HARD TIMES.
TIME passed by. The weather was terribly cold, even for these people.
The hunters went out on the ocean whenever it was safe to venture, but
the seals and walruses were very scarce. They had probably gone in
search of warmer waters.
At this very time their winter stores were all stolen. Whenever there
is an extra supply on hand, it is hidden in a deep hole underground,
so that neither wild animals nor dogs can reach it. Such a place for
stores is called a _caché_ by our western hunters and trappers.
One night Etu was wakened by a great noise outside. In a moment the
whole household was aroused. They heard the dogs howling and rushing
around. There was certainly a fight of some kind. Etu and his father
were dressed in a moment, as well as two other men who shared the home.
"Wolves! It is a pack of wolves," cried the women. "Don't go out and
leave us; it is not safe."
But the men only seized their spears and moved as quickly as possible
down the passageway. They must go to the aid of the dogs, who had
been left outdoors for the night. They also thought of their precious
stores. The wolves had probably scented the place and were then
attacked by the dogs.
In a short time the men returned to the frightened household. They were
all safe. The wolves had fled, but the harm had already been done. Not
a scrap of the precious stores remained. The dogs had finished what the
wolves left behind them. It was the quarreling of the dogs themselves
over the food that had wakened the people. It was plain, however, that
the wolves had been there, because the dead body of one of them lay
close by the storehouse. The dogs had been more than a match for them.
There was nothing for Etu and his people to eat that day. There was
scarcely any oil in the lamps. The women and children tried to keep
warm beneath the piles of furs; the men went out to search along the
shore for seal holes.
Our brave little Etu looked upon himself as a man now. So, leading his
brightest dog by a cord, he started out in search of prey. The dog had
a wonderfully keen scent. He would help in finding the hiding-place of
a seal, if there were one to be found.
You may not know what a queer home the mother seal makes for her baby.
She chooses a place on the solid ice that is covered with a deep layer
of snow. She scrapes away the snow and carries it down through a hole
in the ice into the water below. When her work is done, she has a
dome-shaped house. The floor is the icy shelf, from which there is a
passageway to the water beneath. There is a tiny breathing-place in the
snowy roof to which she turns when needing air.
The baby seal is born in this strange home. He lies here and sleeps
most of the time till he is old enough to take care of himself. His
mother often visits him. She hopes his enemies will not find him. But
the bear, the fox, and the Eskimo dog, are watching for signs of just
such hiding-places as these. Their scent is keen and they discover the
tiny breathing-holes when men and boys would pass them by. This is why
Etu took his dog along with him.
Perhaps you wonder why Etu did not let Vanya run free. He only wished
him to find a seal hole; the boy would do the hunting himself. The
dog, if left alone, might succeed in scaring away the old seal; and Etu
wished to get both the baby and its mother.
The boy tramped for many hours. Remember, he had no breakfast this
morning, yet he went with a bright face and a stout heart. When night
came, Etu was still brave and cheerful, although he had met with no
success. He went home and found the men just returning. They also had
failed.
They could expect no supper, nor fire to warm them, after the long
day's tramp in the bitter cold, but they must not show sadness; they
must keep up stout hearts for the sake of the women and children.
After all, there was a surprise waiting for Etu. His mother had used
the last bit of oil in thawing a little snow to give the household some
water to drink. And, besides this, there was a scrap of seal hide for
each one to chew. Tough as it was, it was received as though it were
the greatest dainty in the world.
After this meal, if it could be called one, Etu crept into bed, and
was soon sound asleep. Morning came, and our little cousin started out
once more in search of food. But he had no better success than the day
before. When he got home at night there was good news awaiting him,
although it did not bring any supper.
His father had found a seal-hole, and had said to the other men, "I
will not leave my place till I can bring food for my hungry people."
They left him, and went back to the village to tell his waiting
household. His good wife at once got a heavy fur robe, and sent it back
to her patient husband. He could wrap it about his feet, as he sat
watching in the cold.
Perhaps it would be only a short time before he would hear the mother
seal blowing at the hole below. But, again, hours might pass before
she would come back to nurse her baby. Yet the man must watch and
be ready to pierce the breathing-hole with his long spear at any
moment,--it was his only chance of killing the mother.
The long hours of the night passed; the morning, too, was gone, when,
suddenly, the quick ears of the hunter heard the welcome sound. And
now, a second blow! the seal's head must be close to the hole. Like a
flash, down went the waiting spear, and fastened itself through the
nose of the seal. If it had turned a half-inch in its course, it would
have failed in its work.
There was a violent pull at the spear, as the seal darted down through
the passage from her icy home to the water below. But the hunter had a
long rope fastened to the spear, and he let it run out quickly. Then,
brushing away the snowy roof, he jumped down on the floor of the
"igloo." With two or three strong pulls he brought up the struggling
seal, and quickly ended her life. It was an easy matter to dispose of
the frightened baby.
What a prize he had gained! He did not think of his frost-bitten nose,
nor of his empty stomach. He only pictured the joy of the waiting
people when he should reach home.
When the hard-earned supper was set before them, you cannot guess what
was the greatest dainty of all. It was the milk inside the baby seal's
stomach! It was sweet and delicate in its taste, and was much like the
milk from a green cocoanut.
There were many other hard times before that winter was over, but Etu
did his part bravely, and no one died of want.
One day the boy hunted a seal bear-fashion, and was successful, too. He
had learned many lessons from this wise creature, and he did not forget
them. The polar bear, so strong and fierce, is also very cunning.
If he discovers a dark spot far away on the ice, he seems to say to
himself, "Ah! there is a seal asleep. I will deceive him, and catch
him for my dinner." So he creeps, or, rather, hitches along, with his
fore feet curled beneath him. Nearer and nearer he draws to his prey.
And now the sleeping seal awakes. Is there danger? But the bear at once
stops moving, and makes a low, strange sound. It is different from his
usual voice. The seal listens, and is charmed. He turns his head from
side to side, and then is quite still once more. The bear creeps nearer
now; once more the seal starts, but is again charmed by the strange
sound. Suddenly he is caught in those powerful claws, and the long,
sharp teeth fasten themselves in his body. In a moment it is all over
with the poor seal.
[Illustration: "ETU STOPPED MOVING AND LAY QUITE STILL"]
This is one of the lessons Etu learned from Ninoo, the bear. He
followed his teacher well when one day he, too, saw a dark spot on
the shore, quite a distance away. Holding his spear beneath him, he
crouched down on the snow, and jerked himself along. For some time the
seal was not aroused. Then, opening his eyes, he must have thought:
"Is that a brother seal over there? His coat is like mine." Still he
watched, for a seal is easily frightened. Etu stopped moving and lay
quite still.
"No, there is no danger," thought the seal; and he closed his eyes
again.
Once more Etu began to move, and drew quite near before the seal
stirred again. But now the creature seemed to question himself once
more.
"Is it a friend, or is it one of my terrible enemies?"
He was about to dart away when Etu began to make a low, strange sound.
You would have thought it was the bear himself, he was imitated so
well. The seal seemed pleased, and did not stir again.
Before another five minutes the young hunter had killed his victim. He
hurried homeward with the heavy burden flung over his broad shoulders.
You can imagine how proud his mother felt when he appeared in the
doorway of the house and showed his prize of the morning.