His enthusiasm was contagious, and the Indians said:
"All right; we will try."
So word was signalled to the other boats that the one in which Sam was
would try the gallant old fellow. The Indians in the other canoes heard
this with pleasure, and ceased for a time from their pursuits to see the
struggle.
The Indians in charge of Sam's canoe wisely explained to him how, if
they were possibly able to get him alongside of the deer, to try to
spear him across the spinal column as near the head as possible. They
also took the precaution to have a couple of guns and axes handy where,
in case of emergency, they could be instantly utilised.
When the great reindeer saw them coming down so boldly toward him he at
once accepted the situation, and leaving a number of deer that with him
had been keeping together for some time he gallantly turned to face
them.
When within twenty or thirty yards, as decided upon by the Indian, they
suddenly veered to the right, and kept paddling in eccentric circles
around him, keeping him as nearly as possible about the same distance in
the centre. That he could not reach the canoe and annihilate it as
easily as he did the other one seemed to very much irritate him, and for
a time he was furious with rage. Yet in spite of his fury they quietly,
yet warily, watched him, and kept up their circular movements about him.
After a time, seeing it to be an utter impossibility to catch them, he
turned and endeavoured to swim to the shore.
Now the attacked became the aggressors, and so, rapidly, the canoe
followed in his wake. Several times they tried to draw up alongside to
spear him, but a sudden turn of that well-antlered head was enough to
cause them to draw back in a hurry. But something must be done, or he
would speedily be at the land. So another canoe was signalled to make a
feint to attack him from the other side. The one in which Frank was
paddling with his Indians soon came up, and when told what was desired
of them quickly responded.
The deer, thus worried by the two, had hardly a fair chance, but he
gallantly kept up the unequal struggle for quite a time. Sam's canoemen
at length saw an unguarded place and so dashed in alongside the big
fellow, and at the right minute the Indian steering called out to Sam:
"Now give it to him in the neck, close up to his head."
Sam, however, was not quick enough, and therefore his spear, which he
plunged with all the force he was capable of into the deer, while it did
not instantly kill, so cut down the side of the neck as to sever some
large veins. Unfortunately for Sam, he could not withdraw the spear
from the deer, and he was in no humour to lose it, so he hung on to it;
but before he knew where he was a great bound of the deer jerked him out
of the canoe. However, he fell fairly and squarely on the back of the
great deer, and he was not such a fool as not to avail himself of such
an opportunity for a ride. So speedily righting himself on this odd
steed, amid the laughter of Frank and the Indians, he was evidently in
for a good time.
It might have fared badly with him if the deer had been able to have
used his horns freely, or have moved with his usual speed in the water;
but the additional weight on his back so sank him down that he was
powerless to do harm. All he could do, after a few desperate efforts to
get rid of his burden, was to start for the shore, and so he speedily
continued swimming toward it as though this was his usual employment.
Sam hung on without much trouble, but as they neared the shore he began
to wonder what might happen next. But when his antlered steed reached
the shallow waters his strength gave way from the excessive loss of
blood from the severed veins in his neck, and soon he dropped dead. The
great carcass was dragged ashore, while the bodies of the others killed
were towed in by the canoes. They killed altogether ten animals, but
the reindeer hunt in the water that day, considering the loss of a fine
canoe and all its contents, was not voted an unqualified success.
All the Indians present at the camp, which they made near the spot from
which they had embarked in the morning, went to work at the venison
there landed, and in a few hours they had it all cut into strips and
broad flakes and hung up on stagings of poles speedily erected. A
smokeless fire under [it], and the bright sun above it, in a few days
made the meat so hard and dry that, by using the backs of their axes for
hammers and pounding this meat on the smooth wooden logs, they
thoroughly pulverised it. Then packing it in bags made of the green
hides of the deer, and saturating the whole mass with the melted fat
taken from around the kidneys of the reindeer, they had prepared a most
palatable kind of pemmican. If well prepared in this way it was
considered fully equal to that made from the buffalo on the great
plains.
Leaving the majority of the Indians of that country to continue their
capturing of the reindeer and the manufacturing of pemmican while they
remained in that section of the land, Frank, Alec, and Sam, with their
travelling companions, returned to Oxford House. There they made a
visit of a few days at the home of the missionary. It was a great joy
to meet with this devoted, heroic man and his equally brave and noble
wife, who for the sake of Christianisation and civilisation of the
Indians of this section of the country had willingly sacrificed the
comforts and blessings of civilisation and come to this land. Only
twice a year did they hear from the outer world, and only once every
year had they any opportunity of receiving any of the so-called
"necessaries of life" at this remote station. Yet they said and showed
that they were very happy in their work, and rejoiced at the success
which, not only to themselves but to any unbiased observer, was so
visibly manifested in the greatly improved lives and habits of the
natives. Missions to such people are not failures.
They would have been delighted to have lingered longer in this home, and
with this delightful missionary and his good wife, who so reminded each
of the boys of his own dear mother. But the Indians who were to take
them back to Sagasta-weekee were uneasy at the appearances in the
heavens and of the birds in the air, and so it was decided that they
must return.
Four days of rapid paddling were sufficient to make the return journey.
At the close of each day the boys remarked, as they cuddled up close to
the splendid camp fire, that they seemed to have an additional liking
for its glow and warmth; and for the first time they preferred to sleep
as close together as possible, and were thankful that the thoughtful
Indians had in reserve for them an additional blanket apiece. The last
day of the home journey was quite a cold one, but the vigorous exercise
of paddling saved them from any discomfort. They could not but help
noticing the large numbers of geese and ducks that were flying over
them, and all were going south. The boys would have liked, where they
were specially numerous, to have stopped and had a few hours' shooting,
but the Indians said:
"Perhaps to-morrow you will see it was best for us to get home."
So "forward" was the word, and on they went and reached home after an
exceedingly rapid journey from Oxford Lake.
They met with a right royal welcome at Sagasta-weekee. Mr and Mrs
Ross and the children were all delighted to have them back again with
them. The faithful canoemen were well paid and given a capital supper
in the kitchen, and then dismissed to their several homes.
Frank, Alec, and Sam had each to give some account of their adventures
to the household as they were gathered that evening around the roaring
fire, which was much enjoyed. Then prayers were offered, and away the
boys went to their rooms. They could not but remark to each other how
much warmer were their beds than when they last slept in them. However,
they found them none too warm as they cuddled down in their downy depths
and were soon fast asleep.
When they awoke the next morning the sleet and snow were beating with
fury against the window panes, and all nature was white with snow.
Shortly after the wind went down, and then the ice covered over all the
open waters, and they saw that that most delightful summer in the Wild
North Land was ended, and the winter, with its cold and brightness and
possibilities for other kinds of sports and adventures, had begun.