time the whole party was concealed behind a
hummock close to the hole.
Nazinred now loaded his gun with ball.
"You must first throw a harpoon for fear it should sink," he said, when
ready to start.
Without a word Cheenbuk grasped his harpoon and coil and ran forward,
for the walrus had dived at that moment. Anteek followed, and Nazinred
kept close to both. Once they lay down to let the animal come up and
dive again. The moment it did so they ran at full speed as before to
the edge of the hole and waited.
"Send it deep in," muttered the Indian.
"I will," replied the Eskimo.
"So will I," thought the boy, but he was too modest to say so.
The thought had barely passed when the walrus came up with a puff and
snort that might have been heard a mile off. Cheenbuk's weapon was
successfully launched in a moment. So was that of Anteek, though he
missed the animal's side, but hit in the neck. Nazinred took quick but
sure aim at one of its glaring eyes, and before the smoke of the shot
had cleared away the walrus fell over dead with a bullet in its brain.