Red Rooney: The Last of the Crew

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER NINE.

  SHOWS THAT THE WISE ARE A MATCH FOR THE WICKED, AND EXHIBITS TUMBLER ANDPUSSI IN DANGER.

  When Red Rooney and his friend reached the village, and found that mostof the men had gone south to hunt, and that Nunaga was living in peacewith her mother in her father's town mansion, their fears were greatlyrelieved, although Angut was still rendered somewhat anxious by thesuspicion that mischief of some sort was brewing. Being resolved ifpossible to discover and counteract it, he told Rooney that he meant tocontinue his journey southward, and join the hunters.

  "Good. I will rest here till you return," said the seaman, "for I feelthat I'm not strong enough yet for much exertion."

  "But Ridroonee promised to dwell with _me_," returned Angut, somewhatanxiously.

  "So I did, and so I will, friend, when you come back. At present youtell me your hut is closed because you have no wife--no kinswoman."

  "That is true," returned the Eskimo; "my mother is dead; my father waskilled; I have no brothers, no sisters. But when I am at home oldKannoa cooks for me. She is a good woman, and can make us comfortable."

  "Just so, Angut. I'll be content to have the old woman for a nurse aslong as I need one. Good luck to you; and, I say, keep a sharp look-outon Ujarak. He's not to be trusted, if I am any judge of men's faces."

  Angut said no word in reply, but he smiled a grim smile as he turned andwent his way.

  Being much fatigued with his recent exertions, Red Rooney turned intoOkiok's hut, to the great sorrow of the women and children, who hadgathered from all parts of the village to gaze at and admire him.

  "He is real--and alive!" remarked Kunelik in a low voice.

  "And Nuna is _not_ a liar," said the mother of Arbalik.

  "Yes; he is tall," said one.

  "And broad," observed another.

  "But _very_ thin," said Pussimek.

  "No matter; he can stuff," said Kabelaw, with a nod to her sisterSigokow, who was remarkably stout, and doubtless understood the virtueof the process.

  While this commentary was going on, the object of it was making himselfcomfortable on a couch of skins which Nuna had spread for him on theraised floor at the upper end of her hut. In a few minutes the weariedman was sound asleep, as was indicated by his nose.

  No sooner did Mrs Okiok note the peculiar sound than she went out andsaid to her assembled friends--"_Now_ you may come in; but--forget not--no word is to be spoken. Use your eyes and bite your tongues. The onewho speaks shall be put out."

  Under these conditions the multitude filed into the mansion, where theysat down in rows to gaze their fill in profound silence; and there theysat for more than an hour, rapt in contemplation of the wonderful sight.

  "He snorts," was on the lips of Pussimek, but a warning glance from Nunachecked the sentence in the bud.

  "He dreams!" had almost slipped from the lips of Kunelik, but she caughtit in time.

  Certainly these primitive people availed themselves of the permission touse their eyes; nay, more, they also used their eyebrows--and indeedtheir entire faces, for, the lips being sealed, they not only drank inRooney, so to speak, with their eyes, but tried to comment upon him withthe same organs.

  Finding them very imperfect in this respect, they ventured to use theirlips without sound--to speak, as it were, in dumb show--and thecontortions of visage thus produced were indescribable.

  This state of things was at its height when Rooney chanced to awake. Ashe lay with his face to the foe, the _tableau vivant_ met his gaze theinstant he opened his eyes. Rooney was quick-witted, and had greatpower of self-command. He reclosed the eyes at once, and then, throughthe merest chink between the lids, continued to watch the scene. Butthe wink had been observed. It caused an abrupt stoppage of thepantomime, and an intense glare of expectancy.

  This was too much for Rooney. He threw up his arms, and gave way to aviolent explosion of loud and hearty laughter.

  If a bomb-shell had burst among the spectators, it could scarcely havecaused greater consternation. A panic ensued. Incontinently the motherof Ippegoo plunged head first into the tunnel. The mother of Arbalikfollowed, overtook her friend, tried to pass, and stuck fast. Theothers, dashing in, sought to force them through, but only rammed themtighter. Seeing that egress was impossible, those in rear crouchedagainst the furthest wall and turned looks of horror on the Kablunet,who they thought had suddenly gone mad. But observing that Nuna and herdaughter did not share their alarm, they soon recovered, and when Rooneyat last sat up and began to look grave, they evidently felt somewhatashamed of themselves. Pussimek at last seized the mother of Ippegoo bythe legs, and with a strong pull extracted her from the tunnel. Issek,being thus set free, quickly made her exit. The rest followed bydegrees, until Rooney was left with Nuna and her daughter.

  "Your friends have had a fright," remarked the sailor.

  "They are easily frightened. Are you hungry?"

  "Yes; I feel as if I could eat a white bear raw."

  "So I expected," returned the little woman, with a laugh, as she placeda platter of broiled meat before her guest, who at once set to work.

  Let us now return to Ippegoo. Having borrowed a sledge, he had drivenoff to the appointed place of rendezvous, before the arrival of Rooneyand Angut, as fast as the team could take him. Arrived there, he foundUjarak awaiting him.

  "You have failed," said the wizard gravely.

  "Yes, because Nunaga had left with her father and mother, and is now inthe village. So is the Kablunet."

  Whatever Ujarak might have felt, he took good care that his countenanceshould not betray him. Indeed this capacity to conceal his feelingsunder a calm exterior constituted a large element of the power which hehad obtained over his fellows. Without deigning a reply of any kind tohis humble and humbled follower, he stepped quietly into the sledge, anddrove away to the southward, intending to rejoin the hunters.

  Arrived at the ground, he set off on foot over the ice until he found aseal's breathing-hole. Here he arranged his spears, erected a screen ofsnow-blocks, and sat down to watch.

  "Ippegoo," he said, at last breaking silence, "we must not be beaten."

  "No, that must _not_ be," replied his pupil firmly.

  "This time we have failed," continued the wizard, "because I did notthink that Okiok would leave his guest."

  "I thought," said Ippegoo, somewhat timidly, "that your torngak told youeverything."

  "You are a fool, Ippegoo."

  "I know it, master; but can you not make me more wise by teaching me?"

  "Some people are hard to teach," said Ujarak.

  "That is also true," returned the youth mournfully. "I know that youcan never make me an angekok. Perhaps it would be better not to try."

  "No. You are mistaken," said the wizard in a more cheerful tone, for hefelt that he had gone too far. "You will make a good enough angekok intime, if you will only attend to what I say, and be obedient. Come, Iwill explain to you. Torngaks, you must understand, do not always tellall that they know. Sometimes they leave the angekok dark, for apurpose that is best known to themselves. But they always tell enoughfor the guidance of a wise man--"

  "But--but--I am not a wise man, you know," Ippegoo ventured to remark.

  "True; but when I have made you an angekok then you will become a wiseman--don't you see?"

  As the word angekok signifies "wise man," Ippegoo would have been a foolindeed had he failed to see the truism. The sight raised his spirits,and made him look hopeful.

  "Well, then, stupid one, speak not, but listen. As I have before toldyou, I love Nunaga and Nunaga loves me--"

  "I--I thought she loved Angut," said Ippegoo.

  "O idiot," exclaimed the wizard; "did I not tell you that you cannotunderstand? The loves of angekoks are not as the loves of ordinary men.Sometimes one's torngak makes the girl seem uncertain which man shelikes best--"

  "Ye-yes; but in this case there _seems_ no uncertainty, for she andAngut--"
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  "Silence! you worse than baby walrus!"

  Ippegoo shut his mouth, and humbly drooped his eyelids.

  After a few minutes, Ujarak, having swallowed his wrath, continued in acalm tone--

  "This time we have failed. Next time we will be sure to succeed, and--"

  "I suppose your torngak told--"

  "Silence! weak-minded puffin!" thundered the wizard, to the greatastonishment of a seal which came up at that moment to breathe, andprudently retired in time to save its life.

  Once again the angekok with a mighty effort restrained his wrath, andafter a time resumed--

  "Now, Ippegoo, we dare not venture again to try till after the feast,for the suspicion which you have roused in Angut by the foolish waggingof your tongue must be allowed to die out. But in the meantime--thoughyou cannot, _must_ not, speak--you can listen, and you can get yourmother to listen, and, when you hear anything that you think I ought toknow, you will tell me."

  "But if," said the pupil timidly, "I should only find out things thatyour torngak has already told you, what--"

  He stopped short, for Ujarak, springing up, walked smartly away, leavinghis follower behind to finish the question, and gather up the spears.

  "Yes; he is right. I _am_ a fool," murmured Ippegoo. "Yet his conductdoes seem strange. But he is an angekok. That must be the reason."

  Consoling himself with this reflection, the puzzled youth, putting thespears and hunting tackle on his shoulders, followed after his iratemaster towards the bay where the other hunters were encamped.

  We turn now to two other actors in our tale, who, although not veryimportant characters, deserve passing notice.

  When Nuna's youngest son, little Tumbler, was brought to the Eskimovillage, he made his appearance in the new black dress suit with whichRooney had clothed him--much to the surprise and delight of the wholecommunity. Not long after arriving, he waddled away through the villagein search of some piece of amusing mischief to do. On his ramble hefell in with a companion of about his own size, whose costume was thatof a woman in miniature--namely, a short coat with a fully developedtail, which trailed on the ground with the approved fashionable swing.This was none other than Pussi, the little daughter of Simek, the greathunter. Now it chanced that there was a mutual liking--a strong bond ofsympathy--between Tumbler and Pussi, which induced them always to playtogether when possible.

  No sooner, therefore, did Tumbler catch sight of his friend than he ranafter her, grasped her greasy little hand, and waddled away to do, incompany with her, what mischief might chance to be possible at the time.

  Immediately behind the village there stood a small iceberg, which hadgrounded there some years before, and was so little reduced in size orshape by the action of each brief summer's sun that it had become to thepeople almost as familiar a landmark as the solid rocks. In this bergthere was a beautiful sea-green cavern whose depths had never yet beenfathomed. It was supposed to be haunted, and was therefore visited onlyby the more daring and courageous among the children of the tribe.Tumbler and Pussi were unquestionably the most daring among these--partly owing to native bravery in both, and partly to profound ignoranceand inexperience of danger.

  "Let's go to ze g'een cave," suggested Tumbler.

  Pussi returned that most familiar of replies--a nod.

  We cannot, of course, convey the slightest idea of the infantine Eskimolisp. As before said, we must be content with the nearest Englishequivalent.

  The green cave was not more than half a mile distant from the village.To reach it the children had to get upon the sea-ice, and this involvedcrossing what has been termed the ice-foot--namely, that belt of brokenup and shattered ice caused by the daily tides--at the point where thegrounded ice meets that which is afloat. It is a chaotic belt, varyingin character and width according to position and depth of water, andalways more or less dangerous to the tender limbs of childhood.

  Encountering thus an opportunity for mischievous daring at the verybeginning of their ramble, our jovial hero and heroine proceeded tocross, with all the breathless, silent, and awesome delight thatsurrounds half-suspected wickedness--for they were quite old enough toknow that they were on forbidden ground.

  "Come, you's not frighted?" said Tumbler, holding out his hand, as hestood on the top of a block, encouraging his companion to advance.

  "No--not fri--frighted--but--"

  She caught the extended hand, slipped her little foot, and slidviolently downward, dragging the boy along with her.

  Scrambling to their feet, Pussi looked inclined to whimper, but asTumbler laughed heartily, she thought better of it, and joined him.

  Few of the riven masses by which they were surrounded were much abovefive or six feet thick; but as the children were short of stature, theplace seemed to the poor creatures an illimitable world of icyconfusion, and many were the slips, glissades, and semi-falls which theyexperienced before reaching the other side. Reach it they did, however,in a very panting and dishevelled condition, and it said much for RedRooney's tailoring capacity that the black dress coat was not riven topieces in the process.

  "Look; help me. Shove me here," said Tumbler, as he laid hold of ablock which formed the last difficulty.

  Pussi helped and shoved to the best of her small ability, so thatTumbler soon found himself on a ledge which communicated with thesea-ice. Seizing Pussi by her top-knot of hair, he hauled while shescrambled, until he caught a hand, then an arm, then her tail, finallyone of her legs, and at last deposited her, flushed and panting, at hisside. After a few minutes' rest they began to run--perhaps it were morecorrect to say waddle--in the direction of "ze g'een cave."

  Now it chanced that the said cave was haunted at that time, not bytorngaks or other ghosts, but by two men, one of whom at least wasfilled with an evil spirit.

  Ujarak, having ascertained that Okiok had joined the hunting party, andthat the Kablunet had reached the village, resolved to make a daringattempt to carry off the fair Nunaga from the very midst of her femalefriends, and for this purpose sought and found his dupe Ippegoo, whom hesent off to the green cave to await his arrival.

  "We must not go together," he said, "for we might be suspected; but youwill go off to hunt seals to the south, and I will go out on the floesto consult my torngak."

  "But, master, if I go to the south after seals, how can we ever meet atthe green cave?"

  "O stupid one! Do you not understand that you are only to pretend to gosouth? When you are well out of sight, then turn north, and make forthe berg. You will find me there."

  Without further remark the stupid one went off, and in process of timethe master and pupil met at the appointed rendezvous.

  The entrance to the cavern was light, owing to the transparency of theice, and farther in it assumed that lovely bluish-green colour fromwhich it derived its name; but the profound depths, which had never yetbeen fathomed, were as black as ebony--forming a splendid background,against which the icicles and crystal edges of the entrance werebeautifully and sharply defined.

  Retiring sufficiently far within this natural grotto to be safe fromobservation in the event of any one chancing to pass by, the wizardlooked earnestly into the anxious countenance of the young man.

  "Ippegoo," he said, with an air of unwonted solemnity, for, having madeup his mind to a desperate venture, the wizard wished to subdue his toolentirely as well as promptly to his will; "Ippegoo, my torngak says thething must be done to-night, if it is to be done at all. Putting off,he says, will perhaps produce failure."

  "`Perhaps'!" echoed the youth, with that perplexed look which sofrequently crossed his features when the wizard's words puzzled him. "Ithought that torngaks knew everything, and never needed to say`perhaps.'"

  "You think too much," said Ujarak testily.

  "Was it not yesterday," returned the pupil humbly, "that you told me tothink well before speaking?"

  "True, O simple one! but there are times to think and times not tothink. Your misfortune is
that you always do both at the wrong time,and never do either at the right time."

  "I wish," returned Ippegoo, with a sigh, "that it were always the timenot to think. How much pleasanter it would be!"

  "Well, it is time to listen just now," said the wizard, "so give me yourattention. I shall this night harness my dogs, and carry off Nunaga byforce. And you must harness your dogs in another sledge, and followme."

  "But--but--my mother!" murmured the youth.

  "Must be left behind," said the wizard, with tremendous decision and adark frown; but he had under-estimated his tool, who replied withdecision quite equal to his own--

  "That _must_ not be."

  Although taken much by surprise, Ujarak managed to dissemble.

  "Well, then," he said, "you must carry her away by force."

  "That is impossible," returned Ippegoo, with a faint smile and shake ofthe head.

  For the first time in his life the wizard lost all patience with hispoor worshipper, and was on the point of giving way to wrath, when thesound of approaching footsteps outside the cave arrested him. Notcaring to be interrupted at that moment, and without waiting to see whoapproached, Ujarak suddenly gave vent to a fearful intermittent yell,which was well understood by all Eskimos to be the laughter of a torngakor fiend, and, therefore, calculated to scare away any one whoapproached.

  In the present instance it did so most effectually, for poor littlePussi and Tumbler were already rather awed by the grandeur andmysterious appearance of the sea-green cave. Turning instantly, theyfled--or toddled--on the wings of terror, and with so little regard topersonal safety, that Pussi found herself suddenly on the edge of anice-cliff, without the power to stop. Tumbler, however, had himselfmore under command. He pulled up in time, and caught hold of hiscompanion by the tail, but she, being already on a steep gradient,dragged her champion on, and it is certain that both would have goneover the ice precipice and been killed, if Tumbler had not got bothheels against an opportune lump of ice. Holding on to the tail withheroic resolution, while Pussi was already swinging in mid-air, the poorboy opened wide his eyes and mouth, and gave vent to a series of yellsso tremendous that the hearts of Ujarak and Ippegoo leaped into theirthroats, as they rushed out of the cavern and hastened to the rescue.

  But another ear had been assailed by those cries. Just as Ippegoo--whowas fleeter than his master--caught Tumbler with one hand, and Pussi'stail with the other, and lifted both children out of danger, ReginaldRooney, who chanced to be wandering in the vicinity, appeared, in astate of great anxiety, on the scene.

  "Glad am I you were in time, Ippegoo," said the seaman, shouldering thelittle girl, while the young Eskimo put the boy on his back, "but Ithought that you and Ujarak were away south with the hunters. What hasbrought you back so soon? Nothing wrong, I trust?"

  "No; all goes well," returned Ippegoo, as they went towards the village."We have only come back to--to--"

  "To make preparation for the feast when they return," said the wizard,coming quickly to the rescue of his unready follower.

  "Then they will be back immediately, I suppose?" said Rooney, lookingpointedly at the wizard.

  "Yes, immediately," answered Ujarak, without appearing to observe thepointed look, "unless something happens to detain them."

  Suspecting that there was something behind this reply, the sailor saidno more. Ujarak, feeling that he was suspected, and that his plan,therefore, must be given up for the time being, determined to sethimself to work to allay suspicion by making himself generally useful,and giving himself up entirely to the festivities that were about totake place on the return of the men from their successful hunt.