A SAMOYEDE ENCAMPMENT.
The action of the canoe was altogether changed as soon as it was
released from the strain of the boat behind. There was no more tugging
and jarring, but she rose and fell on the waves almost imperceptibly.
"Well, Jack, old fellow, what do you think of it?" Godfrey said to the
dog as it nestled up close to him. "Here we are now, out in a regular
storm. It is lucky we have plenty of sea-room, Jack. I reckon it is
seventy or eighty miles across to the other side of the gulf, and I
don't suppose she can drag those spars through the water much more than
a mile an hour. So we have plenty of time before us. We must both put
away as much time in sleep as we can. We have lost almost all our
provisions, old boy, and our water, which was of still more consequence.
It is very lucky I always made a rule of having the kettle filled and
put on board here after each meal and of keeping a dozen pounds of meat
here. I thought we might be obliged to cast the boat adrift suddenly.
Well, if we have luck, we may find it again. We shall both drift in the
same line, and there is no reason why she shouldn't live through it. The
stock of firewood has gone down, and she has not got above a couple of
hundred pounds' weight in her altogether. I am afraid she will take
enough salt water on board to spoil our supply of fresh, but I think we
are drifting pretty straight for the Kara River. I calculated that it
lay dead to leeward of us when the wind went to the north-west."
It was a considerable time before Godfrey went off to sleep owing to the
rapid changes of the angle at which he was lying. Sometimes his head was
two or three feet higher than his feet, and directly afterwards the
position was exactly reversed. The rolling was but slight, and this he
scarcely felt, being too tightly packed in along with the furs and the
dog to move much. But at last the noise of the water and the roar of the
wind lulled him to sleep. He woke once, and then went off again, and his
watch told him that he had been altogether asleep twelve hours. When he
next woke, he felt at once that the motion was slighter than it had been
and that the wind had greatly abated.
"Are you asleep, Luka?" he shouted.
"I am not asleep now," Luka replied drowsily.
"The storm is pretty nearly over; I will get the cover off and look
round, and then we will see if we can't boil some water and have some
tea. We have never used any of those candles yet; this will be a good
opportunity to try them."
Unlashing and removing the cover, Godfrey sat up and looked round. The
gale had broken. Black clouds were hurrying past overhead, but there
were patches of blue sky. The sea was still very heavy, but it was
rarely that the canoe dipped her nose under a wave, so lightly did she
rise and fall over them.
"In a few hours we shall have our sail up again, Luka," he said as the
Tartar thrust his head up through his opening. It was but for a moment.
He instantly dived under again and replaced the cover, appalled at the
sea, which was infinitely rougher than anything he had ever before
witnessed.
"It looks pretty bad, doesn't it?" Godfrey said, laughing, as he, too,
resumed his position of shelter.
"It is terrible," Luka said.
"I expect it has been worse. At any rate, as you can see we have got
through it without taking a drop of water on board, thanks to the
floating anchor. Now I will pass the kettle forward to you. Be very
careful with it, for it is all the water we have."
"All the water! Why, what has become of the boat?" Luka exclaimed.
"I had to cut her adrift half an hour after the squall struck us. Did
not you hear me look out when I took your paddle?"
"I felt you take the paddle, but there was too much noise to hear
anything, and I was too frightened to listen. I thought that surely we
should go to the bottom. Why did you cut her loose?"
"Because she was tugging so hard. She would have pulled us to pieces,
and it was better to let her go than to risk that. She will have drifted
the same way we have done, only she will have gone three times as fast,
for she was a good deal higher out of water, and the paddles which I
fastened on to her head-rope won't have anything like the hold on the
water that our spars have. We will keep in the same direction when we
get our sails up, and if she has lived through it we shall very likely
find her ashore somewhere along the coast. Now be sure you lash that
kettle securely to the deck-beam, Luka. Put it as near one side as you
can get it, then there will be room for you to lie alongside and watch
it. But stop! Before you fasten it pour out half a mugful of water for
Jack. He doesn't like tea, and there will be nothing but tea for him
after we have once made it."
The candle was lighted and fixed under the kettle, but the four wicks
gave out such an odour that Godfrey was glad to sit up again and remain
outside, until a nudge from Luka told him that the tea was ready. They
ate with it some slices of raw bear's ham. Luka offered to cook it, but
Godfrey had had the candle put out the moment he got under the cover and
would not hear of its being lighted again.
"It is not at all bad raw," he said. "They eat raw ham in Germany, and
that last smoking it got was almost as good as cooking it. I expect the
sea will have gone down in a few hours, and then we can have a regular
meal; but if you were to light that smelly thing again now it would make
me ill. Now, Jack, I will light my pipe and look out again, and you
shall come out too for a breath of fresh air. I will hold you tight and
see that you don't go over."
In twelve hours the sea had almost gone down. The floating anchor was
hauled up and unlashed, the masts were stepped, the large sail hoisted,
and, free from the dead weight that had hitherto checked her speed, the
little craft sped along gaily before the gentle wind, Godfrey keeping
her as near as possible dead before it, on the chance that they might
catch sight of the boat.
"If we drifted a mile an hour and she drifted three," he said, "she
would have gained four-and-twenty miles while we were asleep, and
perhaps since then she has been gaining a mile an hour; so she is from
thirty-five to forty miles ahead of us, and must be quite half-way
across the gulf. Anyhow, we need not begin to look out yet; we are going
about four knots an hour, I should think, and I don't suppose she is
going more than one. In about ten hours we must begin to look about for
her."
Before the end of that time the sea had gone quite down, and the wind
had fallen so light that Godfrey thought they were scarce making three
knots an hour. "I hope it won't fall altogether," he said, "for as we
have no paddles it would be awkward for us."
"Two of the bottom boards will do for paddles."
"Yes, I know that, Luka, I am steering with one of them; but they would
do very little good, for they are so thin that they would break off
directly we put any strength on to them."
Godfrey occasionally stood up and looked round, but could see no signs
of the boat, and indeed could hardly have done so unless he had passed
within a couple of miles at most of her.
"The wind may have changed a little," he said, "though I don't think it
has done so. Anyhow, I will head a little more to the south, so as to be
sure that we shall strike the shore to the east both of the Kara River
and the point she is likely to drift to."
Four hours later they made out land ahead of them, some six miles away
as they guessed, and holding on reached it in two hours and a half's
time. They stepped out as soon as they got into shallow water, carried
the canoe ashore, drank a mug of cold tea and ate some raw meat, and
then lay down for a long sleep. When they woke they collected some
drift-wood and lighting a fire, cooked some meat.
"What are you going to do, Godfrey?" Luka asked. "Are you going to set
out at once to look for the boat?"
"No, we had better wait for a few hours. She may not have drifted to the
shore yet, though I do not think she can be far off; still it is as well
to give her plenty of time. At any rate we can shoot some birds, so the
time won't be lost."
Having made a fair bag and been absent from the canoe for five hours
they returned, and after cutting up a capercailzie and grilling it over
the fire, they got the boat into the water and started.
They had sailed about eight miles to the west when Luka exclaimed,
"There is something there by the shore close to that point. It may be
the boat; it may be a rock."
It was another quarter of an hour before Godfrey was able to assure
himself that it was really the boat. "Thank God for that, Luka!" he
exclaimed. "We have reason to thank Him for a great many things. I do so
every hour, and I hope you do so too. But finding the boat again safe
seems to me the greatest blessing we have had yet; I don't know what we
should have done without it."
Another quarter of an hour brought them to the point. The boat lay just
afloat, bumping on the sand as each little wave lifted and left her.
They sprang out of the canoe into shallow water and threw out the
anchor, and then waded to the boat. She had about four inches of water
in her, but was entirely uninjured.
"Hurrah!" Godfrey shouted, "she is as good as ever. Now, Luka, get
everything out of her as soon as you can, then we can turn her over and
empty her, put the things in again, and be off at once. We have got no
time to lose, for you must remember there is not much more than a quart
of cold tea left in the kettle. I am sure the Kara River can't be very
far off, but I can't say whether it is three miles or thirty."
In half an hour they were again afloat and working their paddles to
assist the sail. Two hours later Luka said, "Huts on that point ahead of
us."
"So there are," Godfrey said. "Six or eight of them and a lot of
cattle."
"Reindeer!" Luka corrected. "Samoyede village."
"Why, there must be hundreds of them," Godfrey said in surprise.
"Yes, the Ostjaks told me in our old camp that many of the Samoyedes had
five hundred, and some of them a thousand reindeer. They keep them just
as we do cattle. Their wealth is counted by their reindeer. They make
their clothes of its skin; its milk and flesh are their chief food. It
draws their sledges, and when they want money they can sell some of
them."
"Did you ask how much they can be sold for?"
"Yes, the Ostjaks said that they were worth here two or three roubles
each."
"Then if there are many of these encampments along the shore, Luka, we
need not trouble about food; and if anything happens to our boat we can
make a couple of sledges, buy four reindeer, and start by land."
"Then we should have to wait until winter," Luka said.
"Yes, that would be a nuisance; but it would not be so very long to
wait. I had no idea reindeer were so cheap. If I had I think instead of
spending the winter hunting I would have bought some reindeer and
started to drive. Still it would have been a terrible journey, and
perhaps we have done better as it is. Well, shall we land? What do you
think?"
"We don't want anything," Luka said. "The Samoyedes are generally
friendly. They are not like the Tunguses and Yuraks. But you see there
are but two of us, and we have hatchets and knives and other things they
value. If we wanted anything I should say let us land, but as we don't
it would be better to go on."
"You are right, Luka. I don't suppose there would be any risk of being
robbed; still it is just as well not to run even the smallest chance of
trouble when everything is going on so well."
On passing the point on which the encampment was situated they saw a
wide opening. "The Kara!" Godfrey exclaimed joyously. "We will cross to
the other side, and coast up on that shore till the water becomes
fresh."
It required four hours' sailing and paddling before they got beyond the
influence of the sea, then they landed, shot and hunted for a couple of
days, took in a fresh supply of water, and started again.
"We have passed the line of the Ural Mountains now," Godfrey said. "The
Kara rises in that range. We may almost consider ourselves in Russia."
One morning Luka woke Godfrey soon after he had lain down for his turn
of sleep.
"Fog coming," he said.
Godfrey sat up and looked round. "That it is, Luka. We must head for
shore directly." He seized his paddle, but the fog cloud had drifted
rapidly down upon them, and before they were half-way to shore drifts of
white cloud floated past them on the water, and five minutes later they
were surrounded by a dense white wall, so thick that even the canoe
towing behind was invisible. They ceased paddling.
"There is nothing to do but to wait," Godfrey said. "Get your fur coat
on; it is bitterly cold. There is one comfort, what wind there is is
towards the shore, and we shall drift that way."
"I can't feel any wind at all," Luka said.
"No, it is very slight; but there must have been some to bring this fog
down from the north. We were not more than half a mile from the shore
when it closed in upon us. If we only drift fifty yards an hour we shall
be there in time. Let us have a cup of tea and then we will rig up the
cover and turn in. We have a lot of sleep to make up for. There is one
comfort, there is no chance of our being run down."
Godfrey saw by his watch when he woke that he had been asleep for four
hours, and he sat up and looked round. The fog was as thick as before.
The movement woke Luka, and he too sat up.
"Listen, Luka!" Godfrey exclaimed as he was about to speak. "I heard a
bird chirp." The sound was repeated. "It is over there," Godfrey said.
"Hurrah! we shall soon be ashore," and they seized their paddles.
After rowing for a minute or two they stopped and again listened. "There
it is again," Godfrey said; "right ahead. Paddle gently, Luka; we
sha'n't see the shore until we are on it, and we must not risk running
head on to a rock." Presently something dark appeared just in front of
the canoe.
"Hold water!" Godfrey exclaimed, and as they stopped her way the boat
drifted quietly against a rock. They brought her broadside to it and
stepped out.
"That is a comfort. The fog can last for a week now. Let us get the
canoe ashore. We can moor the boat; the water is as smooth as glass, and
there is no risk whatever of her damaging herself. Bring an armful of
firewood ashore," he went on as they laid the canoe down gently on a
flat rock. "I will look about for a place for the tent."
"Do not go far or you will lose yourself."
"I will take care of that. I won't go beyond speaking distance."
Godfrey soon found a patch of sand large enough for the tent, and this
was soon erected and a fire lit. Jack as usual indulged in a wild
scamper, but returned to Godfrey's whistle. "Don't go too far, Jack, or
you will be losing your way too."
The fog did not clear off for another forty-eight hours, but when at the
end of that time they looked out of their tent the sky was clear and the
birds were singing gaily. The ground rose almost perpendicularly behind
them to a height of from twenty to thirty feet. It was rocky, with some
deep indentations.
"We will do some shooting, Luka; but as there may be some natives near
we will hide the canoe. It is no use running any risks. We will stow the
tent and get everything packed before we start, and then we shall be
able to set out when we return."
The canoe was packed and carried some fifty yards along the shore, and
then laid behind a great boulder that had fallen at the mouth of a cleft
in the rock.
"Shall we pull up the boat?" Luka asked.
"No, I don't think that is worth while. There is nothing there worth
stealing. The natives have got plenty of fish of their own, no doubt,
and drift-wood too. Now let us be off."
The birds were scarcer than usual, and they wandered a long distance
before they had made up anything like their usual bag.
"We have been eight hours out," Godfrey said, looking at his watch. "We
may as well have a meal before we start back. It will take us two or
three hours to get to the boat again. There will be no loss of time. It
takes no longer cooking here than it would there, and we may as well
carry the birds inside as out."
They were engaged in eating their meal when Jack suddenly gave an angry
growl, and looking up they saw a party of a dozen Samoyedes with bows
and arrows at a distance of fifty yards behind them. They sprang to
their feet.
"Shall I shoot?" Luka asked.
"No, no, Luka, their intentions may be friendly. Besides, though we
might kill three or four of them they would riddle us with arrows. We
had best meet them as friends."
When the Samoyedes came up Luka gave them the ordinary salutation of
friendship.
"Where come from?" the man who seemed to be the leader of the natives
asked suspiciously.
"A long way from the east," Luka said, pointing in that direction.
"Who are you?"
"Ostjak," Luka said, knowing that the Samoyedes would have heard of that
tribe, but would know nothing of his own.
"Who this?" the native asked, pointing to Godfrey.
"A friend of Ostjaks," Luka said, "come to hunt and shoot. I come with
him."
"This Samoyede country," the native said; "not want Ostjaks here."
"We do no harm," Luka said. "We go west, far along, not want Samoyede
country. Buy milk of Samoyedes. Good friends."
The Samoyedes talked together, and then the leader said "Come!" Without
any appearance of hesitation Godfrey and Luka set off with the natives.
Their language, though differing from that of the northern Ostjaks, was
sufficiently alike for them to be able to understand each other.
"Do you think they mean to be friendly?" Godfrey asked in Russian.
"I don't know," Luka replied. "Perhaps not made up their minds yet."
"They are going down to the coast, that is a comfort, Luka; they are
going to the west of our boats. I suppose they have an encampment there.
I expect they heard my gun and have been following us at a distance
until they saw us sit down."
"Must have seen them," Luka said.
"Only one may have been following us, and may have sent the others back
to fetch up the rest from their tents. Well, it does not matter now they
have got us. If they ask where we came from, as I expect they will, you
had better tell them, Luka, we came in a boat. They will guess it
without our telling, and will very likely look for it. It is better to
make no concealment."
Two hours' walking brought them to a little valley, in the middle of
which ran a small stream. They followed it down for half a mile, and
then at a sudden turn they saw the sea in front of them, a cluster of
ten Samoyede yourts and a herd of reindeer feeding on the slope behind
them. A number of women and children and five or six old men came out to
look at them as they approached.
"Sit down and let us talk," the leader said as they reached the village,
and set the example by seating himself by a large fire. Godfrey and Luka
at once did the same.
"The Ostjak and his friend have come very far," he said.
"A long distance," Luka replied. "We have travelled many days and are
going to the Petchora."
"Have you reindeer? Did you walk all the way?"
"No, we have no reindeer; we came in a boat. You will find it along the
shore."
"How far?"
"About an hour's walk I should say."
The Samoyede gave an order, and two of the men at once left the circle,
got into a canoe, and paddled away.
"The strangers will stay here for a day or two. We have plenty of milk
and fish."
Luka nodded. "We are in no hurry to go on. We have plenty of time to
reach the Petchora before the winter sets in."
The Samoyede spoke to one of the women, and she set to work to clear out
one of the tents. The chief got up and walked away, and the conference
was evidently over. Three hours later they saw the canoe reappear at the
mouth of the river with the boat towing behind it. The Samoyedes
gathered on the shore to examine it, evidently surprised at its form and
size, which differed entirely from their own, which were little craft
capable of holding two at most. They tasted the water at the bottom of
the boat and found it to be fresh. The stove for cooking spoke for
itself, and as there was firewood, meat, flour, and some rough furs,
there seemed all that was necessary for a journey. When they returned
the chief asked Luka:
"Is that Ostjak canoe?"
"Yes; but it is built much larger than our canoes generally are, as it
was for long journey."
Presently the women brought a large bowl of reindeer milk and some fried
fish. As they were eating, four of the men who were standing behind
suddenly threw themselves upon Godfrey and Luka, while the others closed
in, and in a minute they were securely bound hand and foot. Godfrey made
no struggle, for he felt that it would be useless and might result in
his being shot or stabbed. The hatchets and knives were taken from their
belts, and they were then carried to the tent and thrown down. Jack had
fought fiercely, biting several of the natives, until he was struck
with a spear in the shoulder by the chief, when he limped off uttering
piercing yells.
"What do you think they mean to do with us, Luka?" Godfrey asked. "Will
they hand us over to the Russians, do you think? Cowardly blackguards. I
wish now we had fought at first."
"No, won't hand us to Russians; too far off. They don't think of that;
they have taken us for the sake of our hatchets and knives and of your
gun. Perhaps they will keep us to work for them. Perhaps they will cut
our throats."
"It is not a pleasant look-out either way. Still, if they keep us, we
are safe to get away before long; we must hope for the best. I wonder
they haven't taken my ammunition and the other things."
"Not know about pockets," Luka said. "They would have taken them if they
had."
Two or three hours later the Samoyedes came in and carefully examined
the captives' lashings. Their hands were tied behind them with reindeer
thongs, which were so tightly bound that they almost cut into the skin,
and their feet were equally firmly lashed. In a few minutes the sound of
talk ceased and the camp became quiet.
"I suppose it is their bedtime," Godfrey said. "If the fools do not set
a guard over us we shall soon be free."
"How is that?" Luka asked.
"We will gnaw through one of the thongs, of course, there can be no
difficulty about that; we will give them an hour to get to sleep and
then we will set to work. What is that? Ah, Jack, is it you?" as the dog
crept in between them with low whines. "Poor old chap, you did your
best. I can't pat you now. Roll yourself to the door and look out,
Luka."
"There are three of them sitting by a fire, but it will be darker
presently and they will not see us"--for although it could scarcely be
called night the sun now dipped for an hour or two below the horizon at
midnight.
"Well, see or not see, we will go, Luka. If we are to be killed it shall
be making a fight for it, and not having our throats cut like sheep.
Now, I think you are more accustomed to chewing tough food than I am, so
I will roll over on my face, and do you set to work and bite through the
thong."
Luka's sharp teeth cut through the twisted hide in five minutes. It was
a quarter of an hour more before Godfrey's hands recovered their usual
feeling. As soon as they were efficient he unfastened the thongs round
his companion's wrists and those round their feet.
"Now then, Luka, put your head out and see if you can see my gun."
"Gun sure to be in chief's tent," Luka said. He looked out. "Can't see
gun. My bow and arrows are lying on ground by chief's tent."
"Very well, then, you had better crawl round and fetch them first, that
will be something to begin a fight with anyhow. Here, I will slit open
the tent behind with my knife, then you can crawl along past the others
till you get to the chief's tent without those fellows at the fires
seeing you. I am more afraid of those beastly dogs giving the alarm than
of the men."
Godfrey cut a slit with his pocket-knife in the reindeer-skin covering,
and then Luka crawled out. He lay flat on his stomach and dragged
himself along, looking, as Godfrey thought, in the twilight, just like
the seals he had seen crawling over the rocks. He passed three of the
yourts and then turned off. In four or five minutes he reappeared with
his bow and quiver of arrows and two native spears. He crawled back as
carefully as he had gone.
"Give me the knife, Godfrey."
Godfrey handed it to him. "You are not going to kill anyone, Luka? If
they attack us, of course we shall shoot them down in self-defence, but
I would not have anyone killed in cold blood on any account."
The Tartar shook his head. "I am not going to kill anyone. I looked into
the tent; the gun is leaning by the side of the chief. Women and
children are lying all round. Couldn't get in. I will cut a slit in skin
and take gun."
"It will be first-rate if you can manage that, Luka. We can make a good
fight of it if you can manage to get the gun."
Godfrey was able to watch Luka's proceedings now. He stopped behind the
fourth tent, placed his ear against the skin and listened intently. Then
he inserted the blade in the skin two feet above the ground and very
quietly, with a sawing motion, cut downwards. Then he began at the top
again and made a horizontal cut four or five inches long, and then cut
again down to the ground, removing the flap of skin. He peered into the
tent, then he inserted his arm, a moment later he withdrew it with the
gun, and then returned to Godfrey. The latter's first step was to charge
the gun, for he had fired two shots while Luka was cooking the meal
before they were surprised.
"Now, Luka, which do you think we had better do, make for the canoes or
go off on foot?"
"We want big canoe," Luka said. "Can't well do without it. We had better
go to that."
"I think so too," Godfrey said. "If we can once get on board we can beat
them off. Of course there is more risk of being discovered that way, but
I think we had better chance it."
They kept along for some distance on the side of the hill, and then,
when about a hundred yards from the huts, crawled down to the river,
crept back along the bank until they reached the boat, which was hauled
up with the native canoes on shore.
"How are we to get it down, Luka?" Godfrey whispered. "If we stand up to
carry it down those fellows by the fire, who are not twenty yards away,
must see us. If we try to push it down we are safe to make a noise."
"Wait a moment, give me knife again," Luka said; and having obtained it
he went along the line of canoes, cutting and slicing the skins from end
to end. Then he returned to Godfrey.
"They can't follow now," he said. "Once on board we are safe."
"I have been thinking, Luka, our best plan will be to lie down one on
each side, and to hoist her up as well as we can, and move her forward
inch by inch."
Luka nodded, and they separated to carry out their plan, when Jack
decided the matter by leaping on board, and sending the paddles with a
rattle to the bottom of the boat.
"Jump up, Luka, and in with her."
As they sprang up there was a shout from the three natives by the fire,
which was answered by the fierce barking of two or three score of dogs.
After a moment's hesitation two of the natives rushed back to their
yourts for their bows, while the third, who happened to have his close
at hand, fitted an arrow and discharged it hastily. As they were running
the boat down it missed its mark, and before he could shoot again the
boat was in the water, and they had sprang on board. The native ran down
to the edge with his bow bent, but Luka's bow twanged and the man fell
back with an arrow through his body. They seized the paddles and drove
the boat twenty yards into the stream, when the whole of the Samoyedes
rushed down to the bank and began to discharge their arrows.
[Illustration: GODFREY AND LUKA ESCAPING FROM THE SAMOYEDES.]
"Lie flat down, Luka," Godfrey said, setting the example, "the stream
will take us."
There was a great jabber of voices on the bank.
"The chief is telling them to take to their canoes," Luka said laughing.
"You will hear some shouts directly. The water won't begin to come in
through the slits till they put their weight in the canoes."
Godfrey lifted his head for a moment and saw five or six of the natives
on the bank abreast of him, standing in readiness to shoot. Quickly as
he withdrew it again two arrows struck the boat within a few inches of
the point where he had looked over.
"Luka," he said, "we must get a little further out; I am afraid the
stream might set us in towards the bank. I will put my cap upon a piece
of firewood and hoist it up. They will shoot at it, and the moment they
do we must both spring up and give two or three strong strokes to take
her further out."
Lying flat on his back at the bottom of the boat, Godfrey raised his
cap; almost instantaneously there were three or four sharp taps on the
side of the boat, and one arrow passed through it but an inch above his
chest. In a moment he sat upright with a paddle in his hand, and a
couple of sharp strokes sent the boat out into the centre of the
current. At this moment they heard a series of yells and splashes.
"Lucky for them," Luka laughed, "I made the slits so big. If they had
got out farther they would all have been drowned: these people are not
able to swim."
"No, I should think not," Godfrey said. "They don't look as if water had
ever touched them from the day they were born. We are safe now, in ten
minutes we shall be clear of the river, and have only got to paddle back
and fetch our canoe."
"We may have to fight yet," Luka said. "Sure to follow us. The meat and
flour is all gone. I expect they gave it to their dogs. That is what
made them sleep so sound. They will know that we shall have to land
somewhere to get food, and think they will have us then. They will mend
canoes very quick, and some of them will come after us."
"It will be worse for them if they do," Godfrey said. "With my gun and
your bow we could keep a score of canoes at a distance. Still, as you
say, we may have trouble in getting our canoe. However, we must have
that if we have to fight the whole tribe for it."
Godfrey looked up from time to time. He could do so safely now, for they
were fifty yards from the bank, and there was time for him to withdraw
his head before an arrow could reach him. The natives, however, had
ceased to follow the boat, having doubtless run back when they heard
their companions' cries. Godfrey thought it as well not to take to the
paddles until they were well out of the river, lest one might have run
on and hidden himself in a clump of bushes. As soon as they were out of
the river they took up the paddles, and rowed straight out for a
distance of a couple of miles. "How long will they be in patching up
their canoes, Luka?"
"They will do it in an hour," Luka said. "The women will sew the slits
together, and the men melt fat and smear over."
"Very well. Then we had better turn now and make for the place where the
canoe is hid. They won't expect us to land so soon, and most of the men
will be waiting to follow with the canoes. If only four or five follow
us along the bank we can manage them easily enough. Fortunately, the
canoe is light enough for one of us to carry it down to the water. While
you are doing that I can keep them off. This boat paddles a lot heavier
than the other, Luka."
Luka grunted in assent.
"Do you think you will know the place where you hid the canoe?" Godfrey
asked presently.
"Let us go close in to see," Luka said. "We went ashore in fog. I don't
know how it looks from the sea. The coast is all alike here. We must
keep very close."
"How far along do you think it is, Luka?"
"It can't be much more than an hour to paddle," Luka replied. "The
Samoyedes were away three hours to fetch the boat, and they were in no
hurry and had to tow her back with their canoe."
For half an hour they kept the boat parallel with the land, and then
inclined towards the shore. Presently Luka said, "There are six men
walking along on bank."
"Well, there won't be six left to walk back," Godfrey replied grimly,
"if they interfere with us. Now, Luka, it is nearly an hour since we
turned; we will go in within a hundred yards of the shore. Those bows of
theirs are not like yours, they won't carry more than forty or fifty
yards. Now, I will just give those gentlemen a hint that they had better
keep away from the edge of the cliff;" and so saying he laid down his
paddle, and took up his gun and fired. He aimed high, as he wished to
frighten and not hurt. The natives instantly disappeared from the edge.
"Now, Luka, do you keep on paddling; I will watch the top of the bank,
and if one of them shows his head I will fire. They won't suspect we
have any idea of landing, and will probably keep a bit back. All we want
is time to land and climb the bank. Keep inshore now, so that next time
I fire I may be able to send the bullet pretty close. This gun is not
much use at more than fifty yards' distance."
Only once did Godfrey see a head above the bank, and the instant he did
so he fired.
"That will show them we are keeping a sharp look-out; I don't think they
will come near for some little time now. I daresay they are puzzling
themselves, first, why we are coming this way, and secondly, why we are
keeping so close."
"There is the place where we had tent," Luka exclaimed suddenly. "Do you
see the ashes of the fire?"
"That is it, sure enough. Now, run ashore and dash up the bank."
As soon as the canoe touched the shore they leapt out and ran up the
bank. Not twenty yards away were the Samoyedes. Godfrey uttered a shout
and raised his gun to his shoulder, and the natives with a yell ran off
at full speed.
"Now, Luka, do you go and get the canoe in the water. Be careful; if you
find it heavy for you with the stores on board, take them out; there is
no occasion for hurry. Those fellows won't venture within range of my
gun again; they will keep at a distance, and send up word to the tents
that we have landed. So take your time over it; if you were to make a
slip and damage the canoe it would be fatal to us."
The natives stopped at a distance of a quarter of a mile, and then, as
Godfrey expected, one of them started at a run back towards the village.
In ten minutes Godfrey heard a shout from below, and looking round saw
the canoe safely by the side of the boat. He ran down and took his place
in her, and they paddled out towing the boat behind them.