The Giant of the North: Pokings Round the Pole

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED AND FACED.

  They had not quite doubled the Cape of Newhope, and were about to roundthe point which concealed the spot that had been named Wreck Bay, whenthey suddenly found themselves face to face with a Polar bear!

  Bruin was evidently out for an evening stroll, for he seemed to havenothing particular to do.

  Surprise lit up alike the countenances of the men and the visage of thebear. It was an unexpected meeting on both sides. The distance betweenthem was not more than thirty feet. Leo was the only one of the partywho carried a rifle. More than once during the voyage had Leo seen andshot a bear. The sight was not new to him, but never before had he comeso suddenly, or so very close, upon this king of the Arctic Seas. Hechanced at the time to be walking a few yards in advance of the party incompany with Oolichuk and Benjy.

  The three stopped, stared, and stood as if petrified.

  For one moment, then they uttered a united and half involuntary roar.

  Right royally did that bear accept the challenge. It rose, according tocustom, on its hind legs, and immediately began that slow, but deadlywar-dance with which the race is wont to preface an attack, while itsupper lip curled in apparent derision, exposing its terrible fangs.

  Leo recovered self-possession instantly. The rifle leaped to hisshoulder, the centre of the bear's breast was covered, and the triggerpulled.

  Only a snap resulted. Leo had forgotten to load! Benjy gasped withanxiety. Oolichuk, who had held himself back with a sparkling smile ofexpectation at the prospect of seeing the Kablunet use histhunder-weapon, looked surprised and disappointed, but went into actionpromptly with his spear, accompanied by Akeetolik. Leo's rifle, being abreech-loader, was quickly re-charged, but as the rest of the partystood leaning on their spears with the evident intention of merelywatching the combat, the youth resolved to hold his hand, despiteBenjy's earnest recommendation to put one ball between the bear's eyes,and the other into his stomach.

  It was but a brief though decisive battle. Those Eskimos were well usedto such warfare.

  Running towards the animal with levelled spears, the two men separatedon coming close, so that Bruin was forced to a state of indecision as towhich enemy he would assail first. Akeetolik settled the point for himby giving him a prick on the right side, thus, as it were, drawing theenemy's fire on himself. The bear turned towards him with a fiercegrowl, and in so doing, exposed his left side to attack. Oolichuk wasnot slow to seize the opportunity. He leaped close up, and drove hisspear deep into the animal's heart--killing it on the spot.

  Next day the party returned to the Eskimo camp with the sledge-load ofgoods, and the bear on the top.

  While steaks of the same were being prepared by Toolooha, Captain Vaneand his new allies were busy discussing the details of the advance.

  "I know that the difficulties will be great," he said, in reply to aremark from the interpreter, "but I mean to face and overcome them."

  "Ah!" exclaimed Alf, who was rather fond of poetry:--

  "To dare unknown dangers in a noble cause, Despite an adverse Nature and her tiresome Laws."

  "Just so, Alf, my boy, stick at nothing; never give in; victory ordeath, that's my way of expressing the same sentiment. But there's onething that I must impress once more upon you all--namely, that each manmust reduce his kit to the very lowest point of size and weight. Noextras allowed."

  "What, not even a box of paper collars?" asked Benjy.

  "Not one, my boy, but you may take a strait-waistcoat in your box if youchoose, for you'll be sure to need it."

  "Oh! father," returned the boy, remonstratively, "you are severe.However, I will take one, if you agree to leave your woollen comforterbehind. You won't need that, you see, as long as I am with you."

  "Of course," said Alf, "you will allow us to carry small libraries withus?"

  "Certainly not, my lad, only one book each, and that must be a smallone."

  "The only book I possess is my Bible," said Leo, "and that won't take upmuch room, for it's an uncommonly small one."

  "If I only had my Robinson Crusoe here," cried Benjy, "I'd take it, forthere's enough of adventure in that book to carry a man over half theworld."

  "Ay," said Alf, "and enough of mind to carry him over the other half.For my part, if we must be content with one book each, I shall takeBuzzby's poems."

  "Oh! horrible!" cried Benjy, "why, he's no better than a maudlin',dawdlin', drawlin', caterwaulin'--"

  "Come, Benjy, don't be insolent; he's second only to Tennyson. Justlisten to this _morceau_ by Buzzby. It is an Ode to Courage--

  "`High! hot! hillarious compound of--'"

  "Stop! stop! man, don't begin when we're in the middle of our plans,"interrupted Benjy, "let us hear what book Butterface means to take."

  "I not take no book, massa, only take my flute. Music is wot's dematter wid me. Dat is de ting what hab charms to soove de savagebeast."

  "I wouldn't advise you try to soothe a Polar bear with it," said Leo,"unless you have a rifle handy."

  "Yes--and especially an unloaded one, which is very effective againstPolar bears," put in the Captain, with a sly look. "Ah, Leo, I couldhardly have believed it of you--and you the sportsman of our party, too;our chief huntsman. Oh, fie!"

  "Come, uncle, don't be too hard on that little mistake," said Leo, witha slight blush, for he was really annoyed by the unsportsmanlikeoversight hinted at; "but pray, may I ask," he added, turning sharply onthe Captain, "what is inside of these three enormous boxes of yourswhich take up so much space on the sledges?"

  "You may ask, Leo, but you may not expect an answer. That is my secret,and I mean to keep it as a sort of stimulus to your spirits when thehardships of the way begin to tell on you. Ask Chingatok, Anders,"continued the Captain, turning to the interpreter, "if he thinks we haveenough provisions collected for the journey. I wish to startimmediately."

  "We have enough," answered Chingatok, who had been sitting a silent, butdeeply interested observer--so to speak--of the foregoing conversation.

  "Tell him, then, to arrange with his party, and be prepared to set outby noon to-morrow."

  That night, by the light of the midnight sun, the Eskimos sat roundtheir kettles of bear-chops, and went into the _pros_ and _cons_ of theproposed expedition. Some were enthusiastically in favour of casting intheir lot with the white men, others were decidedly against it, and afew were undecided. Among the latter was Akeetolik.

  "These ignorant men," said that bold savage, "are foolish and useless.They cannot kill bears. The one named Lo, (thus was Leonard's namereduced to its lowest denomination), is big enough, and looks very fine,but when he sees bear he only stares, makes a little click with histhunder-weapon, and looks stupid."

  "Blackbeard explained that," said Oolichuk; "Lo made some mistake."

  "That may be so," retorted Akeetolik, "but if you and me had not beenthere, the _bear_ would not make a mistake."

  "I will not go with these Kablunets," said Eemerk with a frown, "theyare only savages. They are not taught. No doubt they had a wonderfulboat, but they have not been able to keep their boat. They cannot killbears; perhaps they cannot kill seals or walruses, and they ask us tohelp them to travel--to show them the way! They can do nothing. Theymust be led like children. My advice is to kill them all, since theyare so useless, and take their goods."

  This speech was received with marks of decided approval by those of theparty who were in the habit of siding with Eemerk, but the rest weresilent. In a few moments Chingatok said, in a low, quiet, butimpressive tone: "The Kablunets are not foolish or ignorant. They arewise--far beyond the wisdom of the Eskimos. It is Eemerk who is like awalrus without brains. He thinks that his little mind is outside ofeverything, and so he has not eyes to perceive that he is ignorant aswell as foolish, and that other men are wise."

  This was the severest rebuke that the good-natured Chingatok had yetadministered to Eemerk, bu
t the latter, foolish though he was, hadwisdom enough not to resent it openly. He sat in moody silence, withhis eyes fixed on the ground.

  Of course Oolichuk was decidedly in favour of joining the white men, andso was Ivitchuk, who soon brought round his hesitating friend Akeetolik,and several of the others. Oblooria, being timid, would gladly havesided with Eemerk, but she hated the man, and, besides, would in anycase have cast in her lot with her mother and brother, even if free todo otherwise.

  The fair Tekkona, whose courage and faith were naturally strong, hadonly one idea, and that was to follow cheerfully wherever Chingatok led;but she was very modest, and gave no opinion. She merely remarked: "TheKablunets are handsome men, and seem good."

  As for Toolooha, she had enough to do to attend to the serious duties ofthe lamp, and always left the settlement of less important matters tothe men.

  "You and yours are free to do what you please," said Chingatok toEemerk, when the discussion drew to a close. "I go with the white mento-morrow."

  "What says Oblooria?" whispered Oolichuk when the rest of the party werelistening to Eemerk's reply.

  "Oblooria goes with her brother and mother," answered that young lady,toying coquettishly with her sealskin tail.

  Oolichuk's good-humoured visage beamed with satisfaction, and his flatnose curled up--as much as it was possible for such a feature to curl--with contempt, as he glanced at Eemerk and said--

  "I have heard many tales from Anders--the white man's mouthpiece--sincewe met. He tells me the white men are very brave and fond of runninginto danger for nothing but fun. Those who do not like the fun ofdanger should join Eemerk. Those who are fond of fun and danger shouldcome with our great chief Chingatok--huk! Let us divide."

  Without more palaver the band divided, and it was found that only eightsided with Eemerk. All the rest cast in their lot with our giant, afterwhich this Arctic House of Commons adjourned, and its members went torest.

  A few days after that, Captain Vane and his Eskimo allies, having leftthe camp with Eemerk and his friends far behind them, came suddenly onefine morning on a barrier which threatened effectually to arrest theirfurther progress northward. This was nothing less than that tremendoussea of "ancient ice" which had baffled previous navigators and sledgingparties.

  "Chaos! absolute chaos!" exclaimed Alf Vandervell, who was first torecover from the shock of surprise, not to say consternation, with whichthe party beheld the scene on turning a high cape.

  "It looks bad," said Captain Vane, gravely, "but things often look worseat a first glance than they really are."

  "I hope it may be so in this case," said Leo, in a low tone.

  "Good-bye to the North Pole!" said Benjy, with a look of despondency sodeep that the rest of the party laughed in spite of themselves.

  The truth was that poor Benjy had suffered much during the sledgejourney which they had begun, for although he rode, like the rest ofthem, on one of the Eskimo sledges, the ice over which they hadtravelled along shore had been sufficiently rugged to necessitateconstant getting off and on, as well as much scrambling over hummocksand broken ice. We have already said that Benjy was not very robust,though courageous and full of spirit, so that he was prone to leap fromthe deepest depths of despair to the highest heights of hope at amoment's notice--or _vice versa_. Not having become inured toice-travel, he was naturally much cast down when the chaosabove-mentioned met his gaze.

  "Strange," said the Captain, after a long silent look at the barrier,"strange that we should find it here. The experience of formertravellers placed it considerably to the south and west of this."

  "But you know," said Leo, "Chingatok told us that the old ice driftsabout just as the more recently formed does. Who knows but we may findthe end of it not far off, and perhaps may reach open water beyond,where we can make skin canoes, and launch forth on a voyage ofdiscovery."

  "I vote that we climb the cliffs and try to see over the top of thishorrid ice-jumble," said Benjy.

  "Not a bad suggestion, lad. Let us do so. We will encamp here, Anders.Let all the people have a good feed, and tell Chingatok to follow us.You will come along with him."

  A few hours later, and the Captain, Leo, Alf, Benjy, Chingatok, and theinterpreter stood on the extreme summit of the promontory which they hadnamed Cape Chaos, and from which they had a splendid bird's-eye view ofthe whole region.

  It was indeed a tremendous and never-to-be-forgotten scene.

  As far as the eye could reach, the ocean was covered with ice heapedtogether in some places in the wildest confusion, and so firmly wedgedin appearance that it seemed as if it had lain there in a solid massfrom the first day of creation. Elsewhere the ice was more level andless compact. In the midst of this rugged scene, hundreds of gianticebergs rose conspicuously above the rest, towering upwards in everyshape and of all sizes, from which the bright sun was flashed back inrich variety of form, from the sharp gleam that trickled down an edge ofice to the refulgent blaze on a glassy face which almost rivalled thesun himself in brilliancy. These icebergs, extending as they did to thehorizon, where they mingled with and were lost in the pearl-grey sky,gave an impression of vast illimitable perspective. Although no sign ofan open sea was at first observed, there was no lack of water to enliventhe scene, for here and there, and everywhere, were pools and ponds, andeven lakes of goodly size, which had been formed on the surface by themelting ice. In these the picturesque masses were faithfully reflected,and over them vast flocks of gulls, eider-ducks, puffins, and otherwild-fowl of the north, disported themselves in garrulous felicity.

  On the edge of the rocky precipice, from which they had a bird's-eyeview of the scene, our discoverers stood silent for some time, absorbedin contemplation, with feelings of mingled awe and wonder. Thenexclamations of surprise and admiration broke forth.

  "The wonderful works of God!" said the Captain, in a tone of profoundreverence.

  "Beautiful, beyond belief!" murmured Alf.

  "But it seems an effectual check to our advance," said the practicalLeo, who, however, was by no means insensible to the extreme beauty ofthe scene.

  "Not effectual, lad; not effectual," returned the Captain, stretchingout his hand and turning to the interpreter; "look, Anders, d'ye seenothing on the horizon away to the nor'ard? Isn't that a bit ofwater-sky over there?"

  "Ya," replied the interpreter, gazing intently, "there be watter-skyover there. Ya. But not possobubble for go there. Ice too big an'brokkin up."

  "Ask Chingatok what he thinks," returned the Captain.

  Chingatok's opinion was that the water-sky indicated the open sea. Heknew that sea well--had often paddled over it, and his own country layin it.

  "But how ever did he cross that ice?" asked the Captain; "what says heto that, Anders?"

  "I did not cross it," answered the Eskimo, through Anders. "When I camehere with my party the ice was not there; it was far off yonder."

  He pointed to the eastward.

  "Just so," returned the Captain, with a satisfied nod, "that confirms myopinion. You see, boys, that the coast here trends off to the East'ardin a very decided manner. Now, if that was only the shore of a bay, andthe land again ran off to the nor'ard, it would not be possible for sucha sea of ice to have come from _that_ direction. I therefore concludethat we are standing on the most northern cape of Greenland; thatGreenland itself is a huge island, unconnected with the Polar lands;that we are now on the shores of the great Polar basin, in which,somewhere not very far from the Pole itself, lies the home of our friendChingatok--at least so I judge from what he has said. Moreover, I feelsure that the water-sky we see over there indicates the commencement ofthat `open sea' which, I hold, in common with many learned men, liesaround the North Pole, and which I am determined to float upon beforemany days go by."

  "We'd better spread our wings then, father, and be off at once," saidBenjy; "for it's quite certain that we'll never manage to scramble overthat ice-jumble with sledges."

  "Nevert
heless, I will try, Benjy."

  "But how, uncle?" asked Leo.

  "Ay, how?" repeated Alf, "_that_ is the question."

  "Come, come, Alf, let Shakespeare alone," said the pert Benjy, "if you_must_ quote, confine yourself to Buzzby."

  "Nay, Benjy, be not so severe. It was but a slip. Besides, our leaderhas not forbidden our carrying a whole library in our heads, so long aswe take only one book in our pockets. But, uncle, you have not yet toldus how you intend to cross that amazing barrier which Benjy hasappropriately styled an ice-jumble."

  "How, boy?" returned the Captain, who had been gazing eagerly in alldirections while they talked, "it is impossible for me to say how. Allthat I can speak of with certainty as to our future movements is, thatthe road by which we have come to the top of this cliff will lead us tothe bottom again, where Toolooha is preparing for us an excellent supperof bear-steaks and tea. One step at a time, lads, is my motto; whenthat is taken we shall see clearly how and where to take the next."

  A sound sleep was the step which the whole party took after that whichled to the bear-steaks. Then Captain Vane arose, ordered the dogs to beharnessed to the sledges, and, laying his course due north, steeredstraight out upon the sea of ancient ice.